I Believe

We all believe in something, and no matter how hard someone tries, there is no way to change your mind. I, too, have a belief, and no one can change my mind. I believe in the One true and righteous King of the Universe. 

I Believe 

 

Lord! I believe!

I believe You are the Son of God;

That You died for me.

I believe Your arms are open wide-

You are always by my side.

There is nothing more I must decide-

Only to believe!

I believe in Your grace

And the promise of my permanent resting place.

I believe You forgive me in my wrath,

You forgive my wayward deeds,

You forgive my unfruitful seeds.

I believe I am saved-

No longer lost,

And it was You who paid the cost.

Lord!

I believe every scripture verse;

You are the King of the Universe, 

The Bread of Life,

The Light of the World,

The Beginning and the End.

Lord! I believe!

 

Mary Crisp Jameson 2/20/2026

 

“Do not let your hearts be troubles. You believe in God; believe also in me." John 14:1 

 

“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:31 

 

 

 

MAKING TIME

If I want to be a friend of others and of Jesus, I have to make time. That could mean rising early; it could mean skipping something I want to do for myself, or it could mean just putting others before myself. I believe that is also called love. Making time brings its rewards and it presents moments to cherish. I, personally, need to do better. 

 

M issing a personal scheduled appointment

A ppointing a special place and time 

K issing my personal time good-bye with joy

E liminating television time 

 

T rading off my plans for someone else’s 

I nvesting in growing the friendship

M aking the minutes, hours, and day meaningful  

E mbracing the moments together

Testing Negative for Stupid

I have been reading John Kennedy’s book, How to Test Negative for Stupid. I find his down-to-earth character refreshing and his quotes amusing: however, I have to comment on a few:  

 

One of his quotes is, “I believe that our country was founded by geniuses, but it’s being run by idiots.”  

     I could not help but laugh. Mr. Kennedy rightly stated this from a humanistic viewpoint, and I am sure he would agree that from a Christian viewpoint, our country was founded and created by God and it is run by God. God can take the decisions made by idiots and turn it to good. I quote Isaiah 40:23, “He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.”

 

Another quote I founded interesting and so true with humans is, “I have the right to remain silent but not the ability.” 

     God gives us some words of wisdom about this in Proverbs 21:23, “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.”

 

One more quote I would like to make a comparison about is, “I’m not going to Bubble Wrap it: The water in Washington, D. C., won’t clear up until you get the pigs out of the creek.” 

     This is bittersweet humor because it is so true. Throughout the Old Testament, there were few kings who did right in the sight of the Lord. However, there is hope, but the “swamp” may always be there. I place my hope in 2 Peter 3:13, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

 

For what it is worth, if you can find humor at all in government, read the book!  

 

 

 

 

Come Before My Presence

Psalm 16:11 NKJV “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  

 

The Message version is: “Now You’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of Your face. Ever since You took my hand, I’m on the right way.”  

 

I am trying to envision Psalm 16:11. In so doing, I see Jesus, first. I see His presence with a mighty glow surrounding Him. In His presence is joy; A joy which brings completeness. It provides satisfaction and contentment. I have no need to search for anything more. Next, I see Jesus with His right hand stretched out. As I place my hand in His, all fear is gone. My path is certain and secure. My heart is filled! I have found direction. I have found favor! 

     As the scripture says, my pleasure and my treasure in life is being with Jesus; surrounded by Jesus, and walking with Jesus. 

     As I pray the scripture: “Lord! Come before me and be present with me this day. Take my life, my hands, feet, mouth, and thoughts; Make them Yours so that I can walk in fullness of joy, being content with my direction and with all You provide.”

 

BETTER

Better is a more excellent quality, and I always want better. However, obtaining better does not come with having more money, more status, or even more power. Obtaining “better” comes from searching for what really makes life meaningful; it comes from being able to taste the fullness of God. How do I achieve this? Some ways are: 

 

B eing in favor with God

E ntering into daily communication with God

T elling Christ’s story

T urning from sin to God

E ntertaining all with whom I come in contact with love

R ecognizing that all I have comes from and belongs to God 

So, today, let me do better to obtain better!

