Hath God Said ?

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Genesis 3:1-3

I wonder how often we still twist the Word of God today to try and make it say what we want it to say instead of what it really says. I'm afraid lots more often than we want to realize! In Genesis 3:1-3 Eve and Satan in the form of a serpent were having a conversation. Both of them "said" they were quoting God but in reality, neither one of them were. What God actually said is found in Genesis 2:16-17..."And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Satan claimed that God said Adam and Eve could not eat fruit from any of the trees. Eve claimed God said they could eat from all but one and that if they did eat the fruit...or even touch the tree...they would die.

It's so very easy to get things mixed up even when we are trying to keep them straight! Ever play the "gossip game"? That's where you have one person whisper a statement to the next person then that person does the same and so on down the line. The person at the end of the line says what he heard. It's never ever the same as what the first person said! I used to have my 1st through 3rd grade Sunday school classes play it whenever I wanted to show them the importance of the written word. If something is written down, then you can go back to it if you forget. If you are relying only on talk then it can often times be unreliable. That's why we should be so very thankful that we have the Bible...God's written Word!

But are there still many people reading the Word of God? And if so, is His Word being misquoted or twisted? According to many sources that I read or hear the answer to my last question would be yes. Let's just look at a few of the Ten Commandments. Hath God said, "Thou shalt not kill"? (Ex.20:13) Yes He did. Then should not abortion be wrong? And yet there are some who would argue that abortion is an exception to the rule. Hath God said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery"? (Ex. 20:14) Yes He did. And yet a large percent of our adult population does not see anything wrong with living together before they are married. Some couples even think they have God's blessing on such a union. Not so. Hath God said, "Thou shalt not steal"? (Ex. 20:15)Yes He did. But some would say that it's no big deal. Sort of a "take from the rich-give to the poor Robin Hood philosophy" that is beginning to be popular.

Maybe you're saying, "I have never killed anyone and I have never committed adultery so I'm doing all right!" O.K. Let's move on to the New Testament. Matthew 5:21-22 and 27-28 will address this. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."...."Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt no commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." How often do we blot these verses out of our minds? Is that not akin to changing the Word of God?

I know I'm guilty of not wanting to stand accountable for obeying all the do's and don'ts of the Bible. Sometimes I just want to be disobedient and self-willed. And sometimes I am. And always when that happens I wish I had not been! Just as I'm very sure that Eve often wished that she had not listened to Satan the serpent!

"God hath said" so many important things in Scripture and we need to be reading and learning all we can while we can. Search the Word and find out for yourself what is true and what is a lie of Satan.

God bless you!

Marilyn

Summer....I Will Miss You !

Only one more day of summer after today and then we will begin our fall season. I turned into our driveway a few days ago and just stopped a minute to take a picture because I realized it wouldn't be long before the leaves would be turning colors and then "turning loose" and falling to the ground. I'm going to miss the full greeness of my driveway when those days arrive. When the leaves fall it just seems depressing to me. But my husband....who usually thinks opposite than me anyway... loves it when the trees are bare. He equates that with hunting season I think. ha

I will miss the fresh veggies out of our garden also. Most everything has dried up now except for some of our peppers.

I will miss getting to keep my flowers out on the back deck. This is a vine my pastor's wife gave me at least 7 or 8 years ago! It is very indestructable or it would have been dead years ago! The easiest thing to keep alive that I've ever had!

And I will miss the roses blooming in the front yard. I went out and picked these two beauties yesterday and brought them inside so as to be able to see and smell them for as long as possible.

Yes, summer, I will miss you but I'm pretty sure that before long I will be enjoying the colors and sights and smells of fall. After all....Thanksgiving comes in the fall and that's my favorite holiday!

God bless each of you!

Marilyn

A Call For Mercy

This is a picture of a lady who lives in Pakistan. I'd like to quote from a letter from Tom White of the Voice of the Martyrs to tell you who she is. Her name is Asia Bibi. "As an ordinary Christian with limited means, Asia worked as a fruit picker on a farm. Her Muslim co-workers repeatedly berated her for her Christianity."....to which she replied, "Our Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins.... Our Christ is alive.”

She was reported to local authorities, jailed for blasphemy and sentenced to death. Representatives from Voice of the Martyrs have attended at least 30 of Asia's court hearings and helped her find and pay for a lawyer. Her family has had to be moved to a safe location five times. All these services were provided through the Families of Martyrs fund.

