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.

May 20-21

I could not help, reading through these Proverbs, thinking of a movie I just saw last night, (courtesy of Charter on Demand if you interested) It was called Invictus. It was about Nelson Mandela. Now there is a man who knew the value of words and how to use them for the greater good. After being in prison for 27 years and becoming president of South Africa he hired and used some of the white men that had landed him in prison in the first place. He also personally endorced and encourged the national rugby team (overwhelmingly white) and encouraged his black friends to do the same for the greater good of the country. It was quite a movie. He also talked a lot about the value of forgiveness, the poisen of unforgiveness and the shortsightedness and selfishness of harboring resentment rather than pressing on toward the future and greater good of the country.

The whole thing caused me to ask google if he was a Christian. According to Wiki (for what that it worth) he is. Not suprising- they were all Christian principals he was talking about.

Prov 15:4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life. He was truly a tree of life for that country!!

So having said all that, it was much more fun to talk about how successful he was then how not successful I am often not. Oh taming the tongue........what a job.....Lord help us all!!

May 19

A few things really stuck me in today's reading. (These almost need to be read twice or more, there is so much in them).

First was dulpicity. I never thought about 'driving a hard bargain' as sin. Prov 20:14 talks about saying 'It's no good, it's no good" and then gloating about your purchase. I've done that a few times and never thought of it as wrong. Uh-oh, now I know better.

Second was not to gloat when your enemy falls Prov 24:17-18. We are all SO guilty of this. I even saw a Christian post something on FB about "It's a bad day, I woke up and O'bama was still president". That's not exactly an enemy falling. But it is disrespectful! Gosh, I sound like my mother. I guess the older you get, the smarter she becomes.

Third was restraint and balance: if you find honey, eat just a bit, or you will vomit. Prov 25:16,17. I am always going to extremes in my life. I get out of balance in something and then overcompensate (like having eaten too much and then dieting). My husband would tell me over and over, just eat like a 'normal' person and you wouldn't have a problem. But, if one dilly bar is good....why not have another? And exercise...Do you know anyone who exercises a decent and consistant amount.....long term? We are generally either a coach potatoe or a Jane Fonda wanna be. Balance, balance, balance. Maybe if I repeat it enough it will sink in.

Last Prov 14:30   (One I am actually getting good at, and don't need a kick in the fanny) A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the body. Wow..we now know that this is scientifically true. And people are always in pursuit of this peace....and spending millions of dollars to try and find it. My peace only cost me a few bucks- God's word and trying to apply it my life. It really works. Almost anything used to get me into a raging fit...things that didn't go my way, frustrations....And anyone who didn't understand my 'fit' must obviously not understand the extreme level of my frustration!! Now, I just (usually) choose to pass. Nothing is worth losing my peace over. And it just opens up Satan's playground when you do!

I hope that you will share your favorite proverbs as we go along- here in the comments or on FB

May 18

Are you absolutely sure there was no TV when Solomon was alive?? Because all this talk about how fools cannot be seperated from their folly leads me to believe that he had seen the Jerry Springer show!! Or many of the other dozens of shows that exhault stupidity, selfishness and do-anything-for-your-one-moment-in-the sun. I always wonder why it's not just enough to BE stupid.....do you have to go on national TV and let EVERYONE know?

All kidding aside, this was kind of therpuetic reading. I hadn't realized until reading it it's context, how much of this Solomon had experienced. Look at his own brothers. So often with a wayward/"foolish" family member, we wring our hands and are distraught over the situation. And not that we should not try to bring them to a place of wisdom.....but sometimes it just becomes clear- it 'ain't gonna happen'. That's the time to focus on your own life and spiritual developement and quit beating a dead horse so to speak. Always pray and thank God that He is working and take every opportunity to have a positive impact. But, bottom line- God has given us all free will- and if God can't change them, there is no sense in letting it negatively affect our lives. I've seen people get so wrapped up in a wayward person's life (and alsmot got there myself a few times) that they are no good to themselves or the kingdom. I loved the verse about not even a mortum and pestal (not sure if I said that right- but you know the pharmacy thing that they crush pills with) can seperate a fool from his folly. Hmm...that's pretty graphic.

