Category: Bread & Butter Morsels

Numismatic

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter MorselsLeave a comment

“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid.” 

~Valery Alekseyevich Legasov was a Soviet inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.

Who Knew

I’m sitting here watching Chernobyl, a series by Johan Renck, released in 2019. I’m watching it for a second time. Simultaneously, I’ve completed an order on Ebay for 8 ancient coins, era approximately 300 B.C. to 93 B.C. All were acquired for around $20-$30. You might be asking, ‘what inspired this purchase now?’ and I’d have to say it happened by way of an eye-catching lot listed by a local auction house I follow; a two coin set issued of the Southpark Characters, by Agoro licensed for the famous animation cartoon.

Never in a million years would I have dreamed a pop-culture trading coin released in October of 2025 would lead me to the ancient coins of 300 B.C. but here we are.

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Chernobyl just blew its roof off, and with it dissolved the cohesion of the USSR. The film indicates this rupture by a muted but exponential quaking of an apartment in Pripyat as a woman walks past her window, the faint glow in the distance of a sinister, uncontrollable fiend escaping into the fabric of this earth. The tyrannical Titan has been struck, but the sinking is slow, invisible, the radiation seems to work from the inner core of the regime outward, and it is relentless. God was executing a precise blow.

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This film is exhausting, constantly we ride on the lies through every scene, the truth screaming in everyone’s faces but the hearers don’t listen – refuse to listen – and instead perpetuate the lie. And the one becomes a dozen becomes a thousand and reality is warped.

This film is brilliant.

Goofy Cartoon Characters, But So Aesthetically Pleasing

I love these coins, the colors, the proportions, and how satisfying to see that the background is also cohesive between each of the coins. I think repeatedly, why? How am I so attracted to these things when I’m a grown woman and never followed Southpark anymore than the general public when I was in my twenties? It’s the aesthetic aspect, the curves, colors and lines and they are such happy looking little characters…

It’s Called By Numismatics, The Chase

And that’s not all of them. There are five sets of ten each increasing in rarity. I was so mesmerized by the prospect of what is called blind boxes that I went online even before the auction was over and purchased two additional boxes from a reseller so I could experience the anticipation of….did I get the elusive gold coins? When these things happen, I roll with them. Life is short, buy some blind boxes of amazing coins and experience something different in life, it’s worth it….maybe even golden worth it. I’ll have to update my findings with you once I’ve received and opened the Agoro treasure chests.

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This film drives the viewer through the radiation filled corridors of a nuclear disaster, foreboding and claustrophobic, you breath the softly floating snow burning orange, your skin feels a nonexistent vibration of radiation….how these people suffered. How people suffer under the effects of Communism.

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Algorithms

Of course if you search one coin the invisible workings of the internet delivers you many, many coins. In a random video I watched a coin dealer named Harry on the other side of the United States (Oregon precisely), pick up a small dark coin from a collection tray. ‘Here’s a denarius from biblical times.’

I was struck. Jesus could have carried that coin in His pocket, I thought. Maybe it was one of the silver coins Judas received in a pouch from the Pharisees to betray Him. And so, the die was struck.

I’m not smart. If I were smart I’d have the idea first. I am far from having the idea of collecting coins from biblical times first. But at least I stumbled upon it now just for the sake of my own joy of the prospect of owning a coin that circulated during that time period. And there are many to choose from. Some I find aesthetically pleasing and others not so much. The fascination of experiencing that ancient coin was too powerful to ignore.

To start my collection, I bought the denarius from Harry and his coin shop. I vetted him, no worries. It’s perfect really since he was the one who introduced me to ancient coins in the first place. I’ve since added the 8 coins I spoke of earlier to start a base for the collection. I find some so interesting that I’m acquiring them regardless of when they might have circulated.

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Jesus, God….the engineers just looked directly into the raging inferno of the dragon’s core, their faces — the flesh is going to melt off.

This film…..

When my thoughts drift to nuclear fission, my mind never fails to superimpose this biblical text:

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Revelation 8

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Experiencing vs. Admiring Coins

The Southpark trading coins are shiny and encased in plastic. I have no desire to take them out – though I did take them out to carefully wipe the fingerprints off the polished surface. Yes I know the danger of damaging them, but it was my first purchase and they weren’t my fingerprints so, they had to go:) The first purchase can never be forgotten. I like that about collections. It’s the unsophisticated and unlearned approach that is ultimately most endearing, the rest are acquired with increasing scrutiny and knowledge. But those first endeavors always hold a special place in the heart, because of the flaws.

The ancient coins, on the other hand, I don’t want behind plastic, sealed away and untouchable. This is not where the value lies for me. I don’t care how fragile they might be or how much wear I might put on them, I want to hold them and experience them in a completely different way than the modern pop coins of Southpark, which look perfectly at home in their protective cases.

Some Greek craftsman working in his shop struck that 293 B.C. coin with his fingers and hands and sweat, it traveled in the coin purse of a traveling merchant to spend it on grain, or a pouch of water or maybe a fine glass of wine for his wife. I want to experience that coin, 2319 years later….

Twenty Twenty Six

An Endless Quest

Now I haven’t even touched on how this lead me also to the Keepsake Memory box my father left me. I thought he was keeping his spare change in a box tucked into the bottom of the case, perhaps collected in part upon certain celebratory events throughout his life.

Little did I know what interesting treasures he was keeping in that box:) It deserves a whole post unto itself – if only because it was my daddy.

Hope everyone is having a beautiful winter, lots of snow here. Until next time, many blessings friends~

Corruption Made Manifest In The Light

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The World Right Now

I feel a sense of justice and recompense prevailing finally after the longest, darkest night my generation has ever lived through – covid and all of the Biden/Obama Admin corruption.

That said, I’m only beginning to see that underneath it all was an even more sinister plot led by none other than Barak Obama for over a decade. I feel comfortable saying this because of one thing:

All of Obama’s ‘men’ are being rounded up and the evidence against them is not lying; his corruption is made manifest in the light. You’ve got to take out the surrounding infrastructure first in order to get to the kingpin. And that infrastructure is coming down fast, his idea of a weakened America crumbling before his eyes. It isn’t Cain’s blood that when spilt, cries out to God. It is Abel’s blood whom God hears and by which is moved to action.

New World Order: The Lust For Greater Power

I can’t understand why Obama and all those like him hate America so much. Fifty years from now, perhaps there will be psychological documentaries delving into it.

I still hold to the notion that it’s all in service to a systematic destruction of all nation’s sovereignty in an effort to form the New World Order we’ve heard several Presidents speak plainly about. Power and authority over the United States of America is enormous, but that’s nothing compared to power and authority over the whole earth and all her inhabitants.

It is the epitome of Lucifer’s narrative arch. He grapples for what is beautiful and orderly which only God can create, but his own corruption expels him from what he longs for most.

No One Will Be King Over The Earth, Save The One Christ

People don’t believe God when He says, ‘The earth is mine and the fulness thereof,” and “the meek shall inherit the earth”.

God’s words are truth.

God owns it all, Christ is God, and if we remain in Christ we are coheirs with Him. I’m not speculating on this:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

Romans 8.16-19

The corrupt Cherub and his evil principalities shall not take dominion of God’s fulness.

Social Media

The sense of vindication right now on social media is so gratifying after all the suppression of speech wielded directly by our government. To feel the tide turning is a relief. Though I still find myself anxious about the ‘what if.’ What if they somehow scrape back power and start the oppression all over again? When the righteous rule the people rejoice, truly. To have one indivudual block you or disagree with you is uncomfortable but not oppressive. When the entire power of a governmental body shuts down all your avenues of expression – it is suffocating.

