King David cheated with a married woman; and when he found out she was pregnant, he murdered her husband.

 

God knows everything about us. Everything. Period. Before we were even born, he knew everything we’d ever think, say or do.

 

That includes me. It also includes the Obama, Clinton, and Trump families.

 

So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David (the king) this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor.

 

The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle.

 

The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.

 

One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”

 

David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!

 

He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

 

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.

 

I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.

 

Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.

2 Samuel 12:1-9

 

But years before that happened…

 

…God removed Saul (the king) and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

Acts 13:22

 

I serve an improbable God. He loves the Obama, Clinton, and Trump families. I am praying for the same.

This morning I told Sonia, my trainer, that I wished her voice could just follow me home and talk while I’m exercising.

 

One of my goals is to develop new muscle memory, but I’m not there yet. Sonia always explains and demonstrates—using correct form and posture—a brand new exercise for me. Then she’ll say, “And now it’s your turn.”

 

I rarely manage to do it right the first time, but she watches and instructs me while I try. Her words help me move from wrong to right positions; and once that happens, my muscles can feel the difference. I’m gaining strength and improving my balance.

 

Our conversation this morning reminded me of something from my years as a mental health counselor. Oftentimes a client would say, “I could hear your voice in my head this last week,” and believe me, I was always curious to hear what they’d remembered.

 

The words I’d like to hear from Sonia, when I’m exercising at home, are the same things she repeats every time I work out: engage your core, straighten your chest, keep your feet straight, your booty out, and your knees behind your toes. Basic things that help improve my form and protect me from injury.

 

The words my clients remembered were usually things I’d also said repeatedly: stop your worry thoughts, journal, get some exercise, eat enough protein, and pray. Basic things that help build mental and emotional muscles.

 

It was a simple process in my thoughts this morning to leap from physical to mental/emotional to spiritual muscles—because I want the very same thing from the Lord. I want his voice to go with me—to grow my strength and improve my balance.

 

Some things I’ve been learning: the more I do basic stuff like reading his word—the more his voice goes with me; and the more I pray—the better I can hear him.

 

My joy is growing deeper.

 

I love to walk and pray early in the mornings—usually with camera in hand. Several weeks ago I discovered a flower garden adjacent to some wooded paths I often walk. I enjoy all the plants and always smile at God’s happy colors; but my favorite is a salmon-peach-pink-with-a-touch-of-yellow floribunda rose called “Colorific”. It has an old-fashioned prettiness that glows when the early morning sun reaches it; but its invisible beauty is what pulls me—a wonderful fruity fragrance that reminds me of roses that grew around our patio when I was child.

 

Yesterday I cut my flower admiration time short though when the gardeners showed up to spray with who-knows-what. I crossed the creek back to the wooded trails and then an interesting thing happened over the next hour’s walk. Periodically I’d smell the roses I’d left behind on the other side of the creek—not a tiny I-think-I-just-got-whiff-of-that, but a strong repeated several-deep-breaths-worth of that wonderful fruity fragrance. I smiled—every single time.

 

Since 2014, I’ve been repeatedly reading through my Bible. Last month, I almost didn’t begin again at the beginning, but now I’m really glad I did. This is my fourth trip through its pages and God’s been honoring my request to show me things I’ve never noticed before.

 

I told Mason, age 10, last week that I’d just learned how God smells. His response was “REALLY? FOR REAL?”

 

Yep. In Chapter 30 of Exodus, God shares the recipe for his personal anointing oil and incense. Mason and I think it’s really cool that all the ingredients are readily available; and we’ve ordered them so we can smell for ourselves.

 

God’s Holy Anointing Oil Ingredients:

 

Myrrh – slightly earthy, black licorice scent

Cinnamon – sweet, spicy-hot scent

Calamus – buttery, nutty, soft and sweet scent

Cassia – pungent, warm, earthy, spicy scent

Olive oil – fresh cut grass

 

God’s Holy Incense Ingredients:

 

Resin droplets – aromatic fresh woodsy scent – sap from the balsam tree

Mollusk shell – mild, fresh scent (may instead be onycha – a combination of labdanum and benzoin – which produces the scent of Ambergris. In the OT the mollusk was an unclean animal)

Galbanum – musky, intense green scent

Frankincense – piney, lemony, sweet, woody scent

 

Directions:

 

Blend the spices together and sprinkle them with salt. Grind into a very fine powder.

 

Now God very clearly spelled out to Moses that these blends were holy and to be reserved only for His use. They were for consecrating his wilderness Tabernacle and worship implements. He said that anyone who replicated them for personal use was to be cut off from the community.

 

I stopped reading at those words and pondered; and then I remembered the literal physical earth-shaking change that occurred when Jesus ripped the Temple curtain from top to bottom:

 

Time pivoted from the old to the new; and God offered his very own Holy Spirit to dwell within us in these faulty physical tents we inhabit. The Creator of the universe offered eternal intimacy to His creation.

 

I believe God is pleased when we want to know him better; and I can hardly wait to smell his favorite scent.

 

 

A formally trained Bible scholar, I’m not; I’m just a reader, observer, and learner of scripture and current events. I’m not a prophet or a seer; I’m just fascinated to view the news through the lens of scripture. I’m not a date setter; I’m just a season-watcher. And I’m thrilled when I see new archeological discoveries that offer even more physical proof of the Bible’s veracity.

 

That said, I’m extremely interested to see current news stories reporting that the three major religions of the world—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity—are all expecting their Messiahs to appear soon.

 

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/75707/cataclysmic-star-nibiru-causing-extreme-weather-events-rabbi/#pqoDgBvV0e3za1o5.97

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/03/isil-prepares-for-apocalyptic-showdown-of-muslim-and-christian-a/

 

http://christinprophecy.org/articles/jesus-is-coming-back-very-soon/

 

It appears that there’s a major criss-cross collision coming; and it’s an excellent time to know that what you choose to believe is, indeed, the truth:

 

 

For false messiahs and false prophets

 

will rise up and perform great signs and wonders

 

so as to deceive,

 

if possible,

 

even God’s chosen ones.

Matthew 24:24

Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

 

“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem,

 

a firm and tested stone.

 

It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.

 

Whoever believes need never be shaken.

Isaiah 28:16

If you confess with your mouth

 

that Jesus is Lord

 

and believe in your heart

 

that God raised him from the dead,

 

you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

 

 

Amen.