Sept 24

Sorry I got late with this one....there's been a LOT going on the last couple days.......God is good! But I love this passage and didn't want to skip by it.

I used to read this and think that this all had to do with end times. It does, but it was also fullfilled amazingly and accurately fullfilled in the second century. Skeptics have alleged that such events were certainly recorded after the fact — the work of a historian and not a prophet. Peter C. Craigie notes the importance of the interpretation of Daniel, as he says, “in the minds of some”:


“The dreams of Daniel, if taken as sixth century productions, clearly and accurately predict the course of Near Eastern history down to the middle of the second century B.C. (at least), and are a testimony to the accuracy of God’s special revelation to Daniel. On the other hand, it is precisely the concurrence between the substance of the visions and the actual history of the Near East which compels other interpreters to claim that the visions must have been written after the events they describe” (The Old Testament: Its Background, Growth and Content, Nashville: Abingdon, 1986, p. 246).


 Really the whole book of Daniel would have had to have been faked because each vision builds on the next (and we know that Jesus himself references the book and that much of Revelation parallels it). In the previous vision we find that the big ram's kingdom is going to be broken up into 4 parts. In this vision, we concentrate just on two of the four parts, the king of the north and the king of the south.

I'm going to give you a cliff note version of what happened. (I encourage you to google a more complete version)  If you see Israel on a map, you realize they are kind of a pathway or road between the modern day nations and Syria and Lebenon to the north and Egypt to the south. A war between these empires would mean marching through Israel, which is exactly what they did. The king of the North (Antiochas Epiphanes) marched against the southern kingdom. (I forget all the names of the empires- Ptomames and Sulucids or something like that-I regret I dont' have time to be more accurate, but the info is out there). Upon marching to the south, Rome sails into to fight with the south and the north is turned back- marching again through Israel. They have no spoils or booty or anything to pay the soldiers with and they raid the temple. They set up sacrifices to greek gods and even slaughter pigs on the alters (especially detestable to Jews). Finally, there is the Maccabean revolt and the temple is retaken. It has to be rededicated and there is only enough oil for one day and the dedication much last 8 days. And it does. Thus the celebration of Hanakah (which Jesus himself attended by the way John 10:22)

Clearly this sacrificing a pig on the alter would have been thought of as the 'abomination that causes deslotation'. However, Jesus warns his disciples (and us) of the 'abominoation that causes desolation' in the end times. So clearly, even though a lot of this passage was fulfilled, (so much so that unbelievers cannot accept it was written beforehand), we are not done with this prophesy. (I wonder if the diciples were sitting around with their mouths hanging open thinking- "I thought this happened already!" Matthew 24:15.

I wanted to go into a lot more depth about this, but if I don't leave google alone, I will never get this published and it's already a couple days late. Until recently, I've never heard a word on this subject in all my years of church. And it's such a cool subject. But I can't see how it does not fit in a '3 point outline' of a sermon. Keep learning and searching on your own! Don't take my word for anything...search it out!

Sept 22

I put an addendum on yesterday's blog and if you receive this by eamil or don't visit our Chronological Bible site, you may have missed it. If you follow the link that I posted, it takes you to a site by endtimepilgrim and there is a youtube video that helps explain Daniel's 70 sevens and a how it fits exactly with Jesus presenting himself as Messiah. I tried to watch the other associated videos and got on some weird ones (you tube just throws all 'associated videos' together). So, if you watch it, and I reccomend that you do, make sure you stay on the Gavin Finley ones. It's been suprisingly difficult to find a theologially sound site to link to. I checked out all this guys doctrinal statement and went to his bio. I feel it is all sound. Here is a link that puts all the 70 Seven videos in order (bottom of the page) http://endtimepilgrim.org/70wks1.htm
___________________________________________________________________________________

I just love Daniel (my son and the book :)! He had lived through all these rulers, had been shown these awesome visions, read that captivity was about to end and had been shown the end of times. Ah, Jerusalem will be restored....maybe in his lifetime....maybe he will return himself......in any case just a few more years of this Babylon nonesense........smooth sailing from here.........NOT!! The unchangable decree comes down-anyone who prays to any god but the king will be thrown in the lions den. Hey- that wasn't the plan!

We don't have any experience with unchangable decrees. Any law can be bent, broken, changed or rewritten in our modern culture -even the 'unchangable' ones (like royals are not allowed to divorce).  But in these days a king could not even change his own decree. Daniel knows that nothing is going to get him out of this. There will be no last minute appeal or pardon.  So......he panics and starts praying in secret. NOT. He does what he's always done....prays three times a day toward Jerusalem. If the prayer we read yesterday is any indication, he is a powerful intercessor. I tend to think that he was praying that same type of prayer of confession of national and personal sin that he had done previously. I would have been temped to start out something like, "hey you remember my buddy Gabriel? If he's not too busy.....could you send him to me again?? I'm in a tough stop here!!"

I think this comes in a fitting place after talking about beasts and empires and tribulation and end times. It can be easy to be frightened by it all. But Daniel trusted God and the God he served shut the mouth of the beasts. Not a wound was found on him. And in the end, the ones who are indeed devoured by the beasts (lions in this case) are the ones who tried to harm him in the first place.

Sept 21 with addendum

Vast numbers of books have been written on Daniel 9 and his Seventy Sevens. I will show you how the dates may work out "to the very day" from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until Christ comes riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. First a few exciting points to ponder. I can't possible do it justice, but we'll give it a whirl here. This will be a long one. Hang in there! (I won't even touch on the hand writing on the wall...there is so much to comment on!)

Daniel, at his ripe age of 80 something, having spent most of his life in captivity in Babylon and having only very distant memories of beloved Israel, searches the scriptures and finds exciting news. Only a few more years of captivity are left! (Jer 25:8-12 and Jer 29:8-14). This drives Daniel immediately to prayer of confession for his people. I found a marvelous modern day equivelant of his prayer by Minster Joe Wright who was asked to open the Kansas Senate in prayer:

Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. Lord, we know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that's exactly what we've done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our fore-fathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us oh God and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name of Your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ.

Wow! He thought he might get a 'call or two' about his prayer. His staff quit counting at 6,500 (overwhelmingly positive).

Daniel got an even more overwhelming response to his prayer- a visit from Gabriel! (at the 'time of the evening sacrifice' which was 3pm, the same time that Jesus died-by the way). While Daniel is focused on the restoration of the Lord's desolate sanctuary and city in 7 years, God brings him a message of SEVENTY sevens.

It is not expounded on in the text, but we are not told that Daniel is confused and ill this time by the vision. I presume he understands the whole thing (he is told 3 times to understand it). A lot has to happen these seventy sevens (or 490 years)

• Daniel's people and holy city (Israelites and Jerusalem) finish trangression (do the words 'It is finished" ring in your mind?)
• put an end to sin
• atone for wickedness
• bring in everlasting righteousness
• seal up vision and prophecy 
• annoint the most holy

( Of course, it is difficult to imagine that we have an end to sin since we are still living in a sinful world. But Jesus did atone for it and pay the penatly and cancel it's power by bringing His righteousness).Daniel is told some more specifics about the timing. Jerusalem will be rebuilt first, but in times of trouble (see Nehamiah). And "from the issuing of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem until the Anointed One, it will be seven 'sevens' and sixty two 'sevens'". That makes 69 sevens or 483 years. The decree given by king Ataxerxes in Nehemiah 2 in March 14,445BC + 483 prophetic years brings us to April 6, 32 AD. *It is on that day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (in fulfillment of Zech 9:9).  They should have known this was all in fulfillment of prophecy:
 Luke 19:41-44 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

 (See the chart larger on the website with video explaination* and yes, I checked their doctrinal statement)

Daniel goes on to learn that after all this the Annointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. I've read that the Hebrew word used here is 'karath'. I means to cut down or kill and is the same word used in Lev 7:27 for the death penalty and also 'cutting' a covenant. And of course, that is exactly what happened to the Annointed One. That takes care of 69 or the 70 sevens. Many people know feel we are living in what they call the 'gap period'. Between the 69th and 70th week. Then in the last and final seven is the tribulation. It is a lot to try and comprehend! There is even more in the text but we will try to touch on some of it as we study Jesus quoting Daniel in the NT.

http://endtimepilgrim.org/70wks6.htm
*I can't make the math work myself (but I rarley can make math work!) I'll point you to this website that explains it I've seen others work it with a 444 BC date for the declaration and a 33 AD Palm Sunday date. No matter how you figure it, the Messiah has ALREADY COME!!


ADDENDUM: If you follow this link and watch the youtube video associated with it, you may realize that it is "part 4" and you may see a lot of other youtube videos at the end and try to watch the other parts. I accidently got on a Seventh Day Adventist video. If you try to watch the other videos in THIS series (and I high reccomend that you do!) make sure it is from GAVIN FINLEY. It has been really hard to find a site to link to that is theologically sound, so don't get lost!! If you start at the beginning of the videos, it all makes sense (even to my math challenged brain!!)

Sept 20

Meanwhile back at the ranch.......back to Daniel! I'm glad that the author included that little bit of history about who the rulers were. He lasted through a lot of rulers!

