Listening

 ... a man of understanding holds his tongue. Proverbs 11:12b

Do I take time to listen? In my own life I look back and wish I had been listening more and talking less. I wish those who misunderstood me listened and heard what I was saying instead of what they thought they heard.  For me personally, talking has gotten me more in trouble than listening ever could. 

I took this picture of a Halloween Pennant Dragonfly while we were watching the sunset across the water in front of our camper.

Leadership

These were chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, heads of the divisions in Israel. Numbers 1:16

God spoke to Moses in this chapter and orchestrated the first census to prepare them for battle. It describes exactly how they were supposed to go about it to see what each person was capable of doing. Tribes of people were chosen for battle and tribes of people were chosen just to protect the tabernacle. The leader was Moses and then there were leaders of each tribe. Everyone knew their position and their job to do in order for victory.

This is how I see the church, the role of our pastors and the leadership. If people believe that God has ordained them with the future and decisions of the church and don't follow the leadership of the pastor then it will not lead their church to victory. Our job is not to conjure up our own ambitions and missions for the churches we attend. We are to follow our pastors and his leadership. If we feel they are wrong then it's our job to pray for them because I believe God can make any wrong be right.

God has given us political leaders, parents, bosses, etc. and if this same truth is applied it will bring blessing!  

 This is a picture of a young girl leading the elephant at the circus that I
 attended with my grandkids on November 9, 2012.

Genesis 3 The Fruit

 

This chapter took place before records were being made so it is called pre-history. Also, it doesn’t specifically tell us how long they lived in the Garden of Eden. 

This chapter continues to discuss, God, Adam & Eve. This is the introduction of the serpent who is described as a deceiver. 

Verses 1-7: The serpent came to Eve and asked her what rules God made about the trees. Eve explained which tree and what would happen. The serpent deceived her by telling her that wasn’t true at all but instead eating the fruit would make them more like God. Eve ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband. Immediately they felt shame for being naked.