Dry Bones Dancing

🎧CoffeeTime Audio

 If anyone has ever said scripture is dull and boring hasn't really read much of it!

For this blog, particularly, Ezekiel!

There have been messages spoken on the old testament book of Ezekiel..and I heard one recently on Ezekiel chapter 37....Dry Bones! and it inspired this weeks blog.

📖 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’” Ezekiel 37:1-14

Bare, dry, desolate bones, covering the floor of a valley. No breath, no movement, no life!

Can you relate? Have you felt the despair, the desolation?

That is what God intended Ezekiel to see and feel with this vision He put before him.

It was how many were feeling at the time, as the Israelite people had been taken into bondage, cities were leveled. There was probably very little hope among the people.  

In earlier chapters of Ezekiel he prophesied how attacks from outsiders, and sin from within will bring them to ruin.

But God had other plans, and He gave a vision to Ezekiel to depict His amazing power of restoration!

Several points that stand out to me;

First of all, 

🦴This is set in a valley. It could have been a field, a large dessert expanse, but it was a valley floor. A valley is the lowest point...and we have all been there...at some point in our life, in our walk we have slid down the mountainside and found ourselves in a barren, dry valley.

🦴This was a participation exercise, the Lord didn't just "speak over the dry bones" and they were complete. He commanded Ezekiel to "prophesy", to speak over the bones himself. The Lord directed, gave Ezekiel the words and all he had to do was listen and obey.  Hmmmm 🤔

🦴The Lord could have made the bones rise, move, dance and that alone would have depicted a form of restoration, but the Lord's vision to Ezekiel depicted what His full restorative power can look like! Not only did the bones form together, but then the inner workings, tendon, muscle, skin! But He wasn't done yet! There was no life, or breath! 

🦴The Lord then explained that this is what He can do....the restoration He was going to do for the Israelite nation.

And lastly, as we head toward Palm Sunday and Easter, 

🦴 the restoration He planned for us! The foreshadowing that this passage carries of our restoration as a result of Christ's death, and resurrection, the dead coming to life!

We are dead in our sin,  but if we believe what Christ did for us, we can have eternal restoration with Him in Heaven.

 📖 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Have you ever been there, in the valley, feeling as dead, used up and abandoned as an old skeleton? Exposed to the elements, bits and pieces disappearing over time?

Or maybe you feel as though you have begun to be restored; standing, looking as if you are whole, but feeling lifeless inside?

Ezekiel's vision was about hope for the Israelite people, but it can be for us too!

God's restorative power is there for us!

His Spirit in us breathes life into our being, into our soul.

Like Ezekiel we must listen, and follow God's instructions. How? His Holy Word! Read the Bible daily. Find others who read the Word of God and spend time talking, listening and learning. Spend time talking and listening and learning from Him, in prayer.

📖 "I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU AND YOU WILL LIVE"! 

HOPE in any situation!

📖 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  John 20:21-22

🙏My prayer for you; No matter how low and desolate you feel let God breathe His Spirit into your soul and feel life again, dance again! ❤️

This song was referenced in the message that inspired this blog and it fits so perfectly!

🎵Rattle      Elevation Worship and Zach Williams

When God Shows Up

🎧CoffeeTime Audio

A scripture passage from several Sundays ago was from the book of Job. Job 36-38

Job's friends were disparaging Job's circumstances and that God was bringing down His wrath. 

Job was questioning. 

Then as the speaker got to chapter 38 he said 

"Then God showed up!"

The statement hit me....

Have you ever thought about the times God "showed up"?

I love that statement. 

In today's world many times we feel God doesn't "show up" anymore, like He did in biblical times.

Like He was for the Israelites as they wandered through the desert....He was a pillar of fire and a column of smoke.

 📖By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21

He showed up on the mountain for Moses and gave him the commandments.

📖When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. Exodus 31:18

📖When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. Exodus 34:9

It was so powerful Moses' face glowed!

He was in the soft whisper for Elijah, after providing for him.

📖The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  1 Kings 19:11-13

David wrote songs about how God showed up for him in his time of despair.

📖 I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he turned to me and heard my cry. 

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.  Psalm 40:1-2

The list goes on throughout the Old Testament, 

 but what about the New Testament? 

📖 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35

God showed up! In the form of His Son, as a man to actually walk among man!

📖  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:11

And through Jesus God met people face to face!

📖For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

Jesus was in as many places He could possibly be in human form and with the constraints of the time.

But God showed up with a plan! And Jesus showed up at the garden, knowing He was going to be arrested, judged, sentenced, beaten, and then hung on a cross.

📖 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 28:36-39

Why would someone willing show up for that!?

LOVE!

