Still trying to wrap up Ps 119. Just so many thoughts in here that speak to my heart & my need. I stopped at v 143-144 though & will share this thought. "As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. Your laws are always right; help me to understand them so I may live."
I want to find this joy & peace that Jesus alone can give & what He lived in His whole life down here. I know that can only come from spending time in His Presence, surrendering my day & my dreams to Him & His wisdom.
Which of course takes me back to Ps 23 & being content with what my Shepherd gives me each moment & not being concerned with the "next pasture" or the fear that I can think up. Just living moment by moment. Thankfully, that's all He gives me to manage! He knows how much I screw that up so why do I try to plan the future when I can't even live in the moment successfully? It's the little things....
Surrendering my day and my dreams . . . being content with the pasture my Shepherd chooses and not concerned about the next pasture -- Chris, I appreciate your insights and your paraphrasing SO much!
And it all lead so wonderfully for me into Heb 11 -- the old faith chapter. I tried to look at the different kinds of faith that Paul (assuming he wrote Heb) looked at: Obedient faith (Abel) Consistent faith (Eoch), faith in the unthinkable (Noah), Faith in the unknown (Abraham), faith in miracles (Sarah), faith over relationship (Ab/Is), faith passed on (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph), faith in protection (Moses parents), faith over fame (Moses), faith in God's abilities (Jericho) faith in the chaotic (Rahab)
Faith when things go well, and when things don't -- even when things are unfair, or lead to death --
I like the characteristic that faith looks past the present (vs 10, 14, 27, 39)
Then in chpt 12 -- discipline is shown to be a positive way to live -- help me to accept discipline with Joy.
vs 12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weka knees -- Mark out a straight path (combine that with Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light . . . )
I appreciate the caution against bitterness in vs 15 - I think it's a pretty perfect analogy to compare bitterness with poison; interesting that poison often tastes bitter -- hmmm, guessing the poison is pride, the taste is bitterness, and we become like that taste.
25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the ONe who is speaking. Not only refuse to listen, but drown Him out with my own talking/thinking. Be still and know . . .
13:5 Be satisfied (thinking back to the pasture)
8 Christ is the same . . . the simplicity of the Story, and where our strength comes from (also echoed in vs 21)
I appreciated your categorizing the different types of faith. Good analogy on the poison/bitterness too. I see that so much in life & unfortunately, sometimes in me.
Finally made it to the end of Ps 119. Interesting theme I hadn't noticed before throughout this chapter was David pleading to be rescued, ransomed. I had thought the theme was the law & the many different ways David described it but over and over again he talks about rescue.
He asks for patience to wait to be rescued, not fight his way out himself. He cries out in desperation for rescue, as if God had forgotten about him. He pleads for rescue to be able to keep God's laws, he wants freedom of religion & conscience. Just hadn't noticed that before.
169 asks for the "discerning mind You promised". Nice. I so want to be discerning. Especially when to keep my mouth shut. That door just doesn't stay latched enough!
175 Let me live so I can praise You! My whole reason for living should be for God & Him alone. Yet I seek my own comfort & desires constantly.
The last verse ties into this where David says "I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me,for I have not forgotten your commands". I find it interesting that he says I've wandered, but haven't forgotten Your commands. The seed has been planted.
He also asks for God to come & find him. That's really interesting. If we get lost hiking, they say to just stay in one place, don't wander around because you can get lost worst. Wait for help to come. David does that here spiritually. He's waiting on God, he's not trying to work his way back to Him. Yet, that is what we tend to do spiritually. It's like we're trying to make it appear that we're not lost or need help & yet the very acts themselves show that we DO need help. We're so convoluted!
Wow -- great hiking illustration; that's really true in my life -- waiting on the Lord is important no matter where you are in the journey!
Deut 1-3; whew, done with Numbers! A-mazing that the Israelites wouldn't obey God to go in to Canaan, then when He told them to turn back -- they rebelled again and decided to go in. Moses and God MUST have been thinking; "you can't win with these people!"
1:2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel . . . but forty years . . .
