Tag: God

8 Dec 2024 Garden of Anguish

by saymber, posted in history, Leading Life by Example, Spirituality and Religion, Writing and blogging

Hello to you! Today it was hard to get up because I knew I would have to scrape my car of ice. I forced myself to get to church and I’m glad I did. Today’s message took us to the garden of Gethsemane, the garden of anguish, where Jesus pleaded with God to spare him the cross. Even though he was afraid he prayed for protection over his disciples and you and I. He said “not as I would have it but your will be done” he resolved to pay the cost that was being asked of him. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to accept such a burden that was put on him! Without his acceptance and going through what he did we wouldn’t have the Christianity of today!

Here is the scripture we read today:

Matthew 26:36-39New International Version

Gethsemane

36 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.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 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 26:44-46New International Version

44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

John 17:1-5New International Version

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heavenand prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

John 17:9-21New International Version

9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of[a] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by[b] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[c] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world,I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

5 Dec 2024 Wild Animals

by saymber, posted in Animal Rights, animals, Nature, Spirituality and Religion, Writing and blogging

Do you ever see wild animals?

Good afternoon! How are you? It was another icy and frosty day today. I had morning prayer today so I had to scrape my car windows! It was just Lois, Pastor Jayson and me. There is always a lot to give praise about and equally as much to pray about.

Matthew 18:20New International Version

20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

We are hoping our little group will grow in 2025!

Today’s prompt is rather random. As I’ve mentioned before, I live in a small town that could be considered rural. We have a current population of approximately 11,501 in Middleton and growing. People have cows, horses, goats, chickens and ducks. A month or so ago there was talk of seeing a wild mountain lion wandering about. I don’t know what became of that. The only wild animals I’ve seen in town were a bunch of wild turkeys one morning! They seemed so lost. With the growth we’ve been experiencing, the open spaces for the wild animals native to this area are disappearing.

Here are some Bible verses about love from the NIV – (love is one of the most used words in the Bible – 551 times in the NIV version):

  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” 
  • Mark 12:30-31: “
    Mark 12:30-31 says, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. 
  • 1 Chronicles 16:34: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” 
  • Deuteronomy 7:9: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments” 
  • Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” 

Jesus taught that the two greatest commandments were to:

  • “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” 
  • “Love your neighbor as yourself” 

4 Dec 2024 Five Things

by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, drawing, In the News, Spirituality and Religion, Television, Veteran Affairs

Share five things you’re good at.

Good evening to you. Hope you had a good day. Today was another day of inversion – a frosty fog everywhere. Link and I still got out for our walk. I was going to stay in but decided we needed to go. I’m feeling better thankfully so no excuses!

I was watching a live streamer, Daniel Cruz, who was trying to take us to see the Rockefeller Square tree lighting tonight but it was taking too long and his phone battery was low. He wasn’t going to wait til 10 pm in freezing cold temperatures! So late for such a thing – especially families with kids! I’ll tune into the NBC live later to see it.

I really enjoy live streamers. I get to live vicariously through them ! Just today I was on the Celebration cruise ship, visited Ireland and New York. Tik tok is a good platform for live streamers and people like me that are interested in seeing other parts of the world without actually going there myself!

So five things that I’m good at: 1)writing 2)singing 3)dancing 4)baking 5)taking pictures not necessarily in that order but those things came to mind! Something else that I have done that I wasn’t too bad at was drawing and painting t-shirts by hand.

One of my favorites – don’t know what happened to it!

As we near Christmas its a good time to reflect on Jesus’s origin story:

Matthew 1:18-25New International Version

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d](which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

3 Dec 2024 Change

by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, drawing, Health, Mental Health, photography, space, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What is one thing you would change about yourself?

Hello to you. Hope this finds you well. Today has been uneventful. I am feeling a little better after catching another cold. There was talk about something happening today with regard to space people but of course nothing happened! I am thinking something is brewing with the increase in sightings. I am thinking it has to do with the increasing unrest going on in the world – Sabre rattling about using nukes. If I was a space person watching all of what’s going on I think I would want to intervene too!

My answer to today’s prompt is if I could change one thing about myself I would not be Bipolar. Having this diagnosis has really limited me in so many ways. I have lost two marriages and many friendships and relationships with family. I lost a career because of this condition. The only good thing to ever come of being Bipolar was the wellspring of energy and creativity during the times I was manic. I would hardly sleep and my creative abilities seemed endless. I could draw, paint, sing, write, take awesome photos, dance, tap into the spiritual realms – all of this with little to no effort. Having the mania under control with the medication I’m on – Depakote- I can’t do much of anything anymore. This blog is my only outlet! In addition to Bipolar I have the Mal de barque syndrome where I have trouble with balance. I’m convinced it was triggered by my being tased by police when I was having a manic episode two years ago. It just won’t go away! So I guess there are actually two things I wish I could change!

