THE DAY THE HEAVENS RAINED FIRE

THE DAY THE HEAVENS RAINED FIRE

(Genesis 18)

 God told Abraham he heard a cry,

Against Sodom and Gomorrah’s sins.

The outcry was great because their sins were grievous,

The cities were evil twins.

 Then Abraham approached the Lord and said,

As though God would make a mistake,

“What if fifty righteous people live there?”

What about their sake?

 Far be it from you to do such a thing—

To the righteous caught in this plight,

Treating the righteous and the wicked alike.

Won't the Judge of the earth do right?"

 The Lord promised He would spare Sodom,

If fifty righteous people were there.

Abraham lowered the number;

Expecting God to be fair.

 God lowered the number to forty-five,

But Abraham continued to implore.

God said for forty He would spare the city,

Then that number was lowered more.

 God said He’d hold back if thirty were found,

So Abraham asked for ten less.

He said, “What if only twenty can be found?"

His hope had begun to digress.

 “For the sake of twenty, I won’t ruin it."

God patiently replied.

When asked what if only ten could be found,

God vowed to set his anger aside.

 The LORD left Abraham after they spoke,

Who went home to wallow in pity.

Two angels arrived in Sodom at dusk,

While Lot sat at the gate of the city.

Lot bowed to the ground when he saw the Lord's men,

After getting up to meet them.

The two men asked Abraham’s nephew,

If anyone belonged to him.

Get them out of here, Lot was told,

The city will soon be destroyed.

The outcry against the city was great;

So their home they should now avoid.

So Lot went and spoke to his sons-in-law,

Who his daughters were pledged to marry.

"Hurry and get out of this place,” Lot said,

“For this city God will bury!"

 But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

Then before the break of day,

The men of God urged his family to hurry,

So they wouldn’t be swept away.

 When Lot paused, the men grabbed his hand,

And the hands of his wife and each daughter.

They led them safely out of the city,

So they wouldn’t be caught in the slaughter.

 As soon as they had brought them out,

One man said, "Run for your life!

Don't look back, and don't stop in the plain!

Escape with your daughters and wife.”

 But Lot said "No, my lords, please!”

He then told the Lord’s men why,

“I can't flee to the mountains,” he said.

“I’ll be overtaken and die.”

 He asked to run to a nearby town,

Then his life would surely be spared.

Lot’s request was granted;

And he left, though quite unprepared.

 By the time Lot reached Zoar,

The sun had risen over the land.

Then the LORD rained sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—

From heaven came His command.

 He overthrew the cities, the plain,

And Lot’s wife, though it was her fault.

For though she was warned, Lot’s wife looked back,

And became a pillar of salt.

Becky Wall

HIGH AND MIGHTY

HIGH AND MIGHTY

(Based on Gen. 11:1-9)

God’s people started to build,

T’ward heaven a very tall tower.

Thinking they’d make a name for themselves,

And flaunt their might and power.

The nation had one language,

Where the Tower of Babel was at.

The Lord confused their speech and then,

New languages happened after that.

Too much might and power,

Can be a destructive thing.

God in His infinite wisdom,

Knew the harm it would bring.

So don’t get high and mighty,

If you build your dreams in the sky;

A lofty attitude is hated,

By The Almighty on High.

Becky Wall

The Tower of Babel was located in what would later become the city of Babylon, which is now Iraq. Babel means "confusion" because of the various languages that took place there.

THE BEGINNING

THE BEGINNING

God made the heavens and earth,

But they were without shape.

His Spirit hovered over its waters,

And darkness covered the landscape.

He then said “Let there be light.”

And immediately there was brightness.

He saw that it was good,

And divided it from the darkness.

Jehovah called the light “day”

And “morning” the day’s beginning.

He called the darkness “night.”

The first “day” had occurred by evening.

God ordered the waters to part,

At His word, they would obey.

The waters above were called “sky,”

On this, the second day.

He gathered the waters below the sky,

On the third day and at His command.

The waters he called “seas,”

And the dry ground He called “land.”

“Let there be vegetation” He said,

“Plants and trees with seed-bearing fruit,

All according to their various kinds.”

On the third day food took root.

Then God said “Let there be lights,”

To mark days, years, and seasons.

The lights will separate night from day;

Genesis tells us the reasons.

