Leadership

Why I Cook on High

With the smoke alarm blaring the girls would all chime in; “Moms cooking again.”

This was the running joke in our home for years.

With my children now in their thirties and multiple grandchildren around, unfortunately they too know that when the smoke alarm goes off at Nana’s house it’s not a big deal, it just means she’s cooking.

Recently I was teaching the 180 Program and had an epiphany as to why I always have cooked on high.

In my teen years, life to me seemed to always be in turmoil. It felt like I was constantly walking on eggshells. You see in any given twenty-four-hour period; I never knew what would happen when it came to my stepdad’s mood and therefore the atmosphere of the home.

For example, if I was given permission to do something on a Friday night, I would do everything in my power to stay out of the presence of my stepdad all week.  If our paths did cross, I would quickly excuse myself from the situation and if that wasn’t possible, I would say the least number of words so it couldn’t be used against me or trigger a tornado to spawn.

When the day of the event would come, I would be as quiet as a church mouse and primarily spend the day in my room.

Watching from my bedroom window, I would wait, not so patiently I might add, for the person to arrive in my driveway.

As soon as I spotted the vehicle, I would as quickly and quietly as possible dart down the hallway. If my stepdad happened to be up and depending upon where he was positioned, I would purposefully take the opposite route to get down the flight of stairs and out the door.

To be truthful how I never went tumbling down the flight of stairs to the landing is truly a testament of God’s mercy. You see this flight of stairs were merely 2×8 piece of lumber and open on both ends. There was no banister let alone a handle. One misstep to the left and I would have landed on the concrete basement floor after another flight of stairs broke my fall. On the other side, one wrong step to the right and I would have landed directly on the basement floor from about 7 feet up.

I was almost free; I hadn’t heard my name yet. A turn of the door handle and I was gone.

“Not so fast. Where do you think you are going?”

So, what does this have to do with cooking on high and my latest epiphany.

I learned very quickly that for me to be allowed to do anything and finish it, I had to do it quickly so as not to be stopped.

Cooking on high was just a manifestation of my learned behavior that you do it as fast as you can, so you get to do it. The challenge for me is that it’s not just about cooking. That’s just the one that gets the most attention because it has an alarm attached to it.  

When my husband has an idea to do something, he takes what I see as too much time preparing, when in fact he could just do it. I feel he is losing out and maybe even missing out. Me not so much. I jump in and let the chips fall where they may. For most of my adult life I have used a Type A personality, Go-Getter, 1st born as my excuse, when in fact, it’s a learned behavior that needs to be changed. What I learned from my childhood was the least number of steps and preparation at least allowed me a chance to accomplish what I was scheduled to do.

Unfortunately, this type of thinking made me find systems to be a four-letter bad word. They bog me down and almost paralyze me in thinking I won’t be able to get to the next item, especially if I must follow a procedure. To me the more steps were more chances that someone could tell me; “You don’t get to do that”.

Understand that this stepfather is in my past, he hasn’t been a part of my life for more than three decades. Even though I know that fact, for some reason, I have never seen it as a fear that I won’t be able to do something because he said so. It is only because of my recent epiphany that I am now totally realizing my need to work through this stronghold in my life that I never knew I had because for years it was categorized as: Type A, First Born. Go-Getter. Driven. I didn’t realize cooking on high and setting off the smoke detector multiple times a week was a bigger problem than just wanting to get dinner on the table faster.

So, what’s next.

As I finish out 2023 and enter 2024 this newfound flaw in my life, business and personal, will be something I work on diligently to get new patterns established. I will also take what I am learning and apply it to goal setting, which is another blog for another day.

If any of this struck a chord or you feel you need help getting off the ferris wheel called “it’s just the way it is”, lets talk.

Daniel Part 1

Even though the book of Daniel is in the Old Testament and written in approximately 536 B.C It has been called the Prelude to Revelations.  

Daniel was taken into captivity as a teen and he writes not only about what happens but also future events that are still to take place.  It is assumed that Daniel had been around 90 years old when he penned this book. As you read through Daniel you will see God’s divine providence because of Daniel’s obedience, as well the consequences given by God for disobedience by others.

Even though Daniel is only twelve chapters, I don’t recommend reading it in one sitting. I also recommend having a journal nearby to write down all the details of Daniel’s dreams and the dreams he interrupts. You may have grown up with the story of Daniel and the Lions Den or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but did you know they had given names from their home country of Judah? There are a lot of details to take in, so read Daniel in short segments.

Daniel starts when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon went to Jerusalem via Palestine to capture Judah. In verse two, here is one of the nuggets of God keeping His promise for disobedience.  

And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.

Deuteronomy 28 and 30 clearly laid out the rules, the rewards for obedience and the punishment for disobedience.

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

The chapter goes on for the next twelve verses of blessings for obedience. Starting in verse fifteen though,

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

The next fifty four verses put in black and white what will happen if you are disobedient.

Chapter thirty of Deuteronomy talks about when all these blessings and curses had come on them and they take them to heart, they and their children return to the Lord and obey Him with all their heart and souls according to everything they had been commanded, then the Lord would restore them.