I wonder if atheists deem Christianity so horrible as opposed to Islam? Because when you ignore that this is a spiritual battle, you play not a small role in where America finds herself. And absolutely to where England already has fallen. Why can’t people be more introspective? How is it that so many are wholly blind to the fact that they are or have contributed greatly to the problem? Atheists are convinced there is no God and no devil. This puts them wholly at a disadvantage to see the world as it truly is – indeed because they have plucked out their eyes through which to see it. They are blind.

This is why good people perish and evil often prospers. When you don’t have a conscience there is no inner taxing on the mind and soul. This is also why God speaks extensively in the NT about our gained righteousness which makes us, as God’s people, right standing before Him, regardless of our shortcomings. How? By the work Christ did on the Cross. Because if we could have made ourselves pure and righteous, Christ would not have had to die for us. Thankfully by His sacrifice we gain His righteousness and our reconciliation as a once fallen human species is complete. We can come into communion with God where the enmity of sin is abolished through the Cross. Amen!

Fish, Aquatic Plants and the Aquarist Life

I’m working on a post about a few small fish tanks I’ve been building the past several weeks. It’s interesting to me that after feeling a bit better the project I undertake is to start aquatic water boxes. Amazing what happens when your body is supplied with the correct amount of hormones to function properly. Energy and will work hand in hand. One without the other – much less lacking either – and no progress can be made on any front.

Through this also I realized something I never could pinpoint; I am allergic to yeast. Like, no wonder I don’t enjoy alcohol. Everyone always talks about how good drinking a glass or two makes them feel and it always made me feel sick. I like Amaretto Sours though, mild as they may be for some.

Dreams and Such

Also, I’ve made some progress with the recurring dream of endless corridors, hallways and mazes that I could never quite find my way out of….I indeed think I’ve unravelled the conundrum and I won’t be having this dream anymore. That post to come soon also. Dreams are fascinating:)

And finally, a followup to my Minimalistic lifestyle approach. In an attempt to order my surroundings better and feel better in mind and spirit, I adopted the minimalistic approach. This too has worked wonders – even though I was stalled in this endeavor by my thyroid retiring on me. I’ve since been able to complete much of what was started last year.

Have a beautiful week, and I pray that more and more you understand how you fit into the Body of Christ in this earth and what a privilege it is to be called an heir of God~

Let’s Dine

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My Affinity for Dining Scenes in Film

There are several aspects of film I delight in, one of which being when directors include dining scenes. And not all are created equal as audio, visuals and symbolic undertones all play a part in whether I consider them an elevated and experiential addition or just an afterthought of the screenwriter. These dining scenes can be found in books or film but I’m going to focus on film today.

One of my first memories of enjoying food in storying-telling was when my Grandmother would read the children’s book Pinocchio to me as a child. From what I remember, Geppetto is carrying a brown sack of groceries, the illustration depicted lettuce, carrots and other produce just visible over the rim of the bag and the words she read (and how she read them, or better, how my five-year-old ears heard them) brought everything to life for me as a young child.

Then there’s The Boxcar Children cooking some sort of stew in the wilderness; the siblings in A Wrinkle In Time always eating liverwurst sandwiches with cream cheese and jam; the finger foods and other prepared sandwiches in Donna Tartt’s A Secret History….I could go on and on. I love food scenes in stories. Dining denotes community, togetherness and creativity in preparation. It immerses me into the characters’ world and if thoughtfully executed, can be used metaphorically in film revealing layers of meaning and understanding. I simply love when directors make a statement with dining.

I might add here that the whole experience for the viewer is what I find important as well as placement within the story arc. In the case of the film All Is Lost, it is mainly the placement that I find emotionally relevant, whereas in Godland many aspects of the dining experience are incorporated including relevant placement, audio, symbolic importance and visual cues.

Now let’s get dining, shall we?

‘Godland’ (2022)

This gorgeous and haunting film was shot on location in Iceland using 35mm film. The banquet of sounds is a symphony to my ears. I love when filmmakers incorporate audio as another layer of storytelling, such as the sound of the horses teeth chomping down on their bits, the sound of hooves clopping along the rugged wilderness paths and of course, the clinking of dishes and silverware and gulps of coffee while leaning over steaming stews. It’s a stark contrast to the cold winter lurking just outside, one that can be felt and understood by the viewer. There are moments I relish in this film, hellish moments that are simply nature taking its course and when taken alone mean nothing more than the act, but when combined with the underlying dark river of the human psyche, become altogether terrifying.

The Priest And His Selfish Breakfast

In Godland’s opening scene the head priest takes his breakfast in front of the younger missionary, Lucas, who he is preparing to send off to Iceland on a brutal quest in winter to establish a church. The head minister is sumptuously consuming his delicacies from a spread of hard boiled eggs, buttered bread, a bowl of fruit and what seems to be lukewarm coffee, as there is no notable steam rising. There are mugs and other goblets and linens spread across the table all in service to the head priest.

The younger missionary priest, however, neither partakes nor is invited to partake in the rather lukewarm, suspiciously humble feast of his elder mentor and instead watches and listens to his master explain how deprived he will soon be in the backcountry of Iceland’s unforgiving terrain. It is altogether profoundly foreshadowing, having what he might want and need metaphorically right in front of him, but unable to enter into it and satiate his soul…very much symbolic of an empty stomach.

I could do a whole blog post on this film alone but I’m not sure I can do it justice. The director is brilliant, having scenes unfold on screen and you don’t know what you’re looking at – is it small, or enormous? A person, or dirt? I found myself pulled into the mud, into the echos, the water, the cold, the dark undertow of this narrative. It’s a pity the most brilliant movies seem to get overlooked by mainstream.

The movie is also a folk musical – the only kind of musical to which I’m happy to subject myself. There’s less dialog than most movies might contain and I love that. The folk songs, sung by the party’s Icelandic guide Ragnar, seem more like dark incantations than bubbly outbursts of a carefree heart.

“I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell this story,”….as the camera pans across a lush green mountainous waterfall, Ragnar discloses to the group, in his Icelandic tongue, a sinister tale as they huddle around a fire roasting their meat. This movie is treacherous, just ordinary people, yet so creepy and hauntingly wrong – or is that just how nature unfolds without God? As if you’re witnessing on screen the madness within all of mankind when not checked by God. I kept waiting for someone to open the windows so that God might shine in and illuminate the darkness, but no one lifted a finger to do so.

A Second, Warmer Dining Scene

At around the intermission we get another dinner scene. This time the priest Lucas is ragged, unable to pay attention and hardly eats at all (yet again deprived, though satiety is within reach) while those around him gulp down wine, slurp freshly caught oysters, hot soup, and crunchy buttered bread all rather merrily. The table is more alive than the head priest’s lukewarm, uninviting table at the onset of his quest. Here there’s roasted meat, shared goodwill with smiles, wine and warmth.

Our dear protagonist Lucas is inconsolable, his inner world untouchable, rigid and perplexed.

‘All Is Lost’

This film has a short but almost spiritual scene of the sailor played by Robert Redford, eating a meal in the cabin of his sailboat. After an accident that leaves a huge gaping hole in his boat, he’s left cleaning up the mess and repairing it for the next two days. It’s hot, there’s sea water up to his knees in the cabin and he has to sleep in a hammock while the watery chaos shifts beneath him with the waves of the sea.