📖 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

📖 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The most exciting.... 

Jesus followers were grieving and scared after Jesus had died and was buried. 

And.....dramatic drum roll please...🥁

He SHOWED UP!

📖At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. John 20:14-20

📖A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because  you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:26-29

He had tried to explain that He was going to be with them always, and God was giving the gift of the Holy Spirit

📖“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:25-27

📖  This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  1 John 4:13-14

So now the task is for US to "show up"!

WE need to come before Him with a repentant and humble spirit

📖The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.

God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.  Psalm 51:17 (HCSB)

Surrendering our lives to Him

📖Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  Luke 9:23-24

We can be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk with Him every day!

📖 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:15-20

📖If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  Galatians 5:25 (NKJV)

If we feel God isn't there, it isn't that He hasn't shown up....we have stepped away.

Look closely, humble your heart, quiet your spirit, seek Him.

"Ah, there He is, right where He has been all along", waiting for you to return your focus to Him.

📖 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

📖  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

He desires us to show up, ready to serve in His name, to love as He has commanded us to do.

📖My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  John 15;12-15

🙏My prayer this week is that you see that He has shown up, He is there for you!  And that you show up and make yourself available for whatever He has for you!❤️

Diamonds

 🎧CoffeeTime Audio

Diamonds by Hawk Nelson, another song has inspired another blog. 

First a little about diamond formation;

"Diamonds are formed deep within the Earth about 100 miles or so below the surface in the upper mantle. Obviously in that part of the Earth it's very hot. There's a lot of pressure, the weight of the overlying rock bearing down, so that combination of high temperature and high pressure is what's necessary to grow diamond crystals in the Earth......"

"The diamonds that we see at the surface are ones then that are brought to the surface by a very deep-seated volcanic eruption. It's a very special kind of eruption, thought to be quite violent, that occurred a long time ago in the Earth's history. We haven't seen such eruptions in recent times. They were probably at a time when the earth was hotter, and that's probably why those eruptions were more deeply rooted. These eruptions then carried the already-formed diamonds from the upper mantle to the surface of the Earth. When the eruption reached the surface it built up a mound of volcanic material that eventually cooled, and the diamonds are contained within that. These are the so-called Kimberlites that are typically the sources of many of the world's mined diamonds...."

"Diamonds are made of carbon so they form as carbon atoms under a high temperature and pressure; they bond together to start growing crystals. Because of the temperature and pressure, under these conditions, carbon atoms will bond to each other in this very strong type of bonding where each carbon atom is bonded to four other carbon atoms." (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/diamonds-unearthed-141629226/)

I know that there have been other correlations of people to diamonds but from the first time I heard this song quite a few years ago, I have liked it!

I have stated before that we as Christians should expect trials, I have blogged several times on that idea.  

Trials are a part of living in a sin filled world, part of being human, and also part of our growth process, not just as a Christian, but as a person. Without hard times, those as consequences of our own choices and even those not caused by us, how would we ever learn how to cope (how to shine), how to make a wrong right, how would we learn how to learn!?

 Sometimes the trials that we have to endure are tremendous, for us....

remember EVERYONE has trials, but what you may suffer as a trial may not be as difficult for another, or maybe their trial doesn't seem to you to be "any big deal". We MUST remember that each person's trial and how they perceive it is as unique as each individual, even if they are in the same circumstance.

Ok I will jump off my little soap box now. 😉

Sometimes the trials we have to endure are tremendous; we feel we are buried, lost in a dark place, tested by fire from all sides.

Some of the lyrics to the song Diamonds speak to that.

Here and now I'm in the fire
In above my head
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Being held under the pressure
Don't know what'll be left
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Songwriters: Jason Ingram, Matt Bronleewe, Jonathan Steingard. For non-commercial use only

Scripture tells us we WILL face times like these.

📖 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

📖 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3

But we can have hope! Through the trial we are being "moved to the surface"!  Moved from the darkness to the light. 

📖You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

    my God turns my darkness into light. Psalm18:28

He shakes the foundations, moves the mountains and brings the beauty to the surface.

📖He moves mountains without their knowing it

    and overturns them in his anger.

    He shakes the earth from its place

    and makes its pillars tremble.  Job 9:5-6

📖 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Psalm 102:25

📖   and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.  Isaiah 61:3

 He is in it all! No matter where we find ourselves, He is there! There is no place too far or too dark for Him to be there with us. 

📖 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,” 

even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:11-12

📖 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

I find this part powerful;

I'll surrender to the power of being crushed by love
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
'Til the beauty that was hidden
Isn't covered up
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Oh it's not what I hoped for (hoped for)
It's something much better   Songwriters: Jason Ingram, Matt Bronleewe, Jonathan Steingard. For non-commercial use only

We must surrender! Surrender to what God is doing in what is happening around us, to us, because it is in THAT that God's grace and power will be shown and He is going to bring about change, draw us closer to Him, bring strength and beauty despite...NO....because of what we have gone through!

