Personal Reflections & Journal

I came across something today that connected directly to what we've been studying. VP JD Vance made a public statement arguing that unexplained aerial phenomena — the UFO phenomenon that has been in the news for years — may not be extraterrestrial at all, but something from the spiritual realm. He specifically referenced the Christian understanding that evil is real and active, and quoted what felt like a paraphrase of a well-known idea: that one of the devil's greatest tricks is convincing the world he doesn't exist.

This strikes me as deeply connected to what we've been studying about deception in the end times. Scripture is clear that the enemy doesn't announce himself — he masquerades. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. The idea that something supernatural could be repackaged as "extraterrestrial" or "scientific" fits exactly the kind of deception Jesus warned about in Matthew 24. The false signs and wonders of the Antichrist and the False Prophet won't look obviously evil — they will look convincing, maybe even miraculous.

What stood out to me is how this connects to the broader cultural moment. If demonic activity can be reframed as a cosmic, non-threatening mystery — something humanity is meant to "discover" and "open up" to — that is exactly the kind of deception the end times framework warns about.

Key scriptures: 2 Corinthians 11:14, Matthew 24:24, Revelation 13:13–14, Ephesians 6:12. Cross-reference with Module 11 (False Prophets) and Module 10 (Signs of the Times).

Came across a powerful Facebook post from Pastor Larry Burton today that addresses something increasingly relevant in the end times context — the misuse of grace as a license to continue in sin. His central argument is compelling: Grace isn't a lowered bar — it's a higher one, backed by better resources (the Holy Spirit, the new covenant, Christ's indwelling). Using grace as a license to sin inverts its entire purpose.

This connects directly to the end-times framework. Jesus himself warns in Matthew 7:21–23 that He will say to many who did ministry in His name: "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of iniquity." A church full of people who claim grace but live in sin is completely unprepared for the deception to come. The Antichrist's deception will be most effective against people whose faith is cultural and surface-level rather than genuine and transformed.

Pastor Burton's definition of repentance is worth noting: not just feeling sorry, but a change of attitude, behavior, direction, affections, and relationships. Christ is coming for a pure Bride. Five of the seven churches in Revelation are told to repent.

Key scriptures: Heb 12:14 ("without holiness no man shall see God"), Ezek 18:24, Rom 6:1–2 ("Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!"), Rev 3:5.

Came across the Jaden Ivey situation today — the NBA player waived by the Chicago Bulls after publicly calling out the league's Pride Month promotion as "unrighteous." He's clearly sincere in his faith and the biblical convictions he holds are real. Scripture is clear on the subject: Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26–27, 1 Corinthians 6:9. The question this raises isn't whether the conviction is biblical — it is — but whether the expression of that conviction was the most effective witness in that moment.

Jesus was full of both grace AND truth (John 1:14). Neither one at the expense of the other. He called sin what it was, but he also ate with sinners, healed them, and spoke to them with love before and after correction. The Pharisees had truth without grace. The culture today often pushes grace without truth. Both are distortions.

What strikes me most is the cost. This young man lost his career — or at least accelerated its end — over a public statement of faith. That's not nothing. And yet this is exactly what Jesus said would happen: "You will be hated by all for my name's sake." (Matt 10:22)

Key scriptures: John 1:14, Matthew 10:22, Romans 1:16, Colossians 4:5–6. Cross-reference with Module 11 (False Prophets) and Module 4 (The Watchman).

The 70 Weeks prophecy in Daniel 9 finally clicked for me today in a deeper way. Gabriel shows up while Daniel is praying and confessing Israel's sins, and gives him this mathematical prophecy — 70 "sevens" decreed for Israel and Jerusalem. That's 490 years, broken into three chunks: 7 weeks, then 62 weeks, then one final week still to come.

The jaw-dropping part is the math. Starting from Artaxerxes' decree in 444 BC, 69 weeks of years — 483 years, or exactly 173,880 days on the prophetic calendar — lands precisely on Palm Sunday. The day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was publicly declared King for the first time. That is not coincidence. The odds of that lining up by accident are essentially zero.