I don't know if I'd have been patient with that time frame either; OK -- honestly, I wouldn't have been. 2 weeks stretching out to 40 years - - it was a level of trust I haven't been asked to walk yet, so listen up Linda - - God IS in control, even of your time frames.
Moses in 3:23 pleaded with the Lord - - he wanted to go in; this too is a level of trust I haven't been asked to walk yet. To work hard to accomplish a goal, then to be told - - stand back, encourage someone else to complete it. I guess David had that same experience in building the temple. Lesten up Linda -- let God call the shots in where you are to move, and where you are to encourage someone else to move.
OK -- so glad I went back and read last week's Tuesday!!
Sad that Asa had a weak ending, instead of listening to the correction of Hanani, he put him in jail and oppressed his people. Sad to think of a leader oppressing his people.
Glad we get a close look at Jehoshaphat; who also made mistakes and had to live with the consequences -- but really, what a wise leader. I love how he sent out the leaders, Levites and priests to teach people the law. Maybe that was the problem right there -- that people were just being swayed by the popular opinion instead of really learning truth (hmmmm -- sounds vaguely familiar)
As with the 2 previous years -- I'm floored that Jeho didn't see through Ahabs costume switch in the middle of battle.
19:4 Jeho went out among the people encouraging them to return to the Lord. He encouraged his judges to please the Lord with integrity -- such good good leadership.
20:12 God, won't you stop them? We are powerless . . . we do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. THAT had to be music to God's ears. I can just see Him rolling up the sleeves of His royal robe and saying, "Watch this!"
and a good thought for the day . . . Do not be afraid! Don't be discouraged by this mighty army for the battle is not yours, but God's.
Finally, I did some thinking about the Valley of Blessing. Usually, we think about our mountaintop blessings, but it's in the valley -- when we are helpless that God can work. If we give Him the credit, the praise, the worship -- if we, like Jeho fall on our face in awe and love; our valleys will be turned into blessings:)
oh I like that valley of blessing thought. It sorta ties in with Ps 121 today.
I can see David surrounded by mountains & writing this psalm. I know I feel safer in the mountains. I like the isolation from all the noise and rabble of the world. So maybe it's the tranquility I really enjoy. The beauty's a given!
David said, does my protection come from this ruggedness I'm surrounded by? It would take an effort to hunt him down, but Saul did. Even if Saul didn't satan did. Harassed him internally and via his men, always wanting war, internal bickering, etc. If satan can't get from outside, he'll switch to his "inside" voice.
I also was thinking of how we put up walls to protect ourselves & think we're finally safe from any hurt. But it just doesn't work & it's so frustrating! We try to drive deeper into the "wilderness" to isolate ourselves.
The nice thing is - we can't escape God. Like Ps 139 says, He's everywhere! He is the only Healer of our hurts & the only Protector of our souls.
121:3 says He will not let you stumble. But, He does let us choose to stumble. Choosing independence is choosing to stumble. Just like a child holding an adult's hand. We like to be independent and think we're strong. But I know personally speaking, I do more face plants when I walk hands free! Keep teaching me dependence on You Lord, thanks for always holding Your hand out to me to pick me up
Proverbs 31: Lem's mom seems to contrast the live-in girlfriend with the wife (vs 3 and vs 10-12) Sounds like she really wanted Lem to stick with a wife:)
Now backtracking to Psalms which I totally spaced on blogging yesterday! 120:7 I search for peace, but when I speak of peace, they want war! Thinking of David's life and his 23rd Psalm, yet his life from Goliath on was filled with fighting and war -- sounds like he got tired of the adrenaline rush of fighting.
Weren't pagan shrines typically up on hills or Mountains? 121: 1&2 a contrast to where one goes to find their help? BUT - I know I like to use this text of the power and strength of the mountains reminding me of God's power and strength.
Loved your stumble thought Chris with a child, then ext phrase I picture as a parent watching over a sick child in the middle of the night - -
vs 8 "The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go - - wondered if this could also mean when you're born and when you die - - he is with you from beginning to end, I like that thought. This am I was thinking of some of our older members who have quit coming - how easy it is to forget them when you don't see them, but God never forgets!
ps 23 again, sorry. I compared different versions today. Yesterday God kept telling me to be a sheep. My question was, should I say anything, stand up for myself, confront. And all I got was "be a sheep". Of course I can't see a sheep doing any of the things I wanted to do.
