Seeing 20/20 In 2020

April 28, 2020 Gracie

The Eyes of Faith – Seeing 20/20 In The Year 2020

having clear vision 20/20 in 2020

We used to love watching hawks fly around at our old house.

Have you ever seen a hawk up close?

They are truly fascinating birds of prey.

Fascinating, but take it from me, they don’t pick up after themselves.

Seriously.

Once we saw a hawk with a snake in its mouth land directly on our back fence.

We quickly grabbed our binoculars to see what cool thing it would do next.

It didn’t take long.

It dropped the snake in our yard, and then flew off.

Hey, not cool.

You can see one of our frequent hawk visitors in the center of the picture below.

seeing clearly in 2020

Did you know that hawks can see eight times better than we can? That works out to about a 20/2 on the vision chart.

That’s pretty amazing.

My 20/20 pales in comparison.

I want to always see the world around me through the eyes of faith.

Seeing 20/20 in 2020

The other day, I came across the following verse in my Bible reading, located in 1 Samuel 16:7.

God is with the prophet Samuel in Bethlehem. God had a clear message for what Samuel was to look for in the search for a new king over Israel.

Check this out.

through God's eyes

The Lord looks at the heart

He sees us, not just for what we are on the outside, but more importantly, who we are on the inside.

Have you ever noticed in your Bible readings whom God chooses to use for His glory?

Did He always choose the most attractive, richest, strongest, and powerful people?

God often chooses unlikely people to do His work, so that all know the work is God’s work, not man’s work. He wants to work in a way so that people regard His servants as they regarded Samson: they wondered at the secret of his strength. (Judges 16:5). – David Guzik, Christian pastor and author. ²

Don’t you love that?

The Eyes of Faith

Delight yourself in the Lord, take shelter in Him, and see everything going on in the world with a Godly perspective.

Things may appear impossible right now, but through the eyes of faith, we know that, in God’s timing, everything will fall into place.

And then it will all start to make sense.

As hard as it can be sometimes, we have to try and look beyond our circumstances.

Choose to view life through God’s eyes. This will not be easy because it doesn’t come naturally to us. We cannot do this on our own. We have to allow God to elevate our vantage point. Start by reading His Word, the Bible…Pray and ask God to transform your thinking. Let Him do what you cannot. Ask Him to give you an eternal, divine perspective. – Chuck Swindoll, Christian pastor and author.³

Amen!

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God bless.

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² Quotation from Christian pastor David Guzik. “1 Samuel 16. God Chooses David.” n.d., Web. Accessed 26 April, 2020. Retrieved from https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-samuel-16/

³ Chuck Swindoll, influential Christian pastor and author. Swindoll quotation, courtesy of AZquotes.com.

Our Exceptional God

Where Can I Listen To The Bible Online

October 18, 2017 Gracie

Listen To The Bible Online

Oh, the times they are a-changin’.

Many people would rather read or listen to the Bible online, than carrying the book itself.

Look around you during church and chances are many people are looking at their phones. Hopefully, it’s because they’re reading from a Bible app and not checking Facebook!

I get it.

We are living in a rapidly changing, mobile-driven world. Using a phone or iPad is fine if that’s what you need or want to do. The end goal is immersing ourselves in God’s truth.

Options For Studying God’s Word

When I hurt my back recently, I had trouble carrying a lot of things in my arms while heading into church.

As a result, I’ve temporarily switched to looking at the online Bible that I downloaded on my phone. Honestly, it’s more convenient.

I prefer the book though. A bible book I wouldn’t trade my book Bible for anything. It has my notes, several handouts, and encouraging words in the margin.

I miss carrying my Bible in my arms.
listen to the Bible online

Read Or Listen To The Bible Online

If you prefer an online version, please allow me to offer you a couple of suggestions, in no particular order:

The YouVersion Bible app

You can download the free YouVersion Bible directly from your phone or their website.

The Bible is God’s message to the world. With YouVersion, you can download their app in over 900 languages! Look here, right towards the bottom of the page, where it says “YouVersion is Global.”

You can also listen to the Bible online through their app by clicking here. Choose the Bible passages you want to read and the translation (NASB, ESV, etc.), and you can listen to your heart’s content. from Bible Gateway One of my favorite resources, the Bible Gateway website, also offers a written and audio version.

Click into the website here and pick the Bible book and the translation you’re searching.

For the audio version, look for the “audio” icon towards the top right.

These are just a few examples, and I hope they’re helpful when you’re looking for an alternative to a book Bible.

Be Encouraged

One crucial way to delight yourself in the Lord is to read what it says in His Word.

I know you know that, but please don’t lose heart as the world turns increasingly dark.

Christians, be encouraged!

We have the truth on our side.

In Second Peter, the Apostle issued a lot of warnings about false teachers in his day. We have no less of a problem with heretical teachings cropping up like weeds in the 21st century.

Discernment is key.

Christianity is not a myth, and the Bible is not a bunch of meaningless stories.

^*16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. – 2 Peter 1:16. (ESV.)

“Eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

Praise the Lord!

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Our Exceptional God

Legends In Their Own Minds

September 18, 2017 Gracie

The Legends In Their Own Minds Are At It Again

I’m talking about the Hollywood celebrities who feel the need to bash our President at their multiple awards shows, on their “glorify me” twitter accounts, during talk show interviews, on their Facebook fan pages, and websites.

Legends in their minds

Seriously?

Reportedly, the Emmy Awards became yet another opportunity for some high-profile celebs to trash our President.

Did we expect anything less?

My husband and I didn’t watch the show. We knew what it was going to be like and happily watched something else.

Of course, not all celebs act this way, but the ones who are acting like brats sure can take over an awards show.

One of my favorite inventions ever?

The TV remote.

By the way, how many awards shows exist to honor celebrities? I’d try to guess, but the number seems to go higher every five minutes.

Wink, wink.

Feeling Powerful

The absurdity is ongoing.

In fact, one actress is very concerned that Mother Nature is ticked off that people in our country voted for President Trump.

Those devastating hurricanes that hit the southern United States recently, according to this actress, are Mother Nature’s revenge.

Again, seriously?

You can’t make this stuff up.

Many of the voters who voted for President Trump are Bible-believing Christians.

So apparently we Christians can, along with “Mother Nature”, help stir up the weather by voting for the candidate Hollywood doesn’t like.

Hmmmm. That’s good to know because I would like a nice weekend.

Controlling the weather

I will now attempt to control the temperatures for the rest of September to a pleasant 70 degrees. (smiling).

Good grief, people!!

I find it ironic that the celebs saying these things act so devastated by the election results and yet, don’t even give a second thought to the deadly embrace of their party line towards Planned Parenthood.

It’s a shame that Christians get shut down every time the abortion issue is raised. It’s happened to me.

I’ll remain pro-life, no matter what name I’m called.

Keep on keeping on. 🙂

Prayers Needed

Can we agree how lost these actors and actresses are, and in need of prayer for their very salvation?

If you’re not praying for the future of our country yet, now’s a good time to start.

We don’t know what the immediate future holds in store. Everything is in God’s timing.

In the meantime, we can be ready, pray, and we can arm ourselves with God’s Word.

And, our TV remote.

Keep our eyes on the prize, trust God, and delight ourselves in Him.

The following verses are from Psalm 37. Not cherry picking here. We can learn from David how we can respond when life seems upside down.

We can pray and submit to the Lord and rest in the assurance that when He comes back, He will judge righteously.

In other words, pray, don’t stress.

The battle is the Lord’s.

^*3Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
⁴Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

– Psalm 37:3-4, English Standard version (ESV).

God bless

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Our Exceptional God

Lord, Humble Me

October 11, 2016 Gracie

Lord, Humble Me

Have you ever heard a fantastic quote from someone, the kind that just sticks with you for days?

I had one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments recently.

I came across the following quote from Senior Pastor Keith Krell of Spokane, Washington. He’s a well-respected contributor to the Bible.Org website.

*Pastor Krell describes the quote as a daily prayer of his.

I think it’s genius.

Here it is:

Lord humble me

A Light Bulb Moment

Whoaa! Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Have you ever felt humbled by the Lord? Things appear to be going well, you’re a rock star in your mind, and then “it” happens.

The Lord’s chastens you. It reminds you that He, not you, are in control. As a parent corrects the child he or she loves, so the Father must discipline us at times in our lives. Even though in our human minds we don’t think it’s fair, we have to remember that ultimately it’s because He loves us.

Lord Humble Me

I remember back in the 80’s when I thought I had the best job in the world and that I would never leave an on air TV career. Unfortunately, my ambitions were higher than my faith. I had visions of starting a successful career in Louisiana and ending up, perhaps in Miami or California, working in a big TV market. Not once did I consider saying, “Lord willing.”

God had other plans for me, and that job and career are no more. Looking back, I don’t regret a second of that long, sometimes painful journey, because it led me to a deeper, personal relationship with our Savior.

Delight Yourself in the Lord

When your life is seemingly going haywire, that’s not the time to quit, or worse, think that you can handle it on your own, without God.

Ask for prayer from your friends and family, and keep asking.

Thru Christ, we have power, mercy, forgiveness, and grace, but it’s not by ignoring His great sacrifice. Have you committed your life to Him?

My heart belongs to the Lord

Who Was, and Is, and Is To Come

There’s a song I’ve sung in choir many times at church. Perhaps you know it.

Try closing your eyes while concentrating on these lyrics when doubts plague your mind. Here, Kari Jobe sings “Revelation Song.”

Delight Yourself in the Lord and encourage someone this week.

Yours may be the only encouragement they get.

God bless!

*Single quotation from Bible.org. (2010). Author Senior Pastor, Keith Krell. [Article: 25. A Feeding Frenzy (1Corinthians 11:17-34). From https://bible.org/seriespage/25-feeding-frenzy-1-corinthians-1117-34

Our Exceptional God