Salty Zebra

  “The person who does not love does not know God because God is love.”   1 John 4:8 “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16  What does the love of God mean to me? It is my anchor, that peace and surety in the storms of life. It cannot change, cannot be taken, cannot be earned. It is my joy! I delight in the love my Heavenly Father has for me. It gives me peace, hope, satisfaction. It is my inspiration. If God could so perfectly love me like He does, how should I love my fellow man?   God’s love is an absolute certainty. It is not just what He does, it is who He is . God loves us perfectly. There is no selfishness or ulterior motive in it. He does not love us for what we do, nothing we could do could ever earn His love. He does not love us for what we give Him, again, His love cannot be bought. Contrarily, nothing we could ever do ...

“They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”   Isaiah 6:3 “for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”  1 Peter 1:16  In the face of God’s holiness, we are nothing. We cannot even stand. There is absolutely nothing we can do to align ourselves with His perfection. So how can we obey the directive from 1 Peter ?   I think that in and of ourselves, this is hopeless. But God did not leave us on our own to obey His command. He has sent a part of Himself, the Holy Spirit, to dwell within us and sanctify us. This process, sanctification, isn’t like flipping on a light switch. It takes time. God brings us through life’s circumstances, the beautiful and the hard, to help grow our character and make us more like Himself. When we encounter hard times, difficult times, really wretched times, God meets us there. We get to experience His provision and care. We get to kno...

    This verse beautifully portrays the three parts of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a mystery to humans as our brains can’t quite wrap around how God could be One all-powerful, all-knowing being and also be three distinct, individual parts. There are lots of analogies out there, but they all end up falling short because God is just that much bigger than this world. After having walked with God for a couple of decades I feel more comfortable with this concept, but how much of that is just me becoming ok with not fully understanding? As my faith in God has grown, I’ve gained a peace about those things that I don’t quite get. But today, let’s explore the Trinity. Let’s flesh out what I do know and then be ok with what I don’t.   God the Father is the clearest part of this grouping for me. He is above all. He is eternal (another concept difficult to grasp). He existed before the world and will exist after. He has no beginning and no end. He is a...

  “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  Hebrews 11:6   Hebrews tells us that we are not only to believe in God, but also to believe that He will reward those who seek Him. I’ve always struggled with the last part of that verse. I felt like if I was a true believer, I wouldn’t need a reward. I should just believe in God and not expect any benefit. Whether that belief was conscious or subconscious, I think it has overshadowed much of my faith walk. I’m afraid that this perspective has caused me to discount or miss out on many of the blessings that He has sent my way. Right now I’m sitting on a heating pad in a beautiful balcony cabin with the door open to hear the sound of the waves and feel the fresh sea air. I’ve got lovely music playing in the background. My tummy is full of good food and I’ve got a cup of coffee next to me.  I’m wearing my favorite jump...

  Hey there! I'm an Amazon Associate, which means I earn a commission when you click one of these links and buy something. This does not change your cost at all.  I'm so excited to share with you the Bible study I'll be starting tomorrow! It's through a ministry called Love God Greatly . I've been doing Bible studies with them for over five years, since the fall of 2019. Their studies use the SOAP method that I've been fond of for many years. Just in case you haven't heard of this before, I'm going to break it down for you here. If you are interested in following along with me, you can send me an email to subscribe to my posts, or even do the study yourself by ordering the book or downloading the free app .  S  The "S" in SOAP stands for scripture. All SOAP studies are digging into God's Word. Typically, for Love God Greatly, they will offer a longer scripture passage to read for context and depth and then suggest a specific scripture or ...

  Hey there! I'm an Amazon Associate, which means I earn a commission when you click one of these links and buy something. This does not change your cost at all.  A wise pastor in my past shared with us a story about a study that was conducted. They watched children at a large park. There was a play structure in the middle and fields with grass and trees all around it. They noticed that the children stuck pretty close to the play structure in the middle, hardly playing in the grass at all. A fence was put up around the park and the kids spread out! Next thing you know, the kids are climbing the fence. They're running all over the grass, climbing the trees, having a grand-old time. You see, the kids weren't comfortable at first because they didn't know where the boundaries were, they didn't know what was ok. Once the fence was up and gave definition to the "safe space" they felt free to spread out and play.   When my children were little, a godly woman whos...

  The man sat near the fire as he worked diligently with his hands. Yes, he could have left the preparation of the wool to the women, but ever since he was a young man tending sheep in the field it had been a comfort to him. He loved the feel of the lanolin on his hands, softening and sealing the cracks that age and weather had brought. There was something soothing about the repetitive motion of combing out the tips of the locks in preparation for spinning. And then the spinning. Once he had begun, it was like his mind went somewhere else. His hands worked independently with no conscious thought on his part. He could almost feel himself transported to that night so long ago, but still so fresh in his memory.  Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid! Listen ...

  Today I'd like to introduce you to Storm. Storm is a rescue who came from a traumatic situation in her puppyhood. Because of this, her brain is wired differently. She sees people, trucks driving by, even squirrels, as a deathly threat. She is terrified of the noises the wind makes and fireworks transform her into a quivering mass. Storm takes Prozac and CBD every day to help with this, but it doesn't feel like it makes a significant difference. We have to be really careful when people come over, even people she knows and loves, because her stress response is definitely fight. She'll bite first and then feel really, really bad later. On the flip side, she is the most affectionate animal I've ever had. Once she feels comfortable with someone she loves on them, cuddling in their lap, giving them kisses. But once that same person steps outside the front door, even people she lives with, she starts barking like we're under attack! This morning, as I'm writing this,...

  “Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.”  John 1:14 As I looked at today's verse, I was stopped by the word, "glory". That's one of those church words that we use and never really think about the meaning of like "hallelujah," and "amen". I started by thinking about what I understood it as, then I looked it up in a few places, and finally I sat back, took it all in, and settled on an understanding. What do you think of when you read or hear the word, "glory"? For me, some of it had to do with a shining brilliance. I think artists had a similar concept as they often paint pictures of the nativity or other Biblical stories with halos around the characters' heads. As I continued on this thought path, however, I realized it had to be more than that. I grew up on a prison island, McNeil, and my mom used to say it was gre...

  “Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,”   Luke 2:13 Have you ever been watching a movie and the protagonist seems to be in an overwhelming situation, and then they come up with some incredible, almost impossible, way of solving the problem? Do you get excited? Are you incredulous? Imagine how the angels must have felt. They had been watching over the drama of human history from the beginning, but without the insight God had of how He would solve the sin problem. They celebrated with God at the creation , wondering over each new bush or bird or animal. They wept at the tragedy of the fall . They nodded along at the wisdom of the ten commandments , though they were astonished at the scene Moses brought them into initially. They rallied behind the Israelites when they fought Amalek and God had them winning as long as Moses’ hands were in the air. I’ve got to think a few of them were chuckling as the whale spit Jonah out . ...

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich.”   2 Corinthians 8:9 When we hear the words “wealth” or “rich” or even “poverty” our minds, or at least my mind, goes immediately to financial wealth. I wonder if God laughs at that, kind of like we would chuckle at a child who is surprised in a game of peek-a-boo? True, our God is financially wealthy. After all, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills ! But realistically, this means very little to Him because He sees worldly, financial wealth for what it is, a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. It's a tool that He uses to teach us and guide us. In and of itself it has no importance, any more than the hammer on my husband's workbench. So, what kind of wealth is Paul referring to in this verse if not financial? I believe He's talking about what I would call "spiritual wealth." This would refer to the depth of o...