A Call for Mercy....a petition to the Pakistan government to let Asia Bibi go... has a place online where you can go and sign the petition if you'd like. Just go HERE and check it out.

We are so blessed to still have the freedom to worship God. Let's don't take it for granted!

God bless!

Marilyn

9-11...Ten Year Anniversary

I remember it well. The day was warm, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, and things were quiet here on our north Mississippi farm. All seemed to be as it should be the day of September 11, 2001. I had already started cooking our dinner that day when the phone rang. On the other end of the phone line was one of my good friends in North Carolina. The first words out of her mouth were, “Do you have your TV on?” When I answered, “No”, she told me that terrorists had sabotaged the Twin Towers of the Trade Center in New York. My first thought was, “Terrorists?” I wasn’t even sure if I knew what that meant. But it did strike fear in my heart. I went out to the shop where my husband and a friend were working on some projects and told them what was going on. They turned on the radio out there and listened to the news. I came back to the house and turned on the TV and tried to finish cooking dinner while at the same time keeping my eyes glued to the TV. It seemed the news just got worse and worse. Instead of being a minor incident, this was a major catastrophe for the United States. People all over the land were praying. After the dust started settling, I was better able to understand why we called the people who had done this to us, “terrorists”, for certainly they had brought Terror to our land. (“Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.” Job 18:11)

Many things have changed for every one of us since this happened ten years ago. Some have lost loved one and friends. But at the same time we have gained friends through shared grief. Some of us have had children join the armed forces. Our son John joined the Marine Corps shortly after September 11, 2001. Because of this I gained a multitude of friends who are either Marines themselves or else have a child in the Marines. They were a true source of help and comfort during the initial time of adjusting.

Ten years ago we saw just how quickly a normal, sunshiny day can turn into a dark disaster. But we should also remember that there is One who knows our life from beginning to end and is there to walk beside us no matter where the road leads. This would be a good time for each of us to look into our own heart and make sure that our testimony is the same as the motto on our American currency…”In God We Trust”. Only then can we take comfort in the verses found in Psalm 91:1-6 (“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”)

This Is The Day Which the LORD Hath Made

The outside thermometer said 55 degrees when I got up this morning! It's mid-afternoon now and still only 76....a far cry from the near 100 degree days we had last week. My windows are open, the curtains are billowing and the windchimes on both the front and back porches are playing their tunes! I love it. So I thought I would just "visit" with you a while and share what my day's been like so far.

This morning was the first day of our new Bible study series at Sav-A-Life. We are studying Beth Moore's "David: Seeking a Heart Like His". We were a small group today but the Lord was there with us and blessed our meeting. I'm looking forward to what I will learn the next ten weeks from God's Word.

After Bible study was over I stopped by the office where our daughter Elizabeth works. She had gotten some Mary Kay skin care products for me last week and I needed to pay her for them. When I walked in she said,"We're dressed alike!",(both had on orange tops and brown bottoms) so I asked the receptionist if she would snap our picture. She did. I had my eyes shut as usual. ha

From there I went to the city gym and walked my mile. Visited with the square-dance group of Seniors whom I had not seen for quite a while. I only go to walk at the gym on Tuesdays when we are doing a Bible study you see. Those cuties put me to shame with their vivaciousness! I heard one lady say there was only one of them that was under seventy years of age!

After walking I stopped by McDonald's to get me a Hot & Spicy McChicken and then on to the immensely popular local Cardinal DriveIn to get an extra-large hamburger for Benny.

On the drive home I just had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful blue sky, white clouds, and green pasture and trees. God's handiwork is always breathtaking! And it seems like the crisp air today made it even more so!

After I got home and we had lunch, Benny had to take our dog Blackie back to the vet for a check on his stitches where the coyotes hurt him last week. We were afraid they might have to do more surgery but the doctor said just change to a different antibiotic and a different spray and keep doing what we're doing. I know Blackie...and Benny...will be SO glad when he's well enough to get that E-collar off !!

So that's my day so far. Have a load of clothes in the washer now and will go unload the dishwasher soon. I'm thankful that God has blessed me in so many ways!

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

I hope you have had a good day! Feel free to tell me about yours! I'd love to hear it!

Marilyn