It's a dog's life and I am living it!

Bently snoring. Me working on my blog.

Hello and welcome back. Today is Monday, February 3, 2018. It has been mentioned about the later delivery of my blogs these days. I'm not sleeping in. My morning routine of late goes like this: Get up between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., get enough clothes on to take Bentley outside because once he hears anyone up he begins his imitation of a pitiful yelp, take him outside, fill his feeding dish with fresh water and Hills Science Diet puppy food, and then play with him for about an hour. Once he begins to wind down a little, go upstairs to The Home Office and try and work on my blog. This might not work on the first try so I go back downstairs, take him outside, let him play a little, and then return. Once I sit down at my keyboard and he is in my lap, I know I can get on with my work if I hear the little dude snoring. Less than a month ago, I was, to a large extent, able to be in charge of my life. I gave this little insight to add some flavor to my view of Bentley being in charge. I will tell you this. I am very happy when I hear someone stirring downstairs. I might even let slip a quiet "Hallelujah!" Just so you know: Life as you know it can change quickly. As for the title, let me clarify. I'm certainly talking about a dog's life in these enlightened and contemporary times. Here's what Dictionary.com had to say about that metaphor: "Dog's life. A miserably unhappy existence, as in he's been leading a dog's life since his wife left him. This expression was first recorded in a 16th-century manuscript and alludes to the miserable subservient existence of dogs during this era. By the 1660s there was a proverb: 'It's a dog's life, hunger, and ease.'"

I know the debates are endless as they swing forth and back regarding God's Sovereignty and how it works in the unfolding of day by day living. This is relevant to our current study in Genesis. This past Sunday I took up the passage introducing Joseph as a key Bible character. He and his special coat are likely one of the most well-known accounts from the Bible. As I began to prepare to teach Genesis Chapter 37 I thought about what Abraham had been told about the people he would father. This was back in Genesis 15, verse 13: "God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years." As Joseph comes on the scene we begin seeing the way in which the children of Israel would eventually end up in Egypt. Just like God said. Joseph was the favorite of Jacob his dad. Jacob let the rest of his sons know that Joseph was the favorite. He even had a distinctive coat made that indicated Joseph was above his brothers. Joseph was sent to check on his dad's flocks. They were not where Jacob thought they would be. Joseph had to go to a different location. The location he went to put him on a track to meet up with the Ishmaelites traveling to do trade in Egypt. He was thrown in a pit. It could have had water. It didn't. His brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites. Why is God's prophetic promise to Abram, (Abraham), important here? It happened just like God said. We can be sure of that. Not only what He promised Abram, but, all the promises He has made. Nothing could have made any of those involved at the time to know how God was working to accomplish His plan and purpose, but, He was! Later, the Apostle Paul would give us this inspired nugget: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) All things. All of them. Good things. Bad things. Everything in-between. We can count on Him working in it all and you and I are a part of His purpose. Amen and Amen. I may not have explained that very well, but, it was something that resonated with me as I studied, prepared, and taught that lesson. Faith is not a leap into the dark. God has revealed to us through His Word His person and His working. It is up to us to believe Him and act accordingly. As I have said many times before, often when a particular truth gets my attention, it is because I need to come near to it in order that I might be helped. I share it because others may also need to be reminded of God and His faithfulness. Thanks, I know I needed that. Amen.

I read there are nearly 100 recognized books written from an animal's point of view. Most of them are from a dog's point of view. With Bentley now with us, I have at times wondered what was going on in his little head. Here's the first paragraph from a famous short story written by Mark Twain, 'A Dog's Tale' "My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian. This is what my mother told me, I do not know these nice distinctions myself. To me they are only fine large words meaning nothing. My mother had a fondness for such; she liked to say them, and see other dogs look surprised and envious, as wondering how she got so much education. But, indeed, it was not real education; it was only show: she got the words by listening in the dining-room and drawing-room when there was company, and by going with the children to Sunday-school and listening there; and whenever she heard a large word she said it over to herself many times, and so was able to keep it until there was a dogmatic gathering in the neighborhood, then she would get it off, and surprise and distress them all, from pocket-pup to mastiff, which rewarded her for all her trouble. If there was a stranger he was nearly sure to be suspicious, and when he got his breath again he would ask her what it meant. And she always told him. He was never expecting this but thought he would catch her; so when she told him, he was the one that looked ashamed, whereas he had thought it was going to be she. The others were always waiting for this, and glad of it and proud of her, for they knew what was going to happen, because they had had experience. When she told the meaning of a big word they were all so taken up with admiration that it never occurred to any dog to doubt if it was the right one; and that was natural, because, for one thing, she answered up so promptly that it seemed like a dictionary speaking, and for another thing, where could they find out whether it was right or not? for she was the only cultivated dog there was. By and by, when I was older, she brought home the word Unintellectual, one time, and worked it pretty hard all the week at different gatherings, making much unhappiness and despondency; and it was at this time that I noticed that during that week she was asked for the meaning at eight different assemblages, and flashed out a fresh definition every time, which showed me that she had more presence of mind than culture, though I said nothing, of course. She had one word which she always kept on hand, and ready, like a life-preserver, a kind of emergency word to strap on when she was likely to get washed overboard in a sudden way—that was the word Synonymous. When she happened to fetch out a long word which had had its day weeks before and its prepared meanings gone to her dump-pile, if there was a stranger there of course it knocked him groggy for a couple of minutes, then he would come to, and by that time she would be away down wind on another tack, and not expecting anything; so when he'd hail and ask her to cash in, I (the only dog on the inside of her game) could see her canvas flicker a moment—but only just a moment—then it would belly out taut and full, and she would say, as calm as a summer's day, 'It's synonymous with supererogation,' or some godless long reptile of a word like that, and go placidly about and skim away on the next tack, perfectly comfortable, you know, and leave that stranger looking profane and embarrassed, and the initiated slatting the floor with their tails in unison and their faces transfigured with a holy joy." I know. Rather long today. Blame it on Twain. Just kidding. Take care, now, you hear? And, may God bless us all. Amen. .....More later.