This is why I say take the book of Daniel slow, this was just from the first two verses.

Still in chapter one verse six you see that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were chosen based upon the king’s orders to find young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. They were also assigned daily food and wine from the king’s table and were trained for three years. Daniel asked if he could refrain from the king’s food so as to not defile himself, but instead eat vegetables. The chief official allowed (only because the Lord had intervened and caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel) for ten days and then compared the four young men to the rest of the group.

It’s not that there was necessarily a problem with the king’s food, but as an Isrealite there may have been meat offered to idols and or meat forbidden by the Law of Moses. Seeing there were no unclean vegetables, the young men chose to go with a vegetarian diet. This is also where we get the “Daniel Fast” from.

You also may be asking who is Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah? Their new names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Daniel was given the name of Belteshazzar.

By the time their training was over they entered the king’s service and in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. (vs 20)

Now on to chapter two. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. He calls before him all the astrologers, magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers. He wants them to interpret the dream but the catch is, he won’t tell them what the dream was about. Nebuchadnezzar even says that if they can’t tell him what it means he will cut them into pieces and turn their homes into rubble. (vs 5)

Because they all said no human could do what he had asked, the king made a decree to execute all the wise men. As the order was being carried out Daniel, speaking with wisdom and tact, asked why the harsh punishment? Daniel then went before the king asking for time to interpret the dream.

Being given a reprieve, Daniel went back to his home, and urged his three friends to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning the mystery. That night God answered Daniel in a vision, and the first thing Daniel did was praise God. What I call the “praise prayer” can be found in verses 20-23.

The rest of chapter two starts with Daniel explaining that no man can interpret the dream, but the God of heaven can reveal mysteries. Then he proceeds to tell Nebuchadnezzar what the dream was and its meaning. Nebuchadnezzar then falls before Daniel, and said, “surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kinds and a revealer of mysteries.” Because God gave Daniel the vision, now he has been made ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all the wise men. Daniel requested that Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon while Danile remained at the royal court. (vs 48-49)

Just that quick chapter three starts with Nebuchadnezzar making an image of gold and set it for all to see. He then summoned all the officials to its dedication. Loudly the king proclaimed that when you heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music you must fall down and worship the image of gold. The music was played and as you can guess, there were three that did not bow. Some of the astrologers went to the king and tattled. Furious he summoned Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego to be brought before him. Questioned as to why they would not bow and given the punishment, their response was, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar, furious, ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter. The three were tied up and thrown into the blazing furnace. It was so hot that the flames killed the guards that threw them in.

Now if you know the story nothing happened to Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego. And actually a fourth person was in the fire with them, the preincarnate Christ. King Nebuchadnezzar called for them to come out and made a decree that no one was allowed to say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego. If they did, they would be cut to pieces and their homes turned to rubble.

Chapter four starts with King Nebuchadnezzar having a dream, Belteshazzar, (Daniel) is called in to interpret it. Even with a warning as to what’s going to happen the king says while on the roof of the royal palace, “is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

God, true to His word, immediately fulfilled what He told would happen. By the end of the chapter, once again Nebuchadnezzar was praising the Most High. I find verse 37 as a warning to all who feel they have everything because of their own hands.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

The one thing that I want to bring attention to as we close out chapter four is that many are like Nebuchadneszzar. We watch God over and over provide miraculously and we may even profess that He is God, but that doesn’t alway equate to possession of a personal relationship with Him.

It has been sixty-six years since chapter one and chapter five starts with a new king, by the name of Belshazzar. Again by verse two the king has done something he shouldn’t have and has offended God. Verse two also tells us that Nubuchadnezzar was Belshazaar’s father even though his father was actually Nabonidus. This word in Hebrew means father, but is only used nine times and each time it means ancestor.

During this banquet that the king was putting on he had summoned for the gold and silver goblets that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem. As they drank from them, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. (vs 5-6)

Just like Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar calls for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. They could not tell him what it said. The Queen, hearing the voices, went to the banquet hall. We know that she would not have been his wife because in verse two it told us that his wives and concubines were with him. So this Queen would have been a queen-mother. Her respect for Daniel is evident from her language. It appears that her position she held was one of influence, for it appears that her advice was accepted.

Daniel is called in, but before he tells Belshazzar what the writing on the wall says, he starts in with a history lesson of the man Belshazzar keeps referring to as his father and what God did to him until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on hear and sets over them anyone he wishes. Read carefully verses 18- 24.

Daniel finishes with, 
“Therefore he (God) sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

That night, Belshazzar was killed.

Chapter six you see we have a new king, Darius the Mede. It is believed that Daniel is now approximately eighty years old and working with those who did not believe in his God. Even through all this, he distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. The others were jealous and knew Daniel wouldn’t do anything to violate God’s law, so they went to the king to set a trap. Once again the decree had to do with worshiping the king. Daniel learned of the decree and what did he do?

