Friday, December 21, 2012
Mysterious Blessings
I was just thinking of the mysterious ways in which the Lord blesses us. We nev know what person or path might be a positive step. . We never know exactly where or what will cause us to take The path mandated by the Lord. I think it wise to always be open and aware of the world around us. Any event or person can cause us to turn a corner that leads to walking in His will.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Day 5
Obadiah 1:1-21
This is another prophecy by which the people of Edom learning of their coming destruction for the cruelty they have visited upon Israel. This is also one of those passages that I feel hold warnings for us all. It also presents a interesting question for me. Is it ok to interpret something that is historical in a personal way? Should I take the warnings for Edom as warnings for my self and others? Is it irresponsible to take lessons from certain verses and re-apply them to your life in
a different manner?
Revelation 4:1-11
This Passage is reminder of the importance of worship and the ultimate truth that worship is for God and not us. Yes, worship can lift us and build us up, but, as I've come to realize it's an act meant to show our devotion and love. Ultimately, we worship so that we can express the inexpressible gratitude and amazement we should feel in the Lord' s presence. Soon we won't have to worry about anything other than that.
Psalm 132: 1-22
This acts as a reminder that God will never leave Israel. It's very sobering.
Proverbs 29:24-25
The fear of man is a trap. I don't know how I can add to that. It's a truth that holds much freedom. It's a truth that is freeing. It's freeing because there is nothing to fear any more. Man can hurt you, but he cannot completely destroy you.
We need eternal life for Heaven.
We need abundant life for now.
I gleaned this from a sermon by Jeff Schreve and it fits this Proverb.
This is another prophecy by which the people of Edom learning of their coming destruction for the cruelty they have visited upon Israel. This is also one of those passages that I feel hold warnings for us all. It also presents a interesting question for me. Is it ok to interpret something that is historical in a personal way? Should I take the warnings for Edom as warnings for my self and others? Is it irresponsible to take lessons from certain verses and re-apply them to your life in
a different manner?
Revelation 4:1-11
This Passage is reminder of the importance of worship and the ultimate truth that worship is for God and not us. Yes, worship can lift us and build us up, but, as I've come to realize it's an act meant to show our devotion and love. Ultimately, we worship so that we can express the inexpressible gratitude and amazement we should feel in the Lord' s presence. Soon we won't have to worry about anything other than that.
Psalm 132: 1-22
This acts as a reminder that God will never leave Israel. It's very sobering.
Proverbs 29:24-25
The fear of man is a trap. I don't know how I can add to that. It's a truth that holds much freedom. It's a truth that is freeing. It's freeing because there is nothing to fear any more. Man can hurt you, but he cannot completely destroy you.
We need eternal life for Heaven.
We need abundant life for now.
I gleaned this from a sermon by Jeff Schreve and it fits this Proverb.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Day 3
Amos 7:1-9:15
This was my first trip through Amos and I am glad that I started here because it is a reminder of all of the beautiful mysteries God has in His Kingdom. Every time you think you've seen it all there is a surprise that pops out and greets you with new knowledge or understanding. The prophecy continues and Amos continues even under danger to his life. It's harsh much like what we all must endure, but it ends with a glimpse of the sweetness to follow. Ultimately, that is one of the truths of God's Word. Yes, we will suffer and be tested, but the reward of being in His presence awaits us at the end of it all. A man much wiser than I once said that God promises His people that if it isn't right, it isn't over. There is great comfort in that thought.
Revelations 3:7-22
The message to the Church in Philadelphia is reassuring as some as the following one is frightening. Here is God's plan and desire for us in a nutshell. Here is what he will do if we are obedient. The next message reminds us that apathy or sluggishness in response to His will is as bad as outright enmity.
Psalm 131:1-3
I have decided to try and pray the last line of this Psalm selection to see if it helps focus me. "O, Israel, put your hope in the Lord-now and always." I plan on replacing "Israel" with my name and I want it to be earnest and for Him. I also want to remind myself of where I need to build my house and my future. Beauty for ashes.
Proverbs 29:23
This reminder that pride brings about a fall is an obvious one, but one that we forget. More sinister we are often taught that pride is an admirable thing to possess. I know I've been poisoned by that very thing at various stages in my life. Including this one.
