"LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE" AND YOUR GIFTS!

For years I rode my bike through a neighborhood with a dirt road.  It is a route getting from one busy two-lane road having a side dirt road, to another one with a sidewalk.

 

Near one end, as I cut through the neighborhood, on the corner was a lot with dense trees and bushes, and overgrown landscaping.  There was a house in there, it seemed.  A short cement driveway led to a two-car garage that was always closed.  There were a couple of lounge chairs and trash containers in the front.   Somehow, it was a charming scene. All around were beautiful homes in a well-established area.

 

One time riding past, I noticed a small homemade “For Sale by Owner” sign…it waited there for months.  Then, last week as I rode by loud noises were coming from that direction.  As I neared, the sign was gone.  A crew of about six men and a woman were working intensely, trucks and shredders were being used.

 

Yesterday, as I rode by again, I gasped out loud.  The crew was still there, but the house showed! Behind all the overgrown trees and weeds was a stunningly beautiful two, or three-story house.  I'm not sure now, the sight was so amazing!

 

I began thinking, riding on, “That beautiful house might be you. You are amazing.”  The overgrown, untended yard is not your destiny.  Fears, insecurity, doubt about your gifts need to be cleared. Competitiveness, comparing yourself with anyone is harmful. Make your move:  get around a crew of capable, honest and caring “Tenders” who believe in you and are ready to assist you in clearing away the brush.  I’m preaching to myself.  Get into the company of people who believe in Jesus and live by the Bible.  Here is permission: “The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you.  He will be with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.  Fear not, nor be dismayed.”

Jesus said, “Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? And not to be set on a candlestick?”  Mar_4:21  

THE POWER OF GOD

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6 

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans10:9 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:  I Corinthians 15:3,4

THE LORD WILL HEAR

 At the times my heart is overwhelmed with fear or doubt I go to this Psalm. My gratitude is to the LORD who authored this amazing prayer, but I also remember that my father and mother read the Bible together with us, their eight children every day. I don't remember when I memorized it, but I encourage you to take this as a prayer of your own.

Psalm 4. 

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. 

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. 

But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. 

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD. 

There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. 

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4 in the KJV.

“THEY SAY” THAT THE FLOOD IN NOAH’S DAY WASN’T GLOBAL

We all hear this! But there is an important fact doubters of the truth of the Bible avoid: God hates violence! Just read the Bible for yourself and it will change you. Here are excerpts of the story of the Global Flood from the King James Version:

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect (“entire literally, figuratively, morally”) in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:9-13 

God to Noah:

“And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.” Genesis 6:19-21

“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.” Genesis 7:19,20

And God remembered Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives and not only landed them on dry ground, but sent the rainbow as a promise to them and to us: “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” . Genesis 9:13 

“And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” Genesis 9:11

Sure, many uncontrolled floods have deluged the earth, through history. But God’s rainbow in the clouds still reassures us…if we recognize it for what it is!

FOOD BY FAITH...

 

FOOD BY FAITH

Instruction for Health and Nutrition is all through the Bible.

There is good news. All our food can be good, healthful, nourishing, energizing. It is there, coming from the earth, the trees, the vine, coming from rain from heaven. But of late, if we have been hurting ourselves because we are taking the “wide road” with devitalized food, why just quick and easy? Why processed food, chemical additives, devitalized, bleached and degermed grains and a listed “ingredient” called “natural flavor”? (So called “natural flavor” is a lie). It is making us unhealthy, sick; making us less than we want to be and can be. There is another way.

This “other way” has been a profound subject for me, too high, too broad, and too deep. At the same time, the worthiness and fascination of it calls me. It has call from childhood…for a lifetime. It is a “Way” which is hopeful because the Bible is correct in every respect. Spiritual food and physical food have similarities: one is for the spirit and soul, the other for the body. God promised over and over to bring His people into a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is an example of abundant spiritual and physical nourishment. When Scripture highlights food it can apply to our whole person: “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ…;” (I Thessalonians 5:23). One type of food (spiritual) teaches about the other type (physical), but also the other way around. 

Instruction for Health and Nutrition is all through the Bible.