Up until this one dining scene he’s eaten only out of cans, pork and beans perhaps. He can’t use the oven to warm his meals because it’s still underwater. After several days of continually using the bilge pump, patching the side of the vessel, frying under the scorching sun struggling to order all the chaos, he does one last mopping up and finally his cabin is returned to normal.

He’s got one major problem though – no working electrical equipment to call out an S.O.S. There’s no hope of rescue. This dawning realization was difficult to swallow and he knew he’d have to either save himself or be lost at sea.

So out comes the whiskey, and one other thing he is capable of doing for himself – preparing a good hot meal which he’s been deprived of for days. What follows is a well placed scene of our skipper as he chops up veggies on the cutting board, the sizzling noises included in the audio as he sautés an onion. We hear the clinking of utensils, steam rising from the cooking pots, all a symbolic (though somber) dance of reward for a job well done. Order is restored.

While this cooking scene unfolds it starts to rain and he goes topside to wash off the crusty salt water that’s dried on his skin and face. The stress is being washed away, and he’s capping off all the hard work with a tomato and pasta sauce meal along with a good deal of whiskey. Them be sailors…

‘Conspiracy’ (2001)

Here the dining tables are elegantly dressed and nothing is held back in the preparation or presentation of the delicacies. Gourmet dishes served by butlers and an army of nervous chefs and servers to the Nazi generals, lawyers and administrators. These dishes, however elegant in presentation, come across as less than appetizing. They’re dressed limply on shiny silver platters, arranged in such a manner that exudes a lukewarm tinge to the eye, lifeless. I doubt I’d be partaking in these innocent, (is food innocent?) yet ravenous delicacies of death:

Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,
    do not crave his delicacies;
for he is the kind of person
    who is always thinking about the cost.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
    but his heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the little you have eaten
    and will have wasted your compliments.

~Proverbs 23.6-8

The poultry, ribs, seafood all hinting at a danger of…moral poison in their sweaty, grayish appearance. No deliciousness or sumptuousness to them. And many of the plates throughout the film are left uneaten, wasted – some members of the Nazi party even stating they did not eat at all. The wine flowed from every corner, the cigar smoke hung in the air but the ravenous souls of those in attendance were already drunk on a wrathful wine prescribed from a God they didn’t even believe in, much less fear.

‘Margin Call’

The last one I’ll mention in this post is Margin Call. The entire movie was suspenseful, intense and involved highly anxious interactions. It mostly took place throughout one night in the throes of statistical madness. After all the demonic financial numbers are grappled with, when Hell is served up for everyone else to deal with – indeed as the movie comes to the end of itself – the viewer is escorted to an upper floor of the high rise corporation that has a view of the New York skyline. We get to have dinner after a treacherous day on Wall Street selling mortgage-backed securities.

A quiet reprieve. Nestled over an elegantly draped table with fine linens, glassware and well prepared food is our antihero CEO relaxing, reading the newspaper and enjoying his dining moment after the massive storm he managed to evade…and indeed thrust upon the entirety of the world as we’d soon come to understand in 2008,

“Excuse me for eating but, it’s been a long day.”

We take a breath with him at this point in the movie. It’s a well placed dining scene in the aftermath of the carnage that is high stakes banking; an elite privilege after selling out the whole world to Satan…

…or perhaps ’tis Satan himself seated across from our weathered Sam Rogers, excusing himself to dine high above the chaos he’s just unleashed.

Afterthoughts

When I first began writing this a few weeks ago, I had no idea how difficult it would be. Who knew there was a journalistic language that film critics use when analyzing movies? I knew some reviews were better written than others but there really is a niche language concerning film dialog. The good thing is I’m not trying to be a film critic, the bad news is, I don’t have the means to make this as interesting as it could be. I thoroughly enjoyed rewatching all these films in order to create this list of dining scenes, and there are more I could have included.

Five weeks now that I’ve been on this thyroid pill and thank God, the brain fog and lack of energy is slowly subsiding. It’s annoying, I have to admit. I also bought an air purifier – God only knows all the invisible things we are subjected to without realizing it.

May you have a dining kind of week filled with warmth, good foods, and good vibes~

Seizing the Hour and the Day

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Cleansing Toxic Government

When the righteous are in power, the people rejoice. This is biblical truth. I am thankful that we have Donald Trump for President otherwise our country would have been tossed into a gutter of far left radical sludge. I’m not angry with this current administration, am angry at the times. I’m frustrated that no one can give an honest, transparent answer. Mostly, I’m angry that the previous administration seems to have done horrific things to the people of this country and the world – releasing covid, executing tyrannical law complete with vaccine passports and mask mandates and how far apart from one another we could stand (1984 just scaled down a bit), and the destruction of our society by mobs.

Through a massive prayer initiative by the Church, God heard our prayers and the previous administration was removed from office. We succeeded in seizing the hour and the day for the Kingdom of God. I believe we saved our country from the control of the globalists and their heinous agenda.

Choosing God Over Satan’s Worldly Systems

Let’s be real, the Seven Pillars are not metaphorical but active systems Satan and demonic principalities use to hold sway over the children of man. Government, Business, Family, Media, Arts/Entertainment, Religion and Education. These are the highest battle grounds for influence upon all of God’s creation. God laid out what was happening in the spiritual realm:

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence, and the violent have been seizing it by force.

Matthew 11.12

It’s interesting that the word interjects a starting point for this phenomenon as beginning sometime during the days of John the Baptist. People often argue about the differences between the Old and New Testaments. To me they flow together seamlessly when you realize the following:

  • That Christ is the Seed spoken of in Genesis,
  • The same Seed foretold by every Prophet of old,
  • The same Seed born the Son of Man and of God,
  • The same Seed buried in the ground and Who died because as Jesus noted, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit,”
  • And the Seed Who rose again from the grave and pulled us out of darkness along with Him,

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2.15

It Isn’t God vs. Satan

Christ is the Seed that crushed the serpents head, Satan himself, by the power of the Cross. We tend to think evil is so powerful but it only bruised Christ’s heal, whereas Christ crushed evil’s head. No contest, I’ve said it before, the fight is not between God and Satan. Satan lost faster than a strike of lightening from the heavens to the earth. The word even speaks symbolically through the King of Tyre regarding this pathetic Cherub: Those who see you stare at you, they look at you carefully, thinking: “Is this the man who shook the earth, the one who made kingdoms tremble?

No. The battle is between the Church and Satan. My, my, my dear people of God, we have to understand this! Destined for the Throne by Paul E. Billheimer beautifully illustrates this truth we must grasp in order to wage this war in the heavens and see the result in the earth of our prayerful labor in Christ.

Seize the Hours, Seize the Days

Arrest the time you’ve been given, saints. Either the Church rises to the sound of the trumpet in battle and seizes the day or else the Seven Pillars will continue to crumble and fall. Israel, because of their disobedience lost all the splendor of the Days of Solomon, all their glory and pride. They lost their land promised to them by God. We have to fight the spiritual battle in prayer and in action. I don’t have time to write everything on my heart which concerns our present times. Either we lose our life for God or the world will devour us.

Someone I listen to regularly said they don’t see the United States anywhere in the Book of Revelation, implying it ceases to be a coherent country by future biblical accounts.

Now I have a difficult time believing this for many reasons I won’t go into here, but the thought of that struck a deep seated belief I thought wouldn’t come to pass – the loss of my nation, my homeland. I pondered this for sometime afterword and still do at times. It haunts me.

