Writing of the King James Bible

On the backside of the desert on Mt. Sinai...

Moses climbed up the mountainside once more,  eager to hear the voice of the Lord again. He smiled when he reached the top, even though he was out of breath and his legs were sore. It could be worse. The years of man's life were three score and ten, and perchance fourscore. At 81 years old, Moses knew he was blessed. He was alive and healthy because God still had work for him to do. He wondered if it was in part because he still had more to write. The LORD had told him that he wanted him to record what had been happening with his people. He looked down at the writing tools in his hand. He was still amazed that God wanted him to write down His Words. Even now, Moses was prepared to write what God wanted him to. He reached the place he normally met with the LORD. He had to only wait but a second before he heard the voice of the I AM. As Moses listened, he carefully wrote the words God told him to. He hoped that generations to come would read the LORD's words and obey it's commands.

Years later in Jerusalem...

The scribe sat down to copy the law of Moses. He had a few scrolls set out,  and he had plenty of writing tools. He grabbed the law of Moses to set before him as he copied it down by hand. With careful strokes he wrote down the timeless words. Not one jot or tittle could be missing. If one jot or tittle was missing, then it would not be God's whole perfect Word then, would it? No, each and every word, each and every tittle and jot, must be written. The scribe did not know why men like him had needed to do so throughout the years, but he thrilled at being one of them. Many kings had come before the young king, Josiah. Now, like the kings before Josiah, the law of Moses must be copied down for King Josiah to have. 

In 16th Century Europe...

As the means of writing changed, so did the ways of penning God's Word. Nevertheless, it was still the same timeless, perfect, God-inspired Word. Tyndale looked down at the manuscripts before him. Finally, after long waiting to translate God's Word for the common man to read, the time was at hand. William Tyndale did not care that the enemy was out to stop him. The common man in the field must be able to read God's Word for himself. This drove men like Tyndale, Wycliffe, and many others. They had known it was God's will. Now it was time to put feet to that knowledge. As Tyndale carefully translated the Word from Greek to English, he made sure not one word was missing. Everything God had said in Greek and Hebrew could and would indeed be translated into plain English. Tyndale looked out the window. He had come this far, he must continue, even if it meant his own death.

1611-

The men gathered before King James. He was a good king. They prayed he would accept what they had to say. When they told the king their desire, he was all ears. With a smile he said he must authorize it. They named it the King James Bible after the king, but they knew it was truly God's Bible - His precious, perfect, infallible, inspired Word. The enemy had tried to stop it, burn it, break it, destroy it, but they failed. They could not destroy something that was eternal.

 The words of the King James Bible was perfect and complete, but the English language and way of writing had changed once more. The s was changed to f. Yet, there was still one problem. When a preacher asked you to turn in your Bibles, it took some time to find the place. The remedy - chapter and verse divisions. Once these minor details were changed, a third-grade reader could read it. Moses' dream, the Scribes' hope, and Tyndale's desire had been fulfilled. Now every man, woman, boy, and girl, could read the B-I-B-L-E for themselves.

Present Day...

The young preacher looked across the table at a man who wanted to debate the King James Bible. The young preacher shook his head. He had studied out the King James Bible. He had proved it to be true, perfect, and infallible, but the man sitting across from him did not believe it. As the young preacher listened to the man's faulty arguments, he thought on the journey his Bible had taken to get to him today. He looked down at his worn, King James Bible with a smile. This book had withstood much and had stood strong. The young preacher rubbed the worn cover tenderly and lovingly as he thanked God in his heart for giving him His Word. No amount of arguments could change his beliefs in this perfect book.

This is just a glimpse into the history behind the King James Bible. To go into a theological discussion on this would take post upon post. You can have your NKJV, your ESV, your NIV. Just give me the good old, timeless KJB. It is perfect, holy, inerrant, infallible, inspired, and reliable. I pray you may come to love this precious Book as much or even more than I do. Read this Book, study it, learn it, memorize it, treasure it, meditate on it, keep it, respect it, live it, and you will surely love it.

