Five Minute Friday: Sustain

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one-word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "sustain."


“Thank you Lord for sustaining me.” That’s been my prayer lately. I have said it many times over the last few weeks. It has been a busy season with new opportunities coming my way. And I know He has been sustaining me.


In the Gospel of John, He said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” We can look at those one of two ways. Apart from Him, you can do nothing, in the sense that you are inadequate, or lacking in some way. Or we can look at it the way of His grace is the best and most powerful thing we need. We wouldn’t want to be without it. He is involved!!


I think both of those scenarios apply, but the second one brings me more comfort. In the New Covenant, which Jesus made with God, through His shed blood, He has given us His Holy Spirit. He is the power of God, and He lives in those who have received Him, who have been born again.


One of the new things I recently got to do was to facilitate a Bible study on the Gospel of John. It was so amazing! The Scriptures that I sat with are still in there. He is sustaining me with His Word. If you have never read through the Gospel of John, just focusing on it intensely, and intently, I highly recommend it. You will see things you have never seen before. It is life changing!


Many blessings to you as you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him,

Beth

Psalm 92:12

Five Minute Friday: Stuff on My Mind (Ramblings)

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one-word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "stuff."

As the year is drawing to a close, I have lots of stuff on my mind.

This has been a year of change. We moved again. Moving is hard. You’d think it would get easier the more you do it, but it really doesn’t.

Each time we move, we have to find new doctors, hair stylists, dentists, etc. We also have to find new friends.

I make new friends every place we go and usually keep a few good ones after we leave. Some stay close, and some drift away. I know God has a purpose for each of them.

This move has been hard. Each time I think I have a new friendship figured out; it seems to not go the way I planned. I can sense the Lord leading me to look to Him for comfort, reassurance, and all the things we often look to people for. I am trying.

Other stuff on my mind is what do I do at this point in my life? I am speaking career-wise. I think I always want that solid confirmation, or somehow, I have gotten to the point where I need the solid confirmation. I have taken lots of chances, and seem to keep circling the same mountain, but with not the amount of success I would like.

Maybe that’s the point. My success doesn’t look like everyone else’s success, and if I had the same amount of perceived success as others (in the world’s eyes), how would we all fit?

I am a mom. I love being a mom. I love taking care of my family, and household. How to be content with just that? The mere fact that I am sitting here typing out these words suggests that I should lend myself to writing in some way. But then I feel the guilt about giving attention to this, so there’s always this tug-of-war between being a good mom, writer, minister, etc.

So, this is the stuff going on in my thoughts today. As we wrap up 2024, I pray to feel more settled in my own skin. I want lasting friendships, God-ordained relationships, and to love and nurture my family, and anything else He leads me to do with as much intensified zeal as I can muster. Even if I just need to rest for a bit. Let me rest in resting, Lord.

What stuff is on your mind?

My prayer today is that we continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him, King Jesus. Please guide us, Lord. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who lives in all who believe.

Beth

Five Minute Friday: Attempt

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "attempt."

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

                                                                     -Acts 16:6-8 (ESV)


I love this story. I have come back to it many times, especially when a BIG decision is looming in my life. Not so much for the smaller ones-it’s usually only the big decisions that I decide to refer to this story.

Maybe that should be different? Hmmmm….

This morning, as I was perusing Scripture trying to select a passage to go with the word prompt “attempt,” I came across this story again. This time, I decided to get my map out and look at it through geographical eyes.

Phyrigia and Galatia and Mysia all sort of border around the region of Bithynia. They form sort of like a bowl underneath. Paul was so very close. Yet, the Holy Spirit didn’t want him to go there…yet.

He decided to yield to what the Spirit said, and they went down to Troas. If you read the rest of the story, you will see that He had a vision during the night of a man from Macedonia pleading with him to come help him. So, they went. And a new church was born. (Read Acts 16 for all the details.) We literally have another letter in our Bibles because of this incident.

