It was so wonderful to study the names of God.  Looking back, here is the entire list we covered in the study: 

• Elohim – God as God, The Creator, present always as the trinity, the author of life and time, mighty over all things/Almighty God
• El Elyon - God Most High, He is sovereign over all and has rightful dominion over everything and everyone, we must not contend with Him
• El Roi – The God Who Sees, nothing happens without Him being aware of it, we never out of His sight or lost
• El Shaddai – The All-Sufficient One, He is God Almighty, I can rely on Him, He is able to accomplish anything that concerns me
• Adonai – The Lord and Master, if we truly know who Him – we cannot help but acknowledge His Lordship over us, His position requires a response from us of honor, respect and service to Him
• Jehovah – The Self-Existent One, I AM WHO I AM – always existed, was not created, all life is contained in Him, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, wherever we see “LORD” in all caps in the bible it is this name
• Jehovah-Jireh – The LORD Will Provide, He is the God who provided the ram as a substitute for the sacrifice of Isaac, the same God provided His own Son as a sacrifice in our place
• Jehovah-rapha – The LORD Who Heals, because He has dominion over all things He can bless or curse and He can strike or heal, being gracious and compassionate He brings reconciliation to mankind and heals body, mind and soul, He delivers us from the Curse/the Fall, He has authority over the good and the bad that happen so He is the One we must run to for help, there is no other help beside Him.
• Jehovah-nissi - The Lord My Banner, the One who goes before us against our enemy, The Flesh
• Jehovah-mekoddishkem - The Lord Who Sanctifies You, He had redeemed us by the ultimate sacrifice, the blood of the Lamb; and because of that sacrifice, we are sanctified/made holy.  Christ’s work in us is not finished at the Cross – it has only begun.  He sent the Holy Spirit to accomplish the sanctification process in us.  Because of all God has done for us, we are obligated to Him…we owe Him our lives!  Our holiness is “part of ‘a perpetual covenant…a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever’ (Exodus 31:16-17)” (p.119).  Our holiness is a sign of our relationship with Him.  The Holy Spirit embodies us and allows us to walk in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
• Jehovah-shalom - The Lord is Peace, God has given us peace.  When we are not at peace, He is not the one who moved – we are!   The way to feel at peace with Him and have peace with others is to live an obedient life – constantly seeking to do His will.  Being in God’s will allows us to be at peace regardless of the circumstances
•  Jehovah-sabaoth - The Lord of Hosts, when we are in dire circumstances there is no one else to turn to than The Lord of Hosts…who better to go to when we are at the end of our rope than the God of the Universe – the One who commands the Heavenly Host?
• Jehovah-raah - The Lord My Shepherd, He cares for us tenderly.  He knows our weaknesses.  He foresees our difficulties and provides for us.  He fiercely protects us.  Whatever we need, He provides – He know best.  It is incumbent upon us to trust His judgement and allow that what He provides is enough and that He has our best interests at heart.
• Jehovah-tsidkenu - The Lord Our Righteousness, He who accomplishes what we cannot – He provides us the mechanism to grow in righteousness…He promised to give a new covenant and a new heart – and in Jesus He fulfills this promise.
• Jehovah-shammah – The Lord is There, He is there with you when you are in trouble.  He is there when you are distraught.  He is there when you feel alone.  He is there when no one else is or can be.

Jehovah-tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness.  It seems to me that people fall onto one end or another of a continuum.  Either they struggle to see their own unrighteousness or they struggle to see the righteousness of Christ.  Here’s what I mean.  The first group of people are the ones who, when confronted with their own unrighteousness, say these things: “Well I do my best to be a good person” or “I am better than most people I know”, “I am not doing too badly” or “I could be a whole lot worse, you know”.  But what does God’s Word say about our righteousness? There is no one who does good.  The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. (Ps 14:1-3) And All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) And for whoever keeps the whole Law and yet offends in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). Pride must be defeated in order to acknowledge there is only One who is worthy…Jehovah-tsidkenu. If you fall into this group, watch out – being  a “good person” can keep you out of heaven!  Placing confidence in your own goodness denies a need for any Savior at all.  If your goodness is enough, why did Jesus die for your sins?  For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).  It is impossible for us to please God with our own righteousness…Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)  Jesus is our only hope.

