Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt. They have done abominable works; there is none who does good.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.
John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Romans 1:3-6 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ:
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith. “
Romans 18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 3:10-12 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Galatians 3:7-9 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed,” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Galatians 3:22-24 But the Scripture has confined all under the sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Hebrews 3:12 See to it brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
We all are sinners and I think until we find Jesus, many of us don’t even realize how sinful we are.
Those who are close to me who are not saved, all believe they are good, kind, loving, and generous people. And they are. But they are not saved, they do not recognize Jesus, although, they will occasionally shrug to admit they kind of believe in God. Obviously, not in the trinity. And do not seem to recognize that God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent.
And knowing them all as well as I do, I know they are good, loving people. But they do not believe in Jesus, many see no reason to, no matter what I try to share, and some do not believe there is anything except dust after death. That to me is just sad and empty. To hear one, he just kind of smirks, nods, and “I don’t believe that. I think we just turn back to dust. There is nothing else.” Well, actually, yes, there is. There is HELL for eternity. And you are a good, loving person, kind, generous person, and this is so empty, frustrating, and hopeless to me. Well, hopeless if I depended only on people changing years of set minds, with the apparent knowledge ‘there is no God.’ And at this point, these people are insistent on what they believe. Always seems to be hopeless and empty.
But perhaps that will change if they ever get ill and then are facing a diagnosis that could bring about death–severe cardiac issue, a cancer issue or something else that threatens that bit of arrogance.
This person also does not believe he will live very long. Yes, there was disease in many of the males, but with one, it was a matter of the medication needed to keep him alive and able to work for several years that lessened his life time. It was not the disease he battled, but the medications. And so much has changed since the 1950’s when this was the only drug available to keep the ancestor relatively healthy and able to work. But he was given an approximate age of death of about 40 years. So because of this, and the fact that one other male ancestor had cardiac disease and died at the age of 74 years while the other suffered from asthma and when having a severe attack was unable to reach the hospital in time to deal with his closed airways so he died at 65 years of age.
I will continue to speak with these folks, even to say and reassure them this is not a set of rules, and a bunch of things we need to give up. I have a relationship, not a set of rules to follow, things to avoid. That is not the way things are. We. as we get closer into knowing Him as the one true God. On acceptance, and heartfelt turning to Him, repenting of my many sins, then I am granted the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit just nudges us to recognize what is sin or harmful to us, and nudges us to eventually and willingly avoid it. For me, it was smoking–at one time, I was a heavy smoker. When I pushed them away, it was a struggle for a while, but I prayed through some of the worst urges, and did silly things to help decrease the longing. Many slow deep breaths that I would hold for a long as I could, brushing my teeth, feigning having a cigarette and doing the actions of a current smoker.
But there is nothing that is demanded to be given up. It is a relationship, and the more you learn about God and read the bible, the more you want to live like Jesus. You don’t want to hold grudges, be impatient and frustrated. You want to show kindness, gentleness, patience and love to others. You just want to not take in or do anything that is showing God disrespect. He does not ASK you to give anything up. but the word does say that we should all treat our bodies as a temple. Afterall, the Holy Spirit lives within us. I was a smoker–at least a pack a day, and if on vacation, I could smoke two packs. I was choosing to inhale poisons into my body, and allowing the smoke to be near my children and family. That was showing no care for my family, let alone thinking I was respecting my body as a temple. I was selfishly sucking on cigarettes that held nothing positive, harming myself and any around me with the second hand smoke.
I still work on my mouth. Without thinking sometimes, I hear vile things coming out of it–occasional cursing, but sometimes gossip, impatience–which is not kindness or gentleness–and I hate to hear any of that. I pray often that the Holy Spirit will take control of my mouth and there will be nothing that comes out that is not positive and caring.
So, the Bible gives out direction, shows us what God does not like, and as we grow closer to a relationship with Him, we choose to give up many of the things that are negative in our lives. It is a choice, not a control. We want to please God–recognizing how much He has done for us, recognizing that He paved a way for us to reach heaven and eternity with Him before Adam and Eve sinned the first sin. He was always going to send His Son, Jesus, to be the atonement for OUR sins. Each and everyone of us sins–but we have a way to ask and seek forgiveness, and have the assurance that when we die we will NOT be spending eternity in HELL, but with the trinity in heaven.
