The Way Out

I have been going through a rough stretch and I have been crying out to God for help and to show me the way through it. I want to thank all of my blogger friends out there for many times being part of God’s answer to me. Your faithfulness is important. There is a Bible verse that has come to me in blogs four different times, in four different translations, this past couple of weeks. And, as I don’t believe in coincidence, I’m taking notice.  

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (Blogged by Beholding Him Ministries https://beholdinghimministries.org/2023/02/23/hope-for-today-a-way-out-3/ ) 

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT) — (Blogged by Ellie https://newcreationsministries.wordpress.com/2023/02/27/travel-along-the-right-path/ ) 

Believers, we must remember that NOTHING can come against us without the Lord’s knowledge of it before it ever happens. If the devil could destroy us at will, he would have wiped us out a long time ago because he hates man with a passion. But he does not have that power, so STAY IN THE FIGHT. God is faithful and will ALWAYS show you the way of escape. Keep this exhortation from God’s Word before you: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” —1 Corinthians 10V13 NKJV – John Bevere https://www.facebook.com/JohnBevere.page/  

And then, just in case I didn’t get the message: 

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV (blogged by Chris Hendrix https://devotionsbychris.com/2023/03/03/god-our-provider/ ) 

But what, exactly, is God saying to me? The word translated “temptation” in this verse is peirasmos (πειρασμός). It means “putting to proof” by adversity or temptation (Strong’s). “[A]dversity, affliction, trouble … sent by God and serving to test or prove one’s faith, holiness, character” (Thayer’s). 

Yes, adversity, affliction – testing – that has been my experience (and I hope I am passing the test, but fear I am not). But that is not the part that grabbed my attention. It was the “way out” or “way of escape” part. The word means “an exit (literally or figuratively) — end, way to escape.” That sounds good to me. I am ready for this trial to be over. I am looking for the exit. But I am not seeing one. 

Yet, God promises that he will provide a way out. And he is faithful – trustworthy, sure, true. Picking up a wonderful book I have been reading I began to see how God provides this exit. 

“… when the fallenness of the world closes in on us and makes us want to throw in the towel—there, right there, we have a Friend who knows exactly what such testing feels like, and sits close to us, embraces us. With us. Solidarity.” … “Not only can he alone pull us out of the hole of sin; he alone desires to climb in and bear our burdens. Jesus is able to sympathize. He ‘co-suffers’ with us.” — Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly 

Yes, I want to throw in the towel a lot. But there He is, Jesus, faithful and true, right there with me. Understanding. 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 

Jesus is always there with me through everything, sympathizing, co-suffering. But God promises something more. He promises to make a way so that I will be able to “stand up under” the temptation. That is, to bear up under and endure. To “bear from underneath.” Who does that? Who bears us up from underneath?  

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’ Deuteronomy 33:27 

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 

I think I see the Exit light now. The exit is Jesus. It is always, always has been, always will be, Jesus. It is not so much that he will take me out of my situation – though nothing is impossible for him! – it is that he is the Way, the Gate, the Door. The Good Shepherd who carries me safely through as the wolf pack surrounds. Like John I lean back upon Jesus’s chest, in the Everlasting Arms, though the hordes of Hell are descending. Jesus is the Door into this rest and peace. And I don’t even have to drag myself through it. He carries me.

He carries you. Rest in his arms.

Photo of Glass Exit Sign from Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported 

My True Identity

I am still looking for my true self   

the one that God made  

not the one molded by my circumstances   

not the one defined by my captors 

hardened by the hideousness of  

life-as-prison 

But where is she  

my true self? 

From the beginning rejected   

mocked and belittled into hiding  

hiding so deep  

so good at hiding  

behind camouflaged multi-locked doors   

even I can’t find her anymore 

wouldn’t know her if I did find her now  

wouldn’t recognize that stranger  

Only love can find her 

Only love can define her  

“To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.” — Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation 

… put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Colossians 3:10 

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) 

Wait. Do you think that maybe the reason why I can’t find that mangled, rejected/ejected self-person is because she no longer exists? Am I looking in the wrong place? 

Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on … Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT) 

Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father’s house. Psalm 45:10 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 

Love is my true identity. 

Photo copyright by Sheila Bair

He Comes

“The Lord cometh, even though we have to wait for him, he cometh even though we grow as old as Anne, as gray as Simon … but we must wait for him in his house.” — Kierkegaard, Journals, Dec. 31, 1838 

This quote by Søren Kierkegaard really captured my heart. We must wait for him in his house. The Anne and Simon to whom he refers is Simeon and Anna, the daughter of Penuel, written about in the second chapter of Luke. 

