The Bible is the Best - 30 Days of Thankfulness

Treasure hunts are intriguing, challenging, and fun.

As a child, I loved finding and following clues on treasure hunts. Occasionally, folks would create such searches for birthdays parties and special gatherings. What fun it is to traipse around, looking high and low for a secret prize.

Forget Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey and Musical Chairs.

Take me to a treasure hunt, and the kid in me comes right back.

I’ve even created treasure hunts. Ask my kids. Because I love to write (particularly poetry), I’ve had a blast devising rhymed hints and hiding them all over the house and yard. My children have deciphered these little ditties to find Christmas stockings, Easter baskets, and other goodies.

God has given us a treasure hunt as well.

The Bible gives us many clues about God’s character, His ways, and how we can find Him.

I am thankful for the Bible, God’s holy Word.

Without it, I’d surely be lost.

I have tried hard to find You –

Don’t let me wander from Your commands.

I have hidden Your word in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

I praise You, O LORD;

Teach me Your decrees.

Psalm 119:10-12, NLT

The Bible is a beautiful blessing, especially when I open the Book and dig into its bounty.

 

For what are you thankful?

Image/s:

Reading the Bible

by Rushay Booysen

Creative Commons Licensing

Wikipedia Commons Photos

Thankful at Thanksgiving

Adapted from public domain artwork

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Appreciating the Almighty – 30 Days of Thankfulness

I’m a bit behind here, but jumping into 30 Days of Thankfulness. This blogging event leads us into a month of gratitude, right through Thanksgiving and into the start of Advent.

Because I adore a challenge, I’m starting with the alphabet, as I adore the Almighty. Even as storms swirl, both meteorologically and personally, Father God covers us with His strong arms and holds His beloved close to His heart.

The eternal God is thy refuge, 
and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27a, KJV

I am thankful for the Almighty.

Does your life feel stormy?

Cyclones and crises come in all sorts of forms, from everyday hassles to health horrors and full-out hurricanes. But God is able to answer the call of any who desire to trust Him.

Maybe He stills the storm, or maybe He simply holds us dearly till the tumult has subsided.

Today, I thank God for who He is – the Almighty, the All-Wise, the Awesome One. He is Abba Father, the Amazing Ancient of Days.

To Him belong all Alleluias.

For what are you thankful?

Image/s:

God the Father

By Cima de Conegliano

Circa 1515

Thankful at Thanksgiving

Adapted from public domain artwork

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Maintaining memories of 911 heroes

This September 11^th marks the 11^th anniversary of the tragic and terrifying terrorist attack on American soil. This infamous date gives us pause to ponder the horrific loss our nation suffered.

The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center toppled in New York City. The Pentagon took a tremendous hit. And a plane filled with valiant and persistent passengers crashed in a Pennsylvania farm field, instead of at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The internet, TV networks, radios, and other communications channels trumpeted reminders of this mind-blowing and disastrous date in American history.

Like so many fellow Americans, I read this morning’s many poignant posts and forwarded lots of touching and inspiring photographs and quotes. I stopped to pray again for the families who lost loved ones on that dreadful day.

And I thanked God that we live in a nation where we generally feel safe. We go about our daily business unimpeded. Despots do not threaten our faith, our professions, or even our lifestyles.

Still, we complain. We mope. We gripe about imperfections in our land.

Some of these rumblings may actually lead to positive changes, particularly in an election year, when candidates of every stripe and their followers consider real issues that affect us all.

Amid these considerations, I stepped out to log a few miles in my running shoes. Then I saw this.

Perhaps I need not mention that the homeowner that assembled this visual tribute today frequently displays political placards supporting candidates and causes with which I tend to disagree rather strongly.

But today that does not matter. Not one bit.

Take a closer look. 

OK, the folks in the photo are not real. But they certainly remind us of the most genuine among us all.

We remember. Surely, we remember. And, although our country is far from perfect, we may indeed be grateful that we live in such a land. Certainly, our fallen finest deserve another “Thank you” and a solemn salute.

Image/s:

Photo by Linda Ann Nickerson

Nickers and Ink Creative Communications

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Stick-necked or Soft-hearted?

My neck is stiff today, as it often is.

A chronic neurological condition can crank things up pretty quickly, spinally speaking, particularly during a summer heat wave. Yesterday, the top half of my vertebral column suddenly seized up, as if an unseen force had slammed my sensory doors shut. Those proverbial passageways have still not reopened.

Nearly numb, my hands and feet tingle, although the outside temperature reads nearly 100 degrees (F). And my neck is locked up still.

Still, I’m not sure that’s what the Bible means, when it talks about stiff necks.

"I have seen these people,"

the LORD said to Moses,

"and they are a stiff-necked people.”

(Exodus 32:9, NIV)

Whoa! That sounds like a slam against stiff-necked people?

As usual, the secret lies in the context.

Consider the scene. Moses has just climbed the mountain to receive the laws of the Lord, when God reveals to the prophetic patriarch how the people are worshiping the golden calf down below.

En route to the Promised Land, those folks may have melted down all their golden chokers and other treasures to mold the idol. But they were likely more stiff-necked than ever.

Look at these additional translations of the same verse:

Then the LORD said,

"I have seen

how stubborn and rebellious

these people are.”

(NLT)

The LORD said to Moses,

"I have seen this people,

and behold, they are an obstinate people.”

(NASB)

God said to Moses,

"I look at this people—

Oh! What a stubborn, hard-headed people!”

(MSG)

Stiff-necked-ness, so to speak, seems to be something offensive to God, at least in a spiritual sense.

Scriptural synonyms for “stiff-necked” include:

hard-headed

obstinate

rebellious

stubborn

Ouch!

Perhaps it has something to do with our willingness to turn towards Him and to keep our eyes focused in the right direction. Maybe it’s about pride and determination, as opposed to humble faith and obedience to the One who deserves all honor.

Is it possible to have a stiff neck and a soft heart at the same time?

Yes, my neck is stiff today, but for medical reasons. I only pray my mind is open and my heart is soft, even as the nerves around my upper vertebrae are clenched.

Pass the Ben-Gay ... and the Bible, would you, please?

Image/s:

From: The Book of Snobs

By William Makepeace Thackaray

1848

Public Domain/Copyright Expired

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