It is not a sacrifice to want a relationship, and with the relationship, we choose to give things us when we realize they are harmful to us, when we are not living with the best of intentions. So God, I thank you for the gift of your Son, and for the Holy
Spirit living within me, guiding me, teaching me and encouraging me to be better. Lord, thank you for already having the design to save us and offer the freedom from sins. You have always been so good and loving to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
1 Samuel 1:9-16 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. She was bitterly distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my anxiety and vexation.”
Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 86:3 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for to you do I cry all the day.
Psalm 91:14-15 Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
Psalm 116:2 Because he inclines his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Daniel 6:10 When Daniel knew the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
Matthew 6:7 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret, will reward you.
Luke 18:1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Luke 21:36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we don not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer
Ephesians 6:18 . . .praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the LORD always’ again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
Colossians 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
It is so wonderful that God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit hear our prayers and work to answer them. AS we all know, not all our prayers are answered in the manner we want them answered. Sometimes, even when many are praying for a healing, God does not grant that request. A loved dies, a child is returned to an abhorrent situation repeatedly, a child, sibling, parent has an addiction that cannot seem to be shaken and shed, a loved one is homeless and you are not ever sure where they are or what condition they are in, and we all have family and friends who do not know the LORD.
We pray for all of these concerns, and others we learn about as we walk in this life–accidents, severe sicknesses, and sudden deaths. Frequently we cannot do too much more than pray for those who are dealing with painful things in their lives. But prayer is big. And even when the answers are not what we prayed and hoped for, we have the assurance that God has a plan. That does not always make it easy at that immediate time, but in time, especially if one knows God, has a relationship with Him, peace and comfort are easier to come by.
Sometimes, I have nothing new to ask God to grant. It is a daily request for my family members who do not know Him to open their hearts and because I know God wants no one to perish, and He wants all to be in heaven for eternity, not suffering in the dark and stench-filled hell. He created us to be near to Him. I also know if I pray sincerely and believing, that my prayers will be answered. So I pray for my family, I thank Him for them as each are much more loving and giving then me and I am blessed to have them, so with thankfulness I pray their eyes will be opened. But there are some stubborn minds and they believe they are responsible for their life, their success, and their blessings.
I truly have no idea how anyone can look at the beauty of the world He created for us, and not believe. Each area has different things–different mountains and ranges–the mountains in New Mexico and Arizona are certainly different than those of Colorado and Vermont and New Hampshire, or mountains of southern Germany and northern Austria. He created beauty and loveliness everywhere–birds, animals–some not “pretty” as in alligators, hippopotamus, and some others, but still impressive, unique. There are so many others–elephants who can remember a keeper from many years ago and rush to the person at the sound of a voice or perhaps it’s a scent–but they recognize and show love. There are dolphins we get to see play, splash and jump and give us a thrill. There are Dall sheep that stand looking like they are 90* on the side of a mountain. According to the laws of gravity, they should be rolling off. There are huge whales down to colorful hummingbirds and butterflies which fly several hundred miles during their life span. God created all this. And many do not believe in our Creator. That hurts my heart.
As I was writing this, I had just over 1200 words, and we to check something, or change something–totally unsure, but the entire writing was GONE. I prayed, “Please return this. Please let me find it. This was a lot of writing and work. Please?!”
OK, All right, I am writing that sometimes prayers are not answered in the manner we want. And You are providing an example when I do not want to repeat all that work. “PLEASE?!” I will admit to a few minutes of anger and frustration. But yes, I am writing about being persistent in prayer, but also recognizing that we do not ALWAYS get the answer we desire. This was a little blip in the day.
But Hannah had prayed for a child for a long time. Finally, she prayed and God granted her a son which once he was weaned, Hannah dedicated him to service in the temple, only able to see him once yearly. David prayed that his first son with Bathsheba be spared and he would grow healthy and be well. God said no to that. Paul asked that his physical torment be relieved and God said no to that and reminded Paul that His grace was sufficient for Paul to deal with it daily.
God sees our hearts. He sometimes wants us to continue the prayer and finally will answer in the manner we request, such as with Hannah. He chose not to heal David and Bathsheba’s son, but David had done evil in that situation. As much as he wanted to follow God and so forth, he was not always doing the most righteous of things. God did not want Paul getting arrogant so He had him deal with the physical malady, but ensured he had strength and grace to deal with the issue.
