Matutinal

of, relating to, or occurring in the morning

The awakening - the dawning of a new day - like a cat stretching its limbs, I slowly open my eyes to the light. There was a time when I would jump, feet planted beside the bed and dash about in a panic ready for the multitude of errands, demands and commitments depending on the items scribbled on the calendar. But these days, I move much slower.

Time to pray, to meditate on my blessings, being thankful for each breath, the beating of my heart and that I can hear the tinkle of the wind chimes outside my window. Slowing down. Listening. Quiet. Moving into the day. What do we give our firstfruits of the morning to? Our time and attention can be given to distractions, busyness, worry or it can be used for precious moments with God.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3

In the bible, Jesus rose while it was dark, even after long and tiring days. In Mark 1:35: Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Perhaps we too can learn from Jesus. Other examples include, “Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.” (Genesis 19:27) In Exodus, God told Moses to rise in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Joshua, Gideon, David and Samuel are also examples of men who rose early to go into battle, cross the Jordan and listen to God’s voice. David tells us in Psalm 5:3 “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Starting the day positively can impact the rest of our day. It brightens our perspective; it gives us energy and it points us in the correct direction when we start with God’s Word, prayer and that matutinal positive habit. Let’s get off on the right foot and wish someone a Good Morning with a smile!

snatchy

adjective : done in or by snatches broadly : marked by breaks in continuity : interrupted, spasmodic

Life is never smooth; it’s the ride or the journey that takes us down bumpy roads at times. It snatches people from our hands. It eats away time, one bite at a time and it hits us with a sledgehammer at moments - interrupting our daily lives.

Snatchy usually applies to a vehicle’s performance with stops and starts; much like learning how to drive a standard or a stick shift for those of us who even know that kind of vehicle that is! But it can also involve interrupted conversations when someone butts in. It might be when the baby cries or the snoring interrupts our sleep. It could be the interruption when we are immersed in a novel or book, or It might even be the snort of someone blowing their nose that startles our thoughts.

But words do change in meaning over time. Shakespeare’s “husewife” was a hussy and even today the term, "housewife” has negative connotations of cleaning, laundry and cooking. Grass was green and a bit was something in a horse’s mouth. And so it is with snatchy. The Urban dictionary now defines the word as: inintentional trash talk in a sexual manner. That’s the world for us. Thankfully God’s Word stays true but there are many who want to distort God’s intentions.

That’s what the enemy does. He takes something that has one meaning and twists it to his evil intentions. For example, when Satan was tempting Jesus in the desert, he told him, “ If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. (Matthew 4:3) Satan knew full well that Jesus is the Son of God but he was hoping that Jesus’ hunger would cause him to cave in and eat. But Jesus replied with scripture and resisted the devil.

We could well learn from the many times Jesus was tempted. Using scripture and focusing on the authentic Word of God, allowed Jesus to rebuke Satan. How are we doing when it comes to resisting the devil Because if we do, scripture tells us, he will flee. When those evil, negative, hurtful thoughts come into our minds, we need to change our thinking.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4: 7-10

distinto

There is no question that in history, in biblical times or even today that people have been “set apart” by God for specific purposes in their lives. Paul, who was not one of the original apostles, or even Moses are examples of this from the bible, but individuals in our world demonstrate their calling.

In Romans 1: 1-2, the bible reveals, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God - the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” Paul went on to write a large portion of the New Testament and made a huge impact in the world then and today. When Moses was born, Hebrew babies were to be thrown into the Nile at birth, but Moses was saved by his mother who hid him and then Pharoah’s daughter rescued him. We know the story of his leadership and leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

Distinto is the Spanish word for “different”. When we become believers, we become different from the world. We are not of the world. God has saved us. We are called to live a holy life. “…not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” 2 Timothy 1:9

Unfortunately, many people “fall away” or become “like the world”. They lose their faith, abandon it or become weak by not progressing in their faith. They don’t spend time in the Word reading scripture, studying and learning more about the bible or even taking time to pray and draw closer to God.

There is the story of the boy who kept falling out of bed. Every day his parents would hear a thump, go into his room and put him back to bed. This continued until one day his dad asked him why he kept falling out of bed. The boy simply replied, “because I stay too near to the “getting-in” side." And that’s like the Christians or believers who choose to “stay where they are” and never move on.

