PICTURES WITH SCRIPTURE
A WEBSITE OF CHRISTIAN WRITINGS
Reading the Website
WELCOME. In reading the unique writings of poems, prose, lyrics, ballads, and praises found in the selection of categories ARMOR OF GOD, FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, GOD'S HAND, and Guest Writer/Author located separately at the top of the web page (mobile devices click on the '3-lines'), you are encouraged to read from the Bible each referenced scripture verse at the end of every writing and expression. Now start reading, and enjoy the joy of the Lord.
About Selah
Selah the word
Shortly after I started typing out my expressions that were in my journal, I realized that I wanted to use the word/term 'Selah' as a closing. I had known for some years that my last name spelled backward was the word used throughout the book of Psalm, but the term was not clearly defined for me. The searches I had done revealed that most scholars felt the term was of "uncertain meaning", "some obscure meaning", that donated "a rest or a pause", and was "intimating something emphatic". Some theologians believed it indicated "to lift up", "exalt", a "sudden shouting of 'Amen'", or "an emphatic word marking the point for 'lifting up' one's thought to God". Other definitions said it was "a technical musical term", "showing accentuation and interruption", "a moment of silence", a "musical interlude", or "marking a change of tempo". Expounding on these definitions I have heard other people say it meant "to think about it", to "pause and in reverence to God consider it", or to simply just "consider it". The latter versions of the meaning I liked for the reason to use it at the end of my writings (besides for the secondary use as a unique, albeit, reverse signature of my name). So I prayed about it. I asked the Lord if it was okay to use "Selah" and asked for an understanding of the term used in Psalm as relating to a closing in my writings. God is great, and He answered my prayer to my satisfaction and enjoyment. This is what I learned: While on a church tour in Israel I asked a shop keeper in Jerusalem about the term. I also inquired of our guide about it. Two things were told to me. Selah means "rocks". If a a person had a name of "Stone" in English, translated to Hebrew it would be "Selah". But that term used by King David in the book of Psalm is unknown, and spelled differently [In Hebrew]. King David's use of the word spelled in Hebrew (reading right to left),is Samekh Lamedh He, the 15th, 12th, and 5th letters in the 22 lettered Hebrew alphabet. That was the spelling and the word I wanted to use. I had the shop keeper build me a logo of the word 'Selah' over the fish sign of Jesus. I then checked again with our guide for accuracy of meaning and correctness of spelling to ensure I had the word used in Psalm. The logo was born. (Years later while on another trip to Israel I was told that my logo design could also be read at a glance as the Hebrew word for "forgiveness".) The Lord then drew my heart to Psalm 119 and I found the three letters spelling 'Selah' from the twenty-two Hebrew letters used in Psalm 119. The chapter is written using each letter of the Hebrew alphabet as an eight-verse acrostic, using the subject letter to start each verse in each separate acrostic writing. The letters Samekh, Lamedh, and He totaled 24 verses of the 176 verses in the entire chapter of Psalm 119, being three of the twenty-two Hebrew alphabetical letters being used. Each verse of the eight-verse stanza of each individual Hebrew letter acrostic began with the same Hebrew letter. Each verse of the eight verses in Samekh (Psalm 119:113-120) started with the Hebrew letter 'Samekh' and each verse of the eight verses in Lamedh (Psalm 119:89-96) started with "Lamedh", and so on and so on. I had an epiphany! Why then wouldn't 'Selah', the word, be defined by the letters used to spell the word, which are used in the verses of Psalm 119, which are 24 verses of God's Word? I thought "Yeah, why not?" So I read the verses of Samekh, Lamedh, and He, and said to myself "Let God's Word define the word Selah". And my intended meaning for 'Selah' at the end of my writings was born, i.e., Psalm119:113-120, 89-96, and 33-40. So "think about" these verses when you read the word 'Selah' at the end of my writings. Let a scripture word(s) out of the Holy Bible draw you back into God's Word. I believe that is the true purpose of the word 'selah', to take the reader back into the endless depths of God in order to seek Him and learn more about His eternal mercies. What a glorious cycle to be caught in!
What Do You Think About The Christ?
A Short Story To Tell by Ronhales
The old man leaned back in the tattered lounger, kicking his slippers off as he felt the weight fly away from his tired body. He'd been at the corner a long time, and finishing dinner he'd found comfort in his chair. He didn't mind holding a sign, and he didn't mind the comments he heard, and he didn't even mind that from day to day he went to the same place. But what he did mind was the lack of laughter. Mostly he missed children laughing. This time of year it was not hearing them around the Christmas tree. In his mind it seemed only a day or so when the kids came running into the room with their mother laughing and singing an off-key version of Jingle Bells. And it was still so clear in his mind as he remembered when his two boys brought their family over with the grand-children. They would open gifts, have dinner, and share all of Christmas day together. How could that have been 30 years ago? How could so many life times parade in front of him?
"Oh, Lord", he thought, "maybe tomorrow that family with the little red-haired girl who smiled and waved at me will come by again. And that guy who I said a prayer in my heart for, the one who looked so angry, that guy who was beating his steering wheel until he looked at me, perhaps he'll come back. I pray Lord, will you have him drive by tomorrow? Then there was the priest who had to sit so long after traffic backed up due to the light not working. I had carried my sign down the traffic line and when I saw him, he rolled down his window and just stared. Not a word spoken between us, but I noticed a single tear get about half way down his cheek before it evaporated away in this Arizona December sun. But of all I saw this day", the old man thought, "Lord, that guy on the motorcycle who had all those tattoos on his neck and bare arms, the biker who reached out his hand and upon touching mine revved that Harley so loud that every head in every car turned to us, Lord, especially bless him".
As the old man's eyes slowly closed, his lips moved with indistinct murmurs. He thought, "Maybe tomorrow Lord, I'll hear children laughing. Do that for me dear God. Through all the noise at that corner, let me hear laughter of children. Yes, I'll enjoy that very much". The old man's arm fell to the side of his chair, knocking his sign resting against it flat onto the floor. From the light in the street shining into his window, the writing on it could be read: What do you think about the Christ? Who's son is he?
In the street out beyond his room, a church bus drove by and the echo of voices singing a Christmas song drifted outward. And somewhere else while shopping for the perfect gift, his loving Grandson's wife spoke softly to her husband, "Tomorrow before you wheel Grandpa out to the sidewalk after lunch, let's tell him. It'll be such good news to him. His first great-grandchild! Let's do it tomorrow, okay? What a wonderful Christmas gift it will be!" And, before the nurse came to his room, the old man dreamed of the joy and laughter that was to come his way, "What a glorious life! What a glorious God! Thank you Lord Jesus!"
Selah
Matthew 22: 42
