Musings From A Rolling Eyed Turtle

Since I try to write a blog, you may assume that I love words.   I do and here are some that I love: Rebuild - to make extensive repairs to; to restore to a previous state; to make extensive changes Restore - to put or bring back into existence or use; to bring back to or put back into a former or original state Renew - to make like new; restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection; to make new spiritually; to restore to existence; to make extensive changes in; to begin again I almost feel like I found a treasure when I noticed all three of the words in one verse! “They will rebuild the ancient ruins   and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”   (Isa 61:4) The verse, of course, was written for the nation of Israel.   But, the meanings of the words are not unfamiliar in the New Testament.   From the meanings above, I think what I particularly appreciated was ...

It happened, much to their dismay, just as he said it would. The event and everything preceding it rocked their world.   In their desperation, they had to make it all disappear or at least invalidate it.   The best that they could do was to argue that his friends did it.   They came and stole it. But they also had to deal with the guys who supposedly allowed his friends to come and steal it.   These guys were supposed to guard it.   And they were not your run of the mill rent-a-cops.   They were seasoned professionals. So they convinced the commanding officers over the guys to say that they just fell asleep on the job.   Then his friends came and stole it.   But there was a problem with that story.   They either forgot or overlooked or simply chose to ignore it in their desperation to create a narrative.   The problem was that those who fell asleep would normally be put to death for dereliction of duty. But, they presse...

In last week’s blog post, I mentioned that we should fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2).   This One we are to fix our eyes upon is described as being the author and perfecter of our faith. An author, according to one definition, is the creator or originator of a written work such as a book or play.   But, even more broadly defined, an author is the person who originated or gave existence to anything and whose authorship determines responsibility for what was created.   In another verse in Hebrews, we find that Jesus must be the Author of all authors since He is the One “for whom and by whom all things exist” (2:10).   In our world of economics, authors, if they are to make a living with their writing, need to be published, and, of course, be paid for what is published.   “To publish is to make generally known, to disseminate to the public.” I recently came across a verse in Isaiah that referred to publishing in a unique and interesting way: H...

In my last blog post, I wrote that God has eyes.   In the one previous to that, I wrote that God has ears.   While we really don’t know if God has physical eyes and physical ears, we do know that He does see, look and observe and that He does hear, listen and is attentive. While we normally do have physical eyes and ears, it can also be argued that we have spiritual eyes and spiritual ears as well.   On this spiritual side of things, the Word of God has some interesting things to say: Until we’ve put our trust in Christ for salvation, we have spiritual eyes that do not see and spiritual ears that do not hear:   “ Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?” (Mark 8:18) There are times when our spiritual eyes and spiritual ears are not functioning as they should:   “ For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,   and they have closed their eyes.   Otherwise they m...

God has eyes!   Not sure?   Come see for yourself…   “ For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?”   (Job 11:11)   To see is to perceive by the eye; to perceive or detect as if by sight.     God not only sees, but He also looks:   “The Lord watches from heaven; he sees all people.   From the place where he lives he looks carefully at all the earth’s inhabitants.”   (Psalm 33:12-14)   To look is to exercise the power of vision upon.   God not only sees and looks carefully but He also observes:   “For his eyes are on the ways of an individual, he observes all a person’s steps.”   (Job 34:21)   To observe is to watch carefully especially with attention to details or behavior for the purpose of arriving at a judgment   What purpose does God have in mind when He sees, looks closely and observes ...

God has ears! Not sure?   Hear me out… The Psalmist wrote:   “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me.”   (Psalm 77:1) To hear is to have the capacity of perceiving sound, to be able to become aware of sound; to perceive or become aware of by the ear. The Psalmist was convinced that God hears our prayers.   In another passage, we find that God listens to us: “We know that   God does not listen to sinners, but   if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.”   (John 9:31) To listen is to be alert to catch an expected sound. God hears our prayers and He listens to them and not only that, He is attentive to our prayers: “Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.”   (2 Chronicles 7:15) To be attentive is to be mindful and observant. All of us want to be heard, to be listened to and to have someone be attentive to what we sa...

Valentine’s Day – it’s supposed to be a day of communicating those matters of the heart as they relate to love and affection.   While Valentine’s Day has come and gone, perhaps there is room for one more Valentine… In regard to those matters of the heart, if I were to paraphrase dictionary definitions, the heart is the center of the total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling or emotion. So, how about this as a matter of the heart?    “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.”   (Psalm 33:11) The plans of His heart…could it be that God’s plans are based on His emotions or feelings? I must confess that I am more used to plans that come from the mind.   For that reason, Jeremiah 29:11 resonates more with me:   “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”   Did you catch t...