…he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Because of the disregard to the decree he was brought before King Darius, and even though Darius did everything he could to try and save Daniel, Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den.

Darius’s last words were, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

The stone was placed at the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. It is recorded that Darius returned to the palace, spent the night without eating nor entertainment and he didn’t sleep. At first light, he hurried to the lions’ den,

“has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

Daniels response:
“My God sent His angel and he shut the mouths of the lions”.

The phrase of His angel is only used twice in the old testament and both times it is in Daniel. Many will say it was a preincarnate Christ.

As you finish chapter six you will see that those who came up with the plan to trap Daniel were then thrown into the lion’s den along with their wives and children. Their fate was not so lucky, as God did not shut the mouths of the lions. This was actually a Persian custom. The punishment was transferred to those who had conspired against the king by provoking him into an unjust action. This also happened in the book of Esther.

You will also see that a decree was issued that in every part of Daius’s kingdom people must fear and revere the God of Daniel.

We are not done with the reign of Darius but chapter seven backtracks and chronologically it comes before chapter five.  The first six chapters of Daniel present history; the last six chapters are visions relating mainly to the future, hence the prelude to Revelation.

Because chapters seven through twelve are intense chapters we want to look at those separately. I hope you enjoyed this overview on the first part of Daniel and you have enjoyed reading it with a new perspective.

Genesis part 2

Before we pick up part 2 of the Genesis Overview lets review. The first 2000 years included: creation, disobedience, getting kicked out of paradise and the first murder. Then we find God truly upset with mankind, but Noah is found righteous. God gives him exact plans on how to build a big boat, but the catch; only Noah, his wife, their 3 boys and their wives are the only humans allowed on. After the flood, Abram (Abraham) has now lied about who his wife is to spare his life. His wife Sarai (Sarah) takes matters into her own hands because she feels God’s promise (I will make you a great nation Genesis 12) won’t happen if she doesn’t help. I have to admit, I am guilty of helping God along as well, and just like in Sarai’s case, it didn’t end well. Finally, Sarah gave Abraham a son at the age of ninety.  I know much more happened: The Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, and God providing the ram for the sacrifice, my prayer is that you will go back and want to study God’s Word for yourself. 

Picking up our overview in Chapter 24. Isaac is now forty years old (Genesis 25:20) and Abraham is asking for his head senior servant to make an oath. Abraham calls him in and asks the servant to put his hand under his thigh to make a promise to find Issac a wife. This promise came with specific requirements.  The wife was not to come from the Canaanites. The servant needed to go back to Abraham’s country where his own relatives lived. The servant was also told that under no circumstances could Isaac go there. If the servant couldn’t be successful without Isaac going, the servant was released from the oath. To give you an idea of the legality of the servant taking this oath by putting his hand under Abraham’s thigh, in today’s society, he would have to sign his name on a legal document, certified and signed in front of a notary. And luckily we see in Genesis 24, the servant was successful and brought back Rebekah. 

Rebekah and Isaac had been married for approximately 20 years (Genesis 25:20 &26) when she finally became pregnant after Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife. During the pregnancy the babies jostled each other within her (25: 22). Rebekah inquired of the Lord. The Lord told her that two nations were within her womb, that they will be separated, and the older will serve the younger. The story of the twins can be found in Genesis 25 to the beginning of chapter 28. Their story is filled with favoritism and deceit just to name a few. In the very beginning of the story Esau thinks he is going to die, so he sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. (Genesis 25;33). 

In Chapter 26, there was a famine. God tells Isaac to move to a land and stay there. Verse 3 God says, “stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and bless you.” Even when Isaac has God’s blessing he still does the same as his father did which was lie about who his wife was. Isaac told the people that Rebekkah was his sister, so that his life might be spared. Abraham, his father did it as well in chapter 12. In the rest of the chapter we see God’s favor on Issac, but not before another dispute.

By Genesis 27, Jacob and Esau are forty years old. Esau has taken a Hittite as a wife, which became a source of grief for Isaac and Rebekah because she was a pagen, not of Jewish descent. Isaac is also around 100 years old, the age his father was when he was born.  Following the story of Jacob and Esau into chapter 28, you will find a wife plotting so that her favorite son gets the blessing. When Issac realizes he has been deceived, “he trembled violently” (verse 33). 

Esau is so angry that he vows to kill Jacob after Isaac is dead. Upon being told of Esau’s plot, Rebekah told Jacob to go live with her brother Laban in Harran, but to make it look like it was Isaacs idea she went to him and said, “I am disgusted with living because of the Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from HIttite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” (vs 48)

We begin chapter 28 with Isaac calling for Jacob, blessed him and commanded him to leave and find a wife among the daughters of Laban. When Esau learned of this, and how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father, he went to Ishmael (Isaac’s older half brother) and married the sister of Ishmael’s daughter in hopes that this would please his father and mother. Chapter 28 finishes with God speaking to Jacob and Jacob making the faith in God, his own. Chapter 29 is the story of how Jacob worked for seven years for Rachel but Laban gave him Leah instead because she was the oldest. Jacob loved Rachel so she worked another seven years for her. Again, we find ourselves in the midst of deceit, barrenness, and true love. 