He literally formed man from the dust of the earth (dust that He created remember).  He can create beauty from your circumstances!

📖Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7a (GW)

📖 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

📖Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3

📖Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;

    in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Remember, things may turn out differently from what we had hoped, even prayed for, but in submitting to Him and His ways we know that it will be something much better!

We also need to remember that once a diamond comes to the surface, it is in its raw form, there is more work to be done to bring out all the facets of its beauty. 

We will continue to be worked on, to be chiseled (pruned), to bring out all that God has created us to be!

 📖He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  John 15:2

📖 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

🙏My prayer this week is that in whatever circumstance we are in we all surrender to the power of His love for us to allow Him to do a great work in us, to create diamonds out of dust!❤️

Listen to the song!

🎵Diamonds by Hawk Nelson

First Things First

  🎧CoffeeTime Audio

There is a song that I keep hearing on Christian Radio (K-LOVE 94.7FM)  

 It is Consumed By Fire's First Things First. Songwriters: Jordan David Ward / Caleb Paul Ward / Jake Hess / Grant Timothy Bias

Several things about the lyrics have struck me.

First of all the statement "first things first"  has been around for centuries, it means to prioritize, do the thing that is most important first, before things of lesser importance get in the way etc.

Part of the chorus to the song;

🎶First thing's first
I seek Your will
Not my own
Surrender all my wants to you 🎶

That should be our priority, to put God and His will first    

 📖  your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:10

 📖 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:42

 📖 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  Luke 9:23

🎶Keep the first thing first
To live Your truth
Walk Your ways
Set my eyes
Lord I fix my face on you
All my desires reversed
To keep the first thing first🎶

📖 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:32 

 📖   Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1

📖   if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

I think my favorite line is "All my desires reversed"!  Anything that I could possibly want needs to be put in the background so that everything that God desires for me is first!  HIS first things FIRST!  What I want may be good, noble, even righteous, but it can not be what I want or desire, it HAS to be HIS!  It HAS to be HIM, the first THING first!

🎶I give it all
My life an offering
My heart is yours
So have Your way in me
Your kingdom's all I wanna seek 🎶

 📖  Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

 📖   For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:10

 📖 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.                                                                                                   See if there is any offensive way in me,                                                                                                   and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

 📖 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Matthew 6:33

Click on the link and take a listen to the whole song.

🎵First Thing First  Consumed By Fire

🙏My prayer is that we can all say today; 

"First thing's first

I seek Your will
Not my own
Surrender all my wants to you
Keep the first thing first
To live Your truth
Walk Your ways
Set my eyes
Lord I fix my face on you
All my desires reversed
To keep the first thing first" ❤️

First Things First. Songwriters: Jordan David Ward / Caleb Paul Ward / Jake Hess / Grant Timothy Bias

Magic Fruit?

 🎧CoffeeTime Audio

📖 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:15-17

📖 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 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? ”He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”   The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”  The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  Genesis 3:1-13

Personally, I don't think the fruit in the garden was "magic" or had special powers, 

Let's look at the fruit from a different angle:

What if.... seeing good and evil wasn't in the fruit but in the choice.

Sometimes as we tell the story of Eve and the eating of the "forbidden fruit", it sometimes seems like that "magic fruit" was forbidden because IT had some "power" to make them "see".

What IF it wasn't that specific fruit that caused their eyes to be opened and sin to enter the world....it was the choice.

Think about it....what if God had said...."do not eat the berries from that bush!"

Or "Do not drink the water that forms on the leaves"....I think it would have been the same result.

Because it was in their choice to go against God's command that opened their eyes to the sin they had just committed!

The moment Eve said "Yes I will do what God said not to" she knew she had done wrong. And she quickly didn't want to be the only one ...because she then encouraged Adam to sin as well. 

I do not know if they learned from this...to encourage one another to do good in God's sight and not wrong....In our relationships I pray that if we make a wrong choice we don't encourage others to go down with us.

Instead, maybe say..."Oh no! I have messed up...can you help me get things back on track!"

Because the wrong is less in what we do than it is in the choice to do what God commands us not to.

To be honest there are way more Dos in scripture than Do Nots!

That should make it easy....if we try and focus on the dos....we won't have time to even consider the do nots!

📖 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

📖 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

📖 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

📖 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22:37-38

📖Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

📖 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Matthew 6:9-13

and the list goes on!  

🙏My prayer is that you choose the DOs, instead of the do nots!❤️