May you keep your heart by keeping His Word,

Elisabeth Kristine

I Went to Prison

 What a title, huh? No, I did not break any laws or receive too many speeding tickets. I have not been pulled over by the police either. I am a law-abiding citizen. You may still be wondering why I went to prison.

Don't worry. I will not leave you hanging for too long...

This past week, several members from our church had the privilege of going into the prison via a women's volleyball tournament with the Inside the Lines ministry to share the Gospel. It was my second year in a row to go. The first time I was really nervous. Not because of the prisoners necessarily, but because I am shy and generally have a hard time talking to people I don't know.

Our church's theme for the year is Hold Fast. Each quarter has a special focus and each month has its own nautical theme. The first quarter was about faith. For April, we were to Launch Out Into the Deep, by fasting one day a week and praying for one hour each week. Sadly to say, for the first couple of weeks, I was struggling spiritually. I fasted from books for the month, but I was having a hard time getting back into prayer. By the last week though, I knew it was time to work on that. I decided to fast from sugar that week. I only had hot tea in the mornings and one soda or tea at night. I knew I was lacking God's power in my life due to a failure to pray. I also knew I needed to pray for our church to receive $500,000 for our building fund. That was our prayer focus for the last week in April. I also knew I needed to be ready to give the Gospel if I was going to go into the prison on Saturday. 

Friday, I had a much-needed prayer walk with my Lord. It was a blessing to my heart, plus a good workout for my body. (I do not get enough exercise due to sitting at a desk a lot). I printed a soul-winning guide and felt ready to go minister to the women in prison. We had a lot of ladies and a few of our men signed up to go into the prison. I was excited. Last year it was just me, Brenna, AJ, the Washers, and another lady from a different church. But this time we were to have around 13 volunteers. It was going to be great. 

Then the call came... It was supposed to rain Saturday so we had to move it to Monday. Of course, that meant several of our workers were unable to go due to work. But God knew. It did not catch Him off-guard. (Remember: He's the God who told Gideon that he had too many men going to fight and needed to downsize his army.) 

So instead of 13+, we had 8. This time my mom was able to go. She was nervous at first, but I was so proud of her. She was able to have some good conversations with a few of the women. Not only was I proud of her, but later, she told me that she was so proud of me for talking to the women in prison. It was all God's grace, really. There's nothing like hearing a "Well done" from your parent, whether earthly or heavenly.

I even got to play a round of volleyball. I did not do so well hitting the ball back and forth. Yes, I know I am not athletic anyway, but I was still a little embarrassed. Then it came my time to serve. I missed the first serve (Excuse: I have probably not played since last year.😊) But then Bro. Washer, who was acting as referee, said I could have another try since I was one of his workers. I was so excited when I actually made a few serves and got to redeem myself. 

After warm-ups and lunch came the Gospel presentation. Bro. Washer did a good job. We just had to reiterate what was already said. At the invitation, several women came forward. I was able to talk to two of them. One of them was confused and not ready, but the other one seemed interested in knowing for sure. I stumbled through with nervousness, but God will use anyone who is willing. He does the work anyway. I told the girl I was talking to that I was nervous, but she said I was doing good. She had questions about faith but still sinning, so I told her that when we are saved from Hell, we are children of God. We will always have that relationship, but when we sin, our fellowship hurts. She seemed to understand. It was sweet when I was done going over the Gospel plan,  she said, "Okay, let's do this. Lead me in the prayer." I had heard stories, so I made sure to tell her that it was not my prayer that saved her but her heart believing and receiving Jesus as her Savior. When she was done, I asked her what it meant when she got saved. She said, "Once saved always saved."

Satan was really fighting. He has such a hold on these women. He takes joy in seeing them enslaved by sin. He is not ready to give them up. That was made clear. (For us, it's a balance of seeing that they're real people in need of God's love, but also remembering that they are in there for a reason. You can just tell.) But God has always been unmatched. Satan has never been able to fulfill his prideful dream of being higher than God. God's power is able to break the heaviest of chains. The rain can't stop Him. (Jesus calmed the storm.) It seemed to take forever to just get into the jail. Then many of the women had jobs or classes to go to instead on Monday. Some said that they heard possibly 100 inmates had signed up for Saturday. When we got in, the new guard they put in charge had a list of 20 and just with names A-C. By the afternoon service though we had four teams of at least 6. Some others watched. I think we probably ended up with around 30-40 for the Gospel message. God knew from the beginning what would happen. And Satan did not win. The Gospel was preached. Around 10 or so had reassurance of salvation. And one was born into the family of God. Praise the Lord!!! 