Valentine's Day

As I was thinking about Valentine’s Day, I looked up a few quotes:

 

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” David Viscott
 “I am much more when I’m with you.” Unknown
 “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” Audrey Hepburn
 “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” Robert A. Heinlein
 “I love you for all that you are, for all that you have been, and for all you’ve yet to come.” Unknown
 

     I believe those are good thoughts on love; however, 1 Corinthians 13:8-7 tells me what love really is: 

 

Love is patient

Love is kind

Love does not envy

Love does not boast

Love is not proud

Love does not dishonor others

Love is not self-seeking

Love is not easily angered

Loves keeps no record of wrongs

Love does not delight in evil

Love rejoices with the truth

Love protect, trusts, hopes, and perseveres 

 

     Love is for all; family, spouses, children, family, friends, acquaintances, and even enemies. 

     I made up a quote myself and it takes love to accomplish. Here goes: 

“The best way to make a friend out of an enemy is to love him.”  Mary Crisp Jameson

 

Swearing

I think I will be just a little preachy today which is not my usual thing to do, and also since ugly talk and/or swearing in public conversation is a little pet peeve of mine.  To my readers, if I offend someone, I simply ask forgiveness after the fact, but I make no apology about not wanting to hear my God's name used in vain. 

     Matthew 5:34-37 says, “But I say to you, do not swear at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. But let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”   

     Since my childhood, we have come a long way, and not for the better. In my youth there was not any, if very little, bad words on T.V. much less by those who are in roles of leadership. If my parents swore, it was not in front of me. That’s goes a long way in the role of parenthood and respect.

     It would mean a lot in the role of true leadership if our politicians, who are supposed to be role models, left their swearing and/or bad words in their rooms of privacy and broadcast on national T.V. during speeches or interviews. 

     To the politicians and, in all due respect, even to the President of this great United States of America: No value is being added to the position in which the people have elected you to with the use of your swear words and the use of the "F" word. Your positions are to be respected, and the people are to be respected, as well. 

     To the news commenters: Families do not want the use of the "F" word broadcasts in  news being received into their homes, even if it is bleeped.  

     To the movie industry: Families who are trying to bring up children to be respectful, want the ugly words and vain use of God's name left out of their homes. 

     To the book writers: Readers do not want their minds filled with the use of God's name used vainly. This gives no justice to the story and adds no appeal. You may have written a very good story, but the use of God's name smeared throughout the pages of your book ruins the whole concept. 

     In the role of Christians, we are called to the same- that is leave off our swearing and use of God's name in vain. Much can be accomplished with a simple “yes” or “no”.

 

It's Not Fair!

I hear it all the time and have even said it myself, “It’s not fair!” Take today, for instance. I had planned to work my flower beds, but I woke up to rain. “Lord, I need outside, this is just not fair.” This is really minute, but it proves a point. We whine about the smaller of things. Yet, Jesus was silent. He never said, "Father, this is not fair."

 

It’s Not Fair

 

It’s not fair that I am oppressed and stressed.

It’s not fair what I must endure;

Others have better living, I am sure.

Life is not fair I grumble and mumble.

Yet, was it fair what Jesus had to bear?

Was it fair that Jesus’ trials were not just, though they were a must?

Was it fair that Jesus was afflicted, though they were predicted?

Was it fair that Jesus suffered pain, though He did not complain?

Was it fair that Jesus had to die, though He did not whine and cry?

Was it fair that Jesus remained silent when all was violent?

Was it fair that Jesus suffered a brutal infliction at the crucifixion?

Was it fair for Jesus to take my sins to make me an heir?

Was it fair that the world did not care? 

Was it fair? 

Is it fair that when I pull away from God, He is still there?

Is it fair that when I deliberately sin, God still pulls me to Him? 

Is it fair, my sins Jesus must still bear, though I gain love through prayer?

 Is it fair? 

 

Mary Crisp Jameson 2/11/2026

 

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away. Yet who of His generation protested? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was punished.” Isaiah 54:7-8 NIV  

 

 

 

I Can Only Imagine!

 We have all been given an imagination. Some have a better ability of forming mental images than others; yet, I believe everyone who knows Christ can project a mental image of what happened with Christ on the cross, His nail-scarred hands, His ascension, and what is to come.

I Can Only Imagine

 

Can you imagine the clouds so high

Too high for the reach of man and too unclear for the human eye!

There was a man standing beneath them on the ground 

While people stood around-

They had already seen a miracle and a foretelling,

Though they never understood the indwelling.

