Category: Religion

Posted in Bible Puzzles, Find the Difference, Fun Puzzles, Religion

Sabbath Afternoon Fun: Find 6 Difference Psalms 2:1

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

A happy fall time Sabbath to you. I hope that you are enjoying some lovely fall color. God is such an amazing painter that He can take the sad remnants of this sinful world and transform it into a work of beauty. If He can take the dying leaves and turn them into an art piece, imagine how wonderful the new earth, where death will never be known, will look. Truly our hardest effort nor our grandest dream can even begin to come close to the land of glory that God is preparing for us.

Florida is not known for its fall color, but here is a dash of fall color that my family and I were able to enjoy one year on a bit of land that we were hoping we might one day call home.

May it be your aim to be part of God’s faithful flock and may this humble find the difference puzzle help you hide His word in your heart so that it may be a light unto your feet faithfully guiding you home.

Posted in Faith, life, Religion, Thoughts, Uncategorized

Discouragement: Choosing to Be a Joseph or a Murmuring Israelite

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

If I were to write a poem right now the title would probably be discouragement. It would certainly sum up the mood of the day. Not only for me, but for my business as well.

Here we are, nearly a month into Quarter 4 and after weeks of pushing myself to the breaking, I made 3 whole sells on Etsy for $18 dollars. I know what you are thinking, how will I ever manage to spend so much money. A new car, a house, a vacation, or all of the above? Ha ha, it really is enough to take the wind right out of one’s sales.

I know that I have a way to go to develop really good designing skills, but even though I did not expect a rush on my products, I had hoped that at least 1 or 2 of my designs might get a couple of sales. I was sure that some, like my Turkey’s protesting Against Thanksgiving and insisting that you should play Sudoku instead was not only colorful but humorous as well.

Sadly, even though my Mother helped me to purchase a mockup to give it more appeal, it has gone over as well as bag of potatoes filled with bricks.

If that were not discouraging enough, in a few days we have to move from our temporary rental, and we still have to find a new place to move too. And between the holidays and the arrival of the winter birds there is a good chance that we could find ourselves on the street.

It is hard to believe that when we put our home on the market almost 1 year ago, there were multiple homes in our price range. Even more amazing, it is hard to believe that at the time, interest rates were low enough that we could get a house for $300,000 and it would have cost less per month than the house we were living in. Why at the time we put our house for sell, there was a 4/3 manufactured home on 3 acres for $180,000 that we were hoping to get once the house sold.

But fast forward a couple of months to when our house finally sold, and it was as if a vacuum had come along and sucked up every descent price home and then spit out a bunch of higher priced fixer uppers. Almost overnight anything that was descent disappeared from our price range or shot up in price along with the interest rates. Before we sold there were dozens of halfway descent places under $250,000 and even some under the 180,000 mark. Then our house sold and their were only a handful of fixer uppers remained. It has been six months since we sold our home and 4 since we had to move out into one temporary rental after another, and the market has become even bleaker. Now, with the our down payment dwindling and the competition for housing rising, it seems as if it will not be long before my mother, sister, and I shall soon be homeless.

As each day brings us closer and closer to this possibility, I find myself pondering the story of the Israelite and their years of wandering in the wilderness. From the day beginning, as we moved from our house to house with the remains of my beloved father and a few weeks later placed the remains of our sweet pup Happy by his side, I was reminded of how all through their wilderness wanderings they had carried the remains of Joseph.

Continue reading “Discouragement: Choosing to Be a Joseph or a Murmuring Israelite” →
Posted in Bible, Bible Puzzles, Faith, Find the Difference, Fun Puzzles, life, Thoughts, Videos

Sabbath Afternoon Fun: Find 7 Differences 1 John 4:11-12 and Happy’s Alter Call

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

Happy Sabbath everyone. Once again I find myself so grateful for the gift of the Sabbath. This week we made the third move to a temporary rental since moving out of our home while also having to make a trip to the doctor the day before and on moving day, on top of our search for permanent home.

While after all the craziness of this past week and the exhaustion of moving, I am so grateful for the opportunity to pull aside from the stress of searching for a home, of rushing to the doctors, shopping, etc., the past few weeks there has been a deep shadow cast upon our Sabbath joy due to the passing of our beloved dog Happy.

Within a few wees of my father’s death, Happy had become gravely ill. for 3 years he fought valiantly. Our loves and prayers giving him the courage to fight a little bit longer. But the dreaded day finally came when as much as he loved us, the pain was too great, and his hold on life to weak for him to continue fighting. And God in His mercy said it was time for Happy’s battle to come to an end.

