Monday, November 7, 2011

Nov 7-13

Monday: Joshua 16
Tuesday: 2 Chronicles 24
Wednesday: Psalm 17
Thursday: Isaiah 21
Friday: Amos 4
Saturday: John 5
Sunday: Ephesians 1

13 comments:

Chris said...

I'm guessing that dislodging the Canaanites may have been smarter than forcing them to work... but I could be wrong.

Still jazzed up from a couple of sermons this weekend. Pastor Darrel's continued to build on the one I heard by Andy Stanley, and both mentioned living under the hand of God's grace... how if God were to eradicate sin and suffering (like so many people beg him for), many people who might come to know him would not get that opportunity. How we as a people of God are the 'salt' that is preserving the lives of those not yet saved... in the same way Abraham pleaded for the lives of the righteous in Sodom and tried to turn away God's wrath, we are to be the salt of the earth, in effect, persuading God to slow His hand because of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit working in us where God has placed us. Hoo-boy- hopefully my meaning has not been lost in my morning thought-patterns. Happy November, everyone.

Unknown said...

great thoughts, Chris.

I got caught up in ruminations about "borders". Not sure where to start or stop talking about that, but basically thinking how God gives us a territory (like the talents in the parable) and if we don't recognize and apply "borders" to that, we can be spread all over to kingdom come and not watchful or dilligent within our own territory. Borders are important. It's hard to stay within the borders, it's easy to get distracted, chasing after new horizons. I want to take hold and rule my territory well and that takes determination and discipline to stay put and keep my hand to the plow.

Chris said...

Joash was quite the guy! Imagine growing up knowing you were being hidden in order to bring restoration to a nation... to start out with. As soon as Jehoida died, it was as if Joash felt he was granted permission to do whatever he wanted... no one to tsk-tsk over his shoulder as he made decisions.

What kind of decisions do I make when no one else is around... do I serve myself and feel entitled to it? Eeps. Sometimes. The Holy Spirit doesn't nap, I don't escape His presence... God has left a part of Himself with us to encourage, teach and chastise, and I will do well to remember that.

I felt ill reading what Joash did to Zechariah, the son of Jehoida... after doing so much good rebuilding the temple, Joash goes on a rampage, ending in his own death.

Unknown said...

2 Chronicles 24:2 Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive.

this part about "as long as Jehoiada was alive" struck me. Jehoiada mentored/counseled/discipled Joash while he lived, and influenced him to live rightly. But it appears Joash never took ownership for right living because his right living lasted only as long as Jehoiada's influence in his life.

I've been thinking about my kids lately. I don't want them to do what's right just because I am watching/instructing them to do so. I want their choices to be personal and I want their experience to breed desire to walk in righteousness because it results in Holy Spirit blessed peace and joy. I don't want to enable them, I want to empower them to taste and see that the Lord is good, so that when I am gone, they will keep going strong, because they desire Him and His ways more than they desire selfish gratification.

Unknown said...

>>do I serve myself and feel entitled to it? <<

I've been thinking about this lately, too. Not so much personally but looking at my kids. I think I have unconsciously bred a spirit of entitlement in them. Wanting them to be happier than I was a child I have bred an attitude of "I deserve to be happy" and if they are NOT happy, someone is to blame and they don't like it. I never realized until yesterday (reading your book, have a new kid by Friday) that this is a worldly philosophy, this idea of "I deserve to be happy". I mean, I would have seen it looking at adults, but I didn't see that I was raising my kids to feel that way just because I so desperately want them to be happy. But happiness does not come from fostering an attitude of entitlement, on the contrary, that kind of attitude will inevitably lead to continual feelings of unfulfillment and disappointment, because hey, let's face it, life isn't fair.

Unknown said...

Psalm 17 This is continuing to build on the theme that God has been revealing to me this week through my ladies bible study and my club lesson. Crying out to God in prayer and then seeing HOW he responds. God always responds, so we should never waiver in faith that God hears and moves. It's how He may choose to move that sometimes throws us for a loop. David here is asking for deliverance from his enemies. The lesson that I have been learning is that God always delivers. Sometimes OUT of the fire, sometimes THROUGH the fire, and sometimes BY the fire. This means He might remove our circumstances and thus strengthen our faith, accompany us THROUGH our circumstances like the fourth man in the fiery furnace, this refines or purifies our faith. Or deliver us BY our circumstances into His arms. Like Jesus in Gethsemane whose request to have the cup taken was denied. This kind of answer perfects our faith.

Mac an Rothaich said...

Psalms 17

The last verse has me thinking. It moved me and not totally sure why. I am assuming it has to do with great thankfulness in being in the Lord each new day.

Such a passionate cry out to the Lord!

Unknown said...

And he [the watchman] tells [what it foretells]: Babylon has fallen, has fallen! And all the graven images of her gods lie shattered on the ground [in my vision]! v9 amplified

Babylon is the theme for me this month. The 50 foot statues that we ressurect to make ourselves feel successful and important in life. The attitude of "I am and beside me there is no other", the spirit of surrounding ourselves with idols and indulgences that take the place of God in our life. It's so hard for us to see them as gods with little g's, but my oh my, that is what they are. What we give our time to, our money to, our energy to. One day all those things will lay shattered in front of us, or burned in the fire when we pass through it to stand before our maker. What I want is more of Him, what I want is to let go of all pretense that other people, other things can bring me joy or deserve my worship. I want eyes to see the idols in my life and the determination to smash them and leave them behind long before that moment so that when I stand before him my life won't be a pile of straw that goes up in flames before His refining fire.

Annette said...

Isaiah 21:11,12 A voice calls to me from the Seir mountains in Edom,"Night watchman! How long till daybreak? How long will this night last? "The night watchman calls back, "Morning's coming, But for now it's still night.

Sometimes when going through a difficult situation I wonder how long until daybreak? Today this spoke to me. Morning IS coming, BUT FOR NOW it is still night. Thank you for the hope of morning!

Unknown said...

i'm so glad you shared that, Annette! It gave me goosebumps. "Morning is coming!"

Unknown said...

"but still you did not come back to me." this phrase continued to leap out at me every time it was repeated. It resonated with me because I have been considering how God allows us to suffer and be stripped bare of the things we value in order that we might recognize His desire to be first and only in our lives. To throw ourselves upon Him and realize that "yes, Lord, I want/need you, first and only. empty cisterns do not satisfy, fill me Lord.

Unknown said...

I don't try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me. John 5:30b

v 44 You try to get praise from each other, but you do not try to get the praise that comes from the only God.

the first one is what SHOULD motivate us, the second is so often what does. What a mess we make of things.

Unknown said...

Ephesians 1:19 And you will know that God's power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength20 God used to raise Christ from the dead...

I needed this word this morning. I feel webs of depression pressing in on me and am on edge constantly worrying if they will envelope me and debilitate me. The God who raised Christ from the grave can raise me from the darkness in my head and heart.