Jealosy vs Jealousy: Is There More Than One Kind? Part 1

The bible speaks of jealousy as being a sin. So if it is a sin, why does God say in Exodus 20:5 that he is a jealous God? Is he the only one that can ever be jealous?

Well, for one thing, there is more to Exodus 20:5 than that. But not just that verse but also verse 4 gives the questions about God's jealousy in proper context. so far as he is concerned.  So let's look at those verses to get to its meaning.

Exodus 20- 4-5You shall not make for yourselves a carved image or anything that is above heaven or that is beneath the earth or the water below. You shall not bow down to worship them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God."

We are not to have carved images of 'anything' that we bow down to.  And we need to knock those gods down because he is the only one to worship and when we do not worship him alone, he is jealous. Our worship belongs to him. and him alone.

The difference between his jealousy and our own is that when we are jealous, it can be wrong if it is for something that someone else has that we want. For example a new car.  A new home. A raise at work that we wanted and did not get. And those kinds of things can become our gods so that if we do get them, we can worship them. We might continually keep showing our new car off to people without giving credit to the Lord and without acknowledging that it was due to an answered prayer request. that we received it etc. The same goes for anything that we do get can be worshipped by us like a god. Or even the tv can be a god if all we do is watch it. Anything in our lives that we see that has become our god really needs to be stopped. and we need to ask God for forgiveness for.  Not that God doesn't want us to have them. He does want to bless us. It is just that as being a jealous God, he does not want us to worship them before him.

When we want something that someone else has and does not belong to us, is sinful jealousy. We are not to covet or be consumed with desire as google defines it, of anything that someone else has.

But does that mean that we can be jealous and not sin? And is it sinful if our spouse is flirting or is having an affair with someone else and we find it out? Yes, we can. And being jealous if we find out that our spouse is flirting or having an affair with someone else, is not sinful. It is a very natural emotion. It is the same kind of jealousy that God has when we worship other gods instead of him.



However, in that being said, God does not want us taking vengeance on anyone else for anything. Only he allows himself to do vengeance.  In other words, he has destroyed people, and nations. when his people have sinned.  And his vengeance is justified because he is a holy God and one of holy judgment.


But if we catch our spouses doing something that is compromising God's word, our natural jealousy can become one of unholy judgment on our part and therefore is a sin. And instead of that, we need to handle the situation in other ways.


Perhaps second to the bible, is someone like the author of this quote that I found this morning from someone who is one that can truly understand the jealousy and revenge of the human race and can speak about it but also knows forgiveness as well.

" Getting even has never healed a single person."
  eva Mozes Kor, Holocaust Savior

You can see more of her story at: The Forgiveness Project | Eva Kor




Jealousy. It can be very destructive. It can ruin people. Marriages. Ourselves if we are not careful to go beyond the kind that God has. There are other ways to handle it. Even as painful as those things can be. But if we want to stay in God's will, we must never let it take us over.

Up tomorrow: Jealousy. How can I overcome it as a Christian? Part 2

January 23,2019 Promise: My God will supply all of your needs, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Thanks for your visit today Friends! I am so thankful to God that you came. I pray for you a blessed day and that all your needs will be met in Christ Jesus today and every day! 

Sign of Jonah

The sign of Jonah. What was it?

The Scribes and Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be. Even though they had just witnessed him healing a demon-possessed man who was not only blind but mute. And so they said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

I wonder what kind of sign they wanted to see. After all, they should have been amazed that the demon possed man had been healed. Did they just want to create doubt, in people? Or throw him off track? Maybe they were trying to make him look like a fool in front of other people?

Whatever it might have been, Jesus was not falling for their tricks. He said, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights so shall the Son of Man be for three days and nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Ninevah will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah and now something greater than Jonah is here."Mathew 12:38-41 And that was the parallel between the sign of Jonah and the sign of his own Ressurection.

Isn't it something? The people of Nineveh had repented at the preaching of Jonah. They had to have faith to believe. Whereas the Scribes and Pharisees who were the "elite" if you will, witnessed the miracles of Jesus and refused to believe he was the Messiah. And he was right there with them.

Even today there are Christians who want to be a part of a church that is all about signs. The signs are more important to some of them then even preaching the gospel. There will be signs and wonders in the latter days before Jesus returns and that will be wonderful. But when we put them ahead of salvation and Christ's death on the cross to the point of following them instead, him, that is sad. Jesus did miracles. He healed people. He turned water into wine. But in the end, when a group of people wanted to see more in order to 'believe' that was where he refused and called them wicked. We do not need proof of God. We need only to believe. That is what God calls us to do. Believe.