A couple of things I want to point out. First, Paul was attempting to do something. He was in motion. He had gone many places in the area, with the leading of the Holy Spirit I am sure. Many may have been because it seemed good. That phrase is also used in the Scripture.

But when he got to Bythnia it was a big no. This leads me to my next point. Did the Holy Spirit say no because He didn’t want Paul to go to Bythnia, or was it because He had something else for him to do? It may not have been that danger awaited him in Bithynia (because Paul often encountered danger, beatings, etc.), but it was because the timing was there for the people that were awaiting him in Philippi.

I also searched the word Bithynia when I was looking words up today, and that region is also found in 1 Peter 1 in Peter’s greeting to the Believers of specific regions.

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosenaccording to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”-1 Peter 1:1-2 (BSB)

Bithynia was still included. They didn't get left behind or left out.

I think the biggest takeaway (for me anyway), is to always attempt something. Keep moving. You can trust the Lord to direct your steps, and care for those that you thought you might be going to, but it turns out you weren’t. There are more people for you to encounter ahead.

P.S. Read the Bible with a map. (I love geography.)


Many blessings to you as you continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus,

Beth

Five Minute Friday: Opinion

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "opinion."

Begin.

After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”

“Yes,” he answered.

When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”

“From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared. “But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.”

                                                             -Matthew 17:24-27 (BSB)

This is an interesting passage of Scripture. In it Jesus actually asks Peter’s opinion, what he thinks. Jesus likes to ask questions.

Has He ever asked you a question? I have had Him ask me questions before when He was trying to lead me to the solution to a question I had. It helped a lot.

In the above passage, He also uses the question to provide not only a solution to a current issue, but to do so in a supernatural, miraculous way.

Have you ever gone fishing before? Do you like to fish? I used to go fishing with my dad when I was a little girl. I remember because I would always get some kind of treat from the snack shop. We fished in a stocked pond. I am assuming this expedition for Peter took place in the Sea of Galilee since they were in Capernaum. But in all of my fishing trips, I have never gotten a fish that had a coin in its mouth. How would that even be possible?

Another interesting fact about this passage is that Jesus told Peter to cast a hook. This is the second time Jesus has told Peter to do something regarding fishing and a miracle happened. The first time was with the net-breaking catch of fish when Jesus called him to ministry. Do you think he was building in Peter that he was the solver of all problems?

I don’t think he needed Peter’s opinion, but He might have wanted Peter to arrive at the conclusion on his own.


Stop.

Five Minute Friday: Escape

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "escape." Usually I wrote non-fiction, but today I thought about trying some fiction again.

Begin.

There was no escape. I was standing there just listening to them. I was trapped, trapped in the middle of those who had been my brethren. But now I just felt like I was on the outside, looking in. It seemed like mania in that room.

The officers were standing there shuffling their feet back and forth, one with beads of sweat forming on his brow, waiting for a punishment to come.

I couldn’t take it any longer. So, I just blurted out, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

Every face in the room turned to me. The chief priests, the Pharisees, and the officers all stared at me intently. After the surprise wore off, a few of the Pharisees knit their eyebrows in confusion, and possibly some in anger.

I really wanted to turn and run. But I held my ground. I stared back and waited for the inevitable; a chastisement was surely coming.

A few of them began to speak in unison, all with the same thought. “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

It was all I could do to not roll my eyes. I simply said, “Hmmmm” while stroking my beard, trying to appear in thought. This diverted their attention away from me and back to each other somewhat. It was not time for me to give myself away just yet. Who knew what else was to come?

After I lost their attention, I turned to leave the boiler of a room, and walked away with my hands behind my back, mumbling quietly under my breath, “Well Jonah came from Galilee.”

As I walked out the door, I could hear them plotting. “We must trap this carpenter in his own words, expose him before the people. But what can we do?”

End.





*This is a fictional rendering of the events that happened in John 7:45-52, from the perspective of Nicodemus, the night before a woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus in the Temple.

Five Minute Friday: Replace

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "replace."

