Musings From A Rolling Eyed Turtle

I love words that have multiple meanings but the same spelling.  Take the word “present” for example.  You may be thinking of “present”, as in a gift.  Gotta love those! But I’m thinking of “present”, as in existing now or occurring now. I’m also thinking of “present”, as in being at hand. Why those two latter ones, you might ask, why not just go with the gift! Well, I recently read Psalm 46, and here is the first verse:   “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Some theologians suggest the word “present” in this Psalm has the meaning of “well proven”.  I certainly can appreciate that. But I’ve been wondering if “present” could include the meaning of “now existing or now occurring”.  That is, God is exists now and is occurring in our lives. Furthermore, I’ve been wondering if “present” could also include “being at hand”.  That is, God is here, right now, with us.   And with even further wondering, the wo...

What if I told you there’s a place where you can find pleasures forevermore?  Would you want to know where it is and how to get there?    If you do, check out what the Psalmist says: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  (Ps 16:11) It sure looks like the place is at God’s right hand!  Yet, there’s another interesting dynamic to this; that place is occupied.  See for yourself: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”  (Col 3:1) “That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,”  (Eph 1:20) “But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”  (Luke 22:69) “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the univer...

It caught my eye, well the words in the verse did!  See if they catch yours:  When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken .”  (Ps 30:6)   To feel secure can be quite a wonderful thing.  In feeling secure, you might feel free from danger or harm.  You might feel free from fear, care, doubt, worry or anxiety.    When I looked up other versions of Psalm 30:6, I noticed some other wording that seemed to further enhance this good feeling of security:   When I was safe and secure…   When all was well with me…   When I felt safe…   When things were quiet and life was easy…   And in my prosperity…(which actually was used by most versions)    And then I read more of the outcome of that feeling of security from other versions:   I thought nothing could hurt me…   Nothing can ever destroy me….   I...

The world’s oldest "games" date back to the first man and the first woman.  And the games they played then are still being played today! The first is “Hide and Seek”.  But calling it a game, as it was “played” that first time, is rather disingenuous.  It all started like this:  Adam and Eve were created by God and He told them to not do one specific thing. But, as you might have guessed already, they went ahead and did that one thing.  As a result of disobeying God, they felt guilt and shame.  And rather than going to God and ‘fessing up, they actually tried to hide from God.  Here’s the account as recorded for us:  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.   But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  (Gen 3:8-9) This was really not a game, it was actually life at its worst!  Fur...

Our three grandchildren are two years old and under.   Babies and toddlers have tiny hands.   And it is with great joy that we get to, at times, hold their tiny hands in ours.   “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem , because he was of the house and family line of David. He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”  ( Luke 2:4-7) When Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, he first entered the world as an infant.  It would be reasonable for us to expect that Jesus, as a baby, would have had tiny hands.  Since his earthly father was a carpenter, the cultural expectations at the time would have been for...

In my previous post, I wrote about how the Lord promised to give strength to Israel to go in and conquer the land.  But the strength came from an unusual source, it came as they obeyed the words of the Lord:  “Soon you will cross the Jordan River , and if you obey the laws and teachings I'm giving you today, you will be strong enough to conquer the land.”  (Deut 11:8) I also wrote that we are not part of those to whom that strength was given in order to go in and conquer the land.  Nonetheless, it is important to obey God’s word.  We can see that from the opposite, that is when we disobey, our strength can be dried up:  “ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up.”  (Ps 32:4) Normally, in order for our bodies to function properly and effectively, we need fuel and that fuel is food.  And without the fuel, we would have no strength. Yet there is a food that is necessary, not just for strength, but for life:  “...