God morning Zebras,

One more trash story. 

The reason Gary and I have so much trash is because God has given us the directive to prepare the house for ministry.  With that in mind we are going through every room, looking at everything through “God’s eyes” and getting rid of anything that can’t be used for His glory.    

Which means we need to get rid of anything that was a past obsession, as well as anything that has served its purpose and needs to be passed on.  He is telling us that to be ready to embrace what’s next we need to get rid of “what was.”

But since He gave us all this stuff, we also have the obligation to get rid of it in the way that honors Him.

On Sunday, I found something that I knew I should shred, but I was lazy so I balled it up and threw it in the trash.  Of course, God gave me no peace about the situation until I went outside yesterday and dug it out of the trash.     

If God gives me no peace until I dispose of trash in a way that honors Him, why do we think we will ever have peace until we treat with the honor and respect the greatest gift God has given us which is gift of the Holy Spirit?

2 Timothy 1:6–7 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

We could have everything, the power of the living God directing and guiding our every step, watching over us, protecting us, providing for our every need, but instead we settle for baubles and trinkets and the dubious honor of independently providing for ourselves.

American’s are proud people, stuff rich and Spirit poor and that isn’t going to change until we change what we value.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I didn't really have a post this morning but a Zebra sister sent me this-and it is perfect. I have found coloring a great way to be still before God.

Of course to do that you have to be able to control your mind and focus on God and not your problems. If you just sit there and think about yourself you will be no closer to God than when you started and you will be coloring just like the world.

I use the time to memorize verses and pray and God has used the pictures I have colored in ways I won't even try to explain.

Love,
Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Sorry for the late post, but I needed to take care of something before I could write.

For reasons, unrelated to this post Gary and I have a lot of garbage this week.  Garbage Day is Wednesday and our bin and most of our downstairs trash cans are already full. And the trash keeps coming.  Yesterday we decided to use the bins of our neighbors who are on vacation.

We couldn’t find the bin of the people we know the best, people we always trade favors with, so we dumped our trash into the bin of a neighbor we barely know. 

But before we did I checked around to make sure that they wouldn’t be home before trash day. I didn’t want them to know I was using their bin without permission.  My source said they thought they were gone for another week.  They were wrong.

Last night at 1:30 am I woke up to the sound of them unloading their suitcases and all I could think was “I’ve been caught!” When I finally went back to sleep, I had nightmares the rest of the night about being a thief.

Of course, I was a thief before they got home, but now I was a thief who was going to get caught! So, this morning I had to sneak over and take my trash back.

Robbing space in a trash can seems like a very small crime considering what others do, but “others” aren’t our standard. Our standard is God’s Word and I broke the 8th and the 10th commandment.

Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or ANYTHING that belongs to your neighbor.” (even their empty trash cans)

Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal.”

I coveted the empty space in their trash bin and then I sent Gary out to steal it. A "small sin," but still a sin, and one that needed to be dealt with because the Bible is very clear, there is no such thing as a “small sin.”

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Which makes me grateful that God loved me enough not to let me get away with it.

Hebrews 12:5–6 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

And since I don’t want to add "lying by omission" to my “list of accomplishments” I have already resolved to tell them what I did and ask for forgiveness.

Love,
Jill

Funny end note: When I took back my trash, I had to take theirs too so I ended up worse off than I was.

Good morning Zebras,

I love you.

Years ago, God had me wrestle with a disturbing truth.  Can Satan use believers to discourage others from doing what God has called them to do?  Unfortunately, the answer is “Yes.”

Matthew 16:22–23: And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

People who have in mind the things of men often come in conflict with people who have in mind the things of God.

Acts 21:11–14: Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done. ”

Men will tell you to be practical and validate your desire to consider your own needs, but God will tell you that you can walk on water and the only person you need to be concerned about is Him.  He will also tell you, you can’t do both.

Galatians 1:10: “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

1 Corinthians 4:2–4: “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.”

If you want to live a life like Paul’s, a life that honors God and impacts others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shaking free of the opinions and advice of men is the first thing you must do.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Happy Saturday!