Since I cannot change what I am, I have to push through with it all. I have to force myself to move forward even if I don’t want to. I pray a lot and ask for healing. I am trying to say yes more often when I would usually say no. One of the side affects of Depakote is weight gain and not feeling full after eating. With the balance challenges it’s hard to exercise to get rid of calories but I force myself to get a walk in with Link each day. I’m trying to lower my calorie count too. I am trying to say no more often to eating sweets which is my favorite type of food! Not all of what I am can be blamed on being Bipolar! I wish I could get back to size 16 jeans again. Obesity runs in my Dads side of the family so my genetics are kind of stacked against me along with my diagnosis.

Some scripture about change:

  • Ecclesiastes 3:1-2“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot”. 
  • Isaiah 43:18-19“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”. 
  • Psalm 30:5“Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”. 
  • Romans 8:28“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”. 
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”. 
  • Hebrews 13:8“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”. 
  • Malachi 3:6“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed”. 
  • James 1:17“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”. 
  • Ephesians 4:22-24“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”. 

1 Dec 2024 Meant To Be

by saymber, posted in history, Home, Leading Life by Example, space, Spirituality and Religion, Writing and blogging

Hello to you from frosty Idaho. I had to scrape frost off of my windows before church this morning! Something I have been following lately is the increased reporting of lights in the sky to include right over the Capitol building on Thanksgiving! Interesting times we are living in.

Lights captured over the Capitol building

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14137567/Mysterious-lights-Capitol-Hill-sparks-fears-UFOs-Washington-DC.html

Today’s message at Grace Bible Church Middleton was from Christmas Story Meant To Be – Garden of Sorrow. Pastor Jayson was in Genesis Chapter 2 and 3:

Genesis 2:8-9New International Version

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:1-4New International Version

The Fall

3 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’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.

Out of these scripture we are told that God gives us great gifts but what God gave as a gift became a gift of sorrow by what Adam and Eve did by eating fruit from the one tree God told them not to eat from. The garden became a garden of sorrow instead of paradise. We are reminded in this season of gifts that it’s not entirely about the manger – Jesus’s birth – but ultimately the cross he would die on for that first sin and all sin that has followed.

This message makes me reflect on my walk of faith and all the ways I have fallen short – eaten fruit from the forbidden tree, broken commandments. I am so grateful to be knowing Jesus more and more. I have so much yet to learn! It’s important to know it’s never too late to know him.

30 Nov 2024 Thanksgiving and Favorite Things To Wear

by saymber, posted in Food, Home, Spirituality and Religion, Writing and blogging

What are your two favorite things to wear?

Hello to you this Saturday afternoon. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my cousin Heidi’s house along with her husband, my Aunt and Uncle and my cousins son, wife and two children. There was so much food I didn’t have room for dessert! We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, pistachio pudding salad, raspberry pudding salad and rolls! Whew! What a feast! It was so nice to be with everyone! I am so blessed to be here and be able to share the holidays with such loving family.

What a wonderful meal and company!

I caught a slight cold that showed up yesterday and is still hanging around today. Hope I wasn’t contagious to the family! No Black Friday shopping for me. From what Tik Tok was showing there weren’t a lot of shoppers. Apparently there just weren’t that great of sales to make it worth it. I’ve never been a fan of crowds anyways!

Todays prompt is hard to answer as the only things I wear on a favorites basis is jewelry. I have a ring engraved with the phrase “Not all who wander are lost” and my Metatrons Cube pendant I wear each day. I used to have a tie dye t-shirt I loved to wear a lot but I wore it out! When I couldn’t wear it in public I used it as a night shirt until it fell apart. Wearing stuff until it falls apart is something I do a lot!

  • Psalm 100:4-5“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations”. 

24 Nov 2024 Thankful In Pain

by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Health, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Good day to you. I hope this finds you well. Today was the last of the I AmThankful series at church today. We got to listen to the inspiring story of John and Kristin who relocated to Middleton from California last year. In the midst of their transition they were thrown a major curve ball. One day Kristin was in severe pain and it turned out she had gall stones. A large one ended up rupturing and caused septics! When all was said and done she ended up losing part of her arms and both hands. She was wearing a prosthetic arm/hand on her right side. She said it was her faith that got her through it! A very inspiring story! It goes to prove something that I’ve said and has proven true in my life that if you think you have troubles just talk to someone else!