There is good news. All our food can be good, healthful, nourishing, energizing. It is there, coming from the earth, the trees, the vine, coming from rain from heaven. But of late, if we have been hurting ourselves because we are taking the “wide road” with devitalized food, why just quick and easy? Why processed food, chemical additives, devitalized, bleached and degermed grains and a listed “ingredient” called “natural flavor”? (So called “natural flavor” is a lie). It is making us unhealthy, sick; making us less than we want to be and can be. There is another way.

This “other way” has been a profound subject for me, too high, too broad, and too deep. At the same time, the worthiness and fascination of it calls me. It has call from childhood…for a lifetime. It is a “Way” which is hopeful because the Bible is correct in every respect. Spiritual food and physical food have similarities: one is for the spirit and soul, the other for the body. God promised over and over to bring His people into a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is an example of abundant spiritual and physical nourishment. When Scripture highlights food it can apply to our whole person: “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ…;” (I Thessalonians 5:23). One type of food (spiritual) teaches about the other type (physical), but also the other way around.

A dependable God given way to eat and live!

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND YOUR GIFTS

 For years I rode my bike through a neighborhood with a dirt road.  It is a route getting from one busy two-lane road having a side dirt road, to another one with a sidewalk.

 Near one end, as I cut through the neighborhood, on the corner was a lot with dense trees and bushes, and overgrown landscaping.  There was a house in there, it seemed.  A short cement driveway led to a two-car garage that was always closed.  There were a couple of lounge chairs and trash containers in the front.   Somehow, it was a charming scene. All around were beautiful homes in a well-established area.

 

One time riding past, I noticed a small homemade “For Sale by Owner” sign…it waited there for months.  Then, last week as I rode by loud noises were coming from that direction.  As I neared, the sign was gone.  A crew of about six men and a woman were working intensely, trucks and shredders were being used.

 

Yesterday, as I rode by again, I gasped out loud.  The crew was still there, but the house showed! Behind all the overgrown trees and weeds was a stunningly beautiful two, or three-story house.  I'm not sure now, the sight was so amazing!

 

I began thinking, riding on, “That beautiful house might be you. You are amazing.”  The overgrown, untended yard is not your destiny.  Fears, insecurity, doubt about your gifts need to be cleared. Competitiveness, comparing yourself with anyone is harmful. Make your move:  get around a crew of capable, honest and caring “Tenders” who believe in you and are ready to assist you in clearing away the brush.  I’m preaching to myself.  Get into the company of people who believe in Jesus and live by the Bible.  Here is permission: “The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you.  He will be with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.  Fear not, nor be dismayed.”

Jesus said, “Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? And not to be set on a candlestick?”  Mar_4:21. 

 Reposted Nov., 2025

"And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD." I Chronicles 28:20.

THE FOOD FOR YOUR FUTURE

 The Creator’s design for us is for our wellbeing. It is what the Bible is about. And he created within the natural world natural nutrition. "Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently to me, and eat that which is good (best), and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isaiah 55:2. Health. This “Fatness” is abundance.

 When His people would not choose well, they hurt themselves. "He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied you." (Psalm 81:16). "O Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in Me is your help." (Hosea 13:9) "He makes peace in your borders and fills you with the finest of the wheat." (Psalm 147:14)

His people went astray, and he invited them back to Him using their health and beauty as an incentive: "And you were adorned with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. You ate fine flour and honey and oil; and you were exceedingly beautiful." Ezekiel 16:13.

If a loaf of bread says “Whole grain, Multi grain” it may also include bleached, white degermed flour for a longer shelf life. If the manufacturer has leeway to mark things deceptively, we should know! This Link clarifies the differences: https://www.naturespath.com/en-us/blog/difference-whole-grain-whole-wheat/.

Food eaten as naturally as possible enhances health: fruit, vegetables, nuts, natural olive oil, grassfed beef, milk, cheese, and natural honey. Exodus 3:17. Protein is emphasized also, eaten at the feasts from sacrifices described in the Old Testament.

