Category Archives: Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday blog posts

FMF May/ Soon/Deliberate

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Deliberate
Every action Jesus took while walking on Earth was deliberate and taught a spiritual principle that we may miss.   

1. Jesus' challenge to the rich younger ruler to sell everything wasn't about being rich. The rich young ruler wanted to earn his way to heaven. Eph 2:8-9- It is a free gift by faith alone. 

2. Healing on the Sabbath was about the hardiness of men versus God's coming grace. 

3. Jesus deliberately slept while crossing the storm tossed Galilean Sea. He was awakened by panicking disciples. He quietens the sea. Jesus let them face the harshness of the sea to let them know he would be with them through difficult times. 

4. Raising Jairus' daughter taught the Centurion leader that Jesus had all authority. 

5. Sometimes, our ministry is at home, just like the Demoniac. He wanted to follow Jesus. Jesus said, " Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. The Demoniac reached people that might have ignored Jesus because they saw the change in him. 
Take a new look at the scriptures and find the spiritual principle beyond the healings, the confrontations, and more. 

6. Jesus healed the blind man, and the blind man who can now see, immediately enters the synagogue proclaiming Jesus. The blind man's healing speaks of man's spiritual blindness. Your Messiah is here and yet you cannot see. 
Revelation 3:11 
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/616840313667334/?s=fb_shorts_tab&stack_idx=0

God's rathe is against
the intrusion of evil-
given over and measured. 
Haiku by RL Brown

God's divine wrath was poured out on Jesus.  EZ 7:8 and Rm 3:25. Jn 3:36. 
When the church is caught up, God's will deal with evil as explain in Revelations. 
God's wrath is provoked by evil. God's wrath and man's angry are two different things. Just like we exist in a time bubble, God is eternal with an eternal perspective. God's nature is love. He may love the sinner but God rathe is toward evil and those who cause evil and bring destrution on this world. 
How is God's wrath revealed? 
Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity (1:24).
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions (1:26).
God gave them up to a debased mind (1:28).
At the core of the human problem is that we are sinners under the judgment of God, and the divine wrath hangs over us unless and until it is taken away.
Our names must be written in the Lamb's Book of Life. 
https://openthebible.org/article/six-things-you-need-to-know-about-gods-wrath/#:~:text=The%20Bible%20speaks%20about%20God's,was%20poured%20out%20on%20Jesus.

Persist in Prayer As We Take a Public Stance Against Evil

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Michael said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you.”

We start by knowing the battle is the Lord’s. We stand on the solid rock of Truth. We are confident that salvation is rooted in our hearts.

Then we wear the full armor of God while speaking the Word of Truth without apology. Hell is forever. Wisdom comes as we test the spirit and pray for discernment. We can no longer be tossed about by empty philosophy, fear of offending, or ambivalent to attacks against the church.

Our persistence builds our maturity so that we are ready to give the right word with confidence that His Spirit leads us into battle. 

James Chapter 1
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

To Have and Let Go

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If autumn falls silent under the evening snow 
If sheltered seeds don winter's coat 
If March winds howl for spring's warmth
If budding flowers emit the earth's scent
If spring pollinators awaken and take flight
If golden rays titillate terra's loam
If nature bears burgeoning yields 
If the impetus for life circles again
If thankfulness flows from within
If we understand the Creator above
then what do we know of love?

Love is to have, to hold, to enjoy, and to freely let go.
Happy Earth Day

FMF: Have and Earth Day

Realizing the end of the sandwich generation.

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When does the sandwich generation end? My father-in-law was the last aging parent in my family to die this past January. Mothers, fathers, and step-fathers from each side of the family are gone.

Passing down a slice of life seems awkward. Does my piece of bread fall to the next? It is a curious question. My role as a caretaker continues, even as my husband moved to the head of our family. 

Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." "Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children." "Honor your father and mother.

Before society, the church, God began with Adam and Eve to begin a family, the basic unit of all cultures. It is fundamental to hope, security, and knowing God. God gave us family as a refuge and to renew our strength. Children soar in a family and, through adversity and love, grow.

I guess the best answer is to put your family in God's hand. After all, it was his idea. Now that we are the head of my family, the sandwich has changed I'm on one end, my kids in the middle and grandkids on the other. Hopefully, I'll be around for a double-decker when great grandkids come along. 
Deep within my roots,
generational stories
intertwine.
Bifurcating branches
twist and wind upward,
etching life's wrinkles.

Break

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Breathe in the sunlit air, 
watch a zephyr stir the trees, giggle in a swaying hamcock, 
tickle your toes in the cool grass and watch the clouds dance-

Take a break and see the Creator in the world around you. 
evening wanes
twitters and tweets
surround me,
life nestles,
I rock
I listen
I let go
God's World is full of 
dangling treasures
hidden in nature
for seekers to find. 