So I didn't do any of those things, I just festered....which is not a sheep either.
CEV says "...You refresh my life". I needed that today, to be refreshed. And He has.
CEB says "....He keeps me alive." That grates a bit. But I think it's because I've always asked God why am I still alive. Why won't you let me just die so I can rest & be at peace? I guess we have some more dialoging to do here, but I am beginning to understand a bit more.
I like the different ways throughout this psalm that David reminds himself (& me) that God is always with Him & he just needs to keep his head down & be in the meadow that God has placed him in at that moment. Be content that God has scouted out the next one & will move him (me) when it is time.
Man, God is just amazing! "Even when I walk through a valley filled with shadows..." The unknowns. That's what trips me up. I want to know it all. I want to know WHY - preferably NOW!
I've been reading now & then in a book called "Unglued - making wise choices in the midst of raw emotions" by Lysa Terkeurst. It directed me to James 3 & so that is what I am blogging on this a.m.
James 3 is about the tongue which, really, spews from the heart (Matt 12:34), which is deceitful & desperately wicked according to Jeremiah I believe. But I digress....sort of.
v13 "If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom." Which sent me on a quest to define humility.
One is submitting to God & legitimate authority, not putting myself down to get praise from others (false humility). Being content with my abilities, talents & authority so I'm not pining for things that are not within my reach.
Really applicable to me right now. I'm so grateful for the Truth of God's Word & His Faithfulness to always speak to my heart. Even when it hurts.
So Lord, as the song says, "even when it hurts...all just falls apart...You steady my heart, please steady my heart". And You are with me in the unknown shadows, I believe it. I don't have to know WHY, I just have to know YOU.
Sigh -- trying to pull wisdom from Nahum was hard today. It was God's warning to Ninevah. This was written later than Jonah, so apparently, their revival didn't stick from Jo's warning.
Maybe that's what I needed to hear, that revival is a daily turning:)
One verse that I thought you might enjoy along with me Chris is 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him.
Had some thoughts from Stephen's sermon: Abraham really had nothing that the world counted as important in his day; he had no land, was asked to leave the land of his relatives (there goes that inheritance) and no son -- yet he still clung to God and His promises -- well, and there were some God promises coming up that were not too sweet; as in your descendents would live in a foreign land for 400 years as slaves . . . so Abe wouldn't even get the benefit -- he was thinking of the descendents way down the line . . . hmmmm, kindof an unselfish way of looking at life.
Then there was Moses -- in verse 22 it says he was powerful in both speech and action . . . a different view of the Moses that said he was slow of speech.
I always thought Moses didn't want to go back to Egypt because he was afraid of pharough . . .but this am I had a different thought. in verse 25 Moses assumes that his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them (another topic about taking things in our own hands here) I wonder if what he was concerned about when asked to return to Egypt was facing the rejection of the Israelites, facing his failure when he thought it would be his big moment. vs 35 says God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected (doesn't mention mean Pharough at all -- simply mentions the rejecting situation)
Soooo -- does God every send me back to the place of my rejection? YES -- but He asks me to revisit it in His power -- not my own self-serving plans.
Well, then you get to vs 37 God will raise up for you a Prophet like me (Moses talking) and then I think of how our Lord was rejected by His fellow Israelites, and how in the garden he asked not to go there again, but God sent him there --
Moving on 7:54 The leaders were infuriatated by Stephen's accusation - but he gazed steadily into heaven, and God revealed His glory to Stephen. I need to keep looking up when the people around me are angry or unfair - keep looking up Linda.
Philip was amazing -- preached wherever he went; and could God ever use him! I think the reason God could use him as that he was not territorial - - I mean think about it, crowds listened to him, so Peter and Jon moved in and through their touch the Holy Spirit was given. No Phil could have said, "No way -- these are my peeps" But he didn't -- he just went on to Gaza, looking for the next person to help -- open to God's voice, and then preached in every town along the way to Caesarea! What a guy
By the way -- Philips heart is quite a comparison to Simon who believed, but his heart was not right. Peter said "I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin"
Man, we got some of the same thoughts of today's reading! I enjoyed reading about Joseph & Moses again because God brought these 2 to my mind today when He was talking to me about failure.
