A Fun Project, "Holy Ground" and Pt. 2 of the Tip I shared last time

Good evening y'all.     I hope and pray that wherever y'all are, you are safe, sound and settled in for a wonderful evening with family, friends or loved ones.     It's kinda chilly here in my neck of the woods.     It's supposed to get even cooler with the possibility of some snow over the weekend, maybe.     We'll have to see, but I do hope pray that the weather predictions are wrong.     I'm ready for Spring.   hahaha     But, I guess I'll have to settle for what it is.    It's still Winter and I'm sure there's some weather hidden somewhere in that fact.    For those of you that are dealing with bad weather, my prayers go out to you for safety and warmth.      For those that have been dealing with the sickness going around, I pray that it's short lived for you.    Mine has taken it's toll on me but, I am feeling better than I have, so I am thankful for that.     TheraFlu really helped me a lot!!!    I wish I would have had it at the onset, I believe it would have helped me a lot sooner.     Just take care of yourselves and get plenty of rest.  

What is "holy ground"?      The words "holy ground" sparked an honest question for me.    In my quest, I found some answers that are most awesome indeed.    The Bible refers to "holy ground" only twice, but you know twice is enough for you get the understanding.     Once in the Old Testament, Exodus 3:5, and once in the New Testament, Acts 7:33.   Yahweh Himself told Moses that the ground he was standing on was holy.    Why?    What made the ground holy?    It wasn't that the actual piece of soil or rock or whatever that Moses was standing on was holy, it was the fact that Moses was in the presence of holy Yahweh!     The very essence of God and all of His attributes are what makes Him holy.    For us, to be holy means to be chosen and set apart for a specific reason.     When we accept Christ as Messiah and Lord of our lives, we are then set apart for a holy  life.    It doesn't mean we are perfect, but it does mean that we have chosen a new lifestyle and our lives should reflect that choice.     We have chosen holy, as opposed to easy.     We have chosen the best instead of just settling for what ever is the norm.     Sometimes, even as we strive for righteousness and holiness, we miss the mark.   

The Old Testament account, Exodus 3:5 "Do not come any closer, God said.  Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."     This is the story of God on the mountain, in the form of a burning bush.     Have you ever seen a burning bush as described in this account?    Probably not.     But that doesn't make this situation any less real.     If you are waiting for your "burning bush" experience, before you believe Yahweh is the holy "I Am", you may have a long wait.     I hope that digging into this account for ourselves will be enough for us to recognize that He is holy and deserves to be treated as such.     

Removal of sandals was an ancient custom, and still is in some parts of the world to show respect and submission and humility to someone, upon entering the temple, the palace or the private house of a great person.    Some have described this act of reverence as being similar to men removing their hats in places of respect, again showing respect, submission and humility.    With such a request from God, He was showing Moses his unworthiness.    We sometimes refer to our Christian lives as our Christian "walk".      Its much more easy to walk in a comfortable pair of shoes or sandals than it is to walk barefooted.    Shoes and sandals also served as a means of keeping dust and dirt off our feet.    The "dust and dirt" or "sin" of our everyday lives, if not kept in check, can cause us to be unpure and unholy in our lives and in the way we interact with others.    As our Christian "walk", it also refers to our "ways" and the way we "talk".    Does your "ways" and the way you "talk" reflect who you belong too?     Okay, now this is hitting close to home, huh.     Also, for the custom that we are talking about, slaves didn't wear shoes to show submission to authority, only the masters and overseers would wear shoes or sandals.       Fire in Scripture, represents holiness and justice as well as afflictions and trials.     

We sometimes speak of "going thru the fire" as a time of being purged and purified and made into something useful to God.     Until that time of trial, we are useless to Yahweh.    Because there is too much of self standing in the way.    When we have come to the place of reverence for God, then we can realize we are standing on "holy ground", then and only then, will we become a useful tool for God.     It is then that He has  our attention.     Sometimes we have a tendency to be disrespectful to Yahweh.     I can't say that it is something we purposefully do.     But, I hope and pray that when we come before Yahweh, that we will purposefully, from now on, be mindful and respectful of Who we are in the presence of.     

In verse 7, Yahweh says that "I have indeed seen the misery of My people in Egypt.    I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers and I am concerned about their suffering."

I don't know about you, but I hear the mercy, compassion and tenderness in this statement from Yahweh.     Yes, He heard their cries and seen their misery and was very concerned.     This particular time in history had been predicted by God back in Gen. 15:13 and it was nearing the end of this time that God had alotted and He was now ready for Moses to be the deliverer.      Go back and read this account for yourself and get it fresh in your mind with what is happening here.     God got Moses ready to be His voice, to be His man on the ground, if you will, to be in charge of this great deliverance.     Moses' whole life had been leading up to this very point in history.    He was born of a poor mother, was supposed to die because of the order to kill every Hebrew male child, but by faith his mother set him adrift in a little basket sealed with pitch or tar and was found by the royal Egyptian family of Pharaoh and raised as an heir to the throne.     Later he found out who he really was, a slave by birth; then he killed an Egyptian for mistreating a slave and was exiled out into the desert, to be forgotten about forever.   But, when God is orchestrating the situation, you just never can tell what's around the corner.     Moses had lived those 40 years in the desert wisely, although it was just everyday life for him, God had been getting him ready for the coming 40 years as a great leader and the deliverer of God's people.     God assured Moses that He was very aware of the misery of His people and it was time to do something about it.    

