Why, hello there! It's been almost a month since I've posted and so much has happened during that time. If you haven't heard, my wife and I are expecting! God is so good in choosing us to be parents! God's timing is perfect because the baby is due May 27th, so I will be done with school and ready to teach that fall. Another development that is happening (partly because the baby is coming) is that we are in the process of selling our house and buying another house at the same time. God has been evident to me during this process already, so I will stay faithful and acknowledge that He is in control this situation. We put our house on the market on Thursday and someone has already come to look at it yesterday (Sunday) and we have another showing today! God is so good! We also have a bid on a very nice house in the works at the moment.
It is hard for me to focus on my daily reading and studying the Word right now with so much going on. My school semester is almost over, so I find myself procrastinating big projects and putting off my quiet time in the process. The good news is that I only have a couple of big assignments remaining, so hopefully I can be back on the right track beginning this week.
I do have one question for those of you out there who would like to participate. Lately, I have been wondering about the way the Bible was written and which parts were meant for which people. It seems like the deeper you study the Bible, the more questions you have. My question is: Aside from the Holy Spirit, how are we supposed to know when the Bible is talking to us? I mean if you research deep enough, each time the Bible gives a promise or tells us what to do or not to do, that promise or command was intended for a person or group in the Bible. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, is it okay for us to assume that his message was meant for the modern day church as well? When Isaiah or any other prophet speaks to people about their sins and God destroying them, are we supposed to take that as God talking to America? I feel like it is easy to take things out of context, and was wondering when or when not we are supposed to know which passage was meant for who.
Take your favorite verse, well lets take mine since you can't really talk right now...Philipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." It is so easy for us Christians to take this verse and put it on t-shirts (sorry Beth Havenites) and whatever else, but is this what God intended us to do? Are we supposed to take Paul's words and use them for ourselves? Am I supposed to gain encouragement from this verse whenever I feel like I can't do something? Or, should we study the context of this verse and realize that Paul said this to the Philipians and he was talking about being content. I feel like if you study this deep enough, it becomes mere facts and not meant for you and me.
I know that the Bible is God's love letter to Christians and we are supposed to read it as such, but I am confused about when to apply these passages to my life. Take any of the Psalms. These are mostly David's songs to and about God. There are several promises that David proclaims in his songs. Are we supossed to hold onto these promises for our lives? Or are we supposed to realize this is just a song of praise to God? Psalm 10 proclaims that God is the helper of the fatherless, is it ok for me to use that verse to encourage friends who don't have parents?
In thinking about this, I have concluded that the more I read and the closer my walk is with the LORD, the clearer things will be. I believe that the Holy Spirit will put verses in my heart to use at the appropriate times throughout my life. I understand that all Scripture is God-breathed, but does anyone have anything to add about this topic? Your input is more than welcome!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Angels
What do you think about angels? Any Christian will tell you that they exist. Some may have a story that they've heard or read about involving somebody seeing an angel. Do you believe that angels are still at work today? More importantly, do you believe that angels are still at work today for you? Personally, I hardly think about angels and am not as educated on the subject as I'd like to be. I believe that there is spiritual warfare going on all around me, but I rarely think about it affecting my life.
In Acts 12, Peter is in jail and the church is earnestly praying for him (verse 5). When is the last time you or I earnestly prayed for anything? What does earnestly even mean? Well good thing you asked, because I looked it up! Earnestly means serious in intention, purpose or effort. Another definition is showing depth and sincerity of feeling. If I am honest with myself, I can't recall the last time I was that serious about a prayer. Anyways, back to the story. An angel came to Peter and broke him out of jail. The angel vanished and Peter went to a house where people had gathered to pray for him. He knocked on the door and a servant girl recognized his voice and ran to the others to tell them Peter was at the door. Now look at their response in verse 15, "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
This strikes me as a very odd reaction to what is going on. The people had enough faith to believe that Peter's angel was at the door, but could not fathom Peter being at the door. Because the people were earnestly praying, they fully believed that God would send an angel for Peter. Notice that nobody jumped up and ran to the door to see what an angel looks like. The next verse actually says that Peter kept knocking. Everybody kept going about their business when they assumed that there was an angel outside of their door. The mood I get from this story is that they are treating an angel of the Lord like the next door neighbor needing a cup of sugar. The only justification for this response that I can think of is that angels were very common for the early believers. Everybody at that house probably had seen angels at work in their lives.
What about us? Why aren't their more stories about angels doing miraculous things in our lives? Do we not pray earnest enough? Do we not have enough faith? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I would love to be able to have an experience of my own about angels. If you have a personal story about angels or can point me to some good passages in the Bible on how and when angels work, please share them with me! This kind of stuff intrigues me and I would like to be more educated on the topic.
In Acts 12, Peter is in jail and the church is earnestly praying for him (verse 5). When is the last time you or I earnestly prayed for anything? What does earnestly even mean? Well good thing you asked, because I looked it up! Earnestly means serious in intention, purpose or effort. Another definition is showing depth and sincerity of feeling. If I am honest with myself, I can't recall the last time I was that serious about a prayer. Anyways, back to the story. An angel came to Peter and broke him out of jail. The angel vanished and Peter went to a house where people had gathered to pray for him. He knocked on the door and a servant girl recognized his voice and ran to the others to tell them Peter was at the door. Now look at their response in verse 15, "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
This strikes me as a very odd reaction to what is going on. The people had enough faith to believe that Peter's angel was at the door, but could not fathom Peter being at the door. Because the people were earnestly praying, they fully believed that God would send an angel for Peter. Notice that nobody jumped up and ran to the door to see what an angel looks like. The next verse actually says that Peter kept knocking. Everybody kept going about their business when they assumed that there was an angel outside of their door. The mood I get from this story is that they are treating an angel of the Lord like the next door neighbor needing a cup of sugar. The only justification for this response that I can think of is that angels were very common for the early believers. Everybody at that house probably had seen angels at work in their lives.
What about us? Why aren't their more stories about angels doing miraculous things in our lives? Do we not pray earnest enough? Do we not have enough faith? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I would love to be able to have an experience of my own about angels. If you have a personal story about angels or can point me to some good passages in the Bible on how and when angels work, please share them with me! This kind of stuff intrigues me and I would like to be more educated on the topic.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Fun with Math
I read this concept in a book that I had to read for school, and have been meaning to share it with you all for about a week. Pascal was a mathematician from the 1600s that discovered that it was a wise and correct decision to become a Christian. He believed his theory so much that he disgarded his math and science background and became a theologian for the rest of his days. Pascal used what is called probability theory to justify his choice to become a Christian and theologian.