I read in The Voice version & I just love how the word rescue was used over and over again. It said God rescued Joseph from whatever trials befell him. God did it, not Joseph. I experienced God's rescue yesterday, I did nothing. And yet Joseph's trials taught him important lessons that aided him in the success God planned for him, the bigger picture. I don't know what my bigger pic is (don't think I want to either) but I do know, if the trial of this week hadn't happened, I wouldn't have learned what I did about myself. It was a useful trial that brought me closer to Jesus. And that was even before the "rescue"! Isn't God just amazing!!!?
Moses, the same thing. Trying to do it his way, the people didn't recognize him or what he represented (Voice version). What did he represent? Man's way of doing things, not God's. Pretty scary if that had worked I think. And I shudder at all my (known) attempts to do God's work my way. It is scary. Unfortunately, sometimes, people get hurt too. In Moses' case, he killed someone. He was a murderer and God still didn't give up on him. Still worked with his heart. Very encouraging. We don't think of Joseph as a failure or victim, we think of him as an overcomer, rescued by God for great things. We don't think of Moses as a murderer, we think of him leading people through the Red Sea, talking with God, dealing with a million complaining people. A meek man.
We don't think of Peter as a failure, we think of him as redeemed, reclaimed and changed by God. Why do we think God can't do the same with us? Why do we give up on ourselves so easily? And more importantly, why do we, why do I, give up on God?
I really like your comment of Phillip & the lack of competition between him, Peter & John. So nice to see that spirit. Working as a team. They all saw the bigger picture & they were not the centerpiece, God was. They were just trying to get as many people in the shot as they could. All for God, not for self.
Still trying to wrap up Ps 119. Just so many thoughts in here that speak to my heart & my need. I stopped at v 143-144 though & will share this thought.
ReplyDelete"As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. Your laws are always right; help me to understand them so I may live."
I want to find this joy & peace that Jesus alone can give & what He lived in His whole life down here. I know that can only come from spending time in His Presence, surrendering my day & my dreams to Him & His wisdom.
Which of course takes me back to Ps 23 & being content with what my Shepherd gives me each moment & not being concerned with the "next pasture" or the fear that I can think up. Just living moment by moment. Thankfully, that's all He gives me to manage! He knows how much I screw that up so why do I try to plan the future when I can't even live in the moment successfully? It's the little things....
Surrendering my day and my dreams . . . being content with the pasture my Shepherd chooses and not concerned about the next pasture -- Chris, I appreciate your insights and your paraphrasing SO much!
ReplyDeleteAnd it all lead so wonderfully for me into Heb 11 -- the old faith chapter. I tried to look at the different kinds of faith that Paul (assuming he wrote Heb) looked at: Obedient faith (Abel) Consistent faith (Eoch), faith in the unthinkable (Noah), Faith in the unknown (Abraham), faith in miracles (Sarah), faith over relationship (Ab/Is), faith passed on (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph), faith in protection (Moses parents), faith over fame (Moses), faith in God's abilities (Jericho) faith in the chaotic (Rahab)
Faith when things go well, and when things don't -- even when things are unfair, or lead to death --
I like the characteristic that faith looks past the present (vs 10, 14, 27, 39)
Then in chpt 12 -- discipline is shown to be a positive way to live -- help me to accept discipline with Joy.
vs 12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weka knees -- Mark out a straight path (combine that with Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light . . . )
I appreciate the caution against bitterness in vs 15 - I think it's a pretty perfect analogy to compare bitterness with poison; interesting that poison often tastes bitter -- hmmm, guessing the poison is pride, the taste is bitterness, and we become like that taste.
25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the ONe who is speaking. Not only refuse to listen, but drown Him out with my own talking/thinking. Be still and know . . .
13:5 Be satisfied (thinking back to the pasture)
8 Christ is the same . . . the simplicity of the Story, and where our strength comes from (also echoed in vs 21)
ALL GLORY TO HIM FOREVER AND EVER! AMEN!
