216 - “If Godliness Leads You Not, Then Weariness”

 

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,

    as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he shows us his mercy. Psalm 123:2. 

Therefore. 

I have calmed and quieted my soul. Today. 
Like a weaned child from his mother.  
The Callicot commentary speaks to this metaphor.  "It is taken from a baby's first real sorrow when he not merely feels pain, but is allowed no access to that which was his solace hitherto.  He moans, and frets, and sobs, but at last is quieted by the love which is powerful to soothe, even when it must deny."

"If goodness lead him not, then weariness may toss him to God's breast."  George Herbert]

Psalm 123 I look up to You for help.  Like servants, alert to their master's commands, like a maiden attending her lady, We're watching and waiting, holding our breath, awaiting your word of mercy. Mercy, God, mercy! 

Psalm 125 Those who trust in God are like Zion Mountain: Nothing can move it, a rock-solid mountain 
you can always depend on.  What is stronger in me?  To depend on what I want to see happen?  TTo depend on life turning out the ways I want it to turn out?  To depend on strong people to come through for me?  No and No Andy No.  What is stronger in me---to depend on circumstances and people or to depend on an Invisible Hand on my life?  Yes, God's Hand is turning my tide!

PHOTO:  Rocky Mountains

215 - “Quiet My Soul in My Loss of What I Loved” Psalm 120-122. 2 Thessalonians 2

 

I will lift my eyes to the mountains ~ Psalm 121:1
But there is no help in the power & strength I find there.

My help comes from the LORD.
My transformed soul must quiet itself in my loss of what I loved, 

in my disappointment of what I had hoped for, 

in my sadness in how I am treated,

and in my suffering of what I had trusted. 

 My Help comes from the LORD Who made Heaven and Earth. 

 Be quiet, o my soul. 

 No mountain, no power, no strengths, other than My LORD. 

 He Who keeps me will not slumber this night. Psalm 121:3. 
Compose and Quiet my soul!  

I will not involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me. Psalm 127:2. 

Psalm 28:2 I will find my help from Your Presence in my life, in my community, in my church. I will look to Your Sanctuary. 

 Come LORD Jesus, be Present here. 

 Make me like these mountains which cannot be moved.

PHOTO:  Eatonville, Washington. I remember what I was thinking when this picture was taken.

214 - “The Unfolding of the Word” Psalm 119:89-176 1 Thessalonians 5

                                  

The unfolding of the Word gives Light. 

The entrance illuminates our understanding. 

Doesn't depend on how bright we are or are not. 

It gives understanding even to the simple. 

The word "pentach" signifies an opening. 

Someone said that metaphorically, it really means a "gate." 

And when the Light dispels the darkness, and lights up our minds, 

we enter the porch.

What happens when we enter in the house? 

May we be so taken with the Word of God to delight, meditate, study, and marvel at it over and over and over. 

Huram-abi knew how to work with iron, stone, gold, silver, bronze, wood.  He could do it all---engravings.  But all I can think of this day is that I want some iron in my soul.  I'm far too flappable, malleable, slippery, flacid.  The Holy Spirit knows how to put that iron in my soul.  And so, we pray. 
Psalm 119: 175 
Invigorate my soul , O God, 
so I can praise You well, 
use Your Decrees to put iron in my soul. 

PHOTO:  Because the beginning is understanding for all of us. Light coming through an opening in the sky. A gate of wisdom for us this day.

213 - “There Is Meaning & Mercy in Your Suffering” Psalm 119:1-88

I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I have not forgotten your Word. Psalm 119:83

Wine-bottles of the East are skins.                                                                                                               The custom was to hang the skin of wine in the smoke of a fire to mellow the wine and bring it to perfection.  

I learned in school you always have to ask: So what's the point?  

The psalmist finds consolation in this metaphor that my afflictions have "meaning" and "mercy."              They have been sent by the Creator to act on me like the smoke does on the wine.  

The Tuck commentary says: Under all these afflictions, may we refuse to part with our faith.  Yet, we falter.  Yet, we don't forget the Word either.  

R. Tuck says: "What seems to be in mind is a long waiting-time, which was also a time of suffering and strain."  Waiting for God.  Watching for God as this world passes away.  

And Tuck says the major question is this:  "What was he doing during this hard waiting-time?" ...     Holding fast to his integrity;                                                                                                                  keeping obedience and trust;                                                                                                           persistently ordering his life according to the Divine statutes.  

Send your Word, O God! And may we throw ourselves on the Divine rhetoric.

PHOTO: A tender passing moment steeped in suffering and joy, meaning and mercy.

212 - “The Hand of God Turned The Tide” Psalm 116-118. 1 Thessalonians 4

 

 116:  1 - GOD TAKES THE HAND OF THE HELPLESS
I love God because He listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy. He listened so intently as I laid out my case before him. Death stared me in the face, hell was hard on my heels. God takes the side of the helpless; when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me. 