But oh how empty the house feels without him. Starting Friday afternoon I miss his impatient demands to receive his weekly bath before Sabbath arrives so that he would be ready and waiting for the Sabbath. His love of the word of God always inspired me to seek to draw closer to Jesus. During his final weeks of battle, the word of God had been his comfort. There were nights that the only way he found rest was for me to put a sermon on the TV.

A few weeks before he passed, we were watching a sermon by Doug Batchelor talking about how now is the time to make a choice to stand firm for God. Then he made a call where he asked those who wanted to stand up for Jesus to stand up. Something caught my eyes, and I turned to see Happy, who had been resting quietly on the sofa, standing up with pride, facing the TV. There was a huge smile of joy on his face, as he answered that call and weak as he was becoming, used his strength to stand up and in his sweet doggy way, stand up for Jesus.

Happy had reached the point where he was so weak that my aunt was able to put a purse on him and he did not have the energy to move or even whimper, yet he used what strength he had to proudly stand up and face the TV with a giant smile on his face when he heard the call who was wiling to stand up for Jesus.

As I tearfully remember how much he loved God, my heart aches. I remember how much he trusted God and His word so that even though he was trembling in fear from the constant booming of the fireworks, when I put on some hymns and told him that they attracted God’s angels, and God promised that His angels would take care of us, he would look around, smile, and within a few minutes he would be fast asleep.

He was such an inspiration to us. Time after time we would see the way our dear little bundle of fur showed his love for and trust in his Creator, and it filled our hearts with longing. to him, Sabbath was an extra special day because not only would he hear the hymns and sermons that he loved, but he knew that the God whom he loved, would draw near to us and him in a special way. And unless one of us was extremely sick, he wanted to be bathed and waiting for that longed for visit by his Friend.

I do not know if our precious pets will be raised when Jesus come or if they will be given back to us in Heaven or when the earth is made new, but seeing how deeply Happy loved Jesus, how his face lit up with joy as he stood up immediately after Pastor Batchelor made his call to stand up for Jesus, it would not surprise me. It is true that God did not die for our pets, because they are not guilty of sin the way we are. But when I consider the deep trust in God’s promise to send his angels to protect his people, that was so strong that his trembling form was able to sleep even while the fireworks loudly boomed around him, I cannot help but wonder if one day our joy will be increased to see our little dog smiling up at his best Friend and beloved Creator for whom he had been so proud to declare that no matter the cost, he was willing to stand up for.

I hope that you have a happy Sabbath. And that today, like my precious Happy, you will answer the call that no matter the cost, you will stand up for Jesus.

Posted in Bible Puzzles, Faith, Find the Difference, Fun Puzzles, life, Thoughts

Sabbath Afternoon Fun: Find 3 Difference Romans 5:6-8

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

I hope that you are having a Sabbath afternoon. And that you are enjoying this chance to learn better how to keep your heart rested in the promises of God. I know how hard this lesson is to learn, but before the last great battle we must learn this lesson fully if we hope to stand. Yet learning this much needed lesson is painful.

Currently God is teaching our family this lesson. Between the death of my father and the change in the economy our house became too expensive for our tiny budget to support so we had to sell the house. In the months leading up to our home going up for sell the market was full of good homes at a price we could handle. But within days of our house going on the market most of the homes were gone. But every so often a seemingly good home would appear. But as soon as our house sold and we could finally put in a bid, the competition became so fierce that there were times I found a potential home in the morning and before I could show my mother and sister a few hours later, it was sold.

Over and over we would call about a home to find out it was already pending, or after a few days of discussion and prayer we would decide that it was time to call the realtor to see the home, and it was gone. The first few times we were not worried, but after days turned into weeks, and the time to move drew dangerously near, we began to worry. Finally we decided that we would have to put our house hunting on hold and find a place to rent. But to our dismay we found out that even though we will have the money to rent a home for a year while looking for a new house, because our income is too low, we cannot find a home to rent.

Now we are only days away from having to leave our home, and we still have no place to move too and no idea where we are going to put our belongings or how we will move them since none of us have the health or strength needed to move hundred of boxes or heavy furniture. It is a very unnerving position to be in. One that I would not wish upon another. Living on the street is hard for someone in good health, but for a diabetic dog who requires refrigerated insulin and three sickly women, it is a potential death sentence.

I wish that we could say that we have reached this point without questioning or murmuring. Our trust in God so complete that like Peter we can fall into a sleep so deep that even the glory of an angel in our room cannot wake us. But that would be a commandment breaking stretch. At times our blood pressure has reached dangerous levels, our nerves have gotten so taunt that we had to apologize for our tense and irritated words, and at moments the fear has become so strong that we could not help but with tears wonder if God had abandoned us.