Faith in our Creator. Could this be a key toward better health? My thinking process turned to logic: our Creator has given us food grown from the earth, whole grains, fruit, and herbs. Food mined (salt) from deep in the earth, protein from grazing animals, fish (with find and scales) from the sea and lakes.

Now, as my husband, Eric and I read the Old and New Testaments every day, we notice food used as illustrations. It is literal and figurative: Jesus is “the bread of life.” Since the beginning, for thousands of years food grown, protein raised naturally, fish in lakes and oceans was provided from creation.

"He made him ride on the high places of the earth, so that he might eat the increase of the fields. And He made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, butter from cows, and milk from sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the sons of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat. And you drank the blood of the grape." Deuteronomy 32:13,14.  God and the Prophet Jeremiah interacting: “That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, so be it, O LORD.” Jeremiah 11:5.

The Bible includes important food as a way of teaching spiritual truth "And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land." Isaiah 7:22. Look for “milk and honey” in Scripture.

This is not spiritual teaching alone. It is a profound message from God to those who accept the literal and figurative message to us.

Take seriously the food the Bible continues to mention. This morphs into a deep understanding of our loving Creator’s care. "And Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, ‘That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’’" Luke 4:4. Literally and figuratively.

GOOD FOOD: IT'S SIMPLE

“There is an epidemic of empty food in our culture,” I told our daughter in law. 

If it is whole food, if it is not processed, bioengineered, or grain bleached with chemicals and additives, your body will be well nourished.

The reason to study food found in Scripture (mentioned from Genesis to Revelation) is because it is simple and plain. Too many people may steer you to a complicated agenda. 

Every time I see food mentioned in Scripture, I add it to our grocery list.

“Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the fat of kidneys of wheat; And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.” Deuteronomy 32:14.

If it is whole food, grown from the soil, natural, it will be good for you. Create your food with good cooking ingredients: whole, natural butter, whole, organic olive oil, organic honey, salt, pepper, and unprocessed herbs. Avoid chemicals and additives, such as "Natural Flavor" which is not natural, stay away from bleached, degermed, processed wheat and all devitalized, processed grains. Processed food, devalued from its natural nutrition, such as highly processed seed oils, is harming you!

Whole, organic, grassfed milk, whole yogurt, and cheese. Nowhere in Scripture is there a hint of creating fat free anything. The natural whole dairy is important for your health. 

"Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful..." Ezekiel 16:13 KJV.

AN EPIDEMIC OF VALUELESS FOOD

 It is all there! Forethought from God, our Creator to us.

 "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Genesis 2:9.

Whole food. When you create your meals with food God created to benefit your body from the beginning, your whole body is well fed. 

My daughter in law asked me recently, "Is whole food anti-inflammatory?" “Yes.” My reply was an immediate heartfelt, even emotional answer to her query. The food created for humanity to eat…and it is highlighted in the Bible.

You are wise, Roxy. There is an epidemic of nutritionally damaged food in our culture. Processed, devitalized, devalued, bioengineered. It is making us sick and fat.

When you decide to treat your body as a “temple of the Holy Spirit” and very carefully eat healthy food, you will be satisfied with taste, how you feel and your health projection!

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." I Corinthians 6:19,20.

THE BREAD QUESTION

 

IT IS SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL

FOR HEART AND HEALTH

Growing up, my father (who did not eat white flour, white sugar, or margarine) knew there was something wrong with the food culture in America. To prove his view to his children, he would sit on a loaf of white bread; it went “flat as a pancake.” My mother stopped buying white bread when we were young.

She didn’t stop there. It is my mother’s legacy. She began making whole wheat bread. Before finding the latest news on health was convenient, she knew instinctively: whole grains made sense.

Since my father and mother began the emphasis on eating healthy food, it was natural for their eight children to know there is a difference between processed and whole food.

It is not just for my husband and me now. Our son and daughter in law asked me to show them how to make bread, then again brought it up, “When we come over are we going to make bread?” Below is a simple recipe for making whole wheat bread.

The naturally harvested wheat includes the bran, endosperm and germ. An unwitting consumer is denied the benefit of whole grain when it is taken apart and sold separately.

