Scriptures About Birth

"As them knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." Ecc. 11: 5

"His wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her." Luke 1:24-26

"Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was of the house and lineage of David,)  To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over .their flock by night..  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of  the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'' Luke 2: 4-14

"A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." John 16: 21

"She shall be saved in child-bearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. " I Timothy 2:15

Illuminated Capital Letter "T" Samples

I've restored these ancient illuminated "T's" for you to trace for Bible journaling... These are for personal craft projects only folks. Do not redistribute them from alternative websites.

An illuminated "T" with a plant design.

Celtic illuminated letter "T" with lion heads.

Celtic illuminated capital "T" with beasts and knots.

Illuminated letter "T" with spirals and knots.

A illuminated capital "T" with Celtic design.

Find more illuminated letter "T's" at the Grimm Scriptorium here.

Scriptures About Duty to Afflicted

"To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; . . .  Job 6:14

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." Matthew 25: 34-45

"... Jesus . . . said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him: and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." Luke 10: 30-37

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27

Scriptures About False Accusations

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." Matthew 5:11
 

"And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." Luke 3:14 

"Without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." II Timothy 3:3 

"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified." I Peter 4:14

The Adoration of the Shepherds by Guido Reni

The entire painting of "The Adoration of the Shepherds" by Guido Reni may be viewed at
the National Gallery in the United Kingdom. Above left, is a close up of his version and
 right, is a portrait of Guido Reni.

       "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them : and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you ; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, Iving in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger." (from the Gospel of Luke, second chapter)

An engraving inspired by "The Adoration of the Shepherds" by Guido Reni.

       The decree of Caesar was, correctly speaking, "that an enrollment, or census, of the people should be made," and, Cyrenius, " an active soldier and rigid commissioner," was, probably, sent upon this service, so unpleasant to Herod, and so unpopular in Syria. The government of Herod had not given satisfaction to the emperor, who rejected all attempts of the tetrarch to explain his conduct, and even added, "that having hitherto treated him as a friend, he should henceforth treat him as a subject." After this sentence, it was resolved that Syria should be degraded to the rank of a Roman province; a change which took place eleven years after the birth of Christ. Much strictness was observed in taking the Roman census; the returns of age and property were made on oath, and under the penalty of confiscation of goods in case of delinquency. The object of the census was the imposition of a capitation tax, males from fourteen years, and females from twelve, being included within its operation. As the collector was, in all probability, accompanied by a strong armed force, to secure the ready execution of his orders, none ventured to disobey them, and Joseph, knowing the peremptory nature of the decree, not-withstanding Mary's pregnancy, immediately proceeded with her to Bethlehem, "his own city," to be there enrolled.

Samson and Delilah by Henry Singleton

        "But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there ; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, 1 pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said. Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death, were more than they which he slew in his life." Judges 16 : 21-30

From the original engraving by Henry Singleton.

       Gaza, where Samson was imprisoned, is about sixty miles from Jerusalem, and not more than two from the sea. From the earliest period of history, it is described as a place of importance. Alexander the Great besieged and took it from the Persians, and Alexander Jannseus reduced it to desolation; a misfortune foretold by the prophet Zephaniah. St. Luke calls it "desert;" but Constantino rebuilt it, and named it Constantia in honor of his son. Some remains of ancient Gaza still survive, consisting of pillars of grey granite, columns of marble, and fragments of sculpture. The inhabitants pretend to point out the ruins of the temple in which Samson avenged the injuries he had sustained at the hands of the Philistines; and, at the distance of two miles, they show the hill to which he carried the brazen gates of the city. Ruined walls, two miles in extent, encircle the eminence on which the city stands, while gardens and plantations, interspersed with substantial buildings, adorn its sides and summit. 

The Wideness Of God's Mercy

"Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it." Jonah 1:2

       At the court of Jeroboam the Second, Jonah prophesied success against Syria, and his prediction was fulfilled, for Jeroboam recovered Damascus and Hamath and restored the borders of Israel. The word of God now came to Jonah to go against the great city of Nineveh and pronounce its doom, unless it repented of its sins. The prophet was in an evil case. His patriotism forbade him to reach out a hand or foot to serve that great nation which would one day swallow up his own people, while his fear of God was a strong motive in his breast to obey. Before his eyes passed a vision of the time when the armies of Asshur and the fierce warriors of Chaldaea would swoop down from the northern plains upon that little nation and carry them away captive, planting the deserted villages and lands of Samaria with the people of Arva and Cutha and Sippara. These strange people with their strange gods would hold their riots in the halls that were once blest, while the Hebrews would be placed in'Halah and Habor, cities by the river Gozan, separated from all they held dear, and surrounded by a proud idolatrous race. Such a night mare hovered over Jonah, and compelled him to fly far from his homeland. In Balaam we have the case of a prophet who wished to carry a message contrary to the will of God. Here we have the instance of a prophet who wished to avoid performing a duty the Lord had laid upon him. In the long run, conscience proved stronger than fear or patriotism. But the battle was fiercely contested and protracted within the prophet's soul. Loth to convey a message that might prove the salvation of his national foes, he took ship for Tarshish, a port in Spain, with Phoenician merchants. But his purpose was frustrated by the storm, and he was cast into the waters, and then from the depths of Sheol he cried with a bitter cry to Jehovah to save him from his peril. The Lord had mercy upon him, and, after an experience which we need not discuss now, he was cast out upon the shore. There, as he lay helpless on the beach, the word of the Lord came to him and bade him hasten to Nineveh and deliver his message.