Then there are the people on the other side of the continuum.  These people do not trust in the righteousness of Jesus – but they are unlikely to realize it.  There are Christians who are so weighed down by the memory of their sin – it’s like trying to drive with four flat tires.  They are constantly worrying – are they pleasing to God?   They always have some sin they are working on…and often are discouraged when they slip.  They are overwhelmed by the thought of how they have disappointed God.  I can fall into this group.  We tend to rationalize our feelings of unworthiness as “being humble” or maybe just having a little “low self-esteem” – surely it is a good thing to be aware of your unworthiness?  Well, this is a sort of twisted pride as well; it is a self-absorption that keeps our eyes on ourselves rather than on Jesus.  But most importantly, it can de-value to sacrifice of Christ.  In prayer about this one day I realized that my sin was not greater than His death.  How dare I spend so much time thinking about my unworthiness!  He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (2 Cor 12:19). It is okay to be aware of our own weakness as long as we stay forcused on Christ’s strength.  When I fall into the unworthiness trap, I remember His sacrifice:

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
   And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
   and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
   a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
   he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

  Surely he has borne our griefs
   and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
   we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.

 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
   and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
   so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
   and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
   stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
   and there was no deceit in his mouth.

 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
   he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
   he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
   and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
   and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:17-21). We have become the “righteousness of God” – because of Jehovah-tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness.  We are the righteousness of God not for our own glory, but for His.  He has called us into His service.  We must keep a balanced view which remembers both that we are lost without Him and that we are precious to God since we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.  

JustaGirl…just like you

Have you ever wanted to be rescued?  Rescued from despair, danger, evil, illness, hopelessness, fear, anxiety…rescued from a bad relationship, rescued from your own bad choices?  Jehovah-sabaoth (I have also run across the Hebrew spelling Tzevaot when reading about the name Jehovah Sabaoth) which means The Lord of Hosts; He is the Lord of the Army of God and The Lord of the angelic hosts.

But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior;
   therefore my persecutors will stumble;
    they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
   for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
   will never be forgotten.
O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous,
    who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
   for to you have I committed my cause.

 Sing to the LORD;
   praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
   from the hand of evildoers.

Jeremiah 20:11-13

There was a time when I was under a sort of spiritual oppression.  Someone in my life was bearing down on me so heavily that I could hardly stand.  I did not know Jehovah-sabaoth then, but I knew Him as El Roi, the God Who Sees, and so I cried out to Him.  I had never prayed like this before – but I prayed for weeks, Lord, rescue me from this situation.  Protect me from this person.  Lord I will not speak against them, so please Lord reveal this person for what they are doing to me – Lord vindicate me…and my prayer was answered – everything was revealed.  I had called upon the Lord of Hosts, I had called for help when I was helpless.  The problem was resolved and the spiritual oppression was lifted as well.  The memory of all of this still astonishes me.  This was one of those experiences that was so painful and beautiful at the same time – truly God is the One who can rescue us.  

