A Day of Celebration

With many people, Jesus traveled into Jerusalem. The people were joyous awaiting a time of celebration. The festive atmosphere turned up a notch when Jesus asked one of his disciples to secure a donkey. They knew that  a person riding into a city on a donkey represented a King.

The imagery was planted into the people's thoughts, especially the kids. They ran and took down palm branches and began to wave them. Adults tried to stop them, Jesus stopped the stoppers.

Those adults would succeed in silencing Jesus in the week to come. But he was only silenced for 3 days.

Dirt we are and dirt we'll return.

Another word for dirt is "humus" - decomposed rich soil . The root word of "humus" is the latin word for human.

In Hebrew, the name, "Adam" comes from the Hebrew word "adamah," meaning earth and soil.
The word "humility," like "humas," like "human," comes from the word meaning earth and soil.

In Genesis 2:7 the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The phrase said to a kid, "you're dirty," takes on a different meaning.

Boston Survivors

Boston survivors: Where are they now?
Sioux Falls Argus Leader - USA Today section

Andrianne Haslet-Davis

Rebekah Gregory

"It was the best decision I had ever made for myself," she said. "I cut off something that was holding me back. I think of it like a bad boyfriend."

Lynn Crisci

Running the marathon (last year) "was about giving people hope and telling myself that I am capable and stronger than I realize."

Say What?

I'm amazed that a donkey would talk but what amazes me even more is that Balaam would have a conversation with the animal like it was a normal thing.
"Why have you beaten me three times," the donkey says.
"You made a fool of me. If I had a sword I would kill you right now."
"Am I not your own donkey? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"
"No."
Then Balaam's eyes were opened and he saw the angel that stood in the way causing the donkey to move to the side, stop and lay down.
Who made the fool of himself?
Picture the two guys that were riding with Balaam. They were watching this whole episode. Now that's funny.

The Sun is Always Shining

The Son is Always Shining
When I caught a hold of this teaching, my life was changed. I don't have to work within my own power to be a Christian.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I that live but Christ in me.
The clouds block the sun light. Some clouds are darker than others. When the clouds are removed the sun shines brightly.
There are clouds in my life. I just need to get rid of the clouds and allow Jesus to shine through me.

I Want

"I shall not want." What happens if the word want becomes the word WANT? And the word WANT becomes, "I HAVE TO HAVE IT!" And "I HAVE TO HAVE IT" becomes, "I'll do anything to get what I want."
Is want ever satisfied? Can it ever be quenched? Does want want more and more? Can the beast of want ever be tamed? When it turns into a monster can it be destroyed or will it continue to grow out of control? How much destruction will it leave in its path?
Happy are those whose heart's desire is for righteousness: for they will have their desire.

+Personal

Fiction Found in the Bible

One fiction story is told in the Bible. The protagonist is Nathan. The antagonist is David.

The story starts off with Nathan speaking. "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.” (Can’t you feel the love and see the kids playing with the lamb?) 

"Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."
(Your feeling probably have switched to hatred for the rich man.)

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!  He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." 

Here is where the plot changes. Nathan says to David, “YOU ARE THE MAN!”

What a revelation. Can you see the face of David dropping from anger to confusion to fear? David is busted. His secret affair and murder is revealed through a fiction story.