Then the clock stopped. Israel rejected Jesus, and God paused the prophetic timeline. The 70th week — the final 7 years — is still future. That's the Tribulation. The Church Age we're living in right now is a divine parenthesis, tucked inside a prophecy specifically about Israel and Jerusalem. When the Rapture happens, the clock restarts. The final 7 years begin.

We also talked about the Gog-Magog precondition — Israel living in perceived safety. There's a ceasefire in place right now between Israel and Hamas, about six months old, but it's fragile. Israel says they won't stop until Hamas is annihilated. We're nowhere near "unwalled villages" yet. That condition is still Not Yet — but the ceasefire might be laying early groundwork for what Ezekiel describes.

Key scriptures: Daniel 9:24–27, Ezekiel 38:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11. Cross-reference with Module 1 (Daniel's 70 Weeks) and Module 9 (Gog-Magog War).

I have to be honest about where I landed with the Gematria study. After working through Troy Brewer's numerology framework and then the broader Gematria tradition, I paused the tracker. The reason is simple, and I said it out loud in our session: "I could go in and find a number to correlate with the story I'm telling." That sentence is the problem. Any system where I can pick the number, pick the meaning, and pick the verse — and always end up with a confirming result — is not a system that can disconfirm anything. And a framework that can never be wrong is not really a framework. It's a mirror.

This does not mean numbers in Scripture are meaningless. Clearly 7, 40, 12, and others carry theological weight — they show up too consistently, too deliberately, in too many contexts to be accidental. God is not silent on numbers. But there is a huge gap between "Scripture uses certain numbers meaningfully" and "I can decode any verse by summing the Hebrew letter values." Those are two different claims, and only one of them has the weight of the text behind it.

I also want to be fair to Troy Brewer. His heart seems to be in the right place — he is trying to show that the Bible is a supernatural book, and he loves Jesus. I am not attacking him as a brother. I am simply saying that I cannot, with intellectual honesty, endorse a method where the conclusions outpace the evidence. Chris + Daniel + Matt verdicts on individual claims can still be logged over time, but I am not building our family's theology on numerology.

Action taken: Added a "My Honest Stance" box to numbers-skepticism.html. Set a calendar reminder for October 20, 2026 to revisit this position — am I more open, more closed, or about the same after six more months of study? Research queue for the interim: historical Gematria (Kabbalah origins, not Christian), documented failures (where the system predicted something that didn't happen), and the deeper question of what personal conviction actually requires of me here.

Key scriptures to sit with: Deuteronomy 29:29 ("the secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children"), 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (Scripture is sufficient), 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (test everything; hold fast what is good).

A three-hour session today covered three major threads — the Seven Churches of Revelation (with the Seven Feasts and the Seven Spirits of God as layered sevens), a focused look at the church at Philadelphia, and an almost accidental detour into the firmament of Genesis 1. Each deserves its own full study, but I want to log what stood out while it's fresh.

The Seven Churches (Revelation 2–3). All seven were real, historical congregations clustered in Asia Minor — what is today western Turkey. The geographical fact is striking by itself: these are not scattered across the empire. They are close enough that a single courier could have carried the book of Revelation between them in a matter of days. Within that tight cluster, Jesus addresses each church differently — five are told to repent, one (Smyrna) gets no rebuke, and one (Philadelphia) receives a promise that keeps leaping off the page for me: "Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth" (Rev 3:10). That is as close to a pre-Trib proof text as Scripture gives — a promise of being kept from, not carried through, the hour of testing.

Philadelphia — the church of the open door. The ancient city of Philadelphia is modern Alaşehir, which Turks translate as "God's City." The region is in the geopolitical spotlight right now. Turkey is actively reshaping the Middle East — Assad's fall in December 2024, Turkish troops operating in Syria, the Russia/Iran influence collapsing faster than anyone predicted a year ago. If the Gog-Magog coalition is still forming, Turkey's current pivot is fascinating to watch. It could be breaking away from Ezekiel 38's alliance — or it could be repositioning before realigning later. I do not want to force current events into prophecy, but I also do not want to ignore that the exact geography where Jesus promised the Philadelphia believers "an open door" is now the same geography where a major regional pivot is happening in real time.

