When our grandkids made us Valentines this month and our oldest granddaughter thought of her own poem, I was overjoyed by the meaning of pure hearts.

Of course the religious leaders of the day were very concerned with handwashing and not spreading “uncleanliness”. On the other hand, Jesus was more concerned with the results of a different kind of uncleanness. it was called the inside of the vessel, or their hearts.

For those who have asked the Son of God to be the Lord of their life, He provides for the healing of our wounded hearts. Although sin would like to hold us captive, we have a choice. It can be to follow the “broad way” that leads to destruction or the “narrow way” that leads to life eternal.

Certainly, becoming a Christian (or Christ follower) does not mean you will be exempt from suffering. In fact, He tells us that it’s part of our calling to take up our cross daily and follow Him.

Being free from the deceitfulness of sin helps us to shine with authenticity as we walk that path. In the face of suffering, many have overcome bitterness and worse.

Lord, we give you glory for the beauty of your obedience to the Father, in offering us healing and life eternal. May our hearts be truly found in You, whole and yielding the fruit of your Holy Spirit.-Teresa

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Mark 7: 14-23 (ESV)**

What Defiles a Person

¹⁴ And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand:¹⁵ There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^[e] 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,¹⁹ since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”^[f] (Thus he declared all foods clean.)²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”Read full chapter

…see also Jesus’ quote from Isaiah (29:13) in Mark 7:6b,7

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
⁷ in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Footnotes

1. Mark 7:3 Greek unless they wash the hands with a fist, probably indicating a kind of ceremonial washing
2. Mark 7:4 Greek unless they baptize; some manuscripts unless they purify themselves
3. Mark 7:4 Some manuscripts omit and dining couches
4. Mark 7:11 Or an offering
5. Mark 7:15 Some manuscripts add verse 16: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear
6. Mark 7:19 Greek goes out into the latrine

**http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/?version=47&startmmdd=0101

I think the color of this camellia flower is exquisite. Maybe even beautiful enough for a wedding. My husband and I planted it to commemorate our marriage, representing the love that has gone into building our family. For those parents out there, you have to agree that being a parent is not for the faint of heart. It takes an overwhelming amount of love toward each other and for the children and the grandchildren.

This passage reminds me of Jesus’ words discussing the purpose and timing of a fast. Fasting was not to outdo another Rabbi’s spiritual discipline (i.e. John the Baptist or the Pharisees). Instead, it was meant to be a reflection of our longing for the Savior (referred to as “the bridegroom” in the passage).

When Jesus walked beside the disciples, he didn’t require them to fast. However, when he ascended back into heaven, the disciples fasted. We also at times may fast in order to focus on the One who matters more than satisfying our temporal needs.

He is eternal. He satisfies our need for a new and living way. When love is not found in our own heart. His love can fill us and make us new (like new wineskins).

Without a new wine skin, we are in danger of splitting at the seams, not useful to His kingdom but leaking one-line platitudes.

This verse from the KJV comes to mind: (Romans 5:5) “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

If the bridegroom did not leave, the Holy Spirit would not have come.

Thank you, LORD, for your tremendous gift. Your Son’s life, your love for the world and the comfort of the Holy Spirit to encourage us on our way as we hope in you. -Teresa

Mark 2: 18-22 (ESV)*

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[c]

*OneyearBibleonline

Wisdom was present when God created mankind. Not only did wisdom provide the master craftsmanship needed for this world, but it provided the emotion necessary for having families. This emotional ability allows us to experience the delight of children. #rejoicing

Pictured above is our two oldest children (30+ years ago). They experienced all the moving around we required to get settled in our careers. We went from Sacramento to Europe and North Africa for a year, landing back in Iowa. We eventually came full circle to Chico, before moving home again to the Sacramento area.

When we keep the ways of wisdom, we are constantly learning and growing- never static. It could mean we travel “full-circle” to learn something we fully resisted at the start.

Having a family has a way of bringing maturity to young adults. It helps us realize that not all “work” is drudgery but a means to providing for our family. Seeing the joy and excitement of children well-cared for is surely reward enough to keep punching that time clock. (Vs. carried away by fanciful dreams of “self-fulfillment” that don’t pay the bills)

When some moms looked at me with four children during my “stay at home mom” days, they would ask: “don’t you feel like you’ve lost your identity?” Or “don’t you just have to get out of the house? …I go to work in order to take a break.”

Instead, I would answer with, “it may be the hardest job I’ve done (being 24/7 on call), but I feel honored to share my identity with four others.” In other words, I never felt I was shrinking but expanding.

Wisdom helps us move forward with the right perspective even when we need to dig deep for courage to learn and grow.

After reading an informative article on Linked In by Fast company.com, I understood better the difficult financial climate our young people face today. Many have had to decide whether to include having a family to their future plans. My question (after reading it) was, have financial times changed that much or have values changed (needing all the bells and whistles before considering a family)?

Wisdom reminds us of God’s heart to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. For those who have infertility issues or physical barriers, there are many children who need to be cared for who are without parents or resources. The joy of being part of an “inhabited” world is true wisdom. -Teresa

Proverbs 8:27-32English Standard Version*

²⁷ When he established the heavens, I was there;
    when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he made firm the skies above,
    when he established^[a] the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he assigned to the sea its limit,
    so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰     then I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his^[b] delight,
    rejoicing before him always,
³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
    and delighting in the children of man.

³² “And now, O sons, listen to me:
    blessed are those who keep my ways.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 8:28 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
2. Proverbs 8:30 Or daily filled with

*OneyearBibleonline

My mom, Ruth, named me after her landlord. Teresa was a gracious, Italian woman who rented the upstairs apartment to my parents. I was baby #3 (of 5), for my mom and dad.

A name can be be a source of inspiration. For my mom, “Ruth” was a reminder that she had been delivered from Moab to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She chose to leave her family of origin and move to a new place, the place of redemption (see the story of Ruth and Naomi, redeemed by Boaz, aka Jesus Christ the Lord).

For me, “Teresa” was a reminder to dwell in the grace of God. This meant at times plowing up the fallow ground, at other times planting the seed of God’s word but always trusting God for an increase. I’ve been inspired by my name to remain faithful “in Christ”, in order to be fruitful for the Kingdom of Heaven.

This passage (below) provides a tremendous leadership principle. Jethro advises Moses to continue being faithful to God’s calling (speaking God’s word to the people). He also gives a practical solution to handle the demand of leading millions of people (choose those who fear God and hate a bribe to be over the people as chiefs or spokesmen).

The comfort and help that Moses received from his father-in-law’s visit included being reunited with his wife and children. He named his children, Gershom and Eliezer. Just saying their names reminded him of all that God had done for him.

God always gets the victory when we acknowledge His hand of deliverance and help. Moses emphasized this truth by trusting the God of his “father” (a Hebrew slave who was also a priest for Yahweh) and escaping the hand of Pharoah (whose house he was raised in, but who had raised a sword against Moses).

Lord, thank you for your tremendous victory in the places where it looked like all was lost. Help us to trust you courageously as Moses did, not dismissing those who are older than us but embracing their wisdom.- Teresa

Exodus 18:1-27 (ESV)

Jethro’s Advice

18 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, ³ along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner^[b] in a foreign land”), ⁴ and the name of the other, Eliezer^[c] (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). ⁵ Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. ⁶ And when he sent word to Moses, “I,^[d] your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,”⁷ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸ Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lordhad done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”^{[e] 12} And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; ¹⁶ when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹ Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, ²⁰ and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.²¹ Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵ Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

*TheOneyearBible