I'm not exactly old yet nor wise. Though I do know that if all I strive for is from my own two hands ... it is worthless. My life can be taken from me by anyone who wishes it. All that I own can be taken as well. Family, children, money, possessions, everything WILL be lost in time. We may imagine that we could fight to keep it. But, it all will taken away from you.
In your life there is only one constant. God.
If He blesses you with a moment of happiness. Be happy in it. If you need to morn. Morn. Turn to God and deal with what is placed before you.
As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
We may like to point out that today we can count the stars. We can measure the sands of the seas. We are so smart. And all the Bible stuff is just old stuff that came before man got really smart.
But, from the beginning of time until the end of everything, we will never know the way the spirit comes to the child within the mother. Never.
... when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.
I find that after I wake up from a nightmare it is a good time to think about God. I sit quietly and listen to my wife breathe. And then get up and listen to the kids. Maybe poke them a bit if they are too quiet and I really need to make sure everyone is OK.
My heart is still racing and I can't get the images out of my head.
It is a good time to think about God and his creation. About the blessings of our lives and all that He has done for us.
Where is nothing more humbling then to really know how small I am among God's deeds. We run to the basement during a tornado and can only hope that it will pass us by. And then a line of storms, longer than the length of the land promised to Israel, passes over us. Many times a year we experience that.
We may imagine ourselves to be in control of our lives. But, it is an illusion that only comes upon us during the times of ease. When hard times come we are reminded of just how awesome God is.
And now the LORD answers Job. Eventually God told Job all that happened from the beginning of this story. Or we obviously wouldn't have the first few chapters.
But for now what answer does Job get? ... "I'm God. Period."
It all really boils down to that essence of truth. We are dealing with I AM. Hold up your hand and look at it. The details of all that you see. Everything you have ever done. Holding your children. Striking in anger. All that you are. Only by the will of God are you here. With a simple breath and desire it could all be gone. And by His amazing love our soul will continue for eternity.
No matter the situation you find yourself in ... remember. Remember the love of a Dad who takes the punishment deserved by you. Remember the love of a Dad who, through His infinite will, sustains your life and your eternal soul. Our LORD is the great I AM.
Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.
I used to struggle with the above. I used to think that I would be praying AGAINST someone with those words. But, being a Dad I now understand the idea of consequences.
Many people will not change unless they are humbled. I've mentioned before about needing to soften our hearts. And I can think of two ways ... We try to tenderize our own hearts or God will tenderize our hearts with adversity.
They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
This is an invitation to judge me.
Never read or listen to anything without examination when someone is speaking about the LORD. God wants a personal relationship with you so don't allow someone to stand in between you and Him. I don't believe in a holy interpreter. I believe in the LORD.
So many came before me that had a greater relationship with God than I. Yet I will weight their words and actions against the Word and against what I know to be true about God. I say to do this because I am a man. And I know my heart. They were men as well who had the same heart of flesh. Even Peter was corrected by Paul.
When I was a kid I dreamed of being a super hero. Saving the day and all that. You faced villains and still came out on top. Or maybe the heroic death that everyone remembers.
One part of that dream was that it never dealt with the personal pains and sacrifices that the real living breathing hero lives with. The loss of a father to war. The police office having to deal daily with the worst emotional traumas of humanity. Cleaning up the bodies of a mother and child after the drunk driver ran them down.
Getting a double portion from God means that you will be on the front lines. To those that God gives much ... much is required.
Pray that we may be people that God requires much of.
... the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around ...
Sometimes is takes a little perspective. The mountains in our lives can be daunting. You look up and never expect to conquer them. You feel the weight of your sins in life. You see the difficulty of raising a family in a world that is set against God. You can taste the hate rolling off those aligned against God.
Well, I suppose that would be cheating. It isn't like we don't have the entire Bible. We can read ... we can listen ( as I hope you are by coming here ) ... we can learn about Christ and all that He accomplished for us.
Our road to Emmaus is just the time we choose to sacrifice to God in learning His word. All together, by the time I finish this, it will only have been about 70 hours of my time to listen to ALL of God's Word.
Power corrupts. This truth is so easy to see in the life of Solomon. He knew ... for God gave him wisdom above everyone else. And he still turned to worship other gods.
He had so much. So much wealth. So many women. So many servants. So much wisdom. And so much power. He would be envied like none other if he lived today.
I am young (-ish) and stupid. When I was younger I was even stupider. The sad part is you only know you are stupid, and were stupid, because you have moved on in your life and can look back at how stupid you really were.
The reason for this is like the frog in the well.
The frog looks up and sees "the entire sky". Of course it is just a tiny piece of what God's sky really is, but he doesn't know that. After a while he hops up closer to the top of the well. Looking up he is amazed that the sky has become larger and so much more detail! He sees branches of trees, yet still no whole tree. And for the first time he sees the moon close to the edge of the well.
Now he must know all that there is to know! Of course, it is still just a tiny piece of what God's sky really is.
Those that have gone before have a duty to call back down the well to let us know what we have waiting for us. And those heading up should listen and heed the words of the God fearing men in front of us. We should not listen the silly frogs at our side telling us how smart we are. And imagining that the tiny hole above our heads is all there is to know.
Peter was so sure he would stand by Jesus. Just a few hours before this the disciples were in a dispute of who of them was the greatest. Then soon after ... none could be found and Peter was screaming out “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.”
When times are good it is so easy to be full of pride. God is watching over our steps and we start to imagine that we are far more that we truly are. “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
Solomon fell away from God after being surrounded by wealth, women, and power. His son fell away from wisdom after being surrounded by fools who stroked his ego. And Peter fell away from Christ when he was confronted with what it really means to follow him. Christ wasn't the man about to crush Rome. For He came to suffer and die.
... by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord.
Do you ever think that when you sin you have utterly scorned the Lord? Anger, scorn, sexual sin, adultery, murder. We tend to think of those as being "between us". That there is a victim of the sin and a sinner. Not often do we stop to think that by sinning we are utterly scorning God. We spit in the face of His sacrifice on the cross.
I wonder how often we would sin if the gateway to get there was standing before Jesus on the cross ... and spitting on Him as we walk by to fulfill our desires.
If only I were in charge how different things would be! Yes everyone would have a free home. You would not pay anymore taxes ... that would be only for those that have taken from the poor. We all will ride unicorns that eat rainbows and save the rain forest.
I was trying to be funny, but beware of those that speak well and promise good things. Their heart is usually only upon themselves.
Today we live in a time of refrigerators and anti-bacterial soap. Interesting facts about food and Leviticus ...
Did you know you hunt rabbits after the first really hard freeze? That way all the sick ones will be dead and only healthy ones are left. You really don't want to try and eat them at other times. Good way to get sick.
The gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon? Salmonella.
Huh ... God had some really good food rules for Israel.
At work we had a room with leaky windows. Over time the sheet rock on the wall got mold in it. They tore out a few pieces ... then some more ... and finally to get rid of it they had to seal the room and tear everything out.
Bet you didn't know Leviticus had the same rules for house contamination.
We have no idea what real power is. I have always disliked how Christ is portrayed in movies. All soft and wimpy.
Christ was the most powerful man to have ever lived or will ever live on the earth. With a single thought all of creation could have been wiped out. With a single word every living man on earth could have been destroyed.
For us power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And Christ was fully man. For every temptation we have had, he would have felt. Yet Christ chose not to destroy us ... even though we deserved it. Christ chose to save us.
