battle with the flesh

Today I saw a theme of our battle with the flesh. Starting with Hezekiah cleaning out the temple. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and need to be cleaned out when ever the flesh gets the better of us. Paul spends a whole chapter begging us to just stop quarreling over the small stuff and to let love rule our actions. As a parent, I've seen how silly some quarrels can be and yet I'm so quick to get all worked up over nothing. In Psalms, David says, "Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart" I thank God that He has made a way for me to deal with sin and find forgiveness. Our Proverb today says,"Ears that hear and eyes that see - the LORD has made them both." What a gift to hear and see the truth!

I don't have much to say today. Maybe my head is a little fuzzy for some reason. This would be a good time for you to jump in with your thoughts on today's reading.

The one verse that stood out to me was 2Chron.28:22. In the life of King Ahaz this verse is pretty telling. "In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord." I thought of 2Thes.2:10-11 which says that those who refuse to believe the truth will believe a lie (or The lie) instead. This is good to remember when talking to unbelievers.

More on arrogance

About a week ago I had a dream. I don't even remember any of the details but the point was loud and clear, I have a problem with arrogance! I know it was the Lord showing me this and I know that He would not reveal it to me unless He wanted to fix it. This dream came before this section of Romans where Paul says, "don't be arrogant", "don't be conceited", "don't be proud", and "don't think more highly of yourself than you ought." OK I give! I repent! Lord help me to not look down on those who are not where I am spiritually. I know that any insight I have is a gift from You. Man! it was not that long ago that the Lord delivered me from a sever case of inferiority. At the time I felt like no one really liked me, not even God, but He set me straight and He set me free. And now I have slid all the way to the other side! I'm so glad that the Holy Spirit never let's me out of His sight!

Romans 11:20

"Do not be arrogant, but be afraid." Our connection to God is 100 percent God holding on to us. It's based on our faith in His grace. We can start to slip when we either doubt His loving grace or we put our faith in our own goodness. Either way it's pride that pulls on us, and the result is the same. I think this verse is saying that it's healthy to have to have a fear of our own pride. 1Cor.10:12 says, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

Great Leadership

Today we read the words of two of Israel's great kings and we can see what made them great. First is Jehoshaphat who went into battle with the worshipers first. He knew that only God could win the battle and his actions proved it. Then in Psalm 21:6, David says that God made him glad with the joy of His presence. David had every material blessing, he had all the praise and honor, and he had success in everything he did, but the source of his joy was the presence of God. The good leader keeps their eyes on God and points the way for everyone else to follow. This puts them on the front lines but it also gives them a clearer view of the source of true joy.

What can I say about Romans 8? This is such a wonderful part of scripture I just want to read it over and over! There is one verse in 2Chron. 11 that stood out to me, it's verse 16. "Those from every tribe of Israel who set there hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of there fathers." Few things were more important to an Israelite than their inheritance of land, but here are a few who were willing to leave their land in order to worship God. I'm looking forward to meeting these folks when I get to heaven! It got me thinking about my priorities.

Psalm 18:26 "To the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd." How often have I heard someone say, "That's not a very loving God" or "I can't believe in a God who would do or say that." Today's Psalm seemed to say to me that the condition of our heart determines how we see God. Then in Romans 8:15 I see that our position also affects our view. "but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry Abba Father." The ability to approach the throne of God and see His true nature is something the world just can't do. I love 2 Chron.9:7 where the Queen of Sheba proclaims, "How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom. Solomon on his throne is a picture of God and how happy we are to stand before Him and hear His wisdom!

Submitting to God

Today I saw a theme running through the passages I read. It had to do with choosing to submit to God. First, the temple of Solomon, the temple was never meant to contain God. It was a place where God placed His name. It was a focal point for the people to seek God. It wasn't even necessary to actually be at the temple, a person could just turn toward it. This is classic repentance. It is an acknowledgement that the person is the one who had turned away and they were turning back to God and submitting to His way. I love how Solomon even includes foreigners in this. Then in Romans 7&8, Paul talks about our struggle with the sin nature and how we are powerless against it apart from the Holy Spirit. It all comes down to who or what we submit our minds and hearts to. We are no match to the enemy but he is certainly no match to our God! In Psalm 18, David describes how God came to his aid. God can and will move heaven and earth to defend those who are His own. Submitting to God is a glorious thing!!

Blessed

How blessed are we?!! Rom. 4:7-8 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD will never count against him." In Ps. 13 we see that no matter how our troubles seem to pile up and we can't see any divine deliverance on the horizon we still have our salvation to rejoice in and God's unfailing love to trust in.(verse 5) David says in verse 6. "I will sing to the Lord for He has been good to me." I say, amen we are blessed indeed!

We have all heard the expression, Put your money where your mouth is. Today the Lord has shown me that I need to put my mouth where my faith is! Prov. 19:13 says that a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping. Ps. 12:3-4 speaks of the boastful who think they can fight and win battles with their tongues. But in verse 5 the Lord says that He will arise and protect us when we are maligned. It is pride that seeks to fight battles that belong to the Lord. Faith produces humility and humility increases faith. This is the road that I want to walk on. The battles we are called to are not against flesh and blood. And when the Lord has granted rest on every side I want to devote my heart and soul to seeking Him. 1Chron.22:18-19

Romans 2:25-

Curcumcision was meant to be an outward sign of an inward dedication. Only God can see the inside of someone. It is so easy to just see the outward appearance of someone or just look at what they say or do and think we know what's in their heart. We can even fool ourselves with words or actions and avoid dealing with the inside. If I can't even always know my own heart I should never think I know someone else's. Today's Prov.19:11 Says, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offence." I'm so glad I can say like David in Ps.11, "In the LORD I take refuge" and "For the LORD is righteous, He loves justice; upright men will see His face." !!

arrogance

Recently I have been accused of arrogance by an unbeliever. So I looked up the definition: full of or due to unwarranted pride or self-importance. I found myself asking the question," Is it arrogance if one really is superior?" I am certainly made of the same stuff as any unbeliever, I'm formed in the image of God, fallen and sinful to my very core. But I am also forgiven, accepted, made God's child and Jesus' betrothed. My standing before God has nothing to do with my own merit but it is none the less different, none the less superior. The most humble of saints will appear arrogant to the unbeliever. I can't help going back all the way to Cain and Abel. Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God and Cain hated him for it. With all of this in my mind today, I read 1Chron. 17. In verse 17 David says,"You have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men." He went on to say, "and You know your servant." It makes no difference how anyone else looks at me, the important thing is how God looks at me. And the result is truly humbling!

Injustice

Psalm 7 is a shiggaion which means a loud cry. David had been slandered by a guy named Cush. I just hate injustice. I don't even like watching movies about injustice. The greatest injustice of all time is what the innocent Lamb of God suffered on my behalf. David also suffered injustice and his response was to cast it all on the Lord. I like what John Courson said about David, "Rather than getting sore about the situation, he soars above the situation by praising God" Our Father is a just God and we can trust Him no matter what comes our way.

Psalm 6

Lately I've been learning that we all have a special and important place in the body of Christ. In Chron. 6:31 David appointed men whose whole job was to sing in the tabernacle. David was a man of passion. He had huge trials and huge victories and he had the ability to express himself in the midst of it all. David lived and died 3,000 years ago! I'm so glad he wrote it down! And I'm thankful that the Lord preserved David's words so I can pick up my Bible in 2009 and be moved and inspired to trust God today. What if David had said to himself, "Nobody wants to here this!" and then just got up and went to work? The body needs everyone doing that special thing they were made to do.

Psalm 5

Give ear to my words O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, For unto thee will I pray, my voice shalt Thou hear in the morning. O Lord in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee and will look up.

I was able to type this Psalm from memory because I learned it as a song. I pray that the Lord will raise up song writers who set scripture to music. We were exhorted on Sunday to meditate on scripture. Songs often get stuck in my head, Wouldn't it be great if the words to the song were God's words?!!

Who's in charge?

Anyone observing Paul's situation would think that he was a powerless victim locked up in jail for two years at the whim of the Roman governor. I imagine that even Paul felt frustrated at times. We have the benefit of reading the end of the story and we can see how God's promises are always fulfilled in God's time. God promised Paul that he would go to Rome and that's where he went. I want to remember this when it seems like God has forgotten about His promises to me. It is such a good thing to be reading thru the whole Bible every year because I'm the one with the short memory!

I loved reading Paul's words to the crowd. (Acts21:37-22:16) He spoke their language, found common ground and told his story. The fact that he even wanted to speak to the people who had just beat him up showed his great love for them. The crowd, on the other hand, had such a hatred for anything Gentile. It got me thinking about the whole subject of hatred. 2Kings22-23 tells of King Josiah's campaign to rid Israel of everything that was not from God. He was motivated by love for God but that love caused a hatred of evil and anything to do with it. Psalm 1 speaks of not associating with the wicked or mockers or sinners. I guess I should stop associating with myself! Please see Carol's comment yesterday and my response. I think this all ties together. God loves all people. Jesus died for all people. But the old saying, "love the sinner, hate the sin" seems just too simple to me. As you can see I have not really settled all this in my mind. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject of just where a hatred of sin takes us and how we respond to what we perceive as sinful.

We like sheep

Mob mentality always amazes me, how a whole crowd can be worked up by so few. Acts 21 is an example of this. Paul was doing nothing wrong but before he could even defend himself the crowd was beating him! This was not the first time either. In 2Kings 21:9 Evil king Manasseh led the people astray. We are truly like sheep and it is much easier to lead sheep down hill then up. After reading today's passages I am struck with the need to pray for our pastor. That his heart will remain pure towards God so he can clearly lead the way and "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."Phil.3:14

God holds the future

I love the saying that goes: I don't know what the future holds but I know Who holds the future. Today I saw two examples of this. It is great to be able to read these stories from the past and see how God came through just like He said He would because it takes care of all the "what ifs" I can come with. First in 2Kings 18-19 Hezekiah was faced with the most powerful army on earth surrounding Jerusalem. He tried to pay them off but that didn't work. The only option left was to look up to God and God came through in an amazing way. I could read this story over and over because I know how it ends but how scary for Hezekiah! Then I read the account of Paul heading for Jerusalem in Acts 24. The outcome for Paul was jail but the Spirit not only told Paul, He also told many of his friends about what was coming. I think that God wanted everyone to know that He was still in control and that nothing takes Him by surprise. What peace this knowledge brings! Last I read Ps. 149:4. "The LORD takes delight in His people." Like the psalmist I just want to dance!!