Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Advent Musings 2015 Week 1
Easing back into the blogsphere slowly as things settle into their place little by little, I find myself on the threshold of another Advent season...and thinking about the people who received a promise anticipating the coming Messiah.
I think it's kinda wonderful that the first person who received the promise was Eve, after her devastating failure and loss, even if it was a kind of backhanded promise given in the form of judgement against the serpent:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. - Gen. 3:15, NIV 84
This first promise, that a specific offspring of the woman ('he' not 'they') would deal a death blow to the serpent who deceived her, was to Eve and her descendants... really to the entire human race. The battle with the enemy will not go on forever, and, while he can and does wound, the ultimate victory in that battle will be his final defeat.
Folks, this is hope. In all the pronouncement of judgement and consequences, God proclaims hope. There won't always be a battle. The enemy will be defeated. Oh, it will come at a terrible price...which is only hinted at here as a heel that will be struck...but God himself had already determined to pay that price.
In Advent, we anticipate the coming of the one who will deal that death-blow to the enemy's head.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Now to get back to normal...
Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi.
How many years ago was it that we realized we had a serious water problem in the sun room? And began the long..and sometimes misguided...road to fix and restore? Seven?
We're down to the last bit of electrical work and then it's done.
DONE!
I'm so excited.
And, we didn't plan or budget to revamp the den at this point, either, but, well, we knocked a wall down and should have realized that that would mean we would have to redo the den...or live with weird half done for another couple of years.
That bullet is hard to bite, but we bit it.
So...I promised pictures...
Both start upper left, with what the room looked like when we bought the house, and then ends bottom right, with what it looks like now....
First the sunroom...
Then the den...
But we've got to reshuffle furniture around the whole house now, and, well, that's going to be a bit of a challenge.
But we have a deadline.
I want things straightened out for Christmas decorating.
Which may be a bit late this year...lol.
All we have to do is decide what's going to go where.
How many years ago was it that we realized we had a serious water problem in the sun room? And began the long..and sometimes misguided...road to fix and restore? Seven?
We're down to the last bit of electrical work and then it's done.
DONE!
I'm so excited.
And, we didn't plan or budget to revamp the den at this point, either, but, well, we knocked a wall down and should have realized that that would mean we would have to redo the den...or live with weird half done for another couple of years.
That bullet is hard to bite, but we bit it.
So...I promised pictures...
Both start upper left, with what the room looked like when we bought the house, and then ends bottom right, with what it looks like now....
First the sunroom...
Then the den...
But we've got to reshuffle furniture around the whole house now, and, well, that's going to be a bit of a challenge.
But we have a deadline.
I want things straightened out for Christmas decorating.
Which may be a bit late this year...lol.
All we have to do is decide what's going to go where.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
SSMT Verse 20: Col. 4:5 - 6
Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Yes, this one's two days late. And I wasn't going to blog about this week's verse...I didn't write up verse 19, being up to the ears in a mess...but the verse that presented itself for memorization this week struck such a chord that I just had to say a little about it....
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer every one. -- Colossians 4:5-6, NIV84
Now, I'm not going to repeat what is being stated vehemently by many folks.
And there is vehement declaration being made by two different...dare I say opposing...factions.
And, to be sure, both sides have merit in their positions.
Which means the right way is going to lie somewhere in the tension between the two extremes.
Be wise.
Make the most of every opportunity.
Present grace...seasoned with salt, to be sure, but grace nonetheless...in every answer.
With wisdom.
And that ain't gonna come by figuring anything out. That will only come from the Spirit of Wisdom.
Which is also the Spirit of Grace.
Grace with wisdom is not easy. It is not obvious. It is not...natural to the human spirit.
And I'm going to be pondering this in my own spirit, because I have to admit understanding it is beyond me. I don't know that I have the capability to walk it out. I probably don't.
But, with God...all things are possible.
Even speaking and acting on grace with wisdom.
Yes, this one's two days late. And I wasn't going to blog about this week's verse...I didn't write up verse 19, being up to the ears in a mess...but the verse that presented itself for memorization this week struck such a chord that I just had to say a little about it....
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer every one. -- Colossians 4:5-6, NIV84
Now, I'm not going to repeat what is being stated vehemently by many folks.
And there is vehement declaration being made by two different...dare I say opposing...factions.
And, to be sure, both sides have merit in their positions.
Which means the right way is going to lie somewhere in the tension between the two extremes.
Be wise.
Make the most of every opportunity.
Present grace...seasoned with salt, to be sure, but grace nonetheless...in every answer.
With wisdom.
And that ain't gonna come by figuring anything out. That will only come from the Spirit of Wisdom.
Which is also the Spirit of Grace.
Grace with wisdom is not easy. It is not obvious. It is not...natural to the human spirit.
And I'm going to be pondering this in my own spirit, because I have to admit understanding it is beyond me. I don't know that I have the capability to walk it out. I probably don't.
But, with God...all things are possible.
Even speaking and acting on grace with wisdom.
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