Yesterday, a nasty fire took over 30 homes less than 10 miles from my house. I see pictures from fire scenes on the news every year but when it is so close to home one gets a different perspective. So today I opened my Bible and read a psalmist asking God why things were going so bad for Israel. We have been reading in Job a similar struggle. Then in Job 38 God shows up with some questions for Job. I remember the first time that I read the book of Job thinking that God's response to poor Job was pretty unsatisfying. But this time I think I get it. God's very presence is the answer to every question. Paul gives so much insight in our 2Cor. passage. I love how he starts: we believe therefore we speak because we know... He then goes on to contrast physical temporal world that we see all around us to the unseen eternal things that we know by faith. 5:7 Says, "We live by faith not by sight." Our faith is based on what we know. I know that God is great and good and all powerful and that He loves me. I know that He has promised me that I will be with Him forever. I know that if Paul could view his troubles as "light and momentary" I should be able to do the same. An eternal perspective is a comforting and awesome thing to have.

I noticed something today but I'm not really sure if I am seeing it right so please jump in with your thoughts. Both Job and the Psalmist were going thru hard times and they both were remembering the past but here's what I noticed: The Psalmist remembered his time with the Lord and he was encouraged but Job remembered his own past glory and he seemed more depressed by it. Now if anyone had a right to feel depressed and hopeless it was Job. He didn't even have a Bible to turn to. I am still not sure I can make my point from today's reading but I know that what and how I remember things affects my mood and attitude.

It is almost like Paul is writing his thoughts on our reading in Job! Job's friends are giving their opinion about suffering but it's pretty clear that they are not speaking from experience. Paul, on the other hand, had plenty of first hand experience with suffering. I'm the type of person who has an opinion on everything but I'm learning from this reading thru Job that it's often best to keep them to myself. Not only is my first opinion often completely wrong but the damage done by speaking out of ignorance is hard to repair. Lord, give me the wisdom to know when You want to speak thru me and when I should just keep silent.

Words to live by

I saw two great passages in today's reading that can form the foundation of my life. First is in 1Cor.16:13-14, Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. I love the back to basics verses. When life starts to go crazy all around us it's simple instruction like this that will keep us grounded. Then there's Job. His life was way more than crazy, he was desperate, he lost everything and now even his integrity was being questioned. But even in his lowest point he was able to say, "I know that my Redeemer lives!" That's basic! I came across a quote from Corrie ten Boom that makes this point,"You'll never know the Lord is all you need until the Lord is all you have."

Life is short, even a long one! Today's passages all seem to focus on life and death, all pretty heavy. Before I started reading today my thoughts and prayers were on two people I know who are both close to death. One is a believer and one is not. Only God knows how long any of us has in this life. Our hope as God's children makes all the difference. He is the fulfillment of all our desires and dreams. Many people have a list of things that they want to do before they die but I think that God is the one who has the list, a list of things He wants to accomplish in our lives. Our very existence is His idea and we live for His good pleasure. I'm just so glad I know Him!

LOVE

I started today's reading with 1Cor.13, the love chapter. I was struck with how deep and limitless the love of God is, compared with how shallow mine is. As I read the next passages I found some instruction that will help God's love grow in me. First in Psalm 37: Don't fret because of evil men But delight myself in the LORD. God is not threatened by boastful arrogant people so fretting is at best a waste of energy. The next step, after stop fretting, is to control my tongue! Proverbs says it will keep me from calamity. I know that giving voice to a critical spirit makes God's love that much harder to attain. Then I read how the book of Esther ends with a party. We look forward to a wedding supper! When I think of how blessed I am to be God's child, I can have genuine pity for those who are not. This is how I summed up what I learned today; Pity leads to mercy which leads to compassion which leads to love. Does that make sense? What do you think?

more on Esther

This is such a juicy story. Even Disney could not create such a perfectly evil bad guy. Pride goeth before a fall and boy did Haman fall! Courson had a great observation: When Haman left the banquet with an invite to one the next day, he was in high spirits, but one look at the Jew who did not bow to him and his mood changed. Courson says that you can take an accurate measure of some one's character by the size of things that bug him. Good point!