Job 12:
7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

Follow Me

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Paul Hurst from Facebook
Secular humanism is a big failure. Hopes based upon assumptions of an inherent goodness in mankind. They should have read the Scriptures and remember that mankind is fallen into sin.
Paul to the Corinthians in dealing with false teachers and empty philosophies. 
I Corinthians 11:1
Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
Human betterment, which relies on incentivizing people to make good decisions to create a better society, will fail when the incentive structures fail. (Ben Shapiro paraphrase.) Incentivizing people to do what is right is evident when they think they are entitled to the wealth others have earned. It is clear when workers demand pay beyond their skill level. It is evident in the looting of stores and trying to steal your way to wealth through Ponzi schemes. 

Our Founding Fathers understood that governmental systems do not make a good society. People do. People whose hearts are moved by kindness and benevolence are the heart of any culture. 
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
But in Christ we are a new creature: @ Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Our greatness was never in wealth but in the people who believed in Jesus and stood on righteous principles.

Choose

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Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Whatever you have learned, received, heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. Phil 4:8

There is not one self-help book that can replace the simple truth found in the bible. Choose to act by first unplugging from this world. Breathe in and out, and let go of festering feelings inside, then meditate on God’s Word.

Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. Psalms 34:4-5. 

nature's mystery 
sprightly beads nestle betwixt 
succulent leaves  

pearly light of glistening eyes 
echoes a dance of 
the coming spring.

Poem and Photo By RL Brown

Let Us Not Assume

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As iron sharpens irons, so does one man sharpens another. Discernment is a great gift.

Picture: Anonymous Facebook Post
Eleventh hour
America's demise
wokeness disinformation
downfall from within

Discernment's gift
facts vs narratives
Assumptions vs. Truth
I bought a book in 1991 by Catherine Millard titled, The Rewriting of America's History. I didn't understand the significance of this book then. Still, in today's environment, I can see the devasting results of not knowing your history and listening to others define history with present-day blinders. (Thomas Sowell is one of the greatest minds to explain current times and the adverse effects of specific gov't policies.) 

The word today is 'assume.' Why assume to judge the past with blinders? 
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Discernment is a gift that divides truth from fiction. Boys are genetically different from girls is a biological fact. No two boys are alike, or two girls just alike, not even twins. But this is NOT where discernment takes place. Facts are just that facts which differ from theories. Discernment is where God grants grace to remove your blinders (ex. western raising vs. eastern cultures and many more) and to hear and catch subtleties that differ from His Word. Homosexuality is based on a delusion that all forms of love are okay. But God said no, that isn't true. 

How do I tell God's Truth through the wokeness, lost history, and hostile rhetoric about my ancestors who came to America? Don't assume! I don't judge their opinions or their beliefs, nor do I back down. I don't argue with those who refused to hear. I leave one nugget of Truth, God loves, and God forgives- 

He loves me, forgives my lack of foresight and deluded beliefs, and constantly works in my life to open my eyes. Discernment is a great gift. 
Forward written by Dr. D. James Kennedy
For Americans, 'to reclaim our beloved nation from the destructive forces of humanism, secularism, athesim and false religions, we must first retirieve the true history... by relearning the gacts that a righteous new government came from righteous people seeking to advance the kingdom of Christ..."
Rewriting a nation's history is frequently one of the first strategies taken by a conquering nation. If you do not know where you come from also do not know where they are going.

Many

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The Ukraine war with nearly 200,000 dead on both sides, plus the 33.000 who died in the earthquakes, so many lost and dying, and yet, we have:
Students at Asbury University — a Christian college in Wilmore, Kentucky — have been praying and worshiping in their chapel around the clock for over a week.

Hope springs eternal means that it comes from the Father above.

The harvest is ripe. We need harvesters, messengers, and prayer warriors- many people need to heed God's calling. God sent us to do His work and His will. We can each do our part and be a part of a great revival before the Lord returns. Can we answer the call that God lays before us? It is different for each of us. Remember, the one thing you do may be the catalyst for the next.

Things We Ignore

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When we ignore God's design for us, we travel the road of fools.
When we ignore the Holy Spirt's call to pray, we search for significance.
When we ignore hope and water weeds with bitter tears, we fall into depths of despair. 
When we ignore the yearning for spiritual things, we sacrifice character.
When we ignore God's design to fill us with His love, we walk alone. 

When we hear God whisper, we see with clarity.
When we love our soul like the soil loves the tree, we are secure.
When we hope through unanswered prayers, trust is restored. 
When we listen with the self God designed, we walk in faith. 

Above is a rewrite of a post from last year.

When your soul has lost the fear of God’s design, you travel the road of fools.
When your soul’s meaningful purpose is lost, you search for your significance.
When you separate your soul from your heart, you fall into depths of despair.
When your soul is empty, you fill it with things.
When your soul yearns for love, you sacrifice your character.
But...
When your soul listens for God's whisper, you discern the words of the fool.
When your soul is filled with meaning, you find your purpose.
When your soul is linked to Jesus, you are filled with understanding.
When your soul is full, you pour out God’s wondrous love.
When your soul is loved, you stand your ground.
Truth-
Jesus is the solid rock, immovable and perfect.
God’s design is for you to know HIM.