He drove them out of the Garden, and cursed the Creation. Thorns and thistles, disease and death ...
But, the "Seed of woman" was mentioned?!
Forty years, until all the faithless fell out, they wandered in the wilderness.
But, He fed them, cared for them, ...
The next generation was not a lot better?! And, the next ...
No generation has been edenic. We are all east of Eden.
But, the Tree of Life is out there!
woke up in the middle of the night... where am I?!
Alabama home I'm selling.
Mississippi home I've bought, and am moving into ...
Rented beach condo for a few days vacationing ...
This world is NOT my home ...
East of Eden ... trying to find that Tree!
And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Genesis 4:16 KJV
"Go west, old man"?!
Cain fleeing before Jehovah's Curse, by Fernand-Anne Piestre Cormon, c. 1880
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"With bowed head," not "with bated breath"?!
"Holding up holy hands," not "holding my breath"?!
Trust, not trepidation?!
Anticipation, not anxiety?!
Faith, not fear!
O Lord, help me to trust You, BEFORE the way is clear!
Give me peace, THROUGH "the valley of the shadow of death ..."
As I lay here in the darkness, unable to sleep this night, I ask, why do you hide in the shadows? I ask, why do you only whisper rather than write boldly, plainly on the skies? Why is it so difficult for us to follow where you lead? Why can we not see the signs? Why is it so confusing?
We begin to look so much like the world around us. We are not transforming, but rather conforming?! Looking less and less like Him, and more and more like them?! In the name of relevance, we are neglecting righteousness?! Happiness has replaced holiness?!
Racism is wrong, in so many ways.
Murder ends the path of jealousy and desire.
Greed is a crippling sin of the heart.
Stealing is selfish, and stirs up rage.
Homosexuality is a perversion.
Abortion is murder.
Lying damns oneself, and, unfairly others.
Adultery is no light matter, but so very destructive.
Arrogance is deceptive and devious.
Hypocrisy is a self-defeating game.
Carnality is the opposite of Spirituality, and it's bane; and, Spirituality crucifies Carnality.
Time fails to do more than list laziness, gluttony, jealousy, drunkenness, ...
Some distracting. Some destructive. Some deadly. All damnable.
Matt.15:19
Gal.5:19-21
Romans 1:28-32
I Corinthians 6:9-10
Ephesians 4:3-8
God, have mercy.
*******"
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Matthew 15:19 ESV
Often, He smiles, winks, motions with a finger, whispers, ...
Far too often, we are too dull or distracted or detoured to notice.
The problem for us is that we become angry or ungrateful or profane. Instead of a TYG, we utter a GD?!
For example, while leaning over to pick up a large potted fig tree, a dead, sharp branch poked me in the head and scratched up my forehead. "Thank you, Jesus!" was my response. You see, it had missed my eye! How often I've heard "GD" come out the mouth of others over similar mishaps?!
Another?! My wife screamed and I ran from the other end of the house, only to find out that a mouse had been in the garbage can. It spooked her! My first thought was "great, now I have to deal with a mouse ...". This was in a new house into which we were moving. But imagine my amazement when I walked past the dryer vent outside the house?! No dryer installed yet. Open vent hole. Six inches from ground level! I thought "thank you Jesus for sending the mouse to warn of a snake possibly getting in the house!". (temporary duct tape to the rescue!)
Small blessings! Pay attention. 😇
Today I met an old man in a waiting room at the doctor's office. He must have been eighty something. As I set down near him I looked at him briefly and he smiled. He asked me, "how are you doing?". I told him that I was doing fine, but that we had brought my wife to the doctor today to check her eyes.
Then it began! He smiled and said, "my wife and I were married for 50 years and 3 months.". I asked him, "what was her name?". "Louise" he warmly, but softly replied.
We talked of how they had met on a blind date. He told me that he knew that she was the one on their first date because they sat together and his shoulder touched her shoulder and it was on fire! We talked of how they were married four months later! We talked of camping trips that he had made with his family. He told me that Louise and he had gone on cruises together many times.
I told him that I was sorry that he had lost her. And he smiled and quickly replied, "Its not over!". He knew that he would see her again.
From the next few minutes, before the nurse called him back, we talked of Heaven and how we surely would know our loved ones! We talked of the movie, "Heaven" (2020) and how "it's not over" was a recurring quote!
We shook hands and exchange names before he went back to his appointment room.