Replace. It means to exchange one thing for another. Sometimes it can be positive and sometimes it can be negative.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind To me that would suggest a replacement. We have to exchange our thoughts for God's thoughts. There is a replacement of old thoughts taking place with new ones coming in.

I personally need this very badly. I often find my thoughts trailing off, and I have to reel it back in by spending time in God's Word. This is important so I can see myself as God sees me, not as others see me.

People they only see what they are looking at on the outside at the moment. My external features are not who I am on the inside. I am who God says I am.

So, daily I have to replace not only my perceptions of myself with my thoughts trailing off, but I often have to replace what others things of me as well. Going to God's Word brings truth and light about me.

There is a Scripture that says judge no one after the flesh. 

So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.-2 Corinthians 5:16 (BSB)

I know that is difficult for me to do with others, and I am sure that is difficult for others to do with me. (Sometimes I just want to lead with my flaws so people know what they are getting into.)


However, God wants what Paul said in 2 Corinthians. He wants me, and others, to replace our thoughts about ourselves and each other, with the view through Christ.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!- 2 Corinthians 5:17 (BSB)


Replace.

Five Minute Friday: Moment

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "moment."


In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.-Genesis 1:1-3 (BSB)



In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.-John 1:1-5 (BSB)

He was there, in that moment; He was always there.

Jesus was part of the Godhead, making creation, creating all things. Love was in the beginning, birthing this world.

John, the apostle of love, remembered that His love was always there, always had been, always existed. And in that moment, at the beginning, His life was a part of us.

His light was the light of men. In that moment, when we were created, life and light breathed into us, and we became human beings.


In the Gospel of John, he reminds us that it had come full circle. The one who walked in the garden was walking on earth, waiting to breathe His life, his Spirit into us once again.

Five Minute Friday: Follow

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "follow."

But Peter followed Him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. And he went in and sat down with the guards to see the outcome-Matthew 26:58 (BSB)

Sat down with the guards? What?


I have read this story multiple times. But today, when I looked up some Scriptures for the word follow, this came up, and I noticed something new! Don’t you love when that happens?


I have always thought Peter was afraid from the get-go. He boasted after the Passover meal that he would follow the Lord to death. Remember?


Well, apparently he wasn’t lying. Or at least he didn’t think he was…and he wasn’t, at least not until the very last minute.


If you remember, the guards come to arrest Jesus. Peter apparently had a sword, and cut off the high priest servant's ear whose name was Malchus. So far, Peter is holding to his promise to Jesus.


And then they take Jesus. Peter follows, from a distance the Bible says. But then look at what happens next.

“But Peter followed Him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. And he went in and sat down with the guards to see the outcome”-Matthew 26:58 (BSB)

The Berean Study Bible says he sits down with the guards. Many translations use the word “guards". Others use the word officers, and some use the word servants. I looked the word up in Greek and it means “an underling, servant.” It is often used in many other places in the Gospels and it is translated as officers, attendants, ministers, servants, and helpers.


I have often thought of Peter as losing his courage in the garden, but it doesn’t seem so. He follows Jesus, even after he cuts off Malchus’ ear. He follows Him all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. That would be inside the home’s area.


If you read further on in the story, chapter 26 moves into the religious leaders questioning Jesus. They eventually decide that He is “deserving of death.”(Matthew 26:66) Right after they decide this is when the high priest’s servant girl approaches Peter, and this is when the denial starts.


Peter had been full of courage, but the longer he sat there, it drained. Maybe he heard what was happening inside, and realized they were really going to put Jesus to death. Maybe it hadn’t been real to him. Remember at one point he had corrected Jesus and told him that He would never die. See Matthew 16:21-23. Jesus rebuked him at that moment.


Maybe Peter did not believe Jesus was really going to die, until it began to dawn on him, after his adrenaline had gone down, while sitting, waiting in the courtyard.


Why bring this up? Sometimes I think we think we know everything in Scripture, because we have heard the stories many times, especially if we have been Believers for a while. But it is always worth another look. We will learn something new about God, and something new about ourselves.