Simeon was the righteous man who met Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus in the Temple when they came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses. Luke writes of Simeon: 

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts … Luke 2:25-27 

The second person Kierkegaard refers to is the prophetess Anna, who was also in the Temple that day and every day: 

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 

Simeon and Anna were waiting for the Messiah to come. They believed the scriptures about Him and they were looking for Him. They had been waiting all their lives. Perhaps they were thinking of this prophecy of Haggai: 

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations [the Messiah] will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:6-7 

They knew He was coming and they were waiting in the Temple to welcome him. Today we are the temple, both individually and joined together with other believers to become the true church. 

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6:19 

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22 

The physical Temple in Jesus’ day, and before, was the place where the Shekinah glory of God dwelt above the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies. We are that Temple now, but only if we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, only if God lives in us by his Spirit. Think of that! Dwelling there in the temple with God, never leaving, always in the Presence. I believe that if we are always in His house, waiting, we will hear the shout and the trumpet call. We will see him when he comes, and we will be there to meet him. 

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes … Psalm 96:12-13 

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” Hebrews 10:36-37 

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20 

” … but we must wait for him in his house.” 

Image, Bright Sunrise, free download from Stockvault 

Ever-Present (Psalm 46)

God is my refuge, my strength 

He is my ever-present help in trouble 

He is the Ever-Present one 

I am the holy place where He dwells 

where the Most High dwells 

God is within me, I will not fall 

God will help me 

The Lord Almighty is with me 

Ever-Present 

here 

with  

me 

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:20 

Photo by Jack Bair

Kind and Good

The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. Psalm 145:17 (ESV) 

This verse in Psalm 145 caught my attention as it brings righteousness and kindness together. The word translated “kind” is chasid or hasid (חָסִיד ). As an adjective it means kind, pious, godly, holy, merciful. As a noun it means a godly person. The Brown-Driver-Briggs commentary notes that it means both “because kindness, as prominent in the godly, comes to imply other attributes, and to be a designation of the godly character, piety.”  

So, in this Hebrew word, kindness implies godliness. Interestingly, the corresponding Greek word also combines the two attributes. 

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 

The Greek word translated “kind” is xrēstós (an adjective, derived from xráomai, “to furnish what is suitable, useful”). It means “properly, useful (serviceable, productive); well-fitted (well-resourced); useful (beneficial, benevolent) … On the spiritual plane, xrēstós (“suitable, usefully kind”) describes what God defines is kind – and therefore also eternally useful!”¹  

“Usefully kind” reminds me that “faith apart from works is useless” (James 2:20 ESV). God doesn’t just have kind thoughts toward us, He does kindness. And so must we. Marvin R. Vincent noted that “We have no adjective in English that conveys this blend of being kind and good at the same time.”²   

Kind and good, or kind and godly, at the same time. In his letter to the Corinthians, recounting some hard experiences, Paul also talks about kindness. 

… as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love … 2 Corinthians 6:4-6 

It is enlightening that he includes being understanding, patient, and kind along with enduring troubles, hardships and distresses. I think both may need equal amounts of endurance.  

And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:12-13 (ESV) 

Yes, it takes endurance, it takes trusting completely in God, to continue loving, continue being kind and doing kindness, in the face of personal suffering and the lawlessness of this present age. It takes abiding in Jesus too. I know that I can’t do it in my own strength. He said we can do nothing apart from Him. But I cling to the promise implied in that statement: if we abide in him we can do anything. Including be kind and good. 

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 (ESV) 

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (ESV)

By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2:5-6 (ESV) 

Help us walk with You, in You Lord, and be kind and good to the end. 
 

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35 

¹HELPS Word Studies by Discovery Bible 

²Word Studies in the New Testament by Marvin R. Vincent 

Fractured

Cast all your anxiety (merimna) on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 

The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries (merimna) of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. Matthew 13:22 

Both of the above verses about worry or anxiety use the Greek word μέριμνα, transliterated merimna. J.D. Walt has this to say about this word: 

“The word is transliterated ‘merimna’ and sounds like it spells. It carries a meaning of dividing and fracturing a person’s being into parts. Anxiety, in a very literal sense, pulls us apart. It dis-integrates our very sense of self by attacking our core sense of security. 

So how do we deal with anxiety?  

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 

Is it as simple as telling God what we are anxious about? It sounds good, but all too often when we are anxious we tend to worry our prayers rather than casting our anxiety on God. Anxiety must actually be displaced within us. The little word, ‘because,’ tells us how this displacement works. It brings us to the four most important words in today’s text: 

He cares for you.  

Did you hear that? 

