An Added Something Before We Close Out June

 I’ve been pondering my perspectives… That sounds a bit redundant… repetitive somehow...

The Past: I surely can look back and see where I’ve been, however, my perception of events does fade over time… The important events stand out, while the details, literally fall by the wayside… like the proverbial books on the shelf without bookends… 

The Now: The present is now, (I know -a really big profound thought), but, it’s where most folks live - in the now…Some do not. It’s difficult to argue contradicting thoughts on the now, when we are all living it. However, what plays into the distortions of the present -sometimes, are those with evil intent and so the gaslighting whispers. The serpent - aka - the devil, did so to dear mother Eve, (and won BIG), and he attempted to do so to Jesus… (There are a ton more examples, but these are two big ones that serve my point for explanation). Just a drop of poison in a glass of pure water taints the entire glass… So, sadly… many folks are questioning what they know is true - even when they see it all with their own eyes…

BUT… 

There’s the future… That thing we argue about all day long, every day… 

“No I’m right!” 

        “No! I’m right!!!”

“No! You’re’ both wrong! I’m right… I KNOW what’s going to happen!”

As far as seeing into the future, for me, (of course, I don’t see the future. I believe scriptures and have faith) … Father God WINS! The devil surely looses. When I am no longer here on this earth - I WILL be with Father God in Heaven because I received the sacrificial Gift of the Blood atonement, (payment), for my sins, (ALL of them), thanks be to Jesus Christ - Son of God. Father God says, no sin in Heaven - you must be washed clean by the Blood of His Son Jesus - freely given for such a purpose - no one else EVER has done this, nor could - Only Jesus!

…But, my point - we as believers argue and divide, drawing lines in the sand and ready for a fight over lots of stuff we don’t know too much about - The future. Yes! For sure, read scripture, a lot is there. It’s for edifying, encouraging - giving the blessed Hope, showing the right way to live in this fallen world that we get to - p a s s - through! But many godly people argue about that which they know not and so presume to be god - knowing it all. Whatever happen to faith? Father God has got it , (the managing of the universe), or He does not! 

Do not worry… Father God has got it!

For me scripture is black and white. I believe it cover to cover…I’m not changing one word that addresses me… For example, some folks would rather we live under the law, attempting perfection… When it’s purpose is to let us know when we do wrong and so provide the standard - Father God’s standard. But Jesus gave us freedom from the law in that we do NOT use the law as a means to usurp GRACE - because we can not work our way to Heaven. We can not be good enough to take up residence in Heaven on our own… least there would be no need for Jesus’ sacrifice and Blood….

How Father must shake His head at His children…

What’s the important thing. Tell a non-believer or someone who’s doubting, about what and why Jesus did what He did for them… TELL THEM JESUS LOVES THEM! And SERVE… 

Father God draws those that belong to Him and He DOES the work… We just get to walk along side of a person, we get to plant, we get to water, we get to prune, we get to encourage… We get to do whatever it is, (for those listening), Father God wants us to do… and just keep trying - even if you mess up or miss an opportunity…

I confess… I am a rule follower aka a bit of a Pharisee, - I am ashamed to state such. I am a stickler for doing “things” the way it’s supposed to be done, (not so much attempting perfection…but crazy, I know for a person who thinks outside of the box in the area of creativity). I like order and for me, order comes from following rules… even ones made up in my head… I have driven so many people, co-workers, family, my children - to swear, I’m sure; under their breath - because of the way IT is supposed to be done. I’m sorry folks…

BUT… I know this world does not operate anything close to what it should be because the prince of this world is at large… the devil… And his time is so short that he’s ramped up his agenda - so it seems… and in the words of chicken little, “… The sky is falling! The sky IS falling!” Not an acorn. Not pretend! Not a joke! This is not a simulation! This is NOT a drill!

This world IS coming to an end… In my last posting I said I was a like a pessimist… so, a realist… 

JESUS IS COMING. Great News! So…

TELL SOMEONE JESUS DIED IN THEIR PLACE -TAKING THEIR SIN PUNISHMENT BY GIVING ALL OF HIS BLOOD FOR THEM… 

LOVE PEOPLE - (not necessarily pets - take care of the pets, but the investment should not be on par with another human - I know I ruffled feathers, (pun), here! I do prefer people!) 

READ your Bible. I prefer KJV

S l o w your lives down if you can… Look for the details about you… So much is still very beautiful. Stop with the vain pursuits… and just see!!!