The Firmament (Genesis 1:6–7). Natalie and I got into this while listening to Troy Brewer's chapter on the number 2 — the second day of creation being the day God separated the waters above from the waters below. The ancient Hebrew cosmology is a three-layer model: waters below (seas, springs, the deep), the firmament dome (sky, solid-seeming expanse), and waters above (held by the dome until the "windows of heaven" open — which is exactly the language used when the flood begins in Genesis 7:11). This is not the modern scientific picture of the atmosphere, and I think it is important to say that clearly. But it is the observational cosmology the biblical authors were working with — and the theological truth underneath it (that God alone sovereignly orders creation, that He holds back the waters, that He can open the heavens) stands regardless of which cosmological model you overlay on top of it. I want to summarize this for Natalie so she has the framework clearly.

Key scriptures: Revelation 2–3 (the letters to the seven churches), Revelation 3:7–13 (Philadelphia specifically), Revelation 3:10 (kept from the hour), Genesis 1:6–7 (firmament), Genesis 7:11 (windows of heaven opened), Isaiah 40:22 (God stretches out the heavens like a curtain).

**April 18, 2026 — End Times Study Complete & Current Events Analysis**

**Topic:** NASB Conversion of Theme 1 Complete; Current Events Prophetic Analysis; Renewed Conviction on Watchman Posture

**Category:** End Times Prophecy · Current Events · Theological Conviction

---

Today Claude and I completed the full NASB 1995 conversion of all 15 End Times modules (Theme 1, Modules 1–15). This was important work — not because the translation changed the meaning of Scripture, but because NASB 1995 is the most literal word-for-word English Bible in print. Every passage now hyperlinks to YouVersion with the same translation, so nothing stands between a reader and the actual text. That matters for a family study guide.

While we were working, news broke from the Middle East. The 10-day Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire began Thursday night. For the first time in 34 years, Israeli and Lebanese leaders are speaking directly. Trump claimed Iran has agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely. The Strait of Hormuz reopened. A third U.S. aircraft carrier is heading to the region. The ceasefire expires April 22.

I asked Claude to look at these events through the prophetic lens of what we're studying. Here's what stood out:

**On Gog-Magog (Module 9):** Iran is not being destroyed this week — it's being humiliated. Supreme leader dead. Proxies broken. Uranium bargained away. Economic leverage stripped. This is exactly the conditions Ezekiel describes for a desperate, revenge-driven northern power to partner with Russia and Turkey for one last move against Israel. The preconditions are being laid faster than I've ever seen them move.

**On Israel's Security (Module 2, Module 12):** Israel is not yet dwelling in "unwalled villages" as Ezekiel 38:11 requires for Gog-Magog to begin. But the direction has shifted. If these ceasefires hold, if Hezbollah is actually disarmed, if Iran's uranium is removed — Israel's northern border could become the most peaceful it has been in my lifetime. That moves 1 Thessalonians 5:3 closer: *"While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly."*

**On the Antichrist's Covenant (Module 7):** What struck me most is not any individual leader — it is the mechanism being rehearsed in front of the world. One dominant figure. Personal phone calls. Financial inducements. Enemy nations brought to heel. Peace announced. The Antichrist's covenant in Daniel 9:27 will be received as normal because the world is being trained right now to expect exactly this kind of deal-making. This is not saying any living person is the Antichrist. It is observing that the template is being built.

**On Birth Pains (Module 3, Module 10):** Jesus used the metaphor of labor contractions — *ōdinōn* — for end-times events. They intensify and accelerate. Look at 18 months: Oct 7, 2023 → Gaza war → Hezbollah war → Houthi attacks → Iran strikes Israel → U.S.+Israel war on Iran → Khamenei killed → Hezbollah broken → Lebanon peace talks (first in 34 years). That pace is abnormal. Whether these are the final contractions or earlier ones, they display the pattern Jesus described in Matthew 24:8.