He cares for you.”

J.D. Walt https://seedbed.com/swing-thought-2/ 

Merimna means care, anxiety, “properly, a part, separated from the whole,” “worry (anxiety), dividing and fracturing a person’s being into parts.” It dawned on me that it is the opposite of the “all” I wrote about recently – loving God with all. When we let our hearts and minds be pulled apart by worry into parts it separates us from God. We need to cast it all unto God and love-worship Him with all. 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:36-37). 

The Greek word that Jesus used in quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, translated “all” three times in the verse, is holos (ὅλος). It is the root of the English term “whole.” It means whole, complete, entire, “properly, wholly, where all the parts are present and working as a whole – i.e. as the total, which is greater than the mere sum of the parts.” 

Worry, then, is the opposite of this “all.” Worry fractures me into parts separated from the whole. Loving the Lord with all – all the parts present and working as a whole – is the opposite of being fractured into parts by anxiety. Anxiety robs God of my all-love. It means I am reserving some of my love – worship – for that which I worry about. Do I really trust God whole-heartedly? Anxiety, as I’ve experienced lately, can become my default mode. But He cares for you.  

The Greek word translated “cares” above is meló (μέλει) and means to be an object of care. I love that! “To be an object of care.” As Louie Giglio says “you’re on Heaven’s radar.” Even when we can’t feel it or see it or hear it. Even when it seems we have been abandoned and forgotten. 

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care (meló) if we drown?” Mark 4:37-38 

“Don’t you care?”  

How many times have I asked this question, roiling in my anguish and doubt? But he said he cares for me, and has demonstrated that love.  

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares (meló) nothing for the sheep. John 10:11-13 

So not being fractured, but being whole, means following the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for me. It means trusting in God’s love. 

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. 1 John 4:16 (NLT) 

God wants me to be whole. I become whole following the Good Shepherd – trusting – loving with all, complete, entire, as one. Letting Him lead and guide me, bind up my wounds, rescue me, hold me close. Christ in me and I in Him, making it possible. His all, my all. 

… Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 3:11 

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6 

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. John 17:22-23 (ESV) 

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 

“Did you hear that? 

He cares for you.” 

Photo, Fractured, by Brett Jordan https://flic.kr/p/8f8EHy  

Air Plant

I used to love plants, seeing them grow and bloom. I loved having plants inside the house with me too. Our previous home was like the Garden of Eden. We could grow anything because of the rich black dirt outside and a sun room inside for house plants. But, when we moved to our current home, surrounded by trees, nothing seemed to want to grow. The soil is extremely acidic outdoors. A nut tree even makes it toxic. And it is too shady indoors for most houseplants.  

So, I’ve watched one plant after another fail to thrive, or wither and die. Many seeds refused to come up at all. Houseplants, too, valiantly tried, but most were spindly and struggling. After a while I gave up on trying to force things to grow where they were not meant to grow.  

Then I discovered air plants. I love them! They don’t need soil at all and they thrive even in low light. They absorb the water and nutrients they need mostly right from the air. Today when I was looking at one God said, “That’s what you are like. You have been trying to be what you are not, to put down roots where you were not meant to grow. But your life, your roots are in Me, in my Presence.”  

This reminded me of the Michael W. Smith song, “Breatheⁱ.” 

This is the air I breathe 

This is the air I breathe 

Your holy presence living in me 

Yes! The Presence of God. That is where I will truly live, abide, dwell. He is my air, life, light, sustenance. Help me Lord not to try and put down roots in the hostile, deadly dirt of this world, looking for something – love, acceptance, meaning, identity, peace – that only you can provide. Help me to remember I am a foreigner here, not meant for this toxic soil. Let your holy Presence be my very breath. Let me be an air plant breathing in You, breathing out your love. 

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11 (ESV) 

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5 

I am a stranger on earth … Psalm 119:19 

The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4 

ⁱ Full lyrics here: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaelwsmith/breathe.html 

Photo by Sheila Bair 

Even If

You cannot say 

“but” or “except” 

to God’s Word 

for you will be sitting down 

at the dusty, choking side  

or veering off  

on the rocky, deadly way 

You can only say 

“yet” and keep going 

but not alone 

You can only say 

“even though” 

but hand in hand 

You can only say 

“even if” 

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NLT) 

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:17-18 

… sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10 

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. Psalm 73:23 

Image by Sheila Bair

Atmosphere of Heaven

This morning I read this sentence from a fellow blogger: 

Beloved, I don’t think we fully realize the atmosphere of heaven we carry wherever we go.ⁱ – Mel Wild 

How that struck me to tears! That is my heart’s wish – that wherever I go the atmosphere of heaven would cling to me and emanate from me. 

