Coventant...

Covenant… Webster says it’s to enter into an agreement, to bind ones self…

In Hebrew, the original language of old testament scripture, the word is ‘berith’ and it has reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two, and passing between the parts to ratify a covenant.

In Greek, the original language of new testament scripture, the corresponding word is ‘diatheke’.

There are many examples of covenant in scripture. I fear we have lost the depth of meaning…perhaps the entire concept in some instances.

The covenant of marriage in particular. The covenant of marriage is intended to be sealed…yet how many give away the possibility of that seal to someone to whom they are never married? There is much damage done in doing so…for all concerned.

God can heal and restore even that. But there’s a big old’ IF attached to it….we must repent and come to Him with all of it, in obedience trust, turning away from those wrong choices and actions.

God never ever tells us NOT to do something just to be mean and nasty. When he says ‘don’t’….you can be sure it is because it brings US harm. Our sin doesn’t take anything away from God, it doesn’t diminish His character nor deplete His power. But our hurting hurts Him. THAT is what He wants to prevent. Simply because of His perfect love for us.

“Just as He Who called you is holy, so be holy is all you do…” (1 Peter 1:15)

Like it or not….agree or disagree….obey or rebel….God sets the standards for morality.

We are wise to believe that fact. And we are blessed when we know Him well enough, knowing His character and His love and intentions, that we can follow His directions without rebellion.

We are wise to have learned from the garden scene NOT to try to find out for ourselves if what He says is really true.

What He says IS. It has always been that way…and will always be.

Bottom...

Bottom…. Ever hit rock bottom? Ever see someone else heading there?

I suppose all of us have. And certainly all of us who are parents want to prevent our children from ever going there.

But sometimes, it’s unavoidable. Sometimes, it may even be the best thing to do….let them hit rock bottom. I think they call it ‘tough love’ these days.

The prodigal of Luke 15 hit rock bottom.

“And when he came to himself….” (Luke 15:17)

After he found himself on rock bottom, there was a big A-HA !

“….so maybe dear old Dad was right about some things…”



It is difficult to see someone suffering the consequences of their own poor choices.

But what joy to see them ‘come to their senses’ (Luke 15:17 NIV), turn around, and begin a new and better path.

Pity it takes some so much longer than others to ‘begin to think clearly again’.
(Luke 15:17 NIrV)

Jail...

Jail… Webster says it’s a place. A place of confinement. We think of it now as a place of punishment. But it is really a ‘place’?…

I believe there are thousands of people walking around ‘free’ who are in jail cells of bondage. I myself have experienced bondage….locked away in a cell of fear and a works centered salvation.

David wrote as if he were in prison.. “Set me free from my prison, that I may praise Your Name….” (Ps. 142:7) He wasn’t in a jail facility. He was just hiding from Saul. Running and hiding, trying to escape, all of it serving as walls of a prison to David.

I want to be like David, when situations are dangerous and stressful, I want to look to God with praise in my heart and on my lips. It is easy to see the danger, easy to feel the fear, easy to be discouraged….it is easy to hear the accuser’s words filling us with doubt and fear. Our enemy wants to keep us in jailhouses, tied up with fear, ineffective to those around us, and away from the Throne of God in prayer and praise.

I’m thankful for the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. This fellow made a series of poor choices. He lived in and for the moment….chasing a good time. He thought he had found it…for a while at least. Then it all started turned sour. It wasn’t fun anymore, only misery, and there was nobody that wanted his company anymore…he didn’t have anything to offer them now, so they were gone. He’d left all his family behind, choosing a different life instead of a life with them.

I think the accuser was certainly on the job with this young man. ‘Yes…your dad’s a great guy, but you’ve been so bad, he can’t restore you!!…..and what if he said no?…he probably would if you go back and ask him to take you back…’ I feel sure the devil was on duty, filling this young man with guilt and fear.

But the young man knew the character of his father.

God does not mean for us to live in bondage. But I believe there are times when a jail cell is His blessing. That pig sty was a blessing to that prodigal boy. He had chosen the knowledge of good and evil…another apple off the tree so to speak. He chose wrong, acted in rebellion…..yet the knowledge of the character of his father was the means of bringing about restoration.

God’s last word is always a call for repentance and restoration. Even if it takes being locked up.


….or slopping hogs.

Rescue...

Rescue… ‘natsal’ It means to snatch away….

Proverbs tells us to ‘Rescue those being led away to death….hold back those staggering toward slaughter….” (Pro. 24:11)

There are times I really struggle with this. At times, I have had such strong feelings about the decisions I see someone else making, times when I strongly disagree with the conclusions someone else has come to. It’s their choice, their business…right?

There have been situations when I did NOT comment, and have later regretted not being obedient to that nudge to speak to them. Times when I SO wish I had said or done what I had been prompted in my spirit to do but did not. The accuser (Rev.12:10) often convinces me that I am being nosey, bossy, and that it is none of my business what someone else does.

As usual, he takes truth and puts his spin on it, twisting and perverting it.

We all do make our own choices. I can not make yours for you, nor can you make mine. But so do we all have influence.