       The original opportunity indeed was now gone. The prophet had lost the honor of at once obeying the Divine commands; he had tasted the agony implied in preferring his own inclinations to the will of God. But God had brought good out of evil, had taught him the beauty of repentance and the greatness of His mercy. And, surest proof of all that he was quite forgiven, the Divine Spirit had come back, the great impulse arose, which formerly he had fought against and beaten down, " Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it." With a heart purified by repentance and softened by pardon, Jonah was now able to enter into the mind of God, to comprehend the feelings with which He looked down on a vast community of human beings who had forgotten His name and His nature. He him self had experienced the unfathomable pity that was in the Divine heart, God's earnest desire to show mercy, His unwillingness that any should perish. He had discovered that the heathen were not necessarily destitute of every human virtue, and that they were not completely averse to the worship of the true God. So wonderful indeed are God's ways of dealing with the hearts of men that Jonah was probably a fitter messenger to Nineveh after his attempted flight than he had been before. By our very failures, God educates us to do His will.  C. H. Gomill, The Prophets of Israel 

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP:

Scripture: "Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it." Jonah 1:2

Observation: What strikes me the most about the life of Jonah is not this old prophet's disloyalty. Most of us are disloyal to God before we are trained to be otherwise. What strikes me the most about the journey of Jonah is that God doesn't let Jonah abandon what is best or right for him to do concerning the ministry he has been called to. God's loyalty to Jonah's calling is tenacious, to say the least. He doesn't let Jonah resist to the point of failure, he guides him and then rescues Jonah's calling when all seems to be impossible, for nothing is impossible for God. 
Application: Complaining doesn't prevent God from accomplishing His will and His will is to save us from our own depravity! God is the master fisherman.  
Prayer: Dear Lord, when I feel like fleeing or giving up, pull me back and create in me a tenacious spirit. Amen.

Plastic sleeves make tipping in a breeze with a bit of washi tape!

The sea horse is copper leaf on it's backside.

Focus On Illustrating & Illuminating The Scripture:

       I chose to use some paper cut-outs of a sperm whale, sea horse and star fish to illustrate my scripture. Thread a small fine needle and trap your own select sea creatures between a plastic sleeve. I chose to write out the scripture on transparent vellum and sandwich it between the sleeve as well. The page is double sided and is tipped between the pages of my Creative Bible with the use of some decorative washi tape. With this method you may avoid covering text and give paper items some protection from wear and tear.

Focus On Listening

MercyMe performs "Even If"

The Rainbow

       "And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth." Gen. 9: 9-17

 The Rainbow

by Jane Van Allen

Once Noah's ark rode on the wave;
His faith was firm in God;
He trusted whom, he knew could save.
For he believed God's word.
He saw the earth in water shroud.
The rainbow then was given ;
The rainbow lights the darkest cloud.
While on our way to heaven.

While yet the rain is coming down,
The sun begins to shine;
A cloud to us denotes a frown,
A thought to us sublime.
God's mercy-promise has been made.
The rainbow symbol given;
The rainbow lights the darkest cloud,
While on our way to heaven.

God sees, He knows. He will sustain.
What e'er our lot may be;
Though suff'ring years may yet remain,
I'll trust Him patiently.
When we believe the word of God,
And trust the promise given;
The rainbow lights the darkest cloud.
While on our way to heaven.

Let other's woe my pity share.
And try their hearts to win;
I'll tell them of a Savior's care.
When they have turned from sin.
I'll try to lift the head that's bowed.
And heal the heart that's riven;
The rainbow lights the darkest cloud.
While on our way to heaven.

His Name Is Jesus

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

       In one sense, there is nothing in a name. The nature of the thing is independent of it. It is not in the power of any name to make evil good, or good evil; and our Savior, Jesus Christ, would have been what He is, by whatever name He had been called. But in another view there is something in a name. It stands for the thing, and, through frequent use, comes to be identified with it. It is therefore of the highest moment that the name should correspond with the thing, and convey a correct idea of it. Exactness of thought requires exactness of language. Knowledge depends for its accuracy on the right use of words, and the great instructors of mankind are as careful of the expression as of the idea. Words are things. We deal with them, not as sounds but as substances, and look not so much at them as at the verities in them. Names are persons. When one is mentioned in our hearing, it brings the man before us, and awakens the feelings which would be excited if he were present himself.

       Now, we may see this, above all, in the adorable name of Jesus. That name, above all others, ought to show us what a name means; for it is the name of the Son of Man, the one perfect and sinless man, the pattern of all men; and therefore it must be a perfect name, and a pattern for all names. And it was given to the Lord not by man, but by God; and therefore it must show and mean not merely some outward accident about Him, something which He seemed to be, or looked like, in men's eyes; no, the name of Jesus must mean what the Lord was in the sight of His Father in Heaven; what He was in the eternal purpose of God the Father; what He was, really and absolutely, in Himself; it must mean and declare the very substance of His being. And so, indeed, it does; for the adorable name of Jesus means nothing else but God the Savior - God who saves. This is His name, and was, and ever will be. This name He fulfilled on earth, and proved it to be His character, His exact description, His very name, in short, which made Him different from all other beings in heaven or earth, create or un-create; and therefore He bears His name to all eternity, for a mark of what He has been, and is, and will be forever - God the Savior; and this is the perfect name, the pattern of all other names of men. Amiel's Journal

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP:

Scripture: "and thou shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

Observation: It is interesting here that the illustrator chooses to begin the book of Matthew by illustrating a cross in the very place where the scripture is describing the birth of Jesus. But it is also fitting in that the whole story of Jesus' life revolves around it's end. We are given a clue by an angelic messenger in the scripture I have chosen to focus on. The angel tells Joseph in a dream that he is to name his first born son Jesus because the name means "deliverance." And the angel goes even further to explain to Joseph that this is the purpose for him being born, to deliver his people from their sins, not to deliver them from political forces, human kingdoms or even pain and suffering... but from themselves. He was born to deliver us from the very nature of sin itself.

Application: And so the very mystery of both our beginning long ago in the garden of Eden, as a fallen people and the mysterious story of Jesus as our deliverer begin in this collected work we call the Bible. Our story in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament and His story in Matthew, the first book of the New Testament.

