Musings and Nuggets

                                         What do YOU see?                                                   (Ambiguous Illusion) Do you see an old woman with a large nose and protruding chin who seems to be looking down?   If so, you are correct!  However, if you see a young woman looking to her right with a choker (necklace) aound her neck, congratulations!  You are correct also!   How can both be correct  if we are all looking at the same picture?                                                                            What about this one?  Is it a picture of a pastel vase/pedestal or is it a  silhouette of two people almost nose to nose?  Perhaps its a picture a young woman looking at a mirrored silhouetted reflection of herself.  Again,  what you see depends on your perspective.   How can that be?  Pictures like these are call Ambiguous Ilusions.   The Oxford Dictionary defines "ambiguous" as "(of language) open to more thn one interpretation..."  It is becaus

                                  SHOULD I FOLLOW MY HEART?!                       For most of my life, I believed that if I followed my heart I would not/could not go wrong; that my heart would always lead me to make the right decisions.   However, when I read Jeremiah 17:9-10, I realized that what I believed was not Biblical at all.  Wow. The heart is deceitful above all things , And desperately wicked; Who can know it?  I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.  Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NKJV) According to The International Standard Bible Dictionary, deceit is "The intentional misleading or beguiling of another; in Scripture represented as a companion of many other forms of wickedness as cursing, hatred, theft, covetousness, adultery, murder". Matthew Henry's Commentary puts it this way.  "Those who trust in their own righteousness and strength, and think they can do without Christ,

  Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”   Acts 26:28 (NJKV) When the Jews were demanding that Paul (formally Saul) be killed, he was brought before King Agrippa so that he could defend himself and his actions.  Paul gave the king a rundown of his life from his upbringing in Jerusalem to God's call on his life since his conversion on the road to Damascus.   Paul did not allow the King's response to dampen his passion for obeying Christ's call on his life to take the good news to Jews and Gentiles "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me ( verse 18 )." Sometimes when we witness to others (especially those close to us), they may walk away being "almost persuaded" or even rejecting (you and) what you shared.   We cannot take it personally beause they a

                               The Ascension of Jesus Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.  While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.   Luke 24:50-51 (RSV)                                                                          It is surprising how many Christians are not aware that Jesus continued to minister for 40 days after He conquered death and was resurrected from the dead.   What we call "Easter" was by no means the end of His story. Jesus  continued to preach, heal, and teach in some of the places where He had ministered prior to His cruxification.  He was not a ghost or spirit.  He physically appeared to thousands.   One of His earlier appearances was to the two men/disciples whom He met walking on the road to Emmaus.  When they arrived,  He broke bread  (had a meal) with them.   (Luke 24:29-30)   Jesus foretold that He would eventually return to heaven to be reunited with the Father on