Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.
 
That question was intentionally worded to grab your attention, but with the utmost respect I ask again:   what is it about God that makes Him great? 

The pagan gods of man's imagination show their greatness in a variety of ways.  Some of the gods were great because of their ability to manipulate creation.  Zeus and Thor, for example, were known for creating storms and hurling lightning about.  Poseidon, the god of the sea, was known for his ability to cause earthquakes and Baal was the Canaanite god who brought the spring rains.  Other gods showed their greatness by their ability to destroy their enemies.  Ares was the god of war who could defeat all who came against him.  Hades was the god of the underworld and the bringer of death.  Occasionally gods were known for their wisdom like Athena.  

These are the attributes that men imagine would make a god great and, indeed, the true God exceeds the imaginations of men in all of these areas.  In fact, we see that one reason for the ten plagues on Egypt was to show God's superiority:  "on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD." (Exo. 12:12, cf. Numb. 33:4).  As you go down the list you see God embarrassing god after god:  the Nile, a god in itself and the bloodstream of another, is manipulated by God; the cattle they worshiped were killed by plague; the storm gods could not keep Jehovah from sending the hail; the sun which they worshiped was darkened; and their death gods could not stop the final plague.  About 600 years later God made a mockery of Baal in the contest atop Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18).  Jehovah was known to His people as God Almighty (Gen. 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, etc) and God Most High (Numb. 24:16, Ps. 46:4, 57:2, etc) and there could be little question He filled those titles.  

Yet it seems that God wanted primarily to be known for another trait.  In Ephesians 1 we see a list of great things that God has done for us:  blessed us with every spiritual blessing, chose us, ordained us to adoption as sons, provided redemption and forgiveness.  Why has He done all these thing?  Eph. 1:6  "to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved".  Notice that it doesn't say "to the praise of His glory" but rather "to the praise of the glory of His grace."  It seems that God is wanting to show the world the greatness of His grace and mercy.  He wants the source of His praise to be not His strength and power, but rather His amazing grace.

This is a major theme of the epistle to the Ephesians:  vs. 7 mentions the riches of His grace; vs 11-12 says that the Jews were made a heritage to Christ (an act of grace) "to the praise of His glory"; in vs. 13-14 the Gentiles were said to be sealed by the Holy Spirit (another gracious act) "to the praise of His glory".  It seems His glory is most to be praised when we fully understand His grace.  But wait . . . there's more!  In chapter 2 vs 4-7 we are told we are made alive in Christ "that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus".  In other words, the entire plan of salvation was enacted to show off the greatness of God's grace!  Also the church (founded upon the grace of God) made known the manifold wisdom of God (3:10) and God grants us strength and power "according to the riches of His grace" (3:16).  

Over and over and over the primary praiseworthy attribute of God is His grace.  His greatest works, painstakingly achieved over millennia, show off the "riches of His grace."  Think about what that says about the God we serve.  While He is more powerful than any pagan god imagined, more capable of defeating enemies, wiser and holier, He wants to be known for His grace.  He doesn't terrorize us with threats, He courts us with mercy.  Surely "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10), but the fulness of wisdom is shown in His greatest work of grace (Eph. 3:10).  This is truly greater than any god man could imagine.  Our God, who could destroy us with a word, wants to be known instead for His kindness, His long-suffering, His mercy and His grace.
 
Psa._84:11  "For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly"
 
Lucas Ward

God has tried again and again to give us the perfect place.
            It started with Eden.  All of our physical needs were met in a place of perfection.  And the God who loved us came to walk with us every night "in the cool of the day."  But what happened?  We messed it up.  We listened to the one who did not love us and believed his lie.
            Then God took us to a land flowing with milk and honey, the place he had promised Abraham 400 years before.  And what happened?  We messed it up.  Even though God had shown us His power again and again—the plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea—we failed to trust that He would help us win the land.
            So forty years later, God tried again.  The Jordan parted.  The walls of Jericho fell.  And what happened?  We messed it up.  We failed to drive out the sin and the sinners, but took it all into our bosoms and nurtured it.  Once again we discarded His perfect Plan A and drove God to Plan B, judges to deliver us when the oppression got so bad that we actually repented.
            And you are saying, "What?  That was them, not us."  Really?
            One more time God has given us the perfect place.  A kingdom that cannot be shaken.  A King who is King of kings, who sacrificed himself for us, and ever lives to make intercession.   A place of righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.  And what happens?  We mess it up.  We fail to "be of the same mind," to do "nothing of faction or pride," to "each count the other as better than self" (Phil 2:2,3).  We forget to "be kind, tender-hearted, and to forgive" (Eph 4:32).  We certainly never "take wrong" for the good of the kingdom and its mission in this world (1 Cor 6:7).  We ignore God's authority because, "God wouldn't mind if…" and "God wants us to be happy! (Col 3:17)"
            Every time we misbehave in this ideal kingdom God has blessed us with, we are Eve taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, we are the 10 craven spies shaking in our boots, we are the unspiritual men who failed to drive out the pagans and their worship from the Promised Land.
            But this time, we can still be part of that perfect kingdom.  God is gracious and forgiving.  His lovingkindness endures forever.  And even in Sardis, there were …a few names…that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy (Rev 3:4).  I can be one of those few, even amid a crowd of the others, and so can you.
            God is giving us one more chance with his perfect kingdom, the one his Son died for and now rules over.  Don't mess up again.
 