Peter followed Jesus, up to almost the very end. I love this story because it teaches us about mistakes. Even if we are moving along, doing what we are supposed to be doing, and then trip and make a mistake, the Lord knew about it before it happened. And He is not holding it against us. He still has a job for us to do. To learn more about it, read John 21 and the story of Jesus and Peter by the sea of Galilee, where they first met.


Don’t you just love this about Jesus? Keep following Him. He still has stuff for you to do.

*Have you ever had an experience like this with the Lord? I'd love to hear about it. 

Many blessings,

Beth 🌴

Five Minute Friday: Choose

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. It's been a while since I've joined in. Today's word is "choose."


Choose


This word often makes me think of that Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken.”


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…


I sometimes have a hard time choosing. I am in the middle of making a decision right now. I want to choose the right thing, but there is one thing I really want to do, and I am not sure if it is the right thing.


But, if I choose the other way, I feel as though I might be robbing myself of an opportunity.


Have you ever felt that way?


What do you do when you have to choose between two things?


My first course of action is to pray. I pray and try to get quiet and listen.


Often I will ask others to pray as well, people I trust, who I know have my best interest at heart.


I will also talk to my husband about it. He is the closest to me, and knows our family situation the best.


I will also talk to friends about my choices.


Things that might come in and try to help make my decision for me are fear and guilt. So, I must keep those at bay and only rest in the goodness of the Lord.


What do you do when you have to make a choice and choose between two things?


Choose.

Five Minute Friday-Laugh

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "laugh." 

Begin.

Laugh. There is so much to laugh about and so much to be thankful for. So much joy. I can look around me and here in this moment I can smile. I have family and a warm place to live. 

My drink is hot and tasty this morning-turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger and oat milk. It has become my new morning drink, and is especially nice since it turned cold.

I can see my fabrics I have bought and cut already to make Christmas pillowcases. I have been thinking a lot lately about what makes me happy, nostalgia mostly.

 I need that warmth right now because this is my Christmas without my mother. She died this year. I know where she is, that she is with Jesus. She is getting to spend her first Christmas with the King of Kings and is the reason we even celebrate Christmas.

I know she is laughing in Heaven. I know she is smiling and full of joy. I can see her in my mind and I imagine she is very young and beautiful, and is rejoicing with her King. 

Five Minute Friday: Spontaneous

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "spontaneous."


I used to be spontaneous, but not so much anymore. I don’t know if that comes with life as a parent, and you have to be a little scheduled. There’s not much room for spontaneity anymore. I am trying to remember the last time I was spontaneous. Doing this writing challenge is spontaneous sometimes. Ha ha!

I think when we remove the spontaneity, we remove some of the joy out of life. It removes some of the element of surprise! And maybe we need some surprises. Things can be so controlled, especially if we are the ones who are trying to control them-that can take away some of the fun.

Maybe this should be a challenge for me. Maybe I should try to be more spontaneous. Maybe life would be more fun. I plan and plan and fret and fret about whether I am making the right choices. With spontaneity, you don’t have time to worry about if it is the right choice. Because you just do it and go with it. Then you really have to trust God, instead of yourself.

I imagine the disciples experienced lots of spontaneous moments during their walk on earth with Jesus, and even after He went back to Heaven. One particular one I am thinking about is Philip. In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit tells him to go join himself to a chariot, which means basically to go introduce yourself I guess.

So, Philip goes and meets the treasurer I believe, for Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians. That man is reading the book of the prophet Isaiah. He is trying to figure out who Isaiah is talking about, and because of the Holy Spirit’s prompt with Philip and some spontaneity, the man finds out it was Jesus.

Then, in what was another spontaneous moment for Philip I am sure, Philip was whisked away by the Holy Spirit to the coast of Israel. My son has asked me recently about teleportation. It would seem that Philip experienced that in the Spirit. That would have been seriously spontaneous for me; not what I would have been expecting at all.

I believe also Philip spends the rest of his days, or at least part of them, on the coast, in Caesarea Maritima. He is there because of something out of his control. I think I would be happy living out my days on the Mediterranean.