For those of you who don't know/don't care about probability theory, let me try to explain it to you. Suppose you have a choice between two envelopes (A and B). In envelope A, there is 10 dollars and in envelope B there is 100 dollars. Your job is to choose an envelope and then a coin will be flipped. The two sides of the coin represents the two evelopes, heads for A and tails for B. If you chose the envelope that the coin represents, you get to keep the money. Understand so far? Now there are four outcomes to this little game. 1. The coin lands on heads and you chose envelope A. 2. The coin lands on heads and you chose envelope B. 3. The coin lands on tails and you chose envelope A. 4. The coin lands on tails and you chose envelope B.
Probability theory calculates the expected money that you could get. That is, since there is 10 dollars in envelope A and the chances of the coin landing on heads is 50%, the expected amount of money for this choice is 5 dollars. Likewise, since there is 100 dollars in envelope B and the same chances, the expected amount of money for this choice is 50 dollars. Since the expected value of envelope B is much greater than envelope A, the correct choice in this game is envelope B. Now most of you probably used your intuition to choose envelope B and didn't even think about the expected values, but that is the mathematical explanation of your intuition.
So lets take our little game and use it with Christianity. So we have two separate conditions: either you are a believer or a non-believer, and either Jesus saves us from hell and believers go to heaven, or heaven and hell don't exist. Once again, there are four outcomes. 1. You are a believer and you go to heaven. 2. You are a believer and heaven doesn't exist, so nothing happens. 3. You are not a believer and you go to hell. 4. You are not a believer and hell doesn't exist, so nothing happens. Pascal assigned a numerical value of infinity to heaven because heaven is eternal bliss with Jesus and he assigned a numerical value of negative infinity to hell because it is eternal damnation. So in his probability theory he assumed the chances of there being a God and Jesus coming down to save us was 50-50. It looked something like this:
Believers:
God exists (50%) and you go to heaven: 50% of infinity=infinity.
God doesn't exist (50%) and nothing happens: 50% of 0=0.
So the expected value of being a believer is infinity + 0, which is infinity.
Non-Believers:
God exists (50%) and you go to hell: 50% of negative infinity=negative infinity.
God doesn't exist (50%) and nothing happens: 50% of 0= 0.
So the expected value of being a non-believer is negative infinity + 0, which is negative infinity.
We don't know the exact probability that God exists, but by using the properties of infinity and zero, you can see that those percentages do not matter. Say there is a 20% chance that God exists, 20% of infinity is still infinity! Say there is a 0.00001% chance that God exists....still infinity. The only way this does not make since is if there is a 0% chance that God does not exist. In math, you cannot do 0 x infinity, its gibberish. Since nobody on this earth can prove that there is a 0% chance that God exists, I'm siding with my old friend Pascal on this one and living my life for Jesus.
I hope this made a little bit of sense to you because I found it to be very profound and interesting.
For those of you who don't know/don't care about probability theory, let me try to explain it to you. Suppose you have a choice between two envelopes (A and B). In envelope A, there is 10 dollars and in envelope B there is 100 dollars. Your job is to choose an envelope and then a coin will be flipped. The two sides of the coin represents the two evelopes, heads for A and tails for B. If you chose the envelope that the coin represents, you get to keep the money. Understand so far? Now there are four outcomes to this little game. 1. The coin lands on heads and you chose envelope A. 2. The coin lands on heads and you chose envelope B. 3. The coin lands on tails and you chose envelope A. 4. The coin lands on tails and you chose envelope B.
Probability theory calculates the expected money that you could get. That is, since there is 10 dollars in envelope A and the chances of the coin landing on heads is 50%, the expected amount of money for this choice is 5 dollars. Likewise, since there is 100 dollars in envelope B and the same chances, the expected amount of money for this choice is 50 dollars. Since the expected value of envelope B is much greater than envelope A, the correct choice in this game is envelope B. Now most of you probably used your intuition to choose envelope B and didn't even think about the expected values, but that is the mathematical explanation of your intuition.
So lets take our little game and use it with Christianity. So we have two separate conditions: either you are a believer or a non-believer, and either Jesus saves us from hell and believers go to heaven, or heaven and hell don't exist. Once again, there are four outcomes. 1. You are a believer and you go to heaven. 2. You are a believer and heaven doesn't exist, so nothing happens. 3. You are not a believer and you go to hell. 4. You are not a believer and hell doesn't exist, so nothing happens. Pascal assigned a numerical value of infinity to heaven because heaven is eternal bliss with Jesus and he assigned a numerical value of negative infinity to hell because it is eternal damnation. So in his probability theory he assumed the chances of there being a God and Jesus coming down to save us was 50-50. It looked something like this:
Believers:
God exists (50%) and you go to heaven: 50% of infinity=infinity.
God doesn't exist (50%) and nothing happens: 50% of 0=0.
So the expected value of being a believer is infinity + 0, which is infinity.
Non-Believers:
God exists (50%) and you go to hell: 50% of negative infinity=negative infinity.
God doesn't exist (50%) and nothing happens: 50% of 0= 0.
So the expected value of being a non-believer is negative infinity + 0, which is negative infinity.
We don't know the exact probability that God exists, but by using the properties of infinity and zero, you can see that those percentages do not matter. Say there is a 20% chance that God exists, 20% of infinity is still infinity! Say there is a 0.00001% chance that God exists....still infinity. The only way this does not make since is if there is a 0% chance that God does not exist. In math, you cannot do 0 x infinity, its gibberish. Since nobody on this earth can prove that there is a 0% chance that God exists, I'm siding with my old friend Pascal on this one and living my life for Jesus.
I hope this made a little bit of sense to you because I found it to be very profound and interesting.
Monday, October 5, 2009
A little bit more...
A new friend in my community group shared this concept with us and I feel that it is worth repeating.
In God's infinite wisdom, he has created us just the way we are supposed to be. We, being filthy and sinful, take what God has meant for good and make it bad. One of these things is the desire to have just a little bit more than what we already have.
This desire was most evident in my sexuality. As a teenage boy, I remember sinfully lusting after the female body. Most guys can remember a time in their life when they have struggled with the same thing. My lust was not quenched unless I saw a little bit more than what I had previously seen. No matter how deep down the rabbit hole I ventured, I always seemed to want just a little bit more.
Another way we perverse this idea is with materialism. We have all wanted bigger and better than what we possess. We want a little bit more money, time, clothes, etc. It is so hard for us to be content with what God has given us.
While this concept of wanting a little bit more may be seen as sinful, I'd like to argue that it is the way God made us! We, as sinners, have turned this into a sinful thing. I challenge you to use this longing of wanting more to glorify God.
I believe that God has given us this longing to use it on His Word. The Bible contains more information than any human can consume in their lifetime. There has never been a Biblical scholar that finishes studying the Bible. Everytime we open the Bible we should be getting a little bit more out of it than when we last read it. This is what I believe God intended.
My prayer is that we want a little bit more time with God each day and we use a little bit more time to advance His kingdom.
In God's infinite wisdom, he has created us just the way we are supposed to be. We, being filthy and sinful, take what God has meant for good and make it bad. One of these things is the desire to have just a little bit more than what we already have.
This desire was most evident in my sexuality. As a teenage boy, I remember sinfully lusting after the female body. Most guys can remember a time in their life when they have struggled with the same thing. My lust was not quenched unless I saw a little bit more than what I had previously seen. No matter how deep down the rabbit hole I ventured, I always seemed to want just a little bit more.
Another way we perverse this idea is with materialism. We have all wanted bigger and better than what we possess. We want a little bit more money, time, clothes, etc. It is so hard for us to be content with what God has given us.
While this concept of wanting a little bit more may be seen as sinful, I'd like to argue that it is the way God made us! We, as sinners, have turned this into a sinful thing. I challenge you to use this longing of wanting more to glorify God.
I believe that God has given us this longing to use it on His Word. The Bible contains more information than any human can consume in their lifetime. There has never been a Biblical scholar that finishes studying the Bible. Everytime we open the Bible we should be getting a little bit more out of it than when we last read it. This is what I believe God intended.
My prayer is that we want a little bit more time with God each day and we use a little bit more time to advance His kingdom.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Perfection
It's been over a month since my last post, and I apologize for that. I have not written for a number of reasons, none of which are good reasons. A lot of times, I feel like I have nothing of worth to write about. I let my pride get in the way of the true purpose of this blog, which is to be transparent and show everyone how I grow and struggle in my walk with God. The struggling part can be represented by the lack of posts!
Sometimes, I feel like I have to have a "revelation from God" or something that I think would be good for everyone to hear/read. I have realized that this is my insecurity of how I am perceived. This begs the question: "Who am I trying to impress?". God? My elders? My peers? This leads to another question: "Why am I trying to impress anyone?". I am not perfect, but the problem is that I like to be perceived by others as being close to perfect. I like to let others think that I have it all together. I need to get rid of this prideful way of thinking and be real with myself.
With that being said, as of this moment, I am struggling with being content with my present life. Don't get me wrong, I have a great life! I have a wonderful wife, a great family, a great church, and tons of blessings. The problem is that I am too busy looking forward to the future. I have staked my happiness and joy in the things to come. When I become a teacher.... When we get a better house.... When we get a better car.... When we start having kids.... Its fun and even somewhat productive to think about these things, but I believe that I am missing out on what God has in store for me right now. I am praying for contentment with my life right now. I have so many things to be joyful about, I just don't need to let the future (the temptation of bigger and better things to come) get in the way.
The last thing that I'd like to bring up is the realness of God. I have been struggling with how real God is to me. I believe in God, Jesus, the Bible, etc., and I truly believe that I am a Christian, that is not the point that I am trying to make. I just think that if Jesus were to walk into my house and show himself to me, I would live my life drastically different. Maybe this is an issue of how little faith I have. Maybe its the devil's temptation that we are going to live forever and we can worry about this "God thing" later on. I think that if we all acted like Jesus was as real as any person we know, our lives would be transformed. I do not want to just have a concept of Jesus, I want to know without a shadow of doubt that He is real, and act like it.
Forgive me, friends, for not posting lately. I will try to do better. I am not worthy of anyone reading this, but my prayer is that something I write will encourage you. Please pray for my prideful heart and that I can be content with my life and everything that God has blessed me with. Let's all live today in the truth that He is alive and real!
Sometimes, I feel like I have to have a "revelation from God" or something that I think would be good for everyone to hear/read. I have realized that this is my insecurity of how I am perceived. This begs the question: "Who am I trying to impress?". God? My elders? My peers? This leads to another question: "Why am I trying to impress anyone?". I am not perfect, but the problem is that I like to be perceived by others as being close to perfect. I like to let others think that I have it all together. I need to get rid of this prideful way of thinking and be real with myself.
With that being said, as of this moment, I am struggling with being content with my present life. Don't get me wrong, I have a great life! I have a wonderful wife, a great family, a great church, and tons of blessings. The problem is that I am too busy looking forward to the future. I have staked my happiness and joy in the things to come. When I become a teacher.... When we get a better house.... When we get a better car.... When we start having kids.... Its fun and even somewhat productive to think about these things, but I believe that I am missing out on what God has in store for me right now. I am praying for contentment with my life right now. I have so many things to be joyful about, I just don't need to let the future (the temptation of bigger and better things to come) get in the way.
The last thing that I'd like to bring up is the realness of God. I have been struggling with how real God is to me. I believe in God, Jesus, the Bible, etc., and I truly believe that I am a Christian, that is not the point that I am trying to make. I just think that if Jesus were to walk into my house and show himself to me, I would live my life drastically different. Maybe this is an issue of how little faith I have. Maybe its the devil's temptation that we are going to live forever and we can worry about this "God thing" later on. I think that if we all acted like Jesus was as real as any person we know, our lives would be transformed. I do not want to just have a concept of Jesus, I want to know without a shadow of doubt that He is real, and act like it.
Forgive me, friends, for not posting lately. I will try to do better. I am not worthy of anyone reading this, but my prayer is that something I write will encourage you. Please pray for my prideful heart and that I can be content with my life and everything that God has blessed me with. Let's all live today in the truth that He is alive and real!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Consistency
As you can probably tell by now, one of my biggest struggles in life is being consistent. I do not consistently give my time, effort, or trust to the Lord. Today, I am starting something that is long overdue. I am going to wake up an hour before I usually do to devote to the Lord. I have tried in the past and always seem to come up short, but this time I want you (my readers/friends) to hold me accountable.
Time is a very precious thing that most of us do not care enough about. I waste time on facebook, watching tv, and playing xbox. While all of these things are not bad things, the amount of time that I invest in these things are probably bad. I could be using this time more efficiently by reading and studying the Word of God, investing in friendships, making new friendships, helping those in need, etc. I encourage all of you to begin praying about how you could better use your time. I propose that we start focusing on our eternal lives rather than trying to selfishly satisfy our earthly lives.
My wife would be the first one to tell you that I also struggle with the idea of giving effort. Sure, give me a basketball or a deck of cards, and I will put everything I have into what I'm doing, but when it comes to actions that I do not particularly want to do, words like "lazy" and "poor effort" come to mind. I think that I am most guilty of this in my everyday conversations. I do not put hardly any effort into talking with my friends and family. During conversations, I typically do not ask questions or remember details. This tells me that I am not putting any effort into the conversations. I need to change!
This last point is a mystery to me. I find it discouraging why it seems so hard to trust the Lord. The Bible is full of promises that are given to Christians, but how many of us trust these promises? God says to test him in tithing and see if He will not bless you, but how many of us struggle with tithing? The Bible says to daily meditate on the Word and everything we do will prosper, but how many of us follow through with this? Do we not want blessings and prosperity? I don't think thats the case. I think we don't fully trust these words.
My prayer is that we all begin to be consistent in these three categories of our lives; time, effort and trust. As Christians, we need to encourage each other to do better!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Listen
After a fantastic week of Kiddo Camp, I returned home safely Friday evening. I was in charge of directing the kids up and down a creek for an hour at a time, helping them catch "critters". I am thankful that a) Nobody got lost on our adventure. b)Nobody got hurt on our adventure. We encountered two snakes which were probably poisonous and a mean hornets' nest. I have to admit that I did not notice the hornets' nest until the third time I made the trek down the creek. Its only by God's grace that the first two teams didn't get stung. c)Everyone seemed to have a good time on the adventure.
I love Kiddo Camp and everything that it represents. Adults sacrifice their time and often times vacation days to give to these kiddos. Parents put their trust in these adults to take care of these kids. The activities are planned for the kids' enjoyments. And God is praised and honored the whole week, by the staff and children. Who wouln't want to be a part of this experience?
I do have a little anecdote from camp that I believe can lead into what God was trying to tell me this week. It was Tuesday afternoon and the thunderstorms were coming through. We all were instructed to stay in our cabin until further notice. This means that myself and Mr. Caleb were accompanied by seven amped up fourth graders in our small cabin. Caleb and I were of the opinion that now was the best time for a little mid-day nap, so we turned the lights off and told the guys to just listen to the storm. This plan seemed like a great idea. Most of the boys were on board, but we had one little guy who had a different idea of what to do with his time inside the cabin. As Caleb and I were attempting to take a quick nap, this kiddo talked. I don't really know if anyone was listening to him, but he talked and talked and talked the whole time we were inside. After a half an hour of this (seriously), I think me and Caleb had about enough of the talking. We gave up the nap (it was not going to happen) and began doing something else to pass our time.
The Holy Spirit put this story in my mind today during church. Also, I was reminded of a story about Elijah from my reading this week. In 1 Kings 19:11-12, Elijah was hiding in a cave and the Lord told him that He was about to pass by. Elijah came out and a great wind, an earthquake and fire all passed, but the Lord was not in any of these. Finally, a gentle whisper came, and it was the Lord. As I think back to our little kiddo who would not stop talking, I wonder how many of us are in that same boat? What if God is trying to give us a gentle whisper and we are too busy talking? We could even be talking about something spiritual or something not "bad", but this talkng is getting in the way of our listening. I think we should all be still from time to time and see if God is trying to whisper to us. The examples in the Bible of the wind, earthquake and fire are the type of things that we look for God to be in. Yes, God speaks in tragedies, God speaks in very hurtful times in your lives, but are we missing the times when He is trying to teach us something and we aren't listening?
My prayer is that we begin listening to God. We begin listening to the Word of God. We begin giving God some time to speak to us during our prayer time. We begin to heed the advice of the strong Christians God has placed in our lives. Stop talking and listen!
I love Kiddo Camp and everything that it represents. Adults sacrifice their time and often times vacation days to give to these kiddos. Parents put their trust in these adults to take care of these kids. The activities are planned for the kids' enjoyments. And God is praised and honored the whole week, by the staff and children. Who wouln't want to be a part of this experience?
I do have a little anecdote from camp that I believe can lead into what God was trying to tell me this week. It was Tuesday afternoon and the thunderstorms were coming through. We all were instructed to stay in our cabin until further notice. This means that myself and Mr. Caleb were accompanied by seven amped up fourth graders in our small cabin. Caleb and I were of the opinion that now was the best time for a little mid-day nap, so we turned the lights off and told the guys to just listen to the storm. This plan seemed like a great idea. Most of the boys were on board, but we had one little guy who had a different idea of what to do with his time inside the cabin. As Caleb and I were attempting to take a quick nap, this kiddo talked. I don't really know if anyone was listening to him, but he talked and talked and talked the whole time we were inside. After a half an hour of this (seriously), I think me and Caleb had about enough of the talking. We gave up the nap (it was not going to happen) and began doing something else to pass our time.
The Holy Spirit put this story in my mind today during church. Also, I was reminded of a story about Elijah from my reading this week. In 1 Kings 19:11-12, Elijah was hiding in a cave and the Lord told him that He was about to pass by. Elijah came out and a great wind, an earthquake and fire all passed, but the Lord was not in any of these. Finally, a gentle whisper came, and it was the Lord. As I think back to our little kiddo who would not stop talking, I wonder how many of us are in that same boat? What if God is trying to give us a gentle whisper and we are too busy talking? We could even be talking about something spiritual or something not "bad", but this talkng is getting in the way of our listening. I think we should all be still from time to time and see if God is trying to whisper to us. The examples in the Bible of the wind, earthquake and fire are the type of things that we look for God to be in. Yes, God speaks in tragedies, God speaks in very hurtful times in your lives, but are we missing the times when He is trying to teach us something and we aren't listening?
My prayer is that we begin listening to God. We begin listening to the Word of God. We begin giving God some time to speak to us during our prayer time. We begin to heed the advice of the strong Christians God has placed in our lives. Stop talking and listen!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wisdom
The Bible has a lot to say about wisdom. I believe that wisdom is the most important thing (aside from Jesus Christ) that we should be asking for when we pray. When God grants you wisdom, everything else seems to fall into place. When is the last time you prayed for wisdom? For me, it has been too long.
If you've gone to church any in your lifetime, you've probably heard the story of Solomon. In a dream, God asks Solomon "What shall I give you?"(1 Kings 3:5). Solomon requests an understanding heart to discern between good and evil (3:9). God is pleased with this request and goes above and beyond giving him wisdom. The Bible says that Solomon was the wisest and richest man ever. If you want to look deeper into the word "ever", it means EVER. No man before or after Solomon has been richer or wiser. Bill Gates? Chump change. Sigmund Freud? Yawn.
The Bible says that "all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart" (10:24). Solomon is on top of a mountain. Everyone wants to know him. He has the world at his fingertips. Check out the beginning of chapter 11. "BUT, King Solomon loved many foreign women". Solomon had a weakness. His wisdom could not keep him from these foreign women and their foreign gods. The LORD ends up getting angry at Solomon and tearing his kingdom away from him. It seems to me that Solomon applied his wisdom to his kingdom and to foreigners, but forgot to apply it on himself. If anyone has any insight into this, please let me know, because I am perplexed by this passage.
One other passage worth mentioning is 1 Kings 12:8. King Rehoboam consulted his elders, who were with his father Solomon and blatantly rejected their advice on a matter. Verse 8 tells us "But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him". When I read this passage, I thought about how stupid Rehoboam was. Who would take the advice of peers instead of the wiser elders. Then I realized the answer to that question....me. How many times have I sought the advice from my friends without even considering a wiser option (no offense guys)? My friends, though they may bring a different perspective to the table, know just about as much as I know about any given subject. Wouldn't it be more worthwhile to seek an older, more mature, Godly example? God has provided me with plenty options, and I'm sure you can think of some as well. Well you can probably predict the ending of this story. Isreal rebelled against Rehoboam and he fled from his kingdom.
I recently read the verse in Matthew where Jesus says "ask and it will be given to you". How many times do we take advantage of this promise? I want to challenge you to earnestly pray for wisdom right now. See what God has in store for you! I'll quit this post abruptly so you can pray!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Enjoy!
This weekend, I learned something about myself that is life-changing. I learned that I have been approaching the Bible all wrong. In the past, I would read the Bible out of obligation, I would read to feel guilty about myself, or I would read because I wanted God to reveal something to me. These are all terrible reasons to pick up the Word of God. This weekend, I was invited to actually try to enjoy the Bible. The concept of reading for enjoyment is Greek to me, so this was a very hard step to take. I have made an effort to no longer look at the Bible as a textbook I have to read, a get out of guilt free pass, or a way to make my life better. I simply want to enjoy the Word of God.
Let me be the first to tell you that this is entirely possible! I am starting to look forward to my daily quiet time. Its not a chore anymore. I am hopeful that this attitude will lead to a deeper and longer devotional time as time goes on. I cannot explain the reasons behind my sudden change in attitude, I can only point to Jesus, because this is what I've been praying for for a long, long time.
I am super excited to share with you all what I learned the other day. I don't know why I never learned this in Sunday School growing up, but it is one of the coolest things that I have learned about the Bible. If you have a Bible, go get it! Turn to Genesis 5. No really, I'll wait for you...
...
...
Is this chapter familiar to you? Of course not! Who wants to read a bunch of boring genealogies? What could God possibly teach me in this chapter? If you are like me, then you would have bypassed this whole chapter and went right to the story of Noah. But lets take a look at the line of men from Adam to Noah. Bible scholars that are a lot smarter than me figured out the meanings of each man's name in their culture and time, and here is the result.
Adam-Man
Seth-Is Appointed
Enosh-Mortal
Cainan-Sorrow
Now pay attention, this is where it gets fun.
Mahalalel-The Blessed God
Jared-Shall Come Down
Enoch-Teaching
Methuselah-His Death Shall Bring
Lamech-The Despairing
Noah-Comfort
"The blessed God shall come down teaching his death shall bring the despairing comfort."
What? Are you telling me that the genealogy from Adam to Noah points directly to Jesus Christ? It is fun to read the Bible when you know that every story, every word points to Jesus somehow, and why shouldn't it be? In John 5:39, Jesus says, "You search the Scriptures (old testament), for in them you think you have eternal life: and these are they which testify of me". That means that the old testament has Jesus written all over it! I invite you to search with me.
Well, I have began a new regimen for reading and would like to invite you to join me if you have no previous direction or method of reading the Bible. Right now, I am reading two chapters a day of the old testament, new testament and Psalms/Proverbs. That's six chapters a day. It takes a slow reader like myself about twenty minutes to do this.
I pray that you, too, will start enjoying your Bible more. God knows you inside and out, and like I said in a previous post, He wrote it for you! He wrote it for your enjoyment. Please pray for me as I am fearful that this enjoyment will dwindle away like many other Christian experiences that I have had. I want this to be permanent!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Be efficient!
A few years ago, I took a management class that was about making good decisions. One thing I remember from this class is a lesson having to do with the productivity of separate systems. I hope I can explain this well enough for everyone to understand, so bear with me.
This lesson centered around combining separate systems and figuring out how efficient these combinations could be. Say you had three systems that you needed to bring together (for example cutting french fries, frying french fries, and salting french fries). Let's say each one of these systems operates at 90% efficiency. Sounds pretty good right? However, we learned that the combination of these systems is not going to create 90% efficiency, but 72.9% efficiency. You calculate this by multiplying all of the efficency percentages together (0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9). So what sounds like a good system, because it has fairly efficient parts, turns out to be pretty crappy. You wouldn't want 27% of all of your french fries to be inedible would you?
Hopefully I did a decent job at explaining this because I do have a purpose for telling you all of this. Let's say a friend is telling you about a sermon that he once heard. How much of this will be what God has in store for you? The friend, who may have been paying attention 75% of the time listens to a sermon, written by a preacher who is giving a message from God, but is still human (so lets give him a 96%), now tells you, which your listening skills aren't the best either (80%). Lets put this in our handy equation to get a (.75 x .96 x .8) 57.6% chance that you will receive what God has in store for you.
When we read the Bible, it is 100% efficient. It is God's direct line to you! We do not have to worry about mistakes or wrong information. The Bible is 100% true and written directly for me and you. One of the biggest mistakes that I make is replacing the Bible with other things. These other things are usually good, maybe even great things; a sermon, an inspirational video, a friend's testimony, worship songs, but these are not 100% efficent like the Bible. When I replace my quiet time reading the Bible with anything else, I am lowering the probability that God will speak to me. Yes, these things are great suppliments to reading the Bible, but we need to be leary of putting too much value on any man-made creation. For those of you who listen to the likes of John Piper, Mark Driscol, Al Mohler, or any other famous religious expert, make sure that you are not following them, but follow the One who they are following, Jesus Christ. Make sure that your "system" begins with the Bible, anything else will bring down your efficiency.
I am speaking to myself more than I am speaking to anybody reading this right now. I have watered down my knowledge by relying on others to pour their knowledge into me. To increase my efficiency in this life, I must rely on God to pour His knowledge into me, by relying on the Word of God. It has the answers to any problem that life may throw at me. The more I read, the more prepared I will be for these problems.
I am ashamed to report that I did not read yesterday, and did not want to post with nothing read. I let my two biggest enemies Lazyness and Busyness get the best of me. Today, I finished 2 Samuel and here are a few things I got out of my readings...
Joab and David's army were in pursuit of a rebel named Sheba. During this pursuit, the army was getting ready to ransack and destroy a whole city. A "wise woman", as the Bible describes her, speaks up and talks some sense into Joab. She ends up diplomatically solving Joab's dilemma without anyone getting hurt, except Sheba of course. The people of the city threw Sheba's head over the wall to Joab. Not only was this a pretty cool story that kept me entertained, it also made me realize that I don't always have the best ways of doing things. It may take a "wise woman" to show me a better solution. If Joab hadn't have listened to this woman, countless people would have been murdered for no reason. I know my decisions don't usually end up in murder (let me clarify, zero murders), but we need to be willing to heed and even search for wise advice.
During David's song in chapter 22, he sings to God, "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd". This spoke to me that God will encourage us if we just try to live right. If we display these traits (except for the last one, of course), God will bless us by displaying the same traits to us.
Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah. Ring a bell? Anybody? Yeah, I didn't think so. These are the names of David's mighty men, the best of the best. These men killed hundreds, maybe thousands of men. They were the strongest, fastest, smartest men at the time, but now they are just weird names in a book that frankly, not many people read. They were probably stronger and tougher than any Hollywood movie character (Maximus, William Wallace, Achilles), but NO ONE REMEMBERS THEM. This hit me hard. Why do I put so much value in being liked, being famous, being smart, being athletic? In 100 years, no one will remember me (unless I'm still living!). In 1000 years, only a handful of people from our lifespans will be known. We need to focus on daily living for Jesus. If we focus on making a name for ourselves, it will be a losing effort.
My prayer is that we will be efficient in our lives. I pray that we can dive into the Word and start obeying its commands. This is our only hope for a 100% satisfying life!
This lesson centered around combining separate systems and figuring out how efficient these combinations could be. Say you had three systems that you needed to bring together (for example cutting french fries, frying french fries, and salting french fries). Let's say each one of these systems operates at 90% efficiency. Sounds pretty good right? However, we learned that the combination of these systems is not going to create 90% efficiency, but 72.9% efficiency. You calculate this by multiplying all of the efficency percentages together (0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9). So what sounds like a good system, because it has fairly efficient parts, turns out to be pretty crappy. You wouldn't want 27% of all of your french fries to be inedible would you?
Hopefully I did a decent job at explaining this because I do have a purpose for telling you all of this. Let's say a friend is telling you about a sermon that he once heard. How much of this will be what God has in store for you? The friend, who may have been paying attention 75% of the time listens to a sermon, written by a preacher who is giving a message from God, but is still human (so lets give him a 96%), now tells you, which your listening skills aren't the best either (80%). Lets put this in our handy equation to get a (.75 x .96 x .8) 57.6% chance that you will receive what God has in store for you.
When we read the Bible, it is 100% efficient. It is God's direct line to you! We do not have to worry about mistakes or wrong information. The Bible is 100% true and written directly for me and you. One of the biggest mistakes that I make is replacing the Bible with other things. These other things are usually good, maybe even great things; a sermon, an inspirational video, a friend's testimony, worship songs, but these are not 100% efficent like the Bible. When I replace my quiet time reading the Bible with anything else, I am lowering the probability that God will speak to me. Yes, these things are great suppliments to reading the Bible, but we need to be leary of putting too much value on any man-made creation. For those of you who listen to the likes of John Piper, Mark Driscol, Al Mohler, or any other famous religious expert, make sure that you are not following them, but follow the One who they are following, Jesus Christ. Make sure that your "system" begins with the Bible, anything else will bring down your efficiency.
I am speaking to myself more than I am speaking to anybody reading this right now. I have watered down my knowledge by relying on others to pour their knowledge into me. To increase my efficiency in this life, I must rely on God to pour His knowledge into me, by relying on the Word of God. It has the answers to any problem that life may throw at me. The more I read, the more prepared I will be for these problems.
I am ashamed to report that I did not read yesterday, and did not want to post with nothing read. I let my two biggest enemies Lazyness and Busyness get the best of me. Today, I finished 2 Samuel and here are a few things I got out of my readings...
Joab and David's army were in pursuit of a rebel named Sheba. During this pursuit, the army was getting ready to ransack and destroy a whole city. A "wise woman", as the Bible describes her, speaks up and talks some sense into Joab. She ends up diplomatically solving Joab's dilemma without anyone getting hurt, except Sheba of course. The people of the city threw Sheba's head over the wall to Joab. Not only was this a pretty cool story that kept me entertained, it also made me realize that I don't always have the best ways of doing things. It may take a "wise woman" to show me a better solution. If Joab hadn't have listened to this woman, countless people would have been murdered for no reason. I know my decisions don't usually end up in murder (let me clarify, zero murders), but we need to be willing to heed and even search for wise advice.
During David's song in chapter 22, he sings to God, "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd". This spoke to me that God will encourage us if we just try to live right. If we display these traits (except for the last one, of course), God will bless us by displaying the same traits to us.
Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah. Ring a bell? Anybody? Yeah, I didn't think so. These are the names of David's mighty men, the best of the best. These men killed hundreds, maybe thousands of men. They were the strongest, fastest, smartest men at the time, but now they are just weird names in a book that frankly, not many people read. They were probably stronger and tougher than any Hollywood movie character (Maximus, William Wallace, Achilles), but NO ONE REMEMBERS THEM. This hit me hard. Why do I put so much value in being liked, being famous, being smart, being athletic? In 100 years, no one will remember me (unless I'm still living!). In 1000 years, only a handful of people from our lifespans will be known. We need to focus on daily living for Jesus. If we focus on making a name for ourselves, it will be a losing effort.
My prayer is that we will be efficient in our lives. I pray that we can dive into the Word and start obeying its commands. This is our only hope for a 100% satisfying life!
Monday, July 20, 2009
I am blessed!
Every time I think about my life for any extent of time, I always come to the same conclusion: I am extremely blessed. Right now, I feel so overwhelmed with the amount of blessings that my God has given me and continues to give me daily, even though I do not deserve it. My wife is a gift from God. Yesterday, I thought about all the people who had prayed for my future wife growing up. My parents, grandparents, friends, and other family came to mind. I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for those prayers. I am experiencing a great marriage because of those prayers. Tereza is the perfect wife for me. She loves me more than I deserve. She enjoys life just as much as I do. She has so many talents and skills that make up for my inadequacies. Her desire is for me to be the best Christian that I can be, and she continually pushes me to this goal.
I am also blessed with an awesome family. My parents did a brilliant job raising me (I mean, just look at me!). With all jokes aside, I wish that I will be half the father that my dad was to me. My mom taught me how to be compassionate and caring. Your (mom and dad) love for Christ is the greatest thing that you passed on to me, and I thank you for that. I couldn't have asked for a better brother and sister. Sure, we've had the usual sibling fights (back poundings), but I know that they will always be there for me anytime that I need them.
I am also blessed with my job. My boss allows me to work around my school schedule and even sometimes from home. I can't think of a better job that I could have during this time of my life. I enjoy my coworkers, I get free lunch three days a week, and I love what I do.
I will need a part 2 of this post because I have so many other things going through my head right now. Let me end this portion of the post by saying that I do not mean to sound like I am bragging about my life and I am sorry if it came off this way to anyone. I just feel like we all should take a step back and thank God for the blessings that he has given each and every one of us.
Today, I read 2 Samuel 16-19. I wanted to read more than this, but I felt myself losing focus. I'd rather be really interested in four chapters than mildly interested in six or seven chapters. Anyway, in chapter 17, Absalom took the advice of Hushai, one of David's old friends who was secretly still loyal to David, over the advice of Ahithophel, who was highly respected among the people of those days. I know in this story that Absalom is the bad guy and David is the good guy, but I still think that we can learn from Absalom's side of the story. Hushai's advice sounded good and sincere, but it ultimately lead to Absalom's death. This story made me think about what kind of advice I get and from whom. Just because advice sounds good, we should ultimately consult our loved ones and God, through the Word before we make any major desicions.
My prayer is that we fill our minds with God's Word and prayer for wisdom so we can distinguish between the Ahithophels and the Hushais of our lives.
I am also blessed with an awesome family. My parents did a brilliant job raising me (I mean, just look at me!). With all jokes aside, I wish that I will be half the father that my dad was to me. My mom taught me how to be compassionate and caring. Your (mom and dad) love for Christ is the greatest thing that you passed on to me, and I thank you for that. I couldn't have asked for a better brother and sister. Sure, we've had the usual sibling fights (back poundings), but I know that they will always be there for me anytime that I need them.
I am also blessed with my job. My boss allows me to work around my school schedule and even sometimes from home. I can't think of a better job that I could have during this time of my life. I enjoy my coworkers, I get free lunch three days a week, and I love what I do.
I will need a part 2 of this post because I have so many other things going through my head right now. Let me end this portion of the post by saying that I do not mean to sound like I am bragging about my life and I am sorry if it came off this way to anyone. I just feel like we all should take a step back and thank God for the blessings that he has given each and every one of us.
Today, I read 2 Samuel 16-19. I wanted to read more than this, but I felt myself losing focus. I'd rather be really interested in four chapters than mildly interested in six or seven chapters. Anyway, in chapter 17, Absalom took the advice of Hushai, one of David's old friends who was secretly still loyal to David, over the advice of Ahithophel, who was highly respected among the people of those days. I know in this story that Absalom is the bad guy and David is the good guy, but I still think that we can learn from Absalom's side of the story. Hushai's advice sounded good and sincere, but it ultimately lead to Absalom's death. This story made me think about what kind of advice I get and from whom. Just because advice sounds good, we should ultimately consult our loved ones and God, through the Word before we make any major desicions.
My prayer is that we fill our minds with God's Word and prayer for wisdom so we can distinguish between the Ahithophels and the Hushais of our lives.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Temptation
Yesterday morning, Luna, my dog decided to start an awful trend. In the early mornings and at night we have rabbits that hop around the woods behind our house. The problem; Luna loves rabbits! She will first sit majestically and wag her tail at them. Next, she will pace from one side of the yard to the other, accompanied by a small growl every now and then. After this, she will begin barking hysterically at the poor things. And as I found out yesterday morning, the final stage of this sequence includes sprinting after the rabbits, regardless of the cost. The cost in this scenario is, of course, the invisible fence. I'd like to think of Luna as a pretty smart dog, and she has learned her boundaries by this electric fence. She has also learned the consequences of crossing those boundaries. I, too, know this consequence because my wife dared me to try it out and it hurts! I have concluded that, sometimes, her temptation to chase this rabbit clouds her knowledge and rationale and she knowingly absorbs a good shock all because of this temptation.
Is this far from us as humans? I am guilty of falling to temptation, being fully aware of the consequences of my actions. Whether they be internal guilt or outward disciplines, sometimes the temptation may feel like the only option I have. I have been "shocked" many times and like an animal, continue to fall to the same temptation. God has created us not to act like animals, but to be over the animals. It is my prayer that God can open my eyes to when I am beginning to sit majestically and wag my tail at whatever temptation is in front of me at the moment. I know that by the time that I am barking frantically and pacing back and forth, it is too late!
Today, I read up to 2 Samuel 15. The one thing that struck me was the story of Amnon and Tamar. Amnon was one of David's sons and Tamar was his half sister. Amnon loved Tamar to the point of being sick because he knew he couldn't do anything about it. One of his friends advised Amnon to rape Tamar and Amnon did it. Here is the point of the story....once Amnon raped his sister, the Bible says that he hated her more than he had loved her before. The way I see it, Amnon fell in temptation and sin, and as always, the temptation did not delivery as advertised. It probably turned out far worse than he could have imagined. The end result was that Amnon got murdered by his brother Absalom.
