Niki Anderson ~ Author & Speaker

CHRISTOPHER

"I don't smile for pictures!"

, 

ABBEY

One must always select a tent that matches one's eyes.

Let me introduce you to Clawdia, our (Niki and Bob) Maine Coon. Though two and a half years old, she is not fully grown. Maine Coons continue maturing for five years.

She is my husband's cat and makes that perfectly clear except when he is gone and she siddles up to me for afternoon wet food.

A bit of oops is in her genes. Clawdia's calico mother met a champion stock Maine Coon male when he slipped out of his cage at the breeder's one day. A litter of little Clawdia's and Claude's soon blessed the breeder's household. Her mixed lineage mattered not to us, so we paid the discount price. Since worth is not measured in genes, we got ourselves a bargain of deal!

The Bible makes 59 references to LIONS; 13 references to leopards; no tigers; no domestic cats; many uses of the word lion/leopard to describe people (lion-like or like a lion, as a leopard, etc.) - Cruden's Unabridged Concordance

Daniel in the LION'S den, the popular Sunday school story, is the most commonly known account of lions in Biblical history. Refusing to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue of himself, Daniel was cast into a den of lions and spent the night among them. The vexed king rose early the next morning to discover Daniel unharmed. He was lifted from the den and declared, "O King, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me because I was found innocent in his [God's] sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."  Daniel 6:21 & 23

The prophet Jeremiah posed the question, "Can a LEOPARD change his spots?" Jeremiah 13:23 What a ludicrous thought! The obvious answer is, "no."  The prophet was speaking for God by insinuating that God's people had become so accustomed to engaging in evil practices that for them to change would be as impractical as attempting to change a leopard's spots.

One of the beasts the disciple John saw in his visions of the last days was one who "resembled a LEOPARD, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a LION." Revelation 13:2

The most beautiful picture of the coming kingdom of God portrays the peace that will exist among natural predators and prey. "The wolf will live with the LAMB, the LEOPARD will lie down with the goat, the calf and the LION and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the LION will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destory on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:6-9

April Fool?

Three minutes of commentary on 1 Corinthians, chapter 1 

Paul the apostle writes from Ephesus to the church he started in Corinth and commends them. And what a word of commendation it is: "For in (Christ) you have been enriched in every way---in all your speaking and in all your knowledge." If the Corinthians could experience that kind of broad spectrum enrichment, we also who are in Christ can expect all our speech and knowledge to be enriched.

Frequently aware of my senior forgetfulness, I chuckled at Paul. After mentioning those he baptized, he inserts this: "I don't remember if I baptized anyone else." Thank you, Paul. Perhaps I can be great for God though I forget there is bacon frying while I'm engrossed at my computer!

Next Paul launches his discussion on the foolishness of man and the wisdom of God. Note these conclusions:

1. The message of the cross is FOOLISHNESS to the unbelieving.
2. The message of the cross is POWER to the believer.
3. Anytime the Bible mentions a verse twice, we should listen up. In v. 19, Paul quotes Isaiah. "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [and] the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Isaiah 29:14
4. God doesn't cater to our demands: The Jews demanded signs and God gave them the cross! The Greeks looked for wisdom and God gave them a crucified savior (vs. 22)
5. KEY VERSE: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (v. 25)
6. And why does God do it all backwards? Paul answers, "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (27-29). "Let him that boasts boast in the Lord" (v. 31). 

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