January 22, 2019 Promise: I cling to you, your strong right-hand holds me securely. Psalm 638

Thanks for coming by today Friends. I apologize for posting this later than usual. I pray you are having a blessed day. Take care.

A Big Fish Tale or A Sign of Jonah (part two)

Jonah's story did not stop after he was thrown into the sea by the crew of the ship that he was taking to Tarshish. Sometime after landing wherever he did underwater, a large fish came along and gobbled him up. What an ordeal that must have been for Jonah. And he remained there, three days before he cried out to God with the following prayer.

"In my distress, I called to the Lord. and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead,  I called for help and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas. and the currents swirled around me. All your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, 'I have been banished from your site, yet again I will look toward your holy temple.' The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me, seaweed wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains, I sank down, the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away I remembered you Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those that cling to worthless idols, turn away from God's love from them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good, I will say 'Salvation comes from the Lord.'"

And with that, the fish vomited Jonah out onto dry land. Jonah 2:1-10

What a ghastly sight Jonah must have been. Living in the fish's belly for 3 days and then suddenly getting vomited out of it.

God had then reminded Jonah of his mission. And this time, Jonah knew better than to run from God again. If God would have a fish swallow him, and if he had had to be in the fish's belly for those days-I can imagine what he must have thought. The next time he might not be so lucky.

So off he went to Ninevah. But it was a large city and it took three days to go through it. Jonah called out to the people, "Only 40 days and Ninevah will be overthrown." The Ninevites believed him and a fast was proclaimed everyone, no matter who they were put on sackcloth. (Putting on sackcloth meant that people had repentant hearts and were turning away from their sin.)

The king had said to even cover their animals in sackcloth and they were to call on God in urgent prayer that he would have compassion on them and not bring on the destruction that he had promised. And because they had listened to and heeded God's warning that Jonah had been preaching about, God did not do as he had threatened.

Ok, so what does all this really have to do with 'The sign of Jonah" that Jesus made mention of in the New Testament?  Come back tomorrow if you want to find out.


January 21, 2019 Promise: I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:3

Thanks for spending time here this morning Friends. Have a blessed new week. 

A Big Fish Tale, or The Sign of Jonah (Part One)

Those of us that have been to Sunday School as children have heard the story of Jonah and the whale. But did you know that because of that story in the Old Testament, Jesus referenced it in the New Testament as being a sign?

To understand more about it, let's go back to the beginning where Jonah disobeyed God and what the end result of it turned out to be.

The prophet Jonah had been told by God to go to Ninevah and warn the people there that because of their wickedness, he was going to destroy them. Jonah was not all too pleased about having to obey God, so he ran from it instead.

Maybe God would have let it go this time.? Was it really all that important to go?

To be sure as it turned out, it was that important. God was not going to let it go. His mercy for this ungodly city who wasted their time praying to pagan gods was too great. A whole city was in jeopardy of being destroyed. God did not want this and he was going to give them a chance to repent through the preaching of this man Jonah, who was not all that happy. And so instead, he headed for Tarshish by way of boat. But God was not going to let him off the proverbial "hook" that easily. In fact not at all. He was going to see it through to completion. Even if it meant Jonah was going to  go through some nasty situations.
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And so God sent a big storm over the sea and the crew of the ship was very much afraid. They all began to pray to their own gods to calm the storm, but their prayers went unanswered. Jonah had been asleep down below the deck of the boat and so they went to him and asked him who he was and why was he running away. He told them he was a Hebrew and that he worshiped God. They were terrified at this revelation. They asked him what they should do to make the sea calm down.

Jonah by then had come to the conclusion that God was not going to let him out of what he called him to do. He told them it was his fault that this storm had come onto them and so he said to throw him overboard. and the sea would calm down. They didn't want to do that and they tried rowing but the storm became even greater. Finally, they cried out to God to not punish them for killing an innocent man. Then they did as Jonah had instructed and threw him into the sea, and it grew calm again just as Jonah had said it would.

After they saw that the storm had stopped, they feared God, and made sacrifices and vows to him.

What was Jonah thinking in the meantime? That he would drown? That God would save him? Did he know ahead that he was about to become fish food? Had God revealed to Jonah what was going to happen? Was he afraid? The bible doesn't say. But that big fish did come along and it did swallow him.