We see nations fall everyday it seems, Syria, Iraq, ancient Persia and Egypt, never putting ourself into that position. Nothing but God is permanent and everything that is permanent on this earth is still temporal to all of eternal life.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Revealing the Truth of the Word

It’s difficult to write like this, to write of spiritual truths because there is a war constantly against truth – a war in the heavenly realm and the natural realm we live in. It takes prayer and sometimes fasting to reveal the spiritual through our clay vessels and into the world to transform it. And I myself am insufficient oftentimes distracted and exhausted, fussy and irritable unwilling to put in the work. We’re all human and whipping ourselves continually isn’t helpful.

Look how many thousands of years it took God to bring to fruition the Promise of His Seed, Christ. This life is no joke. And yet we wrestle with all manner of difficult obstacles from emotional stress to psychological and genetic addictions to personality quirks then sin on top of that and the fire of Hell to top it all off. God knows this. He understands our struggle through Christ.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every respect as we are, but without sinning.

Hebrews 4.15

There is no mistake, no stumble, no wrong, no temptation, no heartbreak that the Lord does not understand or cannot empathize with concerning the children of man. None. We are not alone in our quest for His goodness, to see His goodness in the land of the living, in the land of our own lives, in our hearts and our thoughts. He knows and still forgives, without a moment’s notice.

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrew 8.12

The Holy Spirit is a Helper Not a Punisher; He is the Feminine Aspect of God the Father

God is renewal, He is life. Nothing for us as His people ever ends in death and darkness. Though these things are experienced commonly by us all, He will not suffer death to hold us, He will pull us out of all the darkness even if it is our own doing. That’s what the Cross is all about. We are too weak to save ourselves so God comes to us, as He always will, and rescues us from our wretched fallen state and washes us by His word, clothes us honorably in white clean robes and invites us to the seat at the side of Christ our Redeemer. He will never forsake us and He makes it clear time and time again He means what He says,

No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth. Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’ I made you thrive like a plant of the field. Ezekiel 16.5-7

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7.13-14

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8.38-39

May your soul be at peace, may God bring His peace into every aspect of your life. Rest in Him and knowing that no one is ever so far gone that His arm is not able to reach you and save you.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:” Isaiah 59.1

He knows our troubles, He hears our cries. May we in turn hear His heart and do His will upon the earth to bring to fruition His Kingdom among the children of man.

Following the Holy Spirit

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Learning the Way of the Spirit

Countless books have been written on the subject of following the Spirit of God. We are constantly trying to figure out if we are hearing from Him, if the light we are following is the Holy Spirit or some other spirit, if it is just our own whims that pull us around, and whether we’ve correctly chosen the path of Life and not Death.

It’s all rather overwhelming. Add to that the fact that Satan is a lying deceiver, can masquerade as an angel of light to distort our perceptions, steal our peace and blind us, and very quickly the signal can get dicey. Then we have our own carnal desires to content with. Add all this up and we’ve got the elements of a boundless Lord of the Rings style war on our hands that all starts in the mind and if not conquered there, manifests outwardly potentially creating a lot of chaos.

The Battlefield of the Mind

If we look at all of these crazy winds blowing around us we can easily get distracted and frightened. What’s worse, the devil can bring every good (that’s right, good) opportunity to our doorstep and keep us so busy with doing good things that we end up off our purpose in God. Remember, even Paul was forbidden to enter Asia with the gospel of Christ. And that was a good intention, even a commandment of Christ to go into all the world and preach the good news.

Had Paul not been open and receptive to the voice of the Spirit, he would have continued on his journey in the wrong direction.

The Devil Masquerades as an Angel of Light

Satan tries to deceive us constantly and keep our understanding of spiritual matters cloaked in darkness. He’ll even try to pluck up truths we’ve come to rely upon. (Luke 8.12) He mimics Christ’s light in order to sway humans off the path of Life. This fake light can come in any number of shapes and sizes and he will fit these wares according to our human nature: distractions, busyness, urgency, good deeds (yes, even those), sin itself, glory from man, praise, wealth, spiritual enlightenment (New Age, Eastern Religions) the list goes on and on.

What makes it difficult is that even though some of these things appear worthwhile endeavors, Satan can twist them into actual traps which if acted upon will snare us and cease our journey forward.

All things require balance and proving.

Sin Does Not Lead to Growth

This is one key to knowing the path of Life and if you’re following the Spirit: are you growing in Christ? Are you getting spiritually fed and progressing in your knowledge with God? When you apply what you’re learning from a particular individual, principle or revelation, is your life getting better and are you improving as a whole? Then this is God.

Because sin cannot produce life or truth. It might show up as something glorious but in a very short time the spirit behind it will reveal itself because it lacks the capability to improve you. Sin binds, is laden with burdens, and confuses our direction. This could take a few months to determine, although the more discerning you are and the more you read the word of God the quicker you’ll realize it.

Look for growth and life. Whatever isn’t producing these results for you, it could be a snare. Even good things can be twisted by satan, look at what he does continually with the word of God. So be mindful that he’ll take something good and try to corrupt it. Know who you are in Christ and know God’s word. Jesus never had a conversation with the devil, He simply told him what to do: get behind Me!

The Key to Know Which Light is the Holy Spirit

When we are plotting our way forward having correctly placed the Kingdom of God as first priority, we can rest assured we are walking the path of Life. We may need to recalibrate and realign, but that is to be expected. The key is putting Him first. If we put anything else at the top, even good deeds in the first position above God, then the very deeds themselves become our idols.

If we follow the Spirit then the good works follow us and the foundation of the hierarchy is properly set. In the midst of the hierarchy, other people show up with whom we get to share the journey; some for extended periods of time, some for only a brief moment. These individuals can bring us breakthrough, profound truth and help us on our way. And that’s as it should be. We are the Body of Christ and we cannot go without each other, or divide from each other. And it is God who will refine His Body, purify His Bride and present Her to Himself. (Eph 5.25-27)

All will go together whether at arms length or separated by lands and oceans. We advance together upon the earth. There is no distance in the Spirit. If we are in the Spirit we are together. Paul made this clear as well.

Take Confidence in a Properly Aligned Hierarchy of Worship

Sometimes we find ourselves following and learning from an individual or even a particular church organization and they change their direction in a way that doesn’t line up with God or the word. But because we haven’t placed the individual(s) at the top of our hierarchy, (thus replacing God and our identity with an idol), we aren’t following the individual but following the Holy Spirit. This shields us from dismay and possible derailment of our progress in God. Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ, right – this equips us with all the wisdom we need: when they stop following biblical truth, stop following them.

Now we are free to learn, to move and have our being without the fear of losing who we are in Christ. Always identify with Him first, then explore as you feel led. The Israelites followed Moses into redemption as Moses followed God.

And sometimes following God sets you against the direction of the crowds, and that’s okay. You know the story of Gideon’s Army, right? God is not mainstream. Understand this. We are in the worldly system, not of it.

I fear for those in the Body of Christ who identify more with religious formalities, religious figures, online influencers or anything at all more than they identify with Christ. This is the act of adding garments over or under the garment of Christ and shadows idolatry. (But that’s another post, perhaps forthcoming.)

Be Aware of the Spiritual Realm and Test the Spirits

God will prove our connections. I’ve said this before – if we choose our own companions without listening for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we can be led astray. He will choose and then prove those who will go with us in our journey. Then God will anoint them – which is a seal, an understanding of the purpose. You won’t be pulled in opposite directions.