Prayer: My dear, sweet Lord, open my heart and mind to the mysteries of your testaments as I study and illuminate your precious words. Amen

Focus On Illustrating & Illuminating The Scripture:

      The illustrator chose to begin the book of Matthew with the end of Christ's life, as shown his hand nailed to the cross, in my Creative Bible. I included a little traced sketch of baby Jesus on tracing paper next to my colored interpretation of the crucifixion scene because the name Jesus means deliverer. This is the cycle of the life of Christ at a glance.
      My Creative Bible shown below is a coloring bible, but it also comes as a note taker's bible as well, for those who would prefer it without illustrations. Of all the coloring bibles I own, this one is in my opinion, the most challenging to finish. However, each coloring bible has it's own unique perspective and I will be sharing more of these in the future.

Above, you can see the beginning pages that I am working on in the Gospel of Matthew.

On the left is the tipped in, drawing of baby Jesus from the back side and on the right is what it looks like from the front. I used a permanent ink pen to trace my image (a baby in a basket of bunting and cotton) on tracing paper.

Focus On Listening

"His Name is Jesus" sung by Fred Hammond

Eve and The Serpent

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." James 1:14

Eve and The Serpent

Serpent. Not eat? not taste? not touch?

not cast an eye

Upon the fruit of this fair tree? and why?

Why eat'st thou not what Heav'n ordained

for food?

Or canst thou think that bad which Ileav'n

called good?

Why was it made, if not to be enjoyed?

Neglect of favors makes a favor void ;

Blessings unused pervert into a waste

As well as surfeits. Woman, do but taste.

See how the laden boughs make silent suit

To be enjoyed; look how their bending fruit

Meet thee half-way; observe but how they

crouch

To kiss thy hand; coy woman, do but touch;

Mark what a pure vermilion touch has dyed

Their swelling cheeks, and how for shame

they hide

Their palsy heads, to see themselves stand by

Neglected: woman, do but cast an eye.

What bounteous Heav'n ordained for use

refuse not;

Come, pull and eat: y' abuse the thing ye

use not.

Eve. Wisest of beasts, our great Creator

did

Reserve this tree, and this alone forbid ;

The rest are freely ours, which doubtless are

As pleasing to the taste, to the eye as fair;

But, touching this, His strict commands are

such,

'Tis death to taste, no less than death to

touch.

Serpent. Pish! death's a fable; did not

Heav'n inspire

Your equiil elements with living fire.

Blown from the spring of life? Is not that

breath

Immortal? Come, ye are as free from death

As He that made you. Can the flames

expire

Which He has kindled? Can ye quench His

fire?

Did not the great Creator's voice proclaim

Whate'er He made, from the blue-spangled

frame

To the poor leaf that trembles, very good?

Blessed He not both the feeder and the

food?

Tell, tell me, then, what danger can accrue

From such blessed food, to such half gods

as you?

Curb needless fears, and let no fond conceit

Abuse your freedom; woman, take and eat.

Eve. 'Tis true we are immortal; death is

yet

Unborn, and, till rebellion make it death,

Undue; I know the fruit is good, until

Presumptuous disobedience make it ill.

The lips that open to this fruit 's a portal

To let in death, and make immortal mortal.

Serpent. You cannot die; come, woman,

taste and fear not.

Eve. Shall Eve transgress? I dare not,

oh! I dare not.

Serpent. Afraid? why draw'st thou back

thy tim'rous arm?

Harm only falls on such as fear a harm.

Heav'n knows and fears the virtue of this

tree;

'Twill make you perfect gods as well as He.

Stretch forth thy hand, and let thy fondness

never

Fear death; do, pull and eat, and live for-

ever.

Eve. 'Tis but an apple; and it is as good

To do as to desire. Fruit's made for food:

I'll pull, and taste, and tempt my Adam too

To know the secrets of this dainty.

Serpent. Do.

Francis Quarles.

The Responsibility of The Christian

"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel." Luke 1: 79, 80

       The question, Where is thy brother? comes to those who follow Christ, not only as it comes to other men, but also with another meaning, a meaning which enables us to give a very blessed answer to it. Abel was a type of Christ. Abel's sacrifice is the first recorded type of the sacrifice on Calvary. He who died on the cross is our Brother. As we hear the voice of God calling to us, Where is thy brother? we answer, Here is our Brother, crucified for sin, buried, risen, ascended, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ever interceding for us. It is a new demand, a new question.

O sweetest Blood, that can implore

Pardon of God, and heaven restore,

The heaven which sin had lost:

While Abel's blood for vengeance pleads,

What Jesus shed still intercedes

For those who wrong Him most.

       And not only is Jesus the Brother about whom the question is asked of each of us, Where is thy brother? but in Him we all are brethren. Again, the question comes with a new meaning. "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another." Accordingly the perfect life does not consist in the cultivation of an isolated personal perfection. Christ lived in God; He was detached from the world, He spent whole nights in prayer; but the account of Him is incomplete until we add, "He went about doing good." "He came to seek and to save the lost." "As I have loved you," He said. In these solitary hours which He spent in communion with the Father He renewed the fires of His love for men, maintained and augmented His strength for serving them. While deepening His own delight in the Father's love. He added intensity to His passion for raising the most miserable of mankind into the same transcendent blessedness. And so the true imitation of Christ includes not only the discovery of the immeasurable strength which a devout soul may find in God, but the actual use of that strength for the service of mankind. Divall, A Believer's Rest 

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP:

Scripture: "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel."

Observation: This child Jesus grew stronger everyday in his spirit while exiled with his parents in Egypt and again when tested in the desert by the evil one. He was prepared for ministry and service to us in these lonely, dry places. But he was not truly alone. He was with God.

Application: God prepares us in our solitude, quietly, tenderly, and He waits for us to grow through our devotions and study, so that someday we all will return to the world to share our faith with others.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to take full advantage of our quiet moments together. Lead me forward on a path of deeper reflection, so that I may be made more like Christ. So that I may be made better prepared to share your wisdom with others. Amen.

