Crazy Love?

read the lyrics to this song that i found, that's new to me
love like crazy-sung by chris rice

I heard a rumor
that love will make you crazy.
Well is it true?
Well that's no rumor;
Look at the crazy things
that love made Jesus do.
Well, the friends He chose
were thought to be outrageous (yes they were)
And you could even find Him
touching the contagious, yeah (yeah you could)
And the craziest is how
He chose to save us, save us-
He gave His life away.
Then He had to go and say
"Got to love the same way
that I love you."

Chorus:
Love like crazy, yeah
(love like crazy)
Gotta love like crazy
(love like crazy)
Gotta love like crazy
The way He loves you and me
'Cause if the world's ever gonna change
We gotta love like crazy.

What the world needs now
is for love to spread
as fast as the rumors do.
To make it
we gotta take this thing
from another whole point of view.
Start by keeping our vows
and not breaking promises.
And bring hope
to the Women at the Well,
and the Doubting Thomases.
And you kids,
you gotta cheerfully
do what your Pops and your Momma says.
'Cause He gave His life away.
Then He had to go and say
"Got to love the same way
that I love you."

Chorus

Well I'm telling you boy,
you got a lot to learn.
I think your crazy alright,
to love for nothing in return.
You've lost your marbles;
got a few loose screws;
and if you count your cards
I'll bet you got less than fifty-two.
And now you've got me thinking
you sorta planted a seed.
'Cause you're just so happy
just the kind of love that I need.
Nah, your train's off the track;
You're from the loony bin;
You know that brain that you ordered,
Well it never came in.
Or else you've fallen on your head
and all your brains leaked out.
'Cause your lights are on,
but ain't nobody in your house.
The elevator doesn't quite reach the top floor;
I think you're out in the left field,
and I could say a lot more.
But you don't care what I think;
It doesn't matter what I'm telling you,
You got the love of Jesus,
and He's the one propelling you
to love like He does.
gotta love like He does. (echo)

'Cause if the world's ever gonna change.
You gotta love like crazy.
(love like crazy)
You gotta love like crazy.
(love like crazy)
You gotta love like crazy.
The way He loves you and me
'Cause if the world's ever gonna change,
If the world's ever gonna change,
If the world's ever gonna change,
We gotta love...

Why God?

Why God Allows Christians To Suffer by Rechandle
"Never forget that God is in control of all the circumstances that surround a believer's life. God is in control of your life, and involved in all the details. Your suffering has not escaped His notice. Your situation has not somehow been buried in His inbox. He is intimately aware of everything going on in your world, and no detail is too small to escape His attention. The word "oops" is not in God's vocabulary.

And as we can so clearly see from the book of Job, the devil can do nothing in the life of the believer without the express permission of God.

Okay, you say, but if He's in control, why does He allow these hurtful things to happen to me and to people I love?

1. Suffering makes us strong

The apostle James tells us:
James 1:2-4 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

 God allows hardship in our life so that our beliefs will become more real to us, and less theory. We can start living out our faith-life in the real world.

I'm reminded of all the people you see driving SUVs. Most of these fancy rigs have 4x4 capabilities. Some guys take it a notch above that, putting lifts in their rigs, buying those big gnarly tires, and mounting huge lights on top. And what do they do with these powerful vehicles? They brag to their buddies, and say, "Yeah, just look at this thing. Look at what it can do. I could drive this baby up the side of a building." "Well," someone might ask, "do you want to go out in the dirt?"
 "Are you kidding? Do you know how much I paid for this thing? No way! In fact, I was just on the way to the car wash."
 So they never want to actually use that vehicle for its intended purpose, what it was actually designed to do.

We can be that way with our beliefs. I can imagine God saying, "You know, you have a lot of really great beliefs. You talk about them all the time. I think it's time you started putting some of them into practice. You talk about how you trust Me. You talk about how you believe I can provide for your every need. Let Me put you in a situation where you have no other resources and really have to trust Me for that provision."

You see, God can allow these hardships and trials and shortfalls in our lives so that we will exercise our faith muscles, and step out on trust alone. We need to transfer our faith from the realm of theory to reality.

2. Suffering can bring God glory

Any fool can be happy and peaceful when the sun shines down from a blue and cloudless sky. But when those qualities shine out from the midst of a dark and destructive storm, that's another matter entirely.

That, in essence, was the challenge Satan laid before God. "Job follows You because You have blessed him in every way, but if those things were taken away, it would be a different story. He would curse You."

In order to show the falsehood of Satan's argument, and to strengthen Job's faith at the same time, God allowed these multiple tragedies to crash into Job's life. The result? Job not only refused to curse God, he actually blessed Him. What a rebuke to the enemy! What a witness to the world.