Yet at the same time, after gathering in prayer to ask for God’s strength and help, peace filled our hearts. While we were worried, our trust in God outweighed that fear to the point that smiles replaced tears as our minds were pointed to all the ways that God had helped us in the past. Promises from God’s word were recalled to our minds and as our trembling hands reached out to grasp them, He made us stronger.

At this moment we cannot fully say where God is leading us or why He has chosen to take us down this frightful path, we have no clue if we will have another roof to go to when we leave this home or if the car will become our new home, but we can say that God has been faithful to His word and is holding our hand. Here and there doing little things to prove that He taking care of us and to help strengthen our trust in Him.

It is my hope that for whatever future test God is preparing us for, we will prove faithful. That in some way this test of our faith, of painful muscle building, will not only draw us closer, but will in some way become such a testimony to others that it will help others to find the courage to stand firm and bring others to the Lord.

As you enjoy today’s find the difference verse about God’s love for sinful man, it is my prayer that God will help you to hide this verse in your heart. So when your test of faith comes, you will have the words of love and hope that you will need to help encourage your faith and to be a light to your feet keeping them from falling off the narrow path that leads to light.

Posted in Bible Puzzles, Religion, Scramble

Bible Word Scramble Joel 1:11

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

Happy Sabbath everyone. My family and I have been busy the past few weeks trying to sell our house and look for another one. Between that and a bunch of doctor’s appointments we have had quite a few low sleep nights. Thankfully last night we were able to go to bed early for the first time in over a month. It is amazing what a blessing a good night’s sleep can be.

Since I felt a bit more rested this Sabbath, I thought that I would take the time to share a fun Bible word scramble based upon Joel 1:11. I hope that you enjoy it.

Posted in Faith, Religion, Thoughts

Why I Do Not Celebrate Christmas: A Short Answer

Posted on by katherinebrianneparilli

I was watching a video today talking about someone changed their mind about Christmas being pagan because they no longer felt that there was evidence to support the belief that Saturnalia was connected to Christmas. Not only that, but even if Christmas did have pagan roots, it no longer mattered because Christmas was now a Christian holiday.

I must admit it that this argument got me a bit upset. I mean if all one has to do to celebrate a day is call it Christian and that makes it right, well where does it stop? Can we slap the name Christian on alcohol and call it being drunk in the spirit? Can we put wings on half naked men and women, call them angels, and wipe away the crime of lust of which Christ said was equivalent to adultery in God’s eyes? I mean where does it end?

I was so worked up that I spent a large portion of the day writing a response. I thought I would share it with you so that you could have a small an idea of why my family and I have decided to give up Christmas.

I beg your pardon, but what do you mean that even if Christmas is pagan, we can keep it because it is now a Christian holy day? Are you saying that all we have to do is make something Christian and we can now enjoy it? Does that mean that all we have to do is wear Bible costumes, carve out bible scenes in pumpkins, trunk or treat in a church parking lot, and give a speech about Martin Luther nailing the 99 theses to the door and declare that Halloween has been transformed into a Christian holiday celebrating the reformation? Can we put angels on a deck of tarot cards and make a prayer to Jesus and thus say we have Christianized divination? Can we take the lunar festival with its moon cakes and lanterns lit for the dead slap on a few Christian titles and say no worries its Christian now? Because if we can transform Christmas from a pagan into a Christian holiday simply by giving a few Christian definitions and names to pagan customs and observances, then like a certain church, we can slap some Christian names like Peter, Paul, and Mary onto some images of pagan gods and bring them into our homes and churches because they have been safely baptized into Christian icons.

And where in the Bible do we find even find an example of transforming pagan ceremonies into Christian ceremonies? Wait a moment, I know, it was at the foot of mount Sinai right after God gave the ten commandments when the people grew tired of waiting for Moses and made a golden calf to represent not a pagan, but the true God. And was God pleased by the Hebrews slapping on Christian titles on pagan costumes or did God declare that they had corrupted themselves, called them a stiff-necked people and threatened to consume them?  And were not 2 of the sons of Aron killed because they offered holy fire in an unholy vessel?

Where in the Bible do you find that we have a right to take a pagan holy day and put a Christian label on it so that we can in essence, worship on that day? I read where the Lord says to “not learn the way of the Gentiles” Jeremiah 10:12. Over and over I read where they were supposed to destroy the accursed thing not transform the accursed thing.

As to the debate about Jesus being born on Christmas day, am I wrong or do we not teach that Christ ministry on earth was 3 ½ years not 3 and 1/3 years. Thus, if Christ died during the Passover, which is in spring, and if my math is correct, he could not possibly have been born in December so why are you giving any credence to that idea that he was born in December?  It seems to me that the idea that Jesus was born on September 11 makes far more Biblical sense (and no I am not setting a date for His birth) than December 25th.