Focus On Illuminating The Scripture: 

      I've created a free sample of an illuminated text that I colored for my personal copy of The Praise Bible. Because this coloring bible emphasizes garden motifs among it's illustrations, I have chosen to highlight planting, growth and harvest scriptures among it's pages in my copy.
     There are literally hundreds of literary motifs in the pages of scripture. Any number of these motifs may be selected among the Bible's pages to illustrate the faithfulness of God and the fruitfulness of the believer.

Print the following free illuminated scripture from kathy grimm. She hand-colored it with pencils and tipped it into her Praise Bible with copper washi-tape.

Free design of Luke 1:80 for Bible journaling by kathy grimm.

Focus On Listening:

"Come Holy Spirit" sung by City Harvest Church

Two Rounded Scripts for Tracing

      
       These two rounded, script samples are for personal use only and are distributed here for those of you who are using them as templates for journaling in your Bible only.

The Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee

by William B. Tappan

O Jesus! once on Galilee

Thy voice of power was heard,

When madly that dark heaving sea

Through all its depths was stirred.

The forky lightnings Thee revealed,

Calm, 'mid the storm's increase,

And far above where thunders pealed

Was heard the whisper, "Peace!"

How drooped at once that foaming sheet

Of waters, vexed and wild!

Each wave came falling at Thy feet,

Just like an humbled child.

So rages my tumultuous breast,

So chafes my maniac will;

Speak! and these troubled seas shall rest:

Speak; and the storm is still.

A Rush of Translations

       In gland in Spenser's days was a nest of singing birds; in the days of Tyndale it was the home of scholars who laid their gifts and graces on the altar for the translation and dissemination of the Holy Scriptures In the years after Tyndale led the way so splendidly, translations came in like a flood. Almost all of that, however, as we have seen, were based on his work-all of them, indeed, which were of real importance and they are often closely connected with each being for the most part revisions rather than distinct translations.

       In the year 1534, Archbishop Cranmer, a true friend of the Evangel, persuaded Convocation to petition for an English version of the Bible; and in the following year. Thomas Cromwell, likewise a true friend of faith and freedom, persuaded Miles Coverdale to undertake the The outcome was what is usually called Coverdale's Bible, and sometimes also the Treacle Bible, because of its translation of Jeremiah 8:22, 'Is there no 'triale in Gilead?' It was issued on October 4, 1535, with dedication to King Henry and Queen Anne, which was afterwards changed as the royal consorts changed. Important as it is, however, as the first complete Bible printed in the English language, it can hardly be admitted to be in the full line of the true apostolic succession . It was not based on a study of the originals, but in the Vulgate and on Luther's German Bible, three volumes of which were printed in 1524 and the remaining two in 1532, and which was now pursuing its triumphant career.

       "To help me," he said, "herein I have had sundry translations not only in Latin, but also of the Dutch interpreters, whom because of their singular gifts, and special diligence in the Bible, I have been the more glad to follow for the most part." But although a translation from the Vulgate had been a great achievement in Wycliff's day, when no better text was available, it was far otherwise at a time when Tyndale was showing every scholar the better path. The 1537 edition of Coverdale's Bible bore the announcement set forth with the King's most gracious license. Because of this, as well as because of its intrinsic worth, it had a large circulation. Its circulation was also helped by the fact that it was used at first by the clergy in their obedience to the injunction to put a copy of the English Bible in a prominent place in every church.

       In the year 1537, there appeared what is known as Matthew's Bible, which has already been described as being practically Tyndale 's. Matthew was in reality John Rogers, who was the first martyr in Queen Mary's reign. The pseudonym may have been adopted to withdraw attention from the fact that his Bible was so largely Tyndale's, his writings having been condemned by the authorities. Rogers was a friend of Tyndale; his literary executor in fact. His Bible may be regarded as the first Authorized Version, although later on in the same year the second edition of Coverdale's also appeared with the royal licence. It contained numerous notes and woodcuts, as well as a considerable amount of matter resembling modern 'Bible Helps.' If we take Tyndale's version as the standard and starting-point, as we should, this may be taken as the first revision of it.

       In 1539, there appeared what is known as Taverner's Bible, the work of Richard Taverner, another scholarly friend of the truth., Less is known of his version than of any other in that era of versions; but it may be noted that in 1549, an edition of it was published in five small volumes, for the convenience of those who were unable to purchase an entire Bible at one time. Like its predecessors, it had notes, which were, however, less polemical than those in Matthew's Bible, some of which were vehemently anti-Roman.

       In the same year as Taverner's, there appeared what has ever since been known as the Great Bible, because of its size, and which may be taken as the second revision in the Tyndale succession. Its pages are fifteen inches in length and more than nine in breadth. It is also known as Cranmer's, because of the preface which he wrote to the second edition ; as Cromwell's, because he had most to do with its preparation ; and in the royal instructions to the translators of the Authorized Version, as Whitchurch's, from the name of one of the printers. By a royal proclamation made during one of the high tides when the study of Scripture was approved by the authorities, a copy of this Bible was ordered to be put in every church. In some cases they were chained to desks; and a few of these  chained Bibles have been preserved in some old churches. This version was due to the desire of Cromwell and Cranmer, and their friends, to have an English Bible which might become national like Luther's translation into German. It is probable also, and in no way to be wondered at, that the controversial notes in Matthew's Bible were held to disqualify it for this great position. Coverdale was again appealed to for this new service and he was assisted by 'divers excellent learned men,' of whose names, however, there is no record.

       As a matter of fact, the Great Bible is little more than a revision of Matthew's revision. When it appeared it had a wonderful reception. Crowds gathered round the copies in the churches, one reading while the rest listened or discussed or even wrangled. Bishop Bonner complained that the Bible had become more attractive than the Service, and threatened to have it removed. Before 1541, seven large editions of the Great Bible were sold in addition to many issues of the earlier versions, which likewise held on their way; and although there was a reaction against the circulation of the Scriptures during the later years of Henry VIII., the short reign of his son saw at least thirteen new editions of the Bible, and thirty-five of the New Testament. The Great Bible still lives in the Psalms in the Prayer Book, and in the 'Comfortable Words' in the Communion Service of the Church of England.