Messages from Pastor Jayson included these key points: 1) Contentment is a choice 2) Life rarely goes the way we think it should 3) A Faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted and The things we focus on will determine our contentment.

Something that comes to mind for me and my experience is God always has a plan even in our suffering and discontent. It’s in his timing not ours! Every trial I have faced has been for my greater good in the end. If I was still living in Texas I would be so much worse off! I don’t think I would have found the church family I have or the relationship with Jesus I have now.

Philippians 4:13New International Version

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

20 Nov 2024 Positive Thinking in Uncertain Times

by saymber, posted in history, Home, human rights, In the News, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you. Hope this finds you well. As I write to you I find myself feeling grateful to be living in the United States. In so many regions of this world there is uncertainty. When I see news reports coming from the Middle East and the Ukraine and Russia I feel that gratitude even more. I feel bad for these and other parts of the world not being safe, struggling to get food, drinking water and shelter. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to be a parent in these war torn regions! Every day there are bombs, gun fire and rubbled buildings- bodies of children wrapped in sheets.

I’m trying not to succumb to fear and paranoia of it all but it’s hard. These are uncertain times. Times to take out our gratitude lists and seek the light amongst the growing shadows. I am including all world leaders in my prayers and positive thoughts despite being very disappointed in decisions they have made and are continue to make. There doesn’t seem to be a guard rail for President Biden with his policies regarding the Ukraine.

I am hoping things will get better in January. Until then I hope things don’t escalate to a point of no return! I will try and remain positive. Now is the time to lean heavily on faith in Christ. With everything happening and happening so fast we must lean on our faith!

Matthew 24:6-8King James Version

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

19 Nov 2024 Adversity

by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Health, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you from the chilly yet sunny state of Idaho. I hope this finds you well – if not I hope you know you are loved and people you have never met are praying for you. I pray for the world and those who think they have no one who cares for them each day. With the latest headlines we are facing great uncertainty and as brothers and sisters need to keep eachother in prayer even more than ever!

This morning I went over to my Aunts house and road with her to meet with some ladies from the last Bible study we did. We tried to meet and have coffee at The Harvesters but it was practically standing room only! So we had a change of plans and went to the Bible study leaders home instead. We each talked about our stories – especially health. Each of us has experienced and continue to experience adversity. What we have in common is leaning on our faith in Jesus to face those trials. I have only recently started to refer to God, my Lord, my savior as Jesus Christ. Growing up Roman Catholic we weren’t really taught that. I only ever believed in God. Since moving here to Idaho I have turned my life, my soul, specifically to Jesus. What’s ironic about that is every single manic episode I’ve had has in some way involved Jesus! It’s refreshing to not be manic and have Jesus in my life.

Adversity strikes us all in one way or another. It is how and to whom we turn to that makes all the difference as we face those trials. In my not so distant past I often tried to face and figure how to navigate troubles on my own. Having a relationship with Christ has helped relieve the burden of life’s adversities and I don’t feel so alone. When I go to church on Sundays I feel so welcome and part of a family apart from my biological family.

Romans 5:3-5New International Version

3 Not only so, but we[a] also glory in our sufferings,because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

29 Oct 2024 Kid at Heart

by saymber, posted in Leading Life by Example, Spirituality and Religion, Writing and blogging

What does it mean to be a kid at heart?

Hi there! How are you doing this fine fall day? Good I hope!

Today’s prompt makes me think of myself when I was younger. Children used to think when I would go to an adult function that I was there to see them! I gravitated towards children and pets as I didn’t feel like I fit in with the adults! Adults like to talk about things I am not always interested in. Kids and pets are less cerebral – more play and laughter – imagination. They are less complicated and like to look at things more simply and honestly. Adults are focused on adulting – politics, world issues, body problems, work and religion. I have strong opinions on these issues which are often contrary to public opinion!

Being a kid at heart is something I miss about myself as I grow older. I have kind of become what I used to avoid at public gatherings. I’ve had some things happen to me in the past few years that have roughened me around the edges and taken away my innocence. Thankfully there is hope in all this as I have surrendered to Jesus and he said we must be as children to enter his kingdom.

Matthew 19:14 New International Version (NIV)Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”