And Solomon had exerienced the goods and bads a childrearing also. It appears David counseled and disciplined Solomon and not his brothers. Look at the difference in outcome. However, we are soon to embark on a long line of bad kings that follow Solomon, so I'm not so sure that he followed his own advice.

May 17

Wow, this is my 115th Chronological Bible Blog. Not that that is a significant number, but it caught my eye. That's a lot of blogs. Glad you guys have not tuned me out yet and that you give me positive reinforcement just about the time I wonder if anyone reads this.

I was interested in Prov 4, when it talks about Solomon being taught by and gaining wisdom from his father. David was certainly not an exemplary father to his other son's. In fact, we are specifically told that of his other sons he never even said, "Why do you act that way?". I wonder if Solomon was his favorite; if Bethsheba was favorite or if he was still feeling bad about Uriah. Who knows, just curious. At any rate, Solomon did learn some wisdom from his father.

We have heard, more than once already in our reading, that the fear of the Lord is the begining of wisdom. A healthy respect, awe and admiration. If you don't have that, you don't even have the foundaton of wisdom. And don't we love to 'lean on our own understanding"?  The longer I live, and the more I get to know God, the more I believe that there are 'pat' answers for things. Yes, there are biblical principles that we should go by. We should get godly counsel, but I really think that God wants us to lean on Him and His wisdom and to seek Him with all our hearts. I have a relative who is dealing with her son being gay. It is a heartbreak for her. But she has wisely saught God and not 'formulas'. (Should she allow him to live in her house, how should she treat the 'boyfriend' etc). There have been no magic answers. But her heart is right before God and she leaves the results to him. She prays and believes, attends support groups and above all loves. She doesn't sit around wringing her hands and she DOES set borders and boundries for him that she believes God has lead her to do. No easy answers. I'm glad that we have the ONE who knows all from begining to end. I sure would not want to try to figure things out by myself!

There is NO God like our God!!! He is everything!!

May 15-16

The Name- I promised to do a little research on the Name. It caught my eye since it was capitalized and (being the weirdo that my kids think I am- I had just watched a 10 part series on "In search of the Jewish Jesus" about the names of God). Usually all it takes is a little googling and other people have had the same quetion. Apparently, I am the only one curious about the Name. I had to resort to looking in a Lexicon, which I am not all together familiar with...but I think the jist is that it tells you the Hewbrew and in what other contexts the word has occured and the definition. It defined it as the "famous or renowned name" and the Hewbrew is שֵׁם . I don't know what that first symbol is, probobly the famous or renowned part. But that second letter is shin, the very letter we talked about yesterday. Jews sometimes make that letter above  their head, on their forehead, or with their hands (like that Star Trek guy did- he's Jewish-my son in law would faint that I don't know which one). In this picture, a wonderful Jewish girl is showing me how to use a prayer shawl and make the "Shin" sign on my forehead as I wrap myself in the promises of God.

As I was rereading some of the passages, it struck me that Solomon went before the Lord at the Tent of Meeting and sacrificed a THOUSAND burnt offerings to him and THEN the Lord blessed him with wisdom.  Many churches and TV programs have gotten out of balance teaching if you give that you get...and that's a bad motive and a bad teaching....but I know as a parent that I am often looking for ways to bless my children. And ALL the more so when I see a right heart and attitude. God DOES want to bless us! I think the church has also often been out of balance with being overly frugal at times and pinching pennies till they scream.......Hey our God owns EVERYTHING!!!! Yes we we should be good stewards and not wasteful and not ridiculously extravagent and ESPECIALLY we would should look out for the poor and needy. But does it look like Solomon skrimped on anything on the temple? I don't think so!

 Yesterday's passage talked about Solomon building his own palace. I think I've shared this pic before but it still just fascinates me. It is part of the retaining wall of Solomon's palace overlooking the valley. I am still just in awe that it is over 3000 years old. It has only been uncovered within the last few months. They are having a heck of a time with the digging because it is surrounded by Palastinian homes. But they have gotten this far and continue to work as much as they can.

This whole period when Solomon reigns is the pinnacle of Israel's history. They are at their spiritual, political and geographical peak. And they have peace from their enemies around about. Enjoy it while it lasts!!

