Hosea 6:6 (emphasis mine):

• For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (NKJV).

• For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings (NASB).

• For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings (Darby Bible).

I know it may be redundant to put three different translations of one scripture, but I wanted to show the different terms that translations used for the word checed, which means goodness and kindness.

I usually have songs going through my head. They can be anywhere from classic rock to  some stanza in a classical song to Christian music. My favorite is when I'm thinking about something and a song that seems to pertain to the situation pops into my head. 

Here lately I have been thinking about the fact that we can't control many things that happen to us in our lives, however, we can control how we react to it.

I blog about lessons that I believe God is teaching me through my life experiences. Blogging actually helps me make sense of things, and, to be honest, there are many times that I know that God is teaching me through my own writing. I actually pray a lot for Him to speak through me. I do wish that it happened more often because, here lately, my blogs have been few and far between, mainly due to the fact that my life has been one thing after another for the past year and a half starting with the death of my step-father.

I really love reading the Psalms, especially during trying times. David knew trials and strife. He understood tragedy and blessings. He made many mistakes, but he repented. He knew the healing power of forgiveness from God, and he also believed that God had his back. His testimony helps my faith because “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17).

When you go to church, look around you. I want you to pay attention to the average age in your congregation. Do you have a lot of youth? If you do, that is awesome. If you don’t, your group is like the majority of Christian churches around, at least in the United States. According to a study done by Barna, “[n]early six in ten (59 percent) young people who grow up in Christian churches end up walking away, and the unchurched segment among Millennials has increased in the last decade from 44 percent to 52 percent, mirroring a larger cultural trend away from churchgoing in America” (“The Priorities, Challenges, and Trends in Youth Ministry,” Barna Group). The question we have to ask ourselves is, why? Well, according to Pew Research Center, the number one reason is “the questioning of religious teachings” (“Why America’s ‘nones’ don’t identify with a religion,” Alper). Just a quick side note, the term “nones” means someone who doesn’t identify with any religion. They do not consider themselves agnostic, atheist, or any other type of religion.

Have you ever looked around your house and thought, okay, it is time to purge this place. Sometimes I think less is definitely more. I hate clutter. I also can’t stand when things do not have a place to go. It feels so freeing when I finally take the time to purge a room. I separate everything in piles to keep, to give away, and to just throw away. Once the task is over, the room looks so free of excess, and I feel a sense of accomplishment and peace.

I reached, what I used to think, was the age considered old. You know the 'over the hill' time zone, the big 4-0! It is funny how getting older changes your perspective and definition for the term 'old age'. When I was young I thought 40 was sooo old. Now, my grandfather, who happens to be the young age of 96, doesn't seem old anymore. 

What I am trying to figure out, though, is why do people fear getting old? The alternative is not better in my opinion. What is better to dread your birthday or rejoice?

It is the Passover/Unleavened Bread season. I enjoy this Holy Day/week very much because it represents how hard it is to remove sin out of our lives. I can spend hours cleaning out my house and still find some type of leavening long forgotten in the freezer. It just shows how much we need a Savior, plus, how much we need to reflect and examine ourselves, not just once a year, but all the time.

The key thing is to examine ourselves, not to examine and point fingers at others. Why? Because in the end we only get to answer for ourselves, not for someone else, and someone else doesn’t get to answer for us.

Last night after we partook of the Passover symbols in honor of the last night our Messiah was able to meet and eat with His disciples, my husband asked us, “What would you do if you knew that you had only twenty-four hours to live?”

Okay, I am about to share my first thought, and I am not too proud of it. My first thought was where could I fly that is on my bucket list and get there with enough time to enjoy visiting? I hate to admit it, but my first thought was about me and doing something really neat. Given, my idea also included my family coming with me, but still I must admit it was a bit selfish.

There are many themes in the Bible that are interwoven from the beginning to the end. Salvation is the biggest. Another theme is what I call the “time test.” I have noticed that the majority, if not all, of God’s people that He works with and through in the Bible were tested on how well they could wait on the Lord. They were given a “time test” to increase their patience, endurance, strength, and faith.