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved He enabled her to conceive and Rachel remained childless. Leah thought that because she gave him a son, Jacob would love her, but unfortunately that was not the case. With every son, she was hoping that Jacob would love her. 

After Leah had four sons, she stopped having children and somehow Rachel thought her non child bearing was Jacob’s fault. Chapter 30 starts with Rachel telling Jacob to give her children or she’ll die. Jacob became angry and gave a great response. “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”  Then just like her father-in-law’s mother (Sarah) her response was, take matters into her own hands and give her husband her servant. What happens? She has a son and Rachel says that God has vindicated her. Then the servant has another son, and Rachel states she has won the struggle she had with her sister (verse 8), 

Leah, seeing she was no longer conceiving, gave her servant to her husband Jacob and she too conceived not once but twice but the rivalry between the sisters didn’t end there. In chapter 30, Rachel sells the right to sleep with Jacob to Leah. What happens? Two more sons and a daughter. Finally it is Rachel’s time to actually give birth to a son, Joseph. 

The story continues with more rivalry, this time between Jacob and Laban, his father-in-law, and it all started because Jacob wanted to leave with all that he had and return to his homeland. Chapter 31 God intervenes again and tells Jacob to go home and that He would be with him but Laban goes after him. Again God intervenes in a dream and Laban, in the end kisses his grandchildren and daughters and sends them on their way, but only after Jacob lays out his twenty years of frustration. 

Now Jacob is preparing to meet Esau. He sends many gifts ahead of the meeting thinking this will pacify Esau.  Jacob gets word that Esau is coming with 400 men. Jacob, in preparation  moves his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons across the stream. Then he sent across his possessions.  That evening  Jacob wrestled with a “man,” and by daybreak, the “man” had changed Jacob’s name to Israel because he had struggled with God and with humans and had overcome. (Genesis 32:28) The exchange goes on and Jacob realizes he has seen God face to face and his life was spared. (vs 30) 

Jacob sees Esau coming and in fear of retaliation he divides up his children among the women and he walks ahead and bowed down as he approached, but Esau ran to meet Jacob, embraced him and kissed him. There they wept. This was an amazing story of redemption as Jacob keeps calling him lord and that he was his servant. 

As the journey continues in chapter 34, you will read about the rape of Jacobs only daughter Dinah and how her brothers get revenge. But by chapter 35 God has asked them to move again, cleanse themselves and rid themselves of all foreign gods. It was also during this time that Rachel became pregnant and died after giving birth to Benjamin and Rueben (Leah’s oldest son) slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid servant, who is the mother to his half brothers, Dan and Naphtali. 

The end of Genesis (chapters 37-50) is the story of Joseph, Rachel’s first born and it is written that he was also the son that Israel loved most. Israel made Joseph an ornate robe (coat of many colors) and this proved to the others that he was loved more. One of Joseph’s first problems was that he had dreams and told his brothers about them. (Genesis 37: 5-9)

Joseph not only told his brothers but he also told his father who rebuked him, but kept it in mind, but the brothers were jealous and plotted to kill him. Luckily for Joseph, Ruben had a conscience and didn’t want him killed and actually came up with the plan of putting him in a cistern so he could rescue him. By the time he came back, the other brothers had sold Joseph to  a band of Ishmaelites. They took his coat, ripped it and covered it with blood from a slaughtered goat to make it look like he was attacked by a ferocious animal. At this point Jacob has torn his own clothes and swore to mourn until the day he joined his son in the grave. 

At this time Judah (Leah’s son) has grown up and moved on. He is married and has 3 sons. The first son is wicked in the sight of God, so he is put to death but at that time he was married and culturally the next son should take his deceased brother’s place to produce an heir. He takes that role but because he doesn’t get her pregnant (Genesis 38:10) he too is put to death by the Lord. Judah promises Tamar, his daughter-in-law, the youngest when he is older. She is to go home to her fathers house.  Judah doesn’t want to lose his last son, so he never sends him. The chapter goes on to say that a long time has passed and Judah is done mourning the death of his wife. Tamar is told about her father-in-law coming to the area, so she dresses as a prostitute, sleeps with him and gets pregnant. She is smart though, as a pledge for payment Judah gives her his seal, chord, and staff.  When it is found out she is pregnant, being burned to death is her punishment. She is brought before Judah where she reveals who the father is.  Judah’s response can be found in verse 26 of chapter 38. And the reason this story of Genesis is important, is because Tamar is one of the women mentioned in Jesus’s lineage. (Matthew 1:3)

Now to finish out the rest of Genesis and the story of Joseph and where the phrase many love to quote. “What you meant for harm, God intended for good.”  (Genesis 50:20) The Ishmaelites sold Joseph to Potipher an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials. Through no wrong doing of Joseph,  he was thrown in prison (Genesis 39) but the Lord had favor shown to him and he was put in charge of the prisoners. The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did (vs 23).