Come back tomorrow for part 2

January 20, 2019 Promise: He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings, you will take refuge, Psalm 91:4

Today's sources: Jonah 1 NIV - Jonah Flees From the LORD - The word of - Bible Gateway    and       What can we learn from the life of Jonah?

Thanks for coming today Friends. Under God's wings in not only the safest but the very best place to be. Be blessed this Lord's Day!

I Missed It: A"Pile of Miseries"

Back in the days that we were raising our four kids, life was a busy time as you can imagine. Both of us came from different backgrounds, my husband and I. I from a Christian home, he from a non-Christian home albeit they were good people. As I have looked back on it, I had been too young to get married and start a family of our own. That being said,  I wouldn't trade any of my kids. I love all four of them. However, I wish that I had been mature enough to handle all the things that I didn't exactly sign up for, but got them anyway, once I said, "I do."

Raising the kids during those years had not been easy. I hadn't had proper education, especially as a Christian, to know how to do it right. but then in those early years, I wasn't living like a Christian either. For about thirteen years it was that way while during that time my husband had a serious drinking problem. At that point though, I got serious with the Lord and he made a promise to me, that he was going to take away the drinking problem. True to his word, two years passed, and that is exactly what he did. And grateful as I was and still am for that, I didn't really become too much better at being a Christian mother to my kids.

I didn't know how. Because it wasn't modeled for me much when I was growing up. And I will add that, I didn't even know I should be. After fifteen years of living and just struggling to get from one day to the next, non-Christian patterns were set.

However, we did get into church and tried to teach our kids about God the best we could. But today and looking back, it hadn't been enough. Because at home, we weren't really modeling what a Christian home should be as much as we should have. And sadly, the way things were still effects my kids today.

Out of the four, just two of them acknowledge God and his work in their lives. Another one who as growing up had wanted to get into some kind of ministry has seemingly turned away from not only God but us as well. And the fourth doesn't have much to do with us either although he will talk to us at times.

I know where we went wrong, believe me. I can't speak for my husband, but I know myself what was wrong.

I missed it.

I had married too young. and had my kids too young. I had no experience in how to be a good Christian mom. There were better ways that I could have learned. But I didn't really get that until so many years later when it was really too late. Oh, I had done the best I could, at the time. It just wasn't enough.

Maybe in reading this, you think I am feeling sorry for myself today. I assure you that feeling sorry for myself is not the point of today's blog.

The point of today's blog is that while I had missed it all those years the kids were growing up, I now understand that I have been redeemed and God does not hold any of that against me because I have asked for his forgiveness. And I know he has a plan for my life and for the lives of my kids.

They are all adults and I have only a small amount of influence in the lives of the two, and none with the other two. But I know my God is a faithful God and I pray for him to restore what satan has stolen from us in our ignorance during those years.


Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given to you. Mathew 6:33

If there is anything I seek after the most, it is that all four of my kids will love and serve God with all their hearts first and second that our whole family would be restored. The wounds that have been opened up by the neglect of our own sin, would be healed. But I can't do it alone. God must do it and I believe that he will. In his own time. In his own way.

I am not the only one in life that faces these kinds of things and I sure do know that. Many others do and a lot of them face even worse things then I have. Maybe some of you as readers of this blog have your own "pile of miseries" that you face each and every day. I empathize. But I also know that you can have the same hope that I do. Through Jesus Christ, if you will let him.

Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoicest,; my flesh rests in hope. Psalm 16:9.

What a promise! All is not lost. God understands my weaknesses from back in the day. And he has forgiven those years when I did not know better. I know now that I just need to give him the time and space to work things out because that is his doing, not mine. I have already messed up. I do not want to do any more damage by racing ahead of him even if I want things done now. Instead, I get to rest in him and know that "all things work together for the good of those that love God." Romans 8:28.

I encourage you. If you have messed things up in your life, turn to the One that can restore them. Because he will. In his time. I know this because well....he has done it in other areas of my life. Yes, he is still working on this one. But it will happen. And that is my hope in God.

January 19,2019 Promise: The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 9:9

Thanks for dropping by today Friends. Have a blessed day!

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God's Promises or Mine?

Have you ever said "I will....." whatever it might be and then didn't do it? Have you made promises that you haven't kept for one reason or another?

We all have. I know people that that is all they do. Promise. But never keep what they do promise. Why do they do that and then don't follow through?