I also learned something I didn't know before. Tyre and Sidon — the ancient Phoenician cities that Scripture names in prophecy (Ezekiel 26–28, Isaiah 23, Joel 3:4–8) — are not ancient ruins. They are functioning modern cities inside Lebanon. Sidon is about 25 miles from Beirut. Tyre is only 12 miles from Israel's border. Tyre was struck during Israel's April 8 campaign. When we read the news about "southern Lebanon," we are reading about biblical Tyre and Sidon. The map of Scripture and the map of today's news are the same map. That's when prophecy stops being abstract.

**The watchman's conviction I'm holding:** I can watch all of this soberly without losing peace. Galatians 5:22–23 is not suspended when geopolitics get heavy. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — those are not optional even in the season of birth pains. Especially in the season of birth pains. Matthew 24:4 says "See to it that no one misleads you" — the watchman's job is discernment, not panic. 1 Thessalonians 5:6 says "let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober" — alert, not anxious.

I learned the word Maranatha today — Aramaic, from 1 Corinthians 16:22. It means "O Lord, come!" or "Our Lord comes." It was a liturgical prayer in the earliest churches, spoken at communion. When believers said Maranatha, they were joining a prayer that had been continuous since the first century. Revelation 22:20 is the Greek version of the same prayer: *"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."* To say Maranatha is to say: "Come, Lord Jesus. We're watching. We're ready. Come." It is longing, not panic. That is the posture I want to hold.

**One thing I want my family to know if they read this later:** I am not watching the news to be afraid. I am watching because Jesus told me to. He said "watch." He did not say "worry." The difference between those two postures is everything. In the meantime: dinner still gets made. The people I love still get my full attention. The Kingdom work does not wait for the Kingdom to arrive.

Tonight we are starting our family Bible study with Theme 1 (End Times, Modules 1–15). All 15 modules are now in NASB 1995 with full YouVersion hyperlinks. The conversion is complete. The study is ready. Maranatha.

────────────────────────────────────────
April 2, 2026 at 9:33 PM
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LOTS of work done today. Created a complete new website. Had a GREAT discussion over dinner with Toop. Comparing notes and beliefs about the end times. Really enjoyed it!

────────────────────────────────────────
April 11, 2026 at 10:26 AM
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Deep Study — Hebrew Word Study

Dug into H7620 (shabua) — why "weeks" in Daniel 9 means years not days, backed by the Hebrew grammar, Daniel 10's deliberate use of yamim (days), the Sabbatical Year context, and the mathematical proof
Confirmed the 100-pound hailstones from Revelation 16:21 — a talent weight, biblically accurate
Explained the Day-Year Principle from Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 as the foundation for prophetic time interpretation.
I am going to need to dive deeper into this. I am still not convinced that weeks are years, and days are weeks.
────────────────────────────────────────

**April 18, 2026 — End Times Study Complete & Current Events Analysis**

**Topic:** NASB Conversion of Theme 1 Complete; Current Events Prophetic Analysis; Renewed Conviction on Watchman Posture

**Category:** End Times Prophecy · Current Events · Theological Conviction

---

Today Claude and I completed the full NASB 1995 conversion of all 15 End Times modules (Theme 1, Modules 1–15). This was important work — not because the translation changed the meaning of Scripture, but because NASB 1995 is the most literal word-for-word English Bible in print. Every passage now hyperlinks to YouVersion with the same translation, so nothing stands between a reader and the actual text. That matters for a family study guide.

While we were working, news broke from the Middle East. The 10-day Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire began Thursday night. For the first time in 34 years, Israeli and Lebanese leaders are speaking directly. Trump claimed Iran has agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely. The Strait of Hormuz reopened. A third U.S. aircraft carrier is heading to the region. The ceasefire expires April 22.

I asked Claude to look at these events through the prophetic lens of what we're studying. Here's what stood out:

**On Gog-Magog (Module 9):** Iran is not being destroyed this week — it's being humiliated. Supreme leader dead. Proxies broken. Uranium bargained away. Economic leverage stripped. This is exactly the conditions Ezekiel describes for a desperate, revenge-driven northern power to partner with Russia and Turkey for one last move against Israel. The preconditions are being laid faster than I've ever seen them move.