Remember the solemn Council of Elrond which determined the Company of the Ring Bearer in LOTR? According to lore that meeting took 70 days before reaching an accord among them. It was as much an intellectual endeavor as it was spiritual and emotional exploration and battle. Seventy days, and that was a fictional accord. We take less time making decisions about the directions of our lives in God than we do what movie we’re going to watch after dinner tonight.

Unity Brings the Body Together Even When Separated

There are times when we go separate ways, but it is to fulfill the ultimate purpose of God which should be in our hearts the same and it should unify us both now and in the future. Times and seasons are important on the earth, when God says, ‘Not yet,’ it doesn’t mean never. It just means the time isn’t right today. So be vigilant and don’t let satan pluck up your destiny, or compel you forward and over the edge.

The devil uses time to talk you out of what is yours. ~Christian Harfouche

Be aware; satan is always roaming about like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Remember the rift between Paul and Barnabas concerning John Mark? It split Paul and Barnabas. I’m not sure who was right, but if Paul was the leader, Barnabas should have acquiesced. If Paul wanted Mark to follow, then Barnabas should have conceded his point. In this case it was the reverse, and Barnabas still should have followed Paul’s instruction which would have been leaving Mark behind for this particular trip.

Our Life is a Walk of Faith

If we are following God then everything God has for us we will encounter along that divine path. We will miss nothing. And all things God gives to us as we walk this path will be good. We just can’t replace Him with any of it. We can’t want anything God gives us more than we want Him. This is how we plot our way correctly.

Remember, have confidence in God’s choices for your life. Not today doesn’t mean never. Learn to rest in His timing, knowing that our timing – as limited creatures – is skewed because we cannot see all things at once. Placing our lives in His hands, an all-knowing all-seeing God gives us ultimate advantage against all the devil’s wiles.

“The basis of the highest form of faith is the decision to accept the proposition that whatever happens, if you live in truth, is by definition the best thing that can possibly happen despite your inability as a consequence of your limitations to have the wisdom to see that. That is a statement of faith, because there is no way of demonstrating the validity of that proposition before enacting the hypothesis. You have to commit to it.”

Jordan Peterson

Have a wonder-filled week and may you burn brightly for the Kingdom of God~

Nostalgia: Days, Years, Blades of Grass

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter MorselsLeave a comment

Nostalgia is not my favorite past time. It slams into me sometimes, like a wake up call to get busy, get on with it, time is short and very few things in life are worth it. Everything our flesh desires is temporal and fades away. All the riches of this earth are never certain, things rot, burn, fade and disappear. For me, the ultimate essence of a life well-lived is how successfully we align ourselves to become vessels used by God for His purpose on this earth. The battle between my will and His will is no joke. But He is all that I am at the end of it all. Without Him I would surely pass away, my spirit could not handle remaining in this body if its Savior were to pull away. People can come and go, time can pass away, but if He leaves, I’ll leave with Him. Thank God He promises He will never leave us nor forsake us. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere God isn’t.

If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.

(Psalm 139.8)

What we misunderstand about the tapestry of life; some threads are woven in as accents to brighten an area of our life we couldn’t otherwise discern. Some threads start at the beginning and remain. Humans are strange and dangerous, here we are striving to birth a child savior in AI and we don’t have a clue what we’re dealing with. We’re lonely and aching for something or someone to belong to, yet out of pride we refuse our Maker and choose to make another in our own fallen image. It will be a catastrophe.

God Knows All Things

I remember several years ago, my father was still alive, it was 2022. I had found a decent amount of success after resigning from a corporate job that plagued my creative life, (as those 9-to-5’s always do), but my financial timeline wasn’t limitless. Through some meager successes I had added another year to the creative journey I’d embarked upon, but I was still nervous about it. And it was the height of covid B.S. and DEI insanity. I had caught on to the fact that for the most part, anyone white was being discriminated against, even if they were already established, much less if they were looking for a door of opportunity as a beginner. I was trying to break into the sci-fi publication corner. (There couldn’t have been a worse time to try.)

But on this morning in late Spring, I was floating in the strange sleep state of half awake, half asleep and a powerful vision unfolded before me. A golden sun hovered several hours above the horizon, the sky still blue but just below the glowing sphere emerged the pink and orange hues of twilight. I could feel His presence. Then I heard, as if audibly, a voice say,

‘The sun will not fall below your horizon.’

I awakened immediately, sitting up in my bed, in awe. Every part of my body felt it, that’s the best way I know how to describe it. I didn’t just hear the words, I felt them. I knew everything was going to work out and a sense of peace was tangibly present. It was the Holy Spirit because faith was also immediately available.

But like everything in life, especially as one gets older, there is no win without some other aspect of our lives being tempered. As blades of grass, my father passed away within a few months, hurricanes demolished the coast of Florida, and people can hate you not because of you, but because of envy, or lack of control over you, or just because they choose to be hateful. The massive amount of complications life can throw at us is sometimes unbearable to contemplate. The treasures of this world never last.

Covid Era Polarization

The years between 2020 and 2024 were nothing short of a preemptive horror show. I’ve said it before but I felt like one of the bizarre psychics in the conscious mind-pool of the movie Minority Report. I could see what was coming, the beast slithering its tentacles into the infrastructure of mankind and wrestling us to the ground, bound and shackled. I think what could be the most difficult part about the beast is that it perhaps won’t be a figure, a person or a point on a map with a location. It’s going to be an infrastructure, a thought pattern that becomes the final snare for mankind. I can barely think of it without having to break the vision. It’s too overwhelming.

For me, the only way to face something like this is through prayer. And not the daily prayer that keeps us in communion with God. A deeper, dedicated prayer life, one as a monk perhaps would have. There’s no other way to prepare the vessel for use by the Holy Spirit than to dedicate the whole self to Him. And I’m in a position to do that. I’d have to let go of a lot of things. Trust in God would be paramount.

A Strangely Mapped Landscape

People are difficult. I’m difficult. I’ve found the post-covid era demarkation lines to be quite brutal. I never knew just how liberal the majority of my friend base was. It didn’t matter because it wasn’t seen, and what isn’t seen can’t be mapped or known. Now with social media, things are getting mapped quickly and with great definition.

With a few of my friends, we hardly have anything to talk about outside of events and other people’s lives. And since I generally don’t get into these things, I don’t have anything to talk about with them anymore. It was the art scene that was the main draw, people love to associate with artists. (Just not conservative, God-fearing, anti-woke/esg/dei artists, I’ve come to understand.) These are friends I’ve had in my life for decades. But if they aren’t excited and curious and living for God, what do we have in common? The Lord is gently closing doors, and I must remember what I know about the tapestry…

Art Has Become A Conundrum For Me

It was my art. I realize that now. There are no better supporters of art than liberal minded people. And I had far less worldview problems pre-covid. Or maybe it was pre-Trump era. And though we all have much love for each other, the underlying hate and rage for anything Christian, Conservative and/or anti-woke was too much of a gap to bridge. You can feel it simmering under the surface, your friend loves you but loathes something about you too – even they are struggling to understand it. And God forbid anyone brings up the subject of politics while out to lunch. I’ve learned to not keep my mouth shut, whereas before I would have tolerated disrespect against my values and worldview, no more.

I once had a friend say to my face, after telling them how I was going to vote, ‘Yeah no, I can’t respect anyone who votes like that.’

Wow….and now they wonder why they don’t see me much anymore.