       In the year 1560, yet another version appeared which was destined to play a great part in the stirring times which were at hand; and which may be taken as the third revision of Tyndale's work. This was what is known as the Geneva Bible, from the city where it was prepared. It is also known as the Breeches Bible from its rendering of Genesis 3.7: 'And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves breeches.' It has several features which commended it for popular use, and it became the Bible of the people as no other version did until the Authorized Version appeared. Not the least of its attractions were its sturdy, lucid notes; and in 1649 an edition of the Authorized Version was brought out with these Genevan notes appended. Fuller says that when they were finally withdrawn, the people complained that they could not see into the sense of the Scriptures for lack of the spectacles of the Genevan annotations. Indeed, as late as 1810, an edition of the Authorized Version appeared with short notes by several learned and pious Reformers, which were virtually the old Genevan notes formerly so much prized.

        Other attractions of this Geneva version were the adoption of Roman type instead of the black letter in which all English Bibles had previously been printed, and the division of the chapters into verses. The use of italics was also introduced to indicate those words not in the original, which had been supplied in the translation to suit the English idiom. They were, how- ever, often introduced where they were not required, since the words supplied were involved in the original if not actually expressed. The division into verses, so far as the New Testament was concerned, had been made by Robert Stephen, the French printer, for his Greek New Testament of 1551; but with all its convenience, it sometimes interferes with the sense, and is often very arbitrary. The division into chapters had appeared as early as Wycliff's time, and was used by him. Some ascribe it to Cardinal Hugo, and others to Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury. It also is sometimes done without discrimination, especially in the Epistles of St. Paul.

       The Geneva Bible unquestionably stands next to the Authorized Version alike for its historical importance, and for its accuracy and scholarship . Among those who shared in its preparation were William Whittingham, whose New Testament has a place in the succession, Thomas Sampson, and Anthony Gilby, along with Cole, Goodman, Coverdale, and others, who, like Paul in the Roman prison and Luther in the Wartburg, turned their enforced leisure to good account. It is unlikely that John Knox took part in the work, as has sometimes been claimed. Its version of the Apocrypha, which it is frequently said to have omitted, was largely influenced by a French translation due to Beza. In the original edition there was a good Bible index, a series of maps, and much other prefatory and helpful matter, along with its admirable notes. For sixty years it was the most popular version in England and Scotland, at least one hundred and fifty editions of it having been issued; some say as many as two hundred. In one year, 1599, no fewer than ten large editions were printed. It was the only serious rival the Authorized Version encountered, and was the favorite version of the Puritans. It is noteworthy that it left the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews an open question. The name of Paul is not only omitted, but it is argued in a prefatory note that seeing the Spirit of God is the Author thereof, it diminisheth nothing the authority, although we know not with what pen He wrote it.

       The fourth and final revision of Tyndale's work, prior to 1611, was the Bishops' Bible, which appeared in 1568. It was due to the desire of Parker, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and others to provide a version which would rival the Geneva Bible in popular favor, and be free from the Calvinism which characterized so many of its pithy notes. 'Its mischievous glosses' were thought to be 'undermining the Church of England.'

       The Bishops' Bible was the work of Anglican divines, mostly bishops as the name indicates; but it is said to be the most unsatisfactory and useless of the old translations. It was so expensive as to be practically inaccessible to the people, and it did not commend itself to scholars. It held its place as long as it did because it took the place of the Great Bible in the services of the Church, and was the only version recognized by Convocation. As early as 1571, Convocation ordered a folio copy to be placed in the hall or dining-room of every Bishop, for the use of his servants ; and also that each church should be supplied with this version. The Puritans, however, never acknowledged its authority or made much use of it.

       The only other version which falls to be mentioned is that issued by the Roman Catholics; and as it, like Coverdale's, was not derived from the original tongues, it likewise is not in the apostolic succession but is of secondary importance, although it played its part in the final result in 1611. It was prepared by the scholars of the English seminary at Douai, who hoped by the use of appropriate ecclesiastical terms and the addition of notes on Romish lines to guard readers against error. The New Testament was issued at Rheims in 1582, and the Old Testament at Douai in 1609; and the work is spoken of as the Rhemish, or as the Rheims and Douai version. It professed to be based on a greater respect for the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and other ancient translations than previous English versions; it" being roundly declared that the Latin version had been made before the Greek and Hebrew texts had been 'foully corrupted by Jews and heretics.' It was very deficient in purity of English diction ; but since 1750 it has been brought nearer the Authorized Version; and since then its notes have also been fewer in number. The late Lord Bute said that it did not commend itself to the English ear; but on the other hand it must be acknowledged that many of the felicities of our Authorized Version are due to it, and that many of its theological terms, such as propitiation, victim, remission, and impenitent, were adopted by King James's translators.

       So the good work of revision and translation went on in a fashion which makes it all the more remarkable that for nearly two centuries and three-quarters after 1611 no further revision was seriously attempted. The truth is that, so far as the English of the Authorized Version is concerned, these frequent revisions had made it such that no further revision on that score could have been seriously proposed ; such had been the satisfactory result of the various revisions of the work done by Tyndale. Had it not been that valuable manuscripts and versions unknown or unavailable in the seventeenth century had come to light and had been so collated that scholars became increasingly able to arrive at a text far nearer the original than was possible three centuries ago, it is more than probable that the Authorized Version would not only still have been reigning among the English-speaking peoples, but would have been reigning without a rival. But as the revisers of 1611 themselves asked, 'To whom was it ever imputed for a failing' (by such as were wise) to go over that which he had 'done, and to amend it where he saw cause?' Reverence for God's Word, loyalty to the eternal verities, and patient pressing on in the fullest light we have to Him who is the Light, all involve a readiness to revise whenever the need for revision really comes.