And yet, God chose to use me to help water the seed. I'm just awed by that. Awed that God would want to use me as an instrument. I'm humbled by it. I still struggle with being a witness and will continue to if I try to do it by myself. Jesus said, "Without me, ye can do nothing." I have found that to be true. Maybe only one got saved that day, but God has always found even one worth His sacrifice. After all, He left 99 in the fold so He could rescue the one that was lost. If that does not touch our hearts, we need to beg God to break up the fallow ground. Only the soft, good ground will bear fruit.

I know this turned out to be a long post, but I just had to share. If not to encourage you, then at least have that reminder that God wants to use me if I would simply willingly yield myself to Him. 

Keeping my heart so that others may keep theirs through yielding to Him...

Elisabeth Kristine 

A Step Closer

 I am nearing the finish line for two of my books. Yay! I am excited. :) 

For The King's Heart in the LORD's Hands, my modern-day Esther story, I asked my parents to read it. They were almost done when they gave me very beneficial advice concerning the antagonist. So, back to writing. I am glad that I had them read it because it helped me see which areas needed strengthening. My antagonist needed to be seen more throughout the book instead of just appearing all of a sudden at the end. I have enjoyed seeing the antagonist come to life. Being based on Esther, I wanted to get the antagonist right.

Recently, I made a goal list of things I would like to do before I turn 30 in 2028. That's only five years away! Sounds so old right? One of my goals is to publish five books before 2028. My hope is to publish two this year. 

The other book that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel is the book I started during NaNoWriMo of 2021, Redeeming Louise which is set in the Victorian Era. I recently sent it to a couple of my aunts to read. I read it to my mom, but I wanted to complete it before I read it to Grandma. Two weeks ago, we went to visit my grandparents in Fort Myers during spring break. On Wednesday, Grandma paid for Mom to take Silas, Callie, and Micah to tour the Edison Ford winter estate. Grandma was not able to take them because her knee was hurting so bad. (She just had knee surgery yesterday.) Since I had already taken a tour years before, I gladly volunteered to stay behind so I could read her my book. I was excited when she said, "Let's go to the tea room." I never pass up a good cup of tea, and a scone or baked good.😊 

Besides, it was the perfect setting to read this particular book since it is set in Victorian London England. (Would you like a spot of tea?) We ordered Cherry Vanilla tea and Lady London tea. For dessert, she picked creme brule, and I picked their special cheesecake - a peanut butter cheesecake with peanut butter cups then drizzled with chocolate and caramel and topped with whipped cream. The tea and dessert were delicious. Then I read a chapter in my book to Grandma. The other people could probably hear us, but oh, well. At least they heard the Gospel - in the particular chapter we read the preacher was witnessing to the hero of the story. We both enjoyed our tea time. Are not tea and books the perfect combination?

Next week, I have the privilege to head down south to help my grandparents out since Grandma just had surgery. I told her that I want to cook, clean, and of course, read my book to her. Perhaps after that and a few edits here and there, I will be ready to publish this book as well. I cannot wait to have the finished book in hand.  

Writing from the heart

Elisabeth Kristine

 One morning a few weeks ago, I stepped out onto the porch, and my eyes traveled to the bird feeder in our front yard. A cardinal perched there while eating his breakfast, and I was reminded of God's love for me. Every time I see a cardinal, I think, "God loves me," for that was the sign I chose several years ago. I noticed that cardinals often come out around Valentine's Day in January and February. They come out during more than just these two months, but I feel like right now they are making their presence more known.

The good thing is, God's love lasts more than these two months. Valentine's is just an extra special reminder. I may not have a human Valentine right now, but I have God - He's the best Valentine ever. He loves me. I am His, and He is mine. There is no love like God's love. God's love does not come and go or change like the seasons.

