On Mother’s Day

Devotional, Family Life, Spiritual Health

To Each and Every Dear Child:

Conception begins in the mind of GOD.  Conception begins when your creator, GOD of all that is, decides you will be created; when he conceives of the idea of you and He declares that you will be made in His image- meaning that you will bear the stamp of His authorship.  You are invaluable and you are without exception given as a blessing, and you are to be received as a blessing.

Whether or not you remain a blessing, is in part due to our response to the gift of you and in part according to your response to GOD.  These things are true.  It does not matter what alternative information is perpetuated by the world system, for GOD who owns all that is, has declared these things to be true and nothing can change the truth.

This world is corrupt; it is the furthest thing from the goodness of GOD.  This world is ultimately governed by evil; its ruler is Satan, The Prince of The Air and the one who ushered death into the world- and from him you may expect nothing but lies.  He will often mix truth together with lie- the better to deceive you!  He is opposed to your creator.  He has been a liar and a murderer from the beginning.  Do not listen to him, as he will lead you to your own destruction while nearly always behaving as though he is the best thing available to you and has only your best interest at heart.

But there is hope! To combat the bombardment of lies, you must remember who you are! You are a beautiful work of art- conceptualized, designed, and brought forth by GOD! As you journey here, in this fallen world, seek the one who created you; seek and you will find.  Become a child of His salvation.  HE is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.  The Bible tells me so, and I have found Him.  You can find Him, too.  Reach out to God through sincere prayer, confess your need for a savior to deliver you from your sin and your faith that Jesus Christ is God’s son sent to earth to do that very thing, believe and be saved (be justified), then He will begin to move you forward in obedience to His Word (begin to be sanctified).  GOD is the great lover of your soul, and the only one in whom you will discover your extraordinary meaning and purpose; your true and wonderful life (be glorified)!

Copyright   2022.    L.L. Shelton.

Watch The Water

Poetry

Yes, indeed,

Pay attention to the noble steed.

The one who comes prepared to do us harm,

Will ride into eternal fire unarmed.

He is nothing and his strength will fade,

As Our God in Christ his future’s made.

An utter end to him is sure to come,

His will now is finished and undone.

Copyright 2022.    L.L. Shelton.

Home Sweet Ideal

Poetry

Bright Light from above

Ore a land with a steeple,

Sweet home that I love;

Our colorful people

Are jewels in her crown.


No one to be crucified,

Much less upside down!

Her beauty most evident

To all who come ‘round,

In smiles of her loved ones.

 

A place we have found,

To live free of constraints

Kings impose with a frown;

To know God and His reign

Till His joy is renown!

Copyright 2022.    L.L. Shelton.

Tale of Tales

Poetry

(A Word For Uncle Charlie)

Oh, the Love that never sleeps,

But deep within Its bosom keeps,

Mysteries of ancient chorus,

Angels sang as His thoughts bore us,

Into tale of His Life Glorious!

 

Often marvel, oh my soul,

That as each tiny life unfolds,

One hour passed within the hold,

Of His affection sweetly told,

Gives aid in death and worth to whole!

 

Copyright  March  2022.     L. L. Shelton.

On Sheep and Goats

Bible Talk, Church Culture, Essay and Prose, Family Life, Personal


Some may know that we graduated from our suburban Itty Bitty Farm a few years ago to our rural homestead property, Little Bigger Farm, where we are able to produce more- still on a small scale.  We happily raise some of our own fruits, berries, and vegetables, as well as ducks, geese, American Guinea Hogs, a small flock of Dorper-Katahdin sheep and a few dairy goats.  My mother resides on the property with us and she cheerfully raises chickens.  We are learning and loving more everyday.

Being in this position has given me an excellent opportunity to study the behavior of both sheep and goats, to become aware of their commonalities and to note where they are truly unique.  I easily appreciate these wonderful animals and find each species a joy to raise, however there are stark differences.  I thought some of you, particularly those of you who are practicing Christians, would be interested in my careful and sincere observations; as Christ so often contrasted the goat with the sheep, and while never stating a dislike for goats, claimed the sheep as analogous to his own brothers and sisters.  These are my discoveries thus far:

Goats are excessively curious about the world.  Sheep are mildly inquisitive regarding the world.

Goats are usually flamboyant.  Sheep are generally reserved.

Goats are bold and quickly into everyone’s  business.  Sheep are wary and hesitant to involve themselves in the affairs of others.

Goats crave attention and prefer to be the center of it.  Sheep prefer to be inconspicuous.

Goats are particular and express a great variety of preference.  Sheep are easily satisfied.

Goats are flirtatious and often without appropriate boundaries.  Sheep are carefully friendly.