I said to myself, "Relax and rest. 
Soul, you've been rescued from death;
Eye, you've been rescued from tears
Foot, you've been kept from stumbling." 
I'm striding in the presence of God, 
Alive in the land of the living! 

Something about these verses stirs up something so good in me.  Rescued by a very Good God.  

Striding in His Presence in the humdrum and holy business of this day.  Alive!  And, despite a ton of bad luck!  Ha.

Psalm 117:  1 - 5  GOD IS MY CHAMPION
Praise God, everybody! Applaud God, all people! His love has taken over our lives; Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God's now at my side and I'm not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God's my strong champion; "The hand of God has turned the tide! 

Brings to my mind:  The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.  So what does that mean as I read these verses about a Present God?  Maybe the only thing we know will never let us go is God. Listen to my life.  What do I want more than my Shepherd?

Hope for a new chapter.  Hope for a better me.  Hope for new strength.  

I Thes 4:11 that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business ...

"It is very desirable to have a calm and quiet temper, and to be of a peaceable and quiet behaviour. Satan is busy to trouble us; and we have in our hearts what disposes us to be unquie; therefore let us study to be quiet." 

PHOTO:  All those helpless times in the city where I lived in. Austin. Where God turned the tide.

211 - "Not To Us, Not To Us" Psalm 113-115, 1 Thessalonian 3

Psalm 113:7 God raises the poor from the dust.  Lifts the needy from the ash heap.  Trusting.

God rescues the wretched who have been thrown out with the trash.                                                                  He seats them among honored guests.                                                                                                        And He gives the childless joy as the parents of children.   

This week, I have wrestled about my life, my place, my heart---

there is a verse that kept coming to mind:  Psalm 115:1 Not to us.  

Not to us, but to your Name be Glory.  

This life is not about me yet I am enmeshed in figuring it out.  Not to us but to your Name bring Glory!

I Thes 3:11-13 May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers. 

PHOTO:  These two grandkids are just the best! We could not have enjoyed the bats, the trampolines, the skating rink, the pool, the go karts, the arcades, the aquarium any more!!! Thanks for visiting us Zekey!  August 2023

210 - "Trusting In Outcomes or Omnipotence" Psalm 106, 111-112. 1 Thessalonians 2

No sin,
No suffering,
Nothing Stops us from ascribing glory to God.
Bless His Name.
May the ambition of our hearts
be bountiful.  No lean souls.

Charles Spurgeon writes that Psalm 106 begins and ends with Hallelujah! Blessed be His Name.  And all the space inbetween bemoans Israel's sin and the extraordinary patience of our God.  "We do well to bless the Lord both at the beginning and the end of our meditations when sin and grace are the themes." This sacred song is occupied with the historical part of the OT.  It's the history that David holds. Spurgeon said the history of Israel is "so depreciated and yet David esteemed them beyond his necessary food, and made them his songs in the house of pilgrimage." Divine Goodness over all rising generations. 

"But soon they forgot what He had done.
And they did not wait 
for His Plan to unfold."
Psalm 106:13

And in the desert
they gave in!
May we wrestle well in these deserts of ours. 

When that word comes down to us?  

The one we hoped never to hear?  What will we do?  

Will our faith flame strong?  It's not that our faith will change our circumstances.  

It's all that our God will show up fully to quiet and calm our hearts. 

For in this world, you will have troubles. 

Surrendered.  Dependent.  

And our plans may change, 

but the purposes of our heart remain forever.

Psalm 112:7 He is not afraid of bad news.  His heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.

May I see a little deeper this moment that life is all about 

what I am trusting in---outcomes or Omnipotence.

PHOTO:  It's the place where I go to pray and think and walk and cry.  The Quarries Lake.

209 - "Incarnate Words Impossible to Capture Yet Fleshed Out in the Everydayness" Psalm 104-105. 1 Thessalonians 1

Psalm 105:4 - Look to the Lord and His Strength. Seek His Face Always.

 Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works; be alert for signs of His presence. 

God speaks.
It may be in the humdrum of life or it may be in hurts that pierce our hearts and make our blood run cold. God speaks.

"And the reason that His Words are Impossible to Capture in Human Language is of course that they are ultimately always Incarnate Words. They are words fleshed out in the everydayness, no less than in the crises of our own experience." (Buechner). 

Whether you heard him in the humdrum or hurts of this day, keep your eyes open for Him.  What sign was His Presence to you this day?

I Thes 1:1 - Paul says grace to you. Oh, this day, may grace abound in the pounding of our hearts. "For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you...your faith toward God has gone forth." 

 I Thes 1:8. Is there any other way to truly live? 

 May the words of my mouth this day, 

this urgent matter at hand, 

may my faith be known, 

may it be the Word, 

not my dilemma.

For we have all turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. And wait for Him. I'm not waiting on any man. I Thes 1:9.  Not waiting on any report.  Those are just words on a paper.  I have the true Word, the Living Word. 