May 13-14

Solomon builds the temple. These are actually pictures of a model of the Second Temple which built after the Isrealites came out of captivity in Babylon and then it was enlarged and improved upon by King Herod to impress/placate the Jewish people. But it was built very much in the pattern of what Solomon's temple would have been like and it gives you an idea what they mean when they talk about the porticos around the temple.

Anyone who has ever seen a picture of the skyline of Jerusalem knows that the most impressive and recognizable building/feature is the Dome of Rock. This was certainly not always the case. This temple was 3 times taller than the Dome and was where you see the gold color- that was REAL gold, not some fake alloys like used in the Dome.

I have a scrapbooking/photo editing ambition to use a photo of the skyline of Israel and superimpose the temple on it. I have a book that does just that and it is quite impressive. I suppose I could scan it, but that would no doubt be a copywrite violation. But trust me, it  makes that Dome look like nothing.

The passage we read talks about God writing his name on Jerusalem. The Jewish people believe that this is literally what he did- the 3 valleys that surround the Temple Mount area, they say, form the Hewbrew letter shin. ש This stands for the one of God's names- Shaddai (as in El Shaddai).

I was also fascinated by how it kept talking about building a temple for the Name. I am going to investigate this a little further when I get time. My instinct is that this is "I am", but I'll see what I come up with. Later in the passage, it talks about the name of God without capitalizing the Name. Perhaps this is also "Yaweh" the sacred name of God. But that is usually written all caps LORD. My guess is going to still be "I Am" because that directly relates to Jesus as He said, before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). The modern reader can skim the NT and say "Jesus never claimed to be God" but this and many other statements left NO doubt in His Jewish audiences mind what He was claiming.

May 12

Solomon takes over- Well today's passage has left no doubt about the answer to a question that I had earlier in the reading. Joab. Was he a good guy, or a bad guy. At times it seemed to swing back and forth and it confused me that David never dealt with him. Today, we learn that he was bad and Solomon makes the most of his father's advice to be strong and -so much for Joab.

David, in many ways, did not show the strength that he counseled Solomon to use. In yesterday's reading when Adonijah was trying to become king we find this parenthetical statement in 1 Kings 1:6 (His father had never interfered with him by asking, "Why do you behave as you do?" He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.) It seems that all David's sons (except possibly Solomon) went undisciplined.

The passage that followed about Adonijah and Bathsheba and Solomon was a bit confusing for me. It left me these questions:

• Why would Bathsheba even entertain this request from Adonijah when he had just tried to steal the throne from Solomon, her son?
• Wasn't execution for asking for a woman as his wife (even it it was King David's nurse) a bit much?

Upon doing a little research I found out that to have any of the Kings property (which the 'nurse' would have been considered) would have given Adonijah a legal foothold to try again to claim the throne. (Even though he states to Bathsheba that he knows that it was 'God's will" for Solomon to be king, she apparently sees right through his ploys and takes his request immediately to Solomon, knowing that Solomon will also see right through it and take the appropriate action. That made a lot more sense.

The same website also developed an interesting word picture with David and his nurse Abishag. She was sought to attend the king and her only qualifications were that she a virgin and beautiful. A picture of the church attending/serving Christ. If this word picture were carried a little further, I suppose you could say that Adonijah is a picture of Satan trying to ursurp the throne through deception and cunning. But Solomon quickly puts an end to the problem and defeats him once and for all and everyone who was in on it with him.

This brings up an interesting thought- this was all BEFORE Solomon was 'granted' wisdom. Do you suppose he was thinking, 'wow, I've only been in power a short time, and I've had 4 people executed? I really need wisdom here"?  I suppose to our way of thinking it's all very barbaric. But I'm sure that compared to the rest of the kingdoms around them, that things were done in a much more humane way. That there was any regard for human life at all sets Israel above the rest.

The fact that we have standards that even make us question these executions and some of the things is the OT is because we have been raised in country that although it is now largely secular, it was founded on Christian (New Testament) principals. You don't just go around executing people just because you are the king.