I had what I thought was a pretty good idea for a blog today. I've seen lots of great charts and graphs that explain these two chapters quite well and compare them to the beasts in the Revelation etc. While the charts themselves were good, the remainder of the these sites had very questionable material. Actually, this may be a good place to put in some warnings. When I got interested in prophecy (I don't get that deep into because my brain does not retain it-but I am interested) I watched a long series of videos on the internet by Doug Batchelor. Things go along great for a looonnng time and he sounds theologically sound until you get a really into and you start going 'whaaat??'. Nowhere does it disclose that it is from the Seventh Day Adventists. A LOT of the prophecy websites out there are run by Seventh Day Adventists. If you find a site, often (but not always) if you look under 'about us' or something similar it will disclose it but not always. Everything can sound VERY plausible. But unless you believe that Pope is going to be the anti-christ (I'm over simplifying because I don't remember all the details- but their interpretation of prophecy has a LOT to do with the Catholic Church) then don't go down this road. Other common prophecy sites are associated with the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Christ (which I tried to read their doctrinal statement because I thought that I remembered that they instist on baptism for salvation and I came away so confused that I didn't know what they believe). Just a word of caution. Google is not an 'easy fix' to figuring these things out.

Trying to figure all this out can be a headache! Poor Daniel, who was known to be a gifted interpreter of dreams was clueless, ill and exhausted! So if you are confused- give yourself a break. Even after Gabriel explained it, Daniel was said it was beyond understanding. We now have the benifit of seeing how history played out and how it fits absolutely perfectly with the vision. 

Most of the prophecies that we have read about have aready come to pass. Of course, each of these animals represent a kingdom. For example, the goat with the large horn is Alexander the Great who swiftly conquered the known world. The horn that breaks into 4, represents the four generals that his kingdom was given to when he died at the age of 33. The tricky part is that it seems to also be refering to the time of the end, so this may have just been a little preview of 'coming attractions'. Also the 4th kingdom has not been fully realized. Most people believe that this will be a revived Roman Empire or that it has something to do with the European Union. Another theory is that it is a confederation of Islamic states and the long awaited Islamic Messiah (the 12th Imam) will be the eventual anti-christ. Everything that I have heard about this theory is very compelling and actually makes the most sense to me (for what that is worth).

For further info on Daniel's visions I suggest watching Perry Stone on you tube. I haven't watched them all, but I have watched enough of him over the years to feel confident in his theology. He is a 'revived Roman Empire' guy however.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QLX5AMZJwk  This is the link for the first video, there are 8 all together.

Keep in view a very important point when trying to figure all this out- desite all the beasts and other craziness: "BUT THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH WILL RECEIVE THE KINGDOM AND WILL POSSESS IT FOREVER, YES, FOR EVER AND EVER. Daniel: 7:18 (Bottom line- if you are on Jesus team- you win!)

Sept 17

If you watched the "Redeemer" video that I posted (Nichole C. Mullen) a few days ago, much of the verses come from today's reading where God speaks. ("Who told the ocean you can only come this far".........)

As God reviews all His creation with creation with Job, one stuck out a me. Job 39:9 "Will the wild ox consent to serve you? will he stay by your manger at night?" I wondered if this was forshadowing of the Messiah and the way He was born. I couldn't find any commentary to back it up. Just a thought. Some versions say 'unicorn' which people say might be a rhino but as far as I know, a rhino doesn't eat from a manger, so wild ox seems more logical to me.

The other interesting thing to me is that Job 41 decribes a seriously large reptile! I can't think of any modern animal that it would equate with offhand. Certainly sounds like a dinosaur to me! Even people who do not believe the Bible is the Word of God would have a hard time explaining how ancient literature so perfectly describes what would call a dinosaur.

The most awesome thing about this passage, however, is trying to imagine the awe the Job must have felt as God spoke. I can't help thinking about how the Cowardly Lion was all blustery and tough talking when they were going to see the Wizard. And the first time the "Wizard" spoke, the Lion got so scared he jumped through the window. A humorous example, but you get the idea. Job felt like dust compared to God. But, even though (as the author points out) all our questions are not completely answered, eventually everything is put right. Job's friends are rebuked (imagine how they must have felt!!) and Job's former wealth and prosperity are restored even greater than before. He got double for his trouble :)

Sept 16

Job 32-37. Sometimes the lesson is simpler than  you think- (and it's one I am struggling to learn myself). You just need to shut up! Enter a new charachter in the drama: Elihu. To his credit he has listened to all the arguments and has listened well. He even quotes Job on some occasions. He just cannot contain himself- it's finally his turn to speak. He had to wait until everyone older than him was done and now he goes for it. Like the others, he doesn't really say anything that one would consider 'terrible theology'. Except for the fact that suffering is not always a punishment and meant to get your attention, nothing any of the say is "wrong" per se.

But Elihu doesn't really bring anything new to the party. Just more of the same endless stuff. The only thing that I can think to say, is something that I should say to myself more often: Shut Up Already. Does anyone think to try to help Job in any sort of a practical way? Not that I can see. Just talk torture to add salt to the wound. Hopefully, we never have to suffer like Job. But there are a lot of good lessons. The one that screams at me today is SHUT UP! And so I think I shall (for now :)

Sept 15

Who could we possibly compare Job to (prior to his suffering) ? Not only was he the wealthiest, best thought of, most respected man of his time- we find in today's reading that he was also one of the most giving and compassionate men ever. He looked after the poor, he was the champion of the downtrodden and oppressed, he was always fair with his servants...Everyone respected him and waited to hear what he had to say. The only human example I can even come up with is Oprah. (Disclaimer- I am neither a fan or a follower and I know that she mixes a lot of religions and calls it Christianity but is not a follower of Christ the Living God). Imagine if she lost her empire. Everything. She is a bum on the streets of Chicago begging beside other smelly bums. At one time, her money and efforts had fought for these homeless people....and now she was among them. Begging. Do they come to her in comfort and thank her for her past efforts? Take her in and protect her? No they mock her, reject her and insult her. Gail, Steadman and Obama settle in ring side seats to endlessly philosophize about her troubles and never lift a finger to help. TV networks and talk shows she once owned now broadcast footage of her in her humbled state. That's what we have here in the this in the story of Job. But even more so, because he was a truly righteous, God fearing and upirght man. Every day the depth of his anguish becomes more real to me and is like a 'punch in the gut'.


On a side note, in today's reading, I was curious about what it meant in about 'cutting Rahab into pieces' in Job 26:12. I was relieved to find out that it was not refering to Rahab the prositute who hid the spies. It actually has a different spelling in Hebrew and refers to storms and evil forces. It's used several times in scripture- several of which we have already read. Apparently I didn't notice it before.

Today's reading was long...it is easy to skim it. I would encourage you to read Job 28 again. Soak in the beauty of the verse  leading up to the last familiar verse: "The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understand". Great stuff.

Sept 14

One thing that has struck me about reading Job this time that I have never noticed is that he apparently has other family and friends. Job 19:13-20 talks about how his brothers are alienated from him, his aquintances estranged, his servants no where to be found. His intimate friends dispise him, his kinsman have left him. Almost always in every tragedy we hear people say "At least I have ___________(my kids, my parents, my church family- whatever; fill in the blank". But EVERYONE has turned on Job. Ealier in the chapters, there are illusions to his father too. Where is he now??

With absolutley everything and everyone against him, Job is still able to say, "I treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread" Job 23:12. He truly had so much of God's Word in him before all this struck, that it was able to sustain him.

Sept 13

Every day in the reading of Job, amidst the annoying friends and endless monologues there is a beautiful treasure. Today's is HUGE. It seems in the midst of Job's suffering and longings God gives him a prophecy. I'm not sure in the midst of his suffering that he even recognizes it as a prophecy. But he has a very keen aweness of how things will be in the distant future. And I'm sure that is what kept him going and it's the same for us today! I marvel at the whole passage- Job 19:25-27
 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet  in  my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
It's hard to express how profound this is. It's thought to be one of the earliest works of scripture and yet Job knows that he will stand with his Redeemer, on the earth after he has died (presumably in the Mellenium).

When we were in Seattle one time, we got to watch a long running Passion Play. We were lucky that Nichole C. Mullen was there that day as a special guest. As dusk decended on the play and Christ was crucified, she sang her song, "Redeemer". At the point where she belts out "I KNOW my Redeemer lives" the hillside lit up with angels and Christ arose. It was really, really awesome. It won't be the same, but enjoy her youtube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p4G2GbPYQA

Sept 12 (revised)

(I accidently 'published' instead of 'previewed' this before I was done, so if you got this by e-mail and it sounded half done it was :)

I have a confession- I peeked ahead. We will be done read Job on Sept 18th. Yup- I confess- I'm not into Job. Like I said, there is a ton of great stuff there. But, it's such an interuption to the story line we were on. I'm not good at that :) But, like I also said, that's how suffering is......an interuption of the plan.