The Loss of Fellowship

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto man, and said unto him, Where are thou? Genesis 3: 8,9

       "If It is only in the cool of the day that I can hear Thy footsteps, my God. Thou art ever walking in the garden. Thy presence is abroad everywhere and always; but it is not everywhere or always that I can hear Thee passing by. The burden and heat of the day are too strong for me. The struggles of life excite me, the ambitions of life perturb me, the glitter of life dazzles me; it is all thunder and earthquake and fire. But when I myself am still, I catch Thy still small voice, and then I know that Thou art God. Thy peace can only speak to my peacefulness, Thy rest can only be audible to my calm; the harmony of Thy tread cannot be heard by the discord of my soul. Therefore, betimes I would be alone with Thee, away from the heat and the battle. I would feel the cool breath of Thy Spirit, that I may be refreshed once more for the strife. I would be fanned by the breezes of heaven, that I may resume the dusty road and the dolorous way. Not to avoid them do I come to Thee, but that I may be able more perfectly to bear them. Let me hear Thy voice in the garden in the cool of the day."  George Matheson

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP:

• Scripture: "Where are thou?" Genesis 3:9
• Observation: It is interesting that God asks where Adam is after he has eaten the fruit of knowledge between good and evil? We know that God can anticipate what we think/feel and hear every word we speak, let alone know where we are at. I think, perhaps that this is a form of a rhetorical question on God's part. He is drawing Adam's attention to the fact that he is no longer in communion with Himself. Adam is hiding. Adam is rebelling. He is frightened of God for the very first time. His fear is not one of "respect" but of the variety of fear that lives in dread of imminent danger. Adam is in panic mode: he no longer trusts God.
• Application: But a God who would sacrifice so much for us all, would surely be happy to forgive? I see this forgiving love so obviously in the life of Christ, and also in his death, and again in him who could not remain dead for long. The one man fully capable of resurrecting himself because his goodness and righteousness would and did defeat death itself. When Adam and Eve fell, it was not simply a problem involving Eve's envy of God's wisdom, but a problem of distrust. She did not trust you, Lord, enough to believe what you told her, even though you were her creator and loving father. Adam, in turn, did not trust you enough to report the incident instead of making it worse by participation. And last, but not least, the snake... (satan) who knowing fully how much you loved them, led your beloved children into distrusting your word. He did this so that they would die and your heart would be crushed by it. He deceived them because of his desire to hurt the father he had betrayed earlier himself.
• Prayer: Dear Lord, I see now that the fall is something all humans experience because we lack trust in you. I am so very thankful that my ancestors were chased from the garden of Eden in order to prevent them from making their fallen state permanent. To prevent all of us from eating of the tree of eternal life while we were yet still prisoners of distrust.  Never let me forget that in you alone, I can completely trust. Amen.

Focus On Illustrating A Poem.

       Lilies are traditional symbols in the Christian church. These symbolize both humility and devotion. I have paired these stargazer lilies along with the poem, Eden Lost to craft a large bookmark for my notetaker's bible/journal. However, if you reproduce a similar pattern onto thinner paper, it would be just as simple to tip-in near Genesis 3:8,9.

Left, is the front side of my poem. I illustrated two lilies using watercolors, trimmed the painting with paper lace, and backed the small painting with pink paper. Right you can see that I wrote the following poem on the backside of the painting and colored the outer edges with a soft pink pencil.

Above, I've included a template for those of you who
would like to paint a watercolor of lilies similar
to my own (above.) Trace the pattern with a soft pencil
directly into the margins of your Bible or onto a piece
of watercolor paper to tip-into your journal.

Eden Lost

by Isaac Williams 

Unto the East we turn, in thoughtful gaze, 

Like longing exiles to their ancient home, 

Mindful of our lost Eden. Thence may come

Genial, ambrosial airs around the ways

Of daily life, and fragrant thoughts that raise

Home sympathies: so may we cease to roam,

Seeking some resting-place before the tomb,

To which on wandering wings devotion

strays.

But true to our high birthright, and to Him

Who leads us by the flaming cherubim,

Death's gate, our pilgrim spirits may arise

O'er earth's affections, and 'mid worldlings

rude,

Walk loosely in their holier solitude, 

And breath the air of their lost paradise.

Focus On Listening.

Brandon Heath sings about "Leaving Eden"

The First Woman

THE FIRST WOMAN 

by Dr. Thomas De Witt Talmage

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." Genesis 3:6

       It is the first Saturday afternoon in the world's existence. Ever since sunrise Adam has been watching the brilliant pageantry of wings and scales and clouds, and in his first lessons in zoology and ornithology and ichthyology he has noticed that the robins fly the air in twos, and that the fish swim the water in twos, and that the lions walk the fields in twos, and in the warm redolence of that Saturday afternoon he falls off into slumber; and as if by allegory to teach all ages that the greatest of earthly blessings is sound sleep, this paradisaical somnolence ends with the discovery on the part of Adam of a corresponding intelligence just landed on the new planet. Of the mother of all the living I speak, Eve, the first, the fairest, and the best.

       I make me a garden. I inlay the paths with mountain moss, and I border them with pearls from Ceylon and diamonds from Golconda. There are woodbine and honeysuckle climbing over the wall, and starred spaniels sprawling themselves on the grass. And yet the place is a desert filled with darkness and death as compared with the residence of the woman of the text, the subject of my story. Never since have such skies looked down through such leaves into such waters! Never has river wave had such curve and sheen and bank as adorned the Pison, the Havilah, the Gihon, and the Hiddekel, even the pebbles being bdellium and onyx stone! What fruits, with no curculio to sting the rind! What flowers, with no slug to gnaw the root! What atmosphere, with no frost to chill and with no heat to consume! Bright colors tangled in the grass. Perfume in the air. Music in the sky. Great scene of gladness and love and joy. Right there under a bower of leaf and vine and shrub occurred the first marriage. Adam took the hand of this immaculate daughter of God and performed the ceremony when he said: "Bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh."