Stop looking to fight… Like, why are you fighting? Really folks? I’m talking about among your children, family, neighbors, co-workers, friends, etc. Do you really want to die on that hill?

Serve: You don’t have to find a soup kitchen or whatever… For some of you that’s way out of your comfort zone, hence, why you pour yourself into a pet… I’m just saying…(Short Aside Story - I should explain. I am a retired teacher. Once an upon a time we weren’t allowed to eat nuts or have anything nut related in our rooms nor even in the school… because of allergies. The schools went the extreme… BUT NOW people with pets can enter grocery stores, buses, trains, restaurants… with their “Comfort Pets!” Totally ignoring those of us who are allergic to them - Our health doesn’t matter! I extend a lot of grace to comfort pets… but it is unnerving - especially when I’m walking the WIDE circle around you and your pet and you suppose I want to pet your animal because - why?! - I digress - See my Pharisee-ism, (kind of), is shining through today)… 

You can share - some - of what you have. You can smile - really, such a small thing if it’s genuine. You can laugh at the little children walking by being silly. You can listen to the stranger on the bus or train… minimally, offer some tissue.  … There so much you can do that is so small, but can mean the world to someone  a l o n e,  h u r t i n g,  b ro ken… 

Love - respect others. These are cousins.

For sure… The world is winding down… What are you going to do my beloved?

Soli Deo Gloria,

Nina

A felting project I did with my oldest daughter

 

Something New for June

 My children have often come close to calling me a naysayer, cynical… 

They would say I have a preoccupation…

with dying. But they never focus on what I am actually saying and that is: IF one is a believer then, surely the next life is way better than the present - even on the best of days. Still, I make it a point in these posting to encourage folks to live for the day they have and make it the best day ever… because this life as we live and breathe  - is short… Eternity is forever and sadly, very few folks have their eyes on - the forever prize… 

My children talk about what they plan to do, assuming that everything goes according to their plans… Not to be the naysayer, but there are no guarantees in this life… I’ve learned to plan for the future but not hold onto that which can be so dramatically upended…by someone else’s plans. People who sleep soundly are sadly caught unaware of plans of war as they nestle next to their loved ones… Ask anyone literally caught in the throes of people in power in any given country anywhere in the world… They trusted, as they slept silently, that all was well and right in their world… and then it was not… Horribly not. At one moment people are singing praises to God and then locked in their church and burned a lived…

This insanity that is happening worldwide is not what any average hard working person expected, (not that those at either end of the spectrum expect either)… But it’s not just within the world’s political scene. There is a lawlessness that is incomprehensible everywhere… Where what is totally evil is now renamed, repackaged and totally redefined and presented as good. From what is done to unborn children, to “consenting minors”, non-consenting minors, (those children that are trafficked), to young adults strung out fentanyl…

I sound like a pessimist… I am realist because my Hope is so not of this world. I do not wear rose colored glasses, but I have a Hope - JESUS.

So how does one enjoy life in the face of such unspeakable evil? Where is the JOY of the Lord that is my strength… I know I am weak folks… But when I am so… then my God is strongest in me and rises up. It is not me that people see, but Father God working through me to accomplish His plan, (a way better plan than I could ever come up with). It blows me totally away that Father would even bother to use me… I’ve been broken and found in the potter’s field and called His treasure… Unbelievable, I know… And Father God pieces me back together and repurposes this old broken soul… This is why He is God and I am not. 

This part starts my short rant: I stare at a blank canvas for some time before I make a mark… Not because I’m contemplating. I fearful from my past mess-ups… So why bother? See IF I were god - I’d see the mess-ups and say - that free-will stuff is for the birds… Those creatures called humans  - created in my image - totally screwed up… Scrap the project… See I’d be the god off in the corner of the universe happy by myself… Who needs their love? But I digress again!!! 🤷🏾‍♀️

I enJOY reading Father’s Word daily, throughout the day. I enJOY going for walks, talking to people that I meet - engaging in idle chit-chat. I enJOY looking at clouds, and birds, touching leaves, smelling the earth after a heavy rain. I enJOY being creative - doing art-ing, ( Father’s hand-over-hand with me ), and making sourdough bread … BUT then I think how can I enjoy anything when so many people are in such desperate straits… dying - and so many without the hope of Jesus… As a believer - this is my bottomline - to die without salvation is hell …and I make bread? I paint a pretty picture? I walk through fields of spongy clover - just moistened by summer rains? It’s such a paradox - something in contradiction to what is. But to live in a stoic state is not living in the JOY, in the abundant life that Jesus said we have despite circumstances - that are constantly changing.   

