Patricia's Principles for Living

We sit laughingly around the huge mound of presents under the tree in the big living at my parent’s home on High Street in Philadelphia. The doorbell rings. In bounds the ones for whom we’re waiting, my sister and her husband and children from Virginia. . Here we all are, all of us together. My own husband, sons and I have flown in from the West Coast to spend the holidays on the East Coast. Tons of presents together with squiggly grandchildren and aunts, uncles and grandparents make for a memorable scene. For me it’s a golden moment in time. All is right in the world. Christmas tree lights twinkle. Someone takes up the task to start calling names. Will we ever get through all of these presents? As the presents are picked up for distribution they seem to uncover another dozen hiding underneath. Well, there are eight brothers and sisters who have produced 12 grandchildren at this point. Such delight from squealing boys and girls and agreeing oohs and aahs from parents aunts and uncles

Something is Out of Order in Christ Geneaology. Wasn't the line of Christ supposed to pass through the oldest sons? Shouldn't Christ's ancestors be as pure as the driven snow? This just doesn't seem right. Why is Jacob here? He was not the oldest He schemed to get the birthright Why is Judah here? He is not the oldest. His brother oldest brother Reuben, sinned against his father, but he is not even the second one. He is the 4th child. his father was a polygamist too. Why is Pharez here? He was technically not the oldest He had a sketchy beginning, a mother who pretended to be a prostitute to get pregnant in that family line. Why is Boaz here? Boaz's mother was a citizen of Jericho a former counter espionage agent and a former prostitute. He doesn’t have the right background What’s Solomon doing here? He was not the oldest nor was he the child of David's first wife. His father,David, murdered his mother’s, Bathsheba's, first husband Urija

The rules of good nutrition states we must have fruit every day in order for us to keep our bodies in good workking order. If this is done in the natural how much more should we doing this in the spiritual? Daily we should be getting our Fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such as there is no law." I wonder what happen if we all got out fruit on a regular basis? Your feedback is welcomed.

On that seventh day when the Israelites shouted, and those big old stout Jericho walls started to shake and reel back and forth. Inside Rahab's house they felt it too. Rahab's house reverberated with the sound of falling boulders. They could peek out and see the neighbors' houses on the wall going down. They could hear the crashing all around. Inside Rahab's house her younger brother said, "Rahab are you sure that we can make it."Her sister shouted, "Rahab even if we survive this are you sure that they wont kill us." Through the din Rahab shouted, "Yes, I have a promise." "Is the cord still there?" she asked her father who was closest to the window. "Yes," he shouted over the roar of crumbling walls. "Yes it's there," cried her frightened mother. One terrified uncle was trying to get to the door to get out. "I dont feel safe." he said as the house shook violently. "I can see Baleema's hou

9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" I Kings 17:9 Well look, the "Great" Elijah in the cave. A prophet of God is hiding from Jezebel. Elijah wanted to die. Doesn't the New Testament tell us that Elijah was like the rest of us? Sometimes when people have done great things or have been used greatly by God I tend to think of them as superhuman. But, here's the proof that Elijah was like me. There have been times when I've wanted to be in cave or craved a quick end to my existence because the future just looked so bleak. I prayed to God just take me, and end this for me because no matter how hard I pray nothing seems to be going right. Two times in this passage God asked Elijah what he was doing in that cave. When God has a job for us to do God doesnt expect us to go hide out in a cave. However God was and is merciful. God told Elijah to go back the way that he came. Go bac

I attended a very nice luncheon at a friend’s house. However while I was sitting at the table I started to feel really sick. Not telling anyone of my condition I soon left and drove home. Dragging myself out of my car I made my way up the stairs. I tried to eat a little something but I was too tired to even chew. I made myself go to the couch in front of the television. I tried to watch Seattle’s Torchlight parade. I sat there in a near catatonic state not looking at the parade. When I woke up several hours later I staggered to my bedroom. I was still nauseous. I stumbled into the bathroom holding on to the walls and lay down hugging the cold toilet crying out to God to help me. I didn’t know whether to call 911 or not. I just felt if I could vomit I might feel better. My stomach churned. I longed to vomit and be rid of what ever was ailing me. However I could find no relief. The nauseous feeling just made me weak and tired. You see I had eaten, for me, the forbidden food. Several year

God has put great people in plain view but often we don’t see them for who they are because they are children. We walk pass these children every day. For example in the book of Exodus in the Bible Moses was put right in Pharaoh’s house. Pharaoh was walking pass Moses every day, but he did not know who he was seeing. This was just a little boy, a little toddler named Moses hanging onto Pharaoh's daughter's skirt. He had no idea he was housing and feeding and educating the biggest threat to the economy and future of Egypt. I imagine Pharaoh greeted him from time to time and asked him how he was doing. He asked about his studies. He bowed his head before Pharaoh as taught by his tutors. Moses was courteous, and spoke fluently in the Egyptian tongue. Moses knew the great works of Egyptian art and literature. He could read the hieroglyphics and knew their meaning. No one thought anything about it. Moses dressed in the Egyptian clothes. His eyes were lined with the black that de

In the morning when I’m going out I try to look a little better. I don’t know if it really helps but it makes me feel better. I have a very quick routine of less than three minutes. I put on a face cream, a little foundational makeup powder and eyebrow pencil. I use my specially designed makeup brush and apply my product. One day I was cleaning my bathroom wiping off everything. I looked at the light fixture and it also needed cleaning. I dampened a cloth and started to clean the glass fixture and also the light bulb. I saw something. The glass was coated with the same color as my makeup foundation. As I had been putting on makeup day after day small particles that I could not see were floating around resting on the light and the edges of pictures in the bathroom. Now it did not happen all of a sudden. It was gradual thing. There was the evidence on the cloth This morning as I read the following verse it all came together. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cle

As I considered my life the following verse offers a great deal of comfort. But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV As we get older our physical beauty fades and strength diminishes. This is an expected part of the aging process as we make our journey to our long home. I am so glad that God is looking at the heart and not at my physical appearance. All the Botox treatments face lifts and liposuction cannot hide or improve an evil heart. Everyday I want my heart spirit to look more like Christ. Dear God search my heart and see if there is any wicked way in me and renew in me a right spirit.