It led me to think of ways I can make God my Valentine this year. Maybe this will be a help to you, too. 

First, when we love someone or at least start to show an interest in someone, we want to get to know him/her.  We want to find out what he likes or dislikes. We want to know his personality and who he is. We want to know what they like to do. I am not in a relationship right now, but there was a short time that I talked to a young man. I wanted to get to know him and learn his likes and dislikes. No, it did not work out between us, but I did get to experience the talking stage of getting to know someone. We can do that with God. Last year for my devotions, I studied God and Who He is. I learned so much about Him last year. Even though I grew up in a Christian home, there is still so much to learn about Him. I will learn more all my life, and then I'll have eternity.

We can learn about God by reading His Word, studying it, memorizing it, and keeping it in our hearts. When you read His Word, it's like reading His valentine/love letter. (As a side note, do you know how couples would send letters to each other and they would spray their perfume/cologne on them? God may not do this with His Divine Letter to us, but when I get a new Bible, I like to smell its fresh paper and print smell. While that may seem silly to some, to true book lovers it would not. If you see my nose buried in a Bible, it's not because I can't see. It's because it is a new Bible with that new-book smell.☺) We can also get to know Him by watching Christians - the Christ-like children of God. Just about everything they do glorifies God. That's how it can be with people. We can sometimes learn about someone we are interested in by watching the ones they are close to or watching their family. The family has the inside scoop on how they act at home. Likewise, you can learn much about God by talking to the ones who spend the most time with Him.

Another way we can make God our Valentine is by talking to Him. When a couple is dating, courting, or simply in the talking stage. they will talk, and talk, and talk - sometimes for hours. God wants us to talk to Him in prayer. Pray without ceasing - be in a constant state of prayer like He is literally standing right beside us as we go about our day. I even like to write letters to God sometimes. Spending time with Him is a great way to make God our Valentine.

There is a place where spirits blend

Where friend holds fellowship with friend -

A place than all beside more sweet

It is the blood-bought mercy seat.

Not only can we make Him our Valentine by reading His love letter and talking to him, but we can also make God our Valentine by serving Him. This love language is called acts of service. Our lives are well spent when we spend them serving God. As one of our favorite preachers used to say, "It pays to serve God." Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." We can serve Him with our obedience and actions. When we love someone, we want to do sweet things for them. That is how it can be with our Heavenly Valentine. We also show our love for Him by serving others. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. First John has much to say about loving God and loving others.

We can dive even deeper than this by giving our lives to Him. That is the most powerful way to show our love. Romans 12 calls it a living sacrifice. The Gospel of John goes yet deeper when Jesus talked of laying down one's life - "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - (John 15:13) "We love him because he first loved us." - (1 John 4:19) John could write about love, for he was close to Jesus. He also said in 1 John 3:16 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." We cannot say we love the God Who laid down His life for us if we do not love others.  

Lastly, but not finally, we can make Him our Valentine by talking about Him.  When a couple starts getting close via talking, dating, or courting, they constantly talk about each other. That is all you ever hear practically. "He did this... He said this... He likes this... Oh, he's just so wonderful. I am so lucky." Their heads are in the clouds because of that person. You can just tell they are Valentines because they cannot help but talk about each other. 

You know that is how it should be with God. Think of it this way. You cannot stop talking about God and all that He is or has done. You have spent so much time with Him. You have read His Love Letter a hundred times, or at least more than once. You are constantly doing things for Him. You have given Him your heart (which is another way to make Him your Valentine). You are His, and He is yours. So what do you do? You talk about Him. You praise and glorify Him in your speech, even in the songs you sing. You talk of all His wondrous works. You tell others about Him and His great sacrifice for us. You want others to know Him and get saved, so you talk about Him. You proclaim His name. Then that love inside changes your countenance. Sometimes you do not have to say anything (but you cannot help but say something) for your face, eyes, and smile show you are in love. They notice. They ask why you are so happy, and who is the lucky guy. You smile again, and then you tell them His name - God. You tell them Who He is - your heavenly Father, your Savior, Your Comforter. You tell them what He has done for your - laid down his life then rose again to save you from your sins then give you earthly blessings and heavenly riches. You cannot help but tell them - whether they ask or not. You talk about Him constantly because He's your Valentine.