In the Bible, this name appears repeatedly in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi – all prophets.  Kay Arthur explains that “This name of God belongs to a certain time in the experience of God’s people.  It is God’s name for man’s extremity.  So often, not until we find ourselves failing and powerless do we realize our need to run to our Jehovah-sabaoth.  This is the name for those who find their resources inadequate in the midst of a struggle” (p. 134).  But even before the People of Israel called upon the Lord of Hosts, Hannah did.  I love this story!  Hannah was married to Elkanah and he had another wife named Peninnah.  Hannah was unable to have children, while Peninnah had several sons and daughters.  Hannah’s husband loved her so much that when he offered the family went up to the temple to sacrifice he would give Hannah a double portion of what he gave the rest of the family.  Yet, on top of the sadness she already had, Peninnah tormented Hannah so Hannah was miserably unhappy and would not eat. ”And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, ‘Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?’ “ (I think that is so sweet!).  Hannah prayed so fervently to the Lord of Hosts that the priest thought she was drunk. “And she vowed a vow and said, ‘O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.’ “  She dedicated the life of her son to the Lord of Hosts before the baby was even in her womb (1 Sam 1:1-20).  God did indeed answer her prayer by giving her a son who grew up to be one of the greatest prophets in the history of Israel.  Samuel was the one who anointed Saul and David and he was very influential.  Surely Hannah’s prayer was answered, she was vindicated, and her rival silenced.

The Lord of Hosts, the Lord of the Army of God also rescues nations from their enemies. Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hand (1 Sam 17:45-47).  Yes, the Lord of Hosts can rescue a people from destruction. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7).

We are the objects of God’s biggest rescue mission – we are the beneficiaries; He has contended for us and showed us the Way to freedom.  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ”If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, ”We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, ”Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:31-36).

JustaGirl…just like you!

God has called a people to be set apart for His purposes.  In Exodus 19 He tells the Israelites that they shall be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation”.  A kingdom of priests – this says that ALL, not just those designated as priests, are called to holiness and to knowing God and His Word and to teaching others about God.  Later Paul explains that those who believe in Jesus “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light ” (1 Peter 2:9). Take out your highlighter!  Here is our purpose in life: to proclaim the excellencies of Him.  Sounds easier than it is…our thoughts, words and deeds must proclaim and demonstrate the excellence of our God.  This is what it means to glorify Him – reflect His excellence as a mirror reflects an image (accurately).  But some days reflecting God’s character is harder than others!  Some days we are on the hamster wheel from the minute we get up till we fall asleep and I find that those days it gets harder and harder to reflect God’s character.  That’s when I need to take my own advice to my children, “Ask yourself, ‘if you aren’t imitating the character of God, whose character are you imitating???’ ”  That’ll wake you right up!

So in Exodus 31, we see God introduce Himself as Jehovah-mekkodishkim, The Lord Who Sanctifies You; in other words, God makes you holy – you cannot do that yourself. The Israelites were given the law so that they would come to know God by obeying Him and also, that by following His way it would set them apart from the world as belonging to Him.  Following God’s law would reconcile men to Him by their obedience and the sacrifices offered on their behalf. Later in Hebrews, Paul explains, “…every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10: 11-14).  So we are made holy by His offering…Jesus is the Lamb that was slain for our sins.  Kay Arthur notes, “holiness was not an option.  It was part of the ‘perpetual covenant…a sign between [God] and the sons of Israel.  As God sanctified Israel, so He sanctifies the church.” (p. 119)  On pages 120-122 Kay Arthur lists several bible verses that explain about how we are sanctified/made holy by God.  Here are my responses to those verses:

John 17:15-19: As Christians, we will not be removed form the evil that surrounds us, but we can be safe in the midst of it.  We are made holy by the Truth and the Word.

1 Thes 4:3-8: If we are not being made more and more holy, then we are rejecting God

Eph 5:25-27: Christ gave Himself up for us to make us holy

2 Peter 1:4: We must keep remembering His promises in order to escape corruption and partake in the divine

So, our redemption begins with Christ and sanctification is continued by the Holy Spirit as He embodies us and enables us to walk in newness of life and we are set free from the law of sin and death (Rom 6:4; 8:2-4). Here is the prayer I wrote in response to the question: ”Jehovah-mekoddishkem has said, ‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine’ (Lev. 20:26). What will you say to Him?”

