Genesis 3:15 And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring’s heel.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 53:7-9 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent. So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence.
Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
I want to start by my earliest understanding of this verse in Genesis. Most folks do not like snakes—certainly not all are against them, but most do not like the slithering things. There are people on TV shows who go snake hunting, and then “charm” the beasts with music or whatever. I truly took this to mean, that we are enemies of snakes and vice versa. I recognize they CAN be beneficial in my garden, and when aware of them, will happily allow them a space in my garden while I move to a different section. All good. Don’t bite me, and I won’t try to throw a shovel at your head to chop it off. That was my initial understanding of that verse. But there’s more to it than that. That is God’s first promise of a savior.
The promise does state there will be forever a mistrust between Satan and people, (Satan appeared to Eve in snake form). It goes on to state that the evil one would eventually be destroyed by a Savior, one who would suffer in his “heel” by stepping on Satan’s head; but the Savior would come from a woman. Many years later, a virgin woman bore the savior, a babe which grew into a young man who was crucified and died. . . .but then three days later He rose, ascended into heaven. Jesus was our pure, blemish free, sacrificial lamb. He was the final sacrifice. There were no more needs to slaughter animals for all the different sins from the Mosaic law. Jesus was the Supreme.
How could Jesus orchestrate His death to occur, when He was sinless, and to be killed hanging between two thieves? How could it be orchestrated for His body to be claimed by a wealthy man who was sympathetic and a silent believer of Jesus? Joseph of Arimathea went to Pontius Pilate and offered his brand new rock-hewn tomb to be the burial place. No one could make these predictions—and there are more than a hundred—if not God?
Who could predict there would be a call for a census so Joseph and Mary would leave their town and go to Bethlehem, and deliver the Savior there? Only God. It is so mighty, so real, so GOD!
These are just a couple of the prophecies in the Old testament that are found occurring in the New Testament. It took a while for me to connect and correlate, but it is AWESOME! Exciting!
When I first became committed to reading the bible each year, I certainly did not understand it all. I could get hung up in the Old Testament laws, numbers, the sheer number of animals being slaughtered, and frankly I missed a lot of what was supposed to be educating me. Why were all these laws important to me? What were the number of silver bowls and candle holders important enough to be there? Why should it be important how many pounds of gold, silver and whatever was donated by each tribe? So, I’m ashamed to admit, I did very little READING of that, and a bunch of skimming, hurriedly getting to an area that concerned the people doing something.
I was selective in the OT stories I really enjoyed.
But I learned the more I read, the more bible studies I took, the more I listened to preachers on TV and had the different orders from God, priestly sacrificial duties, the need for a blood sacrifice for forgiveness, I was getting to understand more and more of the Old Testament and how it related and prophesied about the coming Messiah.
Finally, Moses, awkward in speech, finally convinced pharaoh and the Israelites they needed to leave. God had provided the way after many difficult plaques, and they needed to flee.
They escaped. Can you imagine the fear, the anxiety, the doubt and trepidation? They were fleeing their homes and all that was familiar; and yes, they lived as slaves in Egypt for many years. But I am sure there were many hesitations dealing with the devil you knew, versus plunging into a desert and devil you did not.
It took me awhile to connect Joseph being in a direct line to Jesus. And really, then Tamar and her father-in-law, Judah as ancestors; wait, now Rahab was also a maternal distant grandmother. I need to pay more attention here. I love stories that have characters in a series; and what a series this is!
Now my understanding growing. I searched out timelines to show me which king was here, especially when Israel and Judah were at odds. I read books by great novelists who had researched and now made a vast series of these times and a king, one of my favorites was a series by Francine Rivers concerning Hezekiah and Manasseh and the rest of those.
But my point is, the dots started connecting. I had always enjoyed the New Testament. Suddenly, the light was gradually getting brighter regarding the Old Testament to me. And that made all the difference. I believe firmly that I needed the bible classes, the connections made by various television preachers and my church leaders, and the novelists who made these persons live, made them real. I had always been able to imagine Mary being frightened being told by the angel that she would carry the Messiah with no husband; but how much more her story meant when put in light of other women in her story.
My mind was opening to some of the verses that had been so foreign to me. Again, using timelines, getting a list of the many prophecies concerning the savior preached by so many of the prophets, windows were opening, connections being made. How awesome!
There is NO way that all the prophecies could be made starting from the time of His earthly birth to His death on a tree that one man could have accomplished. There is only one Man, one God who could have orchestrated, who did orchestrate, the greatest story. I am so glad I know the story and continue to learn more and more.