It is a powerful testimony when a believer can praise God while suffering. Remember the story of Paul and Silas, arrested for preaching the gospel in the city of Philippi? The Bible tells us that the jailer had them stripped and flogged. Then they were put in a dungeon, where their feet were fastened in stocks. How did they respond? Here's what the Bible says:
Acts 16:25 (NKJV) 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
That word "listened" could be translated as listened with great interest. Why? Because they had never heard anybody sing praises to God in such a place. And that's about the time the Lord sent an earthquake:
Acts 16:26-28 (NKJV) 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

The jailer responded by saying, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" In effect, he was saying, "I've been watching you guys. I've seen how you have taken such terrible punishment without cursing. I've seen how you can worship in the worst circumstances, and how you could have escaped but didn't. All I can say is, whatever you have, I want it."

Your circumstances may not be as dire as those of Paul and Silas. But people are watching you. If you're in the midst of a hardship or a difficulty, they're watching to see if you will really practice what you preach, and live out what you proclaim. The way you handle suffering in your life can bring great glory to God.

Paul the apostle also suffered from an unnamed "thorn in the flesh." No one really knows what it was, but he spoke of it in his letter to the Corinthian church, and said that he had asked the Lord on three separate occasions to remove it.

But God said no. Even though God had done miracles through Paul, bringing healing to others, He chose not to bring that healing in the life of His loyal servant in this particular situation.

When Paul asked why, God gave him this answer:
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV) 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Was Paul discouraged by this answer? It sure doesn't sound like it! He goes on to say, "So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (vv. 9-10).

So God can be glorified through your weakness. His light and power can shine through the chips and cracks in your life, drawing others to Himself."

5 Things.................

5 things about the person writing this blog........

5 things you’ll find in my bag:

1. chapstick
2. my pocket KJV Bible
3. wallet pen that says i love you
4. journal
5. eye glass cleaner

5 things in my bedroom:

1. computer
2. books
3. pictures
4. calendar
5. lady p, 1 green and 1 pink TB

5 things I’ve always wanted to do in life:

1. walk a long ways like across America or Europe
2. make a difference for God
3. go to Mackinaw Island Michigan and Maine
4. have my own B&B and a bookstore
5. be a participant in The Amazing Race

5 things that make me very happy:

1. hanging out with my husband and kids
2. reading good books
3. listening to music
4. winning over my preferred "drug" sugar, i'm trying to get away from sugar (no easy feat!)
5. hanging with JC

5 things I’m currently “into”:

1. walking
2. eating healthier
3. the color lime green
4. juicing
5. watching NCIS, Bones, and The Mentalist

5 things on my “to do” list:

1. find some music to buy with my mother's day ITUNES gift card
2. go for my 1 mile walk
3. find a car we can afford for our college daughter
4. get a new computer for my husband
5. hang out with my hubby on his day off

5 things some people may or may not know about you:

1. At one time in my life i was a professional nanny
2. i met my hubby thru a newspaper ad
3. this year i turned the big '50'
4. there were 6 kids in my family and i am #6
5. green grass is highly overrated

Capture Your Giant!

SEIZE YOUR GIANT STRONGHOLD! Read the Word of God everyday, store it up in your memory bank for a time when you will need it. 2nd Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

2nd Corinthians 10:4-5"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"

2nd Corinthians 10:3-6 The Message "The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity."

Giant or Grasshopper?

F E A R= false evidence appearing real
Does your fear appeared to be a giant or a grasshopper? Are the storms in your life giving you the impression that they are giants or grasshoppers? A giant is an enormous thing that seems insurmountable to defeat or overcome. A grasshopper on the other hand is something that can be managed or squashed or firmly rejected.
 Matthew 8:24-26 NKJV "And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
  But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm."
Your giants or grasshoppers may be an imagined thought-provoking fear. So the next time you begin to fear, don't allow it to become the giant; make sure it stays a grasshopper so you can squash it right then and there by saying, Jesus this knock on the door, this ones for you!

What's In A Moniker? Part 2

Your Heavenly Father has a moniker for u
Chosen= ^{John 15:19 KJV}If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

"Chosen Generation"sung by Chris Tomlin
We are a chosen generation
Rise up, holy nation
God, we live for You

You have called us out of darkness
Into light so glorious
God, we live for You
We live for You
God, we live for You

We run with passion for Your name, we run
Freedom, You've broken every chain, we run
Our God will not be moved
Our God will never be shaken
We run to You, we run

We are a chosen generation
Rise up, holy nation
God, we live for You

You have called us out of darkness
Into light so glorious
God, we live for You

We run with passion for Your name, we run
Freedom, You've broken every chain, we run
Our God will not be moved
Our God will never be shaken
We run to You, we run