**On Israel's Security (Module 2, Module 12):** Israel is not yet dwelling in "unwalled villages" as Ezekiel 38:11 requires for Gog-Magog to begin. But the direction has shifted. If these ceasefires hold, if Hezbollah is actually disarmed, if Iran's uranium is removed — Israel's northern border could become the most peaceful it has been in my lifetime. That moves 1 Thessalonians 5:3 closer: *"While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly."*

**On the Antichrist's Covenant (Module 7):** What struck me most is not any individual leader — it is the mechanism being rehearsed in front of the world. One dominant figure. Personal phone calls. Financial inducements. Enemy nations brought to heel. Peace announced. The Antichrist's covenant in Daniel 9:27 will be received as normal because the world is being trained right now to expect exactly this kind of deal-making. This is not saying any living person is the Antichrist. It is observing that the template is being built.

**On Birth Pains (Module 3, Module 10):** Jesus used the metaphor of labor contractions — *ōdinōn* — for end-times events. They intensify and accelerate. Look at 18 months: Oct 7, 2023 → Gaza war → Hezbollah war → Houthi attacks → Iran strikes Israel → U.S.+Israel war on Iran → Khamenei killed → Hezbollah broken → Lebanon peace talks (first in 34 years). That pace is abnormal. Whether these are the final contractions or earlier ones, they display the pattern Jesus described in Matthew 24:8.

I also learned something I didn't know before. Tyre and Sidon — the ancient Phoenician cities that Scripture names in prophecy (Ezekiel 26–28, Isaiah 23, Joel 3:4–8) — are not ancient ruins. They are functioning modern cities inside Lebanon. Sidon is about 25 miles from Beirut. Tyre is only 12 miles from Israel's border. Tyre was struck during Israel's April 8 campaign. When we read the news about "southern Lebanon," we are reading about biblical Tyre and Sidon. The map of Scripture and the map of today's news are the same map. That's when prophecy stops being abstract.

**The watchman's conviction I'm holding:** I can watch all of this soberly without losing peace. Galatians 5:22–23 is not suspended when geopolitics get heavy. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — those are not optional even in the season of birth pains. Especially in the season of birth pains. Matthew 24:4 says "See to it that no one misleads you" — the watchman's job is discernment, not panic. 1 Thessalonians 5:6 says "let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober" — alert, not anxious.

I learned the word Maranatha today — Aramaic, from 1 Corinthians 16:22. It means "O Lord, come!" or "Our Lord comes." It was a liturgical prayer in the earliest churches, spoken at communion. When believers said Maranatha, they were joining a prayer that had been continuous since the first century. Revelation 22:20 is the Greek version of the same prayer: *"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."* To say Maranatha is to say: "Come, Lord Jesus. We're watching. We're ready. Come." It is longing, not panic. That is the posture I want to hold.

**One thing I want my family to know if they read this later:** I am not watching the news to be afraid. I am watching because Jesus told me to. He said "watch." He did not say "worry." The difference between those two postures is everything. In the meantime: dinner still gets made. The people I love still get my full attention. The Kingdom work does not wait for the Kingdom to arrive.

Tonight we are starting our family Bible study with Theme 1 (End Times, Modules 1–15). All 15 modules are now in NASB 1995 with full YouVersion hyperlinks. The conversion is complete. The study is ready. Maranatha.

THE FIRMAMENT IN SCRIPTURE
A Brief Summary for Natalie
Prepared by Chris · April 20, 2026
From our conversation during the Troy Brewer "Numbers That Preach" Ch. 1 listen

===========================================

WHAT IS THE FIRMAMENT?

The word "firmament" appears in English Bibles (especially KJV) as the translation of
the Hebrew word "rakia" (רקיע, H7549). Literally, it means something stretched out, expanded,
or hammered out — like metal beaten into a thin sheet.

In Genesis 1:6-8, God creates the firmament on the second day of creation:

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide
the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which
were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven." (KJV)

Modern translations (NLT, NASB, ESV) often render it "sky" or "expanse" — but the
original Hebrew picture is vivid: God spreads something out, solid and visible, that
divides the waters above from the waters below.

