4 - "Don't Live to Make A Name For Yourself" Genesis 10-12

BIG NAME Don't live in contempt of court. It's not right to live to make a name for yourself." Genesis 11:4 

                                                       

       

                                                         We live in such a celebrity society.

But, castles crumble. Unspoken pressure exists unaware to make a name for yourself.

"Let us build for ourselves a city so that we may make a name for ourselves." Genesis 11:4

10,000 fathoms high in the sky, One Kingdom.

It's the Wrong Kingdom to make a name, perpetuate who we are.

May we live transparent and see how we misdirect to make life center around our name.

We are all born with a given name. Barrett. Brroke. Blair. Britt.

May you live up to your names---the ones inscribed on His Hands. 

And my prayer for each of us is that we would call on His Name Alone. 

And I want to pass on what I think is deeply touching as I reflect over my life in a new year.
An ordinary life with a handful of followers.  People won't read me because they aren't interested in the unknown folks or in the older folks, anymore. In previous generations, we had clout. We would sit for hours playing games, dancing to music, reading books together, listening on end to stories from Aunt Gertie who lived with us. Aunt Hazel and Aunt Evelyn who came over every day. Not so in this culture.  

But what I have seen and heard and felt, I want to record for your kids, my children's children whom I will not know as adults but only as children. And I'll never know their children either.  Wish I could hold them.  So, I am writing to those future adults whom I love fiercely.  Think about these things. You can only hold one thought or so in your mind at a time---they say we have up to 60,000 thoughts per day. These are God's thoughts for us. And, the thought from today's reading is this---let us not defy or defeat the Counsel of Heaven. Don't live in contempt of court---contempt of the Divine Will, contempt of this counsel of Noah.  

Maybe, I'm wrong in some ways.  Maybe, I'm right in some ways about spiritual things.  Bob said tonight at our favorite Mexican restaurant, "Christianity is very disruptive."  It is.  So many things I don't know.  I just know I deeply understand and believe and trust and follow my Creator. Nothing can snatch me out of His Hands---not my brother.  It would have already happened... .

PHOTO:  Santa Rosa Island where we've gone for the past several decades every tender June. A children's castle caught my eye. A fragile fortress because... Castles can crumble. Live for Him not for ourselves.

3 - "Live to Cover Not To Expose" Genesis 7-9

                           

                                                     

SHUTTERED. The Lord shut Noah in an ark for one year. Has the Lord "shut us in" to make us holy? Genesis 7:16. And when shut in my circumstances, do I live "to cover not to expose." Cover your family and friends with grace. Genesis 9:26.                                                                                  

Flooding from the worst engineering disaster in US history decimated 80% of my hometown of New Orleans and displaced every known living relative of my parents.  I never heard again from the handful of relatives.  Catalytic.  Catastrophic.

Noah never heard again from any of the thousands of people who died in the flood of his day---those who held evil intentions continually. Serious business here. 8 Survivors.  Noah lived because he found favor and walked with God---and he took his family with him.   

What would it be like to see your world fall apart in front of your ark window while you rocked safely on the untested waters for six months, crammed next to your questioning family and not-so-quiet thousands of animals---some commentaries say 16,000 in all.  An unbelievable story of faith in the midst of screaming deadly circumstances.  What things loom and look impossible to me this year?  Even this week!  "The Lord shut them in" ~ Genesis 7:16.  Has the Lord "shut us in" to make us holy?  

Brookie's family was shut in about one year when she carried her twins and birthed them into the world with such difficulties surrounding. Brookie walked by faith not sight and held fast in tight places. She still is. 2024 threw a couple of curve balls and she swung hard. Rising above her circumstances.Trusting God.  She's a pretty awesome human. 

May we know this day, we are a remembered tribe.  And that changes everything.  I hope I remember how much I want new eyes, new ears, a new voice.  And to be like the two brothers in Genesis 9:26 covering their father's shame.  Moving in to truly love. Wonder what that looks like in this life of ours?  I know it's not a safe dismissiveness.  No.  No cool distances.  Move to love. Live to cover not to expose. A blanket of grace. 

PHOTOS:  August 2020. Brooke carries twins. Bristol is not quite two. The babies arrive on Earth nine weeks early. 

2 - "The Morning Stars Still Sing" Genesis 4-6

PRESENT Ask yourself why you are angry, what's really going on with your responses? Why is your face sad? Genesis 4:6-7. What's going on within?                  

