Prophets give wake-up call to Good News

“A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.”
‭‭Joel‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/111/jol.1.6.niv

Fully conscious I was not.  To know I didn't need to be aware of the world.  I knew.  It was my only clear thought in the anaesthetic fog. I had heard of the invader.  Now I had to deal with that invader.  I recognized the teeth of that lion.  It was time to wake up and face that lion.

The Old Testament prophets, like Joel, delivered "wake-up calls."  Verse 5 even begins with "wake up".  It seems the prophets were full of doom and gloom.  Yet within each message is hope.  One needs to peer through the fog of gloom to find it.

Prophets deliver an amazing message.  In spite of human stubbornness there is hope.  If we lose our stubborn thirst for "wanting what we want" ignoring the future implications of our selfish choices, hope is waiting.

Prophets give us the path to find that message of good news, once the message of the invasion of evil becomes clear to us.  Later in the book Joel issues the call to stop doing evil, change the direction of the heart and follow God.  The promise of safety is with God.

The night before my invader had a name, I had found the comfort of good news.  In my panic, I tried to read.  God spoke to me in one particular paragraph of that book.   All I needed to know was He was God.  He was in control.  I was not in control. He could handle the lion. I had hope.


I like waking up, every morning, because I can.
I like waking up because God is in control, even though I have my "to-do" list.
I like waking up to find the Good News in each day.
I like waking up to His Hope.

Almost 18 years and counting!

We need one more word-yet

“Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.”
‭‭Hosea‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/111/hos.1.6.niv

I'm determined to continue my journey of the 6th verse of all 66 books of the Bible.  I believe inspiration for daily life will be found in each one.  Sometimes  I need to stretch my rule and consider context of that sixth verse.  Today I needed just one more word.

Hosea was a prophet who lived through many years of history.  He lived during the time of several kings, good and bad.   The Lord directed him to marry a woman, Gomer, of questionable reputation. She was the mother of his children as noted in chapter one verse six.  When she was unfaithful God instructed Hosea to take her back.

Yet.  For today's "aha" moment from verse 6  I only needed one small word.  The first word of the next verse is Yet.  I'm very excited about "Yet".  Yet has bolstered my spiritual journey.  Now I want to live in the world of Yet.

This cute little dog doesn't want to live in the world of Yet.  She hears the word often.  Her stomach is always empty.  She wants food. She coughs, scratches my leg and gives me this look several times a day.  My frequent reply:  "It's not time yet."  She doesn't like the word yet because she lives for the now.

In Hosea's world, there was a lot of bad news coming (Israel was about to lost God's love).  Yet there was good news coming (Judah would be saved).  God was "calling it quits" on Israel.  Yet He still has hope for Judah.

The dictionary taught me that Yet is a conjunction.  Further reading informed me that Yet at the beginning of a sentence introduces a contrary idea from the prior sentence. (Apparently some language gurus frown on certain conjunctions beginning sentences.) Yet joins the thoughts.

Today Yet gives me hope and optimism.  Yet looks to the future,  Yet is the land of God's power, not mine.  When I've strayed too far, yet God is waiting for me.  When I'm lost in the world of error and misunderstanding, yet God is with me.  When I'm rejected and alone, yet God is always with me.

My world may look grim.  Yet reminds me God is always with me.

Yet reminds me of "Nevertheless", a synonym and another conjunction.  Nevertheless always surprises me.  It's three separate words that are allowed to be one.  Even Spellcheck is never surprised. God is never the less.  I am the less. Yet God won't leave me as the less, He gives a future in the Yet.

Whatever reality today or tomorrow brings me, God always has Yet for you and me.

It's What You Are to God

Hi! My name is Anastasia!

Anastasia.  I always choose Anastasia when the game is played.  It began because I was fascinated by the mystery of the name.  Now I choose it because it is guaranteed to garner giggles from the crowd.   Usually I play the name game once with each small group I lead.  The first question  is fun and hopefully non-threatening. "If you could choose your first name, what would it be?"  Few people have ever chosen their name.  It's an enlightening exercise.  (Sometimes, I remember the "game name" easier than the person's real name!  A friend's husband will always be Brett to me!)

"Among these were some from Judah:  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah." Daniel 1:6 NIV

In Daniel 1:6 four heroes are listed.  In the next verses they are renamed, not voluntarily, by the conquering king's chief official.  I suspect the four heroes liked their names.  Each name related to God.  The four had been selected as the best and brightest of the vanquished tribe and were being indoctrinated into the victorious king's service.  Apparently the first step in the transformation was Babylonian names.

The next step in training was diet. They were to live on the royal food and wine.  Daniel petitioned the official for relief from this diet as it would defile the four heroes.   The official was concerned for his own safety if the king's orders were not followed.  Daniel proposed a ten day test.  Feed the four of them vegetables and water.  After ten days, compare them to the others fed the royal meal plan.  The result of this test showed the four healthier and better nourished. 

Their physical bodies were in service to a foreign king.  Their hearts were in service to the One True God. When the opportunity to stand for the One True God, they dared to stand for Him.  

Be sure to read the rest of the book of Daniel. You'll be singing the old hymn "Dare to Be A Daniel"! ( Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to Stand Alone, Dare to have a purpose firm,  Dare to make it known. by Phillip Bliss)

Daniel knew what the world calls you isn't who you are.  What goes inside you, determines who you are.  Today we have so much from the world to choose to put in our body and our minds.  We must choose, what goes into our hearts and bodies, wisely to stand  ready to make Him known.  God knows our name and knows our heart.  Our purpose- to make His name known.

All That Matter, Relationship to One

"It's Mr. Jan!"  My new friends called out to my husband as he came through the door.  They'd heard about him. They knew about his job and his personality.  Apparently I don't use his name enough.  They know about our relationship.  They knew who he was because he was with me.

I have a challenge.  I'm determined to finish my series of blogs on the sixth verse of each book of the Bible.  The sixth verse in Ezekiel is pretty short:

"but each of  them had four faces and four wings." 

Lord, where's the inspiration in this partial sentence describing those curious four living creatures?  ( This verse begins with the word 'but', rarely does good follow 'but'!)

The number four captured my attention.  Four creatures with four faces and four wings. I like numbers.  They are definite.  There is rarely a discrepancy with a number involved.  You can always count and confirm a number.

My surprise was the definition of four is relational.  The dictionary explained four is the sum of two plus two or the sum of  one plus three or ten minus six.  Apparently to comprehend four, I must understand two, one, ten and six.  I did have quality math teachers so I understood four with the  presentation of its relationship to other numbers.  Just like my friends recognized my husband because of his relationship to me. 

The critical number to comprehend in the world of math relationships is one.  It is the first and lowest whole number.  In my mind all the numbers are defined in relationship to one.  I must acknowledge one before I can comprehend any other number.  It begins with one!

Ezekiel 1: 6 , and this thought exercise on numbers, led me to ponder my relationship with God.  My relationship with God is also defined by a number - the number One.  There is:

only One God, despite the world's attempts to control me with cheap imitations;

only One knows me completely and values me absolutely, despite the world's attempts to convince me otherwise;

only One gives me my true worth and identity while the world squeezes me into restrictive labels.

 Do our earthly relationships recognize our relationship with The Only One?

Do others understand The Only One because of  what we say about Him or how we live life? 

Do others see the value we place on relationship with The Only One?

All that matters, relationship to One!