Be Courageous Be Bold Hebrews 4:16

Its dawn, morning is breaking and I see it…

A sunbeam rests upon it, laying there in the familiar spot

The book…

Read from cover to cover, pages worn and written upon

Tear stains of memories and prayers, some answered, some still to be…

in my mama’s bible…

I watched her read it many times; her heart restored, as she kept the words of life

This Holy book is full of mysteries, stories that live in pages of red, black and

white…

Morning, noon, and night and even in between…

She read God’s word; would quote it, and tell you what it means…

Better than a pill you take, and certainly more satisfying;

The bread of life is sown upon, the pages, even when dying…

Oh beautiful are the feet of those, who spread the gospel message

Prophets and saints of old, died to give us passage…

Into the texts we read this book, wanting and longing, for just another look

Words of wisdom scribbled on edges, of my mama’s bible…

Nothing dearer, could she have given,

Than her old tattered bible, when she went to heaven…

A legacy of life is felt, as I watched her, at her bedside, when she knelt

Praying and reading her bible…

Help me God to do the same, this I pray in Jesus name…

I’ll keep reading mama’s bible.

~Marla Shaw O’Neill December 28, 2015©

2 Timothy 2:15 King James Version (KJV) –  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I’m Here

Afraid and alone I face my foe

Fear grips my heart in this valley of woe…

Spirit rises within my soul

I grip the hand of God…

Voice rising in spirit song…

He hears His language as I hold on…

Touches and heals all that is wrong…

Fear vanishes…

Doubt is gone…

Touched by the hand of God…

By Marla Shaw O’Neill December 25, 2015©

Mark 5:34 New Living Translation (NLT)
34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

 I Save A Seat for You

I’ll meet you in the morning light
When the sun is shining and the sky is blue
Work all done, play complete
Come on, I saved a seat for you
Then we’ll see all the ones we’ve missed
While on the earth below
Singing songs of mercy to heaven as we go…
Amazing grace how sweet the sound…is heard here all year round
Unheard music and melodies fills the renewed soul…
With peace and joy that’s found here, more precious than has ever been told

You see,
When Jesus came to Bethlehem, lived, then died on Golgotha’s hill
A sealed tomb, they thought would keep him, and it did until…
He rose in victory, the Son of God, He loved us then, He always will
We’ll all be going home one day, what joy will then be given
To all the ones whose hearts are right because they’ve been forgiven!
The sky is blue, with clean fresh air, sun is shining…I’ll meet you there!

By Marla Shaw O’Neill December 23, 2015©

1 Corinthians 2:8-10New Living Translation (NLT)
8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”[a]
10 But[b] it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

(The oldest tree in the world is a Great Basin bristle cone pine (Pinus longaeva) in the white mountains of California in Inyo National Forest. This gnarled old tree has been named Methuzelah and is estimated to be about 4,845 years old, which dates back to roughly the same time period as Noah’s ark. The exact location of the tree is kept a secret to protect the tree from the public though it looks similar to the pictures shown here.)

Moments fly like snow drifts in the wind…

Vibrant, glistening, fresh and new

Then melted to begin again…

The eyes blink

A generation extinct

Yet stays in memories then fade…

Cycling, God, made!

–Marla Shaw O’Neill, December 8, 2015

Adam, the first man, lived to be 930 years old (Genesis 5:5). Seth was 912. Five generations later, God took Enoch when he was 365 (Genesis 5:24). Enoch’s son, Methuselah, died at 969 (Genesis 5:27). Methuselah’s grandson Noah, ten generations after Adam, lived to be 950 (Genesis 9:29).

All of these men were born and lived many years. But after the Flood, life spans dropped. Why? That’s a good question. Noah’s son Shem lived to be 600 (Genesis 11:10-11). The next three generations died in their 400s (Genesis 11:12-19). But six generations later, Abraham lived to be 175. So, Adam was 930; ten generations later, Noah was 950; ten generations later, Abraham was 175 (Genesis 25:7). One can only imagine…maybe it was because their physical bodies were still close enough to the Garden’s influence and God’s provision of food and water that death was slower coming. No one really knows. It would be an interesting study.

But like that old serpent who whispered in Eve’s ear, “Surely you won’t die.” He caused just enough doubt in Eve that she forgot about her loyalty to God. And taking a bite, die she did. Physically and spiritually…only through the blood of Jesus can we be restored to eternal life. Will you listen to that old serpent whisper in your, ear? Or will you choose to listen to God? I choose Jesus, he is the way the truth and the life!

(Worldwide, the average life expectancy at birth was 71.0 years (68 years and 6 months for males and 73 years and 6 months for females) over the period 2010–2013 according to United Nations World Population Prospects 2012 Revision,^[3] or 70.7 years (68.2 years for males and 73.2 years for females) for 2009 according to)
[The World Factbook.]
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