I bought loads of bargain furniture from the Bombay Outlet back in the day.  They knew me well.  I would always have three kids in tow for the quick look around the tiny bargain-of-the-century store.  I was trying to teach Barrett to be kind and Brooke to just talk in public.  As we left the store that January morning, I encouraged Barrett to say something kind to our friend, Shirley, behind the counter.  I was hoping for a "bye bye." With his quick  dimpled 5-year-old hand, he let the exit door slam, turned around immediately and said with great gusto:  "If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."  Genesis 4:6-7. "Oh, OK. That's interesting," replied Miss Shirley. I can still see her face. 

I've thought about her all these years.

I taught you three that verse because the one before it says: "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?" I wanted you to learn to deal with your own hearts and not everybody else's, especially your siblings. But, it's for me this morning. I'm waiting out a recovery from a freak fall on November 30th.  3 more X-rays today.  Still having awful spasms in my back and knees from the spill.  But more than what is happening physically, I need to look at my own heart, deal with my own stuff. And as I do ...  Things aren't as they appear.  And a tear falls.  I'm just not where I thought I would be in life or in soul or story or in friends.  So, I'll keep walking in that darkness, trusting, no light.  And I'll keep asking the same question the 3 Wise Men asked in Matthew 2---where is He? The North Star brought them to the Savior in a Manger.  The North Star sang. The Morning Stars still sing. Job 38:7---from that First Day of Creation to this very day.

My Prayer for today is for deliverance from what grabs your soul that is not right and good and just.  I've been more concerned about my body healing than my soul healing. Ask yourself the good questions: Why is my soul going limp?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     PHOTO: Brooke | Blair | Barrett circa 1986 A Sunday Morning. After Hope Church. Sitting on the swing at 4824 Kilpatrick Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas.  Our First House where the morning stars sang.  #counseling #counselyourself---whatisreallygoingonwithin 

1 - "Sounds of God" Genesis 1-3

SOUNDS OF GOD. Spoken by a Word, not for your curiosity, but for your soul to know this---There Is A Creator brooding over the burgeoning darkness and giving energy to a nascent world.    Listen for the sounds of God in your life. Genesis 1 #60000thoughtseveryday #1thoughtfortoday #talkingtomyself 

                                                        

God is Brooding over our very lives this very day. Genesis 1:2.                                                                Darkness was on the face of the deep.                                                                                                                                  

It's a soundless moment. Then, a Word Spoken and a Creation painted for us, not for our curiosity, but for our very souls to know this---There is a Creator. Genesis 1:3. And He knows you.                              

And once upon that blackness, that Creator moved over the burgeoning darkness and gave energy to a nascent world.  He brooded like a mama bird over its young, says the Hebrew commentaries.  And it was George MacDonald who alluded that we were then born in His Thoughts in that darkness. Beams of dazzling light began to unwrap, unravel, undo the chaotic mass. Creation. Man. And the sounds of God.   There is so much noise in this world. The grandkids really need to listen for God in their lives. 

The Creative Spirit of God is the principle of all life.  This is the only Center we have and know.  And He is still hovering over you and your life this new day, this brand new year.  I pray you may know deeply His moves, His hovering. Especially over your darkest spots. The dark nights have always been the hardest of times for me since my terrifying childhood. I perceived danger all around me. Even though I have matured greatly, there are dreaded nights that rip the skin off of me. But, as I have aged, I am more convinced than ever of God's providence and presence. This I know:  A Good God is brooding over all my nights and days. George MacDonald called it: "One Grand Providence--- if we just believe.

PHOTO:  30,000 feet above the Earth. A blanket of clouds covering Kansas City where God is brooding. Over 100 trips o Kansas City. God. May the Providence of God rule over all and be heard. Psalm 139:5.

#Godbroods #darknightofthesoul #counselyourself---whereareyou? #liveinthepresentmoment #wonder #soundsofGod

365 Thoughts

Reading the Bible cover to cover: Daily selections from the Old Testament and New Testament

#1 Wonder about Creation. Spoken by a Word, not for your curiosity, but for your soul to know this---There Is A Creator brooding over the burgeoning darkness and giving energy to a nascent world. Hear the sounds of God coming for you. Genesis 1:2 #60000thoughtseveryday #1thoughtfortoday #talkingtomyself 

#2 Ask yourself why you are angry, what's really going on with your responses? Why is your face sad? Genesis 4:6-7. What's really going on within? Who gets your anger?