I honestly don't know how Job doesn't use what last little bit of strength he has left to strangle these 3 'friends'. I work 12 hr shifts in a small unit and can seldom leave the area. If you have a personality conflict with someone you spend 12 hrs with, it can seem like an eternity. (Most of my colleages are fabulous- but I've been at this for 30 years- so I've worked with a lot of people!). Sometimes they NEVER shut up! You couldn't get a word in edge wise if you paid for it! Or worse yet, you have something important to say or ask, and they have already made up their mind what you are going to say and they don't want to hear. You get the 'talk to the hand' treatment.

Job has to listen to these guys tell him that he must have sinned to have caused all this for MONTHS! After that much badgering and in his weakened and suffering position, I'm suprised that he didn't lose it and falsely confess just to shut them up! His three friends started out with a great idea- they left their homes in order to comfort him and sypmathize with him. Job 2:11-13. They felt so bad for him they just sat with him for 7 days and didn't say a word. And then it started. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk........

 I'm pretty sure I would have blown at this point and said, "Will you SHUT UP!!". Job does struggle but he never loses it totally. I think that this is because of what I talked about yesterday- he keeps his focus on God. Amazing.

I also like in this chapter how he still has a gut belief that somehow, somewhere, Someone to be an advocate, an intercessor. In the previous readings, he pleads for such a One. In chapter 16, it's as though he sees Him by faith.

19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.
20 My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as a man pleads for his friend.

It's so easy on this side of the cross to take this advocacy for granted. We need an Advocate! God is more than love, He is also justice and holiness and the fact that Jesus Christ has taken our punishment and become our personal advocate in heaven is mind blowing. We have what Job could only long for and cling to by faith.

Sept 12

I have a confession- I peeked ahead. We will be done read Job on Sept 18th. Yup- I confess- I'm not into Job. Like I said, there is a ton of great stuff there. But, it's such an interuption to the story line we were on. I'm not good at that :)  But, like I also said, that's how suffering is......an interuption of the plan.

I honestly don't know how Job doesn't use what last little bit of strength he has left to strangle these 3 'friends'. I work 12 hr shifts in a small unit and can seldom leave the area. If you have a personality conflict with someone you spend 12 hrs with, it can seem like an eternity.  (Most of my colleages are fabulous- but I've been at this for 30 years- so I've worked with a lot of people!). Sometimes they NEVER shut up! You couldn't get a word in edge wise if you paid for it! Or worse yet, you have something important to say or ask, and they have already made up their mind what you are going to say and they don't want to hear. You get the 'talk to the hand' treatment.

Job has to listen to these guys tell him that he must have sinner to have caused all this for MONTHS! 

(I wasnt' done with this and accidently pushed 'publish' instead of 'preview'. If you get this by email there is more coming)

Sept 11

It's an appropriate day to talk about suffering. We will never forget the events of this day.

Job wrestles with suffering on a personal level as we experienced on a national level. He is not afraid to question, to probe.....he even complains (to a point). But he always keeps God his focus. The focus is not his suffering. If we had been writing it, I'm sure could have gone on and on and on about our sufferening! I know I could have especially if involved losing children and severe physical pain. It would be hard to have your focus off that for even a second.

We are given enough details of the suffering to understand it, but not enough to wallow in it. The focus turns quickly back to God. In Job 12:13-15, Job expounds of God's wisdom, power and providence. He realizes his place, that he (Job) is not God. This may sound rather obvious but you would be suprised how many discussions I have with people about God that really amount to the fact that they have a better idea on how to run the world. "Why doesn't God __________". I think it's ok to question and obviously Job had a lot of questions, but you have to start and end at point where you know that even though you don't understand and that you may never understand, that God does know what He's doing. He's proved it over and over and over. So rest and trust in it.

I marvel at Job's monumental faith that says, "Though he slay me, I will trust Him........indeed this will turn out for my deliverance" (Job 13:15-16) He didn't have the benifit of being able to read the scriptures in the way we do today. He didn't have hundreds of Christian books and biographies of martyrs to read that could strengthen his faith. He didn't have the Holy Spirit (the Comforter) in the same way we do today. But, he made up his mind to keep his focus on God, not on his circumstance or the people around him. Awesome lessons.

Sept 10

If only.........
Job continued to feel oppressed. He continued to feel utterly helpless under the hand of a mighty and just God. Job knew he was innocent but felt helpless against a powerful God. How can he even defend himself against the Maker of the Universe....the one Who put the constellations in place. If only there were Someone worthy to plead his case. He yearns for an advocate.

The book of Job is said to be a literary masterpiece in Hebrew. It is a poem, the work of a skilled and brilliant poet. Of course that aspect is lost to us non-Hebrew readers. But there are a few passages that are so beautiful that you can get a sense of it's timeless literary brilliance. Job 9:32-35 is one of those. Speaking of God, Job says:

He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

It sounds so sad and hopeless. Many Christians have suffered in their life but they have never had to suffer this "If only" feeling. Because we DO have an Arbitrator, someone who have laid His hand on us both (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; Heb. 12:24) None of us have ever had to suffer God's wrath without the buffer of grace that Jesus gave His life to provide.

Sept 9

Job is a fabulous book. It's amazing that one man's suffering has helped generation upon generation of people. Having said that, I am soooooooooo not in the mood for it. I was all geeked up with Nebechanezer and thinking that the rest of Daniel was going to be next. I was really getting into the fact that the chronology of it is all clicking with me. I was thinking soon I'd be able to share my next "To the exact day" prophesy about Daniel's 70 weeks. And bam.....here comes Job.

The other popular Chronological Bible that is out there, puts Job in the middle of Genesis. It would be a big interuption to the story there too. He just doesn't fit neatly with any timetable and the charcters seem out of place with the rest of the 'story line' of the Bible. But isn't that the way with suffering? It never comes at the right time, it doesn't fit your time table and no one sticks to what seems to be the right script. I know that when we went through an extremely difficult time in our family, many of my friends turned their back. I know that some did not know what to say or how to be supportive, but some that I trusted and turned to actually gossiped about it and said very hurtful things behind my back. But we were lucky- many other friends supported us in ways that we never could have imagined. To this day I can't talk about it without getting choked up. And that's what I chose to focus on. Job didn't have that luxury- he had nothing left positive to focus on.

I think another thing that we can learn from Job is that we need to take our facts from God's Word not popular school's of thought. It was commonly thought that sickness and punishment were always a direct result of sin. This was a popular notion all the way up to Jesus time. Followers asked Him why a man was blind- because of his own sin or because of his parents (John 9:2). Jesus tells them neither. Job didn't sin either and his friends will do his best to get him to admit that he had. Sin does get punished but not ALL sickness is a result of sin. Just because something is a popular notion and has been believed for hundreds of years doesn't make it true.

Job 6:8-13 was especially beautiful. Job talks of his joy in the midst of his unrelenting pain. His joy, shockingly, is that he had not denied the words of the Holy One. And he wished God would just get it over with and crush him so that there would be no chance that he would deny him. I can't imagine that being a focus for me in the midst of the kind of suffering Job was facing.

Sept 8

I work in a hospital as a nurse- we regularly practice skills we need in crisis. But do we ever think to do this in real life? We live in a crazy and unpredictable world and although God is always in control and He does work all things together for good- things can and will go wrong in your life. Maybe 'wrong' is not even the right word, but we will have crisis in your life.

One thing that I have learned to do is to try to 'spiritually prepare' for crisis. One of the foundations of this in Job 1:20. Occasionally I mentally 'reherse' No matter what tragedy comes _______________(fill in the blank with what you fear most), I WILL worship God. Job tore his robe and shaved his head (the traditional sign of grieving and mourning in that culture) AND fell on the ground in worship. It's good to have that settled ahead of time, because we certainly do not think clearly in a crisis.

A few of the lessons Job has also taught me in this first three chapters-

• He acknowleges that EVERYTHING he has was given to him by God
• He praises God, even in the pain. Let the NAME of the LORD be PRAISED
• He did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing
• He did not let the opinions of his spouse or friends change his reaction. Although he was totally alone in his beliefs, he never wavered
• He did grieve and didn't try to just 'slap a happy face it' but he always keeps God and His sovereingty uppermost in his thoughts.

I am certain that when faced with crisis that I will not go through it as well as I would hope. But being a little prepared can't hurt. Everyone will have to face things that they would rather not deal with. Having a game plan in mind can help. We can learn from Job's stratagies.

One thing Job never asked is "Why me". We often hear people ask that and I've asked that question a lot myself. But, I've learned to see that at the root of that question is a prideful heart. "I deserve better! I'm special. Look at so-n-so, I am a lot better than them, and nothing bad ever seems to happen to them".  We need to turn the focus from us to God. Blessed be HIS name. And the counter intuitive thing that happpens is, the more we magnify Him, the better we feel. It's because it is what we were created to do.

As we read through Job, I think that's one of the greatest lessons we can learn from him- humility. It's sadly lacking in our society. And, I'll be honest, it's sadly lacking in me. I thought I was making some progress until a 'button pusher' (we all have them) pushed one too many buttons and out of me spewed ugliness that I didn't know was in there.

 I was raised by hard working, humble parents who were wise enough not to let me even remotely imagine that I was the center of the universe. I can't imagine the next generation coming up who is being raised to think it IS all about them and their happiness. Lord help us. We will need it.