I appreciated your categorizing the different types of faith. Good analogy on the poison/bitterness too. I see that so much in life & unfortunately, sometimes in me.
ReplyDeleteFinally made it to the end of Ps 119. Interesting theme I hadn't noticed before throughout this chapter was David pleading to be rescued, ransomed. I had thought the theme was the law & the many different ways David described it but over and over again he talks about rescue.
ReplyDeleteHe asks for patience to wait to be rescued, not fight his way out himself. He cries out in desperation for rescue, as if God had forgotten about him. He pleads for rescue to be able to keep God's laws, he wants freedom of religion & conscience. Just hadn't noticed that before.
169 asks for the "discerning mind You promised". Nice. I so want to be discerning. Especially when to keep my mouth shut. That door just doesn't stay latched enough!
175 Let me live so I can praise You! My whole reason for living should be for God & Him alone. Yet I seek my own comfort & desires constantly.
The last verse ties into this where David says "I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me,for I have not forgotten your commands". I find it interesting that he says I've wandered, but haven't forgotten Your commands. The seed has been planted.
He also asks for God to come & find him. That's really interesting. If we get lost hiking, they say to just stay in one place, don't wander around because you can get lost worst. Wait for help to come. David does that here spiritually. He's waiting on God, he's not trying to work his way back to Him. Yet, that is what we tend to do spiritually. It's like we're trying to make it appear that we're not lost or need help & yet the very acts themselves show that we DO need help. We're so convoluted!
Wow -- great hiking illustration; that's really true in my life -- waiting on the Lord is important no matter where you are in the journey!
ReplyDeleteDeut 1-3; whew, done with Numbers! A-mazing that the Israelites wouldn't obey God to go in to Canaan, then when He told them to turn back -- they rebelled again and decided to go in. Moses and God MUST have been thinking; "you can't win with these people!"
1:2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel . . . but forty years . . .
I don't know if I'd have been patient with that time frame either; OK -- honestly, I wouldn't have been. 2 weeks stretching out to 40 years - - it was a level of trust I haven't been asked to walk yet, so listen up Linda - - God IS in control, even of your time frames.
Moses in 3:23 pleaded with the Lord - - he wanted to go in; this too is a level of trust I haven't been asked to walk yet. To work hard to accomplish a goal, then to be told - - stand back, encourage someone else to complete it. I guess David had that same experience in building the temple. Lesten up Linda -- let God call the shots in where you are to move, and where you are to encourage someone else to move.
ooo ouch that's good! Slapping me up one side & down the other! LOL
ReplyDeleteOK -- so glad I went back and read last week's Tuesday!!
ReplyDeleteSad that Asa had a weak ending, instead of listening to the correction of Hanani, he put him in jail and oppressed his people. Sad to think of a leader oppressing his people.
Glad we get a close look at Jehoshaphat; who also made mistakes and had to live with the consequences -- but really, what a wise leader. I love how he sent out the leaders, Levites and priests to teach people the law. Maybe that was the problem right there -- that people were just being swayed by the popular opinion instead of really learning truth (hmmmm -- sounds vaguely familiar)
As with the 2 previous years -- I'm floored that Jeho didn't see through Ahabs costume switch in the middle of battle.
19:4 Jeho went out among the people encouraging them to return to the Lord. He encouraged his judges to please the Lord with integrity -- such good good leadership.
20:12 God, won't you stop them? We are powerless . . . we do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. THAT had to be music to God's ears. I can just see Him rolling up the sleeves of His royal robe and saying, "Watch this!"
and a good thought for the day . . . Do not be afraid! Don't be discouraged by this mighty army for the battle is not yours, but God's.
Finally, I did some thinking about the Valley of Blessing. Usually, we think about our mountaintop blessings, but it's in the valley -- when we are helpless that God can work. If we give Him the credit, the praise, the worship -- if we, like Jeho fall on our face in awe and love; our valleys will be turned into blessings:)
oh I like that valley of blessing thought. It sorta ties in with Ps 121 today.