 (1.) She examined the fruit. She said: "I do not think there can be any harm in my just breaking the rind of it." She put the fruit to her teeth, she tasted, she allowed Adam also to taste the fruit, the door of the world opened, and then Sin entered. Let the heavens gather blackness, and the wind sigh on the bosom of the hills and cavern and desert and earth and sky join in one long, deep, hell-rending howl - "The world is lost!"

"And when the woman saw that
the tree was good for food, and
 that it was pleasant to the eyes,
 and a tree to be desired to make
 one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave
 also unto her husband with her;
 and he did eat.     Genesis 3:6

      A forbidden tree stood in the midst of that exquisite park. Eve sauntering out one day alone, looks up at the tree and sees the beautiful fruit, and wonders if it is sweet, and wonders if it is sour, and standing there, says: "I think I will just put my hand upon the fruit; it will do no damage to the tree; I will not take the fruit to eat, but I will just take it down to examine it."

       Beasts that before were harmless and full of play put forth claw and sting and tooth and tusk. Birds whet their beak for prey. Clouds troop in the sky. Sharp thorns shoot up through the soft grass. Blastings on the leaves. All the chords of that great harmony are snapped. Upon the brightest home this world ever saw, our first parents turned their back and led forth on a path of sorrow the brokenhearted myriads of a ruined race.

       Do you not see, in the first place, the danger of a poorly regulated inquisitiveness? She wanted to know how the fruit tasted. She found out, but six thousand years have deplored that unhealthful curiosity.(2.) Healthful curiosity has done a great deal for letters, for art, for science, and for religion. It has gone down into the depths of the earth with the geologist, and seen the first chapter of Genesis written in the book of nature illustrated with engraving on rock, and it stood with the antiquarian while he blew the trumpet of resurrection over buried Herculaneum and Pompeii, until from their sepulcher there came up shaft and terrace and amphitheater. Healthful curiosity has enlarged the telescopic vision of the astronomer until worlds hidden in the distant heavens have trooped forth and have joined the choir praising the Lord. Planet weighed against planet and wildest comet lassooed with resplendent law. I say nothing against healthful curiosity. May it have other Leyden jars and other electric batteries and other voltaic piles and other magnifying-glasses with which to storm the barred castles of the natural world, until it shall surrender its last secret. We thank God for the geological curiosity of Professor Hitchcock, and the chemical curiosity of Liebig, and the zoological curiosity of Cuvier, and the inventive curiosity of Edison; but we must admit that unhealthful and irregular inquisitiveness has rushed thousands and tens of thousands into ruin.

       Eve just tasted the fruit. She was curious to find out how it tasted, and that curiosity blasted her and blasted all nations. So there are clergymen in this city, inspired by unhealthful inquisitiveness, who have tried to look through the key-hole of God's mysteries - mysteries that were barred and bolted from all human inspection, and they have wrenched their whole moral nature out of joint by trying to pluck fruit from branches beyond their reach, or have come out on limbs of the tree from which they have tumbled into ruin without remedy. A thousand trees of religious knowledge from which we may eat and get advantage; but from certain trees of mystery how many have plucked their ruin! Election, free agency, trinity, resurrection - in the discussion of these subjects hundreds and thousands of people ruin the soul. There are men who actually have been kept out of the kingdom of heaven because they could not understand who Melchisedec was not!

       Oh, how many have been destroyed by an unhealthful inquisitiveness! It is seen in all directions. There are those who stand with the eye-stare and mouth-gape of curiosity. They are the first to hear a falsehood, build it another story high and add two wings to it. About other people's apparel, about other people's business, about other people's financial condition, about other people's affairs, they are over-anxious. Every nice piece of gossip stops at their door, and they fatten and luxuriate in the endless round of the great world of tittle-tattle. Whoever hath an innuendo, whoever hath a scandal, whoever hath a valuable secret, let him come and sacrifice it to this goddess of Splutter. Thousands of Adams and Eves do nothing but eat fruit that does not belong to them. Men quite well known as mathematicians failing in this computation of moral algebra: good sense plus good breeding, minus curiosity, equals minding your own affairs!

       Then, how many young men through curiosity go through the whole realm of French novels, to see whether they are really as bad as moralists have pronounced them! They come near the verge of the precipice just to look off. They want to see how far it really is down, but they lose their balance while they look, and fall into irremediable ruin; or, catching themselves, clamber up, bleeding and ghastly, on the rock, gibbering with curses or groaning ineffectual prayer. By all means encourage healthful inquisitiveness, but by all means discourage ill-regulated curiosity.

       This subject also impresses me with the fact that fruits that are sweet to the taste may afterward produce great agony. Forbidden fruit for Eve was so pleasant she invited her husband also to take of it; but her banishment from Paradise and six thousand years (2.) of sorrow and wretchedness and war and woe paid for that luxury. Sin may be very sweet at the start, and it may induce great wretchedness afterward. The cup of sin is sparkling at the top, but there is death at the bottom. Intoxication has great exhilaration for a while, and it fillips the blood, and it makes a man see five stars where others can see only one star, and it makes the poor man think himself rich, and turns cheeks which are white red as roses; but what about the dreams that come after, when he seems falling from great heights, or is prostrated by other fancied disasters, and the perspiration stands on the forehead - the night dew of everlasting darkness - and he is ground under the horrible hoof of nightmares shrieking with lips that crackle with all-consuming torture? "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment!" Sweet at the start, horrible at the last. Go into that hall of revelry, where ungodly mirth staggers and blasphemes. Listen to the senseless gabble, see the last trace of intelligence dashed out from faces made in God's own image. "Aha! aha!" says the roistering inebriate; "this is joy for you; fill high your cups, my boys. I drink to my wife's misery and my children's rags and my God's defiance." And he knows not that a fiend stirs the goblet in his hand and that adders uncoil from the dregs and thrust their forked tongues hissing through the froth on the rim. Sin rapturous at the start, awful at the last. (3.)

