Salty Zebra

  Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”   Luke 19:9-10  The story of Zaccheus reminds me a little of A Christmas Carol and Ebeneezer Scrooge. Zaccheus was hated and despised, and for good reason. In the eyes of his neighbors, he had collaborated with the enemy, the Roman government. He worked for them, their oppressors, and collected the people’s taxes. But he didn’t just do that, he added a little on the top for himself. He had cheated them all for years and kept the profits for himself. But God didn’t see fit to send three spirits to open Zaccheus’ eyes to his deplorable condition and desperate need for a Savior. No, God sent the Savior Himself!   We don’t know what God had been doing in Zaccheus’ heart leading up to this day, but something had to be at work there to have him be so desperate to see Jesus as He passed by. The crowd was thick a...

  Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.   1 Timothy 1:15-16  I think I need to borrow this line from Paul. How often do you go to share something with someone knowing that they will nitpick it and argue with you? Paul knew that his audience would poopoo his confession of being the worst of sinners – but he also knew that it was true. Paul knew his own heart, really Saul’s heart from whom he had been converted and changed into Paul ( Acts 9:1-19 , Acts 13:9 ). Paul knew what he had done, thought, and intended to do further. Everyone he was talking to today only knew him as Paul the apostle, the guy who has devoted his life to Jesus and spends every moment serving Him. But Paul...

  You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6-8  Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought you needed to do something to earn God’s love, if you ever thought that you had to “get right” with God before you could accept Jesus as your Savior. Ok, now don’t you feel silly raising your hand while you’re sitting there reading on your phone or computer? 😂😂 Yeah, me too. There was definitely a time in my life where I thought I had to clean up my act, quit drinking, quit cussing, quit smoking before I could come to God and humbly ask for His forgiveness and presence in my life. I mean, how could I ask a perfect, righteous God to associate with someone like me? I knew the things I had done and said and thought. I k...

ChatGpt's interpretation of this event But the Pharisees and their experts in the law complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “Those who are well don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”   Luke 5:30-32  Have you ever met someone for whom nothing is good enough? It seems like they can find fault in anything and everything around them exists only to disappoint them. They wouldn’t compliment you on the hairstyle you carefully arranged, they’d point out the hair out of place. They wouldn’t appreciate the feast set before them, they’d complain about the lack of options they’d prefer. This might not even be the way they are all the time, just some of it. Sometimes they are quietly appreciative, and others they are vocally disapproving of everything . I feel bad for them. I think they’re missing out. I try not to let them bring m...

 Last year about this time, I wrote to you all asking for a little help from my friends , and you showed up! We raised $357.68 in donations over the month and I wanted to share with you today how that has influenced my blog this year.  First, it showed me that there were real people out there reading what I was writing who actually valued it enough to contribute financially. That means more than I can possibly express! I love  writing, but it's hard when you put things out into the blogosphere day after day and you wonder if anyone sees it, if anyone cares, if it's making a difference. When you all showed up for me last December, it encouraged me to keep writing, to keep traveling, to keep learning and sharing things with you. THANK YOU!!!  Next, by having some level of financial income, my blog was legitimized as a business. This enabled me to open five different credit cards and two bank accounts earning me 365,000 points/miles and $1,200 in account signup bonuses....

  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.   John 1:14  Have you ever been on a mission trip? Even just a short term one for a week or two? It is life changing, not just for you, but for the people you visit. My friend, Sackie, was the head of operations in Liberia for Serve the Children, a ministry that our family has been involved with for more than 20 years. He came to the US to visit one time in the early 2000s and spoke at our church. Afterwards I felt a tug on my heart to go on a trip to Liberia, to experience what he talked about, to do something . But, and this will not likely come as a surprise to you, I recognized that travel to Africa is expensive and I wondered if my personal contribution to a mission team would be worth what it cost. Would me giving $3,000 be worth more than me showing up for a couple of weeks and playing with some kids...

  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”   Luke 2:10-11  My husband is the consummate provider. Taking care of those around him has been his hallmark characteristic for as long as I can remember. He has worked hard his whole life to take care of me and our children, making sure we had everything that was good for us, including time and access to him as he prioritized family vacations and being there for important events like recitals and graduations. He even saw family time as such a priority that thirteen years ago he bought us a house out by the ocean so that we could have a place for focused time together! He went on to echo this caring instinct in his career with Microsoft where for years he was in charge of first making sure things worked right for people around the world and then making sure that they w...

 Have you ever looked up at the sky and it was almost green? Clouds, dark and swirling, hover on the horizon and you're absolutely certain - there's a storm a brewin'!  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).  Matthew 1:22-23  You’ve got to figure one of the first things on Mary’s mind when she heard from the angel and then found herself to be pregnant as she had been told, was, “What will Joseph think?” Their culture was not like ours today. If an unmarried woman becomes pregnant today, people hardly bat an eye. Yes, there might be some judgement or condemnation from uber conservative people around them, but for the most part people will think nothing of it. In Mary’s day, a woman could be stoned to death if she was found to be unmarried and pregnant. At the very least, her upcoming marriage, for which she was already ...

  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”   Luke 1:30-33  Mary: the woman, the myth, the legend… I can’t think of another person in history that has had more credited to her, other than Jesus. But it’s not her fault, she never asked to be elevated to near-godlike status. Over time, the church and other groups have attributed to her power and glory that, in my understanding, should never be due to a human. My mother-in-law is even an associate nun in an order called the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (the SNJM).   So how did all this come about, and why do people venerate and even worship Mary? Well, for one thing, in a paradoxical realit...

  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. (Isaiah 9:1a)   These last few weeks for me have been cloaked in darkness. Only God knows the reason. Is it because those around me have been dealing with depression for so long and it finally wore off on me? Is it because of the pain I’ve been experiencing ratcheting up a few more notches? Is it the death threats and the darkness of that situation? Is it a chemical imbalance in my body that has little or nothing to do with my external circumstances? Again, only God knows. What I know is that it is very real and I have been experiencing it deeply. I hoped a cruise to sunnier climates would help last week, but I found that the darkness just followed me there too .   Today’s SOAP verse for our new study, The Savior Who Comes Near, is Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called Wonderful Adviser, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peac...