Were Dogs Around when Jesus Walked the Earth?

What was it like to live in Nazareth when Jesus was a young adult, living a peaceful life while waiting for the call from his Father?  Surely adults looked after the children; people went to work everyday, and dogs and cats lurked around the stalls, hoping for a bit of food or water.

Image via Wikipedia

Recently, I reviewed my daughter’s Latin book to help her past a problem.  Turning the pages, I came across a wonderful photo of a mosaic that shows a guard dog, fierce and unrelenting, forever frozen in a moment of assertiveness.  I couldn’t believe it when I read the caption – the mosaic was found on the floor of the entrance hall to the House of the Tragic Poet, in Pompeii!

Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 and buried Pompeii under 4 to 6 meters of ash and pumice, permanently preserving life in a Roman city forever.  Although this event occurred after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it is safe to say that life as Jesus knew it was fairly similar to what people experienced in Pompeii.

Which means there were dogs that lived among people!

Confirmation of this simple fact thrills me to no end.  Why?  Because I have always wanted to travel back in time and walk with streets of Nazareth with Jesus.  To sit at his feet and listen to him teach a new way of life.  To feel his peacefulness invade my heart and open my soul to God.

With no ability to time travel, I did the next best thing – I wrote a book about it.  Walk With the Master is told from the viewpoint of Barnabus, a stray dog who is adopted by Jesus.  Barnabus and a group of children learn many lessons from the Master, including loving someone for their “God Light”, changing their attitudes and beliefs from judgment to acceptance, and learning to forgive any transgression someone may commit against them.

To learn more, please visit the following link on Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/4xngsz2

Soon, the Faithful Companion Guide will be available as well.  With 16 lessons, discussion topics, companion Bible verses and exercises, the Faithful Companion Guide is a great tool for youth groups, homeschoolers and anyone who wishes to grow in their personal relationship with Jesus.

Can’t you just imagine how a dog would react to Jesus?

 

 

 

What is a “God Wink”?

Recently, I came across a small, compact book about Christian living in the most unlikely place – a Dollar General store!  They carry books from Thomas Nelson, the big Christian publisher.  The copyrights may be several years old, but the wisdom that flows from these pages is timeless.

I just finished reading a book by Squire Rushnell called “When God Winks at You.”  He has collected stories over the years about coincidences, that he believes are really winks from God.  In Squire’s opinion (and mine), God is just waiting for you to ask him for help, so He can let you know He is thinking about you.

As Squire says, “Every time you receive what some call a coincidence or an answered prayer, it’s a direct and personal message of reassurance from God to you – what I call a godwink.”

Has that ever happened to you? Something so unbelievable that it can’t be explained except by calling it a “godwink.”  (Let me know so I can write about it!)

This book is full of amazing stories that will leave you breathless in wonder.  After reading “When God Winks at You,” you will be filled with the desire to look for all the “godwinks” in your life that happen right before your eyes!

The Solution Lies Within

The solutions to the problems before us isn’t more money or fewer difficult people in our lives, because the only real problem is disconnection from God. Solutions come as we connect with a higher level of thinking and knowing. When we lift ourselves in connection with God, an entirely new realm of thought becomes available to us.    —-Mary Manin Morrissey

For many, the search for happiness and peace starts with what is happening in your life – the people, events, and circumstances in which you live. The external world, if you will.  But you will never be satisfied by anything in the outside if you are not balanced on the inside.

How do you obtain inner balance? You first have to withdraw your attention from the external world, stop your mind by mediation or prayer, and just…be.  Listen to the small, still voice that is always trying to communicate with you, but you can’t hear it because of all the chattering noise that fills your head.  When you stop the noise and just listen, you will discover that most miraculous thing of all – that God has been waiting for you to just stop and listen!  

He has been waiting for you to open yourself and say “Yes!”

Practice remembering God.  Remember Him in the small, mundane details of your life and you will discover a secret known throughout the ages – He cares about it all!  Because He loves you – the complete, unadulterated, unfiltered, unpolished you.  Want to know why?  It is very simple – He made you. And the Creator of all things does not hate what He created!

So don’t look outside for the next new thing to solve your problems.  Go within and listen.  God is waiting to help you, but you have to open the door to let Him in.