Living Above the Sun Ministries

 My life has felt like it's been spinning out of control for a few years now.  Maybe you feel that way too; still feeling the affects of the pandemic and how shaken up life became.  We've lost friends, family both through death and in the manner of politically not seeing eye to eye.  We fell out of church and away from church because it wasn't open, or other reasons which may also fall into the political spectrum.  Jobs changed.  Life just isn't the same.  We've endured a lot these past couple of years trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild from the wreckage.  The trauma of all we faced lead us to do some things we maybe would never do.  I found myself in that situation.  It's like one bad thing led to another bad thing and it was a snowball effect downhill.  How do we recover?   Maybe you're a perfect Christian and none of the past few years fazed you, in that case, that's wonderful for you.  In the case of myself ...

  We see the word, "believe" a lot in our culture.  We are encouraged by wooden frames, and art to "believe in ourselves."  In all actuality that is idolatry telling you to place your faith in yourself.  I don't know about you, but I have no idea how to direct my life other than to trouble.  Do we really want to lift ourselves higher than God?  That we are worthy within ourselves to reject God and trust ourselves instead?  I guess we have all walked that path at one time or another.  My existence outside of Jesus Christ and His Spirit in me amounts to nothing.  It begins and ends.  I live for myself, doing whatever I please, going wherever.  It may be attractive for a season, but in the end my life it isn't hinged on any meaning. In throwing the word, "believe" around so much it looses it's meaning almost like when we tell people we love them without thinking or feeling.  Believe is a key word to the Bible, especially the book ...

  I recently read an interesting quote, "The enemy thought he had taken "everything" from Job.  But Job's everything was God."   I've been pondering on this.  If your week has been anything like mine everything seems to have gone wrong.  All the rain and storms has brought flooding, knocked out power and puts us in gloomy moods.  The gloominess can dim our view of perspective and cheerfulness.  I sat down this morning and made a list of things that have gotten to me this week taking into thought this quote that my everything is God.  It looked a little like this: My everything isn't my car. My everything isn't my health or my weight. My everything isn't technology, or social media, or WiFi. My everything isn't lack of having a spouse or children. My everything isn't whether people like me. Job's words were "I know my Redeemer lives, though my flesh be destroyed, I will see Him in my flesh."  Nothing in life can happen to us ...

  "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." I remember memorizing this verse in 1st grade and it has stayed with me all these years.  I still have my first Bible with that verse highlighted in it. Over the past few years I have written that I believe this verse is the very crux of the Bible. Every verse we read in the Bible can be passed through this and asked questions.   What is being taught?   What is being called out?   Where is it showing work needs to be done?  What sin needs to be repented of? In this same God breath of ALL SCRIPTURE, are we reading all scripture?   One look at our churches today in America and I think the consensus is a resounding NO!  We are not reading our Bibles as a "training in doing right."  Nor are we reading to know the will of the Father in Heaven.  I'm the first to admit my guilt in this too.  While I may read a ver...

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the  Lord : I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.   And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the  Lord ,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the  Lord . For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more...I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanlessness, and from your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you." Jeremiah 31:33-34; Ezekiel 36:25-26 It is thought that John's practice of baptism may have originated with the Old Testament idea of purification.  There are two big things that come to mind when thinking of things that purify, water and fir...

" Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.   Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,   and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.   “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.   Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.   John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”   But Jesus answered him,  “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. ”  Then he consented.   And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and h...

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:1-6, 14 A few Wednesday evenings ago I went to church and we engaged in an Advent study written by one of the members of my church.  I had met with the pastor earlier that day to talk about anything and everything really, but we both recognized the urgency of getting people to come back to church after the pandemic and pondered how you get back in the habit.  That evening after the Bible study we prayed for our church budget and that people would return to church.  I feel like a hypocrite volunteering to pray specifically for that in the closing prayer as I too have strayed away from church, but have been fighting myse...