Could those who mocked Christ as He passed by on the way to Calvary be any of those who ate the Bread He miraculously multiplied? I wonder Could any of them be mockers of those whom Jesus healed? I wonder Could those who yelled, Crucify him have stood on Zion s Hill while He fed the crowd that day? I wonder. Could those who jeered him from below the cross have been laid by the road so that Christ could touch them, or they Him as He passed by? I wonder Could the woman with the issue of blood have been a mocker? I wonder What about Jarius and his daughter? I wonder Could the demoniac who was released from thousands of demons be a mocker? I wonder Was the Samaritan woman a mocker? I wonder Or the Syrophonecian woman who wanted relief for her child be a mocker? I wonder. Could any of these been mockers? I wonder Could I who have received the grace of God, a precious gift become a mocker? I wonder..

One of the benefits that is provided by my employer is health insurance. Once a year we are allowed to change our insurance provider from among several different agencies. We are given a list that compares what each company provides, costs and co-pays. Mostly every plan has a co-pay. Hospitalizations can costs thousands of dollars. Some plans pay 100% of the costs and others only 80%. As I considered my employer's benefit plan I was reminded of the benefits God gives me. In God’s plan there are no co-pays. Jesus paid it all. God’s plan is not just a health plan it is a life plan. God forgives our sins, heals our diseases, gives a wardrobe of righteousness and provides our attorney’s fees through the sacrifice of Jesus. Now if only I could get my benefits plan to cover every aspect of my life too. Psalm 103:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with l

Ugh, oh my, this is too heavy for me as I tried to lift the bag laden with cans and other groceries. Spying one of my sons I asked him to come and take the bag into the house. He came and effortlessly lifted the bag as if it weighed a mere feather. What was too heavy for me was as nothing to him. In reflecting on this I thought isn’t this like Christ. The hard things in life He takes and carries for us if we ask Him to do so. To the Creator of heaven and earth our cares are light weight. We struggle and rant and rave not because Christ will not carry our burdens, but because we just don’t call to Him for help.

When I was a little girl our family lived in a house right on the trolley line with the tracks running directly in front of the door. There was an tall black sturdy iron pole that stood in front of our house. The house shook when the trolleys turned into the trolley barn which stood adjacent to our property line. We were so close that I could almost jump from the trolley to our front steps. I learned that I could tell when a trolley was coming by putting my ear to the pole. There would be a sound sort of like listening to a conch sea shell, indescribable but a perceptible change. Later I learned to look at the wires overhead. Before I could see the trolley I would see the wires start to sway a little bit. Through many observations I learned it was fact. I'd look up the street and several blocks away the trolley would soon appear. The green and yellow trolleys would turn the corner coming to its daily resting place. Now I'm an adult. I've learned that the word of God has so

Something was wrong with the washing machine. The power cord was plugged into the outlet and was fine. My appliance repairman husband took the machine apart to see what was wrong with it. As he was examining a part I inquired as to what was wrong. He said that the gears on the control knob had been stripped. I asked him how that could have occurred. He said that it happened because the knob had been repeatedly turned the wrong way. Explaining that the gears were not designed to be run counterclockwise he showed me the worn part.. He explained that over a period of time of incorrect usage it wore the gears down so that they were smooth and had lost their effectiveness. In the wee hours of the morning his explanation came back to me. It dawned on me this is what we do when we disobey God’s principles, His laws. For a long time it is easy to go against the way God designed us to live. Just like that washing machine it works fine for a while. Nevertheless we are stripping the effect

Sometimes I've felt that I've only had very little to give so why give it at all. This morning the thought came to me "All you you have is all you need to give." This thought came as I was reading the following passage in II Kings 4: 42 A man came from Baal Salishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain. "Give it to the people to eat, "Elisha said. 43 " How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat," For this is what the Lord says:" They will eat and have some left over" 44Then he set it before them and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. This man only had twenty loaves to give to the prophet. The principle at work is: All that we have is all that we need to give. When we obey, God gives the increase. There are many examples in the Bible of this principle in action: Like the widow at

This morning’s paper brought another devastating story of murder and mayhem. The shock value of this story that merited second page coverage was that the perpetrator of this crime was a mother. I stared at the picture of this mother who murdered her teenage son and daughter. This was not a family in poverty or beset by money troubles. This was an intact family that lived in a gated well to do neighborhood. The father had a very good job that allowed his wife to stay home and care for their children. I do not pretend to be a psychologist or psychiatrist so I don’t know what deep seated issues that disturbed this woman. When I read this story I thought isn’t it ironic they lived in a gated community. People usually live in these types of communities for security reasons. I mused that the security fences could not keep this woman’s mind safe from inward demons. The very safety her family craved was taken away by the person who the children should have been able to trust with their lives.