*Note: To read more about Philip, please visit the book of Acts, chapters 8 & 21.

Five Minute Friday: Announce

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "announce."

And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Just then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men

on whom His favor rests!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.-Luke 2:8-20



This was a great announcement, the greatest announcement that has ever been issued in the earth!

For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!

He’s here! He’s finally here! And the angels announced it to the shepherds that were out in the field. This begs the question: why?

Yesterday I was looking at this wonderful book I have, A Visual Guide to Gospel Events. In the commentary on the shepherds in Luke 2, it said that “typical sheep and goats grazed during the day and were brought into sheepfolds for the night.” They indicated that these shepherds to whom the message was proclaimed were no ordinary shepherds. For them to stay with the sheep and guard them round the clock might have meant that they were Temple shepherds and those were sheep that would be used for sacrifice.

This would be a satisfactory explanation to why God would have angels announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds, wouldn’t it?

That would be so remarkable in itself, but I want to take this a little further. I noticed something else about this passage yesterday when I was studying. It says the shepherds “hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby who was lying in a manger.”

The shepherds just leave the sheep! It doesn’t seem like they took the sheep with them. The Scripture says  they “hurried.” I don’t really know a lot about sheep, and I would have to research it, but it doesn’t seem to me that sheep are the type of animals to hurry.

Throughout the Gospels there are so many pictures of the grace of God, and the transition that was taking place between law and grace. I think that in this story, we find one of those pictures.

Those shepherds were keeping sheep. Sheep were used as temple sacrifices. Jesus is called by John the Baptist, “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29) The shepherds left the sheep and the old covenant way of life, to look for Jesus, who brought “grace and truth.”

Just like the angel announced to them, it was “good news of great joy for all the people.”

I pray this Christmas is full of great joy for you and your experience is the same as the shepherds, wonder at the birth of Jesus!

Five Minute Friday: Behold

 

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "behold."


Behold what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God--and we are!-1 John 3:1

Behold! When I looked it up in the Greek, it means “to see, perceive, attend to.”

Recently, someone hurt my feelings. I am not sure if they meant what they said the way I took it. It’s hard to communicate appropriately through technology. But still, I was bothered by it. I could still sense the tone, and it seemed short and curt.

A few years ago, this would have completely wrecked me for a while. I am still a little upset, but I will be okay. Why? I think it’s truly because of the verse above.

I am a child of God. I put my faith in that, not in other people’s opinions of me. I love people and want them to think the best of me, but ultimately, when it comes down to it, they don’t direct my life. Their thoughts of me don’t direct my life. God does.

If people knock me down with their words, so to speak, or attitudes toward me, I just get back up, and move forward knowing whose I am, and what I am called to do.

I am a child of God. And with that comes many privileges. Jesus purchased me with his blood, which means I am of great value to Him. And he has given me authority to act and speak in His name.

Behold. Today, child of God, behold your ancestry. Know to whom you belong, and you can smile and move forward because you are loved by the King of Kings.

Five Minute Friday: Deserve

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "deserve."

Deserve-to have earned because of some act or quality

I don’t or haven’t really liked the word “deserve” in the past. I think it conjures up all the thoughts in my head about what I am not, where I am lacking. And I don’t really need any help in that area- I already know.

And I didn't already know, there have been people who were eager and ready to let me know.

I feel as though I don’t measure up on a daily basis in so many areas.

In Ephesians 2:8, it says,

By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

                                       -Ephesians 2:18

God had to tell us twice in that Scripture that we didn’t deserve it.

By grace you are saved.

Grace is God’s undeserved, unmerited favor. You can’t earn it. It’s only because of His goodness.

That not of yourselves…

You didn’t do anything to earn it.

He told us twice. This means we just have to trust Him.

Under the New Covenant, we get nothing by earning, or by deserving it. It’s all by grace through faith, by trusting what He said was true.

Five Minute Friday : She

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "she."