ReplyDeleteI can see David surrounded by mountains & writing this psalm. I know I feel safer in the mountains. I like the isolation from all the noise and rabble of the world. So maybe it's the tranquility I really enjoy. The beauty's a given!
David said, does my protection come from this ruggedness I'm surrounded by? It would take an effort to hunt him down, but Saul did. Even if Saul didn't satan did. Harassed him internally and via his men, always wanting war, internal bickering, etc. If satan can't get from outside, he'll switch to his "inside" voice.
I also was thinking of how we put up walls to protect ourselves & think we're finally safe from any hurt. But it just doesn't work & it's so frustrating! We try to drive deeper into the "wilderness" to isolate ourselves.
The nice thing is - we can't escape God. Like Ps 139 says, He's everywhere! He is the only Healer of our hurts & the only Protector of our souls.
121:3 says He will not let you stumble. But, He does let us choose to stumble. Choosing independence is choosing to stumble. Just like a child holding an adult's hand. We like to be independent and think we're strong. But I know personally speaking, I do more face plants when I walk hands free! Keep teaching me dependence on You Lord, thanks for always holding Your hand out to me to pick me up
Proverbs 31: Lem's mom seems to contrast the live-in girlfriend with the wife (vs 3 and vs 10-12) Sounds like she really wanted Lem to stick with a wife:)
ReplyDeleteNow backtracking to Psalms which I totally spaced on blogging yesterday!
120:7 I search for peace, but when I speak of peace, they want war! Thinking of David's life and his 23rd Psalm, yet his life from Goliath on was filled with fighting and war -- sounds like he got tired of the adrenaline rush of fighting.
Weren't pagan shrines typically up on hills or Mountains? 121: 1&2 a contrast to where one goes to find their help? BUT - I know I like to use this text of the power and strength of the mountains reminding me of God's power and strength.
Loved your stumble thought Chris with a child, then ext phrase I picture as a parent watching over a sick child in the middle of the night - -
vs 8 "The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go - - wondered if this could also mean when you're born and when you die - - he is with you from beginning to end, I like that thought. This am I was thinking of some of our older members who have quit coming - how easy it is to forget them when you don't see them, but God never forgets!
ps 23 again, sorry. I compared different versions today. Yesterday God kept telling me to be a sheep. My question was, should I say anything, stand up for myself, confront. And all I got was "be a sheep". Of course I can't see a sheep doing any of the things I wanted to do.
ReplyDeleteSo I didn't do any of those things, I just festered....which is not a sheep either.
CEV says "...You refresh my life". I needed that today, to be refreshed. And He has.
CEB says "....He keeps me alive." That grates a bit. But I think it's because I've always asked God why am I still alive. Why won't you let me just die so I can rest & be at peace? I guess we have some more dialoging to do here, but I am beginning to understand a bit more.
I like the different ways throughout this psalm that David reminds himself (& me) that God is always with Him & he just needs to keep his head down & be in the meadow that God has placed him in at that moment. Be content that God has scouted out the next one & will move him (me) when it is time.
Live in the moment & live in His Presence.
Man, God is just amazing! "Even when I walk through a valley filled with shadows..." The unknowns. That's what trips me up. I want to know it all. I want to know WHY - preferably NOW!
ReplyDeleteI've been reading now & then in a book called "Unglued - making wise choices in the midst of raw emotions" by Lysa Terkeurst. It directed me to James 3 & so that is what I am blogging on this a.m.
James 3 is about the tongue which, really, spews from the heart (Matt 12:34), which is deceitful & desperately wicked according to Jeremiah I believe. But I digress....sort of.
v13 "If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom." Which sent me on a quest to define humility.
One is submitting to God & legitimate authority, not putting myself down to get praise from others (false humility). Being content with my abilities, talents & authority so I'm not pining for things that are not within my reach.
Really applicable to me right now. I'm so grateful for the Truth of God's Word & His Faithfulness to always speak to my heart. Even when it hurts.
So Lord, as the song says, "even when it hurts...all just falls apart...You steady my heart, please steady my heart". And You are with me in the unknown shadows, I believe it. I don't have to know WHY, I just have to know YOU.
