Salty Zebra

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Romans 5:1 “yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”  Galatians 2:16   Last time I wrote about sanctification. Turns out I got a little ahead of myself because that’s tomorrow’s topic! The team that put together Firm Foundation did a fabulous job of structuring it so that the topics build on each other well. Today we look more deeply into something I alluded to last time, justification. According to the real Webster , justification is, “In theology, remission of sin and absolution from guilt and punishment; or an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous, on ...

   I'm currently on my ninth consecutive day crossing the Atlantic Ocean. I'd be inclined to say that I've seen it! The reality is though that I've barely scratched the surface, literally. According to Brittanica , the average depth of the Atlantic Ocean is 11,962 feet. That's over two miles deep on average! In some places it can be as deep as 27,493 feet.   By comparison, Mount Rainier is 14,400 feet. I could literally be sailing over mountains, actually I guess I have. I crossed over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, also called the Mid-Ocean Ridge, at some point on my journey. This is the most extensive chain of mountains on earth  stretching nearly 40,390 miles. What I'm getting at is, there's a lot below me.  Between me and the ocean floor are fish of all kinds, plants, all sorts of plankton and micro thingys. While I feel like I've seen all there is to see of the Atlantic Ocean, there's so much more that I can't even conceptualize it.   Where am I go...

  “Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,”   Acts 3:19 “The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9  I set out this morning on a challenge. The verses I was given deal with repentance, which I acknowledge is crucial both in our salvation and in walking out our life with Christ. But why? The more I looked at these verses, the more I felt like they applied to unbelievers and their coming to Christ. So what is the role of repentance in a believer? What does the Bible have to say about that?   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgi...

  “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.”   Hebrews 1:1 “because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.”   Romans 10:9-10  Disney taught us that all we need is, “Faith, Trust and Pixie dust!” I wouldn’t let my children watch that version of Peter Pan because I didn’t want them getting that idea into their heads. Of course, I didn’t think they’d really believe that if they could get their hands on some pixie dust they could fly, but I didn’t want their idea of faith to be mixed up with this clearly impossible thing. I get a lot of flack for what I didn’t let my kids watch, but my heart was in the right place. I wanted to guard them from the lies of this world and keep their hearts focused on the God who ...

  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.  One concerns that keeps some people from enjoying all that a cruise vacation has to offer is the fear of sea sickness. Today I'd like to share a few of the preventatives and remedies that I've used over the years. I am really blessed that, during this season of my life, sea sickness is not a serious issue for me. I have experienced it in the past, and these days if there's even a hint that it might be coming, I start right in with these measures to be sure to enjoy my trips as much as possible.  I'm sure you've heard it said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and when it comes to sea sickness, I'd double that! This phrase, coined by Benjamin Franklin, alludes to the fact that it's much easier to deal with an issue before it comes to pass. When it comes to sea sickness...

 My Mom raised me right and taught me that tipping is not optional. She's the type where if the waitress at a restaurant was crabby, she'd likely tip more because she knew that the waitress was probably having a bad day. So, when it comes to tipping on a cruise, I don't consider if, but how much. With most major cruise lines, you will have a required prepaid service charge. This goes to most of the service staff, those who are front facing as well as those in the galley and other out of the way places. With Norwegian that is currently $20 per person per day for regular rooms and $25 per person per day for suites. That sounds like a pretty big tip, but if you factor in that there were 1,600 crew on my last voyage, that's only 01.25 cents per person. I was taught that leaving a penny as a tip was the greatest insult. There's also people that you will encounter along the way that are not covered by the service charge like porters helping with your luggage at the dock a...

  “For by grace you are save through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not form works, so that no one can boast.”   Ephesians 2:8-9 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.”   Titus 2:11  The Bible is clear; we are saved by grace through faith. We are not saved by our works; we cannot take any credit. There is no possible way for us to earn our salvation. Jesus is the ultimate gift of grace to us, we did nothing to deserve what He did for us on the cross, and yet He did it. He did it because He loves us. Because it was His will, equally, it was the Father’s will.  So was it Jesus’ choice to die on the cross for us, or was it the Father’s plan and He did not have any say in it? I have struggled with the question of free will vs predestination for as long as I’ve been a believer, maybe longer, but today I finally feel like I have a satisfactory answer.  I’ve always landed on t...