And we accept this Word for what it truly is. The Word of God. Not the word of man.

PHOTO: Hey Kids, always keep your ears and eyes open for God. What is He saying to you Today?

208 - "The Most Beautiful Utterances Ever Spoken" Psalm 99-100, 102. Acts 17:16-34

Someone once said that this "Holy" Psalm, the Sanctus, is one of the most beautiful utterances that ever "leaped from mortal lip." The Treasury of David.

"The Lord reigns. Let the people tremble." Psalm 99:1

If we really saw what was happening, how God has overthrown the reign of evil, 

how God has set up the Kingdom of righteousness, justice, peace, goodness, love and truth, 

it would stir the depths of our being. 

These words are not idle words, they are our very life. Deut 32:47. No trifle here. No small thing.  

"The King in His Might loves justice." Psalm 99:4

This most beautiful psalm ever written comes from the aging lips of a man who has been through betrayal, loss, waywardness, and more. A man who found God in the midst of a mess after mess.

Today is our last day of 17 years in the city of Austin. We move in the morning. We have faced betrayal, loss, cancer, traumatic brain injury, and more I cannot even mention. It has been our utmost desire to fall forward in faith on a Good God. Too much of my life has been lived on a false assumption, a false hope:  "You assume that God relieves struggle and replaces it with rest."  Larry Crabb. The Lord reigns. Let the people tremble. 

Here is David's life.  A testimony of holiness.

PHOTO: Walking through the Botanical Garden in Austin.  Do I really see what is happening in my life?  I trust.

207 - “Light Will Shine One Day” Psalm 96-98. Acts 17:1-15

 Can I let go and leave my hurts in His Hands. Psalm 96 - God is coming to set everything right on earth.  (God said this 4 times in this chapter.)

 

Am I arrogant in how I talk about other people?

 Psalm 97:8 - Am I proud of my ragamuffin gods?  I hope not. for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Light shines on the righteous

and joy on the upright in heart.

Psalm 97:11
Light is sown for the righteous.
Scattered like seed.
And it will produce light or the promise of it.
We might reap in this life.  Maybe next.

Though we sow in tears, we will reap in joy.
One Fine Day! 

All those tears are places where God may enter.

In Acts 17: 16 Paul enters the pinnacle city of religious commitment, Athens. The place where scholars long to be. But, Paul isn't captivated by what he sees. He calls it as it is: idols. God isn't calling us to improve ourselves and he shoots down their mistaken philosophy. And Paul calls it what it is: sin. The service of idols. Rather than the service of the one, true, God. That's the good work Paul came to do in Athens, the center of philosophy. May we lay down our philosophical talk today and serve the Living God. 

Acts 17:26.  It's the verse God gave me on the day my first daughter was born.  This God is not served by human hands.  He gives life and breath and everything to you.  And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.  He determined your allotted periods and the boundaries of your dwelling place.  That you should seek God!  And feel your way toward Him and find Him.  She will wherever on the face of the earth she is.  He is not far from each of us.  In Him, we live and move and have our being.

PHOTO: Light Shines. God Determines. Seek God.

206 - “My Busy Thoughts Multiply Within Me” Psalm 93-96. Philippians 4.

  

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, 

Your Consolations will delight my soul. Psalm 94:19

My heart was filled with various and perplexing busy thoughts.

I was, I am tormented with the cares and fears about my future state.

Reach for the Consolations when the branchings of the heart hit hard.

I had to go back to subbing at the public schools in Austin---a challenge.

When you get older, it's a different ballgame in life or maybe it's that I just still

have not found my niche of contribution.  Trusting God in the midst of the emptiness.

The comforts that delight our soul are at our fingertips—

*the promises of God in His Word 

*the Word of God set home by the Holy Spirit on our souls, 

*and all those memories of His Care and Kindness to each of us in days gone by. 

The word for thoughts is used to describe branches of trees, 

thick and entwined, showing just how perplexed and distressing our thoughts really are. 

Praying for you and for me that God will open His Promises, His Word, and apply it to our souls.

Thank you, God.  This means so much that you would do this for us.

Can I let go and leave my hurts in His Hands?
 The comforts that delight our soul are at our fingertips—

*the promises of God in His Word 

*the Word of God set home by the Holy Spirit on our souls, 

*and all those memories of His Care and Kindness to each of us in days gone by. 

The word for thoughts is used to describe branches of trees, 

thick and entwined, showing just how perplexed and distressing our thoughts really are.  

Psalm 96 - God is coming to set everything right on earth.  (God said this 4 times.).  So, I can let go any insults, any harm done to me for my King will set it straight someday.   

 

205 - "Live As If We See The Whole of Life" Psalm 89, 92. Philippians 3

Bend an ear, God; answer me. I'm one miserable wretch! 

You put the arrogant ocean in its place 
You put your arrogant child in moments like today
that I may see into my heart.