Sigh -- trying to pull wisdom from Nahum was hard today. It was God's warning to Ninevah. This was written later than Jonah, so apparently, their revival didn't stick from Jo's warning.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's what I needed to hear, that revival is a daily turning:)
One verse that I thought you might enjoy along with me Chris is 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him.
Had some thoughts from Stephen's sermon: Abraham really had nothing that the world counted as important in his day; he had no land, was asked to leave the land of his relatives (there goes that inheritance) and no son -- yet he still clung to God and His promises -- well, and there were some God promises coming up that were not too sweet; as in your descendents would live in a foreign land for 400 years as slaves . . . so Abe wouldn't even get the benefit -- he was thinking of the descendents way down the line . . . hmmmm, kindof an unselfish way of looking at life.
ReplyDeleteThen there was Moses -- in verse 22 it says he was powerful in both speech and action . . . a different view of the Moses that said he was slow of speech.
I always thought Moses didn't want to go back to Egypt because he was afraid of pharough . . .but this am I had a different thought. in verse 25 Moses assumes that his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them (another topic about taking things in our own hands here) I wonder if what he was concerned about when asked to return to Egypt was facing the rejection of the Israelites, facing his failure when he thought it would be his big moment. vs 35 says God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected (doesn't mention mean Pharough at all -- simply mentions the rejecting situation)
Soooo -- does God every send me back to the place of my rejection? YES -- but He asks me to revisit it in His power -- not my own self-serving plans.
Well, then you get to vs 37 God will raise up for you a Prophet like me (Moses talking) and then I think of how our Lord was rejected by His fellow Israelites, and how in the garden he asked not to go there again, but God sent him there --
Moving on 7:54 The leaders were infuriatated by Stephen's accusation - but he gazed steadily into heaven, and God revealed His glory to Stephen. I need to keep looking up when the people around me are angry or unfair - keep looking up Linda.
Philip was amazing -- preached wherever he went; and could God ever use him! I think the reason God could use him as that he was not territorial - - I mean think about it, crowds listened to him, so Peter and Jon moved in and through their touch the Holy Spirit was given. No Phil could have said, "No way -- these are my peeps" But he didn't -- he just went on to Gaza, looking for the next person to help -- open to God's voice, and then preached in every town along the way to Caesarea! What a guy
By the way -- Philips heart is quite a comparison to Simon who believed, but his heart was not right. Peter said "I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin"
Man, we got some of the same thoughts of today's reading! I enjoyed reading about Joseph & Moses again because God brought these 2 to my mind today when He was talking to me about failure.
ReplyDeleteI read in The Voice version & I just love how the word rescue was used over and over again. It said God rescued Joseph from whatever trials befell him. God did it, not Joseph. I experienced God's rescue yesterday, I did nothing. And yet Joseph's trials taught him important lessons that aided him in the success God planned for him, the bigger picture. I don't know what my bigger pic is (don't think I want to either) but I do know, if the trial of this week hadn't happened, I wouldn't have learned what I did about myself. It was a useful trial that brought me closer to Jesus. And that was even before the "rescue"! Isn't God just amazing!!!?
Moses, the same thing. Trying to do it his way, the people didn't recognize him or what he represented (Voice version). What did he represent? Man's way of doing things, not God's. Pretty scary if that had worked I think. And I shudder at all my (known) attempts to do God's work my way. It is scary. Unfortunately, sometimes, people get hurt too. In Moses' case, he killed someone. He was a murderer and God still didn't give up on him. Still worked with his heart. Very encouraging.
We don't think of Joseph as a failure or victim, we think of him as an overcomer, rescued by God for great things. We don't think of Moses as a murderer, we think of him leading people through the Red Sea, talking with God, dealing with a million complaining people. A meek man.
We don't think of Peter as a failure, we think of him as redeemed, reclaimed and changed by God. Why do we think God can't do the same with us? Why do we give up on ourselves so easily? And more importantly, why do we, why do I, give up on God?
I really like your comment of Phillip & the lack of competition between him, Peter & John. So nice to see that spirit. Working as a team. They all saw the bigger picture & they were not the centerpiece, God was. They were just trying to get as many people in the shot as they could. All for God, not for self.