This was my first trip through Amos and I am glad that I started here because it is a reminder of all of the beautiful mysteries God has in His Kingdom. Every time you think you've seen it all there is a surprise that pops out and greets you with new knowledge or understanding. The prophecy continues and Amos continues even under danger to his life. It's harsh much like what we all must endure, but it ends with a glimpse of the sweetness to follow. Ultimately, that is one of the truths of God's Word. Yes, we will suffer and be tested, but the reward of being in His presence awaits us at the end of it all. A man much wiser than I once said that God promises His people that if it isn't right, it isn't over. There is great comfort in that thought.
Revelations 3:7-22
The message to the Church in Philadelphia is reassuring as some as the following one is frightening. Here is God's plan and desire for us in a nutshell. Here is what he will do if we are obedient. The next message reminds us that apathy or sluggishness in response to His will is as bad as outright enmity.
Psalm 131:1-3
I have decided to try and pray the last line of this Psalm selection to see if it helps focus me. "O, Israel, put your hope in the Lord-now and always." I plan on replacing "Israel" with my name and I want it to be earnest and for Him. I also want to remind myself of where I need to build my house and my future. Beauty for ashes.
Proverbs 29:23
This reminder that pride brings about a fall is an obvious one, but one that we forget. More sinister we are often taught that pride is an admirable thing to possess. I know I've been poisoned by that very thing at various stages in my life. Including this one.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Day 2
December 11, 2012
Amos 4:1-6:14
This section is a strong rebuke of not just sin but complacency. I see many of the admonitions not being out of place being directed at modern Christians. The language includes referring to people as cows and deriding the luxury that the people enjoy as well as the time in the wilderness spent sacrificing to Pagan gods. Although it is meant for Israel, I feel it aimed at me and my heart and my desire for comfort and the easy life over true sacrifice. Ultimately, as a 21st century American, I know that sacrifice is frightening and that it actually costs something and that is a discomfiting thought. However, as a believer, a role that I hope supersedes everything else, I know that failure to yield and change course is much less desirable. This strong stern passage also contains a beautiful reminder of Grace.
"Come back to me and live", the Lord says in 5:2. Maybe that's the part that really speaks to me right now. Like everyone else, I've spent too much time wandering, wandering in search of something when He was there all along. Whatever stuff I attempt to stuff into my life, it will always go sour or feel empty. Relationships. Material goods. Success. I've had these things and they don't always last. I know this is cliche, but , perhaps, it's more important for me to articulate these thoughts than it is to be original. Life is full of richness that is an inch deep without my Father's hand guiding me. It has occurred to me how silly and futile much of my life must appear to Him. My anger and desperation at various times must seem like so much dumb show, but the miracle is that He loves me with all of my Keystone Kop-ery. All of my wheel spinning is another opportunity for me to come home to my true Father and treat Him with the respect he truly deserves.
"Come back to me and live" is my verse that I take away from this passage today because it is the one that refocuses what a glorious Father I have and how I have taken him grossly for granted. Dave Ramsey once said, referring to people with money problems and prayer, "Your Dad is rich and he's crazy about you. Call home." The idea that his love for me is like that weakens my knees and makes me want to live better than I have ever desired to in my life.
Revelation 2:18-3:6
This is a reminder to wake up and live intentionally. I have for years lived as one who sleeps. That's a pretty clunky way to put it, but it is so apt. I feel like I squandered a portion of my life on things that don't and never did matter. In truth, I should regret much of this and I do. However, the version of me that would bemoan that lost time has no place in my life now. My life now has to be focused on as someone once put it my "daily bread". I have to focused on the job at hand for my Lord. I have no idea what that job is, but I am seeking it. Sometimes more fervently than others. I also cannot spend my time looking back at what is dead and gone.
Psalm 130:1-8
To say that I love a Psalm seems like saying I like air. It's a statement that should be understood by anyone who truly has read the Word. I feel like I am coming at these fresh and so, if I have a child's joy at the obvious, forgive me. This is about putting hope in the Lord. I love the line about longing for Him as a sentry longs for dawn because it encapsulates the weariness everyone feels in their life. The bone-weariness we get from life that can only be cured by our Father.
Proverbs 29:21-22
A very true Proverb about the dangers of letting your temper own you. The slavery of anger, hate and fear is an all encompassing one.