I've thought a whole lot this year about the story of the Prodigal Son.  In his book about the prodigal, Henri Nouwen writes:  "Can I let the younger and older son grow in me to the maturity of the compassionate father?"  The father is who I must become, he writes.  As the father deals with his own anger and loneliness, his anger turns to solitude and his loneliness turns to gratitude.  I am that younger and older brother.  Frustration.  Anger.  Pain.   Can you grow both of my sides into a compassion that moves into the lives of others in the midst of my own mess.

Oh God! Cause us to come to you for wisdom. 

That we may allot our time by by what You know. 

That we may set store by time.

“That God would enable us to form such an estimate of life, 

that we shall be truly wise; 

that we may be able to act 

"as if" we saw the whole of life.” 

I'm walking on air. God has been so very good to us. Psalm 89:17.

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.  Phil 3:10.

Knowing God here is an experimental knowledge of the power of the resurrection.
One commentary called it "feeling the transforming efficacy and virtue" of His death and resurrection. 

What about us?  What keeps us from the ultimate ambition to know God?

PHOTO: The faces of the people in Budapest still haunt me.  So sullen.  So sad.  So striking.  The distrust of Communism still runs through the Danube River.  They are not a free people.  God raise them up to be like the father running for joy to his sons.  

204 - "Breathe Life Into Me" Psalm 67, 71. Philippians 2

O Lord, Do not delay.  Please hasten to our words, our hearts.  We are all poor and needy this day.  May we see how we can accomplish nothing today except through Your Power.  When will you come to us? Seal our hearts in Your Grace today.  Steady our ways.  Sweep us off our feet.  Show up in ways we don't expect.  And may you find us surrendered.

What do I really think way down deep inside when my strength is spent? 

Physical strength shot. 

Emotional strength waning. 

Do I worship? 

Actually, days like today, I'm just trying to hold on and ask a Very Gracious God to help me see what surrounds me on days like today when my strength is spent. I spent it all last night. I am very aware that I awake with a fresh clean slate. But I don't want to spend the same strength again tonight. 

It's actually a very good position to be in---dependent. Psalm 71:9 

Forsake me not when my strength is spent. Psalm 71:20 

God has made me see many troubles and calamities. 

Why am I giving in to this weight of sin. My anger does not accomplish His righteousness. 

Talking to myself.

He will bring me up again! 

Revive me again---the word in the Greek for "revive" means: To breathe life into me.

That's it!

"Have this mind in you, the mind of Christ. The Energy working in you is God's Energy.  Phil 2:4, 13.  
"There is an Energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.  Jesus can fill my mind and direct my will.  You can empty yourself of parading success, winning recognition, depending on good treatment from others."

PHOTO:  The mighty mountains of Seattle.  Standing here a few weeks ago.  Seeing my deep need for dependence on God to make it through this life of mine.

203 "Let The Word of God Have Run of Your House" Psalm 33, 54, 66. Philippias 1

                                                                  

Oh Father, there's not a person on earth who has not lived a day without being "curved in" on ourselves. In our secret hearts, forgive. "You get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean. God holds nothing against you and you're holding nothing back from him." How foolish of me to think that there is any good greater than the good of knowing God! Psalm 33:16-17 "No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute strength. Horsepower is not the answer; no one gets by on muscle alone." 

"Only in the storm will you know there is an anchor...I've not wanted an anchor in the storm. I've wanted a quick trip to shore." No spiritual aspirin available. No anesthetic for my storms. Just a revelation of what life is like for the person who lives in the storm with his eyes fixed on Me. 66 LL 

What if what we have to offer----no one really wants it.  What do we do then?
Well, we rightly divide the Word of God.

Let the Word of God have run of your house.
We live by the Truth, longing for holiness, serving out of dutiful hearts.
With willing hearts.
With full-faced front lives on the line.
With upright words.
With motives turned outward to all.

We may prefer affirmation---someone notice what I'm doing; someone throw me a word.
We may prefer comfort---don't let the other shoe fall, no---no more.  Enough.
We may prefer peace---being safe at all costs; no bad reports.

"This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that you may approve the things that are excellent."  Phil 1:9-10

May we choose Truth, Holiness, and Service over our own selves.  

PHOTO: Eatonville, Washington. The place where Bob's Mom & Dad lived. You walk down their driveway and expect to see them coming out. You hear those voices talking about life gone by. You see the snow-capped slopes from their windows. You long for one more conversation to say what's on your heart for them. My children's grandparents.