What does this have to do with us?      Nothing, if we don't want it to.     Everything, if we do want it to.     What I see is this.     The years of slavery in a foreign land is just like us living  years of our lives in sin.     We are slaves to sin.     Our task master is the hold that sin has over our lives.     The desires and addictions of sin and to sin has become like Pharaoh over our lives.     Sin is the stronghold that will not let go easily.     We have wasted many precious years in the struggle waiting, looking for a way out.     We get tired and worn out, but we keep struggling and sin keeps taking bigger bites from our lives.     We are ready for something to change.      We cry out, we cry out and we cry out!   Finally, we cry out to God, and He hears us!!!!      

God sets us on path of correction for our lives.    Sometimes, right in the midst of correction, we stop and we grumble and we complain, saying and thinking that Egypt (sin) was better, because at least it was familiar.     Is familiar better?     Is the unknown holy even attainable or will we be totally consumed by the familiar sin?      You and I are the only ones that can answer that question.     There is no time like the present to answer that question.     It makes no difference what the sin is, God is the answer to the sin.     When we give ourselves over to the "I Am" of all creation, He will help us!!! When we ask God into our mess, right where we are, then and there, right where we are becomes "holy ground", because God showed up!!!     Nothing about our mess is holy.     But, when we ask God to step into our mess, He will and wherever He is, is holy ground!      The children of Israel was in a mess and God heard their cries, and their mess became the message for the world.     

There is a lot of messes around each and every one us.     Maybe we are smack dab in the midst of some of those messes.     Maybe we are a slave to sin.     Maybe we have a hard task master and don't know what to do.     Maybe we are just about to go down in the pit of sin for the last time.     Maybe we feel there is no way out.     What if there is a way out.    What if all of the sudden your living hell just became holy ground.     If you call on Father God, then whatever you are going thru can become "holy ground" because of His presence, right there with you, wherever you are in your life.     Wherever God is, that's holy ground!!!!       This is my interpretation of "holy ground" from a life time of messes and the intervention of holy God in all my messes.     Share this with someone you know that is up to their neck in a mess, they will appreciate it. 

I showed you a pin in the last blog post I made.      Well, I love making them, so I have a total of 4 now.    hehehe     Did I say I love making them?     I do, I do!!!    They are so fun!!!    Just wanted to show them to you tonight.    Hope you enjoy them.   

This is all four of them with a sharpie marker laid in front of them for perspective.

 This is the very first one I made  and it's on a tiny purple easel.    The easel showcases the pin nicely.

This is the last one that I just finished with.   I left off the copper stained glass trim, just to see how I would like it, and I like a LOT.    I do love the colors of this one.    It has a very small wooden bird as well as mini beads, plus some different colors of seed beads.     Also my fav new thing, the shell chips.   I just love them!!!    And then there was a great big splash of extra fine blue glitter!    I used purple and bronze metallic acrylic paints.     YUM!!

This was the third one I made.     I wish they would have uploaded in the way I chose for them to upload, oh well.    This one has a couple of pearls, some of the shell chips, mini micro beads, tiny flat back gems and also some star shaped glitter.    I used purple, pink and gold metallic acrylic paints.   It looks really nice.

This is the second one I made.    I used purple, red and green acrylic paint, large flat back gems and a binder circle as well as some of the mini micro beads and some tiny flat backed gems.    Oh, did I say I love making these?    hehehe

I have a tip about the finish on these that I will share next time.    Be on the look out, it's a good one.

Another "tip", actually part 2 from the last tip I shared.     What I wanted to share with y'all is another app that is good for just keeping a grocery list on your cell phone is the Aldi app.    I was using it before I was told about Flipp.    What I do with this one is make my list, whatever I need when I go shopping.    If I am going to Dollar Store, WalMart, Aldi's, Dollar Tree............I will just put an abbreviation by the item of what I am getting, and where I am getting it at.   Biscuits-A, chicken stock sf-WM (sf=sodium free) whole wheat brd-A, lunch meat-A, fresh fruit-A...and so on.    You can even put the prices in the line item and keep up with prices.    Then you can go back and check old prices against what you are just now picking up.    As I get the item, I tap it and it puts a line thru it.   I go on to next store and do the same.    If I am making all the stops in one day, my list will be marked thru every item and it was a success.    It really helps a lot.    I will do the comparison shopping with the ads in Flipp and then put my shopping list in Aldi's app.    At first, it may take a bit of time, but once you get your list made, then it's just a matter of maintaining the list and keeping your coupons up to date.    (The Flipp app will even tell if there's a coupon applicable!)   How cool is that!!!       Again, I have nothing to gain with Aldi, I just love sharing great tips.     There are several good apps out there that will help you save money on your grocery shopping.     If you use something different to what I mentioned, let me know, and I will check them out and get back to you with my experience.

Well, this will just about wrap up another visit with y'all.    I hope you enjoyed your time here and that you seen or read something that you can share with someone.     Tell someone you know that God will meet them right where they are if they will call on Him.     Their mess can become their message and their territory of sin can become "holy ground", because wherever God is, is holy ground.    

I pray for God's blessing on all y'all and that you have a peaceful night of rest and that tomorrow is one of the best days of your life to this point.     Always remember that God loves you and I do too. Dream big, with God's help!     Meet me right back here real soon y'all.     Hugs and love, Patty