And so I challenge you to be the salt, be the light and be the difference in a dark world. Read the Word, pray fervently and rejoice that you have been chosen for such a time as this.

Taradiddle

Whether it is a petty lie or pretentious nonsense, no sane person in politics or in any manner of office should make up such a taradiddle. And yet, as we head to the election polls to cast our votes, we are reminded of the divisive lines that are drawn between people, parties and provinces. We are believing that our government can save us from our predicaments, problems and past.

We like to think of ourselves as being honest, but if you check the statistics, everyone is a liar. According to researchers, the average person lies at least once or twice a day. Just think about these questions:

Have you ever given someone a compliment that wasn’t genuine? Have you every told another person that you were great when you were really suffering from health, relationship or other issues and having a horrible day? Lastly, have you ever told a person you were too busy just to avoid talking to them or doing something with them? If the answer was “yes” to even one of these questions, then you are a liar.

Proverbs 19:9 tells us that, “a false witness will not go unpunished and he who breathes out lies will perish.”

If you suspect someone might be lying to you but aren’t sure, an easy way to find out is to ask him or her “Why?” questions. “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” Proverbs 6: 16-19

Let’s be honest and know that the only way to the truth is through Jesus.

insouciance

There are people who are night-owl naysayers hooting about the latest trends. Some are day-break blabberers beaking off about some issue. And then there are the insouciance individuals.

We all have a community of family and friends who have radically divergent thoughts about our world today. The naysayers might believe that the chaos, craziness and confusion of our world will end soon with Satanic forces at full play. The blabberers think that life is awesome and plagues like greed, disease and discourse consume humanity but will be over by WEF’s 2030 agenda. We are caught between miracles and messes.

Then there are the casual, lack of concern crowd; the “insouciances” where matters don’t seem to matter when in fact they do! We have arrived at the arena where opinions get shared like soup at supper. Voices are raised above the noise over every issue, on various platforms and people get shut down, shouted out and shouted at.

We are all part of the immense network but our relationships have become disconnected, short circuited or neglected from what really matters in this life. Perhaps it’s time to leave indifference, not be hypnotized by social comments and opinions. It’s time to get back into nature, kick the shoes off or even hug a tree. By taking in God’s beauty and the simpler things, we might reconnect with our inner self - connect with the Holy Spirit and listen or pray that our apathy is left in the woods, buried under a bush and forgotten when we return to a world where relationships matter.

The bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us, direct us, comfort us and mentions other references to the power of the Holy Spirit. He teaches, instructs, strengthens, frees us, renews us, empowers and unites us. We are sealed, given access to the Father and producing fruit in us. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts, testifies of Jesus and even enables us to wait and cast out demons! The Holy Spirit is mentioned over 90 times in the New Testament!

So let us not be insouciant, but ask the Holy Spirit to convict us as believers.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26

shevah

Lucky number 7 has many connections and representations and has been significant in ancient times and today. In numerology, the union of number 4 (physical or body) with number 3 (spiritual or soul) is particularily interesting when considering number 7. It was considered important in the wizarding world as well as religiously. In the New Testament the number seven symbolizes the unity of the four corners of the Earth with the Holy Trinity.

In Hebrew, the one number that is spiritually significant in the Torah is the number 7. She’vah, which is also the word for “oath”, relates the idea of spiritual submission to God’s will, even though the number is associated with luck. Our short term memory can retain 7 numbers adequately.

The number 7 also indicates completion. In Leviticus 23, God ordains the 7 Holy seasons that the Israelites are to keep and observe. (70 days) God also created the earth in 7 days. There are 7 days in a week and 52 days, or (5+2=7) a year and 7 years in a Jubilee.

The number 7 also represents Judgement. It’is something no one these days really wants to talk about and yet in the book of Joshua, God commanded Joshua to march around the walls of Jericho once, every day for six days and then 7 times on the 7th day. The city was to be attacked using this strategy. Seven priests were instructed to blow the trumpets and as they marched with the Ark of the Covenant in front of them and all the people behind the Ark of the Covenant, the walls fell.

There are countless references to the number 7 in the bible. Jesus even mentions the number 7 in Matthew 12:45 when refering to evil spirits: “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

And so, the next time you see a number 7, be reminded of She ‘vah and submitting to God’s will; not just the lucky digit.