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In our city is a high hill called Mt. Trashmore. It’s a place where the city’s trash was. I say “was” because you can’t see it anymore since it’s been covered in dirt. Over time, plants, trails, and a shelter at the top were added.
Like the trash that was covered by dirt, our sins have been covered by Jesus’ blood, if we repent. In Matthew 26:28, Jesus said, “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Many people have heard of Paul and how he suffered while spreading the Gospel. His Christian mission is spelled out in the letters he wrote in the Bible. He became a famous traveling missionary because of Jesus.
What do we know about Paul’s personal life? In Acts 22:3, he said he was “born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city.” He was raised in Jerusalem and had a sister (Acts 23:16). His sister had a son, giving Paul a nephew.
I believe the Lord sent Paul’s nephew to help him. Paul’s nephew was in the right place at the right time to hear the bad plot that over 40 enemies made an oath to not drink or eat “until they had killed Paul.” Paul’s nephew was able to tell him what he heard, which led to Paul’s rescue. The nephew’s actions showed he loved Uncle Paul.
I wonder what happened to the 40+ men that didn’t love Paul, the men that made the oath not to drink or eat until they murdered Paul. I lost track of the time that passed after they made that oath, but it would have been at least two years and eight days. My husband and I think they gave up.
Genesis 2:9, 3:22-24, Revelation 22:12-16
Last Wednesday, I finished reading the Bible. It was just the second time I’ve read it. Since Revelation is the last book of the Bible, it was fresh in my mind when I read the news about Billy Graham passing on to Heaven. There are wonderful details about Heaven in Revelation, but as I read this time, I found the tree of life to be particularly fascinating. As I read, this time I was reminded that the tree of life is also mentioned in the first book of the Bible, Genesis.
In Genesis 2:9, I read that God created beautiful trees that were “good for food.” God is perfect, so just know that if He says the food is good, it’s perfectly tasty. Also, the tree of life was in the middle of the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:22-24, I read that if they (Adam and Eve) would have taken and eaten from the tree of life they would have lived forever. Because of that, God guarded the tree of life with a flaming sword and cherubim.
In Revelation, Jesus spoke the words,”…right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.” Putting all of the verses together, it sounds to me like those that are saved get to enter the city gates and take and eat from the tree of life leading to eternal life. I like to picture Billy Graham and loved ones that have gone to Heaven, walking awestruck through the city gates, picking fruit from the lovely tree of life, eating the delicious fruit and then living happily ever after.
1 Kings 18:45-46, 1 Kings 19:19-20
In studying 1 Kings 19:19-20 I found out that there apparently has been some controversy over the financial status of Elisha because of the number of oxen Elijah found him with. Some wonder if Elisha owned all twelve yoke of oxen. Some think Elisha and/or his father must have been rich. In my study, however, I wasn’t searching for an answer to whether Elisha was wealthy or not. It was verses 19b and 20a that piqued my curiosity, but I couldn’t find any source that addressed my question. My question is that if Elisha just got Elijah’s cloak thrown on him, why did he have to run after Elijah?
In the above verses, Elisha was working with oxen when Elijah passed him, and threw the cloak on him. Then, Elisha had to run after him.
At one point in Elijah’s life, he put his cloak in his belt, and was able to sprint past Ahab and his chariot to Jezreel’s city gate. God helped Elijah run in that serious situation, but I wonder if Elijah was feeling playful and asked God to let him run like that again by Elisha.
It could be that Elijah was simply walking briskly past Elisha. It appears it’s just one of those questions I’ll have to ask in Heaven someday.
It’s cloudy today. When I was a teen, I was working at a Mexican restaurant when a customer approached me saying, “Do you know how long it’s been since we’ve seen the sun?” Expecting an order for softshells or something else, the question surprised me. The weather had been cloudy for awhile, and obviously, this man had been keeping track of the overcast days. He looked distressed and I don’t remember the number of days he had counted, but I’ll never forget his question.
Today, I was curious about cloudy places. I found out Seattle, WA is a very cloudy city with about 226 cloudy days every year. https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/cloudiest-cities.php
When Noah was in the ark, there were forty days of raining and forty nights of raining, meaning of course that the sky would have been cloudy for a long time. If Noah could have had a smart phone with a weather app, he could have seen many images of clouds with rain in the forecast.
My family plans on going to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky soon. I’ll be glad if it’s a cloudy day when we get there so I can feel like I’ve been transported back to Noah’s time.
Yesterday, my family and I were out doing errands when we noticed a construction sign that said, “Detour.” It seemed like a sad thing, but as we got off the beaten path and onto the new path, we realized it was enjoyable. The road climbed and swooped, showing us a part of our city we hadn’t seen before.
Let’s say the beaten path represents a person’s life that has stagnated and is just surviving day to day. And say the new path represents a person’s life that is alive with hope. This all reminds me of a book I read called Destiny: Let God Use You Like He Made You by Tony Evans. He said that if we just survive day to day, we risk someday hearing from God, “I had so much that I wanted to accomplish through you…but I never could get you to focus your full and undivided attention on My glory. You wanted your own.” Tony Evans further states, “…your destiny is about His glory.”
Speaking of what to focus on, Dr. Evans said, “Focusing on the world creates static on the line that will interfere with what the Spirit wants to speak to your mind (see Romans 12:1-2). But if you focus your mind on God and His kingdom, you will pierce through the fog of this world…Seek Him first, and you will make it…All these things will be added to you-including your destiny.”
Tony Evans mentioned, “While waiting on God for your destiny, promote the well-being of the people around you now.” Later, he said, “When you find Him, you will find the plan as well because He knows what it is and wants to give it to you.”
In the last chapter of the book in the last paragraph, Dr. Evans requests that the reader remember Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Big Bible Fan 