And that brings us to the final story in the reading. Besides being one of the most famous stories of Solomon's wisdom, have you ever stopped to think of how amazing it is that 2 hookers even got an audience with the king? Who would care about 2 hookers babies? God did......and he gave Solomon the wisdom to rule and judge wisely.

And may I just take a moment to marvel at how God let's me write these blogs.  I know what as messed up jumble of thoughts they are in my head when I sit down to type and for them to come out even comprehendable- let alone going together in somewhat of a 'theme' is nothing short of a God-thing.

Some random thoughts......May 11

I've had some random thoughts that I will share. Since the Psalms we've been reading cover such a wide topic, I'm sure that it will fit in somewhere.

For our exchange students graduation, we drove to Tennessee. She (as all of our students have) has been such a blessing to our family and given us much more than we have ever 'given' her. It has been amazing to watch God work in her life. She came, as frightened and shy 15 year old girl. Her english was mediocre. Any little difficulty dissolved her to tears. Having lived through one 'drama queen' child, I was quite prepared to set her well on her path to emotional stability. Every new challenge was enormous.....but God prepared each situation in advance for her and set all the right people there to help her. This weekend I got to meet some of them and see her meet one of her goals- to graduate from college.

We went to the little Korean church she attended while there.  Including her and her mom, our other exchange student, my husband and I, there were 15 people in attendance. I marveled at how they could keep the doors open....pay the bills.....I wondered if they were a mission church. Then I met a couple of the members- a college professor of engineering and an orthopedic surgeon. Ah...how silly of me. Of course, God puts all the right people in the right places.

The childrens lesson was done in english for the 3 little kiddos there. The pastor, in heavy Korean accent, asked them "How can we honors our fathers and mothers?" (honors is not a typo) It was so cute. They talked a lot about obedience and respect. Hmm...what a novel concept. The rest of the sermon was in Korean. But afterward, we had a great little Korean dinner in the tiny kitchen of the church. And the orthopedic surgeon, who has lived in the US since he was 4 gave his children wise and unique counsel. He was passing out mothers day cookies and then juice and the kids were told, more than once, to wait their turn until all the adults were served and then they would get theirs. They whined and fussed and squirmed but they waited. He was not harsh or authoritarian with them...but he was teaching them something that kids need to learn- respect for adults and that the world does not revolve around them.

The goal of raising kids is to raise respectful, God fearing and God loving adults. I know that often kids are treated too harshly and I'm not saying that's good at all...but I think that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of overindulgence and then they think that their happiness (because we teach them this!) is the most important thing in the world.

On a similar note, I saw a great video from a missionary with incredible vision that our church supports on FB today. He totally gets his kids involved in the kingdom. This little guy is going to set the world on fire someday!! At 3 years old, when his grandma (my friend) told him that she was studying about Elijah, he said, "Now grandma, are you sure, because there is EliJAH and EliSHA" , and he told her the difference.

I think I did a pretty fair job with my kids. I'm proud of all of them. But I could have done better in the deptarment of raising them to be unselfish, Kingdom building, God serving world changers! And this world needs more like this little guy!  Parents, grandparents: set your hearts to raise world changers!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7bcD858DSY&feature=player_embedded#!

 

Fresh insight....May 6

I mentioned yesterday that I was struggling reading the Psalms. And don't get me wrong I love them.....I use them in my prayer/praise time. They are beautiful. But to just read them......especially that many of them, my eyes were glossing over. And I hate it when that happens. I don't want to read to just say I 'did it', I want to be growing and learning.

God gave me a fresh insight today. I think my problem was that they were TOO familiar. I glanced at tommorows reading and found myself almost saying: "as the deer pants for the water....blah blah blah....". Then I remembered that I LOVE Psalm 119 in the Message version. I had been talking to one of our members about this. Then I decided to reread today's reading completely from the Message version. Wow, it was an eye opener. Because I wasn't reading it almost from memory and had to REALLY read it (plus being in modern language) it just really was fresh for me.

Here is Psalm 4 from the Message. See if it doesn't give you fresh insight as well.
A David Psalm


1 When I call, give me answers. God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, you gave me room;

Now I'm in trouble again: grace me! hear me!