===========================================

THE TWO WATERS

Genesis 1 describes a cosmos with two bodies of water:

1. Waters BELOW — the oceans, seas, and moisture we can see
2. Waters ABOVE — something hidden above the sky, referenced multiple times in Scripture

The firmament sits IN THE MIDDLE, separating them.

Where do we see "waters above"?
• Genesis 1:7 — explicitly mentioned as divided by the firmament
• Psalm 148:4 — "Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens" (KJV)
• 2 Peter 3:5 — "the earth standing out of the water and in the water" (KJV)
• Proverbs 8:27-28 — Wisdom present when God "established the heavens" and "made firm
the skies above"

The ancient biblical picture of the universe is structured: earth, waters below,
firmament/sky, waters above, and beyond all of that — the throne of God.

===========================================

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

1. IT SHOWS GOD'S ORDER AND INTENTIONALITY
The firmament isn't an accident. It's a deliberate structure God created. He doesn't
throw creation together — He divides, arranges, and names things. Order matters to God.

2. IT REVEALS GOD'S POWER OVER NATURE
When the Bible describes the Flood in Genesis 7, it uses firmament language:

"...all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were
opened." (Genesis 7:11, KJV)

The "windows of heaven" breaking open = the waters above the firmament pouring down.
God controls those waters. He can open them or shut them. That is immense power over
creation itself.

3. IT CONNECTS TO COVENANT AND JUDGMENT
• The Flood = judgment and covenant reset
• Rain = God's blessing (waters released from above at the right time)
• Drought = His withholding (windows shut)

The firmament isn't just scenery. It's part of how God executes His will in creation.

4. IT APPEARS IN KEY MOMENTS OF SCRIPTURE
• Job 37:18 — "Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a
molten looking glass?" — the firmament is solid, real, purposeful.
• Ezekiel 1:22-26 — Ezekiel's vision of God's throne includes "the likeness of a
firmament" above the living creatures, with the throne above that. The firmament
separates earthly creation from God's heavenly realm.
• Revelation 4:6 — John sees "a sea of glass like unto crystal" before God's throne.
The waters above the firmament — now made visible in heaven.

===========================================

ANCIENT VIEW VS. MODERN SCIENCE

Important note: the Bible isn't a science textbook. Ancient Near Eastern cosmology
(including biblical language) describes the universe in observational, theological
terms, not modern physics.

• Ancient peoples saw a DOME OVERHEAD — the visible sky, solid-seeming, the boundary
between earth and the divine realm.
• ABOVE IT: mystery, the heavens, the throne of God.
• BELOW: the earth and seas we inhabit.

Modern science describes the same reality differently — atmosphere, space, gravitational
fields, etc. The firmament language isn't WRONG. It's prescientific and theological.
It describes what people observed and what God meant by it spiritually.

The theological truth beneath the ancient model still stands:
• God is sovereign over all creation
• God holds back the waters
• God can open the heavens whenever He wills

===========================================

FIVE THEOLOGICAL TAKEAWAYS

1. God creates with intentionality and order — not chaos.
2. God has dominion over nature — He controls even the heavens and the waters.
3. Creation is structured for blessing AND judgment — the firmament divides, controls,
and executes God's will.
4. There is a boundary between the earthly and the divine — the firmament symbolizes
separation between God's realm and ours.
5. God's power is displayed in creation itself — just by looking up, we see evidence
of His mastery.

===========================================

PASSAGES TO SIT WITH

• Genesis 1:6-8 — the creation of the firmament
• Psalm 19:1-6 — the heavens declare God's glory
• Ezekiel 1:22-28 — the firmament in Ezekiel's throne vision
• Revelation 4:1-6 — the sea of glass and heavenly throne room
• Isaiah 40:22 — "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth" — God transcends
His own creation

===========================================

FINAL THOUGHT

The firmament reminds us that God is not contained by His creation. He made it, He
sustains it, He controls it, and He sits above it all. When we look at the sky, we're
looking at a physical sign of His dominion and our place in His ordered cosmos.

That's worth thinking about when we pray, when we're afraid, or when we need reminding
that God is really in control.

