In this season of the world’s groaning, I think it is absolutely essential to remind ourselves often about the mindset God desires to keep in the midst of all of it.
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, …”- God, Genesis 26:24
We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. 7 When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.[b] 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold. 14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord. 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram. 18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. 19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. 20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 23 So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. Psalm 106: 6-23
What are some things you are tempted to exchange God for?
THIS YEAR I AM GIVING MYSELF A CHALLENGE! ONE PHOTO EVERYDAY TAKEN FROM MY HOME. IF YOU WANT TO JOIN JUST TAKE A PHOTO IN OR AROUND YOUR HOME AND WRITE YOUR OWN BLOG AND POST THE LINK IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW IT.
This is John Lillie. He is one of our ancestors from the revolution. This portrait used to hang in my fathers restaurant. Now it is in its new home in my office.
We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. 7 When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.[b] 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold. 14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord. 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram. 18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. 19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. 20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 23 So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. Psalm 106: 6-23
What are wilderness and desert experiences good for?
We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. 7 When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.[b] 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold. 14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord. 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram. 18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. 19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. 20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 23 So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. Psalm 106: 6-23
Describe what a desert or wilderness experience is like.
My sister and I just got back from the grocery store. We have moved to shopping once every two weeks. We wear masks and sanitize everything before and after we touch it.
One of the things we have noticed is that the anxiety level of people (including us) has heightened dramatically during this new season of the world.
Into this new season I want to inject a sense of hope. So the fear not posts will be a series of sayings from the Bible and other sources directed to lift us out of fear and into hope.
“Do not be afraid, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” -God Ge. 15:1
THE WEEKLY SMILE is a challenge I have not participated in for quite a while. I came across it this week and something just grabbed m,e and said, “You must do this.” So here I am smiling with Trent this week.
Here are a list of the rules. You can click the link above to see who else smiled with Trent and what they all had to smile about.
Don’t make your smile about something mean or hateful. Keep negativity out of it.
Don’t make your smile discriminate against anyone for race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, primary language, disability, illness, etc. You know the routine.
Try to keep violence out of it. If some selfless hero helps some people during a time of violence, sure, use that. If a family member received an honor for a wartime action, OK. Celebrating a person is fine, just don’t glorify the actual violence.
Keep politics out of it. Your uncle won an election? That’s something to smile about! You met a high profile politician? Sure, that is too. You want to have a political rant? Please do it elsewhere.
Careful with religion. You might smile about a religious service or something else that had a deep meaning to you, but don’t condemn other people’s religion or try to convert everyone. Keep it your personal experience.
Most people reading are adults. We can handle most of what you want to write. But please, if you wouldn’t want your 12 year old son or daughter reading it, you might not want to post it. Try for PG-13 instead of XX
Here is my smile for the week:
My family always makes me smile. We are a funny group of people. My son says often that the whole family is fluent in two languages: English and sarcasm. That would mean my daughter-in-law is fluent in five languages now (she’s a smarty).
Joe and Kristine are newleyweds, married in January. I was so privileged to go and be a part of their wedding in The Philippines. When they got married both of them knew that the start of their marriage was going to take work. Both of them have contracts in different parts South Korea which require them to live separately until they can find work in the same area. While that seemed difficult they both felt it was workable and something inside them told them it was necessary.
Of course, what no one knew was that they were going to return to a country going into lock down. Joe and Kristine were kept apart for over a month after they returned to South Korea by the travel bans opposed.
They are able to travel to each other on weekends now which both of them are very glad of. Joe and I were talking about the timing of their wedding the other night. How providential it all was. Had they married the weekend before their chosen date, most of the guests would have been hindered from coming by the Taal Volcano.
Had they gotten married even a week later we all might have gotten stuck in The Philippines or turned away at the airport as The Philippines began to turn away travelers from mainland Asia the very day Joe and Kristine left to go back to South Korea. Had they waited until their current work contracts expired and they could move closer to each other the wedding may not have happened at all as many wedding plans have now been kiboshed indefinitely by our world wide pandemic. The divine providence behind their choices makes me smile big! Big! BIG!!
We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. 7 When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.[b] 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold. 14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord. 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram. 18 Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. 19 At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. 20 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 23 So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. Psalm 106: 6-23
Why do you think so many of us have trouble waiting for God’s plan to unfold?
Lillie-Put 