Starting in chapter 40, Joseph, at age of 30, because of God’s favor in interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams Joseph was put in charge of all Egypt. The famine was great in all the land, but because of the dreams Pharaoh had and Joseph interpreting, Egypt was prepared. It was during this time that Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for food. They didn’t recognize him, and  instead of holding a grudge, Joseph showed favor. (Genesis 40-47)

Genesis 49, “Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.”  As we finish our look at Genesis, the ultimate in not holding a grudge.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20

Genesis Overview – part 1



Genesis may be the first book you come to when you open up your Bible, but did you know that Job was actually written approximately five hundred years before, around the time Joseph (from chapters 37:1 through 50:26) was dying? Genesis was written by Moses, when he was between 76 and 116 years old. Not only did he write Genesis, but he also wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Number and most of Deuteronomy was also and during the same time period. These five books are also known as the Pentateuch and were all written around 1450-1410.

Genesis starts with God creating the world and everything in it in six days. The first three chapters not only cover the creation of man and woman in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and everything in it, it also includes what is known as the “Fall of Man.” God bans man from the garden for his disobedience and by chapter four, we have our first sibling rivalry and murder. By chapter 6 God has had it with the world. Starting in verse 5, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth and His heart was greatly troubled.” If you take the time to add up the ages of descendants, we can figure that starting with Adam in chapter 1 and ending with Noah and the flood, was approximately 1600-1700 years.

When I think that in six chapters, God has created everything in the world, including man and woman and has completely gotten flabbergasted with what He created, because they were evil, I start to really thank Him that in chapter 8 He says “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” He then adds in chapter 9, I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” I love it when rainbows come out after a rainstorm. It is a wonderful reminder of God’s promises all those thousands of years ago.

Chapters 11 through 25 find once again man and woman taking matters in their own hands and not waiting on the promise that He gave. This time the promise was in the form of an heir. In these chapters you will be introduced to Abram and Sarai. God has called Abram to leave his family. The promise is that God will make him a great nation. (Genesis 12:2) Abram at age 75 did as God instructed and took off for another land. In verse 7 of chapter 12 it says that God appeared to Abram and told him that his offspring would get this land. You would think everything was great but just a few short verses later, Abram is telling Sarai to lie and say she is his sister, so they would live. (Chapter 12:10-20)

After getting out of that situation, in Chapter 13, The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.

The Lord not only told Abram about the promise once again, but He reiterated it again in chapter 15, but by the next chapter Sarai has had it waiting for God and took matters into her own hands because she is old and has no children, so therefore no heir, that God keeps talking about. Sarai gives to Abram her maidservant, Hagar and she gets pregnant and has a son. Abram is 86 years old at this time. It has already been 11 years since God originally gave the promise to Abram, and Sarai is tired of waiting, but then she gets mad at the situation and tells Abram it is his fault.

You would have hoped that God would have taken pity and sped up His timeline but no. He had Sarai, who has now had a name change to Sarah and Abram became Abraham (Genesis 17) wait another 13 years to have her very own son (chapter 21). Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born. We finish the story of Abraham with God seeking to see who he loved more. Isaac or God? Read Genesis 22. In Chapter 23, not only is Sarah’s death reported, but her age is as well. Sarah is the only woman to have her age recorded in the Bible. Most scholars agree that it was given to show the miraculous power of God and His promise.

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. Hebrews 11:11

Think about all that has happened and we are only half way through Genesis and we have covered over 2000 years.

Jude

In September 2021, Christian Post wrote an article and I wanted to share a few statistics from it.  

176 Million  American adults who identify as a Christian just 6% actually hold a biblical worldview. 

A biblical worldview  means that every decision and action is shaped by the Truth that was from the beginning—Jesus Christ.

What is scary about the other 94% can be summed up by this statement from George Barna, the lead researcher at the Cultural Research Center.  

 “’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.”

Here are some other stats that I want to look at before we get into the book of Jude. 

  • 62% of self-identified born-again Christians contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence or purity.
  • 61% say that all religious faiths are of equal value.
  • 60% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into Heaven.
  • But of those who are part of the 6% that hold to the Biblical Worldview:
  • 25% say there is no absolute moral truth.
  • 33% believe in karma.
  • 39% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity;
  • 42% believe that having faith matters more than which faith you pursue;
  • 52% argue that people are basically good. —

Jude may be the smallest book of the Bible with only one chapter and twenty-five verses, but I feel it needs to be read regularly as part of a healthy walk with our Lord, especially seeing that even the 6% of those who call themselves Christians and believe in a Biblical worldview, are still allowing the world to dictate their belief system. 

Jude has been equated to that buzzing from not wearing your seatbelt. It gets so irritating you find a way to have it disabled. Or the constant chirping of the smoke detector. Instead of trying to figure out why it’s constantly making the noise,  you disable it all together, because it’s just annoying. So we just gloss over what Jude has to say.

Who was Jude? Did you know that he was Jesus’s half brother? Verse 1 says: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Paul writes in Galatians 1:19 I saw none of the other apostles- only James, the Lord’s brother.