We all know their stories. Noah, who may have had to wait a hundred years before the floods came, is one example. We know that he had his sons by 500 years old, and sometime shortly after that God gives him the decree to build an ark (Genesis 5:32; 6:13-14)

Oh, to be sixteen again… We celebrated my daughter’s sixteenth birthday a few weeks ago. Honestly, I can’t believe that I am actually old enough to have a sixteen year old. I also am completely at a loss to how time has gone by so fast. My daughter now has a license to drive, and I am working on a license of trust and faith.  

I can remember this huge “rite of passage.” It was so freeing to be able to drive myself places, and it made me feel very grown-up, which makes me laugh now that I am an adult. Now, I wish I could hit the pause button on life and not get anymore grown-up.

Why is it that people can look at another person with complete hatred? Why is it that people will risk their lives to save endangered species, but have no problem killing unborn babies? Why is it that even Christians can look at another human being that thinks differently than them and feel neither love nor compassion? The answer: we live in a fallen world run by a fallen angel that has no respect for the fact that humans are made in God’s image.

The Deceiver has had thousands of years to deceive us into not respecting God or his image. If people had respect for God they would keep His commands, which teach us how to love Him and how to love each other (Matthew 22:37-40; ref. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

My family and I are dealing with property boundary issues. It is a long story, but the survey that was done prior to our purchase of our property may have been done incorrectly. Therefore, we are in the process of having a new survey done correctly. The main problem with the past survey could be that the surveyor didn’t use the correct starting point. Surveys are very meticulously done, and if one does not have the correct starting point to use for the boundary lines, then everything will be off. This, in turn, causes a lot of frustration for the owner because they now don’t know where their boundary lines are.

I’m trying to learn a priceless lesson that Jesus taught when He walked the earth: “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’” (John 6:35). I call this the “never empty” scripture. Those who choose to come to Jesus with all their heart and soul will never run on empty. The reason I have been thinking about this is that I know there are a lot of self-help books and studies out there that warn of the dangers of becoming empty by helping others too much. And it actually got me to thinking, is “emptying oneself” for the good of others actually a bad thing and is it completely possible?

I have had many tire issues that started last year. Maybe it was my time to have to deal with bad alignment jobs that ruined new tires and with lost nails in the road. Well, I just had to deal with yet another nail issue with one of my not so old tires this week, and it got me to wondering if there was a spiritual lesson that I could learn from my flat tire. Trying to look for a lesson helps me cope with the frustration of unexpected expenses, and thankfully, I actually had an epiphany. I need to make sure that I don’t become a “flat tire.”

My last blog looked at seeking God’s Kingdom first, and one of my main ideas that I hope I got across is to make sure God the Father and Christ our Messiah are priority number one in our lives. My blog before dealt with God working all things out for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Well, my mom brought up how the two blogs actually go together. Trusting God that all things will work for good requires us to put God first in our lives, which also requires us to love Him totally. She then asked, “So how does one show love to God?

Often, when I start to worry, the statement, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,” pops into my head. I read a lot of different versions of the Bible, but when it comes to Christ’s words in Matthew 6:33, it is always the King James Version that comes to mind. However, it doesn’t matter what version that we remember, what matters is if we are doing what Christ told us to do.

The first step, though, is to figure out what He meant by seeking the Kingdom of God first in our lives instead of worrying. I will be honest; I have been asking myself for years what it really means to seek His Kingdom first. I have finally come up with my own ideas and thoughts. 

The other day, I was reading a thankfulness journal that I have. I am actually supposed to do it daily, but I forget sometimes. However, the other day, I remembered, and it asked, “When have you seen God use suffering for good?” It was in reference to Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (NAS).

I thought about the question for a while. I know that there are many circumstances in my life where a trial worked for good. I also know a few people that have taken a tragedy and turned it into something beautiful. 

When I think of leaving a legacy, I think of famous historical figures that made a splash on the world like a stone hitting the water leaving ripples that still affect societies long past their deaths. These people are the ones that we learn about in school. We read their histories, maybe even books written by them, and we think how awesome it would be to go back in time to meet them. In addition, some of us wish we could be like them, be it to imitate their bravery, intelligence, wit, or any other character trait that enthralls us. However, can we leave a “legacy” also? Maybe not one that is written in the secular books of the future, but one that still leaves ripples that last so long that generations after us do not even realize were made by our lives.