Amos 4:1-6:14
This section is a strong rebuke of not just sin but complacency. I see many of the admonitions not being out of place being directed at modern Christians. The language includes referring to people as cows and deriding the luxury that the people enjoy as well as the time in the wilderness spent sacrificing to Pagan gods. Although it is meant for Israel, I feel it aimed at me and my heart and my desire for comfort and the easy life over true sacrifice. Ultimately, as a 21st century American, I know that sacrifice is frightening and that it actually costs something and that is a discomfiting thought. However, as a believer, a role that I hope supersedes everything else, I know that failure to yield and change course is much less desirable. This strong stern passage also contains a beautiful reminder of Grace.
"Come back to me and live", the Lord says in 5:2. Maybe that's the part that really speaks to me right now. Like everyone else, I've spent too much time wandering, wandering in search of something when He was there all along. Whatever stuff I attempt to stuff into my life, it will always go sour or feel empty. Relationships. Material goods. Success. I've had these things and they don't always last. I know this is cliche, but , perhaps, it's more important for me to articulate these thoughts than it is to be original. Life is full of richness that is an inch deep without my Father's hand guiding me. It has occurred to me how silly and futile much of my life must appear to Him. My anger and desperation at various times must seem like so much dumb show, but the miracle is that He loves me with all of my Keystone Kop-ery. All of my wheel spinning is another opportunity for me to come home to my true Father and treat Him with the respect he truly deserves.
"Come back to me and live" is my verse that I take away from this passage today because it is the one that refocuses what a glorious Father I have and how I have taken him grossly for granted. Dave Ramsey once said, referring to people with money problems and prayer, "Your Dad is rich and he's crazy about you. Call home." The idea that his love for me is like that weakens my knees and makes me want to live better than I have ever desired to in my life.
Revelation 2:18-3:6
This is a reminder to wake up and live intentionally. I have for years lived as one who sleeps. That's a pretty clunky way to put it, but it is so apt. I feel like I squandered a portion of my life on things that don't and never did matter. In truth, I should regret much of this and I do. However, the version of me that would bemoan that lost time has no place in my life now. My life now has to be focused on as someone once put it my "daily bread". I have to focused on the job at hand for my Lord. I have no idea what that job is, but I am seeking it. Sometimes more fervently than others. I also cannot spend my time looking back at what is dead and gone.
Psalm 130:1-8
To say that I love a Psalm seems like saying I like air. It's a statement that should be understood by anyone who truly has read the Word. I feel like I am coming at these fresh and so, if I have a child's joy at the obvious, forgive me. This is about putting hope in the Lord. I love the line about longing for Him as a sentry longs for dawn because it encapsulates the weariness everyone feels in their life. The bone-weariness we get from life that can only be cured by our Father.
Proverbs 29:21-22
A very true Proverb about the dangers of letting your temper own you. The slavery of anger, hate and fear is an all encompassing one.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Restless
I woke up this morning with the chorus of the song that I assume is called "Restless" in my head. The refrain, as far as I know, goes " I am restless/ I am restless/ Waiting for you." No big deal, right? I cannot tell you who the artist is or if I have the title and lyrics right, but that is what I heard over and over. Sometimes when I wake up and I have songs with a spiritual bent in my head, I wonder if it is a divine thing. I wonder this because that was not an occurence that normally happened. Before I started seeking God, it might never happen unless I was listening to a Christian station or I had left church. I am wary about ascribing His hand in things that could easily just be my mind and thoughts.
I suppose this is where discernment comes in and I have prayed for it, but, perhaps, not earnestly enough. I want to know His will, and I want His will to be my will. Paradoxically, I don't want my will to masquerade as His will because that is something that will be doomed for failure right from the start.
I'm not sure why the song that might be titled"Restless" popped into my head this morning. Perhaps, it's as a good friend and I discussed the other evening, we are all longing for home and we know that it isn't here. In fact, we know that basically everything on this plane will dissapoint us and that the material things will ultimately leave us empty and cold. If true, everlasting fulfillment could be found here, why would we seek Heaven?
I suppose this is where discernment comes in and I have prayed for it, but, perhaps, not earnestly enough. I want to know His will, and I want His will to be my will. Paradoxically, I don't want my will to masquerade as His will because that is something that will be doomed for failure right from the start.
I'm not sure why the song that might be titled"Restless" popped into my head this morning. Perhaps, it's as a good friend and I discussed the other evening, we are all longing for home and we know that it isn't here. In fact, we know that basically everything on this plane will dissapoint us and that the material things will ultimately leave us empty and cold. If true, everlasting fulfillment could be found here, why would we seek Heaven?