Sept 7

Even though the reason that we see so much information about the surrounding nations of is that the Jews were disobedient and were carried into captivity, it's interesting to see how God's hand is on the surrounding nations. "Controlling" would be too strong a word, because of course God always gives us free will, but we certainly get a chance to see how He is working in the course of human history in nations other than Israel.

Nebuchadnezzar is an odd duck. He actually believes in God and believes he is the Most High God. But he never quite gets to the point where he believes it enough let it change his life and his worsphip and renounce other gods. He does initially realize that his success is a gift from God, but gradually he becomes more and more prideful and things go very badly for him.

Interestingly, Sadam Hussien believed that he was the successor of Nebuchadnezzar or even the late king reincarnated. His dream was to take over surrounding nations and especially Israel/Jerusalem as Nebuchadnezzar had. He commisioined the rebuilding of the ancient hanging gardens of Babylon and had his name incribed on every brick just as Nebucenchadnezzer had (http://www.aish.com/jw/j/48960566.html) He did end up being like him, but not in the way he imagined! Both men end up scrounging arund in the dirt like animals. Sadam was eventually hanged. Nebuchandnezzer faired better because he looked up and remembered God.

Sept 6

Well this is one of those passages of scripture that if you did not truly believe that God inspired His word and prompted men to write it down and miraculously preserved it AND that it all somehow ties together- one would wonder what Ezekiel had been smoking.

I'm not going to pretend I understand it all or that even that parts that I do understand make sense. But I guess that is where faith comes in. I don't know if when all this happens we will be able remember to look back on these confusing moments and remember and say, "OH now I get it" or not. But if we will be able to- look me up and we'll chat about it :)

The first thing I got stuck on is- who the prince they are talking about? Some believe him to be David (http://www.bibletrack.org/cgi-bin/bible.pl?dy=5&mo=12) and most believe he cannot be Messiah/Jesus since he appears to have actual physical sons to give land to (although aren't we called his sons?) and he does not sit on the throne. The odd thing is that this 'prince' seems to perform as a priest which doesn't really bring David to my mind.

The next thing that struck me was that this temple that they are talking about has water flowing into the sea. (Ezekiel 47:1-12) I would have assumed this to the Med (people geographically smarter than me would probably not make this mistake). But then they talked about fishermen from En Gedi to En Eglaim they will there be places to spread out their nets (we'll be fishing in the Mellenium? My parents will be happy) En Gedi is over by the Dead Sea. I checked it out- sure enough they are refering to the Dead Sea. There is not one single living thing in the Dead Sea- not so much as a piece of sea weed. The Dead Sea is going to come to life!!!!????? (but the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt).  Fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Wow.

The third and most confusing to me is the sacrificing. Most commentators agree that it will be a type of memorial 'looking back' on Christ's ultimate sacrifice us. But I cannot wrap my head around animals being sacrificed after Christ's return.  (And my mother will be very upset- hopefully she will stay busy fishing :)

The only 'big picture' sense I can make out if it, is that God had a very specific plan for Israel and due to their sin, it was never fully realized. In the mellenium, it appears, we will be living in that plan as originally intended.

Sept 5

Ezekiel's visions of the Temple. Trying to explain all this will be a bit like trying to understand the book of Revelation. If you have followed my blog for any time you know I rarely come down on one school of thought and get dogmatically tied it. Even if I did, I don't see it as my role to convince you of any theories that I 'like'. But I like to throw out some ideas and point you in the direction of some theories that I think are valid and have you learn more on your own.

Here are the main points as I see them: this is a real temple (in the future, it doesn't match anything that has ever been), not just a figurative one (hense all the measurements etc). Israel, as you may have heard me mention has been in the planning stages of building a 3rd temple for quite some time. They have the furnishings, the priests, the garments etc. What they don't have is 'real estate' a place to build it (Temple Mount is of course under the control of the Muslims) and they don't have a red heifer which is required for temple worship (that's a whole different topic- they have been close a couple times, but then the heifer sprouted a white hair here or there and was disqualified). I do believe that Israel may experience some degree of success in building this 3rd Temple and that it is all tied in with prophesies related to the Anti-Christ. But the temple described in Ezekiel seems to be far beyond what could be accomplished in earthly terms and leads me to believe that it is describing something that will be present in the millenium (1000 year reign) after Christ's Second Coming. I've also heard it said of Ezekiel's temple that it will be built at Shiloh a few miles from Jerusalem where the Tabernacle of Moses stood for 369 years. We should be learning more about this temple from other minor prophets and then maybe we will be able to make conclusions. Until then, we will learn together. If anyone has other theories they know of or have heard, feel free to share.

Sept 2

This is one of the most interesting and contraversial prophesies in scripture....and as the author points out, it has not been fulfilled yet. I don't feel I know all the arguments well enough to even remotely comment on Gog of Magag etc........ But I do like to look at all the different theories. If you believe as I do that we are living in or near to the end times, then you believe that prophesy has great relevance for us today. But it is a very difficult subject

One thing I like to keep in mind is that although the Old Testament prophesies about the Messiah coming were available for hundreds of years and men spent their lives studying them, to my knowledge there is not one single person who studied all these ahead of time and said "AH HA! I've got it. I know how all these can fit together. A young virgin from Nazereth will conceive, she'll give birth in Bethlahem, flee to Egypt............. ." You get where I'm going. BUT when these events started happening, if they 1) knew the scriptures 2) had an open mind (got their human preconcieved ideas of having a political leader/earthly king out of the equation)  3) prayed for spiritual guidance (the only ones who had a clue were Anna and Simeon who had been shown in the spirit that this was the Messiah), THEN they would have recognized the time of His coming.

There is a ton on info out there about the battle of Gog of Magag. I suppose the most common theory is that they are from the Russian area. I'm not even sure I think that it is refering to a people or people group. The thing that struck me was refering to Gog as 'cheif prince'. This reminded me of language used in Daniel 10:13 (which we haven't read yet) when the angel who is speaking to Daniel tells him he was delayed:

But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

This is all clearly refering to a spirit world that we know little about. Personally, the similarity in language makes me think that this is refering to a spiritual world also. It may have some real life physicial implications however (wars etc).

There are lots of interesting theories to study- just google :)

One thing I have heard people say is that if this is taken to be a literal place and people (like Russia) that invades Israel in the future and people read this passage, they (US and other Israel allies) will say, 'Oh well, no need to help them, God will save them'. The Bible (which always has to be considered as a whole) says that "God will bless them who bless you and curse those who curse you". So keep all these things in mind as world events unfold. Study the scriptures primarily, the theories of prophecy scholars secondarily but my advice is not to marry yourself to any one theory. Like the beautiful and unpredicatable story of the First Coming- know enough to recognize it when you see it, but don't try to figure out too much ahead of time or you might be so stuck on your own idea that you miss something big.

Addendum Aug 28

I feel like there are some things in me that just need to come out....nothing to do with the reading...just randomness. I just finished reading a blog of a woman whose husband and son in law both have cancer (the son in law being my nephew). It is filled with such extreme faith and hope. It is beautiful. But it makes me want to scream....of course not at her- I would never be that insensitive (I hope). But it concerns me when people 'have so much faith' that the only 'option' is for them to be healed. Make no mistake, I absolutley, positively believe that God CAN heal and God DOES heal. But does He ALWAYS? No. Where does that leave the people that God doesn't heal? Did they lack faith? I don't think so. Faithful saints have been both being healed and not being healed since Christ walked the earth. God has a different plan for all of us. Look at the 'big 3' disciples. Peter, James and John. James was martyered right off the bat, Peter later and John died at a very old age.

Perhaps I'm super sensitve having lost my best friend to cancer this last year. No, God does not always heal. Sometimes, the cup does not pass from us. But we do have His promise that He will always be with us, He will never forsake us and eventually, we will live forever and ever in a place prepared just for us by the One who loved us enough to give His very life for us. That is ultimate healing. As for physical healing in this lifetime? Maybe. I hope so. I'm signed up and on the prayer chain. I know God is able.

Aug 28

Of course, everything that God had told the prophets is now coming to pass. It is beautiful how Jeremiah is saved from all the mess. It was interesting to me that he was in chains, bound and on his way to Babylon when God saved him. Jeremiah could have just been freed in Jerusalem but he was on his way to 'hell' when the 'saviour' found him, freed him, gave him provisions, and a gift. I don't think I'm reading too much into it to say that this is a picture of our salvation. And the gift, of course, is the Holy Spirit.

I'm blessed to sit under the teaching of teachers who always encourage us to look for the deeper meanings of the scriptures. I don't think I would notice half of what I do if not for the great teachers we have in our church.

It is also interesting that we are coming up on Lamentations, where Jeremiah laments for all that has been lost and God's plan ruined by sin. The beautiful city of Jerusalem, desolate and ruined by sin. I know that I do not 'lament' as much as I should over sin or the lost. As you read portions of Lamentations coming up, let it challenge us. I also remember when I was in Jerusalem, at the place where Jesus wept over the city, that the speaker challenged us to think of people in our own lives who are lost and not seeing God's plan and to weep for them as Jesus did.

