Present her holy and blameless

I am supposed to love my wife the way Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5). Of course, I can't (not to the same magnitude). But, He is my model. So, I must: "...make her  holy, cleansing her by the washing with the water of the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (v. 26). That is a tall order. In the days of Old Testament Law, a lamb was sacrificed for sin, and it had to be without spot or blemish. Jesus was the "Lamb of God", unblemished by sin, and He takes away our sin. So, it is my responsibility to ensure my wife received the Word of God, and has her sins washed away, so she stands in God's sight without blemish.
If you are a married man, think about this. Contemplate it. This is a big responsibility. Time for me to get to work.

Words

 The only thing God does in the Bible is speak. Every single
thing he ever did was preceeded or accompanied by words. Words created the universe, blessed people, cursed people, brought healing, deliverance, salvation. Words bring love, joy, peace, happiness, contentment, and faith.
Words also bring anxiety, fear, defeatism, and destruction.
When a child hears words of nurture, praise, and encouragement, he or she
feels valued, loved, and special. They carry that self-image into their
adult life and pass it on to THEIR children.
When a child hears words of belittlement and degredation, he or she is
handicapped going into adulthood, by a sense of being a worthless loser who
nobody loves or values, despite the fact that this person is created in
God's image.  He or she, if fortunate, is able to overcome this, but it
takes a lifetime of work that never ends.
Did we ever hear, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never harm me."? That is one of the most incorrect things you will ever hear. Words create, and words destroy. Your words live outlive you and create a legacy...good or bad.

James 3:6 -
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It
corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is
itself set on fire by hell.

The most important time of your entire day...overlooked

The time we spend in prayer is the most important time of our day. If this is so, why do we “take a few minutes”?

We have an imminent opportunity to take our miniscule selves, our carnal collection of dust, and enter into the presence of the Great I AM, the ALL IN ALL, the Creator of this universe and of our souls. There is a disconnect. Something is amiss. Only love and faith impress God, and our love for him and our faith in him should propel us into such an intense, radical, pursuit of a prayer life that we would be consumed by His presence. The opportunity is there. It is free. We need no athletic equipment. We need not be educated, wealthy, or have special brownie points with Jesus…just faith, motivated by love. Then, just do it. Absolutely amazing is the depravity of mankind, and the silliness of the church. I am not pontificating…I speak first, and foremost, of myself. But, I despise an existence where we just lament these things then say, “Oh well, isn’t it a shame.” I refuse to be that person. When I have these musings, I act. I will at least turn the prayer dial up a notch right now.

Jesus, as we know, went into the wilderness and declined to eat earthly food, instead consuming the bread of life that came from His Father.  To be in His presence…just think of it: Holy, Holy, perfect, perfect, sweet, precious, all knowing, all loving…my master…Oh Lord who gives us Manna…the food that leads to life eternal…the Word of  God, personified in your beloved Son, Jesus. Thank you. Oh, thank you.

CHECK IT OUT. OUR UNIVERSE. OUR CREATOR. AMAZING!

When we moved to Pittsburgh,two years ago, I got in the habit of sitting "out back" and relaxing each evening, gazing at the summer sky. I have always liked astronomy, and as a boy in the 70s, I watched Star Trek reruns, dreaming about how "cool" it would be to travel accross the galaxy. I even took a college course in the subject, but the Cosmos began taking on new meaning for me recently. The older I get, the greater the revelation that my life is finite, and I am but a fraction of a grain of sand in the entire universe (that is OUR universe, as it is theorized there are more than one). The fact that we are so miniscule and the universe so unfathomable, strengthens my faith in God. It also elicits great reverence and respect. He owns all this, yet He still cares for me. Amazing!
Lydia and I began attending lectures at the Allegheny observatory here in Pittsburgh, complete with fascinating speakers, tours, and sometimes viewings. The first time we went, Lydia and I got to spend a couple of hours viewing the heavens with a super zealous observatory employee who was more than happy to pull some "OT" for us (overtime, to you youngsters). I clearly saw what I was told was a galaxy. I simply could not comprehend it, yet I comprehend that it is incomprehensible.
Stop, take a breath, and allow the following information to soak in. Really digest it. If you are normal, and really absorb it as I am asking, it will take your breath away:

THE SOLAR SYSTEM, ALONE, IS TOO BIG FOR US TO IMAGINE. The distance from the Sun to Earth is 93 million miles. Can you imagine outrunning light? What can be faster than light? Theoretically, nothing. To us, light seems instantaneous, at 186,000 per second (approximately). However, it takes about 8 minutes for light to reach us, from the time it leaves the sun. Pluto, the farthest "planet" (not the farthest celestial object), is estimated to be 3.7 BILLION miles from the sun.
Some scientist think there are 300 BILLION suns in our galaxy. The closest, Alpha Centauri, is 4.4 light years away. It would take 4.4 years, traveling at the speed of light, although in theory, reaching that speed would cause matter (you and your space ship)to become pure energy.
They believe there are 100 BILLION galaxies in the Universe.
There are theorized to be a huge, perhaps infinite, number of universes. I once googled theories on how many universes exist. Yes, if you are like me, you were indoctrinated, in 6th grade science class, with the idea that the universe, by definition, is singular. In other words, when we speak of the universe, we are speaking of everything...you know,infinite creation. But, by use of mathematics neither one of us probably understands, that is believed to not be the case. You may say, "That is impossible. There has to be a beginning and an end. There has to be a final number, a final amount,of anything". You say this because the human brain is wired into a paradigm that says infinity does not exist. I am about to stop myself, because that is a subject so fascinating that it is suitable for its own blog.
Don't worry if you are not overly hip to the whole cosmology/astronomy thing. This is not a blog about astronomy, per say. It is about critical examination of paradigms. However, at future times, I will elaborate on antimatter, black holes, the space/time continuum,the eleven dimensions of space, and how they ALL bear testimony to God Almighty.
FOR NOW, FOR STARTERS,CONTEMPLATE THE INFORMATION I HAVE SHARED. MEDITATE ON IT, AND KNOW HE IS GOD.