#3 The Lord shut Noah in an ark for one year. Has the Lord "shut us in" to make us holy? Genesis 7:16. And when you come out of the ark - Live to "cover" not to "expose." Genesis 9:26.

#4 Don't live in contempt of court. It's not right to live to make a name for yourself." Genesis 11:4

#5 We are all headed to a heavenly country. What's the next stop along the way? Genesis 13:1. What is going on inside of you? 

#6 - You are a God of Seeing---my betrayal, my flight, my thirst, my hunger to be known, my desire to be loved, my hope for a child. Genesis 16:8   

#7 God opens swollen eyes---there is a well of water in grace. God rises on swollen souls. Genesis 18   #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself   

#8 “But I thought” —- we all have to wrestle in our hearts with the Truth. If it truly were a matter of the mind, we could change our minds. Genesis 20:11 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#9 What competes in our hearts for sovereignty? Open our ears to hear Your words. Open our eyes to see—-even in our wilderness. Open our hearts to embrace what You are doing in our lives. Genesis 22:1   #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself  

#10 Live loosely with the attachments to this life. Our chief concern always should be: With Whom shall we rise. Genesis 24:1  #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#11 Go to “The Well of the One Who Sees Me” and live in dependence on the right things. Genesis 25:11 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#12 Live with your longings, don’t bargain for a birthright like Jacob did. Genesis 26. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself                 

#13 Very well could be that God is in this place, and I know it not. Genesis 28:16 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

 #14 God never intended for us to be attached to anyone else but Him. Genesis 29:34. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#15 Lift your eyes as if to signal through future scores of generations: I am changed. I am both forgiven and forgiving. Genesis 33:5 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#16 Go back to the place where God answered you. Genesis 35:1. Find what is most alive in you. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself             

#17 - The worst thing is never the last thing. So, hold in your heart what God has already promised.  Genesis 37:5 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself       

#18 - The infamous Judah is chosen—-just like us—-by God’s grace, not by merit. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself         

#19 Even so, the Lord was with Joseph in prison. God is with us in our afflictions. Genesis 39:21 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself  

#20 We must not think it strange in this world if slights are returned for our kindness. Live content to prove yourself innocent—-don’t upbraid others with their guilt.  Genesis 40:23. 

#21 All things that are working against me will actually work for my good and the good of others. Genesis 42:36. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#22 Live in the humble beginnings where God has placed you. May we see that all what happens in our lives as from God—-it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:8 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself       

#23 Am I in the place of God? Genesis 50:19. Dare I usurp the prerogative of God. (Poole). The concourse of Providence directs my story. 

#24 God remembers to listen to our every moment. He sees and understands everything we face. Genesis 2:24 

#25 Can you answer him by heart when he calls your name: “Here I am.” Exodus 3:4 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#26 God trumped Moses with His Power—-Who made your mouth, Moses? Go. And God Himself will be with your words, Exodus 4:11-12

#27 Do we love success more than God? What about better circumstances? Moses’ thoughts in Exodus 5:23: “From the moment I spoke in Your Name, things have gotten worse.” How many times in a day do we think: if I do the right thing, then life is going to get better? #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself.        

#28 To live for this life bows our head to the temporal not the eternal. Exodus 9:3. You cannot live every day for one gold medal. Submit not knowing the outcome. The finger of God writes your story. Exodus 8:19.  But the Pharaoh still didn’t feel the wrongs in his “person.”

#29  No difference between princes and paupers. So, bow low to your Maker. God is doing something new here after 430 years. Exodus 12:1. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#30 Do we live on God’s terms or our own terms? When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them through the shortest way lest they might change their minds. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#31 God is never more present than in the depths of our problems. So, what is stealing my joy? Exodus 15:2, 5.

#32 Do we know God’s Presence only when things go right? God rains down hidden manna every single day of our lives. Exodus 17:7  #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#33 God wrote the Ten Commandments not to make us feel guilty but to lift us up to Himself. God wants to write his law on our hearts. We want to write it on our to-do lists. Exodus 20:20. Don’t be afraid. God has come to instill a deep and reverent awe within you. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#34 God’s words interpret us 2,000 years later for we are bound by an amazing debt to respond. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#35 Look through the clear lens of the Word of God and listen to the 66 books. Face yourself honestly —- it will do you more good than anything else.