God then hung the moon,

And the greater light He named “sun.”

The stars were scattered across the heavens,

On the fourth day His work was not done.

On the fifth day of earth’s creation,

God made the creatures in the sea.

He made the birds of the air,

At His word they came to be.

“Let there be living creatures,” He said,

Each after its own class.

Both wild and tame animals,

And creatures that move in the grass.

On the sixth day God made man.

He made him from the dust of the ground.

He breathed his Spirit into him,

But no helpmate was yet to be found.

So Adam was placed in a very deep sleep,

And one of his ribs was removed.

Eve was formed from the rib;

When he saw her, no doubt he approved.

“Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called wo-man.”

Adam called her gender by this,

“For she was taken from man.”

And so by the end of the sixth day,

Creation was complete.

On the seventh day God rested;

He’d accomplished quite a feat.

Genesis means “the beginning;”

Of earth and heaven’s birth.

Even then the end was written;

There’ll be a new heaven and earth.

Becky Wall

WITCHCRAFT, OMENS, SORCERY, DIVINATION, MEDIUMS, MAGIC, FORTUNE TELLING

WITCHCRAFT, OMENS, SORCERY, DIVINATION, MEDIUMS, MAGIC, FORTUNE TELLING

Lev. 19:6b ‘Do not practice divination or seek omens.'

Lev. 20:27  “ ‘A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.’ ”

Deut. 18:10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

II Kings 9:22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”

II Kings 17:17 They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.

II Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, 
arousing his anger.

I Chron. 10:13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,

II Chron. 33:6 - He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

Isaiah 2:6 You, LORD, have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and embrace pagan customs.

Isaiah 8:19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Eze. 13:18 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own?

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds.

Eze. 13:23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”

Micah 5: 12 I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells.

Nahum 3:4 - all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.

Deut. 18:9 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD.

Gal. 5:19-21 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Rev. 9:21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Rev. 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Rev. 21:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

--Compiled by Becky L. Wall
beckyowall.blogspot.com

#witchcraft #divination #fortunetellers #medium #sorcery #spells #omens #magic #idolaters

HOLY IS YOUR NAME

I was inspired while saying my bedtime prayers and thinking about how God's name is so abused by society and even by Christians. So this is what I wrote. It might not be my best work but it works for me:

HOLY IS YOUR NAME

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Holy is your name.

Merciful Savior, precious Redeemer,

Holy is your name.

Magnificent, glorious, all-in-all,

Holy is your name.

The alpha and omega, beginning and end, 

Holy is your name. 

Provider, Protector and Healer, 

Holy is your name. 

Receiver of prayers, Bearer of burdens, 

Holy is your name. 

The one who washes our sins away, 

Holy is your name. 

Builder of homes in heaven for us, 

Holy is your name. 

Your name should be spoken with respect, 

Because Holy is your name. 

Becky Wall

#holyname #Godsholyname #alphaomega #fathersonholy spirit

CROSS-EYED

I hope you have noticed that I am cross-eyed. You would not have detected it by looking at me. You would only “see” it by getting to know me. My eyes are fixed on the cross of Christ, and therefore I am cross-eyed and proud of it.

I was not always cross-eyed. There was a time when I was blind. I could not see the cross. More accurately, I would not see the cross. I had religion but not a relationship with Christ, which is the most common symptom of spiritual blindness. “Religion” had given me false sight. I believed I was a good Christian because I attended church regularly and did not curse, smoke or drink.

My vision began to clear when I first saw the Light of Christ shining through my darkness. It was then that I saw a Father and friend holding out His arms to me.   Still, at times I had only one eye on the cross and the other on the things of the world, making my newfound sight very distorted. The day I got on my knees and turned my life over to Christ, I became cross-eyed and began to see things clearly. With both eyes focused on the cross, my heart began to fill with joy and hope. My soul found peace. My attitude changed.

The condition of the eyes determines the condition of the heart and vice versa. Job 31:7 and Acts 28:27 verify these truths. If you are only half-focused on the cross, you will also be half-hearted in your walk with the Lord.

So, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). “See” Christ as a Savior and friend, not as a stern disciplinarian. Never be too afraid, ashamed, or cool to be cross-eyed. All who fix their eyes on Jesus will become cross-eyed and in God’s eyes will find favor.

--Becky Wall