They had witnessed this man’s death and burial-

They had experienced His resurrection

And preformed a nail-scarred hand inspection.

What miracle was coming next?

The man, before them, had them all perplexed! 

And then He started to ascend-

A cloud came down to cover their friend.

I can only imagine 

This man rising into the clouds and then out of sight

With me standing there watching His powerful might.

I can only imagine the breath being held-

How each man’s chest swelled. 

I can only imagine 

The tears that fell from faces looking upward that day

And the memory being stored away.

I can only imagine!

The wonder, being there and turning, to see 2 strangers in white

Suddenly appearing within their sight,

And saying, “Why look up and sigh?

That is Jesus ascending on high.

But He will come again in the sky

And be seen by every eye.

I’ve read about what this all has meant.

And my chest swells with joy for this great event.

I can only imagine!

 

Mary Crisp Jameson - 2/10/2026

 

“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” Acts 1:9 KJV

 

Jonah's Rebellion

Every Bible reader knows the story of Jonah, in his rebellion, who ran from what the Lord wanted of him, and Jonah got swallowed by a large fish that we like to call a whale. 

     In Jonah 2b, Jonah told the Lord why he ran. “I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and One who relents concerning calamity.”

     My prayer is that:  Lord, I am so glad you are a gracious and compassionate God. I thank You for being slow to anger and for loving me with a desire that no calamity should come my way because of my sin. You always reach out Your arms and bring me back to you and are compassionate in forgiving me. Should troubles arise because of what I have done or said, You help me through in ways only You know. I praise You for continually caring, forgiving, and loving.  Amen!

A Work in Nature

There are many scriptures about nature. I have quoted a few and used them to assist in writing the following: 

 

A Work in Nature 

 

God counted and named the stars,

And He knows my memoirs.

He knows every bird and insect in the field,

And He know the deeds, I yield.

God clothe the flowers,

And He knows my remaining minutes and hours.

So, as the deer pants to quinch its thirst,

May I, too, pant for the Living Water, placing God first.

Like the tree planted by water’s edge,

May I be made strong by God with His protective hedge.

Like the fig tree’s tender twigs announcing summer’s beginning,

Let me announce my Christian life within my living.

As the eagle soars up in the sky so high,

May I soar, run and not be weary, as with God, I draw nigh.

Like the ant,

May I endure and not be faint.

Consider the strength of the lion and how hard it is to control,

Let me, for God,  be so bold.

He counted the stars and knows their name,

And He knows mine too, even in my shame.

God knows the name of all in His creation

So, in my summation,

The heavens, creatures, and all the things He made

Declare His glory, and it will not fade.

 

Mary Crisp Jameson. 2/7/2026

 

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” Psalm 147:4 

“I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.” Psalm 50:11

“And do not worry about clothes: See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”  Matthew 6: 28-29 

 

 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, My God.” Psalm 42:1 

 “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.” Matthew 24:32 

 “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 

 “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” Proverbs 6:6 

“The wicked flee through no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”  Proverbs 28:1

 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” Psalm 19:1 

 “Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths...wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds.” Psalm 148:7,10

 

Another Day of Opportunity

Today, I have another day of opportunity. Another day to keep my eyes focused straight ahead on Jesus. Another day to be grateful for all God has done and will do. Another day to store up treasure in heaven. Another day to be productive. Another day to seek God first and to pray. Who knows when God will come “like a thief”- when I least expect? 

     Let me prepare today!

     Let me produce the fruit of God’s spirit today!

 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control...” Galatians 5:22-23a  NIV

 

“Listen! I will come at a time you don’t expect, like a thief. Great blessings belong to those who stay awake and keep their clothes with them. They will not have to go without clothes and be ashamed for people to see them.” Revelation 16:15 ESV

 

The "I" in Idolatry

Idolatry is defined as extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone. Also, I read in a devotional several days ago that the “I” in Idolatry could be just that, I. 

     In other words, am I just looking out for “me” and what only pleases “me” or daily thinking, “What’s in it for me?” 

     In studying about Solomon, he stated that with all his riches, he denied himself nothing. He had everything. So, you might say he lived in “I”dolatry. In the end, even with all Solomon had acquired, Solomon in his wisdom expressed that life was meaningless without God in it.  