This was a terrible and desperate time in Israel's history. But God provided for the faithful. I've seen that provision in my own life recently and can't help but rejoice in it. We think times are hard- and they are...but people have survived so much worse. And we don't know what it coming next- better or worse.......but whatever it is God will take care of us. We have His Word on it.

Aug 23

I got hung up on today's reading. It took me a while to search out my answers, which I'll come to in a moment. But after my search, I re-read the passage. And I realized that I missed some really beautiful passages the first time around while I was stuck on one passage. First the gems:

The New Convenant: Of course, with the benifit of looking from this side of history, we now know what the New Convenant is. Luke 22:20 THIS is the New Convenant IN MY BLOOD. I've heard those words thousands of times at communion and other time. But it really struck me in a new way today. With God, a convenant is ALWAYS, sealed in blood (remember Abraham walking between the two halves of the animal). Of course, I've known that for a long time also......but it just really struck me today. I wonder how many times the disciples (who also knew exactly how a covenant is made) wondered afterward: "How could we have not seen what was going to happen?" (the upcoming crucifixion). It also struck me in the passage this is also a conenant TO ISRAEL. I've written before about the mistake of 'replacement theology' (that God has 'replaced' Israel with the church). This is THEIR convenant and we have the extreme privelage of being grafted in to it them (Rom 11:24)

Israel Will Always Be Special: Jeremiah 31:35-37  I love this passage. Esecially since we've been hearing so much about Israel's rebellious ways. It seems to come at just the right spot to reconfirm His love for them. Praise God that many Jews are now embracing Yeshuah (Jesus) as the Messiah. By the way, the word we use "Christ" is not part of His 'name'. It  is His title- The Annointed One (or Messiah)

Now to the troublesome passage- Jeremiah 33:16-17. Obviously, in the previous verses, the "Righteous Branch from David's line" is Jesus, and the explains verse 16 of how "David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne......" What confused me was verse 17 about the Levites never fail to have a man to stand before him to offer continual sacrifices (since obviously, they have no temple and have not sacrificed in 2000+years)

I don't know if I'm 100% satisfied with the answers but I did come up with 2 "best answers".
 1) In verse 18 the priests, who are Levites, represent true Christians, who sacrifice their wills as well as bring others to God by preaching the Gospel. 1 Peter 2:9 calls these Christians a royal priesthood. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
2) There has never been a failure of Levites eligible perform sacrifices (even though they have not done it continually). This is true even today, as they make preperations to build the 3rd temple. Of course there is more to being 'elibible' than just being from the tribe of Levi. But the fact that there are Levites still in existance and ready to serve is miraculous.

August 22

I found another website which outlines all the prophesies fullfilled in (and since) 1948 when Israel was reborn. It is pretty compelling. It also references Grant Jefferies material of how it happened it exactly as predicted.
http://www.watchmanbiblestudy.com/Articles/1948PropheciesFulfilled.htm

I am reminded again in recent reading of when I was in Israel and our guide told us that in the 1800's Israel was so desolate that it prompted famous author Mark Twain to write the book, "Innocent's Abroad" in 1869 describing the deplorable conditions and profiteering in the Holy Land. I would like to read it before the next time I go there.

The other thing that really struck me in the reading was the death of Ezekiel's wife. And how tragic that he was not allowed to mourn. Many people will only listen to "God of Love" theology. And He absolutely is Love. Without Him, love does not even exist. But, because He is Holy, He is also a God of judgement and though He (as we have seen repeatedly) is very longsuffering and patient, eventually judgement does come.

I got to thinking about the reason for the judgement and how it was mostly about idolitory (and as mentioned multiple times, the people were even sacrificing their children to the god Molech). For a moment I felt relieved that we no longer had idols. But then I realized that so many of us make our own God. We even call him by the name of the God of the Bible. We pick and choose what we believe about Him and believe that He exists for our pleasure not the other way around. We make a false idol out of God.

I'm reading a book right now by John Piper called, "Don't Waste Your Life". It's major theme is that living the Christian life is a joy filled experieince but it comes through sacrifice and obedience. The price God paid for our freedom and redemption was too high to do anything but to serve Him fully. Our main goal in life is to bring glory to His Name. That may be through happy circumstance or through tragic circumstances- but the goal is the same. Ezekiel knew this better than any of ever will.

Israel's rebirth prophesied

Nearly the exact day of Israel's rebirth as a nation in 1948 is fortold in the Old Testament.

This is the blog that I have been waiting to write. It is pretty fascinating to me.

 I got caught up in summer activities and strains has kept me from blogging for a while and I apologize.

The first time I heard what I am going to share, I thought it was fascinating....but I didn't retain much of it. The second and third times a little more 'stuck'. Still I had to research the web to get more details. I didn't keep the reference of the site I used, but it referenced "The Signature of God" by Grant Jefferies. Many who 'follow' this line of thinking declare this prophesy to be 'to the exact day'. Since we don't know the exact day that Israel returned from captivity in Babylon, I'm a little too skeptical to be able to say we can PROVE it to the exact day (although knowing God, it certainly is possible). But the return of Israel to the land was prophesied with, if nothing else, dramatic accuracy. I'll try to outline the facts as simply as possible.

• Ezekiel was a prophet in exile in Babylon. He was a priest that God called to prophesy along with his contemporaries, Daniel (also in Babylon) and Jeremiah (who was still in Jerusalem with the people not yet exiled).
• Jeremiah prophesied that the captivity in Babylon would last 70 years.
• God told Ezekiel (Ezekiel 4:3-6) that he was to lie on his left side signifying punishment for Israel for 390 days (a day for each year) and 40 days (years) for Judah's sin  (remember that there were two major divisions, the southern tribes-Judah, and the northern tribes-Israel after king Solomon) Clearly this is a prophesy that extends beyond the Babylonian captivity prophecy of Jeremiah
• God declared in the OT that a punishment could be multiplied by 7 for continued disobedience"After all this, if you do not obey me then I will punish you seven times more for your sin (Leviticus 26:18, Leviticus 26:21, 23-24, 27-28)
• Since the majority of Israel did not repent after their Babylonian captivity the period of punishment would be 2520 years (390+40-70 (subtracted for years served in Babylon) x7)
• A Biblical year (or 'prophetic year') is based on 360 days not our current 365.25. If you are curious why, google it
• 2520 year x 360 days= 907,200 days (divided by 365.25 to convert to our 'modern years'=2483.8 years)
• Babylonian captivity ended in the spring of of 536 BC or 536.4 BC
• 2483.8 years added to 536.4 is 1947.4.
• Add one year to account for the fact that there is no year "zero" between 1BC and 1AD and you get: 1948.4 

On May 14, 1948, the Jews proclaimed the independence of the reborn state of Israel.  On May 15, 1948 the British Mandate officially ended and Israel became an independent nation for the first time in over 2000 years. For other related fullfilled prophesies such as the Hebrew language being revived and the 'desert blooming' see this website:
http://www.layevangelism.com/bastxbk/sections/sect-7/sec7-6c.htm

Just to let you all know, I have never blogged before. Aside from informal discussions with friends, I have never discussed my spiritual views. With that disclosure, I will attempt to express my thoughts on our recent scripture readings. I've noted how God's own people have repeatedly and persistently practiced paganism and worshipped idols. How easy it is for me to judge them as being absolutley ungrateful for all God has done for them. We live in a community of Christians. We know who our Lord is and would never worship things of wood or metal, made from our own hands. We don't do that. Or do we? We don't blatantly worship with Asherah poles or golden calves. However, when reading about objects of worship made of wood and metal, I can't help but think of two very basic items in our own lives: houses and cars. These are wood and metal objects manufactured by our own hands; two examples, but the list could go on. We live in a society where too often we want bigger and better. Some call this conspicuous consumption, others call it keeping up with the Jones. God has blessed us with prosperity. We no longer spend our lives just trying to survive. We have disposable income for discretionary spending. Depending on the amount of our disposable income, we can buy everything from designer purses, jewelry, the latest fashions, the newest electronic gadgets, the best golf clubs, speed boats, airplanes, additional homes...you get the picture. The fact that ours is a consumer driven economy speaks to the society in which we live. I'm not saying that these things in and of themselves are bad. If we can acquire them, then we have certainly been blessed. But, as Christians we have an important role to fulfill. We need to be mindful of the value we place on our material goods. We are stewards of the blessing we receive. What do our possessions mean to us? We have been so well fed. Are we feeding the orphan and the widow?

July 3

Happy birthday tommorow America!! This will  be my last  blog for a while. I am going on a mission trip with our church to the Czech Republic. It was a little bit random that we were able to go.....I never thought I'd be able to go overseas twice in one year, but God has worked out the details (money, vacation time etc). I am very excited. We will have a couple days to explore Prague and it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Our church supports a missionary there who, as an outreach to the community, helps run an English camp. We will helping her with this as families come and seek to improve their conversational english. I must admit that compared to some trips I've been on that this one sounds pretty easy. But I have really been stirred to pray more and more as I realize that any time that you seek to represent the Lord, that you are indeed going into 'enemy territory'. So, I would appreciate your prayers to prepare us to witness for the Lord in whatever way He sees fit, that hearts would be prepared and that we would be obedient to participate in any miricle opportunities that He sets up for us! I may be able to get online periodically over there, so I'll keep you posted.