Goats are boisterous partiers.  Sheep are pleasant.

Goats will stand on their heads any time to make you laugh.  Sheep will wonder at your easy frivolity.

Goats are chatty and sometimes carry-on unduly.  Sheep are quiet until it is absolutely fitting to raise a  voice.

Goats will interrupt peasant or King and possibly trample him, no matter the solemnity of the occasion.  Sheep stay near and maintain a respectable stance.

Goats are affectionate and indulgent with their off-spring.  Sheep are tender toward their young, yet command their respect.

Goats appreciate it when their humans occasionally help out by kidsitting, and are completely trusting that they will have the best interest of their little ones at heart.  Sheep are pleased to take care of their own little ones ninety percent of the time, and when the situation demands it, care only to pass them off to another sheep.

Goats are quite happy to include any merry-maker and appear to be open to accepting all as family.  Sheep are kind to others and spend time with all, but remain truly interested in flocking and maintaining relationship with one another on a separate and primary level, which on occasion annoys the goats.

Goats are rowdy.  Sheep are gentle.

Goats are clever.  Sheep are thoughtful.

Goats are immediately attractive.  Sheep will grow on you.

As I continue to care for both goats and sheep, I hope to remain astute and to capture further information of a similar nature to impart to you, my dear readers.  Perhaps the next entry will offer a comparison of the two species.

Copyright 2022.     L. L.  Shelton.

A Good Year

Poetry, , , , ,

THIS IS FOR DONALD.

I’ve gathered the wise,

Professing The King,

I’ve dined with fools,

Who mock everything.

 

I’ve pondered the old,

And welcomed the new,

I’ve injured and mended,

Both lied and been true.

 

I’ve wandered some ground,

And danced a fair mile,

Directed my steps,

Yet prayed without guile.

 

Now I greet the future,

Wearing a smile,

Abandoned to Hope;

I am His all the while.

 

Copyright 2022.      L.L. Shelton.

Twinkle Twinkle

Poetry

(This is for Zeek.)

Earth is but a little star.

Do we wonder where You are?

Like a diamond in the sky;

You do twinkle up on high!

 

When the fiery sun is gone,

When it nothing shines upon,

You are still the One Great Light,

Shining shining, no more night!

 

How the traveler in the dark,

Thanks You for your splendid spark!

Faithfully, You twinkle so,

He can now see where to go.

 

In deep of my heart You keep,

Scripture living as I sleep,

For You never shut your eye,

Though night overcomes the sky.

 

May your Spirit ever spark,

Light a path inside the dark;

As stars fade and lose their light,

May I shine for Truth and Right!

 

Copyright 2021.     L.L. Shelton.

From Babel to CERN

Academics & The Arts, Current Events, Education, Humanity & Sin, Living the Word, Music, Politics, The Arts, , , , , ,

From tremendous tower to palatial particle accelerator, we are determined to find God through contrived methods and limited modalities.  We are sure that we can discover and sing the science without being in relationship  with its composer, unwilling to admit that we are only familiar with a derivative of authentic music.  Science is perfectly beautiful but should be studied in relationship with God as the magnificent and extravagant language of God.  Science should never be approached separately from a genuine relationship with God.  Science is knowledge, literally “to know.”  Knowledge apart from wisdom, divided from God, is missing an element essential to its core; something completely necessary to a proper application of knowledge.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, growing in paradise, was a tree of science, a tree of knowing.  This tree was a tree of many branches, of numerous disciplines, all capable of overwhelming our human sensitivities and bringing us to desolate places of ruin apart from the loving leadership of our Creator.  When we disobeyed GOD, made him sad, in other words-sinned- when we took and ate from this tree, we internalized the fruit, the knowing.  This knowing encompassed the good and the evil and implanted in us an awareness of the difference between the two, as we were endowed with a conscience; therefore we are accountable to God for our knowing.  It is our responsibility to acquire wisdom.

We must never give ourselves to the creation, for the creation- life- is absolutely vulnerable to all forms of death and dying apart from her Creator, with physical death at some point guaranteed; rather there is a way to give ourselves back to the Creator.  The way home is to be reunited with GOD, to become one with our Creator; we must accept the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, as the substitutionary atonement for the sin that produced our original separation from GOD, and maintains our perpetual separation from Him.  We must believe in Christ’s atonement,  through His sinless life, death, burial, and resurrection, accept it and bow our knee in acknowledgment of the Lordship of  Christ; GOD’s plan for our salvation from this world and our translation into the next, where we will  continue to enjoy our Creator and glorify Him forever.  Let the true music begin!

Copyright 2021.   L.L. Shelton.