People go about their lives everyday unaware of the doom that will beset them… They either willingly believe a lie that nothing is wrong and so gaslight everyone who opposes their views or simply are truly unaware that life - is that bad. When something turns sours they play the blame game without realizing that the table and occupants seated around the table are in a constant state of change - while the game goes on… Same game just varying players - constantly. In politics you’ve heard it said - “left wing or right wing - the wings belong to the same one bird”. 

Are you getting my point?… My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus own righteousness… Jesus and the Hope of the good life IS only in HIM. Beloved this is not based upon what I think of Father God, but what I know of Father God from His Word. I’ve said it several times do NOT make Father God into a being that is like yourself, so likewise, far be it from me to tell you what I think about Him… This is why reading scripture for yourself is so important as well as praying = having conversations with Father God without ceasing, (listen more than talk). 

Yes, a day rarely passes without me praying, ‘Lord Jesus, come quickly’, (Revelation 22). I see no other Hope for this world - once perfect and beautiful - Paradise… most assuredly lost. We need Jesus’ intervention. We cannot fix this mess ourselves. We are not evolving into something better. Let me burst that bubble - Darwin was a lair… and there’s no Santa Claus nor Easter bunny - all these things are not of God folks. Do I want happy, joyous times… of course… But I will praise Father God even in the darkest of storms. Good times are indeed fleeting, so it best to know how to get back up once you fall, because we fall, fail faint… more than enjoy and appreciate the nice mountain tops… Set your eyes on Jesus. Stay focused. May I suggest listening to old hymns. They are rugged - those writers, (read their testimonies), went through some wretched storms and came out by the grace of God with Father’s Light shining for others… 

Read Father’s Word. Talk and listen for Him without ceasing. Sing hymns.

Jesus is coming soon… You’ve gotta tell someone… Plant a seed… Father brings the increase.

Soli Deo Gloria

Nina

Foraging today-Father’s provision 
Even in the city as I walk about…
Look at my God!

Something Old for June and Some Random Thoughts to Chew Upon

 

From 2023 and even now.

I have been thinking about what is prayer again. What battle are you facing in your life that requires powerful, meaningful prayer? In looking at my own prayers as they relate to God and what I "hear" and/or His response - I must simply listen. Prayer is a conversation between Father and the pray-er. Would you broadcast your private conversations between yourself and a friend?

And the asking for forgiveness... as a follower of Christ we know we are already forgiven - it is something really, that needs not to be "reviewed" constantly with God, (for myself, like a little child whose been caught being naughty; I want to make sure Father yet loves me, in spite of my disobedience - He still does!); but, it would be better we "confess", (and so honestly acknowledge them to ourselves), and so, go before God to seek out His guidance for a better, less sinful walk... Matthew 6 

Folks I’m just thinking aloud here… Needless to say, this is not gospel… Just an older lady thinking.

…and what does it mean to “Bless the Lord”.  Worship, honor, uplift, to consecrate, invoke favor, celebrate, thanking, approve of… These are all synonyms and the list is way longer…

In church people applaud… Lifting their hands towards Heaven where we seem to presume Father God is… but is He not, all around us?  And scripture says, in Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices, (gifts) of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” Actually, there are many Psalms that speak of “blessing” God, (please read them)… When we bless someone, it’s usually a gift that is given or support or special acknowledgement… So coming before Father with such a mindset of giving - what could we possibly give to God, but our broken hearts for Him to use for His glory. Father God wants His children Home with Him, so being useful - sharing the Hope and Glory - makes Him pleased - blessed. The closest analogy I can imagine is when - once upon a time - all my children were with me in church - I was always so happy/joy-filled having my babies seated around me, (I do long for this now…)… I know that Father desires all to come to Him, but sadly, not everyone will, but it is a gift/blessing that we can give to Father, sharing about Jesus’ sacrifice and love, so those who will come - will. 

Also, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12

What does that light look like coming from Christ followers, to the world? I think, it is not so much a physical appearance, but a behavior, a state of being. Is it that thing that sets you a part? Do you feel burden with something about you that causes others to shy away from you - and you don’t even know what it is, and so you may feel lonely… Remember, feelings are deceptive- you are a chosen son or daughter of the King - and so you do indeed look more and more like Him everyday, (and since Father God is Spirit then that look is a spiritual look). The world fears exposure and runs in the opposite direction away from the light… Sadly, the world - some believers included - prefer to believe a lie… A lie that only comes from the father of all lies… “You did the wrong thing,… You should have kept your mouth shut!,… You should never try, you’re only going to fail - again.,… You are alone, no one cares, no one sees what you do…” All seed lies beloved. Frankly speaking, I could write a book on the lies that I and other folks I’ve allowed to garden in my heart. Do NOT believe the lies… Seek Father in His Word and talk with Him - without ceasing. Like breathing - you can not live without doing it, so is the case with Father’s Word and time with Him. 