I have decided there are three ways to spend my time.  I can spend my time feeding the Spirit, grieving the Spirit or coasting along in neutral.  And yesterday I resolved to spend even less time in neutral because God showed me every moment spent not pursuing Him is a moment I’ve lost.

Of course, the great news is lots of “neutral things” can be done in a way that honors God-if you will only put Him first.  We focus so much on the “eating and drinking” in this verse that we forget the verse really says, “whatever we do, we should do for the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

I love you Zebras and I’m praying God will help me become a person who is completely missing both reverse and neutral.  A person whose only option is to go forward and the only question that remains is: “How fast will I go?

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you and I enjoyed the questions on my post about the “Holy Spirit” walking poles.

Linda wrote: “I have never heard of them. Where did you get them?”

That’s a question I get a lot, lots of people have never heard of using walking poles to aid in walking.  Just like lots of people haven’t heard about the Holy Spirit as a personality that lives inside of us, whose presence can be felt and who empowers us to live the life that honors God.

When Paul asked the men in Ephesus if they had received the Holy Spirt when they believed they responded, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”  But they didn’t have to ask how to get Him because as soon as Paul saw the need, he took care of it.

Acts 19:4–6: Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”  On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.  When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

A few days later Jo asked if one walking stick would work.  Honestly, I don’t know.  When the doctor recommended them he suggested two, but they were expensive so I tried buying just one.  But it didn’t really work for me, it made me feel lopsided, in order to get the results I wanted, which was to take pressure off my hips and knees, I had to break down and buy two. 

And although Jo’s question was about walking sticks, God used it to remind me that if I want my life to have the results I’m praying for, I need to follow His instructions to the letter.

God says we are to die to our old self and live only for Him and we say, “How about half?” “I’ll keep the best parts of my old life and give up the rest.”  But partial obedience is what got Saul rejected as king.  The story is recorded in 1 Samuel 15: 1-35.

1 Samuel 15:1–3: Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so, listen now to the message from the Lord.  This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.  Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

Saul had very clear instruction from Samuel to destroy everything but he didn’t.

1 Samuel 15:9: But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good.  These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

And because of that he lost the kingdom.

1 Samuel 15:27–28: As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore.  Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.

So, thanks Jo for asking the question, God used you to remind us all that nowhere in the Bible is half-hearted obedience to Jesus Christ ever considered enough.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

For the past few days I’ve been having trouble with my printer, I thought it was broken until it printed something for Gary and then I knew the problem was me.  So, I set about figuring out what I was doing wrong.  It turned out the printer and my computer weren’t connected properly.

Personally, I think a “poor connection” is also why we don’t look like the men and women we read about in the New Testament.  We want to blame others, but the truth is the problem probably lies with us.

John 15:4: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

I love you Zebras and I know I keep saying the same thing, but nothing is more important than the connection you have with God and that connection is only as strong as you make it.  Power like Paul’s comes at a price.

Philippians 3:8–11: “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

My mom invited me to share any insights or stories God gave me, so here's something that happened yesterday.

As you may know, I live and teach at a Christian school in South Korea, and volunteer with Awana Korea.

After a busy weekend serving with Awana Korea, my voice started going out, and yesterday it almost died on me completely.

I'm currently reading a book called "Intercessor" about an amazing man of God named Rees Howell. In the book, Howell worked at a coal mine all day, then worked at the mission center he started or did home visits every night. And he still found time to pray two hours a day!

I was inspired, but also frustrated- all I wanted to do was teach during the week and then help Awana on the weekends, but just that made my voice go out. How could Howell have had the energy to mine coal and serve God 18 out of 24 hours a day?!

I prayed that God would give me that kind of energy to serve Him with.

As I was waiting on the subway platform yesterday evening, I was reading "Intercessor". Suddenly a temptation came to me to instead watch a show I'd downloaded from Netflix- a comedy show that is not particularly God-honoring.

I knew it would quench my Spirit if I watched that show, and I remembered that one of the first things Howell did when he started his amazing journey with the Spirit was to abstain from all worldly entertainment. So I decided to keep reading and not watch the show.