My Prayer: Lord I am Yours.  Please sanctify me and set me apart from the things in this world that distract me, make me unclean, and destroy my witness to Your character.  Save me from my self and set me on the course to do Your will.  Let me bring honor and glory to Your name and bring You joy.   Amen!

JustaGirl…just like you!

Todays’ chapter is called “Pausing for  Moment” and is, in the first part, a re-cap of the previous chapters and reviews the names of God and their meanings.  I will focus on the first part of the chapter in this discussion.  But first, I want to touch on the end of the chapter (days 27 and 28).  In this part of the chapter, Kay Arthur introduces the inductive method of bible study for which she is best known.  As you may know, she has authored many bible studies (in the series Precept Upon Precept) that teach readers to analyze scripture directly,to gain their own understanding, rather than relying on other people’s interpretations.  ”True inductive Bible study never starts with an hypothesis. And it has only one presupposition, which is: the Word of God alone is inerrant, authoritative over all ideas, and informative in faith, practice and doctrine.  Thus it is the only qualified source of interpretation of scriptureIt is no different from the historical Protestant Church rule that the source of Biblical interpretation is sola scriptura. In simple terms, it is the study of scripture in true humility, from the unadulterated texts or testimony gleaned from canon alone. In this manner we uncover the evidences, proofs and logic by which scripture will both reveal and interpret itself.” (Tony Warren, www.mountainretreatorg.net).  In essence, the living Word of God will teach us as we immerse ourselves in it – I really love that!  Kay Arthur’s specific method is very structured and methodical; some people swear by it and others detest it.  I would ask you to try it and decide for yourself (pages 96-104).

As we review the names of God, remember that each name teaches about His character, which does not change.  God’s character has been revealed throughout the scriptures by what He has said and done.  But nothing is so revealing as the names that are used to describe Him.  To better explain, let me repeat something from an earlier post (this is from my post for Day 4):  There is something important I want to be sure to mention. In Genesis, Adam (the first man/human) was named by God and he, in turn, named Eve (the second human) and also all the animals. After that, children were named by their parents. Sometimes people were re-named by God (Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Saul to Paul). But did you know that when asked His name, God gave no “name” for men to call Him?  Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’  Then what shall I tell them?”  God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD [According to Biblegateway.com, the Hebrew word for LORD sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew word for I AM], the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. Ex 3:13-15. Did you catch a name in there?  Neither did the Hebrews.  They considered the actual name of God to be sacred and unknown to man.  I love that, rather than calling Him a name, calling Him “I AM” is a description of constant action, a positive state of being; it is a present tense verb and is constantly current. Paul said, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  Psalms 20:7

Here are the names of God listed on page 95-96.  I have included my own answers based on the previous daily work:

1. Elohim – God as God, The Creator, present always as the trinity, the author of life and time, mighty over all things/Almighty God
2. El Elyon - God Most High, He is sovereign over all and has rightful dominion over everything and everyone, we must not contend with Him
3. El Roi – The God Who Sees, nothing happens without Him being aware of it, we never out of His sight or lost
4. El Shaddai – The All-Sufficient One, He is God Almighty, I can rely on Him, He is able to accomplish anything that concerns me
5. Adonai – The Lord and Master, if we truly know who Him – we cannot help but acknowledge His Lordship over us, His position requires a response from us of honor, respect and service to Him
6. Jehovah – The Self-Existent One, I AM WHO I AM – always existed, was not created, all life is contained in Him, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, wherever we see “LORD” in all caps in the bible it is this name
7. Jehovah-Jireh – The LORD Will Provide, He is the God who provided the ram as a substitute for the sacrifice of Isaac, the same God provided His own Son as a sacrifice in our place
8. Jehovah-rapha – The LORD Who Heals, because He has dominion over all things He can bless or curse and He can strike or heal, being gracious and compassionate He brings reconciliation to mankind and heals body, mind and soul, He delivers us from the Curse/the Fall, He has authority over the good and the bad that happen so He is the One we must run to for help, there is no other help beside Him.

