New grand-babies means additional car seats and I believe in being prepared, so I used some of my Christmas bonus bucks to order the first one last week. It’s stored away in the guest closet and I have the bruises to prove it. When I hoisted the box chest-high to clear the footboard and stepped through the gap, my trailing leg found the corner of the bed rather abruptly. “Umph! That’s gonna bruise for sure.” I thought. Though not literally, I saw it coming. As soon as my weight shifted forward with the box, I knew I would not clear the bed frame. It hasn’t bruised yet but there’s a knot and it’s only a matter of time.
I started Prolia shots in the fall for my declining bone destiny. The radiation therapy I received for my colorectal cancer affected the density of the bones in my lumbar spine and hips. My doctor urged me to continue as many load-bearing activities as I feel I can- lifting cases of water bottles, carrying my groceries, carrying grandchildren- things that will keep me from losing muscle strength as well over time is also apparently good for my bones. She doesn’t know that I’m the least likely to actually ask for help until I get myself in a pickle. She also never heard my grandpa tell me when my own children were small, “Never stop lifting those babies. If you can lift the calf, you can lift the cow!”
I have gotten myself into a few scrapes where my estimation of my strength and ability was outmatched by a piece of furniture. Not one to concede defeat, I usually take a breather, regroup, and find a way to finish the task. I’m sure I’ll pay for it one day in aches and pains, but our own limitations are incredibly difficult to see, and even more difficult to own. One day I will surely have to start acting my age and I pray I do so gracefully.
“Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord.”
Proverbs 20:12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.20.12.NLT
“Every good and perfect gift is from God.”
James 1:17 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/jas.1.17.NIRV
“So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course.
Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven.
The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.
There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle.
He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.”
James 1:16-18 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/jas.1.16-18.MSG
In fact, Jesus said, “Whoever sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” (John 12:45 ESV)
“The one who looks at Me is seeing the One who sent Me.” (John 12:45 NIV)
“No one ever before gazed upon the full splendor of God except his uniquely beloved Son, who is cherished by the Father and held close to his heart.
Now that he has come to us, he has unfolded the full explanation of who God truly is!”
John 1:18 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jhn.1.18.TPT
“Jesus explained, “I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life.
No one comes next to the Father except through union with me.
To know me is to know my Father too.
And from now on you will realize that you have seen him and experienced him.””
John 14:6-7 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jhn.14.6-7.TPT
““If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn’t take it seriously, I don’t reject him. I didn’t come to reject the world; I came to save the world.
But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I’m saying, is willfully choosing rejection.
The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word.
I’m not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it.
And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life.
That’s all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you.””
John 12:47-50 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/jhn.12.47-50.MSG
Remember playing the game of telephone as a child? I whisper a message to you and you pass it in turn to the person next to you and so on until the last person has heard? The message invariably got skewed in the passing. Watching a group of preteens play this game in a classroom once made me know for certain the confusion was deliberate. I could see it in the eyes of several little boys that it would be funny to make the girls have to say something embarrassing. Inserting myself into the line, I did a little damage control and the outcome, though still comical, wasn’t exactly what the boys had hoped.
“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””
John 8:31-32 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.8.31-32.NLT
Many a teacher, pastor, writer, speaker has contrived to put a spin on the Gospel story to appeal to an ever-emerging audience, but there is still only One Way to God, One Truth-God’s Truth, and One who is Life and the Light of man, and His name is Jesus. He is the Living Word, who was with God in the beginning and He is the final Word. (John 1:1, 12:47-50)
““I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the ending,” says the Lord God, “who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.””
Revelation 1:8 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rev.1.8.TPT
“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses.
Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”
2 Timothy 2:2 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ti.2.2.NLT
“Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.
Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.
Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap.
For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”
2 Timothy 2:25-26 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ti.2.25-26.NLT
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.
He will not rebuke you for asking.”
James 1:5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.1.5.NLT
““For this is how God loved the world:
He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
And the judgment is based on this fact:
God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.””
John 3:16-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.3.16-21.NLT
“No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.
Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.”
1 John 4:12-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.4.12-15.NLT
“During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.
John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.
As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven?
Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!””
Acts of the Apostles 1:3-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.1.11.NLT
Jesus came once for salvation. He returns in judgment.
“Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all Lords and King of all kings.
And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.””
Revelation 17:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rev.17.14.NLT
“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there.
Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.
His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns.
A name was written on him that no one understood except himself.
He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.”
Revelation 19:11-13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rev.19.11-13.NLT
“I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne.
And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.”
Revelation 20:12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rev.20.12.NLT
“When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people.
Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die.
They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs.
If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives.
But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity.
They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.’
“Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel.
Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me.”
Ezekiel 33:3-7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/ezk.33.3-7.NLT
“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:18-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.28.18-20.NLT
“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”
Matthew 24:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.24.14.NLT
“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think.
No, he is being patient for your sake.
He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief.
Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.”
2 Peter 3:9-12 NLT
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