"She has done what she could to anoint My body in advance of My burial. And truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”-Mark 14:8-9 (Berean Study Bible)

She did what she could. That was the phrase that was part of one of the very first blog posts I wrote about a woman in the Bible. I was a guest blogger on another blog for women and I submitted a post about Mary of Bethany. Funny enough, her story in Luke 10:38-42 has become the basis for the title of my blog.

She. There are a lot of us “she’s” in the Kingdom of God. I love to talk about us. And I love to talk about the women in the Bible.

Have you ever read Romans 16? There are so many women in that passage of Scripture, a lot of “she’s..” I like to think that so many of our names are being continued in that passage of Scripture. If Paul were writing that list today, there would be so many more women’s names.

As a She in the kingdom of God, you are a royalty. The Bible calls us “kings and priests.” We are builders, co-laborers, like Shallum’s daughters in Nehemiah 3.

What was God’s original purpose for She? Go look at Eve before the fall. He created her to be a helper “like” or “suitable” to Adam.

What are we going to be when Christ returns? What will She be doing then?

Will she get her own sword? Will she get her own horse?

And the armies in Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

-Revelation 19:14

She.

Five Minute Friday: Remedy

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "remedy." Usually I take the Five Minute Friday word prompt, and expound on a passage of Scripture. But today I decided to do something different and write a story. 

There was no remedy for what her heart felt. She was alone, although she was constantly at a man’s side. She never got a break. Since she was 15 years old, there had always been a man. Some were good, and some were not. The first one was the one she had chosen, but it was only short lived, because she wasn’t good enough for the family. How they talked him into the divorce, she didn’t know. After that, it just became one blur after another, being passed from man to man, like a coin, in exchange for whatever their need was. She wasn’t a prostitute, but the way the men had just married her, then dropped her. These were the thoughts that went over and over her mind each day on her walk to the well. Well, she was alone then. But still no remedy for the ache in her heart. As she approached the well that day, she saw a man sitting there. She could see the tzitzit, the blue tassel that alerted her he was not one of her people, but a Jewish man. “Great,” she thought. Another man to confront. Another man to deal with. Would there ever be a remedy for the aches of her heart?


“Please give me a drink,” Jesus said to her.

*This story is based on the account of Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman in John 4. I used the tzitzit as an identifier for Him because the Bible doesn't tell us how she knew He was a Jew and not a Samaritan. After some research, I found out that Samaritans also wear the tzitzit on their garments. I am not sure when they began doing that.

Five Minute Friday: Enable

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "enable"

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.-Philippians 1:12-18 (Berean Study Bible)


Begin 5 minutes.


There are so many different words for enable in the Scriptures, Old & New Testament. Usually when I am participating in Five Minute Friday, I usually look up the word to see if I can write about a passage that includes this word. But this time, I thought of the story in the passage of Scripture above. I looked up the word enable too, just to get a proper definition, but there were so many in the Hebrew and the Greek.

My thought on enable was “to make possible.” When I looked up the definition in Merriiam Webster’s online dictionary, that was the first definition listed. And I think that is why I thought about the story above.

In this passage of Scripture, Paul is writing to the church in Philippi. If you remember, that is where he met Lydia, the first European convert to Christianity. She might have been part of the leadership in that church.

In verses 12-18 of Philippians 1, Paul is talking about all the things that have happened to him, has made possible, or enabled the Gospel to go further. I didn’t check before I wrote this post, but based on what he says, I imagine he is writing this from Rome, and is under guard, thus the chains.

His arrest, the chains, have enabled the Gospel. It has made the palace guard and all the rest more aware of Jesus.

His chains have enabled the rest of the Body of the Believers there. It has given them boldness to “speak the word without fear.”

Christ is preached. The preaching of the Gospel was enabled because of the circumstances of Paul.


End 5 minutes.

Five Minute Friday: Sunrise

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "sunrise."

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus.  Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”

-Mark 16:1-3 (Berean Study Bible)

Just after sunrise. It was the third day, and the details of the resurrection were falling into place. Exactly what Jesus said was going to happen, was happening, except these women didn’t seem to know that.

