How we understand the bible.

Love comes unseen; we only see it go.

— Henry Austin Dobson
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/henry_austin_dobson_219708

It seems of late that I am sitting at the keyboard writing this post when the well seems dry, inspiration comes in last minute form. That also seems to be the way of my life. The previous 3 posts were about God's love. There is no greater subject we need to pay attention to. The world thinks it can put aside God and His love for us because it thinks it is able to know everything there is to know. That is an impossible task to say the least. The world could build data centers to cover every last inch of space on earth and it world fall far short of what God knows. There are those that believe the meaning the words of today's vocabulary are the same today as they were in Jesus' time. They are not. In fact they are far different than they were then. Since a child I felt there were things not quite right about some of what we were being taught. The old testament and the new testament we read today as translations leave something to be desired. Much of the gospel is valid to this day but the way in which we understand it is off base. We need to step back and see it as it was seen in the days it was written, in the way Jesus and the apostles understood and taught it. It sheds a whole new light on what was taught by them and why it was done that way. The people of their day were not educated as most of us are today. That is why Jesus taught in parables that they would grasp and understand. I am still grappling with much of it in my studies but the scriptures are coming alive as more is brought to light. For me this is a time of revelation and discovery. I am by no means saying the scriptures as they are translated today are useless. They are relevant. It is important to understand the way the writers and Jesus understood the Old and New Testament, not what we think they should be. 

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details." 

I may do a post every so often to share some of the cards I and my wife have made. God Bless.

God is love part 3

 

Bad choices in life are abundant. Choosing Jesus is not one of them. I hear about how the Lord (YAHWEH) abhors sin and can't stand to be in the presence of sinners. That would mean than no sinner has any chance of entering heaven. That would also mean there would be no one in heaven. Hell would be a raging fire to everyone living today and that had ever lived. If that were true then why was Jesus sent to call all sinners to repent and follow Him. Jesus and our father in heaven are one. They are united and know one another completely. That means the love one has is the same as the other. Jesus was not commanded to die for us. He chose to do so out of love for God's creation to unite all of humanity to our father in heaven. There are many thoughts about God, some of which don't fit well with scripture. God is not the hateful, vengeful, permanently rejecting father some of these views propose. He is a forgiving, loving parent that will always honor and fulfill his promises no matter how we humans interpret scriptures. He is profoundly working toward His forgiveness in the same manner as the prodigal's son. (Luke 15:11-32) Does this sound like a father that condemns his children to eternal fire? Throughout the bible many covenants were made with Israel. Each one was expanded from the last until the coming of Christ. God honored every one of them regardless of the sinfulness of His people and still guided, protected and was ever present to them no matter their situation. He delivered them from complete destruction to this day. He has done the same for us in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in to this day. God speaks to us and tells us He loves us and wants us to be with him. In one of Mary's miraculous appearances she stated that God wanted everyone to be saved. That would mean no one will be left behind. GOD IS LOVE.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details." 

God is love part 2

 

Love in this day and age is seen as an extreme physical and emotional desire for a relationship of sexual desires. That is not how God intended it to be  because it is fleeting and is not enduring. The desires may remain but the high they produce does not. God's love is far more complete and enduring. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end.(The New Jerusalem Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1985)

This does not fit into the vision of love based on emotion or physical desires. It is beyond all of that. True love is faithful too the end. God was faithful through the ages with His creations, US. He never gave up on us or abandoned us because of our sins. He didn't ignore our plight because the place we call home was riddled with sin that permeates all that is in it. Instead He sent His son to lift the veil placed over our eyes to reveal his graces of forgiveness. No sex involved, no emotional highs or lows, just a loving father calling his sons and daughters to Him. Read the passages of 1 Corinthians above again and know that Our father is all of these things and more. He has been with us through all of our trials and tribulations no matter what they were or are. Few of us can say that about our relationships with others, including our Father in heaven. It is why marriages end for most within the first ten years. Commitment is in the wrong place and much of the things Corinthians tells us love is about are absent in our relationships. God is a tough act to follow but His is the only example that is pure and forever. We should be living with all of the traits of our Lord ever in mind.

More next week.

May the Good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Rememkber to "Always Love The Details."

God Is Love, Part 1

 

This is something that has made itself clear over the years of study and listening to the voice that speaks in the quiet time of prayer and listening to that soft voice within.

(1 John 4:16)God is Love. (1 john 4:19-21) We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

This means our God is not one who punishes with no chance for forgiveness. It is not His wish to punish us or reject us permanently. He does honor our free will choices in this life. The human condition in this life is due to our living in a sinful world. If it were not for Christ Taking the sins of humanity on himself we would never be able to enter heaven for any reason. Christ filled all of the old testament rules for sacrificing the sin offering but took the place of the sacrificial lamb and defeated Satan in the process. When he drank the sour wine offered on the cross He declared "it is finished" and completed the last supper ceremony. The supper in the upper room was never really finished until that moment. When He left the upper room the feast was left unfinished because the final part of the festival meal was the drinking of wine. It did not happen in the upper room but did happen on the cross he was crucified on. Without that final act the Passover festival was not completed. That is why He declared "it is finished" on the cross. Think about this this week. Next week I will take these thoughts a step further.

May the good Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Remember to"Always Love The Details."

Enjoy life, it has an expiration date

 

Today I would like to share the card I created for my DW for our anniversary as well as another I made for Christmas this year.

First is the envelope for her card. Yeah, I had to create the envelope since the card was so large. (she is worth it)

It is 7"x7" square not including the flap.

It had to be large to accommodate the card which is 6"x 6".

The clock is from our stash as are the gems in the chandelier. The The red spline at left is washi tape that changes color depending on the angle the light hits it. The sentiment was created on my computer.

This is the back of the card.

 

This is the right hand inside of the card. The image was one I had colored several years ago. It was die cut from a number of images .

This is the left hand side of the card with the anniversary sentiment. They are from our stash that is several years old. 

Strangely, the 63rd shows up great and the happy anniversary is hard to see. In person the opposite is true. Go figure!

The next card was created for the Christmas season this year. The cover image was stamped by my wife some time ago. The rubber stamp used was removed from the wood block so it's source is unknown. All of the peel and stick sentiments and borders are from the accumulated stash and, to the best of my knowledge, are no longer available. 

 

This is the inside of the card. The wife stamped the sentiment some time ago but never finished a card from it. Again the peel and sticks are from our stash and no longer available.

I hope you liked the cards we made. I will share some of the 60+ cards made in the future.

Acts 4:12 " There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."