Thank You, God, for choosing me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
Jeremiah 31:19 After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.
Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Luke 5:31-32 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
I am not usually excited about the start of a new year; my life usually continues in its blessed path. However, this year has been so upsetting for so many people. I have lost no friends or family to this atrocious pandemic. The stories have been heart-wrenching with the illness and loss, and for the aloneness many suffered while passing from this life into death. I pray that at least most knew Jesus. But the family are left with a feeling of guilt and grief that they could not be with their loved one, and that can be a terrible sensation. I pray God has reached out and reassured you that your loved one did not die alone since He was with them. But it is an ache deep within your heart.
So COVID pierced the lives of many during this year for our country, while the rest of the world dealt with the illness for a few months sooner. Some countries handled it differently and ended up with less loss and death than our country. But it seems the world was affected by this virus.
Our country also dealt with a lot of unrest, unease, rabble-rousing and violence. On top of the COVID issues, tensions, anger, hurts, and lives lost, (ALL LIVES MATTER), suspicion and fears and were simmered and stirred by media and social media. This was a different illness of anger, hurt, violence and the self-centered belief that one had the ‘right’ to harm others.
The western states dealt with many fires this year, for months fireman and women dealt with spreading hungry flames which were destroying so much. Vast fires, heat, then strong winds in California, spread those fires, but the fires burned throughout the western states, thousands upon thousands of woods, vineyards and many homes destroyed.
With all this upset, I have believed God is hopeful we will reach for Him. Many have so thoroughly turned from Him, as they idolize themselves above anything else. Throughout the ENTIRE year, I have believed deep within my soul that God is proclaiming, “Repent! Return to Me! I will give you rest!” Yet, we still are selfish, self-centered, and many only concerned with what they want; not caring for how their actions may impact on others.
Then of course, we witnessed violence. Police, full of adrenalin and believing they were doing their jobs; and in this day and age, what a high risk job, facing anger, guns, shootings, danger, and of course, perhaps death. Of course, I am and was deeply touched by the deaths of the many at the hands of the police.
We then advanced to looting and violence and all out theft. I somehow missed how those acts of violence justified that Black lives matter…and I’ll repeat, ALL LIVES MATTER. But looting, damaging others property, theft, destruction speaks nothing of lives that matter. Certainly, the lives touched and damaged by the looting and destruction matter also.
We all have to face God when our lives here on earth end. How will your outcome appear? Will you feel good that you treated others well, with love and respect, damaging and not harming another purposely?
There has been so much that feels negative this crazy year of 2020, with COVID, huge fires, deaths climbing higher and faster than mortuaries and cemeteries can deal with, and the families who ache that their loved one(s) died alone, without family sitting with, holding a hand as they pass from this life into the next.
So, I am hopeful that things will change. I have confidence that if my time to pass from this living, I will be humbly and excitedly meeting my Savior. My end of year prayers is that more folks will reach out for His peace, His love, and suck up the rest He offers. It is there for all if you accept the invitation. I pray for all who are struggling, looking for ‘something’, (sometimes unable to say what they seek. . . hard to put a name to searching for God until you find Him), feeling that it is only themselves who matter in this life, so no reason to treat others with decency, never mind love. Many feel like they are alone, and maybe will always be alone. I pray that each finds someone who can lead them to the Redeemer, the Answer, the Savior, the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
I pray you answer His call of ‘Repent, Return, I love you and I will give you Rest.’
Thank You for forgiving me, loving me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the ne and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He give his one and only Son, that whoever believes him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
I was always excited for Christmas. It was anticipation for presents, for Santa coming—and would I get to spot him this year? And if I did, would he vanish up the roof, leaving nothing, and I would ruin Christmas for my family? Oh, the eagerness, the excitement, the impatience of having to wait! Hadn’t I already waited all year?
We would go to church services Christmas Eve, and then were allowed to open one gift, then off to bed. I would try all sorts of excuses, always with a loving firm ‘no, off to bed,’ so off I’d go full of the hope of staying awake.
Christmas was just as exciting for me as I got a little older, twelve and into the teens, as I loved to watch my parents, grandmother and siblings open the gifts I’d carefully selected for them, hoping it would be perfect!
Once our family opened our gifts, we shared a wonderfully yummy breakfast, a couple of times I got to regale my parents about hearing Santa on the roof, with the occasional jingle of the bells. Scary! Should I sleep? Would he know and take off? Would he be very angry if I did sneak out of bed? I always chose to strain to continue listening while lying in bed, gauging where he was. ‘I hope he likes these molasses cookies I helped make.’