The book of Issaiah is a treasure chest- enjoy and by all means discuss it on the board.

July 1-2

In doing a little 'google' work to sort out which nations are which in the text these last couple days, I found a lot of information about End Times. And of course, many prophesies do have two fulfullments, a 'near one' (which was fulfulled or partially fulfilled shortly after the time it was written and a later fulfillment, often in what we refer to as End Times or the time leading up to Christ's Second Coming). Even though I sit under the teaching of a good friend who is quite the End Time's expert, I will freely admit to you that my brain just does not retain this stuff. So for the most part, I'm not going to even attempt to explain any of the End Times implications of these passages, except to ask you to read it with that idea in mind: that much of it has already been fulfilled shortly after it was written, but much of it still has future implications for us.

I do think that we should be educated about which nations we are talking about, wheather we are talking about past fulfilled prophesy or future prophesy, it's good to know who the 'players' are (this is to the best of my understanding and googling- I'm not an expert)  Assyria (not to be confused with Syria) was an empire which had as it's capital Babylon. A lot of it would be in modern day Iraq. Damascas in Syria, not too far from the northern border of Israel and it has been a enemy to Israel for centuries. Edom is southern Jordon area (Jordon being east of the Jordon River and Dead Sea from Israel). Tyre is in Lebonon which, like Damascus Syria, is near Israel's northern border. According to Forerunner Commentary: Tyre was the New York City of its day, and here God is prophesying of its defeat. Though it would survive, it would be brought into line with God's purpose for Israel. He depicts the commercial merchandising system of this heathen city as harlotry. Tragically, Israel adopted these heathens' attitudes and ways of doing business. Israel has a proclivity for taking an idea or concept from others, refining it, and making it work better than it did for its originators—yet in so doing she rejects God's economic systems.
The ships of Tarshish may have been a 'generic term' for all distant sailing vessles around the Mediterainian. That's not every country/city mentioned, but I think you get the idea that it mostly refers to all who are physically surrounding Israel and the whole Middle East.

I'm not sure what the 'seventy years' (at the end of July 1's reading) refers to (near or distant prophesy or both?) but I know that 70 is an extremely important number in prophetic literature. For now, I am not going to get bogged down in End Times stuff....I'm just trying to get things straight and in order in my head so that I can study more deeply at another time.

A breath of fresh air at the end of July 2 reading- a King who followed the Lord!! Hezekiah. He removed the high places and ((finally)) tore down the Asherah Poles (the wooden poles to honor Asherah, the fertility goddess).

July 30

One thing that I noticed in today's reading is that God told Jeremiah to do some odd things and he did them without question. Not only that, God only told him to do one thing at a time- He did not reveal the whole plan to him. He did not tell him He was going to illustrate a word picture or any other part of the plan. He just told him what to do, one step at a time and Jeremiah did it willingly and without question. This will be true of other prophets later also, I forget which one God has lay on side so many day and then the other side, set up seige works etc. All kinds of word pictures that these prophets do willingly without understanding the big picture at first. I am praying to be more in tune with God and the Holy Spirit and to be more unquestionly obedient.

June 27

I'd like to devote more time to studying Micah. Maybe next year. What a beautiful little book. Only 7 chapters, Micah is one of the minor prophets, designated such because of the length of his book, not the significance. He is one of 12 minor prophets in the OT. Some preach in the city, some on the countryside, some to Judah, some to Israel, some to both. All have basically the same message and the same message as the major prophets- repent and serve God. Each in the their own way reminds Israel of it's unique history of rescue from bondage in Egypt and how God has sustained them every step of the way. Micah is a country prophet and his message is mostly to Judah (remember the tribes split after Solomon with most going to the northern kingdom of Israel).

Even reading in chronological order it's hard to keep track of everything that is going on with the two kingdoms (especially that it seems that most of the darn kings start with "J"). If you, like me, need a little more visual reference, here is a handy table of the kings and what prophet(s) ministered during their time. I especially like the column that tells how many years it's been since Solomon since my brain just cannot compute things in BC (I could never get the hang of the fact that 750BC comes BEFORE 720BC for example)
http://www.spiritrestoration.org/Church/Timelines/TimelIne_of_Minor_and_Major_Prophets_in_the_Old_Testament.htm

I would just like to highlight a few treasures from Micah:

We already talked about Micah's amazing prophesy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlahem Ephrathah (there was more than one Bethahem- this leaves no doubt which one it would be) in Micah 5:1-5.

Micah 6:6-8  With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down beofre the exalted God?.........
what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with you God.

Micah 7:7
But as for me, I watch in hope (confident expectation) for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.

Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

July 26

It's sooo hard to start over when life doesn't turn out like you expect it to. Most of us don't even realize that we have an unconscious 'template' for our life in the back of our mind- a vision of how our life is going to turn out.  It's staggering when things spiral out of control and have to be rebuilt piece by piece. Most of us have little energy for the 'regular' things in life, let alone building a whole new life. I've been close to two people (unrelated to each other) these last few weeks whose lives need to be rebuilt and it's been very hard to watch. Like watching a hurricaine hit and not being able to offer shelter. Both have been excruciating- but in different ways. One was mostly self inflicted and self destructive (alcohol which destroyed a brilliant career, a marriage and nearly ended a life) and the other the person had very little control in the situation- her husband walked out.

How do you put back the pieces? Obviously only with God's help and one piece and one day at a time. But I think it helps a little bit to look at history.....Israel's history. Who has recovered from more? Despite warning after warning, prophet after prophet they continue in their destructive ways. They went into captivity (which we'll read about soon) and returned to rebuild. Then they survived several occupations (Roman's etc), the complete destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, multiple wars and most recently the Holocoust......but miraculously, just as predicted through the prophets we are reading- God saves a remnent and brings them back to THEIR land. And in 1947, they declared and won their independence and have been governing themselves since that time- for the first time since the kings we are reading about.

God's promises are true and can be depended upon. I love today's reading from Micah. A Branch, a ruler from Bethlahem who will struck on the cheek with a rod (in Jerusalem - 'the walled city") and His greatness will reach the ends of the earth. And this is only one of over 500 prophesies about the coming Messiah which a perfectly fullfilled in Jesus. I forget the exact statistics but it goes something like this- the chance of that happening are about the same as tossing up enough quarters to fill the state of Texas to the depth of one foot and having them all land heads up.

We can count on God's Word. It's true, it never fails. And He promises to bring us to Himself forever. I guess that's the other way that we get through life's hurricaines, is knowing that this is life is just a vapor and we will spend eternity HAPPY and with the ONE who LOVES us!!

In my story of two people's lives unraveling- only one knows the Lord. Please pray that the Lord will open his eyes and draw Him into a real and vital relationship with Him. And pray for the one who does kow the Lord that He will be especially close to her. Many people in our group are going through very challenging times- let's all pray for each other too.

June 18

Hosea and Gomer- what a story! And what a name! Maybe she was very beautiful but I just have a vision of a woman named Gomer and is not pretty. Especially after she has had a self-inflicted hard life and Hosea buys her back from slavery.

God sees Israel as his wife and so He doesn't just paint a word picture or share a vision- He has Hosea live it! And he apparently marries Gomer knowing full well that she will be unfaithful. Just like Israel commited spiritual adultry, Gomer is unfaithful to Hosea. And God even asks Hosea to name his children after things which remind him of unfaithfulness of his wife (and Israel). It seems like Hosea's job is hard enough, trying to peach to Israel to repent and leave the foreign God's and idols....but to ask him to do this? We don't see any reluctantance, just servanthood and obedience. The last child born Lo-ammi means 'not my people' or 'no kin of mine' and (according to one account I read) was probably the result of one of the adulterous relationships and was not Hoseas.

After Gomer leaves Hosea and he gets wind that she has been deserted, it would be a normal, human reaction to think, "Well, she got what she deserved". But God tells him go and buy her out of slavery (a homer for a Gomer?). And he willingly does. How could anyone love that much? God obviously enabled him too because of His great love for His people even though they were deep in sin. We should be all the more able to love and forgive since we have the Holy Spirit living in us. Tough assignment!!

June 17

This is just too funny how whatever book I'm reading at the time coordinates with what we are reading. (Thank you Lord, it's helping me get back at it). This morning, in continuing to read my book, "You Were Born for This" (check out yesterdays blog to find out the premise of the book).  I am reading about the second key to being part of everyday miracles. The People Key. God is looking for people to be sensitive from nudges from heaven to deliver miracles from heaven. The problem is that most of us have a whole set of preconceived ideas about our agenda and who and how we want to serve people. Enter the most reluctant servant of all time- drum roll please........JONAH.