Their intentions may be good. But then again, maybe not so much. Maybe they just say that to get someone off their back. Though there are times we can't keep our promises.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Life is full of the unexpected. Whether the unexpected are good things, or when they are...not so good.  Because Satan is always in there to try and trip us, sometimes things just go wrong. stop working and need to be replaced.

Sometimes, we can be going down some path in the walk of life, and stumble over a stone that Satan has thrown in the way. A very small stone can make us stumble. It can make us get off the path completely and sometimes we don't know how to get back on that path.

Walking through this life can be like walking down a dark street with a flashlight. But a flashlight can be undependable. The bulb can break if we drop it. Or the batteries can give out and need to be replaced. If that happens while we are out walking in the dark, it can be scary when we can't see where we are going.

People who are blind know that feeling of absolute darkness. They are in it all the time. Surrounded by it. What have they got to depend on? No flashlight is going to help them. However, science has given them tools whereby they can get through life without their sight.

There is one person that we can count on. Every second of every day, of every hour, month and year. For all of someone's life to those that are committed to him.

God. Yes, God, always keeps his promises. Perhaps not in our time. Perhaps not when we demand it. But in his time, in his way, and sometimes when we least expect it.

Those without him are like a blind person that cannot see.  And we all are until we see the need for him. And it is at that point that God hands us his flashlight,-his word so that we have the tools we need to use to get through this life as he intended all along.

 Isaiah 119:105 says, "Thy word is a lamp until my feet and a light unto my path." And without it, we are going to stumble through life over the stones that cross our paths, not knowing what to do or how to stay on it.

Sometimes in life, even with God's word, we don't know, but God will always be with us, to guide us as long as we use his word and our faith to stay where we should be. That is why its there. As our flashlight into the darkness, leading us safely through with his light But as a flashlight that needs to be turned on in order to be used, so do we need to open God's word, learn it and hide it in our hearts so that it can guide us through our darkest times.


January 18.2019 Promise: I will not forge my promises because I am  a merciful G0d

Thanks for coming by Friends. Have a blessed day!

Hating This Life or Loving It? Which Is It?

Have you ever hated your life?  There are times that I have. Times when things were going a way that I did not want them to go and yet I had no control over changing them. Times when I found my self in situations that I let myself get into and felt there was no way out.

But did you know that Jesus tells us in John 12:25 Whoever loves his life will lose it. But whoever hates his life in this world, will keep it for eternal life.

What did Jesus mean by that?

 God created the world. He is the giver of life. He is the giver of all good things. All we have that is good in our life came from him.

From the moment a baby is birthed, it was a gift from God. That job we prayed for was a gift from God. The home we purchased was a blessing from him. As Christians, everything we have is from our Creator. Are we not to enjoy them? Are we not to love them?

Really? Are we to hate our lives?

No, I don't believe that is what Jesus meant at all. What he meant was that if our focus is on this life and not on our eternal life, then we will lose it because we aren't considering what is to come.

The fool says in his heart "There is no God."  They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. Psalm 14:1

Have you ever known someone personally that says that God doesn't exist? Maybe they have a reason for believing that. Maybe it is because they were abused as a kid or has had someone raped or murdered in their family. Maybe it is because of all the bad things that go on in the world. Why would a so-called loving God allow this if he indeed exists?

And so they take on the belief that since it does, he cannot be real.

I know someone personally that does not believe in God. He believes in himself. He is self-absorbed. All he can talk about when you are around him is himself. No one else's opinions or lives matter. If by chance you get on a subject about something else, he will quickly navigate the conversation back to himself.  He doesn't have very many friends and even his family doesn't like to be around him. And for good reason.

Sadly his focus is on himself and his own world. And not on where it should be which is his next lie when he leaves this earth.

Why did Jesus say it that way in John 12:25, that we must "hate" our lives here. I don't know. Maybe to get our attention and think about the seriousness of what he is saying.

 But I do know that God wants us to enjoy this life and what he has blessed us with. But he also wants to be in the very center of it so that we acknowledge him in everything we say and do. To love and serve him to the very best of our ability. He wants us to set our affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Colossians 3:2.  because let's face, the things on this earth will eventually pass away.  We will pass away. Where will we be then? We will be with Jesus in heaven or we will be in hell. One or the other. Believing that God does not exist does not make it so, and for those that do believe that, by then it will be too late. The choice is up to us.


January 17, 2019 Promise: Trust me in your times of trouble and I will rescue you and you will give me glory. Psalm 50.15

I am glad you came by today Friend. Stop back tomorrow. God bless!