paravanes:meditations

  (c) Deborah Evans Nehemiah 8:10: "Do not grieve...the joy of the Lord is your strength." What does this mean? Read the book of Nehemiah, not a long book, if you want to understand the historical context of this statement. What can it mean for us in 2023? We were created for joy and happiness. The joy and happiness experienced in our creation was based on our close, uninterrupted connection to God. We cut that connection in the early days of humanity (see Genesis, the book of beginnings) and God restored to us the option of that connection through Jesus Christ.  As Christ followers, we can now honestly say "the joy of the Lord is my strength." What does this joy look like in our life experiences? We have the security of knowing in this life we walk a road prepared for us and will have a safe, final arrival in God's kingdom in a place made specifically for us. See John 14:2. We have the certainty of knowing we don't exist through a random process of chance, ...

  (c) Deborah Evans If you are unfamiliar with the term "Black femicide", read the article referenced below to understand what it is and why it is a public health crisis: Black Femicide: A Silent Public Health Crisis  -- from advancingkids.org Femicide is defined as an intentional killing with a gender related motivation. Why is this a crisis in the Black community? In 2022, The Guardian (UK)  reported the rate of death by homicide for Black women increased by 33% in 2020 over the previous year.. In 2020, an average of five Black women per day were murdered in the United States.(FBI statistics) Recent reports do not show a reversal of this trend. Read this Washington Post article about the lack of traction this issue has received. Most of these murders were connected to domestic, family related violence. Victims included spouses, partners, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, co-parents, ex-wives, former girlfriends, women who rejected unwanted suitors. The vast major...

  (c) Deborah Evans This quote, "what punishments of God are not gifts?" from author J.R.R. Tolkien, gives us insight into how to understand God's connection with us. The nature of God's relationship is a progressive interaction.  Even punishments that bring us closer to God's heart and closer to the image (character, submission, and obedience) of Christ are gifts of God. See Romans 8:29, I Corinthians 15:49. When we are punished by humans (parents, teachers, etc.), that punishment cannot be separated from the frustrations, irritations, unchecked anger, and shortcomings of those parents, teachers, or others. None of those appear in any punishment (corrective or directive action) taken by God because none of those shortcomings or emotional imbalances are part of God's character. They cannot be displayed or imposed by God. When we understand God's entire purpose in redemption and salvation is to make us like Jesus, to conform us to Jesus' image (personal...

  (c) Deborah Evans Sometimes, the past must be put aside before you can look upward and look forward. The past cannot be erased. The past is part of your history and your identity. Just as the histories of nations and organizations cannot be erased, your personal history cannot be erased. Our histories and past decisions have created our current life experiences. If we don't like where we are, we can choose regret or repentance. That decision is yours to make. That decision determines if your past becomes a curse or a blessed lesson. Regret is a useless pursuit, one that blocks you from seeing present or future options and opportunities. Regret is a backward looking action, one that doesn't give you room to learn from mistakes or help and guide others on a forward path. Repentance, on the other hand, allows you to see what is true, what actually happened, find or give or accept forgiveness, and examine why things are the way they are. Repentance is the acceptance of mistakes m...

  Image from wikipedia.com article on "Tableland" This is the final Summer Break Encore post of 2023. The  lyrics to the hymn "Higher Ground" were composed by Johnson Oatman, Jr. You can read all verses of this hymn at  https://hymnary.org/text/im_pressing_on_the_upward_way    There are no connections to the well known Stevie Wonder song of the same name. --d. ******************************************** A hymn I grew up with--one  I seldom hear anymore--was titled "Higher Ground." In the chorus of the hymn, we sang these words: "Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith, on heaven's tableland, A higher plane than I have found, Lord plant my feet on higher ground." What is a tableland? A tableland is a plateau, a mesa, or an elevated flat ground. Often sheep would graze on tableland. What is heaven's tableland?  Many commentators have said it is the afterlife, when we all live in the heavenly kingdom of God's goodness. Not so fast....