Day 17

No sugar or dairy

Here I go again marveling about the awesome ways MY God works the events of our lives. When we enjoy the people He puts in our paths it certainly can be a buffer for taking our focus from food cravings. If you read my “Day Three” post, you know that Sundays are my favorite day of the week, and why. This morning, our pastor was especially motivated with the prospect of our joint heir’s status with Jesus. And as he admitted, we can’t really fathom what all that entails, let alone completely grasp. But we should be living in such a way as to give all of earth a correct estimate of what’s to come!

I love belonging to a great place to worship! And it is always interesting whom you just might see. In our Adult Bible Fellowship (Sunday School for…

Every visit to the farm is an interesting spectacle to a pig’s life, not to mention, SMELL! And understanding Jewish law concerning pigs, paints a thought-provoking picture. Especially challenging is Proverbs 11:22:

“As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion”

Dan Phillips explains it this way:

The mental image is that of looking at a lovely, sparkling gold ring, admiring a twinkling in the sun—then seeing that it is in a pig’s snout. Wasted! Misplaced! Thus, Solomon says, is a lady with a beautiful outside and nothing going on inside.

Phillips translates “discretion” as “good taste.” …the ability to discern, to judge, to distinguish among “flavors” of good and evil, of wisdom and folly.

He goes on to say:

The picture is not simply of a pretty woman without a lot in the area of native IQ…. She is not simply…

I love to hear the waves and watch the foamy currents race across the shoreline! I find going to the beach to be an exhilarating experience. Especially exhilarating is to try and walk through the crashing waves yet being knocked off your feet. And then, finding it impossible to stand back up because you cannot stop laughing.

This reminds me so much of real life when we lose our footing. And what is worse, being dragged further and further from the shoreline. Of course, when this happens, it is no laughing matter and panic mode (like the time my backside slid down our staircase!) sets in. Many times, I wonder, “will I ever stand again?” It seems like an impossibility!

Even more agonizing is the spiritual warfare that creeps in without any warning. Like a dark cloud that comes out of nowhere and will not leave. It can certainly send…

With Valentine’s Day approaching there are candy hearts, roses, chocolate and love notes in high demand! But let me offer a more satisfying Valentine gift that we can give one another. It is the gift of Unity and let me tell you why. We are so focused on ourselves and our own personal wants that we miss out on what really brings the greatest level of pleasure:

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

Philippians 2:3-5, NLT

Jesus Christ came and taught Unity for all Christ-followers. That bond of putting others needs ahead of our own, serving and not looking for reward, we all need unity that binds us together and causes us to work…