This oak tree must have established a tremendous root system to survive the years of drought. When God teaches… disciples… disciplines us, it’s because He wants us to stand strong for Him. Drink deeply of the promise that we are His heritage on earth. In the end, He will not abandon us but assures us of our place in His loving family that begins with eternal life through Christ Jesus. #foundahome- Teresa

Psalm 94:12-19 (ESV)12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,

    and whom you teach out of your law,

13 to give him rest from days of trouble,

    until a pit is dug for the wicked.

14 For the Lord will not forsake his people;

    he will not abandon his heritage;

15 for justice will return to the righteous,

    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked?

    Who stands up for me against evildoers?

17 If the Lord had not been my help,

    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

18 When I thought, “My foot slips,”

    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

19 When the cares of my heart are many,

    your consolations cheer my soul.

 Have you ever considered a field full of wildflowers as an inheritance? Joshua died and was buried in a place like that. Interestingly, Joseph was also buried in his inheritance (Shechem) where he never rested until finally laid to rest (since he worked his whole life in Egypt). Wherever God has provided as your inheritance will be a place of true rest! In the meantime, His kingdom come and His will be done is the theme of our lifesong as we trust His glorious purpose for our lives. -Teresa

Joshua 24:29-33 (ESV)

After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.

31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.
32 As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money.[b] It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

 Hope gives us reason to hang on. Hope deferred make us heart sick. Love fills the gap of hope deferred! Why did the people hang onto Jesus’ every word? Why do we hang onto His word? His truth proclaims how valuable we are to Him. His truth tears down “man-made” religion that lends to consumerism in the world system. Time to stop consuming and start experiencing God’s love. – Teresa

Luke 19: 45-47 ( ESV)

45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

  
Feeling protected, we will flourish under His rule and reign. The flowers bloom in a nurturing environment how much more will we who trust in the Lord of the heavenly host! #mightywarrior-Teresa

Psalm 84: 11,12 (ESV)
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

    the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

    from those who walk uprightly.

12 O Lord of hosts,

    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

 This chapter of Luke begins with accusations against Jesus. Although they accused Him of joining demonic forces to cast out unclean spirits they in fact were “sign seekers” not God followers. When we let our lives shine for Him, He gives us reason to rejoice in the relationship of His presence with us. He is the light of life (#John 8:12)! – Teresa

Luke 11: 33-36 (ESV)
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

 Although many prophets are known to be self-proclaimed, there is One who was not only prophesied by Moses but validated by God the Father. What greater witness do you need than God declaring Jesus as His Son!! – Teresa

 Deuteronomy 18:5-22 (ESV)

5 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[f] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Luke 9: 28-50 (ESV)

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,[a] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One;[b] listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

 Undertaking the every day tasks of life requires courage but when we rejoice and give thanks to God in the midst of our struggle, we are blessed! God loves this gratefulness. By remembering and giving what is due Him, we are endorsing His sovereignty over the earth. In this place, this place of memorial in our lives (see also Psalm 70:4), we can rejoice at His greatness.- Teresa

 Deuteronomy 12: 5-7 (ESV) 

 5 “But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation[f] there. There you shall go, 6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you”.

Psalm 70English Standard Version (ESV)

O Lord, Do Not Delay
To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering

Psalm 70: 4 (ESV) 

4 “May all who seek you

    rejoice and be glad in you!

May those who love your salvation

    say evermore, “God is great!”

 
If you are entering a new place in your life, Moses’ words will remind you to practice the righteous commandments from God. By following the ten commandments, Israel set itself apart as a distinct culture that flourished in spite of the immoral and self-serving ways of the Canaanites around them. This lifestyle gave more stability for their lives than stored up wealth. (See Proverbs 11:28) The ten commandments were and still are an inheritance of righteous living worth more than a large sum of money to pass on to our children and grandchildren. – Teresa

Deuteronomy 4: 4-14 ( ESV)

4 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules[a] that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. 5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments,[b] and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.”

 When Jesus was teaching one day, a paralyzed man was brought before Him. Jesus met his need and healed him from sin by offering forgiveness. Since the Pharisees and teachers of the law felt it was blasphemous to say such a thing, Jesus surprised them by helping their unbelief. Jesus gave them an opportunity to recognize Him for who He was- God’s Son!! At that moment, when the man walked again-Jesus displayed His authority as God-healer from sin sickness (also read Colossians 2:13-15). – Teresa

Luke 5: 17 -26 (ESV)

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.[c] 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

 This flower reminds me of nightshade, beautiful to look at but if ingested is poisonous. Although certain species have medicinal components to slow the heart rate (atropine) or dry up teething secretions (belladonna), its dangerous hallucinogenic experience is fatal even at small doses. A worldly woman can be pretty to look at (like a shiny gold ring) but if she lacks discretion (without prudence about whom to share her beauty with), she may become toxic aka “eats like a pig”…devouring unwise men for a meal (see Proverbs 30:20). Her beauty (or gold ring) ultimately gets smeared in her low quality meal (pig slop) and no longer shines.- Teresa 

Proverbs 11:22 (ESV)
22 “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout 

is a beautiful woman 

without discretion.”