Monday, December 10, 2012
Day 1
Amos 1:1-3:15
This passage deals with the Lord's judgement on various people. It's primarily the prophecy given to Amos. Interestingly, after naming the various groups he will punish for their cruelty or animosity toward Israel, it shifts to include Judah and Israel. The tone feels different. It is more of a father who knows he must discipline a beloved child. The language of the text explicitly states that Israel and the Lord are close. He also points out that the Israelites have seen his wrath and yet they still act as they do. Of course, this feels like baffling behavior to some one sitting at a dining room table, comfortably reading this passage. Of course, I shake my head at the behavior of the Lord's beloved because it's easy for me to tsk tsk their behavior. It's easy because I'm as blind as any one else to my faults and failures and I like to tell myself that I would never do what they have done after receiving such a magnanimous gift from the Lord. Of course, I have. Of course, I have thrown His gift in His face many times. It's in my nature to do it. I view myself as an ungrateful child who must grow up and truly appreciate the sacrifices made by a loving parent and appreciate the bounty prepared for him.
Revelations 2:1-17
On this reading, my take-away is simply that believers must endure and that will be rewarded. It's also apparent in the message to Smyrna that we must always remember hat because we are doing well by the terms of this earth it doesn't mean that we are meeting the standard we need to for our true home.
Psalm 129:1-8
This is a song about persecution and overcoming it through the Lord. However, I wonder if sometimes persecution is the wrong way to look at it. I wonder if it isn't simply atest of truly what you believe. Ultimately, if we believe what the Bible tells us, this earth is just a way-station as we await our journey to our true home.
Proverbs 29:19-20
This is a reminder to think before you speak and to apply instruction. Both of this are apt lessons for me personally.
This passage deals with the Lord's judgement on various people. It's primarily the prophecy given to Amos. Interestingly, after naming the various groups he will punish for their cruelty or animosity toward Israel, it shifts to include Judah and Israel. The tone feels different. It is more of a father who knows he must discipline a beloved child. The language of the text explicitly states that Israel and the Lord are close. He also points out that the Israelites have seen his wrath and yet they still act as they do. Of course, this feels like baffling behavior to some one sitting at a dining room table, comfortably reading this passage. Of course, I shake my head at the behavior of the Lord's beloved because it's easy for me to tsk tsk their behavior. It's easy because I'm as blind as any one else to my faults and failures and I like to tell myself that I would never do what they have done after receiving such a magnanimous gift from the Lord. Of course, I have. Of course, I have thrown His gift in His face many times. It's in my nature to do it. I view myself as an ungrateful child who must grow up and truly appreciate the sacrifices made by a loving parent and appreciate the bounty prepared for him.
Revelations 2:1-17
On this reading, my take-away is simply that believers must endure and that will be rewarded. It's also apparent in the message to Smyrna that we must always remember hat because we are doing well by the terms of this earth it doesn't mean that we are meeting the standard we need to for our true home.
Psalm 129:1-8
This is a song about persecution and overcoming it through the Lord. However, I wonder if sometimes persecution is the wrong way to look at it. I wonder if it isn't simply atest of truly what you believe. Ultimately, if we believe what the Bible tells us, this earth is just a way-station as we await our journey to our true home.
Proverbs 29:19-20
This is a reminder to think before you speak and to apply instruction. Both of this are apt lessons for me personally.
Opening Volley
This is the first post in what I hope is a year long odyssey through the Bible. I've tried several times before and failed. Life would get in the way. Actually, I would let it or command it to get in the way. The danger of having faith and of believing in such a world and nation such as ours is that it is extremely easy to be lukewarm. We all know what happens to the water that is neither hot nor cold, right?
Events have caused me to see that I'm either a servant of the Cross or I'm an opponent of the Cross. My faith does no good if it is a dusty artifact on a shelf or a pristine Bible with an undistressed spine. If it is not alive and vital then I am not truly doing my part. If I am not actively engaged and seeking God; then, I am not serving Him. The truth is that I feel like the majority of my adult life was spent in pursuit of the inconsequential. I'm maintaining this as a way to keep myself honest.
Events have caused me to see that I'm either a servant of the Cross or I'm an opponent of the Cross. My faith does no good if it is a dusty artifact on a shelf or a pristine Bible with an undistressed spine. If it is not alive and vital then I am not truly doing my part. If I am not actively engaged and seeking God; then, I am not serving Him. The truth is that I feel like the majority of my adult life was spent in pursuit of the inconsequential. I'm maintaining this as a way to keep myself honest.
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