​The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ​You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (Isa 62:2-5).
 
Dene Ward

I accidentally made some healthy cookies a few weeks ago.  I had not taken the time to pick up my glasses and the magnifying glass.  I had just concentrated hard and was sure the recipe said, “1 ½ sticks of butter.”  After the cookies came out of the oven, I was disappointed in their dry, cakey texture, when I had expected something chewy and rich.  So I picked up my glasses and looked again—“1 ½ cups of butter.”  That is three whole sticks.  What I had done was cut the butter in half.  Low fat cookies were not what I had in mind, but it did help to say to myself, “For low fat, they’re not that bad.”
            As Christians we often focus so often on what we cannot do—all those “thou shalt nots”—that it is amazing we can endure.  Our faith becomes negative instead of positive.  It is all about what we do not do, not what we do.  That may explain why so many of us are bitter and why we never manage to spread the good news—to us it isn’t such good news.
            It also explains why we lose so many of our children.  Your home should be a place of safety, a place of contentment, a place of love and laughter.  It should be a haven for your children and their friends.  Do you want to know where they are, what they are doing, and with whom?  Make your home a pleasant place to be, not a prison they hope to break out of someday, and you will know where they are, because home is where they are, and where they want to be.
            Christians should be known for what they do, not for what they don’t do, for who they are, not who they aren’t.  If your friends were asked to describe Christians based on their knowledge of you, what would they say?  “Christians are people who don’t drink, who don’t gamble, who don’t go to clubs, who don’t curse, who don’t engage in non-marital sex, who don’t smoke or take drugs, who don’t watch certain movies and TV shows,” and on and on.  Or would they say, “Christians are happy, generous people who help others whenever a need arises, who are always having people in their homes—you can hear the laughter going on all evening.  They are honest and forgiving.  You know you can trust them because you never hear them gossip.  They are pleasant to be around and seem to be able to handle anything life throws at them, and handle it well.  They are the best people on earth.  I wish I was more like them.”
            God has always promised his people “fat” lives.  He told the Israelites they would have a land flowing with milk and honey, Ex 3:8.  When Nehemiah brought them back from captivity, he reminded them that they had taken fortified cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit-trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in [God’s] great goodness, 9:25.  But they focused only on the restraints of righteous living instead of the blessings, finally fell away to the heathens whose lives they envied, and God sent them away to punishment. 
            Yet still, He had Ezekiel tell them of another good land, a Messianic kingdom that would bring joy and peace.   And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture; and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel, 34:13,14.  That is exactly where we find ourselves today, in that “fat” Messianic kingdom, so why do we so often insist that the life of a Christian is a miserable one?
            God has never required “fat-free living;” in fact, He has promised just the opposite.  Concentrate today on the peace that living as a child of God brings to your life.  Focus on the joy of salvation and the fellowship of a spiritual family.  Contemplate the good in your life. The rest of the world deals with addictions, legal problems, disrupted families, purposeless lives, and finally, illness and death without hope and comfort.  Talk about a negative life. 
            Go out and enjoy the fat in your life today.
 
The thief comes not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly, John 10:10.
 
Dene Ward

"Exposition" means to bring out of Scripture what is there.  Its opposite is "imposition," which is to read into Scripture what is not there, but what one would like to find there if only one could.

John Stott, Authentic Christianity

Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it (Deut 12:32).

