Monday, September 5, 2011

Sep 5th-11th

Monday: Joshua 7
Tuesday: 2 Chronicles 14
Wednesday: Psalm 8
Thursday: Isaisah 12
Friday: Hosea 12
Saturday: Luke 20
Sunday: 2 Corinthians 11

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Joshua 7:1 "But the Israelites did not obey the Lord."

v 11 "that is why they cannot face their enemies, they turn away from the fight and run..."

Obedience. The essence of "feeling" right with God and being able to rest in the fact that He has got our back whatever comes our way. If we are not walking in His will we know we have taken our own path and subconsciously quake at what we will meet up with on the trail.

Chris said...

I love the way Asa came in and destroyed everything in opposition to God's laws as soon as he came in to power. SHAZAAM! And how God blessed him for his deliberate actions with peace in the land. INCREDIBLE.

Unknown said...

2 Chronicles 14:5 ....so the kingdom had peace. Obedience results in peace. Even if sometimes it is only an inner peace, but really, what greater peace could we desire?

Opposite of obedience? At the heart of the matter, disobedience is rebellion. As such it means one is choosing to make oneself Lord of their own life, which is I suppose a form of idolatry.

Peace like a river, I like that picture. It came up at camp this summer. It's not peace like a pond, just gentle and still, but peace like a RIVER, that rushes, that has power to push away anxiety and fear and discontent in the power of its current. Love it.

Unknown said...

:) didn't see your comment before I posted. I concur :)

Chris said...

I'm going to think about that 'river' comment- very cool.

Chris said...

Not sure what vs 2 is getting at- the because of your enemies bit- but I KNOW that I have a yearning to just sit under the stars and be amazed with God... somehow I never seem to do that, and yet they're available nearly every. single. day. Hopefully soon. The stars seem to bring God's majesty much closer.

Unknown said...

I love this Psalm!

The amazing power of God's name. It has the power to make His enemies flee, to empower the struggling believer, to cause the heart to rejoice and the spirit to soar. I love your name, Lord.

"You have taught children and babies to sing praises to you..."

This verse always makes me smile. I love the way little kids make up praise songs to Jesus and belt them out at the top of their lungs. When Elle was little (3 maybe) we were sitting in the doc's office one afternoon and she was playing in the middle of the floor with some toys and making up a song about how Jesus loves all the people in the world, red and yellow black and white, and one day he was going to come back from heaven to get all the people who love him, and you better love him because if you don't you will go to hell." Oh dear. You could see the magazines go up in front of people's faces to hide their smiles (at least no one seemed offended! that could have been awkward)

from the mouths of babes. gotta love it.

Even now I will be surprised to hear the girls singing hymns while they are washing dishes. Choruses I get, but remembering the words to the verses of "Ancient Words" always gets me teary eyed and blesses me. They love that song and I love that they love it.

Last thought, the honor that God has given us. To make us co-heirs with Christ and given us the role of ruling in the heavenlies. This is such a privelege and honor, we have been created to reign with Christ. Favorite and most life changing read of my entire life was "Destined to the Throne." Changed the way I live more than any other book. We are partners with Christ, working to bring about God's will on earth. WOW.

Denise said...

Psalm 8
Wow, I was just thinking about how great our God is and how I needed to read my Bible today. And Psalm 8 totally reflected my feelings of amazement and admiration! Love it! Like my bible notes for this one too:

"When we look at the vast expanse of creation, we wonder how God could be concerned for people who constantly disappoint him. Yet God created us only a little lower than himself and the angels! The next time you question your worth as a person, remember that God considers you highly valuable. We have great worth because we bear the stamp of the Creator. Because God has already declared how valuable we are to him, we can be set free from feelings of worthlessness."

Unknown said...

I did a couple of word studies this morning.

"praise" yadah; literally to use (that is, hold out) the hand; especially to revere or worship (with extended hands);

just a few weeks ago I was wondering where the custom of raising hands in worship came from. Now I know!

I also looked up cry out (tsahal) and shout (ranan)and both meanings are steeped in the expression of great joy.

Count it all joy! That's my recent motto for my days.

Unknown said...

Hosea 12:1 "What Israel does is as useless as chasing the wind; he chases the east wind all day."

I sometimes feel like life is like this. When I think of how different our life could be if my kids went to school and I went to work to make more money so we could afford more things, it would be remarkably different. But I feel it would be a chasing. A striving. After what? Money? For what? Things? Trips? To make memories and buy my kids ds's and whatever the latest thing to have is?

But the reality is it's all wind. The memories are made daily here on our porch swing with a good book and a glass of homemade crab apple slush. I don't need to look anywhere else or for anything else besides the good Lord and my good home and these good gifts that surround me daily, recognizing they are from his hand because this is the stuff real memories are made of. If I just have the eyes to see.

It's a discipline, to not chase after the wind. One I have been letting slip lately. I need to get back to a clarity of vision and purpose and a contentment in being rooted and setting the example for my kids how "godliness with contentment is great gain" 1 tim 6:6 plays out in the every day.

I also like the reference to Jacob wrestling with God. How it didn't offend God. How God would rather have us duke it out with him, be real, and even aggressive, than just give him the cold shoulder and go our own way. I am thankful to know that I can approach Him however I am feeling and be real with Him and trust Him to not be condescending and aloof with me in my less than stellar moments. What a great example to me as a parent, of the kind of attitude I should take with my kids.

Unknown said...

I thought about a conversation I had earlier this week when I read the first part of this chapter. The severity of the sentence "He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers."

I think the end point is that justice is severe. You either accept mercy (Christ) or reject mercy and choose justice. Justice, in this case, is death (for the wages of sin is death).

Sometimes I think people look at the "justice" aspect of God and don't see it as that. They see it as unfair, as unforgiving, as unmerciful.... but the truth is, it wouldn't be JUST any other way.

He is just and merciful. But the mercy of life everlasting is extended to those who receive it, not to those who reject it.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live"

Deuteronomy 30:19

Unknown said...

2 cor 11, I love the sarcasm and wit in this chapter :)

there are a couple of things that stood out to me here, but the one that touched my heart the most was probably verses 28-29

"Besides all this, thee is on me every day the load of my concern for all the churches. I feel weak every time someone is weak, and I feel upset every time someone is led into sin."

This is the burden of an intercessor. When God's spirit is in you and moves you to pray and love and fight for another, you take on the weight that they are carrying. You "share" it with them. I experience this more and more as I am growing and while it is a heaviness and a burden, it is all at once a privilege and a blessing. It demonstrates a new level of communion with God that I have never experienced before. One where it is not all about me, but about what God is doing, the battles He is fighting and the ways He is inviting me to participate with Him. Prayer is partnering with God. It takes me outside of myself and my own petty little idiosyncrasies. It opens up a world of mission and purpose for me as a child of God's family, a workman equipped and commissioned.