2 You rabble—how long do I put up with your scorn?

How long will you lust after lies?

How long will you live crazed by illusion?

3 Look at this: look

Who got picked by God!

He listens the split second I call to him.

4-5 Complain if you must, but don't lash out.

Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking.

Build your case before God and wait for his verdict.

6-7 Why is everyone hungry for more? "More, more," they say.

"More, more."

I have God's more-than-enough,

More joy in one ordinary day

7-8 Than they get in all their shopping sprees.

At day's end I'm ready for sound sleep,

For you, God, have put my life back together.
 
 
Wow, is all I can say. It really spoke to me. If you want to read more Psalms in this version, click on this link and then change the Psalm number to read any one you want.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20119&version=MSG
 
Hope that you were able to make it to some of the National Day of Prayer activities. Blessings.

May 2-5

I love the Psalms, I have always loved the Psalms. If I'm ever sick (like deathly sick) and you want to help me, read me the Psalms. Having said that, I am strangely struggling with the reading. I don't know if I was so into the Chronology of the 'story' and the Psalms interupted them or what. Or maybe my focus is too pulled into the projects I have going. Like I have said before, putting God first is a LOT of work. Especially these days when there are so many things to pull you in so many directions.

The word of God is medicine to our souls. But just like medicine for our body, it has to be taken in. And that requires effort on our part. I just had to take some immodium (not to give TMI- but you will get the idea of what will happen if I didn't take it). Ice cream does not like me as much as I like it for some reason. Anyway, the way the package those darn things. I had to REALLY work at getting that medicine out!! But I kept working at it because I knew what would happen to me (and my nights sleep if I didn't). If we could only see or feel what is happening to our spirits when do not nourish it with God's word, we would work at it more until we got our medicine in!

We need to take it in and meditate on it. We are not well practiced in the area of meditating on God's word. It's simple really, turn it over and over in your mind. Think on it from a variety of angles and think how you can apply it to your life. I guess you could say that MEDITATION is our MEDICATION.  Do have time? Give up your other form of meditation: worry. What is worry? Turning a situation over and over in your mind. Meditate on God's goodness and His word instead. To be spiritually fit, we need our medication. I have confessed to you that I've been struggling, but I cannot, I will not give up!!! And don't you either!

Recovering..

Recovering my 2nd computer crash in just a couple weeks. First it was a virus and then I was experimenting with different media players and decided against them......tried to uninstall them and somehow it took a driver or some critical compentent of windows with it. Or perhaps it was some other weird failure that happened at the same time. I now have TWO external hard drives to back up to make DOUBLE sure I'm backed up (thousands of pics etc)

Aren't you glad the God is more reliable than technology and He is available 24/7? It is a full on battle putting Him first every day. It was a lot easier being 'just go to church and try to be a decent person' kind of Christian. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. At least I hope I wouldn't-hence the battle. So many things and thoughts and needs and entertainment and everything that just want to compete for your attention.

I had a lot of comments brewing in my mind about the Psalms we've been reading. I can't think of most of them right now except that I remember memorizing Ps 112 as a kid.

I lift up my eyes to the hills- Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip -
He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you
The LORD is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm -
He will watch over your life;
The LORD will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore.

What just cracks me up is that my burning question at that time was: What does Israel have to do with anything?? I vaguely remembered that Jesus was born there, David fought Goliath there.....but I had the crazy egocentric idea that afterall, the Bible was written for US (not sure who I thought 'us' was- Christians? Americans?) so why would it say that? What amazed me even more is the answer I was given. I'm not even sure by whom, maybe my Sunday School teacher: Israel was God's chosen people but now they have been REPLACED by the church. Unwittingly as an young child I was introduced to what I now know is 'Replacement Theology".  Very sad. If you have been a victum of this teaching also I would encourage you to realize that God's promises are forever, including those made to Israel. He has miraculously preserved them as a nation and Israel as a self governing state is a miracle. Jews are coming to faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah in record numbers. One of the programs that I DVR is called "In search of the Jewish Jesus". It is a beautfiul program that really bridges the OT and NT together.

Hopefully, I will be back on my regular blogging soon. It really helps me get more out of it and I hope that it does you too.