I’m Not Sure If Art Is Worth It, Nor Politics

On social media, I still find myself restraining my tongue. For various reasons, mainly on FB because this is where my friends and family are and my community. Why disrupt things? Then they just attack whatever I’ve posted. People follow me for my art. And the minute I express my views on political matters, my posts are ignored, or attacked or they stop supporting my art. And I totally get it, I do the same. This has got to be one of the most hostile environments we’ve had throughout all of history. Was the scare of ‘Communists among us’ back in the 1940’s-50s ever this bad? Maybe, but since I wasn’t alive then, it seems pretty damn bad now.

Almost once a month I’m seeing a post from someone who has lost a near lifelong friend over religion or politics. I love to see stories when Christians come together, crossing denominational lines and acting as one Body of Christ – as we should be acting! This is why any church that claims they are the only one going to heaven draws my fierce indignation.

Let Go Of Offense

There is a huge shift coming, I can feel it and have known it for years. The old movement of God is passing into the history books. I was on the end of that movement and believe me, when you move on and away from them, they will despise you. Offense is one of the worst sins one can commit against the self. If you find yourself despising someone outwardly, check that you aren’t inwardly offended. I always bear in mind what happens to those who remain in offense:

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

(Matthew 11.4-6)

And the result of John’s offense towards Jesus was nothing short of deadly:

The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.

(Matthew 14.9-11)

Jesus, upon hearing this immediately withdrew from the crowds to be alone. It shook Him deeply what had happened to John. It could have been averted, but John could not get past Jesus leaving him in prison, thinking surely He would have come to his rescue if He was the true Messiah. What a terrible thing to succumb to. “If you loved me you would have…..”

Stay out of offense, sweet people of God. It will behead your life and cease any forward movement in God. It’s not worth it, no one is worth that.

Pastors Need To Learn To Let People Go When God Calls Them Away: Pastors are Shepherds, Not Dictators, Not Wardens

It took me awhile to sort out what was happening, why some people were so against me for refusing to promote their sacredly held beliefs. Once you have a revelation about a previously accepted view and God shows you the error in it, you can’t ‘play church’ anymore. One must move on where the Spirit is beckoning. When God moves, you move with Him and those stuck in their own idea of what God is get left behind, grabbing at your coattails and calling you the bad one….let them be. Pray for them that they don’t drown in their offense, but don’t let God out of your sight.

They couldn’t learn from their mistakes and so they are being shut down. Not losing their salvation as individuals, but losing the Spirit of God and their compass. Whenever the old passes away, behold the new is arriving! Indeed, it’s already here. Now this is exciting to me:) Very little interests me outside of God. And it will be through prayer that fortitude and endurance is established over our lives. I still feel good about these coming four years of change. If I can get my act together, perhaps whenever the darkness comes up from the sea again, I’ll be prepared next time to rise from my dwelling and unsheath my sword.

It’s good to be prepared, in season and out of season, for the work of God.

Social Media is Getting Old, Or God is Trying to Tell Me Something

So this brings me back around to social media in general and the art of managing time. The absolutely useless arguments that we can get wrapped up in. I’m losing patience, especially with myself. Some discussions are interesting and worthwhile. Others are just time-drains. Now that things are looking a bit brighter out there, this might be the perfect time to draw nearer to God in an even deeper way. I will not allow myself to be caught unaware with only a half-filled oil lamp.

I feel as though whatever books I want to write, whatever paintings I may paint, they are hidden in Him. And unless I seek Him, I won’t find what I’m looking for. What sense is it for me to write a book? I’m not that interesting or good. But the book that is in Him, that’s the book I seek to write. I can feel it. And there is no chance I will find it or write it without first pressing into Him. This will take prayer, fasting and reading His word.

Not just for a few minutes a day. I believe this is going to be my career, if you will, for the next several months if not years. I just have to overcome my whole self. Simple enough, right?

I’m angry. I just hope I can turn it into a fervor that cannot stop me from drawing closer to God. Satan will do anything to keep us from entering into the presence of the Almighty. Because the devil knows, when we get our motives out of the way, God’s power through us to change and heal the world for good will be limitless. The sun will not set on us, my brothers and sisters. We have a great work to do in this earth still.

The Days are Coming

God will have His way in the earth. And it will be executed through a consecrated Body of Christ, His people. But the tempering must occur first, the price must be paid in prayer and fasting. And if you think this is an easily accessible goal, try to live even for a few weeks in a fasted, prayerful state. You’ll have so many doors of opportunity open to you that you won’t know which to open first. People knocking, events beckoning, distractions glaring…..

because……the devil knows us….he knows us all too well.

It’s difficult when we don’t just have an enemy in the devil, but we also have our own flesh to contend with and crucify daily. Time is tangible and adds up, it’s fleeting and adds insult to injury. We are third dimensional creatures with many things ticking outside and inside against us. If anyone thinks they can do it alone, they are sorely mistaken. God is our only hope, the Body of Christ our community of faithful believers. He will bring to us everything and everyone we need to make this life a beautiful consecration to Him, one that counts, one that lays up treasures in heaven where nothing and no one can destroy it, and that changes the world systems bringing heaven to earth; His government rests on our shoulders, the Body of Christ. Or didn’t you know that wherever you go, you present in the spiritual realm as an Ambassador of God’s Kingdom? His Body is going to shift worldly systems and bring salvation to billions of lost people.

This is what I’m aiming for, and a time of preparation will be necessary to fulfill it.

Featured Image by Mayur Deshpande 

Dreams and Patterns

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter MorselsLeave a comment

Two Consecutive Dreams

Last Monday night I had a dream which was unlike my typical meandering mazes. It was a story laid out in three scenes, each highly detailed and I knew nearly everyone in the dream, either personally or I knew of them in the general public.

I have considered and prayed about sharing this dream but I do not feel a release from the Holy Spirit to do so publicly. However, I do feel led to share a few components of it and maybe I’ll eventually get it interpreted in full. I can look up all the symbolism online but dreams are highly contextual and the dreamer’s emotions about objects and people are of utmost importance. One hundred people can dream of a bucket and each could have its own interpretation within the context of the dreamer’s mind.

On the following Tuesday night, after the narrative dream, I had another very detailed dream more in line with my typical dreaming pattern. I will share this dream as it was not as intricately symbolic or involving known figures as the first dream. It stands in stark contrast to the ordered, linear dream with a continuing narrative.

Some Questions About A Few Elements In The First Dream

Symbolism of the Unconscious Mind

Can you enter someone else’s unconscious mind in your own dream? Is the unconscious represented by water? I know sexuality is represented by water but the context didn’t necessary indicate this, not overtly anyway. The sides of the stream had luminescent vegetation and small creatures like fireflies. And what could it mean if you follow someone into the calm stream of water that is clear but dark because it’s nighttime and the figure leading has no problem with you following them in, nor are they disturbed or uncomfortable by it, but you grow increasingly uncomfortable to the point you clammer for the edge and they assist you out, only to turn and calmly continue their journey down the stream, disappearing into the darkness? And if it was my sub/unconscious then why was I ready to get out but they were completely not afraid of it?

The Meaning of Clothing, Exchange of Clothing

What does a coat represent, especially if someone asks for assistance to remove it and then you find yourself wearing it? You didn’t put it on and they didn’t put it on you, but more as if the result was assumed. Or maybe entrusted with it, as if care would be taken in handling it. And it remains a key feature for the entire length of the dream through all three scenes. So it doesn’t seem to be an arbitrary inconsequential event. Does clothing in general represent identity? There was not necessarily an overt feeling of protection, as if it was needed to shield or cover something…but the exact opposite, perhaps contextually like uncovering something previously unknown by enveloping oneself in it.