#36 Make much of the tabernacle—-keep your lamps burning bright. Eternal flames. Do not be fixed on this world. The Gospel is a Person not a Place. Exodus 27:21 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#37 There I will meet with you and speak with you. Exodus 29:42. A new covenant. Here on This Day, I will meet with you and speak with you. To this very day, Christ lives to make intercession for His Church. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#38 Turn back to the finger of God written in His Word and hang on tight. Ask and Seek the favor of God in your perplexing difficulties This Day. Exodus 32:11 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself                    

#39 Tuck this thought under your pillow Tonight: “I will give you Rest.” Exodus 33:14. Sleep in peace. Rest in Him not in solving perplexities, not in connecting with a person or place. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself                          

#40 God is merciful when people tell us what’s wrong with us; when our friends swindle us; and when we are the self-swindlers. He is making sure that we know that. Exodus 34:6. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#41 God put in their hearts to work and it stirred them up in a wilderness. Exodus 35:34. What an exact work ethic! Do we approach our tasks this way? A debt of love not a debt of labor. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#42 The Divine light and fire then and now will overpower the strongest heads and hearts. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#43 Lives “curved in” (Augustine) on ourselves will focus on the smaller story of our lives from our birth to death—-and we will misunderstand everything that matters. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#44 Our daily offerings—-is it fulfilling to just check off the box? Our validation in life is that we answer God’s invitation. Leviticus 1:17. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#45 Leviticus reveals what is most wrong in our lives that blocks our joy.  Holiness.  We want God to solve our problems but we have a worst problem—-distance from God. Don’t keep your distance. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#46 Think about redeeming grace for the secret sins and the sins against humanity. Nothing can snatch us out of his redeeming grace. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#47 Look before you at your very steps. May we be found waiting and watching. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#48 Fire came out from the presence of the Lord. Aaron remained silent. Aaron held his peace. Lost boy of his boys in that fire.  #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#49 The Israelites were looking forward. We no longer look backwards. We have Him here. Partakers of the Divine Nature. God is engineering all things. Don’t be nurtured in accomplishments, achievements, and possessions. Give Thanks. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#50 All Done! All the regulations done. Done out of love for God. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself         

#51 Spiritual leprosy causes us to distance ourselves from our enemies and those who disagree but we must treat them as friends. How? #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#52 Am I more concerned about my relationship with God than I am with these rough circumstances trapping me in? #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#53 When did it become okay to work harder to be holy?” Leviticus 19:1 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#54 In the midst of the OT offerings, there is a “call to holiness,” that is lifted central in the lives of every Israelite and their community. Same for us: a call to holiness individually and collectively in America. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#55 We put God on trial every time we evaluate if He is good. God is not on trial; we are. God is the Judge. Humble your soul. Come to Him first all day long. Leviticus 23:27. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#56 So what’s the point of Leviticus. The laws were written for our instruction. So what did I learn that applies to my society? “Rest.” May we find true rest in God, not in the tangibles of life.  #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself    

#57 Moses was a prince in a grant. Marshalled in rank and file. Moveable. Pitch your tent and pressd on. Pressing on for the prize of Christ Himself and that future state of ours. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#58 Step into your calling even if the world might recognize you as returnable. Numbers 3:34. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#59 Every man carried out his work as assigned but never looked into his own heart. Numbers 4:49. They did what was right in their own eyes. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#60 God’s will is for me to become holy not to solve all my problems. Moses led 2 million on a trip of joy that should have taken 11 days not 40 years. Concerned more with comfort than holiness. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#61 Put God's Name on every face you meet. Numbers 6:24-26. The Lord bless you and keep you. Covers all your work here on earth. No conditions. May God lift His Face on you: a gracious movement of God toward you. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#62 The Lord matched their magnanimous offerings with his very own Audible Voice. Buechner says: If I see you, I experience you as an object in space. If I hear you, you bring me into the innermost secrets of who you are. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#63 God’s movement in our lives belongs to Him and His will for us. It may be quick like Jonah or years like Joseph. It is not for us to say. It is there for us to follow. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#64 Never try to live on old manna or replace it for better. Nor seek help in Egypt. “All must come from Jesus or you are undone.” Spurgeon #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#65 Caleb means “all heart.” A spirit of holy heat, noble daring. May God stir the heart of the un-Caleb people we live with. (Spurgeon). #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#66 The whole 2 million people in the community forgot what they just read. Numbers 16. Forgot the feeling of the ocean floor they just crossed. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#67 Does my happiness depend on others treating me well and things going my way? Numbers 17 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#68 Moses and Aaron against one million people. How do you know in your heart God brought you to this place and one million people do not know? #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#69 Moses and Aaron just did the same thing the one million Israelites had been doing. Do we think we have to protect God's reputation? Speak as you walk through life. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#70 It’s A Beautiful Thing when the Angel draws the line and God stands in our way and we look within and God opens our eyes. Numbers 22:31 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself        