Jonah was happy to serve God- in Israel. On his agenda, on his terms. But God asked something very strange of him. He asked him to go to Ninevah. Sounds like the name of a cute little town. There was nothing cute about it. The Assyrians were long time enemies of Israel. They were pagan, idol worshipers. I don't know if it was true for the Ninvites but idol worship in the ancient world usually included all kinds of detestable things such offering child sacrifices, shine prostitiution......you name it. The kind of people you aren't even supposed to assosciate with, let alone minister to. (Remember wondering when Israel took over the land and had to drive out these types of people if God was being cruel- he was not he CARES about these people). Jonah even admits why he doesn't want to go.......they might repent!! We may be guilty in our churches of ministering only to a certain kind of people- the kind of people who would 'fit it' with us. The ultimate lesson from Jonah is if you get a nudge from heaven- take it. The alternative can be pretty gross. Actually, more realistically, if you pass up the assignment, God will usually find someone else, or tragically- it may go undone.

The author described a reluctant encounter of his own. He was on a plane trying to finish up a book he was working on. He was on a deadline. It had to be done and this was his only time to work on it. Just as he was thinking that he would have an empty seat next to him and some quiet time to himself- in staggers his seatmate- drunk, loud, obnixious, vulgar and pierced everywhere. He tried to ignore him and work on his book but the drunk guy was persistantly obnoxious. He kept trying to work on his book and the guy asked him if he was a priest. He couldn't imagine where he got that idea and asked him why he thought that. He'd been reading his book over his shoulder- a part about being a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Bruce said, yes, he guessed he was a priest in a way.  He realized he had to listen to what was up with the guy. He turned and listened. He found out that his best friend had been killed the night before. He couldn't help wondering that if that had been him, what would happen after he died. He asked God that if He was real, to please send him a priest!

I know that I am usually too set on my own agenda and checklist to be looking to see what God is up to throughout the day. But I know that I am going to be more aware now! Hope you will be too. By the way, Ninevah is now part of Iraq. Ready to go?

June 16

Since I took a little time off from blogging here for a while, I'm not going to start off with Jonah. I've got something else perking around in my brain. Let's pray God helps me explain it because what's in my brain is a big tangled mess. Hopefully, the connection gets straightened out between my brain and the keyboard.

First, I've let many of you know that I've been dealing with a family crisis. It's so common these days I almost surprise myself calling it a crisis. A person very, very close me had her husband walk out on her. Competely without warning. Of course there were symptoms- he was not growing spiritually (at all), he was extremely selfish. But he was always the greateset dad and I always thought that in the end he would never hurt the kids for anything (age 5 and 8) and that would bring him around. I mention this not only for prayer but it seems to me that Satan is is working overtime in this area. Don't take your marriage or your spouse for granted. Don't take lightly the dozens of weddings you have probably been to where you promise to hold them in prayer (and if you are like me it falls by the wayside). Pray for marriages!!!! And if you are single don't even consider marriage until you are 100% at peace that it is God's best for you. The old saying that "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" is a lie. Better to have a fullfilled life with God at the center of you joy than to settle for anything less than God's perfect will and a world of hurt. In the case of the person I'm talking about, she had 13 happy years, but now this event is going to taint all those memories forever.

Back to Bible study stuff........I'm reading another book called "You were born for this". It is by the author of the Prayer of Jabez and Secrets of the Vine, Bruce Wilkinson. The premise of the book is that God is always looking for people who are anxious to be part of every day miracles. Bruce now teaches a class in how to be sensitive to God's leading in the area. (I promise this eventually comes around to something we just read). He gives the example of a burly construction worker who sketically 'volunteered' himself during a class to be open to any such assignment God would have for him. He saw someone on the job site who said his marriage was falling apart. He felt a 'nudge' from heaven that he could help him. Having no idea what to do or say, he stalled for time and told the guy to go get paper and pen, he was going to tell him what to do to save his marriage. The guy came back with the paper and the construction worker still had no earthly idea what he was going to say. He opened his mouth and he said, "Go home and make your bed". The man nearly passed out and asked him how in the world he knew that was what they had been fighting about for years!! He was going to run right home and make the bed.

As part of set up for being sensative to the leading of the Holy Spirit and how to part of these every day miracles, the author challenged the reader to change some assumptions about God and heaven. He described himself begging God for something one day and stopped himself short and examined the belief behind what he was doing. He came to realize that he seemed to believe that God was very reluctant to act and it was his job to convince Him to change His mind. He also reevaluated his ideas about heaven. When most people think of heaven they think of worship......angels.....a beautiful place completely disconnected from earth. But the author points out using a passage we just read that God constantly in the process of having 'meetings' (if you will) in heaven about things going on in the earth and looking for ways (and people) to meet those needs. Now obviously He doesn't NEED anyone, or their ideas or anything else to accomplish His purpose, but like many other mysteries in the Bible, He does USE all those things. The passage that the author used is one that we read recently on June 5 in 1 Kings 22. Reread it to check out how God was looking for ideas and volonteers to carry out His plan and purpose on the earth. And if it peaks you curiosity and you wonder how you can be part of every day miracles then check out the book. I'm in the middle of it and it's going to be a pretty steep learning curve, but I'm 'volonteering' and seeking the opportunities. I'll keep ya posted.

May 28

Almost took a 'pass' on blogging today. I was busy becoming a grandma, but then I realized what an easy blog it would be and how perfectly it fits. When I found out my daughter in law had gone to the hospital in labor, I was kind of at loose ends. Didn't want to hang out at the hospital, this was their time. Didn't really want to start projects at home......too distracted. I found the perfect pass time. I had just picked up the old movies that I had made onto DVD. 1955-1965ish. They set them to 'easy listening music' which sort of fit the era and I sat drifting back in time. My mom in her 20's....my great grandma working in her flowers, my older brother (no blood relation but never try to tell him he's not my brother or vice versa) in his childhood, my beloved aunt whose now gone (no blood there either- my brother's mother-it really makes perfect sense to us!)

 Any way, I charged my son with the task of texting me with updates every hour and settled in to watch the past unfold. Oh my goodness.....my mom and brother tobogganing and skiing........beautiful fall foliage and and streams and camping and sunsets.......my grandpa grilling steaks on the bbq pit that he built....grandma and grandpa (who are with Jesus now) at my 1st birthday party.... Oh my gosh. I don't know if it was the emotion of becoming a grandma today today or watching an era gone by and loved ones now gone (prob both)..but by the time I got the text that they were going to do a c-section, I was already in a puddle of tears. What a day of re-living the past and reaching into the future through a new life. And oh my.....the new little one looks like m baby picutres, my son's baby pictures and my side of the family. Even my daughter in laws dad he looks like my son. An amazing day!!

Is this not the whole theme of Ecclesiastes? Seasons come and go! Nothing really new under heaven. The author gets a little depressing there for a while which just doesn't fit with my mood today (though there were a lot of tears, I don't think I would say depressing described it..but I do so miss the loved ones)....Truely  generations come and generations go (Eccl 1:4) wow....I lived it today!

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot, ........

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance.


Thank you blessed Father, for generations past of faithful followers. And thank you so much for new life, hope and future!!!! Thank you Jesus for the safe arrival of my grandson. I don't want to take any moment for granted.

May 27

As we mentioned early on, Solomon's wives are destined to bring him trouble. He didn't just let his wives 'do their thing' he FOLLOWED the false gods 1 Kings 11:7-8. And he followed the most DETESABLE gods! Molech who known for requiring children be sacrificed to him by fire, and Chemosh who was also apparently worshiped by human sacrifice. This is serious stuff!! For the wisest man who ever lived!!

Isn't this just like us. We think we are smart enough to handle something. Maybe a friendship that isn't right, a little flirtation with someone who is not your spouse. After all, I'm smart enough not to let anything happen...well, the wisest man who ever lives was not able to avoid being stupid, so what makes us think we are any better?  For the loooooongest time my 'vice' was soaps. How could I possible dump 3 hours of junk a day into my head and not think it would affect me?  Not only was it putting junk in there, it was also wasting valuable time that I should have been studying and learning God's Word.

I also found it interesting that it says that Jeraboam rebelled. Maybe there is more to the story than we see right now but the way it seems to read is that he was walking along minding his own business and a prophet tells him that he is going to have a good share of the kingdom. Even thought this seems to be all part of the 'plan' Jeraboam seems to still be held accountable for having carried it and rebelling against the king.

May 25

The Song of Solomon almost doesn't seem to fit the theme of the Bible at first glance...it's not historical, it's not rules, it's not wisdom.......it's just really, really different. I used to think that it was pretty weird until it was explained to me that the things that sound really weird are culture differences. I'm sure most people realize that it is no longer a compliment to tell a woman whe reminds them or a mare harnessed to one of Pharorah chariots. I think it's actually best to avoid all references to horses :)  As far as theme- many have said that it can be a story of Christ and Chrurch. No matter what the 'real' theme is, it tells us that there is more to the 'religious' life than rules and regs. Our forefathers came to this country with great religious ideas but aslo a lot of a lot of Puritan man made rules. I wonder if the ever dared read this! But God is showing us that love and emotions are not only normal but OK.

And as Forrest Gump would say......that's all I have to say about that.......