We are a chosen generation
Rise up, holy nation
God, we live for You

You have called us out of darkness
Into light so glorious
God, we live for You

Our God will not be moved
Our God will never be shaken
Our God will not be moved
Our God will never be shaken

Our God will not be moved
Our God will never be shaken
We run to You, we run

We are a chosen generation
Rise up, holy nation
God, we live for You

You have called us out of darkness
Into light so glorious
God, we live for You

'Cause You are everything
More than all we need
God, we live for You
God, we live for You

I've found this world to be
Not enough for me
God, we live for You
God, we live for You

God, we live for You
God, we live for You

We are a chosen generation
Rise up, holy nation
God, we live for You

You have called us out of darkness
Into light so glorious
God, we live for You

Come on, sing, we are
We are a chosen generation
Rise up, holy nation
God, we live for You

You have called us out of darkness
Into light so glorious
God, we live for You
We live for You
God, we live for You

What's In A Moniker?

What moniker has life cast upon u or which one have u cast upon yourself?
My moniker is blessed. Yes, blessed, running over with blessings. Ask me how i am and i will tell u blessed.
i am blessed because of grace=God gives us something good we don't deserve and because of mercy=God gives us something good when we deserve punishment
God has my back

Psalm 91 The Message
"You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
   Say this: "God, you're my refuge.
      I trust in you and I'm safe!"
   That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
      shields you from deadly hazards.
   His huge outstretched arms protect you—
      under them you're perfectly safe;
      his arms fend off all harm.
   Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
      not flying arrows in the day,
   Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
      not disaster that erupts at high noon.
   Even though others succumb all around,
      drop like flies right and left,
      no harm will even graze you.
   You'll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
      watch the wicked turn into corpses.
   Yes, because God's your refuge,
      the High God your very own home,
   Evil can't get close to you,
      harm can't get through the door.
   He ordered his angels
      to guard you wherever you go.
   If you stumble, they'll catch you;
      their job is to keep you from falling.
   You'll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
      and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

 ^14-16 "If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God,
      "I'll get you out of any trouble.
   I'll give you the best of care
      if you'll only get to know and trust me.
   Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times;
      I'll rescue you, then throw you a party.
   I'll give you a long life,
      give you a long drink of salvation!"

What do runt and fear have in common?

runt is the weaker one; fear is unpleasant emotion
if u were ever the underdog or the weaker one then you will know and understand fear because being a runt feels like an unpleasant emotion
i have always been the underdog and its an unpleasant emotion; as u get older u want others to think that it doesn't matter anymore bein the underdog, but that just isn't true
its lonely but here is something to think about: loneliness could be the a blessing from God?
 Yeah right you are probably thinking but it could be His way of getting our attention...in today's world there are so many distractions, more than we could have ever thought there would be and sometimes God has to get our attention any way He can because sometimes without meaning to we forsake Him (gasp) did I just say that? What does He say to us?
Psalm 94:14 The Message "God will never walk away from his people, never desert his precious people." 
Deuteronomy 31:6 The Message "Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you." 

here are the lyrics from the chorus to a song called "Blessings" sung by Laura Story
"Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise"

look up her song on utube and listen, maybe it will make u think like it did me about how lonliness could be a blessing 

 

Where Do You Want To Be?

Where do you want to be when Jesus returns? Do you want to be sitting in front of your computer, in front of the tv, in traffic complaining about the traffic jam, in line at the grocery store complaining about the line being so long? Where do you want to be?

We are supposed to be living our lives as tho the person we are facing we see Jesus. If we saw Jesus in front of us would we be complaining to Him? Would we be telling how that person just cut us off in traffic?

When we ask Jesus to be our Savior we are supposed to start becoming like Him. Its never going to be easy for us to become like Him. John 16:33 says He knows that.

Every person we come into contact with, we should be thinking of nothing but love because this journey we are on is really about Him and He is all about
L O V E.  We should be so preoccupied, so engrossed, so absorbed with the love of Jesus that that is all we can think and breathe is love.

There are times when I think that I am not ready to leave earth, which is only a stopping place for me, not my final destination. I think I want to wait till all my family has Jesus too. Or what I really think would be exciting is to be able to live till Jesus comes back, to still be alive and standing and breathing when Jesus comes back His second time.