#71 God let every male over 20 years old wander for 40 years and die. 603,548. Gone. They never looked deep enough inside to see what was terribly wrong in their own hearts. Caleb and Joshua walked away from a wildersness—-what did they see that half a million people did not see. Divine Power. Hope. Move forward and occupy. Numbers 26:65. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#72 If God answered all your prayers today, would it change the world or change you? Moses could no longer enter the Promised Land so he prayed, not for himself, but for the appointment of a worthy successor. Numbers 27:12-17. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#102 Last Words! Love the Lord your God and walk in His Ways and cling to Him with all your heart and soul. God Himself puts to flight a thousand for you. Joshua 22:5-6 #60000thoughts

#103 The stone will be a witness against you. It has heard all the words spoken. Joshua 24:27104 Am I more afraid of losing the blessings or losing my relationship with God?Am I more afraid of losing the blessings or losing my relationship with God? #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

#104  Something Worse than a difficult life. Something Worse than all this pain & suffering. Something Worse than all the bad things that happen to us. Am I more afraid of losing the blessings or losing my relationship with God? #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself                                

#105 The book of Judges is not about returning to God, finding God for the good life. This book is how our relationship with God is our greatest good. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself 

#106 Gideon was more than weak, beside himself in a predicament. The Presence of God, the Eternal Word of God comes to Gideon and is with you, too, this very moment. God is with you, O Mighty Warrior. Believe God. Judges 6:12. 

142 - The Messianic Presence is always "with" us. God's Eyes are watching us day and night. God hears every word, every tear, every cry, every plea.  #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

MATTHEW

Are you the One we've been expecting or are we still waiting in a prison cell? Matthew 11:3 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

To My Precious Sons & Daughters, This Is For You

Dear Sons and Daughters and Grandchildren, 

I am reading the Bible through this year and writing to you each day. It's really not about the principles to live by, it's all about the Living Word Whom I want you to know intimately. It's all about what God has done in my life and in yours. 365 stories of redemption and grace and love. Genesis to Revelation straight through. I've been reading through the Bible each year for the past 2 decades with friends. Nothing, nothing has helped me more to become who I am today than the Word. We average 60,000 thoughts per day. Talk to yourself from Truth. I am more emotional and pensive and overly-sensitive than most. I need to know how to truly live. It's the Word of God darting into our innermost thoughts. The shining of the Word into our darkest paths. Let the light rise in your heart and change you for eternity. I love you more than you will ever know. More than I could ever say. 

PHOTO:  November 2025. Celebrating Christmas. 

Dear Baby Girl,

I flew as fast as I could to get here.
All those glistening Thanksgiving lights outside of my airplane window.
Wondering who cares for all these 2.05 million people.
Anyone sitting down there alone tonight?
Landed and Scouring the faces of the holiday travelers.
Looking for your face in the Kansas City airport.
Immediately looking to see how big the baby is?

Seven days fly by.
Kept my one tote packed; Slept in fresh street clothes; Fixed any meal; Offered to buy aaaaa  Staring into all this Beauty.
A fresh brand new face of God.
This baby girl we wait to hold.

It's a boy! Ezekiel.

7 - "The First Prayer Recorded in the Bible" Genesis 13:4

Abram called on the name of the Lord.  Genesis 13:4 NIV

Abram trusted in the Unknown. Lot chose the earth to be good to him. 

6 - "Do Not Live to Make a Name for Yourself" Genesis 11:4

Come, let us build ourselves a city,

with a tower that reaches to the heavens,

so that we may make a name for ourselves.

Genesis 11:4 NIV

Unspoken pressure in our celebrity society exists to make a name for yourself.

5 - "Live to Cover Not to Expose" Genesis 9:23

"And Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders,                                                                                                            and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father;                                                                     and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.           Genesis 9:23 NIV

Live to cover not to expose.