From 2023: I just had a thought . Isn't it interesting that God brings about major conquering changes by using sound? Remember at the walls of Jericho? The children of Israel had to shout after they marched around the walls seven times and there was another time when they had to break pots and so they won a battle because the folks were confused. There are other times but this is why I think the Rapture trumpet will be a pitch that only Father's children will hear... and so we will be translated in a twinkling of an eye...That loud and that fast... 😉

2024  God is so good... everyday! He gives one thing, (actually, He gives a ton), but we take it for something different or less and really it's something so much better. He alone takes death and says it's New Life!  A crazy paradox but with God -endless beautiful possibilities! 

2024 How do you think God gives us relief from our sin/sinful past? Especially since nothing is ever wasted… Father repurposes. Thanks be to Father God, He gives us a changed perspective on our behaviors… good and bad and changes them for His glory. We get a testimony… Also, lessons for others and/or lessons we get to re-learn when we forget… Seventy times seventy…

2025 What do you suppose when Father God is silent? When people I love are silent for whatever reason, I start assuming way too much - mainly thinking - what did I do wrong? However, in the case with Father God, I assume the same but sometimes I suppose there’s a lesson I’m missing… But, I just heard a thought - sometimes Father wants me to see what I would do…in His silence. It’s an opportunity for me to develop or grow my relationship with Him - Faith . It’s similar, (not the same), to when Father asked Adam, “Where are you?” Father God knew where Adam was, but Adam didn’t know his own state of mind, nor his own heart towards Father God… Perhaps IF Adam had given the question some deeper THOUGHT… Maybe, I wouldn’t be giving any thought to this question at all… 

Last thought… On dark and light: You know the darkness is as light to Father. He sees all that you do in the dark- but once again we put Father God in a box of our own making and say, “Oh God is like this-He is like me!” You do know what you do in the dark, but you pretend that you do nothing and that Father God, being like you, (this is a grave mistake- to make Father like us and so small and incapable of anything… but I digress…), can’t see what you pretend isn’t there. Father God can see into the dark and has no fear - He made that darkness - its cloak hides nothing from Father. Come out of the darkness into Father’s Light. 

One more thought, before posting - I had a silly thought but not so much… What if folks walked around with signs or stickers saying “Hello my name is”_____ (insert a characteristic), describing the type of people they are. Then I thought again - many people may never be spoken to because of their character and/or lack thereof. I thought about this because I’m going a trip by rails, (my preferred mode of travel), and I usually don’t engage people unless they start speaking with me… Once upon a time, (I’ve shared this in a past posting), I’ve been told I was very gullible aka lacked discernment… Hence, why I do tend to stay to myself - unless Father God prods me onward… But, with the use of handy character stickers - problem solved, right? But this is exactly why Father God allows us free will… We get to choose and figure life out our way -because of love… not because we know everything ahead of time… Father does not leave us alone, (and He alone knows everything about everybody). He is with us every step of the way and we get to choose His way or not. Think about it for a minute… He knows exactly what we are going to do - imagine how painful it is knowing everyone’s bad and hurtful decisions… So imagine knowing someone’s character and so never speaking to them, because he or she is that type of person. It’s kind of like stereotyping… In some cases some people never get the opportunity to show how different they are because of a sticker/stereotype… but your simple kind greeting or even just a smile at someone could make the difference to a self damming perception… Because people can CHANGE - thank God! It’s that choice thing! We do have free will to be our stickers or grow to be better, different,… and so get rid of the stickers. 

I take risk, even being an old bird; every day. For me I think this is what Father God wants me to do. It’s not lacking discernment, but trusting Father God to guide me to whom I should speak and share a thought with… No, I don’t take strangers home with me… anymore… Do I share the food I may have… yes. Do I take steps in faith… always… Of course, most people I think have me pegged as soon as they see me… I think. I pray that they see my Father’s Love… for this there should never be a sticker needed. 

Soli Deo Gloria, 

Happy Father’s Day ABBA 

Nina 🙃