It is said that Jude was written between the years 65-80 A.D, This is only 65- 80 years after Jesus was born and Jesus would have only been gone from this earth, 32-47 years. So what does that mean for us as believers almost 2000 years later?  

In 2 Timothy 4, Paul warns Timothy:

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

I think the warnings you will read about in Jude, need to be examined closely in today’s church and the life of a Christian. 

After Jude introduced who he was, and did you notice he left out he was Jesus’s brother? Jude  immediately stated that although he was eager to write about salvation they all shared, he felt compelled to write instead about contending for their faith. 

I think the fact that Jude was not actually written to a specific church, but to a people group,  Jewish Christians, speaks volumes that there is much we can learn from his letter. Jude immediately calls out and says that there are those who have secretly slipped in and are ungodly perverting the grace of our God into a license for immortality and deny Jesus.

Once again Jude goes into “I know you already know this..” and gives three examples that they would have known about.. 

The first is where the Isrealites, although they had been delivered from Egypt, refused to trust God and enter the promised land. Numbers 14:26-39 

The second example is about the angels who did not keep their positions and God put them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment. 2 Peter 2:4

And thirdly Jude used the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19

So we are now eight verses in and Jude says “In the same way…..” 

As I was studying this section of verses one thing that stood out to me was that with Michael, the Archangel while disputing with the devil. It says that Michael did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said “The Lord rebuke you!”  As I studied that further it struck me how we have become nonchalant when it comes to satan. Many say, myself included, “I know how the story ends and satan is defeated.” As true of a statement that is, we still have to get to the end times and before that time, we need to NOT take satans supernatural powers of evil lightly and not become arrogant about how defeated he will be. Even though he will be destroyed  completely, we need to remember that until that time, his job is to render Christians complacent and ineffective. And if he was already using people in 70 AD think how much more he is using people today. 

Verse 11, once again starts by mentioning events from the Old Testament. They have taken the way of Cain. If you remember from Genesis 4 Cain got mad because when he brought an offering before the Lord, it wasn’t looked favorably on but Able, his brother, was from the fattened and first born of the flock. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Jude then said they rushed for profit into Balaam’s error. Numbers 22 tells the story how Balaam inquired of the Lord, and when those who were requesting his help didn’t like the answer, Balaam inquired again. The Lord allowed him to go, but got very upset, and this is where the talking donkey comes in. 

The verse ends with “they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellions.”  Numbers 16 tells of this story and how the people had risen against Moses and here is God’s answer. 

As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart  and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.

In verse 12 Jude talks about “Love Feasts” and shepherds that only feed themselves. When this was written the Lord’s Supper was celebrated with a full meal prior to communion. The meal was called a “Love Feast”, it was a sacred time of fellowship to prepare one’s heart for Communion. Unfortunately it had turned into a time of gluttony and drunkenness, while many in the area were hungry.  In regards to shepherds who only feed themselves, once again in the Old Testament there was a warning for this as well. Ezekiel 34. 

‘You shepherds of Israel have only been feeding yourselves. It will be very bad for you! Why don’t you shepherds feed the flock? 

You have not made the weak strong. You have not cared for the sick sheep. You have not put bandages on the sheep that were hurt. Some of the sheep wandered away, and you did not go get them and bring them back. You did not go to look for the lost sheep. No, you were cruel and severe—that’s the way you tried to lead the sheep! “‘And now the sheep are scattered because there was no shepherd. 

 “I am against the shepherds. I will demand my sheep from them. I will fire them. They will not be my shepherds anymore.”

Strong words from the Lord and remember even though this is Old Testament, and it isn’t relevant for today, Jesus said this in Matthew, 

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17

And Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Then Enoch is used as an example. Enoch actually never died. He was walking with the Lord and then he wasn’t (Genesis 5:24, he was 365 years old) 

In the last nine verses of Jude, he is asking the recipients of this letter to fight for God’s truth until Jesus comes back. He warns, just like Paul does in many of his writings, to be mindful in the last days there will be those who follow their own ungodly desires. They will divide the church, they will follow natural instincts and won’t be led by the Spirit, which according to the article mentioned at the beginning, 39% of those who have a Biblical worldview, don’t believe that the Holy Spirit, part of the Trinity, but not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity;

But 2 Corinthian 1:21-22 says: Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

And as Jude closes out his letter, he states

 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

We need to remember it is only through standing firm in the Lord, through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can stand firm. 

Do You Know the Shepherd’s Voice

Good deeds proper worship

Good Deeds

During my study today in Revelation, it was talking about how all our prayers are incense.

Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people

It cross referenced Psalms which was talking about how we worship

I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

This then took me to 1 Timothy chapter 2 where Paul is talking about how men and women are to worship.

Therefore, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

The last part…but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God really spoke to me especially as I have been scrolling Facebook lately.

There have been many posts over the last few months that were related to “since Covid we haven’t gotten our hair or nails done.”  There have even posts that said something to the effect “couldn’t wait to get back in “so and so’s chair” so they could fix our mess.