Jesus was crucified on Friday. He breathed his last at three o'clock in the afternoon, and they took his body down and buried him quickly, before the Sabbath would begin. The women didn’t have time to prepare his body appropriately. The next evening when the Sabbath was over, it would have been dark and hard for them to see, so they had to wait until the next day.

Sometimes, we have to wait too. It might be because of circumstances beyond our control, but God is still working while we are waiting, just like He was here.

The next morning, on a Sunday morning, the women took the spices they had prepared to anoint Jesus’ body. Why would they take spices to anoint his body? They thought He was still dead. They didn’t hear, or believe Him when He said he would rise again. We can tell by the conversation they were having with each other,

Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?

-Mark 16:3

Sunrise. I love that time of day. Everything is fresh and new. It reminds me of the Scripture,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

-2 Corinthians 5:17 (English Standard Version)

The old had gone. The Son had risen, but they did not know it yet. But they were about to find out.

All four Gospel writers include this event. Some give more details than others. Only Mark and Luke mention the spices. Different amounts of women are mentioned. Details about the stone are different. But you put them together, and you get a complete picture of what happened there that day. And no detail is without purpose.

God has a plan for each word.

If you read further into the story, you find that the women have conversations with angels. They get to see an empty tomb. And eventually, they are the first ones to see Jesus risen. They are the first eyewitnesses to the Resurrection.

This account just says so much to me about Jesus’ character. How much He must love women to make them a part of those events. How much compassion He must have to meet them where they were in that hour. They didn’t believe He was risen. They thought He was dead. But still He chose to make them a part of His story in those moments.

Blessings to you today as you grow in grace and the knowledge of Him,


Beth

Five Minute Friday: Loud

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "loud."

"But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last." -Mark 15:37 (Berean Study Bible)

Have you ever read this line by itself before in Scripture? I am sure I have, but just glossed over it.

Today, I searched the word loud in Biblehub.com to find something to write about for this Five Minute Friday word prompt. The verse in Mark 15:37 was the first verse to come up in the search.

The word loud in the Greek is actually the word “megas” and is often translated as “great.” So the passage could say, “But Jesus let out a great cry and breathed His last.”

I wonder what that sounded like. I wonder if it shook the heavens. The Bible says at the moment He died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, and rocks split apart in Matthew’s Gospel.

I just wonder how loud it was. The events caused the centurion and guards standing by to proclaim he was the Son of God.

After the great cry, He released His spirit. That is the moment His death took place.

How loud could or would he cry right before death?

Did that cry ring in the ears of the people looking on? The Bible says the women were there. Did it stop ringing when they realized He was raised from the dead?

Loud.

Five Minute Friday: Mercy

Photo by Tetiana SHYSHKINA on Unsplash

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "mercy."

Mercy seems to be a childhood/childlike quality. When we are children, and our friend hurts our feelings, usually all if forgiven by the end of the day. If not then, then shortly.

I looked up the definition for mercy in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and biblehub.com, and both have compassion as the definition.

So mercy equals compassion. Compassion relates to forgiveness. They are all swirling around each other, and are all part of our emotions.

We can say forgiveness is a choice. All. Day. Long. But your emotions are involved.

This morning I was talking to my husband about a situation in my own life. I could rationally think about the situation all day long. But when he said something that caused my emotions to relax, I felt loved again.

That’s what mercy will do for you.

In the story of the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8, we see mercy at play with Jesus and the woman.

The men accusing her wanted the full extent of the law given to her. That was their goal. No compassion. No mercy. So, she stood there feeling ashamed.

But then the Lord steps in, and he extends forgiveness, compassion, mercy to this woman, because that’s who he is. And then all is right in her world. She relaxes, and then...she puts her faith in him. We know this because she calls him Lord.

Mercy is a wonderful thing. It brings things back into the right. It makes things new. It restores hearts and emotions and gives us a sense of peace.

Mercy.