Tag Archives: Bible

The Line in the Sand

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The little bird had grown up free. She ate the best food, learned to fly with good bird parents, sat by the waves’ edge and rested. She skimmed lightly over the water and dove down and caught fresh fish. She was happy.

One day, she flew farther along the shore and saw a line in the sand. On the other side of that line, the beach was very different. It caught her eye. At first glance, it looked like fun to the little bird. A party of birds gathered, loud noises, littered bags of used fries for the taking. She was nervous, though, and turned back to her home. As she flew, she felt her lungs breath freely in the clean air and the wide-open spaces.

But the lure of the exciting and different called her back the next day. She didn’t tell anyone; she just went. She gathered up her courage and landed among the loud birds. She tried to fit in and act like she was one of them. She boldly grabbed a fry, liked it, and then grabbed another. She stayed all day, bumping into other birds, even fighting over a choice morsel of trash.

By the end of the day, though, she felt strange and weighed down. She knew she had to go home, immediately, while she still could. She couldn’t describe it….it was just a feeling of impending danger.

She flew somewhat sluggishly, and finally made it back over the line in the sand. She slept badly all night and awoke feeling even worse. The little bird promised herself not to do that again.

It took time, but after some days, she felt better, more herself, freer. She flew as she did before and felt joy in chasing the waves. She was home, and it was good.

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This story came about due to a book I was reading the past two days. It was very well reviewed, excellently written. I was instantly catapulted into this imaginary world created by the author, and I loved it. Couldn’t put the book down. But suddenly last evening, it changed. New plot elements were introduced that I knew would displease God. It felt dirty, wrong, and all I knew was that I had to stop reading immediately. No matter how good the book was, no matter how much I wanted to know how it ended. It just made me feel bad inside, and extremely sad. The loss of purity in our culture hit me like a brick wall. The book has gone back to the library, and I feel better. Like the bird, that was my line in the sand.

Stay strong, friends. Pray that Christ holds us very tightly through these perilous days.

Blessings, Lisa

“…let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” – 2 Corinthians 7:1b

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2

Questions

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Do you believe in the account of Christ’s nativity?

Why would God send His beloved Son to this earth, to live as a man, and to suffer?

Do you believe that God loves you, even before you loved Him?

Do you feel uneasy and scared about what happens after death?

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

Blessings, Lisa

A Tune Until Morning

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I rediscovered an old friend yesterday, this Domnahl na Gruen low D whistle, handmade by Daniel McGinley in Knoydart, Scotland.

Domnahl na Gruen means ‘Daniel of the Sun.’ Another spelling of the tune is ‘Domhnall Na Graine.’ The lyrics paint a lovely and touching story.

A man was very ill, and he wasn’t getting any better. One night, he stumbled out of his house in total frustration. He came upon a man in the street who asked why he was so unhappy. He told the stranger that he was ill and couldn’t recover. The stranger told him he had a tune. If the ill man would learn the tune from him, mastering it by morning his sickness would be gone. The stranger lilted the tune so that he could learn it. The sick man spent the rest of the night burning it into his memory. In the morning, he felt well enough to pick up his fiddle and play it. His sickness had gone. https://thesession.org/tunes/1317

God often uses music to heal, to refresh, to provide hope to a weary soul. Think of David playing for King Saul. “And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.” (1Samuel 16:23)

 “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” – Psalm 98:4-7

Blessings, Lisa

His Kingdom

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“You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.” – Deuteronomy 5:32-33


“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” – Daniel 2:21

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name,
 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:9-10

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Just some verses on my mind this morning. Blessings for a good day, Lisa

The Curtain Rising

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This morning the sky is cloaked with a heavy blanket of cloud. No blue can be seen. But there is light, glorious light coming behind the clouds.

I feel a shiver of anticipation. I can almost see the Lord Jesus riding in on his mighty steed on the clouds of the east, with the blinding beautiful light of who He is. It feels like the curtain could rise any moment. Like He is standing at the door, waiting for the time appointed for Him to return.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, angels appeared to his apostles and told them that Jesus would return in the same way He had gone to heaven. The second act will come. This earth will pass away. A new heaven and a new earth will take its place. He will separate the goats from the sheep, the ones who didn’t believe in Him from the ones who did. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Thank you, Lord, for your precious salvation that let me start again and lets me live and breathe each moment.

Please know how very loved you are by Christ. He is waiting for you to open the door; He is there. And if you already know Him, be excited. He is coming back. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

“He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” – Psalm 104: 2-4

“After Jesus said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’ ” – Acts 1:10-11

“Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen. ‘I Am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’ ” -Revelation 1:7-8

Blessings always, Lisa