Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
the lamp of the wicked, are sin!
A fortune made by a lying tongue
is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.
Proverbs 21:4,6 (NIV)
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After contemplating all day what I should post on this very present Friday, when evening rolled around and I gave it my last thought, I forgot to post. Some days are like that. Too many things going on in the head. Thoughts and more thoughts. So, I apologize even though it's no big deal. Please enjoy this Memorial Day weekend and remember those who gave it all that you and I can celebrate and realize the wonderful and tentative freedoms of this One Nation Under God, the United States of America.
God Bless America. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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(Originally posted on March 15, 2017)
There is no good in evil. The parallel opposites run infinitely into oblivion. On a daily basis humanity is asked to choose one behavior over another time and time again. It's not always an easy choice to make. We'd like to think it is. But it is not.
The human kind are incessantly lured into evil. In school we tend to think some of it is "cool", "hip", "whatever". Hopefully in adulthood we've learned some of the hard consequences of entertaining and/or practicing some evil. Because evil isn't always wrapped up in psychopathic personas with horrendous weaponry and vulgarity. Often it's portrayed beautifully, richly, elegantly, and softly beckons us to participate in its poisonous brew. If it was always so obvious, only the deviants would be captivated by it.
Yes, if you asked ten people to define evil, you might get ten different opinions and be startled by the responses. Evil has been modified over the passing number of years, eroding the starkness of its definition. The moral compass of acceptable conduct has stretched to an ugly length and tucked many into adopting its deceit.
The saddest part of the acceleration of evil is when Christians slide into it without reservation, accumulating habits and behaviors they initially rejected because of their resistance toward evil. Somehow, they've been beguiled by the master of evil into thinking much of what they formerly embraced and respected has become less attractive, too rigid, and not as much fun as the regression into who they once were before Jesus rescued them.
It was once called "back-sliding" but now it's somehow covered by a human definition of God's endless love. Rather than the knowledge of what is encompassed in the declaration of God is love, they ignore the overall character of God's inclusion of discipline and judgment, enabling evil through pious exaltations of false grace and liberty while criticizing other believers who recognize the danger of "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil."
There is no good in evil. Dressed up or dressed down, evil will destroy us if we welcome it into our lives in any of its various forms. We play with it, we pay for it. Our God is merciful and full of grace, but He doesn't tolerate His saints embracing sin. Ultimately there is hell to pay. That Blood is too precious to be disregarded and forgotten in order to practice an evil of choice.
The decision to choose good or evil only matters when God's good is at the base of that choice. He is it. He defines it. His definition is the only one that counts.
There is no good in evil.
Father, help me to resist the various ways evil taunts me. Please continue to help me be the one you want me to be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Beautiful.
Your creation is beyond marvelous. We're in awe of your beauty. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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My favorite version of this amazing tune.
Father, only you can give this kind of beauty. Thank you for it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Prolific author Nancy Mehl delivers Book 3 in the Defenders of Justice series. Blind Betrayal features U. S. Marshal Casey Sloane and her partner Doug from the St. Louis office who meet up with an associate Casey previously worked with on a case in Washington DC (E. J. Queen) to transport a journalist who's called as a witness to testify before a grand jury in DC against a Saudi terrorist after an outspoken environmentalist goes missing.
An attack at the Marshal's office in St. Louis means there's far more danger in transporting this witness than first thought. Casey's and Doug's boss contacts them to warn them, but then their further communication is muted and somehow the safe place their boss directed them to becomes anything but a haven.
Blind Betrayal presents a good story, but I didn't care for Casey because of her constant need to prove herself over and over again. Her small stature and being a female seemed to only bother her and her snarky attitude toward E. J. for something he knew nothing about came off (to me) as immature and borderline childish. I understand that in some jobs and in some environments women are constantly having to re-prove themselves, but there's no evidence this was the case with Casey's coworkers so for her to repeatedly take offense when the natural inclination of a man – at least a good man – is to protect a female, it shouldn't be taken as an insult, especially when real help is needed.
There was a scene in a warehouse which seemed to drag a bit, but some readers will appreciate the tension there and the unpredictable actions of the antagonist which could've been more "visible" rather than just being described.
The faith elements are sprinkled throughout the story.
Father, thank you for Nancy's stories and please continue to provide exactly what she needs to write more. Bless her in your abundance. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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The wicked man craves evil;
his neighbor gets no mercy from him.
Proverbs 21:10 (NIV)
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Five peculiar injuries:
My right pinkie finger: a horse kicked me and broke it at the knuckle sending the upper half of the finger pointing to the right at a 90 degree angle. It required surgery, and I remember the doctor cussing as he was trying to put all the pieces back together around the pin in it. Therapy didn't go well. The finger doesn't bend at the knuckle.
My middle toe on my right foot: Walking over to the saddling paddock with a filly, she startled and planted her foot on mine literally scraping off the tip of my toe through my shoe. I could feel it rattling around in my sock in my shoe after the race. We had to go to the ER and have the bone snipped and then the skin stitched over the top of my toe. The toenail is reduced in size but partially there.
My nose. In a pick-up softball game near Golden Gate Fields I got hit by a line drive to my nose. Needless to say, it broke my nose. I did this pirouette thing before I fell to my hands and knees as the blood gushed. The guy who hit it felt terrible. (I was the pitcher.)
My right calf. Something in the back of my calf (on the inside of my leg) snapped as I was running to the winner's circle after a race we won. After it snapped, it slithered down the inside back of my leg. I was lame and had to hobble with my weight on my toes for three weeks. Didn't go to the doctor for that one.
Lots of foot hurts from horses stepping on my feet over the years.They hurt! I bet X-rays of most racetrackers' feet would show remodeling from multiple breaks.
Father, you've protected me for so many years from so many things. Thank you is never enough. You've been so gracious to me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Prelude
She could make smoking a cigarette look elegant, seductive . . . and dangerous even. Chic. Cool. And somehow romantic. Of course she could make anything look good. She appeared taller than she was, standing flat-footed at maybe 5’ 7”. It was probably the shoes. Often those very high skinny heels somehow lifting that lithe, narrow frame. I saw her in the summertime out there against the building with her cigarette, her skin nearly bronze and not one bit unnaturally enhanced. Standing there in the rain of late winter under the generous overhang, well, leaning really, against the coarse white brick of the building, it was almost the color of ivory. So fair. I wondered how she didn’t burn in the summer sun. On the one occasion when I saw her smile in the last year, her teeth were a dazzling white—right out of a toothpaste commercial or a mailer ad from a dentist for the new Zoom 2 whitening method. No smoker’s stain on those pearly whites.
Anyway . . .
That’s basically how the whole thing began. By casually, unintentionally, watching her smoke . . .
Father, you provide it all. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Fabulous beauty and a perfect place for a summer read.
From another view.
Father, words don't do justice to the beauty you've created in this world. In such contrast to the sin. Thank you for it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