     Comparing Solomon’s life to Paul’s life, they were completely different, yet Paul had learned to be content without luxury. After Paul's conversion experience, he lived only for God and sharing the ministry. In 2 Corinthians Paul tell us: 

1.     5 times I received 39 lashes from the Jews

2.    3 times I was beaten with rods

3.    Once I was stoned

4.    3 times I was shipwrecked 

5.    A night and a day I have spent in the deep

6.    I have been on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers, robbers, countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on sea, and dangers among false brethren.

7.    I have been in labor and hardship

8.    I have had many sleepless nights

9.    I have had hunger and thirst, often without food

10. I have been in cold and exposure

11.  I have had daily pressure over concern for all the churches

I have to take note of Paul’s last comment in item #11. His concern was not over the hardships he listed in numbers 1-10, his concern with for the churches and His work for God. He certainly was not into the “I” factor. 

     Both Solomon and Paul, in different ways, gave me the final analysis. I, like everyone else, will have an earthy death -earthly riches cannot be taken with me - my earthly deeds will be forgotten by man. The only thing I have is my hope in Jesus Christ who has gone before me to make an eternal home for me if I only believe in the Son of God. It is really very simple. Believe and gain joy in my earthy walk with God. 

     

 

Women of the Bible

In a Barbie world, 

  Be an Esther, 

  Be a Hannah,

  Be a Ruth,

  Be a Deborah,

  Be a Mary

 

Romans 12:1-2 KJV “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not transformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” 

 

     After seeing the above quote and scripture someone posted, I decided to look up these women and provide a more detailed observation about their character. I can always learn a lesson by studying about the faithful women in scripture. Below is a short description for how and why they are mostly remembered.  

 

Hannah was the woman seen praying to God for a child. Her tears were great, and she vowed to dedicate her child to God if only He would answer her prayer.  God heard and saw Hannah’s distress. He answered her prayer, and Hannah fulfilled her promise. Hannah was dependable and faithful.

 

Esther was an orphan raised by her cousin. Because of her beauty, she was taken into the king’s harem, not realizing that she was a Jew. Esther had to reveal this to the king in order to petition him to save her people; although, it could have meant death for her. She was courageous and faithful. 

 

Ruth was a widow who chose to follow her mother-in-law back to her homeland, thus leaving her own parents and country she knew. She became the great-grandmother of David through her marriage to Boaz. Ruth was loyal and steadfast.

 

Deborah was the only female judge and prophet described in scripture in Israel’s history. She was a decisive figure in the defeat of the Canaanites, a judge, and a prophetess in Israel. She wrote the Song of Deborah to give God glory.  Deborah was wise, dependable, and a leader.

 

Mary was selected by God to be the mother of Jesus. She willingly obeyed God even if it meant being stoned to death. She was obedient, had endurance, and was faithful.

 

They all loved God!

Delilah was not mentioned in the quote above, but I suppose the Barbie could be her. Delilah was the one who used her beauty for deceit, all for a bag of coins. She was the one who betrayed Samson.

Why Am I Doing This?

There are some days I get a feeling and stop! I ask God, “Lord, what am I missing? Is there something I need to be doing that is escaping my attention?” I may not get an answer. I may not, still, see beyond my own plans. However, I have stopped long enough to realize God is working on me in His season, so I relax and just trust in Him. 

 

Why Am I Doing This?

 

What is there to life? 

I mow the grass, it grows, and I mow again.

What is there to gain.?

I clean the house, it gets dirty, and I clean once more.

From all my labor, what is there in store? 

I go to work, return home, sleep and repeat;

My life seems set into columns within a spreadsheet.

I draw a paycheck which seems to disappear within my hand;

I work for another, but it never goes toward what I planned.

What do I achieve? 

What in life do I weave? 

What is the aim if all stays the same?

Mowing, working, cleaning, cooking-

For something more, I am constantly looking.

What do I gain from my toil as I walk this earthly soil? 

These are only questions I ask about life’s task,

For I cannot fathom all that God has in store with every chore.

But I know within it all, God has a plan within my lifespan.

So, I’ll rejoice and enjoy my life-

its God gift to me;

I’ll just do my work, love God, and be carefree. 

 

Mary Crisp Jameson  2/1/2026

 

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV