There is a funny song by Berkley Hart called Elvis Einstein. The song is about an old man that finds a baby abandoned in a dumpster. The old man thinks that to make it in life you need to be pretty, smart, have money and friends. So he names the baby Elvis Einstein Rockefeller Jones. The rest of the song has the baby getting his name changed as he is moved from place to place.
As far as the name Nabal ... I pray that my wife will NEVER have to intercede on my behalf because I am a fool.
And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him.
I can't list all the pain that I see going on around me at times ... pain that hits on the outside of my life. Cancer, death of a child, death of a wife, death of father, broken marriages, broken lives, addiction. All things that only others and friends have experienced ... so far.
I wish I had the perfect answer to give when they ask where God is when they are in pain.
All I can think of is the stream back where I grew up in Ohio. At times it flowed it and at times it dried up. I have wonderful memories of it and painful memories as well. But, it was my stream. Where I played with my family splashing in the water and later got stuck knee deep in mud until I felt like I lost a pint of blood to mosquitoes. Where I saw and learned about life and death.
The knowledge we get is not just of good. Rather it is the Knowledge of Good AND Evil. The only answer I can think of as to why? ...
It rains when it rains. But, here is my hand. Take it and I'll help as best as I can.
When you give people a second or third chance to change do you give them the tools to change?
I would never expect to get a good crop in poor soil if I used no manure or fertilizer. If you keep coming back expecting someone to change ... it would be better if you stayed with them and nourished the soil of their life instead.
It is sometimes hard to remember that. We have our day planner, google calender, phone with task lists and email and IM. "Alright Lord ... does Thursday next week work for you? It would be best then ... If not maybe ... the .... Monday after in the afternoon?"
LORD, I pray for patience and the strength to do my tasks for only this day.
Stones from mountain streams are so cold and smooth in your hand. Water continually runs on them wearing them down to a polish like finish. Five small stones started as rocks and God placed them in a stream years ago. Years passed by as people came an went. In all that time the stones waited for the young boy to trust more in God than in size and power.
In your life is God placing you in the stream to be worn down and smoothed for use? Or is God waiting for you to pick up what He has made and to do what is right?
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
A big issue with math homework is ... "How much do I have to do?" Students always seem to want to do as little as possible. It may be that they are busy or lazy. But, they just want to do only what they absolutely have to. The truth of mathematics is ... you have to do as much as you can possibly do to learn it. You learn nothing if you just want to pass by the skin of your teeth.
In the question to Christ above the man was asking what was the least amount of work he had to do. It is interesting the answer wasn't ... "you need to get 70% correct to pass." The answer was ... "you need to give it your all to pass."
At our house we can hear the cows bellow when their calves are separated from them. At first mother and calf are together during the later parts of winter. But, when the calves are old enough they are taken away and we can hear the mothers bellowing out most of the night. It is a rather lonely sound.
When the Philistines sent back the Ark of the LORD they ...
... took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went.
The Philistines wanted to know if it was God who was working against them. And every year as I hear the mothers lowing for their calves ... I think of God.
That is why I at times go through my doubts and struggles with God. I live by my brain ( I'm a teacher of mathematics ) and the wisdom of man is foolishness to God. And the wisdom of God is foolishness to man.
We as a people want to have human leaders rather than God as our leader. They are tangible and we can point out all of their foolishness. We can hate them or we can love them. Yet, in the end they are only men. And all the evils I am tempted with ... they feel, and tend to act on, as well.
I believe it is better to not pray for the success of our leaders. Rather to pray for their salvation and for God to burden their hearts for good.
No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Ever tried to drive straight while turning your body and looking behind you? It's really really hard. People tend to drift left or right just by turning their heads, let alone their entire body.
I see my salvation like that. I can't be driving for the LORD if I'm trying to look back at where I've been.