I hear an awful lot these days about people being “stuck in a rut,” especially when it comes to their religious practices.  For some reason that is supposed to excuse every departure from the scriptures.  Some groups, for instance, have decided that the first century practice of taking the Lord’s Supper every Sunday must be changed to monthly, quarterly, or only on certain holidays.  When one does it too often, they say, it becomes merely habit and loses its meaning.
            Others, who claim to understand the importance of following the pattern God set for group worship, still want to change things around on a regular schedule, the incidental things that scripture does not regulate.  That’s fine.  I am the last person to bind where God has not bound, but consider a few things with me.
            The way we are doing things now in my church family, while still scriptural, is not the way we did them when I was a child.  It is not the way my grandparents did them.  It is not even the way we did them fifteen years ago.  Society and culture have changed and so have the various expedients we use to fulfill God’s requirements.  So what is this about ruts?
            When Jesus appeared on the scene in the first century, the Jews had been practicing the same law, including a Sabbath every Saturday, for 1500 years by a much more exacting standard than we have under the new covenant.  “Aha!” some will say, “and look what happened.  Along came the Pharisees to whom the Law was nothing but a set of rules to keep.  It had totally lost its meaning to them as a religion of the heart.”
            Had it?  What about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea?  What about Saul of Tarsus who “lived before God in all good conscience,” Acts 23:1?  Surely they were not the only Pharisees to whom the Law still meant something.  And what about the rest of the people?  Did Anna, Simeon, Zacharias and Elisabeth, Mary and Joseph, Salome and Zebedee, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus practice a religion out of habit that had totally lost meaning to them because they had been stuck in a rut for a millennium and a half?  How in the world did Jesus manage to find 12 apostles if everyone practicing Judaism was “stuck in a rut?”
            It seems to me that when someone complains that his religion no longer has meaning for him because he is “stuck in a rut,” it says more about him than it does about the religion he practices—or doesn’t practice.  While babes in Christ may need special care, mature Christians should be past the need for coddling.  It is my responsibility to keep my heart and my attitude right in my service to God and to keep myself out of the rut of rote ritual, even if God tells me to do exactly the same thing in exactly the same way for ten thousand years.  Exactly who is it that is being worshipped anyway?  It certainly isn’t me and my likes and dislikes—at least it shouldn’t be.
            If we need to change the things we can change, by all means, let’s change them.  But when the reason becomes “how I feel” instead of what is best for the body of Christ and the mission God gave us and always--always—according to God’s Word, we need to stop and take a better look at ourselves.
            Today I will strive to put my heart into my service to others and to God, even if that service is the same as yesterday’s, or last week’s, or last year’s.  That is, and will always be, my responsibility and no one else’s.
 
And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you this day for your good, Deut 10:12,13.
 
Dene Ward       

After decades of scrimping, doing without, patching and re-using when most would have tossed the old one and bought a new one, things have gotten a little easier for us.  I guess it finally hit me the day I was sweeping our bedroom, picked up the old plastic trash can next to my dresser to sweep under it, then flipped it over to empty into a trash bag I was carrying room to room.  There on the bottom was a piece of duct tape over a long crack that somehow, despite weekly cleaning, I had forgotten about.  I suppose I had just gotten so used to it that it disappeared from view.  We couldn't afford anything unnecessary for so long, and that handy swath of duct tape made buying a new one "unnecessary."
            But things are different now and that fact suddenly broke through old attitudes and habits.  "What does one of these cost?" I asked myself.  "Five dollars?  Six?  I think we can afford that now." And the next week on our once a week trip to town (we still don't make extra trips at two gallons of gas per trip), I bought myself a new trash can for the bedroom.
            And now Keith has decided that we can afford to have our house cleaned every other week.  I can't deny that my old age ailments make doing it myself a lot more difficult and painful than ever before.  However, it does cost extra money.  [Actually, I did not want this godly woman wasting her energy and time cleaning and then being too tired to prepare these posts and her classes, kw inserted.]
            So he found a young Mennonite woman who is an excellent cleaner and hard worker, and who charges half the going rate to boot.  We give her a substantial Christmas bonus so she won't go out of business any time soon.
            Do you know the hardest part of having someone clean my house?  Actually letting her clean it.  I want to go around the day before she comes cleaning bathrooms, dusting shelves, and scrubbing floors.  It's too embarrassing to let someone else see my dirt.  Why am I like this?  I could blame my mother, a perfect housekeeper who kept our home spotless with everything in its place.  But it probably has a whole lot more to do with pride and plain old embarrassment. 
            That may be the problem people have when it comes to conversion.  Do you know how many times we have heard, "I have some things I need to work on first?"  As if things so monumental, in our minds, that they will keep the Lord from accepting us, are things we can easily handle on our own.  Even after years of NOT being able to handle it on our own.  Do you really think the Lord hasn't already seen your dirt?
            While the Lord certainly expects us to clean up our lives when we commit them to him, he never expected us to do it beforehand and without his help, and he was willing to spend an awful lot to make that help available.  Stifle your pride and embarrassment.  Come "just as you are" and let him help you change that.
 
​Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt 11:28-30).
 
Dene Ward

Everyone knows about Babe Ruth, but did you know that in his first year as a Major Leaguer—1914--he didn't hit a single home run?  Granted he only played in five games, but this is Babe Ruth we're talking about.  The second year he hit 4 home runs, including his first in the major leagues as part of the Boston Red Sox.  On May 6, 1915, in the third inning at the Polo Grounds against the New York Yankees, he hit a solid pop that made the entire crowd gasp as it sailed into the second tier of the right field grandstands.  As his career continued, he improved even more, setting the record for most home runs in a season (29 in 1919), and then breaking his own record twice.  Improvement should be expected in a professional and Babe Ruth certainly lived up to it.
            It happens in other areas as well.  We have always had a large garden, mainly to keep the grocery bill affordable.  An 80 by 80 foot plot has been planted in three different places through the years as we came to know our land and which areas of it were best suited for what.
            But the past few years, we have downsized.  Half the original garden, now 40 by 80, is plenty of room for the little the two of us need, and we still have extra to give away on Sunday mornings.  But since the other half was already tilled, it seemed a shame to waste it.  So that first year Keith planted an entire pound of wildflower seeds in it.  If that does not impress you, consider that those seed packets you buy in the store containing 25 seeds are less than a tenth of an ounce.  In fact, most of the weight, should you put them on a scale small enough to weigh ounces, is the paper packet itself.  So a pound of flower seeds is an enormous amount.
            As the spring and summer passed by, nothing came up.  What a disappointment.  Planting those seeds was a lot of work—tilling, sowing, rolling with a fifty gallon barrel, hauling hoses and setting up sprinklers to water it.  Too much work, Keith decided, to try it again. 
            Then one spring morning during the second year, he looked out on that side of the old garden space and saw what he had expected to see the year before.  Bright yellow fleabane in huge clumps, fire engine red, deep pink, and fuchsia phlox, orange gaillardia, yellow and maroon tickseed, and tall stems of black-eyed Susans and cone flowers.  It has been a delight all year long.  We just had to wait for it longer than expected.
            I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (1Cor 3:6)
            Planting for the Lord is hard work.  It may be natural to want to see results immediately.  It may be understandable to become discouraged when we do not.  Stop whittling on God's end of the stick.  Our job is to plant.  Period.  God will give the increase in His own good time—maybe the second year, maybe not until the fifth or tenth or even the twentieth. 
            So keep sowing that seed.  You sow it with your words, with your offers to hold a Bible study, with the example you set when life goes awry as it will sooner or later for everyone.  You sow it on purpose and you sow accidentally when you do not realize someone else is watching and listening.  You sow it formally with written invitations and flyers and you sow when you just happen to think to invite out of the clear blue.  One of these days you might see a few results.  But then again, you may never see one.  That does not mean they won't happen in a heart years removed from the time you sowed, long after you are gone.  Even Babe Ruth had to wait a while.
            But when those seeds bloom, they will be some of the most beautiful blooms on the face of the earth—a heart where the gospel has taken root and formed a servant of the Lord.  Sow something today, on purpose, and think about my wildflowers as you do.  God will give that increase--sometime.  We must learn to stop counting and see it by faith.
 
For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and returns not there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isa 55:10-11)
 
Dene Ward

When my boys were still at home, family meal time was important.  We all made an effort to be together as many nights a week as possible, even as their schedules became busier in the high school years.  The majority of the time, we managed to do so. 
            I recently read a couple of articles discussing the importance of families eating together.  A family that eats together has better nutrition and the girls have fewer eating disorders.  The children do better at school.  They develop better language skills. They are less likely to take drugs, smoke, or drink.  Eating together, especially the evening meal, helps maintain accountability.  It is a “check-in time” which fosters a sense of togetherness.  (www.sixwise.com)
            “Dinnertime should be treated like a reunion, a respite from the outside world, a moment of strengthening relationships, and a pleasant experience that should always be cherished,” Ron Afable, “Eating Together as a Family," www.adam.org.
            When I read that last quote I was stunned.  Was he talking about family dinnertime or the Lord’s Supper?  God tells us we are to have this meal when we are “gathered together,” not each in his own home.  The reasons are precisely those reasons.  When I walk into the church’s gathering place I should have a feeling of relief, a “Whew! I made it!” moment.  This is my haven; these people are my support group; this is where I gather the strength to face another week of trials and temptations.  Is it any wonder God chose something that was part of a family meal to celebrate our one-ness with Him, with our Savior, and with each other? 
            The denominational world says that having this meal as often as the first Christians did—every Sunday—makes it less special, yet what does the world say about families having meals together on a regular basis?  Surely that applies here as well.  We are better nourished spiritually, we grow in the knowledge of the Word, we sin less because of the accountability regular meetings require, and we develop stronger relationships with one another.  Funny how God knew what He was doing, isn’t it?
            We often say that we should forget the outside world during this special time, but more than that, we should remember our “inside world”--our bond with one another.  Disagreements should melt away.  Aggravations with others should be covered by our love.  Personality problems should take the place they deserve—the bottom of the barrel.  To do otherwise is to make a mockery of the feast, and “drink damnation to ourselves.” 
            Our Father calls us to this special suppertime to reunite, to rest and recover, and to remember who we are and how we got here. This special dinnertime should always be cherished.  Don’t make a habit of missing it.
 