Esther

O how I love the book of Esther! The only thing I don't like is that we only get to read it for 3 days. So much happens in this short book. I love the details, even the descriptions of the king's garden down to the gold goblets. I especially love to see the hand of God all the way through. Did you notice that Haman cast the pur or lot in the first month and it fell on the last month? This gave the rest of the story a whole year to unfold. This was needed because all rulings from the king had to be hand carried. Such a small detail but God had it covered. What comfort to know that our God not only sees the future but has everything set up for us when we get there!

head coverings

This section from 1 Cor.11 is all about men and women and having there heads covered. I find this passage to be pretty confusing. I know that there is a cultural element here but God's word is timeless and I tend to think that the cultural angle is a cop out. One thing that I find confusing is that Paul starts by saying that the head of the woman is the man and then says that a woman's head should be covered. Does that mean my husband should be covered? I know that Paul is not preaching legalism here and if that is all we get from this passage then we have missed the point. I would sure love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Psalm 32

David is so open and honest in this psalm. I'm thankful for this peek into a heart that truly sought God. Here's what I learned from this psalm. It is so much better to come quickly, repent readily, and surrender completely. Joy waits for those who do, while groaning, heaviness and weakness wait for those who refuse and try to just cover it up.

So much has been said about Nehemiah, it is a favorite of many teachers. What stood out for me today was the list of people who worked on the wall. It included priests, rulers, a goldsmith, and a perfume maker. Any one of these people could have said, "I am not called to do manual labor, I have a special job to do." But there are some jobs that require everyone to pitch in. Nobody can do everything and there is a time to stick to what we do best and let others do what they do best. A common job with a common goal and everyone working side by side can be an amazing thing to be a part of.

Praise and Worship

The LORD has been teaching me some things about praise and worship lately, and Psalm 29 is a perfect example. Verse 1&2 says,"ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness." Praise is simply ascribing to someone or something what is good about them. We can praise our child, we can even praise our dog. But when we start praising God and ascribing to Him all the great things He has done and how awesome He really is then worship is the natural response. Praise brings us into "the splendor of His holiness" and we can't help but worship. The better view of God I have (and praise sharpens my eyesight) the more faith I have and the more joy I have. I have often heard that a fruit tree does not strain to squeeze out fruit, but I have seen trees strain to reach the sun, and there will be no fruit until it gets the sunshine that it needs. So like David, I say, "Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!"

Ezra 3&4

This is an interesting statement from Ezra 4 , The enemies of Judah...said, "Let us help you build.." We see their true colors as soon as they are denied. I thought back to King David, when he wanted to build a temple. When God said no, David did not throw a fit and try to stop anyone else from building it. He gave all his resources to the one who would build it. But here in Ezra we see a clear picture of how our enemy works. He tries to blend in and if that doesn't work he sets out to destroy. I think that it is interesting that the people living around Jerusalem were so against the Jews having a place there. Nothing has changed in all these years. Where ever we see God at work we will also see the enemy trying to undo it. I'm so glad that, "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world"

a moveable heart

I love starting to read Ezra. After the sad ending of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, everything is starting over. The promises to use Cyrus after 70 years of captivity to bring the people back are seeing their fulfillment. Ezra 1:5 says,"everyone whose heart God had moved - prepared to go up" I found myself asking, "Is my heart movable?" When God wants to do something big would I be in that group whose heart God had moved? or would I say, "No thanks, I'm comfortable where I am." Those who stayed behind gave to and supported those who went, and they were blessed to that extent, but they did not get to see first hand the great things that God was doing.

Psalm 27:1&4

Today I am just going to copy two verses from Psalm 27 and let the Word speak for itself. 1"The LORD is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?" 4"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple." amen

God's promises

In 2Chron.34, God fulfilled a promise to judge and He made a new one. Back in 1Kings 13:2, a prophet told King Jeroboam that a descendant of David named Josiah would burn the bones of the false priests on the altar he had built. This is exactly what happened 300 years later. Then in this chapter, God says that He will bring judgement on the people but not in Josiah's life time. (you only have to read ahead two chapters to see the fulfillment of this) We don't know just how or when the promises of God to us will be fulfilled but we can certainly count on them. I'm not real big on waiting but my God seems to kind of like it! OK I guess it builds faith and character and all that good stuff. It looks like once again that Father knows best!!