Less than 2 minutes later two Korean young women came up to me and started chatting with me in Korean. I managed to croak out that I worked at a Christian school, and one girl had to define "Christian" to the other, so at least one of them was not a believer.

They were doing a survey of 20-30 year olds, and asked me to write my life motto down on the little card they had. I struggled for a moment on how to express what I wanted to say in Korean, but God brought to mind the grammar I needed, so I wrote "하나님 위해서 살 고 싶어요"- - "I want to live for God".

My train arrived, so we said goodbye. The two girls were smiling from ear to ear, and seemed affected by the interaction.

I, too, felt incredibly blessed. God had given me an opportunity to share the gospel, the very thing I wanted to do, without having to say a word! How cool is that?!

I thought of the verse,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 
(2 Corinthians 12:9)

When we are weak or sick, it's easier for others to see that all the power comes from God alone. And we don't suffer for no reason- we do so in order that Christ's power can rest on us. I love that!

I learned two things from this interaction. First, God always equips us to do what He's called us to.

Later, it occurred to me that if I had chosen to watch the show and put my headphones in, the girls might not have come up to talk to me. So the second thing I learned was that God gives us opportunities when we obey Him.

Dear Zebras, sharing the simple gospel vision with those girls was way better than watching any show. Let's live in Christ's power and obedience, watchful for the opportunities God has for us.

Your fellow Zebra,
Katherine

Good morning Zebras,

Last week I realized I needed to start over on my Personal Training course.  I had gone too quickly through the first few chapters and I didn’t learn them well enough to understand the more difficult materials I am trying to learn now so I needed to stop and go back and relearn the foundational truths.

At first, I thought I didn’t have time, I thought I had to take the test in August, so I was going to push through anyway, do my best, fail and schedule a retake.  And even if by some miracle I passed I was still going to go back and relearn the basics because I knew I didn’t understand them well enough to help others.

But this morning I found out I can schedule the test for November which gives me plenty of time to go back and learn it right, which is very encouraging to me because it repeats a successful pattern from the past.  Go back, start over, emerge stronger.

Years ago, God showed me my faith wasn’t strong enough to help others.  Heck, it wasn’t even strong enough to help me.  The only thing that made me different from a nonbeliever was that I went to church and Bible Study and spent a lot of my free time “working for God.”  I was the third soil, an immature believer with pathetic fruit.

As you know, in the parable of the four soils, the seed is always the same but the crop changes based upon the soil.  But the really cool thing God showed me is that He can change the condition of the soil.  We choose to be the third soil, we can just as easily choose to be the fourth, all we need to do is put Him first.

Luke 8:14–15: “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.  As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

Mark wrote it this way: “And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

I love you Zebras, there’s nothing more important than the foundational truths you are building on and the condition of your soil.  Don’t assume either are good, instead use the guide that Jesus laid down and honestly inspect your own “fruit.”

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Years ago, I started walking with walking poles and because of them I can walk faster than most people I come across.  Every time someone comments on how quickly I walk, I always give the credit to the poles.  I jokingly call them my Holy Spirit poles because they help me walk faster.

The other day was the first time someone ever accused me of cheating, he jokingly said, as I passed by “Hey, that’s not fair, you’re peddling too.” In a “sport” where everyone just uses their legs and lower body strength I chose to “cheat” and increase my speed by using my upper body too.

But it isn’t cheating, it’s just smart.  Why should I settle for using half my muscle groups when I can use them all?

Funny thing is, I love these poles, they have changed the way I walk and I am always encouraging people to give them a try.  But almost no one does.

This morning as I zipped around the park, I was thinking about God, my poles and that man’s comment. The reason they aren’t cheating is because they are available to anyone who wants to spend the money, look foolish, and dedicate the time to learning to use them.

Just like the real Holy Spirit.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Oswald today:

“It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God…For thirty-three years Jesus laid down His life to do the will of His Father.

And then he cites the perfect verse for yesterday’s z-mail.

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Day by day laying our lives down for others, that is what Jesus did that is what He expects from us.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Recently God as shown me there are two types of Obedience. 

The first type is the kind offered to the Israelites.  Obey Me and I will bless you.

Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.