Please hear me, there is nothing wrong with getting hair and nails done.

But the more I have scrolled it has saddened me how far many have derailed from the truth of scripture. How we have allowed the past 5 months’ tear friends and families apart? The anger. The loss of hope. And just that quickly we now don’t trust each other.

What convicted me was, “appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”

Here we are in the middle of August. We don’t even love our friends who sat next to us in church anymore.  They are the enemy.  The news has become our only source of hope and truth.

Decades ago when I was just beginning my walk in the church, and I say walk in the church because I know now that it was just a lifestyle because where I lived it was a way of life and what was expected, I remember stumbling over the scripture in Matthew 7,

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a FEW find it. (emphasis mine)

Everyone I knew went to church. Everyone I knew was a “Christian”. How could only a FEW find it? But after watching 2020, with church buildings being shut down, John 10 scares me for many who like me years ago, went to church, followed a dynamic speaker, and found my fellowship with other church goers who adorned themselves with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls and or expensive clothes, but when push came to shove, there weren’t any good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

I am afraid many are running to the stranger’s voice because they truly don’t know the Shepherd’s.

Learning to Waltz, Learning to be Led

I was learning to Waltz, but I was also learning to be led

A few years ago, Rob and I were invited to take a dance class and part of the package was a private lesson.

On that particular Monday we showed up ready to learn the Waltz. Philip, our instructor, not only showed us the proper posture but he went on to explain “the why” behind it. The lesson didn’t go as planned.

The next day as I was reading, praying and asking God for guidance, I had an AHA moment.

The Waltz:

The man leads.

He applies pressure to the shoulder area of the back and off you go….

BUT….

The women doesn’t just follow, because she is always going backwards. She has to trust the male to lead.

The male is dancing them gracefully in and around the dance floor and the women’s part? TRUST his direction.

Right?  Well that’s not all.

The other part is, ONENESS.

As the man is leading, in order to turn, you will switch feet.  The woman needs to be one with the male or there will be clumsiness, and fumbling.

They can get back in sync but they may have to stop and start over.

As a person who has the personality of take charge, let me do it, and I’ll figure it out as I go, the Waltz was not easy for me. I was always wanting to take over. But that was not the way the Waltz was intended.

I feel like my relationship with God is like doing the Waltz… He is leading. I have to trust. I have to remember that He can see the end game, I can not.

But if I am not spending time with God, how will I know the trust part. How will I be in sync with what He is doing, twirling me around the picture of Bible open with Bible Study paperworkdance floor called life.

I won’t get graceful on the dance floor if I don’t practice, and the same goes for my “Waltz” with The Lord.

If I don’t take time to learn, read, grow, pray and practice, I will always be fumbling, trying to take the lead, thinking I know best and never becoming the person God created me to be.

How’s your “Waltz” coming?

 

Is God trying to get our attention?

Over the past few weeks, churches have had to reimagine church in order to bring the church to their congregation.

Many have wondered what will happen when we get back to “normal”.

Will congregations grow or will they diminish?

Will people realize they like watching church in their PJ’s and not return to the physical church?

As I was praying, God reminded me of a blog I had read, well actually a couple of them. I went back and did a search but couldn’t find the exact one. It was Thom Rainer’s top trends for the following year, and it said small community churches would make a comeback. 

What I did find were these blogs.

July 8, 2019

WHY SMALLER CHURCHES ARE MAKING A COMEBACK

Thom Rainer wrote:

Smaller churches are poised to make a comeback.
I’m serious. I see too many signs and indicators to believe otherwise.

December 30, 2019, Thom Rainer wrote in his blog Seven Trends for churches in 2020

So far, my prediction accuracy rate has been almost 90 percent, depending on how long you allow the trend to become a reality.
For me, three years is the timeframe by which I usually judge my accuracy.

As I continued my search for the blog I was looking for I found this one, also written by Thom Rainer, The Healthy Church in 2020: Ten major changes in ten years, dated June 10, 2019, written many months before the virus hit America.

The digital church will be clearly defined. Today, we debate about the digital church. Is the online church really a church?
By 2029, healthy churches will have settled that issue. I anticipate the digital church will be viewed as a vital and complementary component to the in-person church.

Well, I would say we are 9 years ahead of that prediction.

So when we get back to normal what have you learned and what will you change?

Is it a great time to get rid of systems that were in place because “that’s the way we have always done it”?

Last Sunday, March 22, 2020, was a test of the internet as churches everywhere scrambled to bring services into the homes of their congregations.

One pastor wrote:

“Today has been called “The day the Church broke the internet.”‬

He went on to say

‪”Here’s something else to consider. JESUS said …‬
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).‬”

With the hashtag

‪#BeReady ‬

Right after that, I saw this posted:

“In three short months, just like He did with the plagues of Egypt, God has taken away everything we worship. God said, “you want to worship athletes, I will shut down the stadiums. You want to worship musicians, I will shut down Civic Centers.  You want to worship actors, I will shut down theaters. You want to worship money, I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You don’t want to go to church and worship Me, I will make it where you can’t go to church”

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Maybe we don’t need a vaccine, Maybe we need to take this time of isolation from the distractions of the world and have a personal revival where we focus on the ONLY thing in the world that really matters. Jesus.”