Then, there would be no more pattering on the roof, no more bells jingling. Should I get up and peek? No, too late now. Santa was gone, the presents would be there, so nothing left to do.
As I got older and came to know the TRUE meaning the TRUE gift we were all given on that day, it was far less about presents. I still like picking out something I think is special for another, but it is so less about gifts, more now about serving, honoring and sharing what He did by His birth, life, and then the last three years of His life FOR US.
Jesus gave up His time in heaven with His Father, to come among us, to serve, teach, and show us how to love, truly love others. The Messiah gave us all, if we are willing to accept the gift, the best, most vital gift of our lives; He gave us His life as the final blood sacrifice so our sins could be forgiven. Then He ensured that we did not need to have another sacrifice ready to go for the following week because we were bound to have committed some sin according to the law of old.
We are sinful, selfish creatures, yet His life and death, and resurrection shows us that we are free to have our sins forgiven. One has only to reach out to Him, ask Him to be your Savior, confess your sin, ask Him forgiveness, and it is forgiven.
He did this ultimate sacrifice for us, as undeserving as we are, and gave us the gift that keeps on giving. He is there for us. Jesus, our Messiah, our Savior lives, and He loves and forgives us.
Jesus loves us, He wants to be with us, He lives within us. I pray if you do not know Him, you give Him a chance. The Sacrificial Lamb wants you, waits for you and He eagerly waits for you to choose Him; He wants to forgive your sins, and shower you with His love and peace.
I am so thankful I know the Love and Peace for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Wishing you all Christmas blessings and understanding the true meaning of His gift. God bless
God offers comfort and peace…
Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
God wants love between His children
John 13:34 “A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself ‘There is no commandment greater than these.
Proverbs 22:2 Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.
How have you been this year? How have you reacted and felt? Have you been healthy? Are you and have you been unduly stressed? Have you been fearful and filled with trepidation? What about anger, unrest, and fear? Have you been able to walk in confidence, maintaining the mask mandates, being cautious and yet not fearful? Certainly, this has been a year to remember.
In prior years, there have been big events that occurred in a year. For instance, as of this writing, November 22, in 1963, the world was shocked when our 35th president, John F. Kennedy was assassinated on a sunny street in the city of Dallas as his motorcade moved slowly through to the next point of the agenda. As the days of his funeral, the swearing in of President Johnson, continued with black and white images, there was suddenly the murder — on LIVE TV — of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. That was truly reality TV.
After several days of this media coverage, I wondered if the world would ever return to some normal. It certainly didn’t feel like it. But within a fairly short time, we were back to hearing other local and worldly news reports and life moved on.
The next time my world was stunned, was when Christa McAuliffe and six other astronauts were disintegrated in a fire ball explosion on January 28, 1986.
And in 2001, September 11, our country was attacked by a well-orchestrated, well planned attack of a bunch terrorists. With sick reluctance we couldn’t look away, yet we had to know what was happening, what was being done, were there any survivors from the separate attacks, watching in admiration and astonishment as the men and women, first responders and others who were right there on Ground Zero doing whatever they could to give aid. Then our country was shaken for several weeks.
But in 2020, since the early weeks of this year we have learned of a new enemy named COVID, and have learned how to battle, dig into trenches, admire the first responders, nurses, doctors, lab personnel and others who work with these sick patients and the media builds our stress and fear up with news. The political arena was active with democrats choosing a person to represent our country for their party. Then of course, the bickering, and the vote. . . and the fallout. Tensions are still high regarding the election. There has certainly been a very different turn of events post this election than past years.
Then of course, there is the unrest, anger, and violence that surround the deaths of many during police raids and submission; sometimes being brutal, and the upsurge of people causing and creating damage to shops and people who had NOTHING to do with the deaths of these persons. I agree Black lives matter, so do Latin lives, white lives, Asian lives, European and more. All lives matter.
God’s Word says that clearly in Genesis 1:26,27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them.
But, this year has been a year of turmoil. Many have been hurt and lonely since we are unable to live life as we did just a year ago. Persons have died alone, unable to be surrounded by loved ones because of the segregation of the virus mandates, folks are kept fairly sequestered as they do not want to take the risk a family member or they themselves will develop this illness. Tensions mount as folks want themselves and others to wear masks in public places for protection; while the others are loudly adamant it is their right to not wear the masks.