The second type is the obedience that is modeled by Jesus and the Disciples.  Obedience that resulted in suffering for them but blessings for others. 

Acts 20:24 However, I (Paul) consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

There is a difference between obeying because God will bless you or the people you love and/or for the praise of men and obeying because your obedience will please God, bless others and possibly make your life worse.   

Acts 9:15–16 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

God called Paul and told him he would suffer, I think that may be the teaching we are missing.  Following Jesus is wonderful but the joy is not really related to the things of the world. It is related to having a clear conscious before God and the constant awareness of being used by the Holy Spirit.

You don’t need the Holy Spirit to obey when you benefit, even nonbelievers can do that. But that really isn’t the job description. The job is to obey as Jesus did. (Honestly, there are so many supporting verses for that thought, it was impossible to pick one.)

I love you Zebras, may God give us all hearts to obey not for what we can get, but for the greater joy of being used. This world is not our home-let’s act like it.

Love,

Jill 

Good morning Zebras,

One of the great joys of getting older has been thinning eyebrows.  Every morning I have to draw them on.  Sometimes they go on right the first time, but sometimes they are too dark and need to be blotted and sometimes they are crooked and need to be redrawn and sometimes the eyebrow pencil doesn’t seem to be enough and I must get out my eyebrow kit to finish the job.

But I usually persevere until they are acceptable.

That is how you need to look at quiet time.  It doesn’t need to be the same everyday-some days you will need a longer time and sometimes God gives you what you need right away-and sometimes you need more than just the Bible to hear what He is saying.

That’s where devotions and good books come in.  Oswald and Tozer are my two favorites.

But the key is to learn to let Him lead.

And then, just like I check periodically check a mirror to make sure my eyebrows haven’t rubbed off, do a spiritual self-check throughout the day. 

Stop and check in to see if everything still “looks good” and when you feel the love, joy, peace etc. start to wane take time to stop and redraw your "eyebrows" before they are completely gone.

I love you Zebras, so much and I pray you have a wonderful day. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Well it’s done.  The four videos are “cleaned up” and posted publicly on the Zebra Ministry YouTube channel where they can be found by anyone who is searching for God. (The older videos have been taken down.)

Those videos represent seven and a half years of my life sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning who He is. If my life was school-these would be my final project.  And it was encouraging to me to see how much He has taught me.

I’m not the same person who looked at that list of attributes at my first retreat in January 2010 and realized they meant nothing to me because they didn’t impact my life. It was also encouraging to read them over and over again trying to get a good take (I read sovereign way over twenty times) and letting the truths sink in even deeper.  Knowing God is the key-and you can never know Him “well enough”-there is always more to learn.

And finally, the videos were a family effort, Gary Katherine and Nick all helped, which was wonderful and an answerer to prayer.  Doing ministry with my family is my favorite thing.  But the bigger prayer is that somehow God will use these videos to positively impact His Kingdom.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

The last post about the movie.

When the tension started escalating in Israel and it became obvious Egypt was planning on attacking people started fleeing Israel.  The commentator said so many people left they wanted to put a sign in the airport, “Last one to leave Israel turn out the lights.”

I was reminded of the scene out of John where many of Jesus’ disciples turned back when the teaching got hard.  (John 6:60-69)   

John 6:66: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

In many places Jesus’s teaching is hard. 

It’s easy to follow Jesus when thing is going well, just like it was probably cool to live in Israel until the war came.  But I can speak from personal experiences it is also easy to turn back when things start getting tough, if your faith in Jesus Christ isn’t well grounded.   

Just like the people fled Israel when war was looming, the Bible says those who do not have roots grounded in the truth, of who God is, will fall away in a time of testing.

Matthew 13:20–21: “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.”

There is nothing more important to our Christian walk than knowing who God is.  And the evidence we have a solid foundation, built on an accurate view of God, is obedience. 

Matthew 7:24–27: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

The rain is going to come, now is the time to make sure your house can withstand the storm.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

The second thing I liked about the movie “In Our Hands” was right at the beginning.

Every year Israel celebrates their Independence Day.  The day Israel was officially declared a state in 1948.  On the same day, the Muslim countries observe a day of mourning.