Temptation is an evil tool that Satan uses for all of us. Be on your guard, my brothers and sisters, so that we will not fall into temptation! Learn your weaknesses in this area so that you may know when you need help. It is my prayer that you can surround yourselves with strong, Christian friends that will motivate you to flee from these temptations.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Here am I, all of me...
Hello all! I figured that in this first post, I will tell you a little bit about myself and the reasons why I wanted to start a blog. My name is Dave, I am 24 and am happily married to Tereza, my favorite person in the world. I am a year away from beginning my career as a high school math teacher and am super excited about it. I am a very quiet and reserved person, which was motivation for me to begin blogging. That's enough about me for now, you'll get to know me better along the way!
The main reason that I wanted to blog is that God has been putting it on my heart. I have always thought of blogging as time consuming and stupid, but now I feel that it will be beneficial to myself, and hopefully you. My aim for this blog is to grow as a Christian by being honest and transparent with my readers. I feel like this will build a sense of accountability between myself and those of you who take time out of your day to read. Here is your first dose of blunt honesty:
I am not doing a good job being a Christian and now that I think about I have never really been the type of Christian that I yearn to be. Let me get more specific with this (I hate Christian generalizations like I just used); I rarely read my Bible consistently, I don't tell others about Jesus, and when I get around to praying, I pray selfishly. I understand fully how Paul feels when he talks about being the worst sinner, and I want this to stop.
Now that that's off my chest, I have a job for you as my readers. I give you all permission to challenge me, question my views, and push me to become a better Christian. You don't even have to know me, if God puts it on your heart to comment, please do.
I am not writing this for your entertainment, so if you're looking to be entertained, keep looking. I am not writing this because I have all the answers, or any answers. I am not writing this because I like to voice my opinion (I don't). I am writing this in the hopes that it will encourage people to take the steps to grow in their walks with God, as well as encourage myself to do the same.
Most of my posts will be much shorter than this, don't worry! The last part of each post will be about what God has revealed to me through his Word. This will motivate me to keep reading the Bible daily. Today I read 2 Samuel 8-12. I usually don't read this much but it was a nice day outside and in the back of my mind I knew I would be posting how much I read on here. My prayer is that I will increase the amount I read and maybe even start to like to read. There are a few things that stuck out at me that I would like to share.
The first thing is 2 Samuel 10:12. Joab, David's army general told his brother, who was heading up some of David's army, "Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight." After reading this verse, I began thinking about where Joab is coming from. He has seen God work so many times before. He knows the power of the LORD and tries to pass this on to his brother for battle. Joab knows that he is a part of God's chosen people, and he trusts that God will watch over them during this battle. Shouldn't I have the same feelings? How come I don't have the courage to tell others about Jesus even though I have seen countless times the power of Jesus in my own life and others' lives. Shouldn't I be willing to take that leap of faith because the LORD will do what is good in His sight. God loves me more than I know, so why would he not want to protect me.
I skipped the part about David and Bathsheba because I have read it and heard it too many times to count, but I read about David's son dying because of David's sin. David fasted for seven days so God would have mercy on him and his son. This made me think about all the things that we pray for and don't get. David was a true hero of faith and God still struck down his son even after he fasted for a week (try fasting for a week by the way). The main thing from this story is that after he learned about his son's death, what did David do? He worshipped God. I have a problem worshipping God after I lose a church league softball game. David's son just died because God struck him ill...and he worships God? I cannot get my head around this.
My prayer is to be more like David in this aspect. I yearn to be a Godly man, and modelling myself after David would be a good start. I dare to say that the church needs more men who will boldly worship their Heavenly Father!
The main reason that I wanted to blog is that God has been putting it on my heart. I have always thought of blogging as time consuming and stupid, but now I feel that it will be beneficial to myself, and hopefully you. My aim for this blog is to grow as a Christian by being honest and transparent with my readers. I feel like this will build a sense of accountability between myself and those of you who take time out of your day to read. Here is your first dose of blunt honesty:
I am not doing a good job being a Christian and now that I think about I have never really been the type of Christian that I yearn to be. Let me get more specific with this (I hate Christian generalizations like I just used); I rarely read my Bible consistently, I don't tell others about Jesus, and when I get around to praying, I pray selfishly. I understand fully how Paul feels when he talks about being the worst sinner, and I want this to stop.
Now that that's off my chest, I have a job for you as my readers. I give you all permission to challenge me, question my views, and push me to become a better Christian. You don't even have to know me, if God puts it on your heart to comment, please do.
I am not writing this for your entertainment, so if you're looking to be entertained, keep looking. I am not writing this because I have all the answers, or any answers. I am not writing this because I like to voice my opinion (I don't). I am writing this in the hopes that it will encourage people to take the steps to grow in their walks with God, as well as encourage myself to do the same.
Most of my posts will be much shorter than this, don't worry! The last part of each post will be about what God has revealed to me through his Word. This will motivate me to keep reading the Bible daily. Today I read 2 Samuel 8-12. I usually don't read this much but it was a nice day outside and in the back of my mind I knew I would be posting how much I read on here. My prayer is that I will increase the amount I read and maybe even start to like to read. There are a few things that stuck out at me that I would like to share.
The first thing is 2 Samuel 10:12. Joab, David's army general told his brother, who was heading up some of David's army, "Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight." After reading this verse, I began thinking about where Joab is coming from. He has seen God work so many times before. He knows the power of the LORD and tries to pass this on to his brother for battle. Joab knows that he is a part of God's chosen people, and he trusts that God will watch over them during this battle. Shouldn't I have the same feelings? How come I don't have the courage to tell others about Jesus even though I have seen countless times the power of Jesus in my own life and others' lives. Shouldn't I be willing to take that leap of faith because the LORD will do what is good in His sight. God loves me more than I know, so why would he not want to protect me.
I skipped the part about David and Bathsheba because I have read it and heard it too many times to count, but I read about David's son dying because of David's sin. David fasted for seven days so God would have mercy on him and his son. This made me think about all the things that we pray for and don't get. David was a true hero of faith and God still struck down his son even after he fasted for a week (try fasting for a week by the way). The main thing from this story is that after he learned about his son's death, what did David do? He worshipped God. I have a problem worshipping God after I lose a church league softball game. David's son just died because God struck him ill...and he worships God? I cannot get my head around this.
My prayer is to be more like David in this aspect. I yearn to be a Godly man, and modelling myself after David would be a good start. I dare to say that the church needs more men who will boldly worship their Heavenly Father!
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