Keeping my heart for my Heavenly Valentine

Elisabeth Kristine

Meeting New Friends

 It is amazing to me how the Lord brings people into our lives. Just recently, I had the pleasure of meeting the Danfords from Indiana. Bro. Terry Danford is an evangelist. I was able to meet two of his kids - Heather and Melody. It was awesome to meet two young ladies who are around my age and are serving the Lord faithfully. It reminded me that I am not alone. There are people like me who have the same standards and convictions. I found two kindred spirits in Heather and Melody. A few weeks before, when my dad was scheduling them to come to our church, he approached me about taking the two daughters out for dinner. I was so excited to meet young ladies my age, but I was also a little nervous, too. You probably know how I can be very shy at times. I did not have any problems talking with them, however, as we ended up having much in common. On Friday was our church's Valentine's banquet. After Heather and Melody helped me, Ms. Nan, and the other servers dish out the food, I was able to take them out for Mexican food.The food and fellowship was wonderful. I enjoyed getting to know them.

Sunday we were able to have the Danford ladies sing and Bro. Danford preach. Sunday services in the Lord's house went very well. I enjoyed hearing them sing, because it gave my family the opportunity to sit down and listen instead of being the one's in charge of the special music. I believe that one of the songs that was sung was written by Heather. It was a blessing. She later encouraged me about writing music. I was able to purchase a cd with her music, and in the music pamphlet that goes in the cd case, it talked about how the Lord gave her the songs to write. In encouraged me with my music writing. (I think the Lord has been working on my heart about that a lot lately. During the Winter Revival, Mrs. Sommerdorf approached me about writing music as well.) 

We had them over at our house for lunch with the Blankenships and Josh's family. Liberty and Freedom love being with older girls, so they loved having Heather and Melody over. When they came in and sat down in our living room, right away either Liberty or Freedom brought out a children's book for one of them to read. Later that evening, Liberty was so cute; she wanted to be included in the pictures. ☺️

After being encouraged about it, I finished working on a song I had started a few weeks ago. Hopefully the Lord will have me use it to be a blessing to others soon. He led me to write this next song about the Remnant that God has in every age. It talks of Elijah and how he felt that he was alone in serving the Lord. Then God reminded Elijah that he still had people who had not bowed the knees to false idols. No matter how alone you may feel, God has more like you out there. You are not alone. Anyway, that is a glimpse of what this next song will be. I do not share this to be prideful. I just want to be a blessing and use what God has given me. I only hope that I am a blessing to someone.

I am so thankful for the people God brings into my life to be an encouragement to me. God is so good!

NaNoWriMo

 I did it! I compled the challenge. It is something I have wanted to do for a while. For years, scores of writers have come together for National November Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal? To write 50,000 words in the thirty days of November. That is approximately 1,667 words a day. It may seem like a lot, but it is an exciting challenge for those who are brave enough to accept it. 

  I heard about it a couple of years ago, but I had just never gotten around to it. For a while, I was just a wannabe writer - someone who started so many books, but could not complete one.When I finished my first draft for my book King's Heart, I felt a little more ready to tackle the writing challenge of NaNoWriMo. About three weeks before it started, I came up with a new book idea, and NaNoWriMo seemed like the perfect opportunity to get it started. I already had the major plot figured out. Next, I needed to plan and prepare. I found a post by the Reedsy blog ( https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/nanowrimo/ ) that taught me a lot about NaNoWriMo and got me excited for November. I started researching NaNo and how to go about it. I also found a character template from fiction author Tricia Goyer. It was a big help for me to get to know my main characters. You can find her template here: https://www.triciagoyer.com/free-printables-for-writing-your-novel/ . Next was plotting the story. I did not know where to start because I normally have the main idea but write each plot point as I go. To stay on track for the month of November, I knew I needed to determine the plot points before I started working towards the 50,000 word goal in November 1st. As I was researching NaNo, I came upon the Plot card method. I gathered a thick stack of notecards to plot each point on. I already had the opening scene, so I wrote it on a notecard. Since I already had my main characters, the theme, and the plot, it was relatively easy for me to plan each plot point, or scene. I ended up with 44 cards. 