       That one Edenic transgression did not seem to be much, but it struck a blow which to this day makes the earth stagger. To find out the consequences of that one sin, you would have to compel the world to throw open all its prison doors and display the crime, and throw open all its hospitals and display the disease, and throw open all the insane asylums and show the wretchedness, and open all the sepulchres and show the dead, and open all the doors of the lost world and show the damned. That one Edenic transgression stretched chords of misery across the heart of the world and struck them with dolorous wailing, and it has seated the plagues upon the air and the shipwrecks upon the tempest, and fastened, like a leech, famine to the heart of the sick and dying nations. Beautiful at the start, horrible at the last. Oh, how many have experienced it!

       Are there among us those who are votaries of pleasure? Let me warn you, my brother. Your pleasure boat is far from shore, and your summer day is ending roughly, for the winds and the waves are loud-voiced, and the overcoming clouds are all awrithe and agleam with terror. You are past the "Narrows," and almost outside the "Hook," and if the Atlantic take you, frail mortal, you shall never get to shore again. Put back! row swiftly, swifter, swifter! Jesus from the shore casts a rope. Clasp it quickly, now or never. Are there not some of you who are freighting all your loves and joys and hopes upon a vessel which shall never reach the port of heaven? You near the breakers. One heave upon the rocks. What an awful crash was that! Another lunge may crush you beneath the spars or grind your bones to powder amid the torn timbers. Overboard for your life, overboard! Trust not that loose plank nor attempt the wave, but quickly clasp the feet of Jesus walking on the watery pavement, shouting until he hear you: "Lord, save me, or I perish." Sin beautiful at the start - oh, how sad, how distressful at the last! The ground over which it leads you is hollow. The fruit it offers to your taste is poison. The promise it makes to you is a lie. Over that ungodly banquet the keen sword of God's judgment hangs, and there are ominous hand writings on the walls.

       Observe also in this subject how repelling sin is when appended to great attractiveness. Since Eve's death there has been no such perfection of womanhood. You could not suggest another attractiveness to the body or suggest any added refinement to the manner. You could add no gracefulness to the gait, no lustre to the eye, no sweetness to the voice. A perfect God made her a perfect woman, to be the companion of a perfect man in a perfect home, and her entire nature vibrated in accord with the beauty and song of Paradise. But she rebelled against God's government, and with the same hand with which she plucked the fruit she launched upon the world the crimes, the wars, the tumults that have set the universe a-wailing. A terrible offset to all her attractiveness. We are not surprised when we find men and women naturally vulgar going into transgression. We expect that people who live in the ditch shall have the manners of the ditch; but how shocking when we find sin appended to superior education and to the refinements of social life! The accomplishments of Mary Queen of Scots make her patronage of Darnley, the profligate, the more appalling. The genius of Catherine II of Russia only sets forth in more powerful contrast her unappeasable (4.) ambition. The translations from the Greek and the Latin by Elizabeth, and her wonderful qualifications for a queen, make the more disgusting her capriciousness of affection and her hotness of temper. The greatness of Byron's mind makes the more alarming Byron's sensuality. Let no one think that refinement of manner or exquisiteness of taste or superiority of education can in any wise apologize for ill-temper, for an oppressive spirit, for unkindness, for any kind of sin. Disobedience Godward and transgression manward can have no excuse. Accomplishment heaven-high is no apology for vice hell-deep.

       My subject also impresses me with the regal influence of woman. When I see Eve with this powerful influence over Adam and over the generations that have followed, it suggests to me that great power all women have for good or for evil. I have no sympathy, nor have you, with the hollow flatteries showered upon woman from the platform and the stage. They mean nothing; they are accepted as nothing. Woman's nobility consists in the exercise of a Christian influence; and when I see this powerful influence of Eve upon her husband and upon the whole human race, I make up my mind that the frail arm of woman can strike a blow which will resound through all eternity down among the dungeons or up among the thrones. I am not now speaking of representative women - of Eve, who ruined the race by one fruit-picking; of Jael, who drove a spike through the head of Sisera, the warrior; of Esther, who overcame royalty; of Abigail, who stopped a host by her own beautiful prowess; of Mary, who nursed the world's Savior; of Grandmother Lois, immortalized in her grandson Timothy; of Charlotte Corday, who drove the dagger through the heart of the assassin of her lover; or of Marie Antoinette, who by one look from the balcony of her castle quieted a mob, her own scaffold the throne of forgiveness and womanly courage. I speak not of these extraordinary persons, but of those who, unambitious for political power, as wives and mothers and sisters and daughters, attend to the thousand sweet offices of home.

       When at last we come to calculate the forces that decided the destiny of nations, it will be found that the mightiest and grandest influence came from home, where the wife cheered up despondency and fatigue and sorrow by her own sympathy, and the mother trained her child for heaven, starting the little feet on the path to the Celestial City; and the sisters by their gentleness refined the manners of the brother; and the daughters were diligent in their kindness to the aged, throwing wreaths of blessing on the road that leads father and mother down the steep of years. God bless our homes!

Yes, even I have an opinion.
(1.) Hey, where's that *##** bloomin' snake? Ah, I think he in the verse previous to the one noted above. I refuse to let Eve be given the credit for the entire fall!

3:1 - Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:1-5

• Can Snakes Talk? 
• Did Evil enter the world when man sinned, or was sin already in the world but man did not know what it was? discussions at Christianitystackexchange

(2.) I don't know where Dr. Talmage came up with the figure of 6 thousand years, but I've got news for him, we've been sinning alot longer than six thousand years.... Oh, well, I guess he knows that now!

(3.) Finally, the snake shows up in this sermon. But, not until alcohol gets mentioned, eh?
(4.) Addiction...