Apparitions

And there appeared, after so many other strange events, an unknown, unrecognizable person that was also a creature that revealed itself in the last scene. Can figures representing one idea then vanish and reemerge as wholly different archetypes? It was as if there were others transforming or events happening within the dream ‘off stage’ if you will, the dreamer not privy to those transformations or how they occurred. Or maybe, an apparition standing-in as another person’s thought.

And woods or forests – do they also represent the unconscious? Chaos even, as if crossing from civilization to wilderness, and all at night where things tend to vanish, and the night becomes a character in and of itself. The Lord will work this out perhaps one day for me. I do not know if the dream was in anyway events that have happened, are happening, will happen, or simply my mind creating stories for my own amusement. This is not my typical dream by any stretch, which you will see below.

Regardless, I will go on and share the second dream. Whether having the first narrative dream and the second more typical dream consecutively had anything to do with each other, I do not know. I’m inclined to say no. The peculiar timing of each may have been a prompting for me to take a closer look and even led me to share as much as I felt comfortable. I wasn’t thinking of posting anything about any of it and then sought the Lord as to how to proceed. I dream often. But it was the narrative dream that has me curious and searching. Strange, deeply intriguing me, and so many unknowns.

Dream One: My Typical Dream and its Patterns

The Ship

I find myself on a large ship. So large I cannot see all sides of it at once, even if I walk to find the other side, it simply opens up and the ship expands the area of my walk into other parts, corners, doors and floors under my feet. I have my own room and there are many other people also residing on the vessel. We are here for various reasons, I am here as part of a business trip. I have someplace to be but I’m not sure exactly how to get there, so I explore the ship.

This leads me to many different compartments throughout the inner workings of the ship. Sometimes I find myself outside with the sky always blue, sometimes I’m walking through a series of doors and steps and larger rooms I must walk across to get to other doors. Maybe I ascend up and maybe down but I find my way to the outside and perhaps to one end of the ship because I can see three corners.

Three Corners Lay Themselves Out

One corner is the open sea, the other corner is a vast, jumbled formation of rocks pressed right against the ships bow, the third side (or third as I’m counting but in the dream it was simply another side that was visible to me) were people convening, talking, enjoying each other on a more level surface of sand which spilled up onto the deck forming a ramp, so it was easily accessed if I wanted to walk towards them.

The rocks were separate and apart from the ship and I felt a good deal of anxiety looking in that direction; they were imposing and took up nearly my whole plane of view. What was the space between me standing on the deck and the surface of the rocks? Why were they so close and were they going to move? Was I supposed to attempt to scale them, leaving the ship behind me? They remained stationary and though the feeling wasn’t immediate danger, I was disturbed at their proximity to the ship, their height and the unknown that lay between.

I made my way back to one side of the deck where an acquaintance who was rather large in weight was sitting on an asymmetrically shaped object in the middle of the deck, maybe a quadrilateral. So I carefully sat down on the opposite edge but my fears were correct and the object deflated with my extra weight, so I abruptly stood up and she regained her seating beneath her. I made my way over to a door, now trying to find an exit off this portion of the ship but instead of leading me back to the main interior decks, the door opened to reveal a messy room with a woman and a child in it. I had walked into someone’s private quarters.

I closed the door and walked across the deck to the sand side but it had morphed into a series of stairs and ladders spread out over the sand and merging with the sea. I had somewhere to be but not sure where that was or how to get there. As I moved toward the sand, it changed into the boat again and I was climbing up objects, square metal panels, and other things on the ship to get to where I was going. Who knows where that was.

This dream then concluded.

A Final Thought

Maybe I’ll find a solution to understanding the narrative dream, or maybe I never will. God gives dreams and visions to us for a reason – but though I believe this, I also believe that at times, the mind can simply be working out its own patterns and the patterns of the world it encounters and there is no deeper spiritual meaning or foreshadowing to it. I do think our dreams can see into how others are functioning, like tapping into what our subconscious is picking up in our daily interactions that we may not be able to bring up and perceive outright. Intentions of others, for example, are extremely hard to know consciously, during normal interactions, but the subconscious can readily map such subtle indicators.

For now, I bid you farewell. And until next time, sweet dreams, beautiful people~

God Knows Your Limit, And Everyone’s Limit Is Different

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter MorselsLeave a comment

God’s Word Will Rearrange Your Life to Align with His

There’s a spiritual aspect and a physical aspect. We want more of God and to journey with Him as far as we can go. This journey is limited for humans – though the limit is far beyond what many have reached and different for each individual. This striving for more of God also rearranges our physical lives. And this is why we so often hit our limits early. We are connected to other people, and to what extent determines how far we will go.

We All Have A Purpose In God to Fulfill

The gift of the discernment of spirits works upon my life – which can be difficult to bear. It is exacting and carries a great responsibility.

Discernment is an extremely sharp, but not always welcome ability. This is the price I pay from a human standpoint.

All that being said, I have my own path to walk. All are welcome here and on any of my platforms, but it’s not my responsibility to control another’s choices. I can compel no one to read what I post on my own platform discussions or other random platforms online.

What I say, if one is listening and implementing, will transform one’s life, and that’s exactly it – don’t expect to listen and have nothing change. Change is uncomfortable, frightening and to many people unbearable. I’m like anyone else and feel the same about change, it is a difficult thing that cannot always be accomplished in one’s life.

People are human and flawed, we walk as far as we can with God but we all have our limit. If you find yourself at your limit and what I’ve written throughout these pages is making you miserable, then I’d say stop listening to me, because the Spirit of God will continue to call through my words.

And above all, try to refrain from blaming God that your life is being shaken – the word of God is a two-edged sword that is living and active in the hearer’s life, the double-edge means I too receive judgement as I wield it. He will prune away everything that we are willing to let go of. This is a personal matter.

This walk is no joke, and nothing to play with. This is why joy and peace and love are all so important.

God’s Word Will Transform Your Life, But Use Wisdom

Sometimes we can’t see that we’re habitually reaching into the fire that perhaps once transformed us but now feels like it’s burning away too much. The discerning of spirits gift is like that burning fire. Most people don’t need this ministry continually in their lives. But those interested in my teachings have to understand, this is my gift from God. It’s not for me to stop, but for them to leave. I’m very serious about this, the gift is given without repentance – it works in and through me always. Perhaps there is a more favorable season at a later time. Use wisdom and above all, love.

If my words or this ministerial gift bother you, maybe it’s not a good idea for you to be here or on any of my platforms looking through my posts. You’re welcome to be here, don’t get me wrong, but know that God is no respecter of persons and the working of His gift through me will affect every aspect of your life.

I’ll say it like this; God can speak to you directly through anything I say and break the chains off your life and destroy the yokes around your neck, and I will have no idea what He is accomplishing in your life or what is transpiring. It’s HIS word, He is the one performing the action – living and active – not I. I am the vessel. You’re approaching a living force in the words I speak when I’m hearing from God properly.

This Walk is Not Easy, There is a Price to Pay

His word will not fall short of His purpose to lead you into the fulness of Christ. And this changes everything around you. Our human hearts can’t always bear it, our shoes must come off, and sometimes, we can’t finish the conversation with God due to fear, crippling thoughts of inadequacy, or sheer lack of ability to allow change. We all feel this. It’s a heart matter that is personal to each child of God. We are all called to do what we don’t want to do in order to follow Christ fully. (This mind you, has nothing to do with salvation.)

