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Shortcuts and Narrow Gates

Shortcuts and Narrow Gates We bought a house in 2016.  It seems simple enough, and when you look at the photos I share here, it looks beautiful, doesn't it?   But what you don't see are the hidden shortcuts taken by the previous owners.  Deadly and costly shortcuts.    The RV carport in the picture below was the first thing to go - it was the source of all of the dry rot.  Dry rot is a disease to wood, it weakens the wood until the structure is no longer sound.   Shortcuts are not an excellent solution to problems. Why show this?  Well, because the temperatures are dropping in the Puget Sound and one of the other shortcuts the previous owners took was to install the back door themselves instead of having it done by a professional.  This means when the winter wind blows, and yes, it can blow here in our temperate climate, it comes through the bottom of my door, keeping my kitchen cold and making it difficult to keep the whole house warm.  Shortcuts a
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Jesus and the Leper

                    Jesus: Touching the Untouchable "8  When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.   2  A man with leprosy [ a ]  came and knelt before him  and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  “I am willing,”  he said.  “Be clean!”  Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.   4  Then Jesus said to him,  “See that you don’t tell anyone.  But go, show yourself to the priest  and offer the gift Moses commanded,  as a testimony to them.” Matthew 8: 1-4 - Christian Standard Bible Leprosy in the Bible was seen as a curse from God and with good reason.  When Miriam and Aaron grumbled against Moses, God afflicted Miriam for seven days in Numbers 12.   "12  Miriam  and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife,  for he had married a Cushite.   2  “Has the  Lord  spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”  And the 

Abraham and prayer

                                Abraham's Character and Prayer I think it's safe to assume that Abraham was a man of prayer.  How do we know this?  We see it first when Abraham afraid of Abimelech claims his wife Sarah is his sister.  Sarah is, in fact, Abraham's half-sister, but she had become his wife years before.  Even in her older years, Sarah was a woman of great beauty and Abimelech liked what he saw.   Thankfully, God warned Abimelech not to touch Sarah in a dream, we see this in Genesis 20: 1- 7.   "From there Abraham traveled to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,   2  Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.”  So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. 3  But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” [ a ] 4  Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lo

Prayers of Samuel

                 Samuel: God speaks to a small child Samuel was the small son of Hannah and Elkanah - remember we talked about Hannah and her desire for a child?  Hannah yearned for a child and only God could give her that child.  After prayer and Hannah promising God that she would give Samuel to God to serve Him, God opened her womb and Samuel was conceived.  After Samuel Hannah and Elkanah when on to have three sons and two daughters together.  God had heard Hannah's prayer and He was faithful because Hannah was a faithful woman.   Samuel was a small boy serving Eli the high priest.  Eli's sons were wicked though and God had decided they would not serve in Eli's place, so one night as Samuel lay sleeping in the room next to Eli's in case he was needed, a voice called to Samuel.  Let's read about it here.  1 Samuel 3  " The boy Samuel served the   Lord   in Eli’s presence.   In those days the word of the   Lord   was rare and prophetic visions were