The first thing that got me wondering today is who is Agur and who is King Lamuel. I found some theories but no 'pat' answers. It seems that they may be both other names for Solomon but if you are interested in other theories, here is an experert in OT and this thoughts on the subject http://doctor.claudemariottini.com/2009/05/who-was-king-lemuel.html

Proverbs 31. Has the Proverbs 31 woman ever annoyed you? She has me! Whenever I heard devotionals about "her", I would cringe inside. I felt like it was an impossibly high standard that noone could ever live up to. I've always had my own idea of what 'she' is that is way beyond what the text is. You know her, she home schools her kids or if they are in public school she is on every commitee at school. She never has a hair out of place, she teaches Sunday School, works in the kitchen, runs women's ministry, attends every Bible study, makes her huband's lunch, provides nutritious, home cooked meals at the table every night........she tithes and then some, her socks are always matched (a particular challenge of mine!), she has never had rebellious, snarly day in her life. She was valadictorian of her high school class, attended Christian college.......

You know what helped me 'recover' from that image. The woman who runs Proverbs 31 ministries of all things. I did one of her bible studies. She is a real woman with real struggles just like the rest of us. She has had hurt and pain and in past. She has not done everything perfect. But she is striving to live for Jesus and to know Him better every day. (I still say her house is a little too perfect if that's her real house in the video but maybe it's a set). Keep pressing on.....and doing your best. That's the real deal.

May 25

I like to blog about the things that speaks to me the most about the passage we read. I had most of it written today and then erased it. Just didn't feel right. Then I started having little thoughts.....'you can't write about that subject anyway.....you always screw it up....".

Well.....yeah.....I do screw it up. So do we all. Maybe my screwup and my 'plan' to handle it next time will help someone. And p.s. I'm not listening to that little voice, it doesn't agree with God's word...SO THERE.

The thing that struck me about the reading was section on respecting your parents. I think it was actually easier when I was young than when I'm an adult. I don't know if you have parent that pushes your buttons but I do! However, on close examination- I think I had my button quite ready to be pushed. Here's what happened- we had a mother's day party at our house. Got the house all cleaned, the food all ready etc..and as usual my bedroom was the 'dumping ground' for anything around the house that hadn't found a 'home'. I shut the door to hide the mess and said to myself - I KNOW my mother will find a reason to go in this room and comment on how messy it is EVEN though it's spring, she has no coat to 'put on the bed' and there is NO reason to go in there. Well, you know what happened? Exactly that. She went in there, for the express purpose (it felt like) to comment on how messy it was. How did I respond? It was NOT pretty!! I think she felt like she'd been hit by a Mac Truck by the time I was done. Not my most 'holy' moment.

SO I've been thinking about this since it happened, wondering why it bothered me so much. Back to the book I just read (see the last couple blogs). The author said that God sometimes speaks to us at times in our dreams and shows us areas that we have not given over to Him and where we need healing. Strange concept since I tend to have the WEIRDEST dreams!! I had one a couple nights ago...the High School kind (you know we all have them from time to time). I had forgotten to do a huge project and was not going to graduate. (You will laugh at this if you went to LHS- it was for Harry Knuckles class- and if you didn't-yes, that was his real name!). So I've been thinking about that in light of the book and I thought perhaps I had an unconcious agreement (belief) that I really was inadequate. My intellectual mind said, 'well it's not that I have those kind of dreams all the time, everyone has them'. Then I thought, you know what.....try it. Lord, I give you my past feelings of inadequecy and invite You in to heal them. Peace.......flooding peace. Wow. This works. Who'd have thought. Then I got thinking about my mother. The message was the same (in my perception), "You are inadaquate. You can't even clean your bedroom!" So I need to work on healing from the inside out so I don't walk around with a big 'button' that says Push Here! And hopefully NOW I start treating my mother with the respect she deserves.

May 23

Some people are the kind of people who can pick a task, work on a task and complete a task. Me, not so much....I get overwhelmed....and I think about all the other things I'd need or want to do and how this one thing is taking all my time. Whenever I do start a project, like really cleaning my bedroom, and I do focus on it for a whole day, by the end of the day, usually at least half my closet is still on my bed being sorted out. Should it go to goodwill? the basement? back in closet? throw it away? It's not even the cleaning I hate so much it's the decisions!! 

So, I'm taking a new tactic. I have a master list and I set the kitchen timer and work on projects for a given amount of time. This has all been great and it has really led to some big accomplishments (in my mind). I thought that my scrapbook stuff and the spare room would both take days to complete but with 45 min of solid work with the kitchen timer ready to go off to keep me on task both tasks are in really good shape. Almost ready to be crossed off the "to do" list. But even with this master list, the book I'm reading (just finished) reminded me I need to have God in control of the list. Specifically ask him to direction what HE would like me to do. After work last night, my 'list' called for 15 min 'spiffy' around the house. On my way home, I asked the Lord if HE had anything different to impress on heart. You know what my heart said? Go for a walk!! It was an easy 12 shift but I really NEVER feel like going for a walk after a 12 hour shift. But, I felt like that was the impression. The book said to 'start small' trying to hear God's voice. Well, this was pretty small...not like asking should I move to Tim-buck-too or not. So...I went for a walk. I enjoyed it SO much. Took the dogs and the hubby. It was great.

Back to the list. I've been doing so well on my list, my scrapbooking and archiving stuff that I haven't 'felt' like getting outside and doing my spring chores. This isn't like me and as far as I can remember it's the first time this has ever happened. Maybe it started when every day I wanted to be out was cold or wet. Or maybe because I'm worried my back will bother me (maybe that's an 'agreement' I need to break). At any rate, you can barely walk on my path because of the overgrowth. I've waiting for the motivation (that's stupid) to get out and do it.

So back to giving God control over my list. I've been praying, Lord, you know that I have way more on my list than I can possibly accomplish, so I need you to show me what to do and in what order. So I've been listening for impressions in my heart and clues in His word. Guess what jumped off the page in today's reading? Prov 24:27 FINISH YOUR OUTDOOR WORK, and get your fields ready, after that build your house. (Ok that was funny, the first time I had the reference wrong and it said Prov 24:7- Wisdom is unattainable for a fool. LOL hmmmm) Now, I'm sure other people glossed right over that, because it was not 'the Word' for them. But God does speak to us in His word and we need to listen for it. So, guess what I'll be doing this week?

May 22

I was sent a book in the mail this week. I send a  small monthly gift to a great ministry called Life Today. They do a lot of mission feeding, drilling of wells for clean water etc. Something I wanted to be a part of. But to my suprise, a book arrived in the mail. I had to look up on their website -it did say that 'from time to time' they will send you a ministry resource. Hmm. I also noticed that in return that they ask you to pray for and promote their ministry. So- to keep things honest- here is the promotion part of it. FYI-I'm always a little skeptical of TV ministries (except Joyce Meyer :) and can't make myself come within a mile of anyone with pink hair and mascara streaming down their face as they cry, but this ministry seems to be good and supported by people I trust- like Beth Moore. Life Today- check it out.

Back to the book. It was not on my 'to read' list (or in my 'book bag') and there were several books 'ahead of it' in my 'que' and I almost didn't want to read it but I am very glad I started it. It is by John Eldgredge and is called "Walking with God". As is often the case in the Christian walk, just when you think you are kind of getting the hang of things, God shows you a whole new level of commitment or experience that you never really even considered possible.

One of the premises of the book is that one thing that builds strongholds in our heart is making agreements. These are often very subtle, come into your mind and then the enemy leaves it alone for a while (maybe years) so you don't even recogize it as an attack. They can be 'current' things, like you wake up in the middle of the night...and think 'oh great, now I'm never going to get back to sleep. I'm probably going to start not sleeping well at all now that I'm getting older". An agreement with a thought the enemy puts in your mind. Or it could be long standing (almost unconsious) belief. Maybe your dad left you when you were a child, then a boyfriend broke up with you and you think, "love doesn't ever last, everyone leaves". An agreement with the enemy....  God has been teaching me this last year to 'Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ" 2 Chronthians 10:5.  Any thought that doesn't align with God's word or isn't true- needs to be cast from our mind and replaced with true thought. But this is a whole new level.

Now I've known some people and sects that have gone overboard with 'praying down strongholds' and 'spiritual warfare'. A lot of what we fight is simply our fleshly desires, not a demon on every corner. But, I think that this idea of not getting into 'agreement' with the enemy is very valid. I was pretty aware of some obvious ones. One that I see all the time is Christians saying, "well, I could never do that" (teach, be a missionary, talk in front of a group or whatever). We even cleverly disguise it as humility. Excuse me, but my Bible says that I can do ALL things throught Christ. But I never really considered 'agreements' (long standing beliefs, assumptions) as strongholds but I can certainly see how that would be true.

In today's reading about a "false witness" it really reminded me that the ultimate false witness  (Satan) likes to dump junk in our head. And if he can't get us to nibble on that, he'll get us to busy and distracted to connect with God.

This only scratches the surface of what the book is teaching about hearing from God and learning to have more than a 'one way' conversation (prayer) with Him but really listen to His voice. If you get a chance- pick it up the book.  Or if you see me- ask me to borrow it. I will be making it big case for putting it on my sister's summer reading list- but after that- you are free to borrow it.