If the endosperm is processed (bleached white), then made into bread, it is minus the powerful nutrition found in the whole grain. The bread made from it becomes the airy white loaf most often sold in grocery stores at home and the world over. The white flour is eye appealing and has a much longer shelf life. The bran and germ are gone from the grain and sold separately.

This “allenpuff” which my father called it, could be one major reason for health problems. When a lifetime of devitalized bread with no heart strengthening power from protein, and minerals is our regular diet we suffer. Often the food industry separates the most nutritious parts and sells them separately.

Bread bleached and degermed are not health building. Like fast food available everywhere, it is a trap. Easy, quick, cheap, habit forming, addictive. Fad diets confuse and frustrate us and work against hope for good health. When a better Way is right in front of you, take it! “Who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.” Psalm 103:5

The combination of “fine flour, oil and honey” are included in Scripture all the way through. Until in the New Testament we see Jesus as the perfect picture of healthful bread. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:35 

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:51.

MAKE HEALTH A HOBBY

It can be relevant at any time: dinner at a restaurant, potluck at Church, visiting a new, well-advertised Fast-Food establishment. And then you see the tell-tale signs of empty calories, deep fried crunchy, thick crust, crisp chicken, bleached rolls, or bread.

It is all around, everywhere, in every restaurant. By this time, (after years of quandary and struggle) what comes immediately to my mind:” Pass it up.” Plan. Eat for your body: it thrives on whole, healthy food. "Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Psalm 103:5.

A deep, deep diversion from healthy food is imbedded into our culture. Hidden in the salad dressings are seed oils, highly processed that clog arteries. White sugar and corn syrup. Natural flavor: a lie. Chemicals that enhance flavor. Addictive additives that are purposeful.

America, come to your senses. Healthy food is simple: whole food, whole grains, vegetables, fruit grown from fertile soil and made edible with knowledge and wisdom.

A surprise waited for me when I began to research food mentioned in the Bible. It was a stunning revelation that when food is mentioned, it often gives instruction about your spirit and soul in a figurative sense right within the context. The assumption when food is part of a passage in Scripture, is that this is good for your body. It is healthy. "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Isaiah 55:2. (Old English).

  

TIME TO PRAY, AMERICA

 

“This Is a Christian Nation” In 1892, the United States Supreme Court ruled, "This is a Christian Nation." The ruling, issued by Associate Justice David Brewer, has never been legally disputed or overturned."

I BELIEVE that a government "Of the People, By the People and For the People" is a special privilege given to us by our Creator as Citizens of the United States of America. That precludes that knowledgeable and informed members of our Nation participate to protect and preserve it.   The Constitution, and Bill of Rights are uncommon wisdom and gifts to us.

This privileged land is responsible to cherish and hold to our Christian heritage. Like the History in the Bible, and the Nation of Israel, The United States of America is built upon the principles in Scripture. The history in the Bible (the true and dependable ancient history...beginning in Genesis 1 - 11) tells the story of a Nation blessed by Almighty God, Creator of the Heavens and Earth. 

Like them, we are responsible to hold to His truth and mercy.

They forsook God...the Bible tells that sad story. It's time to pray, America! Godlessness leads to hatred, violence and destruction. America is in trouble. But there is hope: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Our only hope: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:16-18. 

BEGINNING 2026 WITH A PLAN

As we began the New Year, 2026 this morning, My husband, Eric and I read the most hope filled Book anyone can produce. We read the Bible together ... our plan continues every morning before breakfast. Sometimes we read an Old English, King James Version, sometimes other translations we trust.

"He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Psalm 23:3.

"And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8.

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: (seize, possess) but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13,14. 

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever." Psalm 23:6.

We believe this: "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11.

If you also believe, the LORD through the gift of the Holy Spirit within you will do just as He has promised. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9.

It is why God the Father sent His Son, Jesus to take on the form of those He created in His own image: you and me. (Romans 3:23) "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God..." Jesus died for us!

Since I was born into a family of Bible readers, at five years of age I began taking it seriously. The Bible is more powerful and pungent in my heart, mind, and soul now than ever. 

Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.