As a church planter, but more importantly a Child of God… I think it is time to re-evaluate. God has taken away almost all the distractions of this world, (He has left us social media), so we still have a choice.  Spend time with Him or spend time with your thousands of Facebook friends who fill your head with gloom and doom?

As we spend time with family that is under roof, my prayer is that you look for God in all of this. Get out your Bible.  Read together. Talk it out. If you aren’t sure, send an email to your pastor, small group leader or trusted Godly mentor. Our church, Restoration Christian is starting to do regular online Bible Studies.

God is trying to get our attention and we have a choice as churches and people to continue with the status quo or ask God,

“You have my attention now what?”

Fanning into Flames

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:6

Have you ever had a common theme keep showing up? And I don’t mean because you are reading a book in a series or going through a Bible study that is dealing with a particular subject.

I am talking about out of the blue, you are driving and you see an object. Then you get home and there it is again. You turn on your favorite television show and now they are talking about it. Then before you go to bed you are scrolling on social media and there’s an article or meme that talks about the same thing?

When this happens to me, by about the third encounter, I start to take notice. But when God keeps putting in my path, I decide it’s time to ask Him why?

The past month I have either heard or seen something related to, “Fan into Flames.”

I have heard songs on the radio about being on fire for your city.

Even radio personalities have talked about embers and how you need to blow on them to get the fire going. They were actually talking about a bonfire and roasting marshmallows, but it was another encounter that God used to get my attention.

I knew there was a verse about fanning into flame the gift of God, but didn’t stop to put in the time to research it. Then as I was listening to a podcast about the Holy Spirit, I wrote this down,

“The Spirit can’t fill you when you are filled with so much of the world. Is your life on fire for the wrong things?”

OUCH!

Again though I didn’t stop like God wanted me to, I just wrote it and kept on with my day.

As I was scrolling my photos, this meme was front and center. I had forgotten I saved it as a picture. I decided it was time to sit before the Lord and look for that verse. I found it in Timothy but just like God, it starts with the phrase, “For this Reason”. When you see these words or “likewise, therefore, etc” you need to read above it to find out what it is referring to.

Here in Timothy, Paul is saying, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” Paul is reminding Timothy of his heritage in the faith, then he says “for this reason… fan into flame the gift of God…”

God has given me gifts.

I have the gift of encouragement.

The gift of teaching.

The gift of healing (emotional).

The gift of intercessory prayer.

Over the past few years, I have put those gifting’s on the back burner. Even to the point that I haven’t used them.

But God…

So I thought it was just about the “fan into flames….” but the verses after this I think are just as important and something He wanted me to start remembering, and therefore start being obedient to His guidance.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me His prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

Do I want to “suffer” again, by being beaten?

NO! But “suffering” this time, has taken on a different form.

It required moving over 800 miles away from family and comfort. It moved me to a place where pictures make it look like Paradise and a life of luxury.

The truth is, there is no way to spin it, I once again know what it means to suffer for the gospel, and I am learning to lean into the power of God, fan into flames the gifts I have been equipped with, stand firm in the power of the Spirit and not be ashamed of the testimony God has given me or of His testimony as to why we are here.

A Legacy of Obedience

For I know the plans

I have been reading Jeremiah for my time with the Lord.  And I started this journey because we all like to quote Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you…” and as good as that looks on a plaque or a piece of barnwood, there is so much more to the book of Jeremiah.  

Today, as I was reading in Jeremiah 35 a couple of things, hit me. The first was that the family call The Rekabites, even though they did not follow the Lord and His words, they were loyal to the traditions and the words of their forefathers.  

Their forefathers said, “Don’t drink wine.” So they didn’t

Their forefathers said, “ You must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards.” So they didn’t.

Their forefathers also said, “you must always live in tents,” So they did.

Even when Jeremiah brings them into a room and puts wine before them, they stand their ground and do not drink the wine. They then tell Jeremiah the why.  They stand on the words left by their forefathers.

 

OBEDIENCE

What or who are you obeying?

 

God then goes to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem (vs 13) and tells them the story of the Rekabites and how they still are obeying the commands of their forefathers. He then goes on to say, but I (The Lord) have spoken to you again and again yet you have not obeyed me. Again and again, I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them.” But you have not paid attention or listened to me. He then once again talks about the diehard obedience of the Rekabites and His own people won’t even obey.  

Then chapter 35 ends with the obedience of the Rekabites are rewarded and called into service for the Lord.

Writing the word OBEDIENCE today, I saw for the first time that the word “DIE” is smack dab in the middle of the word.  And when you are being obedient, you have to “DIE” to self to obey God. Romans 12:1-2 says:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

How many times are we willing to “die” and become “transformed” for a family tradition or legacy but aren’t willing to listen and obey The Lord and His Words and His Traditions?