Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many. Jeremiah 5:6
Words fascinate me. So God uses them often to get my attention. Today I saw the same letters in two different ways.
W-O-L-F.
What comes to mind when you think of a wolf? For me, it is something wild, snarling, attacking, hunting prey. Beautiful animals, from a distance. But don’t get too close.
Scripture talks of wolves in this manner. Where I live we don’t have wolves, but we have plenty of their cousins, the coyote. I lost a kitten to one several years ago. It ventured underneath the fence and the coyote, lurking in the tall grass of the vacant lot, snatched it in its mouth. They are stealth in their prowess.
Spiritually, there are a lot of wolves out there. There are ideas that seem beautiful at the time. The lure to run free is tempting. And just when you think all is okay, snatch. The consequences are lethal to the soul.
Wolves run in packs. It is the same with temptations. One rebellious act leads to another. One little backslide sends a person teetering on a slippery slope, ready to tumble.
Now flip the letters around. F-L-O-W.
Eden had a stream flowing through it to bring water to the lush vegetation as well as Adam and Eve. The promised land was described as flowing with milk and honey. Jesus said He was the living water and no one
who came to Him would thirst. In other words, to the obedient, God provides abundantly.
Instead of rebelling and heading off on our own where dangers lurk, we can choose to “go with the flow”, as the 1970’s adage states. Not only can we float in the boundaries of God’s will, but we can be an example to others who either don’t realize that is an option or have considered it too stifling.
Jesus said in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
So, it’s our choice. Be a lure in the right way to a thirsty world by letting His love flow, or go off on our own and be lured by the wolf called self who crouches waiting to devour our souls.
…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. 
shuffled it across the way to the apartment dumpster. When I came back inside, the place smelled weird and my cat kept sneezing. I turned the corner to see flames leaping on top of my stove.
I am writing to you, dear children, 
breeze of mercy flow over us long enough to where we believe anew that He really can forgive us and still loves us, in spite of our messes.
At a women’s retreat about a year ago I won the door prize of an African violet. It bloomed for a while, then stopped. For months it kept putting out leaves but it never bloomed again. I figured maybe it was out of season. But this spring, though it still thrived, was pushing out new leaves…no blooms.
One hour. 60 minutes. One 24th of a day. We cherish it when it comes to sleep time. We become anxious if we have to wait that long. And often we waste it on things like TV, social media…even worry as we pace the bedroom floor in the moonlight.
among the scraggly olive trees and cry out to His Father. And His disciples? Snoozing. He’d asked them to stay awake and pray for one hour.
Have you ever had a spiritual high, only then to slide into the valley at lightening speed? You come home from a fabulous spirit-filled retreat and discover the water heater burst and flooded the house, or the entire family contracts the stomach virus, or you get an IRS audit notice in the mail. Why Lord? Couldn’t You have let me feel great for just a while longer?
Perhaps because our faith is forged in trials.
When she saw the indescribable, she slapped her hands to her face as her eyes widened. “Words fail me.”
as fresh as new ink dripping from a quill. People have marked them, highlighted them, memorized them, pondered over them, but most of all relied upon them.