Hello Girls!  Today I am so thankful The Lord has been very gracious to me and allowed me to make important changes to the website and there are still more things I hope to be able to add to enrich your experience.  For now we must get back to our study.  I will continue to post on Tuesdays and Fridays and you may comment at any time.  Tomorrow we resume Kay Arthur’s, Lord I Want to Know You: A Devotional Study on the Names of God.

Welcome to our new users!  If you have not gotten the book please consider ordering it – it is a wonderful study.  But if you are unable to get it, no worries!  I plan to summarize the readings and then add discussion starters at the end.  Please do join in the discussion.  I began this blog as a way to interact with other Christian ladies and I really would love to hear from YOU!  Check out the calendar to keep up with the assignments.  At the end of September we will be choosing our next book.

I pray that God will knit our hearts together.  If you want to know more about me and what I believe, check out the “Called” series I wrote at the beginning of the blog.  Feel free to email me at anytime (justagirl@girlsgrowingwithgod.com).  You may also Like us and follow us on Facebook.

There are several verses in this portion of the chapter that KA asks us to consider. Here is what I wrote about some of them and included are the citations of the verse:

• God can heal whenever He chooses.  He responds to prayer and submission (2 Kings 20:1, 4-5)
• Though our pain is incurable and our iniquity is great, He will restore us…He brings the pain, yet out of His great mercy, He also brings the remedy (Jer. 30:15-17)
• He is tender with the broken hearted (Ps 147:3)
• There is no other cure for what ails us.  There is only one help, one solution.
• Our healing is the fulfillment of prophecy – we are rescued (Luke 4:18)
• His pain is our gain.  His peace brings our release.  Though we constantly disappoint, He constantly comes through for us (2 Peter 2: 24-25).

Jehovah Rapha: The Lord Who Heals…Everyone I know, I mean everyone I know really well, is wounded.  I have friends and loved ones who have chronic medical conditions (which wound the body and discourage the spirit); I know women with eating disorders and anxiety and depression and OCD; I know recovering and active alcoholics and the families that limp along through life with them; I know people who have been victims of physical or sexual abuse and I know people who struggle with anger; I know people who are wounded by the dysfunctional family they grew up in and I know those who have lost their jobs, their marriages, and their loved ones…what I don’t know is how any of us could go through this fallen life and not experience some sort of loss of wholeness.

I fit into more than one of the categories above myself, and it took me many many years to understand that God is the only source of real comfort and relief for our pain.  He is the only one who will not change, like shifting shadows (James 1:17).  He does not leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:6).  He always loves, always forgives, and always wants what is best for us and His Kingdom. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2Peter 3:9).  The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love (Ps 103:8). I love to think of Him walking beside me and providing comfort and peace.  But Jehovah Rapha is more than a comfort, He is a solution.  In medicine you have palliative treatment (like taking a Tylenol when you have arthritis) – this type of care does not provide any resolution but makes the patient more comfortable; and you have definitive treatment (like taking an antibiotic for strep throat or having a surgery to repair a broken bone) – this type of care is intended to resolve the problem. Whether we are in need of physical, mental or spiritual healing, God provides for us both palliative and definitive care.

KA reminds us that we are to be God’s ambassadors of reconciliation (p. 71).  God’s Word tells us that we are blessed in order to be a blessing to others (Gen. 12:2).  He has given us so much, but He doesn’t want us to pay it back to Him, He wants us to pay it forward to others.  So we must first go to Him for the healing we need, and then share the Good News with everyone we know.  The old saying goes, if you found the cure for cancer would you keep it to yourself because you were embarrassed to share it, or didn’t have time, or didn’t feel like you were “gifted” in that area?  We have found the cure for a cancer that eats away at the soul and we must pass the message on to others – Jehovah Rapha wants to heal His children:  “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt 7:9-11).

JustaGirl…just like you!