  

202 - "I Have Installed My King" Psalm 1-2, 10; Acts 16:22-40

We open the book of Psalms. It's a Hand reaching out to grasp ours in the midst of our storms and tears and confusion and fears. I have assumed wrongly about life: I have wanted God to step in and rescue me from all my struggles with people and life. Relieve me of this oppression. Replace it with Rest. But what God did: He has used my Job experiences "to uncover a Rest beneath the struggle that no Anguish can destroy. The struggle with fear and pain will continue. Only in the storm will you know There is an Anchor." 66LL. This is not what my world tells me. My world wants me to have no struggles, no worries, no pain. If you do, people assume that you are: Not walking with God. Not trusting God. Not understanding God and His Goodness. Not in God's will. All of the Above. A friend said to me the other day: "Let's just be positive and trust God." Or, in other words: Let's just deny what is really going on. Ps 1:1 - Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of his disillusioned friends but in Truth. Ps 2:6 - As for me, I have installed my King...I take Refuge in God not things working out. 

PHOTO: The age-old trees in Pagosa Springs. Behind me, the San Juan Forest burning unexpectedly, uncontrollably, unnerving. Meditate on these psalms day and night.

201 - "Divine Providence Prevails" 2 Kings 24-25; Acts 16:1-21

Embroiled in a midnight mess, I came to these Scriptures today. There is no excuse for my sins even though prompted by another's sin. We bump up against other's sins every day of our lives and it gives us no peace if we give in to wrongdoings. The evil continued in this story today is frightening. May we never be complacent about our sin. 

"It is for the sins of a people that God hides from them the things that belong to the public peace. And in fulfilling the secret purposes of his justice, the Lord needs only leave men to the blindness of their own minds, or to the lusts of their own hearts. The gradual approach of Divine judgments affords sinners space for repentance, and believers leisure to prepare for meeting the calamity, while it shows the obstinacy of those who will not forsake their sins." Matthew Henry

And the side story that grips me is found in 2 Kings 25:27 - Divine Providence is always moving. Can we find the Good in the midst of the evil? 

Oh Father, You silenced me through this story of evil kings following each other's footsteps. No longer self aware of their own departure from grace, decision to grovel, dilemma of magnitude. Oh! Deal with my own heart. I lay these things before you that I am wrestling with. Thank you for stirring me to righteousness.

PHOTO: It's midnight here. Madness. Mystery. Silence. Surrender.

200 - "No Better Way To Live" 2 Kings 22-23; Galatians 6

                                                           

Set this beautiful world aright for us.

Answer our humble prayers from tender hearts.

O God, ride the heavens to our help.

O God, turn our worlds right side up.

II Kings 22:19 - No better way to live than with a heart that is tender and a life that is humbled before God.  

Hezekiah knew.  

He became mortally ill. Isaiah told him to set his house in order for he was not going to make it. Yet Hezekiah replied to the God He trusted: Remember now, O LORD, I beseech you, remember how I've walked before you in truth with a whole heart ... and he wept bitter tears. There is no one like the God of Jeshurun who rides the heavens to our help ~ Deut 33:26.

And God changed His Mind, instantly. No waiting on this one.  

I heard your prayer.  

I saw your tears.

I will heal you.

We just don't know in this life what God will send, reverse, bless, re-direct. Our goal is not to control our circumstances, never to demand that we think we know what our Good God should do. God give us tender hearts, humbled under Your Mighty Hand. II Kings 22:19. Our ambition is God Himself.

Psalm 20:5 - God, would you fulfill our petitions. May we lift up our banner in Your Name Alone and put an end to this ambition.

You were running a good race.  Who cut in on you?  Can we name what we are doing in the race of life?  It's not our goals to go after.  It is His Spirit to impart. What about our passions and desires here on this earth?  Crucified.  Galatians 6:24

The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord

to walk after the Lord, and

to keep His commandments and His testimonies, 

and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul

to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book.

 II Kings 23:3.  

And all the people entered into the covenant.  King Josiah had just heard from his God that he could not stop the ruin of Jerusalem.  All we can deal with is what is happening in our own soul. We can lead people but we cannot make them follow God, not even our own children.  We lay them in the lap of our LORD.  We can invite, intrigue, engage, entertain in sober ways what is holy and what counts in life.  Josiah led his people to abolish idolatry, serve God in righteous living, find true repentance.  Many of those he led were compliant hypocrites who will stand before God, alone.  While Josiah could rein in the wickedness, he couldn't change their very souls.  

Judah and Jerusalem overflowed with wickedness. Would our forefathers have thought that America could do the same and evolve into such an evil place?  I grew up with broken people who never locked their doors, fearing no break-ins.  No more.  We all live behind bars and locks and gates.  In Josiah's 18 years of exemplary service, he lived from a humbled heart.  Yet, he could not change his nation.  "The records of God's word teach that all the real godliness or goodness ever found on earth is derived from the new-creating Spirit of Jesus Christ." M.Henry

Through Passion and Passover, revival broke out under the good hand of Josiah. The Mighty Hand of God.  God rained on them His Presence, His Favor.  Josiah must have been beside himself.  But, it only lasted until the traitors cut off the life of Josiah to raise up the next king.  Evil reigns again.  And the point of the passage is t.h.i.s. ~ We must take care of our own souls to stand next to the pillars in our own lives, make a covenant, keep His Word, carry out His Words. And when we can't; when we don't; when we won't, then take care of your soul and repent under the Holy Hand of a very Good God Who is always doing us good. 

Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. 2 Kings 23:16

Never before or after---a king like him---yet his own son, Jehoahaz, could not be influenced.  I remember "telling" words about a decade ago spoken to me in angst.  "We will see who was right by the size of your ministry."  I didn't believe it then.  I don't believe it now.  Josiah's own son couldn't be swayed by the strongest of kings.  We will all individually give account to God for our lives not for how our sons and daughters and followers turn out.

199 - "Spread Your Dilemma Before The Lord" 2 Kings 19-21; Galatians 5

This picture of Hezekiah going to God with his problems is cemented in my heart. 2 Kings 19:14. I'll go looking for Hezekiah in heaven to tell him just how much his story of spreading his problems before God's Eyes meant to me over my lifetime.  I've smoothed out sheets and asked God to sit in the hospital bed next to me.  I've smoothed out paper and invited Him to write a different script.  I've smoothed out sin-sick souls and sat next to them and wept.  Whatever we face, spread it before the One Who is the Author of all.  Isaiah 37:14 - Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:  “O Lord of hosts, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see..."

Spreading before the LORD what concerns us this very day. Oh God, incline your ear.

The deeds of the flesh, well obvious\\\
So, crucify the flesh passion & lusts///
Let nothing interfere obeying Truth\\\

Galatians 5:7 *and* Galatians 5:24///

PHOTO: California. Whether cemented in splendor or surreal or surprise or senseless, spread it out before the Lord.

198 - "Sin Is More Than Wrong Choices" 2 Kings 17-18; Galatians 4

We can appear religious and be far from it.  "Even though the Israelites were worshipping God, they were far from God. They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger." 2 Kings 17:16-17

These Israelites were dead serious!  

Reminds me of today's suicide bombers with ISIS.

Selling themselves.

Sacrificing their sons and daughters.

Oh my!

The Israelites followed kings not the King. 

They became faithless not full of faith.
They practiced secrets not surrender/

"And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right."  2 Chron 17

2 Chronicles 28:3 Infamous Ahaz —incredibly! indulged in the outrageous practice of "passing his sons through the fire."  That is unbelievable.  Verse 19 says:  Arrogant King Ahaz, acting as if he could do without God's help, had unleashed an epidemic of depravity. I have been thinking a lot about our moral choices.  We read the Charity chapter in Mere Christianity in class on Friday.  When I led the discussion, one student responded that Lewis' words proved "love is a choice."  But we must always allow God to reveal the motives and intentions of our hearts as we love.  Sin is way more than just making a wrong choice to not love or do the wrong thing.  

It brings to mind a quote from Crabb:  "Sin is more than wrong choices, more than bad behavior, more than wrong understanding.  And it is not a reaction to felt need that deserves tender compassion and patience.  Sin cannot be explained, but it can be defined.  Sin is defiantly walking past the living water God provides in relationship with Himself and proudly digging wells with one's own resources in the futile and foolish hope of providing for oneself the water needed for a meaningful and secure life."  Jeremiah 2:9 -13

John Piper calls it "sweet idolatries in which the longing heart embraces the wrong satsifaction."  What are my deep satisfactions this night?  Is it my children responding right to me?  Is it my husband not "missing" me?  Is it my friends responding like I want them to?  Is it my God coming through for me?  What do I most want?

The fullness of time came\\\
And! We were all adopted///
We are all known by God\\\
Galatians 4:5 *and* 4:9///

Oh! Oh little children\\\
I am again in travail ///
until Christ is formed\\\
in you.Galatians 4:19///

Let nothing interfere ~ If all we care about are the results of our prayers and the results of our obedience, then we are effectively making that “result” our God, rather than God Himself  (paraphrase from "Miracles" by Eric Metaxas).

Dear Father, Oh that Christ be formed in each of us a little more this day than yesterday.

PHOTO:  The Hill Country of Texas. 

197 - "They Honored God But Not Exclusively" 2 Kings 15-16; Galatians 3

Israel seems like it's on a confusing teeter-totter.
Judah seems stable yet facing real struggles---but nothing like those who will not follow God's will.  One of the commentaries said it is a far different deal looking at the imperfections of man versus the wickeness of those who will not repent. 

These hearts of ours are deceitful and need "restraints."  We need the Hand of the Lord this day to restrain us from evil temptations.  Like a city without wall is the one with no restraints.  May we beg God for another chance, another restraint, another healing. 

Kings 15:1 - What is it that these kings continually failed to get rid of the sex-and-religion shrines that were popular with the people...wonder what these kings wanted more than the love of their God---their own popularity?? 

II Kings 15:16 - Menahem ripped open the pregnant women because the town didn't welcome him with open arms.  II Kings 16:3 They even indulged in outrageous practices of  burning their own children. 
These are really bad people..."all kinds of things on the sly."  They threw out everything their God had told them.  In a lot of ways, it sounds familiar in some respects in our own country.  How incredibly sad!  II Kings 18:32 - "They honored God but not exclusively."  