Matthew 22:37-40 The Message ^37-40Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Did you know that the commanded up above is so important that it is in the Bible more than once.
It starts in Deuteronomy 6:5 and its in the New Testament more than once. To me that means it is very important. 
Back to why I started today's blog, where do I want to be when Jesus comes back? For me I want to be  loving and for me sometimes in order to love I must be willing to forgive 100% no matter what, no exceptions with 100% unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness. If I am going to be wildly inlove with God then I have to be willing to be wildly inlove with His people. For He is His people.
Remember my last post? He loves me (us) enough to die for me (us). He would rather die and than live without me (us). So how much time do you spend each day with God? Do you love Him so much that you spend more time with Him than your tv, your computer, your friends, your car, your books, your family? i could go on and on and on but you get the picture right? It won't happen overnight, getting our relationship right with Him; it will take time and effort. It won't happen in our comfort zone. You know when you are in your comfort zone then you feel safe and a bit secure but that's not where loving Him is going to happen. 
^{James 2:1-13 The Message     1-4}My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, "Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row," haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted?
 ^5-7Listen, dear friends. Isn't it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world's down-and-out as the kingdom's first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn't it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren't they the ones who scorn the new name—"Christian"—used in your baptisms?
 ^8-11You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself." But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others. The same God who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you're a murderer, period.
 ^12-13Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.


But believe me when i tell you He is worth it and when we have our relationship with Him close so close that nothing else can get in between us then and only then will we able to share that love with others. And that is what's all about it, isn't it?
That's where i want to be..... (btw most of the time when i write i make the word i in a lowercase letter because its not about (me as in I) its about Him!


i hope my post was more clear like water than a little muddy. Because i want you to understand that this journey we are on is about Him and how to express that we know that is, how we relate to Him through His people with love.

Jesus, Don't Leave Home Without Him

a friend of mine from Facebook posted this and I thought this was such a good illuminating thought, I had to share it.

"This is a wonderful example that was told to me once by someone whom I can't remember for the life of me.... You work 40 hours this week and you get paid $1000.00. After you get your check you have to go to the bank. Maybe you have to drive 10 miles to get there. After you get there on a Friday evening around 5:00 p.m., the place is swamped. You then wait in line for 45 minutes to get to the teller. She requires you to endorse the check and provide her with some form of photo ID before she will cash your check. After all that effort, don’t you think the check should be worth more? Look at all the effort you put forth to get it cashed. Probably at least an hours worth of your time, maybe spent in a hot car, waiting in the drive through. What if she decided you didn’t look enough like your gorgeous picture on your drivers license and refuses to cash your check unless you came back during lobby hours? It still doesn’t increase the value of your check does it? No matter how many banks you go to, how many lines you wait in, how many times you sign your name and show your ID the check will never increase in value, irregardless of the amount of work you put forth to cash it. The work to obtain that check has already been expended.
Jesus Christ performed the work for our salvation. His death, His suffering, His blood earned the Grace (check) for us. No matter if you believe that you must live like the Amish with the absence of virtually all-modern luxuries. Or live in as a monk, priest, or nun. No effort you put forth will increase the value of the check.
The problem that most "Christians" have is they have been taught they do not have to go to the bank, wait in line, endorse the check and provide ID to exchange grace for salvation!
If you were to receive a $10,000,000.00 check, it will have no actual value until it is endorsed and cashed. Unfortunately, most of Christianity is carrying around the "check" of Grace without activating it by obeying God’s word for fear they will be guilty of earning their salvation."  Rechandle Schofield

Far from perfect.....

God loves you so much that He would rather die for you than be without you!
What a thought! Imagine that someone would rather die for you than be without you?
I am going tomorrow to move my oldest daughter home from college and I have asked my son to help by bringing his car too. What drama this has caused, I thought that my son would be glad to do something so minor for his mom but no absolutely no, not without lots of drama. Get over yourself, son is what I say!
My son won't know what he has until he doesn't have it anymore :(
God is not like that, there is no drama with God; He would rather die for me than live without me! What unconditional love that is, no expectations, just pure love.
WOW!   I am far from perfect but that doesn't matter to God, He still loves me and that strengthens my faith!

Faith in What We Don't See 

Hebrews 11 The Message

 ^1-2The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.  ³By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.
 ⁴By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That's what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
 ^5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
 ⁷By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn't see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
 ^8-10By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
 ^11-12By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That's how it happened that from one man's dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.
 ^13-16Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
 ^17-19By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, "Your descendants shall come from Isaac." Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that's what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.
 ²⁰By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau.
 ²¹By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph's sons in turn, blessing them with God's blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.
 ²²By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial.
 ²³By an act of faith, Moses' parents hid him away for three months after his birth. They saw the child's beauty, and they braved the king's decree.
 ^24-28By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king's blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. By an act of faith, he kept the Passover Feast and sprinkled Passover blood on each house so that the destroyer of the firstborn wouldn't touch them.
 ²⁹By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned.
 ³⁰By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fell flat.
 ³¹By an act of faith, Rahab, the Jericho harlot, welcomed the spies and escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God.
 ^32-38I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. There are so many more— Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn't deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
 ^39-40Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.