   By November 1st, I was as ready as I could be. I sat down to write. Thankfully, I already had the first scene started, so by that evening (the first day is the easiest because of the excitement), I had a word count of 2,837. By weeks end on Saturday, I had a word count of 11,747 - almost one hundred words ahead of Sunday's goal I had already planned to not write on Sunday for we had a meeting to go to in Ocala for a sister church's 20th anniversary. Getting ahead that first week had been very helpful. In planning for November, I had already marked off Thanksgiving and Black Friday. I knew I wanted to set those times aside for family traditions. 

The second week was a killer. Mom was away in Michigan with Grandma to visit Mam-maw. I was in charge of taking care of my family since Mom was away, and Brenna was married by this time. I did enjoy planning the menu and taking care of them, but I made my time to write at night. I guess I would not recommend staying up until 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning, for by week's end, I was exhausted. Of There were many days in November that I really tried to work ahead, not too hard to do as I first thought since I was on a roll by this time. Then there were at least four days that I took off completely. Would I finish? Would I make it to the end? Or would I be counted in the number that would come shy of the word count? The race was on...

By November 30, I was so excited to complete the challenge and reach 50,290 words. I had done it. I had finished a dream. Now, I had a brand new novel to work with it. Did I use all my plot cards? No. :) I still have more of the story to write which is what I am going to do after I finish this post. I am excited to see where this story ends. Maybe I will post what my story is about here soon. Or maybe next year... Wait, what am I thinking? Next year is right around the corner. Hmmm...  I wonder where next year's writing adventure will take me...

Keeping my heart while keeping on writing,

Elisabeth Kristine 

Nearing the End - My Journey to the Editing Stage

Last time I posted about my book, 

I said that I was trying to work towards the climax before the two year mark. Well, now a few months later, I have finally finished the first draft. I am so excited that I actually finished a book. Now it is in the editing stage.

Sometimes I like to go on Pinterest. I even have a board on writing - If I Were an Authoress. Through Pinterest, I found a blog from a writer named K. M. Weiland. Her blog, Helping Writers Become Authors , is an awesome resource for writers. I have learned a lot through her posts. When I finished the last chapter of my book, I wanted to find material on editing and getting a book published. While searching, I came upon posts from the writer I just mentioned. The posts were about character arcs. If you would like to know what a character arc is, you can go to her blog - https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/. I learned a lot from those posts, and I decided to go back in my book and focus on each of my main characters' character arcs. I wanted to make sure that I was making my characters come to life. At least, I hope I accomplished that. Completing their character arcs took some time, but I am glad I did it. Now I feel closer to my characters and I hope my future readers will too :). 

As I wrote my book, I would edit as I wrote to get most of the spelling mistakes and grammar errors, so that helped some for the later editing stage. Finally, I realized that I needed to take a step back from The King's Heart so I could come back later with fresh eyes. Now I am having my dad read it for me. So far, he has given me really good feedback and advice. I can count on him to not be partial just because I wrote it. Every writer needs someone to read their book to give feedback and advice, I believe. Sometimes I wish it would go a little faster, but I know he has other things on his plate. Someday it will be edited as much as I can do myself, and I will be ready to send it off to a publisher.

Now, the hard part is finding a publisher. I never realized how much there went into it until I finished the first draft of my book. For all the bigger name publishers, I would need an agent. There is a publisher I had contacted a few years back, but I was no near finishing, so me and the agent I contacted stopped emailing. As I finished the first draft, I started looking into getting my book published in the hopeful near future, the publishing company I contacted came to mind. Please pray for me that the Lord will show me how to go about getting my book published. Also, if you have any advice about getting a book published, feel free to comment on the post. It would be much appreciated.😊

I am excited for what the Lord has in store for the next stage of The King's Heart in the LORD's Hands.

Keeping my heart while waiting for Him...

Elisabeth Kristine