But certainly in 2020, the tensions are not ebbing away after a week or a couple of weeks of stressful news. It has been a time when many have dealt with an abundance of calamity—families who a few weeks earlier enjoyed a wedding, suddenly lost several family members from this virus. Family and friends are staying distanced, unwilling to risk the illness. Folks are left with the fact they had to let their loved one down, could not be there to show love and support as the person left our world for the next. That is so very difficult.
So this has been a year of more unrest and calamity than any other I have been able to remember. I entered this year thinking 2020, all things clearer and more beautiful. (I can get hooked on familiar things and phrases. . ‘2020’, means eyes and vision good; so that was what I expected. . . clear and wonderful views of this year.) SURPRISE!
I still see beauty, but the unrest, anger, frustration and fear is palpable. I have been blessed. My family is healthy, safe, employed, sure struggling some, but all are fortunate.
I believe God is trying to get the world to acknowledge Him. . . to return to Him, to repent and give Him the honor, reverence, and praise He deserves. He only waits so long. Other stories are in His book. . . Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of the temple, the Babylonian capture, the Assyrian capture. . .
We don’t have the promise 2021 will be a better year; we have hope that is so. But I believe if we all turn and honor and worship our Lord, it’s already better. He is love, hope, peace, faith. . . Wonderful Counselor and Deliverer. Reach out and ask Him into your heart and see if you are not comforted?
Thank You, Lord for always being there whenever I seek Your Comfort for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Have you looked at the night sky lately? We are blessed to be able to see Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars every evening right now. And in the early mornings, Venus is hanging out over the eastern sky. And as of this writing, it is also showing a Blue Moon, the second full moon of October. Maybe you have also been lucky enough to spot a meteor shooting across the night sky as the Orenids meteors have been visible. That is an occurrence that does not happen all that often. A blessing, you might say, well I do say!
I am so awed by the blessings God has given. It is marvelous to realize the complicated networks that make up the human body, really any animal. How super that the cells all work together in some convoluted manner to sustain the life, nourishment and growth of the creature from simple algae to the complicated beings of humans. Some are simple and microcosmic, while others are complicated mammals. Then there are the multitude of stars, planets, moon and more in the night heavens; while we don’t see those in the day, we are blessed with the fierce and bright warmth of the sun and its bright beauty.
There are different things to appreciate in each one of the states, countries, and continents. And it all started with God speaking the world and all of creation into existence. I think the only thing I can create with a spoken word is to make one of my cats hop off the table they are forbidden to be on– and usually then I have to be making a physical movement in their direction.
My mind cannot fathom all the blessings I have seen and enjoyed in just my lifetime. I could try to list, but there are so many I would miss. How many times did I enjoy the birds coming to the feeders or playing in the birdbath? How often I have been awed by the hummingbirds which fly great distances, the tiniest of creatures. They fight and guard feeders, squabbling as though they will lose all food, and then evening comes, and suddenly sharing is okay to do. They are the only birds I see coming out in a hurricane, and again, during a hurricane they are not territorial; by some mutual agreement you can see several feeding at the same time. How wonderful is that?!
The animal kingdom has been opened to me through the work of others who have taught me via television and documentaries. One is able to see the impressive speed of some of the large cats hunting their prey, bringing it back to feed young cubs. It used to break my heart to see the fear and speed of a gazelle running about for its life, and then losing to the large cat; but the death was fast and merciful once the cat reached it. God set up the world for the animal kingdom and life. It allows food for others, and it’s one of the herd killed, not mass murder of gorgeous creatures.
We get to see the ocean floor where all sorts of different sea creatures live; how they adapt to their environments, how they are equipped with protective mannerisms. We get to see tiny creatures all the way up to huge sharks, awesome, sleek and graceful dolphins, and the magnificence of whales.
photo John Holden 
I would not have learned much about any of this without the persons who teach, seek these animals and experiences, and then write the education. How much I would have missed without someone else going to explore and seek, photographing and making the visual real for me and others, then bringing the story, with pictures back for us.
I am awed by the wonderful world God created for us. He wanted to share with us, to gift us, and to have a relationship with us. He created us in His image. God delivered all sorts of beauty to us—more than I can ever list, sunrises, sunsets, dolphins, whales, mountains, fall colors, lakes and streams, waterfalls, sky, and on and on. Gifts. Blessings. He made all for us, because He loves us and wants us to revere and love Him and follow His commandments. With all that He has blessed us with, it is pretty easy for me to be grateful – not always obedient—but I am grateful. I know I am blessed.
He wants us to love and respect Him and be thankful at all times—yes, even when things may not be going smoothly. With all He has blessed us with, that seems more than fair to me. Well, it is for me. I choose to accept, and I remain thankful for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!