Respectfully, as someone who once loved and celebrated Christmas fully believing that it had Christian roots, it also seems to me that you totally ignored the fact that even if Christmas did not come from Saturnalia, almost all of the supposedly Christianized traditions of the season not only once were but still are clearly pagan. Take for example the yule cakes, yule logs, and yuletide carols sung by a choir. Some places still build the traditional yule goat in honor of pagan gods. This twelve-day festival (is it the reason for the 12 days of Christmas), also known today as Christmastide, was and is a pagan festival that involved drinking, divination, and sacrifice to pagan gods. So why are we singing about and decorating our home with these items?

What is the least bit Biblical about the holly, ivy or kissing anyone you meet under the mistletoe? According to an article by the pagan pen titled THE HOLLY AND THE IVY, “significance of mistletoe, holly and ivy are of druid origin” after all, is not the holly tied to the pagan holly king who is honored at the winter solstice? According to the site learning the tradition of wassailing has its roots in pre-Christian fertility rites, metal ornaments were hung by the romans on outside trees during the feast of Satunalia, and early Germanic tribes decorated trees with fruit and candles in honor of Odin for the winter solstice. Should it not alarm Christians that they are partaking of traditions that honor the stag god, who links back the gods of the Old Testament to whom human sacrifices were offered and God told us to have nothing to do with?

 Never mind magical elves, flying reindeer, and talking snow man, and the pagan god Satan Clause aka Christ Kringle or Christ child who knows all, rewards the good, wears a Mithra cap, and more? Not to mentions Santa’s terrifying companion Krampus, a demon like creature who is still celebrated today.

When my family made the decision to stop celebrating Christmas ten years ago, there were multiple factors that helped us to make the decision to throw out and destroy all of our Christmas stuff. One thing is as God lead us to study out the origin of Christmas, we began to ask, if Christmas really was a true Christian holiday, why does the world spend thousands of their hard-earned dollars to decorate their homes and celebrate the birth of Jesus when they want nothing to do with Him the rest of the year?  If Christmas had really become a true Christian holy day, why would Hollywood, that takes such delight in mocking God and his followers, spend billions of dollars creating movies that portray His day in a positive light? All year long their hatred for Him is visible. They use His name as a curse wood, the mock His life and death, declare His followers to be brain-dead bigots, yet suddenly, when December rolls around they get filled with the Spirit and sing His praises? The more we thought about it, the more we realized that the idea that Jesus is the reason for the season did not make much sense, but instead that the stag god dressed in scarlet, whose roots go back to the tower of Babel, is the true god of the season makes far more sense.

At first, we were tempted to believe that the pagan roots of Christmas were all past. That this was the way Christmas was, but now there is a newer, purer version of Christmas. Then we saw our first videos of Krampus and realized that the demonic side of Christmas is alive and celebrated today.

After that we took some time to watch several videos made by pagans and witches talking about how Christmas belongs to them and how we are stealing their holy day. Traditions such as ringing of the bells (to drive away demons, decorating with elfin symbols, decorating with wreathes, and putting lights in the window.  These were their traditions meant to honor their gods, to invite or scare away spirits, and had nothing to do with Christianity. If we are not supposed to learn the ways of the heathen, why are we filling our homes with items meant to honor heathen gods? How can we learn nothing from the heathen while doing exactly as the heathen do?

Christmas may be a great time for witnessing to others and doing good deeds, but just because it is a great time to do good and witness that we are to welcome this pagan filled celebration into our home?  If we cannot sanctify divination by putting angels on tarot cards and saying a prayer asking God to help these cards tell our future, why do we believe that we can take a holy day honoring the devil and with a few name changes transform it into a day honoring God.

If this quote is correct found on article entitled The Sabbath. Catholic and Protestant Stunning Admissions, written by Olusegun Olutoto on August 19, 2019  it should put the celebration of Christmas in a different light, because if the Catholic church is to be believed when it comes to the fact that worshiping on Sunday is an acceptance of their authority, it seems to me that we should sit up and take note when they say that the keeping of Christmas and Easter is also an acceptance of their authority

Our Sunday Visitor (February 5, 1950):

Practically everything Protestants regard as essential or important they have received from the Catholic Church… The Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible and observing the Sunday, in keeping Christmas and Easter, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the Pope.

This is why many of feel that we cannot in good conscience celebrate Christmas. We have nothing against using this day to do good for others, but how, when we are called to come out of her my people, can we celebrate a Sabbath day or holy day that is by right a sign of her authority.

The Sabbath. Catholic and Protestant Stunning Admissions