When Israel was made a state, the city of Jerusalem was not part of the territory they were given, it was controlled by Jordan which is why there’s a Mosque on the Temple Mount.  Israel took back Jerusalem in the Six Day War.

When the movie started it showed the streets of Israel filled with people celebrating. Everyone was joyful and happy because Israel had a home.  Then they cut to a Rabbi who was explaining to his students why he couldn’t celebrate.  According to the movie he gave this lecture just a few weeks before the war started.

He could not celebrate, he said, because he saw the events through the eyes of Scripture, he saw that giving away their Holy Land was something to mourn.  They should not celebrate what they had been given instead they should be mourning what they had lost because they’d lost the land given to them by God.   

I felt his tears because I see God’s people settling and living everyday with far less than God has promised to His people.

We are like the Israelites lapping the desert too afraid to really trust God and go into the Promised Land.  Instead we live with one foot in the world and one foot with God, never realizing by doing that we displease God and rob ourselves of His peace.

James 4:4–10: You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?  But he gives us more grace.  That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  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.

Maybe if we humble ourselves before God, live like we believed Jesus when He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” and pray for the revival we so desperately need, God will do a miracle for us give us back what we have lost, our high view of God.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

As I shared Gary and I went to see “In Our Hands” the other night.  There were two parts I really liked.

First the Prime Minister of Israel did not go to war when everyone told him to.  According to the movie he did not want to go to war until it was obvious to the world that Israel had done all they could to avoid it.  If they went to war too quickly, he said, they would turn the opinion of the world against them.  So, they waited.

They waited again before they entered Jerusalem.  They had the city surrounded but the man in charge would not give the order to invade.  It seemed to frustrate the men, but when they were finally allowed to go in God had gone before them and emptied the city of the enemy because unbeknownst to them the Jordanian army had pulled out of Jerusalem.

Both times, it would have been so easy for the movie to give God the credit.

The Prime Minister waited because he thought he should-maybe God told him to.  And they never gave a reason why Moshe Dayan would not allow the troops to go into Jerusalem.  Maybe it was because he too was told by God to wait.

Waiting is huge with God.  It allows Him to get the glory and it gives Him time to go before you and defeat the enemy.

When I was younger I used to run ahead of God doing what I wanted to do and giving Him the credit.  Now that I’m older I am perfectly happy walking in His shadow and going where He tells me to go.  Hopefully Peter felt the same way.

John 21:18: “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Thursday night Gary and I went to see “In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem,” a documentary about the Six Day War.  I was very excited to hear all God had done to defend Israel in 1967 when He allowed them to win a war against multiple enemies who were much larger than them.

But I was very disappointed, instead of being a movie about what God had done, it was a movie about what Man had done.  Although in hindsight I shouldn’t have been surprised because if the movie was going to be about God the title would have been: “In His Hands.”

The movie started out good, I was pleased to see Bible verses displayed on the big screen but quoting Bible verses does not make a Christian movie any more than quoting scripture makes a person a Christian.

A Christian movie should strive to bring honor and glory to God, not to men, in the same way a Christian should strive to bring honor to God and not himself.  It’s wonderful Israel had great military strategists, but their strategy was not what won them the war.  God did when He stepped in and defended them.

God wants the credit for what He does. He is a jealous God and He does not want His glory given away.

Exodus 34:14: Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Isaiah 42:8: “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.”

I love you Zebras, so much.  A wise older woman once told me to be careful when you use the pronoun “I” because you may be robbing God of His glory and taking the credit for yourself.

I would add, be equally careful when you talk about the vehicle God used to accomplish His miracle because that too can strip God of the honor belonging only to Him.  God did a miracle for Israel and although they probably didn’t mean to, the movie makers gave the glory to man.

Love,

Jill

Goodd morning Zebras,

The last video in our series on the attributes of God.  God is the Creator

Love,
Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Here is the third video on the attributes of God.  God is Love.

Enjoy!
Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Here is the secnd video in our series: God is Good!

Love,
Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you, here is the first of four videos on the attributes of God.  I have been praying that God will use them to magnify Himself in the eyes of His people.

Enjoy.

Love,

Jill