I am very blessed that I can freely pray and give thanks. There is so many things for me to praise Him for, and I will continue to praise Him for my family, and ask Him to send others who will also open their eyes to Jesus and what He has done for us. So much of my life is easier now handing God the worries and anxieties I used to carry. So thank You, Lord for all you have blessed me with for me and ‘mybellaviews,’
Genesis 49:18 I wait for your salvation, O LORD
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the LORD.
Psalm 33:20-22 Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
Psalm 37:7,9 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” . . . For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
Psalm 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
Psalm 62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him
Psalm 130:5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
Proverbs 20:22 Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you
Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is food to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
Romans 8:25 But if we wait for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Hebrews 6:11-12 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
James 5:7-8 Therefore, be patient brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
I do not like being late, and occasionally I wait until close to the last minute, to go wherever I have made plans to be. But if traffic is heavier than I prefer (and prayed against), I can feel my anxiety rise. Then as I get more self condemning, the anger pokes at me. “Why did I not leave the 10 minutes earlier? If I had gone as I planned, I would be on time and not in this dither.” But I read an article the other day, about being late, getting irritated with it, then reading about the number of folks who were not in the Towers when they were attacked and collapsed–because had to pick up laundry, one’s turn to drop child off at daycare, and other reasons for not being in those buildings on that horrific day. Maybe, God has delayed me to prevent some horrific experience.
Waiting is not sitting around. It is an active process of prayer, believing, seeking God, thanking God–even in the midst of waiting. We must remain faithful, grateful and prayerful. If our prayers are not answered in the manner we had hoped for, wished to see, He can understand our anger, our hurt. Yet we need to remember that He always has our best will in mind. I have certainly questioned that at times. How is it to my best that my husband died so young? That he never got to retire and we did not have the travel time we wanted? Do I wish he had lived and been able to meet our wonderful grand children? Absolutely. But, in time, my anger, hurt, loss, and grief receded. Certainly, I would not have wanted him to suffer any longer than he did; all of our children were young adults, married except for our daughter but she had spent much of those last weeks telling him her plans for the wedding which was later that year. She kept him informed so he could share that event, knowing he would not be there with us.
We can’t just trust Him when we are in good seasons and things are all going smoothly for us. During the difficult times, we still need to trust, to pray, remember the promise that He has good plans for us. We pray, we thank Him for all the good we have and the fact that He has promised good, He has promised us He will be with us during the difficult times, and that He will give us comfort and support. So, during those difficult days, praying for something that is important to happen and change, we pray, we trust, we give our grief to Him, and we wait. And we get impatient, think we are undeserving of rough times, stressful incidents, and since we consider ourselves, “good people” we don’t deserve any bad events…But that is so not true.
God uses stressful events to strengthen our trust in Him and build our faith. He also tests our faith in him. Do we get discouraged and doubt his presence in our life? Are we so arrogant and selfish that we decide we We move US away from God–He does not move away from can handle our own troubles, begin to ebb away from God, and find our own solutions for handling whatever stressful time we are in. That is NOT ever what God wants. The more difficult our life seems, the more we try to develop plans to fix our lives. But once we move away from God, there is a gap in our relationship with our Creator. And of course, that behavior hurts him. He wants a RELATIONSHIP with us. He created mankind for a relationship. He loves us.
But we have to wait at times for what we ask God for. He may say “no,” yes, but later,” or not choose to answer for awhile. He wants us to wait for His answers, for His gifts, His answers, and we tend to be impatient. ‘God, aren’t You going to answer? How long do I have to wait?’ (Please remember Abram and Sarai waited 25 years for the birth of Isaac.) Waiting. Elizabeth and Zechariah had to wait months for Zechariah to be able to speak again. Job had to wait quite a while for his suffering could stop, be reassured by God that he would have another family and all his riches would be added to and beyond restored. Jonah had to wait to see Nineveh was not destroyed, just as he had feared, Hezekiah had to wait to see the Assyrian army was killed an Jerusalem was saved even though the Assyrians stood at the gates and taunted….
We all have to wait. Wait for a diagnosis, wait for a love one’s healing, wait for the death of a loved one who has been suffering and finally is released from pain, waiting impatiently to get your license, be old enough for that first date, and wait for college acceptance and so many things we wait for, for finding the right life-mate, waiting for the birth of arrival of children.