“If you say, ‘Hey, that’s none of my business,’ …will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know….Someone not impressed with weak excuses.” (Proverbs 24:12 The Message)

“My mouth shall speak truth..”(Pro.8:7) “There are things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts..”(Zec.8:16)

We sang a song in choir class back in high school…. “No Man Is An Island” We have an impact on each other’s lives. And when opportunity comes to make a positive impact by speaking truth, I believe scripture teaches that we are held accountable for it if we do not do so.

There IS absolute truth. Gray is only achieved by mixing in a little black with pure white.

The hardest part is carrying out what I believe, and doing it in a pure spirit of love….communicating that love without it being tainted by the enemy and used for his purposes to cause strife and discord.

Fireworks...

Fireworks… We enjoyed a great fireworks display last night. Amazing thing when you really think about it…cardboard boxes and tubes filled with something that somehow explodes in so many different patterns, heights, and colors.

We arrived before dark, the fireworks were on floating barges out on water. I sat there looking at it…a large number of boxes, just sitting there. Big deal.

But when it got good and dark, our host pushed the remote that began the series of explosions. We had chosen chairs on the edge of the water, and as the fireworks lit up the sky above us, the smoke began to fill the air, and shreds of paper and ash sprinkled down on us. It was beautiful and awful at the same time.

For the past few weeks, I’ve struggled to come to better understanding of why tragedy happens. Why out of nowhere, it explodes and rains down shattered fragments of our lives, leaving us to choke on the smoke left behind…embers of what used to be beautiful, now singeing and burning us as the memory of the beauty that was, gives way to the reality and stench of the present.

Fireworks are simply raw materials assembled in ways that cause explosions. I’ve had it explained to me, though I can’t restate it. They must be fused, separately or together. There must be a spark. Simply…it’s cause and effect.

Isn’t everything?

God created a world of cause and effect. Everything He created, He created good. (Gen.1) He then issued the memo that informed man of effect. …do not eat of that tree, because the effect is death….do not choose to know evil, because it brings death. That was the message of Genesis 2. Anything other than God and His goodness… anytime we leave Him out of the mix…the effect is death. We are created to be in relationship with Him, He is the life-giving, life-sustaining force. Anything outside of that…the effect is death. Immediate or eventual….even eternal.

All bad things aren’t a result of bad choices. Some definitely are.

Neither does God make all bad things to happen, but He definitely allows all things that do happen.

He is God. He has the final say.

God’s absolute sovereignty and my own personal free will seem to be contradictions. Only God can remain sovereign in the face of my poor choices and rebellion. His will for my life and my rejection of Him are indeed at odds. How can He be all powerful God, and I still have the power to reject His will? Am I greater than He? (ridiculous..)

Sigh…It’s a complicated issue, this sovereignty/free-will thing. And it, like our Creator God, is outside the realm of human logic. (…faith to the rescue again…)

This is what I know. When I choose poorly, it is not because He set me up, and not because He didn’t give me the information necessary to choose best.

He is not incomplete without me, but I will never be complete without Him.

Everything He says is spoken out of pure love…(something I am not capable of..)

He is not in a box. I am. The box of my reality, that He created to share with me.

And sometimes, my box explodes. And when it does, it can be awful and beautiful…sometimes at the same time.

You see…I know that my God makes beauty and good come from even the awful and ugly….if nothing but to empower me thru it, changing, redeeming, and restoring me in spite of it.

The only question I need ponder is if I have chosen poorly, and if I have, to face it together with Him, learning and growing….thereby avoiding any future adverse circumstances or consequences because of my poor choices.



Now…I must move on.

Allegiance...

Allegiance… I’ve pledged it many times…. ‘to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands…one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Haven’t you done the same?

How will we fulfill our pledge? We have promised, and we must take our promises seriously. There are, however, stipulations of our pledge of allegiance…to one nation under God.

In 1 Kings 12 the story is told of Jeroboam. It tells how Jeroboam went about to weaken and break the relationship of the people with God, and to preserve his own position and power.

Isn’t that familiar?

“….Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘…….if these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to the king of Judah..’…so he said to the people ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem…HERE are your gods, …” (selected verses 1 Kings 12)

Familiar again. Good ole’ Jeroboam, only trying to provide for the people and make their lives easier….by keeping them from worshipping God where and how God had said. Government stepping in….re-drawing the lines….re-describing right and wrong..

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…..the America that was a republic nation under GOD…not to be divided, not to have liberty or justice removed from anyone’s life. That includes mine.

I stand with Joshua…. “…Choose you this day whom you will serve….as for me and my house…we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Free...

Free… What does it mean to you?

To me it means out of bondage. It is to no longer be compelled or forced….to be given choice and empowered to use that choice. It is not a release from responsibility, and it is not without boundaries…. but it is an opportunity to fulfill responsibility and the purpose for existing.

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but….”(Gen.2:16)


“Woman, you are set free…”(Luke 13:12) “..the truth will set you free…..So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:32,36)


“…I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.”(Acts 7:34)
“..through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”(Rom.8:2)

Let’s not forget where freedom really comes from. As we begin celebrating the Fourth of July and all that it means, let us give Him thanks and all glory for what freedoms we have known in our life time.

And let the Body of Christ unite in praying that all Americans who are ‘called by His Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek His Face, and turn from their wicked way’…..for ‘then He will hear from heaven, and will forgive our sin, and will heal our land.’ (2Chron. 7:14)