===========================================

Written with love for my wife, who asks the questions that open doors to deeper study.
— Chris

Date: April 21, 2026
Scripture: John 10:27 (NASB 1995) — “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
I'm in a season of real uncertainty right now. I don't know if I'm going to stay with Winch Choice or end up somewhere else. I don't know what direction God is taking us. But the Word says my sheep will hear my voice, and I believe that. I really do believe that I will hear His voice.
The question I keep coming back to is this: how do I know if it's actually Him, and not just my own thoughts, my own wants, my own desires dressed up as a spiritual nudge? And I think the answer — the only honest answer I've got — is that it becomes more and more evident the more time I spend with Him. The Holy Spirit nudges me to pray about it, to spend some time with the Lord. And not just in the moments when I need a decision. Daily. In different times of the day, in different seasons.
That's what I'm trying to do more of right now. I'm trying to get closer so I can actually hear what He's saying — to me, and to Kimberly. This isn't just about figuring out the next job or the next step. It's about knowing His voice well enough that when He speaks, I recognize it the way I'd recognize the voice of someone I love on the phone, without even having to check the caller ID.
The sheep recognize the Shepherd. That recognition isn't a performance — it's a relationship. And relationships are built in time, not in crisis.

Date: April 21, 2026
Scripture: Psalm 46:10 (NASB 1995) — “Cease striving and know that I am God.”
When Kim and I were talking through everything, this is what I heard definitively: Be still and know that I am God. And “be still” doesn't mean freeze. It means don't be anxious about trying to figure out whether I'm going to stay, whether I'm going to go, whether things are going to work out. Just be still. Don't jump out of the frying pan into the fire. If something comes up, then yes — pray about it, think it through, weigh the options. But right now? Be still. That's the answer.
Here's the honest part, though. I don't feel calm. I feel uneasy. But I'm starting to realize that whether I'm anxious or not isn't actually the point. When God says “be still,” what He's really saying is: I've got you. And I can still feel uneasy while knowing that.
The picture that keeps coming to me is a child jumping from a high place into his dad's arms. The child has childlike faith — he knows his dad is going to catch him. That's the kind of trust I feel. God has never failed us. Not once. We have never gone without food. Things have been tight — sometimes very tight — but we've always eaten. Bills have sometimes been late, but we've always caught up. He shows up. Every time.
So yes, there's an uneasiness here. The last six months have been upside down. Income has been volatile, bills have been stacking, and I've been putting out fires just trying to keep the wolf from the door. But in my heart of hearts, I still believe that “be still” is what I heard, and “be still” is what I'm supposed to do. And maybe — maybe — the unease itself is part of God building the trust. Because the child on the high dive is scared too. His heart's racing. But he jumps because he knows his dad.
The fear doesn't disqualify the faith. It proves it.

Date: April 21, 2026
Scripture: Philippians 4:6–7 (NASB 1995) — “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I need to clear something up with myself, because I realized today I've been saying “no income” when that's not actually true. When I look at the Winch Choice master sheet, there have been plenty of sales. The problem is the rescissions and the low-margin jobs. My normal average is five to six thousand dollars a week. For months, I've been hitting more like one to two thousand. This week, though, I was back in the five to six range. So the ability to earn at that level hasn't gone away. It's the consistency that's been missing.
Here's the question I want to carry into prayer: When God says “be still,” which version is He talking about?
One version says: stay at Winch Choice, trust that the pipeline will stabilize, don't even entertain anything else. Another version says: don't panic-jump, don't chase every shiny thing, but stay sharp — and if He opens a real door, walk through it. The first version locks the decision. The second keeps my heart still but leaves room for Him to lead.
I don't know yet which one He means. I'm not sure I'm supposed to know yet. What I do know is this: the peace that Philippians talks about “surpasses comprehension.” That means it's not the peace of watching the circumstances look good. It's the peace that exists even in the storm. Which lines up with what I'm feeling — unease in the circumstances, but real trust underneath it.
So I'll keep working hard. I'll keep showing up. I'll keep praying. I'll keep spending time with Him. And I'll watch for what He does next. That's what being still actually looks like for me right now — not freezing, not striving, just trusting with open hands.
He's got us. He's always had us. That doesn't change because the numbers on the spreadsheet dip.