All I keep thinking about is the quote from 66 LL that says that in the midst of evil times, God's Plan is moving ahead.  "Above all else, seek to know Me better and represent Me well in every circumstance, no matter how you feel...You must understand the deceptive nature of evil."  [Evil today doesn't rear its head in outrageous practices in most Christian lives---it's more the deceptive evil that leads us astray. I will not be about burning my children but there's still cancer in my soul.)  "Evil hides itself and does its destructive work slowly, beneath the disease of necessity, reasonableness, efficiency, pragmatism, even morality, even goodness."   God has a Plan to restore the Beauty of Eden. God has a plan for each of you to create a life "in rhythm with His Holiness."  He is a Beautiful God in charge and He chose you!                                                                                                                                    

PHOTO:  Santa Rosa Island.  The Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in its rays. New day. New slate.  Clean hearts.  Right spirits.  Within.  Without.  We don't live perfect, we live forgiven. And we know Him!

196 - “There’s a Plumb Line” Amos 7-9, Galatians 2

 

Amos 7:7 - God showed me this vision: My Master was standing beside a wall. In his hand he held a plumb line.  "Read Amos and tremble.  God has dropped a plumbline to expose our wickedness---which is in all of our hearts, our relational sin.  Read Amos and tremble with the consciousness of your relational sin.  Worship that leaves UNCHANGED the way you relate to Me and to others is false worship.  I will not cooperate with any pursuit of spiritual maturity that leaves unrecognized and undisturbed your hidden energy of self-protection and self-enhancement.  You are wrongly conscious only of your unsatisfied desires in the Presence of My seeming indifference.  When you remain blind to your guilt, you seek Me for your purposes."  66 LL.

Amos 8: You give little and take much and never do an honest day's work. You exploit the poor, using them, and then, when they're used up, you discard them.  

RELATIONAL SINS:  * treating people as things to be used for personal advantage - the sin of Damascus 1:3     *valuing financial gain for self over well-being of others - the sin of Gaza 1:6     *regarding one's word as breakable when self-interest is served - the sin of Tyre 1:9     *seeing nothing wrong with nourishing hatred against people who hurt you deeply - the sin of Edom 1:11     *justifying harming others to increase personal satisfaction - the sin of Ammon 1:13     *presuming vengeance is a legitimate personal right - the sin of Moab 2:1     *disregarding the absolutes I reveal as the standard for all relating - the sin of Judah 2:4     *pursuing satisfaction by following a plan for life that is self-serving and not God-glorifying - the sin of Israel 2:6

"Without deep consciousness of relational sin, My people then and now feel falsely complacent in My Presence, unaware, and therefore, untroubled by how far short their style of relating falls below Mine" 6:1.  That is a very telling statement.  Complacent in God's Presence, unaware and untroubled by how far short our relating falls before a Holy God.   How have I changed in the past year, months, weeks, days? Worship that leaves unchanged the ways I relate to my husband, my kids, my friends, (and for me, especially to those who have hurt me deeply) is f.a.l.s.e.

PHOTO:  I am praying for you every day that God continues to change your heart. I pray that you keep on being the amazing young person you are who cares deeply about her Mom and worships the ground she walks on. May you love well all your days. It has been my greatest joy living with you these precious God-given years.

195 - "Are We Trying To Live Our Best Life Down Here" Amos 4-6; Galatians 1

Are we trying to have the best life here?  Everything falling into place in our world.

Days are coming. The plowmen will overtake the reaper.

It's the day we all live for---the coming of the LORD for His people.

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria." Amos 6:1
What is my security in.
The themes mesh---Isaiah wrestling not to follow King Uzziah.
Amos wrestling with the feel of security.
What does that look like in all of our lives?
Peace and personal comfort.  It's usually what most go after.

COME BOLDLY:  Timeless Prayers
Father, may we live this day like we mean it.  Like we know that we have been invited into Eternity.  Make a difference in what we see and feel and understand this very day.

PHOTO:  30,000 feet in the air.  State of Colorado.  Am I living in reality on earth and not 30,000 feet in the air.  

194 - "The Lion Has Roared" Amos 1-3; Acts 15:22-41

Another prophet in the picture.

While Isaiah is dealing with his strongholds, Amos is saying this:

The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”

Amos 3

So speak to to those strongholds.

They must go.

They have no hold on me.

Wrestle well.

You know what is right to do.

O Father, may we hear your Voice saying this is the way walk in it.  May we grasp a little more deeper this day that You are roaring in our lives for goodness, for justice, for love.

PHOTO:  Santa Rosa Island.  In those quiet moments today, may we move to do away with the strong holds on all our lives.  Those strongholds that stop the very blood flow of life to us.   