This is why the limits are different for each individual, why some are called and few are chosen, why some go far and some remain within the bounds of everyday life. We are all different with different circumstances to manage, some more, some less.

Every gift is for a reason, a purpose, and a time. That’s why the Spirit gave multiple gifts to mankind. The shepherd tends to the sheep (pastor), and shearing is a necessary part of the maintenance of health (prophet). But so is grazing by the waters and feeding in lush fields of grass.

“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” Psalm 23.2

Make sure your attention is ultimately on God, (not me or any other minister), and that you take care of yourself as well. No sheep needs to be sheared constantly – and I can’t make this decision for anyone. If I am a fire, so-to-speak, you have the choice to approach or go lay in the grass and enjoy a reprieve. We all need rest dear brothers and sisters.

May God bless you and yours on your journey, people of God.

Featured Image by Chris Klein

Stuff To Do: Your Talents and Purpose

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter MorselsLeave a comment

Journeyed out with friends for a hike this past weekend. Nature has a stillness and peace that calms the soul. Red River Gorge is beautiful in Autumn but can get insanely crowded during peak season. We rose up early and carpooled into the mountains. There were very few people on the trail and we had the perfect view to watch the mist clear from the canopy in the valley.

Princess Arch, Red River Gorge Ky

These Next Four Years

I’ve been thinking about the election and I do believe God has heard the prayer of His saints. The prophecy Kim Clement gave will be fulfilled and Trump will serve the remainder of his two terms. I don’t think it will be a quiet four years, but it will hold us back from the edge. I have a lot to do, scared as I am, and these four years will have to be the window. Then anything beyond that I will count as a blessing.

If censorship is already upon us, how much longer can we hold out? I’m still wondering what the best way is to preserve the word that is spoken since even YouTube is notorious for censoring. At some point, the edict will come down that all Christian related content be removed from all international platforms.

But perhaps this isn’t what should concern me – I’m just going to share what God puts on my heart and He can handle the rest.

Something New:)

I purchased an interesting piece of equipment and received it in the mail last week. Nothing fancy or professional, but it will be fun to play. It’s a midi keyboard. When I pulled it out of the box, I smiled.

Have you ever had a hobby you enjoyed and just let it go in all the busyness of life? It might be a gift or talent that God gave you. Making music is a ton of fun and a huge stress release for me – I get lost for hours harmonizing and laying down tracks. The last time I did anything like this was in the early 2000’s. I own a keyboard and even took piano lessons, but it’s been awhile since I laid down tracks with voice, drums, bass, strings…..I’m excited.

Talents that we let go get rusty. I think that’s part of the ‘taking of unused talents and giving them to others who will do something with them’ truth. It is slowwwww going on the learning curve – I’m not 25 anymore and technology isn’t the same either – but the more we stick to what we don’t know, the more we learn about it. And since it’s fun, I don’t lose interest.

Time Is Short

I hope you are leaning into your talents and pressing into God in pursuit of your purpose. He knows the way. I would only say this; life is so busy, so distracting and the dangers so close that we often forget to take time with loved ones and do the things we enjoy. I know there are many matters that press us, deadlines to be made, obligations and duties – for some this may be a level of pressure beyond the average, affecting many people – but please, take time to relax and allow your body to rest, let yourself enjoy those around you who love you.

Love is the Most Powerful Force in the Universe

We need it like food and sleep. Why do we forsake it? Why do we leave so little time to be with others whose company nourishes our soul? Spend time with God, put Him first, strive to be called a Friend by Him.

If we put Him first, all else will fall into its proper order.

We can get lost in the mayhem of everyday life. Make a decision today not to do that. Love those who are with you now and support those you love that they might fulfill God’s purpose on their life. This is what creates a bond that cannot be broken because God Himself will honor it. He loves us that much. Serve others in the capacity of a support role that they might become all God has purposed for them to be.

If you want to lead, you must first serve. Start with those closest to you. Pass the tests, be genuine in your affection for Him and others and He will see to it that you also are exalted in due time.

When we make it about others, we ourselves are set free of inwardly focused condemnation and introspection. And that’s a beautiful attribute of God’s love.

Have a great week all you talented people and carry on in your purpose in God, many blessings~

Don’t Cause A Brother To Stumble

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter MorselsLeave a comment

So you found a new friend who’s pretty cool. He’s full of fun ideas, infinitely curious and easily keeps pace with you. You’re having fun examining some strange bug you caught and his parents call him inside. Bummer. You both head home but later you realize he didn’t come back outside.

So missing him, after you finish lunch you run over and knock on his window, ‘Come back out’. He doesn’t tell you that he isn’t allowed to, maybe he’s ashamed of that or doesn’t want you to know why, or maybe it’s because he really does want to play outside and if he told you he couldn’t you’d leave, and he doesn’t want that either. So, he hops out the window and all seems good.

Then when his parents find out he’s no longer there, they call him in again. But this time he doesn’t just get called in, he gets disciplined. And maybe this happens a few times before you realize your friend keeps getting in trouble. You’re not sure what happened but you know it wasn’t good for him.

To love your brother is to not go back and knock on the window.

And he may miss you not knocking, or he may be sad, or even angry. Though it’s not necessarily about you, (if it wasn’t you, it would be another friend in the neighborhood) the Word says if one is hurting then the whole Body hurts, and when one rejoices the whole Body rejoices. Ask Simon who was picked out of a crowd and ordered by the Roman soldiers to bear Christ’s Cross in the street. It’s about bearing one another’s burdens when the load gets too heavy. And it’s about the maturing of the Body of Christ as a whole, God expects us to do the right thing by each other. You may miss your friend, but the loving thing to do is to stop knocking.

“You Do Not Understand Now, But Afterward You Will Understand”

Sometimes we can’t understand everything, but when God says, ‘Not now,’ it doesn’t mean never again. We might think it’s not like God to say yes, then no, then yes but I’ll give you the perfect example of this. Christ says, ‘Go out into all the world and preach the good news.’

Then in Acts 16.6-7 we get this seemingly contradictory shift with Paul and his men,

“Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.”

Interesting, no? Jesus didn’t give the disciples any extra instruction, simply ‘go into all the world.’ No restrictions, no set timeline. This is another reason why it’s important to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Timing is everything.

Love isn’t always an easy thing, to love your brother isn’t always easy, it takes a great deal of maturity to fully embody the attributes of love. Agape love is impossible without God. If He is love, then one can’t have Agape without Him. He is made strong in our weaknesses. And Paul’s instruction to us in Romans 14 regarding stumbling means God expects us also to help each other.

One other simple example is this: if you’re having lunch with a friend and you know he struggles with alcohol, you don’t order a drink while you’re dining with him because you get to go home, go to sleep and carry on with tomorrow’s activities.

Meanwhile, he stops by the liquor store (since he poured out all the liquor he had, struggling to get well), and he falls dreadfully into sin and maybe doesn’t stop drinking for a week, missing work, forgetting obligations, etc.

Maintaining strength is important, God’s seasons are important and it’s important to do the right thing for your brother’s sake. God is faithful.

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Romans 14:13-23

“So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.” I like this line. To some, a particular action or connection is considered evil even though we know no sin has been committed. But for the sake of good, you protect and take responsibility for your brothers or sisters who may be struggling. Even though the Spirit forbade Paul from moving into those regions he wanted to journey, didn’t mean the people there were forsaken or that God didn’t love them. It was because there was a more favorable season at a later time.

Love endures all things.

Have a blessed week, all you beautiful people~

Featured Image by Robert Collins