Waiting is not always easy. But in life we all have to wait. And in waiting, we learn patience, and have the pleasure of finally reaching that “magic” age, or time period, when what we have yearned for can now be delivered or granted to us. We are old enough to get that learner’s permit and can have parents take us out on the initial few outings when we get to be responsible for driving and navigating–maintaining speed, maintaining staying within the lines of the road, learning to pass pedestrians or bicyclists, and understanding it is a responsibility to be able to drive and keep self and others safe. We are a country used to getting things as soon as we want them–even to upgrade a cell phone that we have had for a couple of years–a new model is out and we want it NOW. The price is of little deterrent to us.
But waiting is a part of growth–and not just physically aging, but maturing, learning, acquiring patience, kindness, and understanding. God has us wait for dreams and goals until He has refined us in the direction He wants us to go to achieve the things He has designed us to conquer for Him. He gets the glory but He has led us, taught us, how to go about working for His Kingdom, and leading others to Him. He wants no one to perish. Therefore, He wants to provide everyone repeated opportunities to have those who are not believers, to hear the message, to feel His grace and forgiveness which is totally unearned. If an unbeliever finally reaches out and believes and repents, God accepts the person with rejoicing. So God waits, placing others in the lives of non-believers, so they will take the promise, accept Jesus as their Savior.
We wait for the second coming of Jesus, for the eternal Kingdom to come. Lord, I am so thankful that in my waiting, I found You and have been blessed with all You have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Genesis 4:5-9 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 25:29-34 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 27:1-46 Jacob and his mother deceived his father, lying and cooking foods Isaac enjoyed, telling him that he was Esau, Isaac’s favorite son, instead of Jacob, the mother’s preferred son.
Judges 15:1-5 After some days, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful that she? Please take her instead.” And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.
Proverbs 11:17 A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.
Proverbs 12:2, 13, 20,22 A good man obtains favor from the LORD, but a man of evil devices he condemns. . . . An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble. . . . Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy. . . . . Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
Proverbs 18:3, 7, 12 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace. . . . A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. . . .Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.
Ezekiel 27:13-16 Javan, Tubal, and Meschech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. From Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares. The men of Dedan traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony.
Mark 7:17-19 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not,
Romans 1:28-31 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
James 3:14-16 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic, For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist that there will be disorder and every vile practice.
James 4:1-2 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
As God worked on creating man, after creating the world, the seas, the oceans, the land, the mountains, the sun, the moon, the stars, the birds, the fish, the many different animals He created But the He concentrated on his most desired creation–man. God brought all the animals to the man and had him name them, but discovered none wee right for the man to have a mate. So God put man to sleep, opened him and removed a rib, and then created woman. Until the woman urged man to sin, they resided in THE GARDEN, with a good and close relationship with God.
But with the sin, they were ousted from the Garden, the relationship with God was damaged. The couple had two sons and the time came to give an offering to God. Abel’s offering was more pleasing to God, and this angered Cain. Recognizing that Cain was angry, He spoke to Cain about it. Shortly, Cain urged Abel to come with him, then in a field he killed his brother. But since God knows all, God punished Cain and told him he would separate him and Cain realized that his life might be endangered by others.
Animals were created to eating leaves, grasses, and smaller animals. Lions go after game that are weaker–they may run as their defense, but the cats are fast and strong and when they catch their prey, they bite the neck, breaking it, and then take the game back to their den. They kill for food, not just ruthless killing. Animals who eat other animals are not ruthless killers–they kill with no anger, no malice, not for a challenge, but for food, for the necessity of having to have nourishment. Large cats, bears will go after some young cattle, young horses, but again it is for food.
But that is NOT what man does. Man kills for sport–going after game to just take them down. Animals with ivory–elephants, hippopotamuses, walruses, and warthogs and some whales. So many of these gorgeous animals that have impressive tusks of ivory, whales have ivory teeth. And many of these were killed for the ivory alone. A senseless killing for man to gain monies from ivory, cutting away the tusks, and some teeth. Whales also have some ivory teeth. Senseless killing of glorious animals just for profit. The killers were hunting ivory way back in 590-570’s BC as God told Ezekiel about the gathering of ivory.
But men also slaughtered buffalo–only for the hides, a small amount of meat. For the great slaughter of many of these animals, they were left to rot in the fields. The partial purpose was to gather hides, but the other biggest purpose was to destroy the Indian nations–the desire was to starve them, decrease the pelts they used for moccasins, clothing, tepees, and the fat from them for cooking, for light and so forth. But it was slaughter. Animals do not slaughter; but man does.
And man slaughters other humans, some may be innocent and a angry person grabs a gun or knife and viciously, hatefully butchers. This too, has happened for centuries. Before the invention of guns, there were iron balls and chains that had many pointed iron knubs to be mutilated by the man swinging the object; knives and swords, torture devices, gallows, guillotines, hanging–callous viciousness. Then of course, there is the capture of others–rapes, eye gouging, out eyes, maiming the looks, chopping off different body parts, and more. No, man is the cruelest, by far, of any animal.
Animals will kill to protect their young, and to deliver food, but their minds are not set with arrogance, selfishness, cruelty. That dishonor belongs solely to man. For those of us who have recognized we are a sinful, selfish lot, we work to turn from that miserable behavior. And thank You, Jesus, that You came to atone for our sins as long as we have You as our Savior and follow You willingly. Our nasty ways get slowly sanded away. I am so thankful I know You and do not have to remain in the muck and mire of my sins. Thank You for all You have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Deuteronomy 11:18-20 You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
Joshua 1:8 this Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success .
Psalm 1:2-3 ...but whose delight is in the Law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither–whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.
Psalm 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Proverbs 3:3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you: bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs 4:20-21 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.
Proverbs 7:1-3 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs 8:32-36 And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”
Proverbs 9:9-10 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Hold One is insight.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD, ‘ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive theit iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
So many verses are important to me at different moments in my life. Sometimes, it is verses about anxiety, sometimes, it is about waiting on God’s timing, and there are many other verses that have brought me realization of different sins I commit, flaws I have, needing the Holy Spirit to help me become better and closer to Jesus. I can recall many verses but not always what book, what actual verse number it is from. But I can remember the verse itself–just not who wrote God’s words and in what book. I value what I know about different verses, the different stories, and different mostly me who were heroes of the time. But there was Deborah, Esther, Rahab, Ruth, and Mary. Then in the New Testament–again we have Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Magdalene, Lydia of Thyatira, Priscilla, and others.
I find it amazing that so many women who were not Israeli–Ruth, a Moabite, Rahab, a Canaanite, who chose to live in the Israeli culture, knowing that God loved them and God would always be there. and Esther, although an Israelite was raised during the Babylonian Empire, chosen to live in the King’s court, and when she learned from her uncle, Mordecai, that the Israelites were going to be destroyed and why, and he challenged her to go to the King, her husband and seek his decision on the knowledge of this destruction. She feared for her life; but she told her maidens to fast and pray for three days and then she would go to the King. When she presented the case for the Israelis, the king ordered Hama hung from the gallows he had built to hang Mordecai.
God realized that even though the people had seen the sacrifice of animals for their sin, innocent, sweet, young animals were being slaughtered for the sins of THEMSELVES, for one person who committed a sin and now had to hold a hand on the animals which had created AN sin, and yet would now be the atoning sin offering for me, my sin. . . Definitely, no sin coming from this innocent animal. But God saw that these sacrifices only touched the hearts of his people for a few moments, then they felt relieved their sins were forgiven at the life of an innocent animal, so they could go on–doing the best they could. But for the most part, it was not a true remorse, not a recognition of true sin, true insult toward God. And because God created us with free will, and the ability to choose, we more undoubtedly choose to sin. We want what we want when we want it.
But God has also told us that if we imprint His words, His commands, His guidance on our hearts, then we have all the “tools” to succeed in life. We have a Savior who, if we accept Him as our Lord and are willing to follow Him, He, upon His death and resurrection back to heaven sat in the right seat beside His Father, gave us the Holy Spirit, and His words, and we can thus have them imprinted on our hearts–it is within us–in our minds and our hearts. The Holy Spirit lives within us, and the words of God, Creator and His Son can be tattooed into our minds and hearts the more we read, the more we study, digest and inhale. We find strength, guidance, wisdom, learn patience, self control, kindness, tolerance, and love. Because we have been forgiven, our wicked sins forgiven because of Jesus’ sacrifice and therefore the atonement of OUR sins, we learn to forgive–and how important that is to OUR lives, not necessarily to the one we are forgiving. We learn God’s plan and wishes for our lives, how to achieve His purpose, the reason He created us.
It is such a relief to me to know that the Holy Spirit resides in me, reminds me of verses as necessary, guides my paths, and corrects me when I have messed up. I am so thankful to have some of your words imprinted in my mind and heart. Thank You for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!