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (ESV) 

Who is sufficient indeed? The word used here means sufficient in ability, i. e. meet, fit, worthy, able. Certainly not me. I feel my lack every day. But what does he promise? 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV) 

The word Jesus uses here means to be possessed of unfailing strength; to be strong, to suffice, to be enough. 

“To be enough!” His grace. And that is the only way that this atmosphere of heaven will accompany me – if I let myself be weak in Him. If I lean into him, surrender, yield, allow his unfailing strength to replace my puny, never-enough efforts. May the fragrance of his love and life cling to us and change the atmosphere wherever we go. 

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God … 2 Corinthians 12:9 

See also Uncommon Fragrance of Jesus

ⁱ The dance for Paul by Mel Wild https://melwild.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/the-dance-for-paul/  

The Decision-less Middle

The message the Lord is giving me this week from the blogs and devotionals I follow is a sobering, but extremely relevant, one. Thank you to all the bloggers I follow. Be set free.

For the time is coming when they will no longer listen and respond to the healing words of truth because they will become selfish and proud. They will seek out teachers with soothing words that line up with their desires, saying just what they want to hear. (2 Tim. 4:2-3 The Passion Translation) 

“The Living Word exposes these self-inflicted boundaries to us—piercing our hearts, interpreting our innermost motives, and even challenging our cherished assumptions. This is why I contend that we should learn to let the Bible study us. 

For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy, and it pierces more sharply than a two-edged sword. It will even penetrate to the very core of our being where soul and spirit, bone and marrow meet! It interprets and reveals the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts. (Heb. 4:12 The Passion Translation) 

Here’s the danger. Without this continual ‘piercing,’ without the Spirit’s constant recalibration of our perspective, without letting Holy Spirit speak through other people we’re in community with, who may even irritate us at times, our unexamined life will be just be following our own confirmation bias. 

They will seek out teachers with soothing words that line up with their desires, saying just what they want to hear.  

Like birds of a feather flocking together, we’ll only be open to teachers we already agree with. We will have stopped ‘the eyes of our hearts from being enlightened’ (Eph.1:18), resting in a truth that makes us comfortable instead the Truth that makes us truly free.” — blogged by Mel Wild https://melwild.wordpress.com/2021/02/23/will-we-follow-holy-spirit-or-our-confirmation-bias/  

Matthew 16:26: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (NASB). 

“These words bothered me. They still do. They set up a stark contrast I have never managed to get past. On the one hand: the whole world. On the other hand: my soul. I so want to dwell somewhere in the decision-less middle. I want a life overflowing with monetary wealth and I want a soul filled with God. The text tells me I must decide on one or the other. As a kid, I somehow knew the splinter of this saying would pulsate with nagging pain until I aimed my life in one of these two directions. It was clear to me. These roads led to two completely different destinations, and one of those would look like great gain and yet be complete loss. Little did I know at the time how these words would stick in my soul like a tiny shard of wood even to the present day. As an adult, I now know this is not a one-time transaction. It’s an everyday decision. “– J.D. Walt, How I Got a Splinter in My Soul and How I Got It Out  https://www.seedbed.com/how-i-got-a-splinter-in-my-soul-and-how-i-got-it-out/  

“… Janet Malcolm from her book In the Freud Archives: ‘There are few among us who do not resist self-knowledge. We are all perpetually smoothing and rearranging reality to conform to our wishes; we lie to others and ourselves constantly, unthinkingly. When, occasionally — and not by dint of our own efforts but the under the pressure of external events — we are forced to see things as they are, we are like naked people in a storm.’ 

When naked in the storm of his own sin, King David stared at the unvarnished reality of his bad moves. He confessed his sins and asked for mercy, ‘According to your steadfast love….’ (Psalm 51) We like David can embrace our true selves and confess our sins. Because we know God is forgiving and our time is finite: life will end. And we can lose or win by our actions or simply lose on time … With God’s help, I’ll sweep away self-deception to reveal my true self. And make good use of the time I’ve been given.” — blogged by Carole Duff  https://caroleduff.com/2021/02/22/losing-on-time/  

“Not only will Jesus have to take up his cross – you and I will. There’s no nicer, refined, more reasonable way, even if we carefully surround ourselves solely with nice, refined, reasonable churchy people. 

For true life requires complete surrender to it. And what will be the point of gaining the whole world by thinking as the world thinks, if it means falling short of true life?”  -Suzanne Guthrie, At the Edge of the Enclosure 

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32 (NKJV) 

Photo copyright by Derek Bair