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ; the bread which we break, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ?  Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread, 1 Cor 10:16,17.
 
Dene Ward

Much has been written about the reason for four Gospels.  The explanation I have seen most often is that they each wrote to different audiences and had different purposes.  Ric Keaster agrees but takes it a step further.  He also believes it may be God's attempt to reach all personality types by choosing four different personalities to write the same story.
            First, the author spends close to half of this small book (only 91 pages) showing us that throughout history, in several different centuries and in several different societies, those with the insight and education to do so have always divided humanity into four basic types.  Imagine that—always and only four!  They may call them by different names and identify them by different characteristics, but they always come up with four.  (We are completely ignoring the bogus outliers.  See previous reviews.)
            Finally he chooses one set of labels, Analytical, Structural, Conceptual, and Social, and proceeds to classify the four gospel writers.  He uses their choices of sermons, miracles, and parables, and even word counts to prove his point.  It is all interesting and makes you want to sit down right then and read through all four to find these points yourself.  Then it makes you wonder, which one am I?  In fact, if you find one gospel "speaking" to you more than another, you may have just found your personality type in this book.
            As I said, it is a short and easy read, and one that should provoke a lot of thought afterward.
            In Our Own Language is published by DeWard Publishing Co.
 
Dene Ward

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time, Judg 4:1.
            Do you know anything about Lappidoth?  I know he was Deborah’s husband and that is all.  He is mentioned nowhere else in the entire Bible.  Yet because of his amazing wife his name was written down for everyone to read for thousands of years.
            No, it was not because God ordained that a wife have no identity without her husband, as some feminists might try to argue. Have you ever googled your own name or simply looked it up in your city’s telephone directory?  Somewhere in the world there is someone else with the same name as you, first and last.  Imagine how many there are with just your first name.  I can find six Marys in the New Testament alone. 
            It was necessary to identify people in the scriptures by their parents or spouses or children in order to make it plain who was being talked about.  There was at least one other Deborah in the Bible, the nurse of Rebekah, in Gen 35:8.  I imagine there were many other little girls named Deborah throughout Israel, especially after the time of Judges 4.  Miriam, after all, is the Hebrew for the Aramaic Mary, of whom we have so many in the first century AD.  Surely the great woman judge was a worthy namesake too.
            So what is the big deal about Lappidoth?  Just this—he was mentioned because of his wife, and he is respected because of his wife.  Whom you marry can make or break you in your career, in your reputation in the community, and most important, as a servant of God.
            How many times have you heard it said, or even said yourself, “He would make a good (elder, preacher, Bible class teacher, deacon) if not for his wife?”  God made woman so man would not be alone and so he would have a suitable helper in life.  David says, “[Jehovah] is our help” in Psalm 33:20, using exactly the same Hebrew word describing God as the one God used of woman in Gen 2:15.  Part of the help God gives men is the women who stand beside them.  There is nothing demeaning about being a tool in the hand of the Lord.
            Maybe the problem is men who do not recognize their duty to spiritually lead the family, “nourishing and cherishing” their brides, as Christ did the church.  Keith is the one who taught me how to study.  “And created a monster,” he always adds.
            Inevitably though, the onus falls on women who will not be led, who will not grow, who use their freewill instead to rebel against God.
            Jesus told a parable in Luke 14 about people who would not follow Him.  The point of the parable was the lame excuses people will make, but I can read at least one of those excuses in a different way.  When the Lord presents him an opportunity, I would hate for my husband to have to say, “I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come.”
 
A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies.  The heart of her husband trusts in her and he shall have no lack of gain.  She does him good and not evil all the days of his life.  Her husband is known in the gates where he sits with the elders of the land.  Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears Jehovah, she shall be praised, Prov 31:10-12, 23,30.
 
Dene Ward