193 - ”Don’t Miss The Grace of God”

 

                                     

Who am I that you take care of me?
Who am I that you think of me?
The God of all Goodness and Grace.
Always doing us good.
Even though we may not see it today.
If we are following God,
we will be influenced by that Goodness.
We will resolve to follow further, deeper in.
But it's not just a decision!
It is Grace!
May we not miss the Grace of God
in all our little big problems.
Those times when a whale swallows us.
May we pray like Jonah to resist the idols
and receive the Grace & Goodness of God!
Jonah 2:8 who pay regard to vain idols
    forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Jonah 2:8. 

The basis of the spiritual life is humility. Not the haughty attitude that I know what is right and I am going to let you know. May we not distance ourselves.  May we not miss Your Grace & Goodness! Even in the belly of a whale.  And that's about the toughest circumstances around.  No light.  No exit.  No advocate.  No explanation.  No way out.  Unless God does something.  And He did.  

PHOTO: Pensacola Beach where I have spent the past summers of my life with family.

192 - "Evil Hides Itself in Necessity, Morality, Goodness, Reasonableness..." 2 Kings 13-14; James 5

A man passing through died and they threw him in a grave.

It was the grave of Elisha.

When the dead man's bones touched the bones of Elisha, 

he was raised to new life.

II Kings 13:22

When we read the Bible, the Bible actually reads us.

What stirs in you as you listen?

These prophets dealt with their souls & never let go of God.

Elisha assured King Jehoash to depend on God's Power not his own.  With trembling hands over Jehoash's hand, the dying prophet symbolically shoots an arrow out of his window.  His dying words leave this king with the hope that Divine Providence holds us in His quiver.  "Evil hides itself and does its destructive work slowly, beneath the disguise of necessity, reasonableness, efficiency, pragmatism, even morality, even goodness." 66LL.  This is the line of David and God will preserve them and the power of evil will not stop God's purposes.  We must recognize and deal with the evil in our own hearts.  There is no peace in sin.  Is our heart right with God? 

So much talk about giving thanks and focusing on the positive. But, are we really just trying to change our behavior? Sin is relational not behavioral. It's deep. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working, James 5:13. So pray ...

James 5:9 ~ "The Judge is standing at the door."  What is at my center?  I can live self-centered being good or being bad.  Neither works for righteousness.  The Judge is always at hand.  So, let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no so you may not fall under condemnation.  

PHOTO: Credit: Stock Photos. A grave. 

191 - "Is Your Heart Right, As My Heart Is With Your Heart" 2 Kings 10-12; James 4

These kings!  Ruthless.  Out-of-control.  Massive murderers.  Yet, they did exactly what they wanted to do.  I just read a quote from C.S. Lewis:  "In each of us, there is something growing up which will of itself be Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.  It's not a question of God 'sending' us to hell."

It's all about who we make covenants with.  2 Kings 11:17 "Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord’s people. He smashed the altars and idols to pieces.  And the whole town became calm.  

May righteousness stir within us all. 

Jezebell asked the question to Elijah in 2 Kings 9 and so did others:  "Have you come in peace?"

Elijah didn't answer them, the perpetrators of evil.  He let them be. Had no mercy on their wicked ways.  

Such a telling thought to throw a woman out of the window to her death.  God moves and works in ways we don't understand.  Wondering what they thought of this story in that day?  Wondering what we think of this forcible forthright dealing with sinful natures.

May we not take lightly the things we do.  

Maybe, we think that we are doing all the right things.

Ministering.  Missional.  Madmen. 

How do we know we are right?

How do we know that what we do this day is really for God?

Jehu was anointed by God.  A madman ran in and told Jehu ... and ran right out.  Sometimes prophets are called a little out of their mind.  Jehu's life tells a compelling story---he destroyed the house of Ahab---so zealous for God. But there's so much more than living a zealous life, a successful life, a missional life.  We are here for God, not to build our do-good world.  There's a telling verse about Jehu, II Kings 10:31, reveals "Jehu wasn't careful to walk in the law of the LORD with all his heart."  Oh, how this makes me want to finish well.  Sin is never the way of peace ~ Isaiah 57:21.  

And the verse I take away from this passage and will hold dear:
It's a quote from the life of Jehu desiring to walk with his friend in unity.
It's a question we must ask ourselves.
“Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?”   II Kings 10:15

They bowed to starry hosts.

God never intended for us to worship nature more than Him.

They followed the practices of their peers.

God never intended for us to look sideways for direction.  Look up.

They even sacrificed their sons and daughters.

We may look very religious but are we doing it for ourselves?

In secret, they did things against their Lord, their God.

Things that were not right.

Do we?

Am I?

God, change us this moment as I reflect on what I do in secret.  Thoughts that may turn wild in motion, against the grain.  May I bring them captive to You.  May I look to You first, not my peers, never sideways.  Take these widdershin thoughts of mine and make them smooth as iron.  May I find You in this these 10,000 moments.  

Image:  Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.07478