a chunk of stuff

Here's what stood out in 3 of the 4 chapters I read in this Bible this morning.

Some mornings there's not as much as there are this morning, & some times there's more.


One of my sons preached a sermon this past Sunday about knowing how & when God speaks to us.

I don't have a problem knowing how & when - haven't since January of 2003.

God speaks to me all the time - I read the Bible every day, w/o fail.


I'm not trying to be prideful or arrogant - I'm just stating a fact.

I don't have much of a problem getting God to speak to me - good grief! sometimes I almost want Him to shut up!!! ;-) LOL

And the same thing will happen to anyone else - yes, that means you!

If you read the Bible everyday, w/o fail, God will speak to you - no, God will mess with you!

And He will mess with you in the very areas of your life you don't want Him to mess with!


Anyway, here's a bunch of stuff that stood out today...



Psalm 37

1 Don't worry about the wicked

  or envy those who do wrong.

2 For like grass, they soon fade away.

  Like spring flowers, they soon wither.


3 Trust in the LORD and do good.

  Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

4 Take delight in the LORD,

  and he will give you your heart's desires.


5 Commit everything you do to the LORD.

  Trust him, and he will help you.

6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,

  and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.


7a Be still in the presence of the LORD,

  and wait patiently for him to act.


8b Do not lose your temper—

  it only leads to harm.


12 The wicked plot against the godly;

  they snarl at them in defiance.

13 But the Lord just laughs,

  for he sees their day of judgment coming.


16 It is better to be godly and have little

  than to be evil and rich.


23 The LORD directs the steps of the godly.

  He delights in every detail of their lives.

24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,

  for the LORD holds them by the hand.

25a Once I was young, and now I am old.

  Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
 

34a Don't be impatient for the Lord to act!

  Travel steadily along his path.

He will honor you by giving you the land.
 

35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people

  flourishing like a tree in its native soil.

36 But when I looked again, they were gone!

  Though I searched for them, I could not find them!


39 The LORD rescues the godly;

  he is their fortress in times of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them,

  rescuing them from the wicked.

He saves them,

  and they find shelter in him.


********

Luke 5

27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector's booth.

"Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him.

28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

  29 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor.

Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them.

30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples,

      "Why do you eat and drink with such scum?"

31 Jesus answered them,

     "Healthy people don't need a doctor - sick people do.
32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous,

     but those who know they are sinners and need to repent."


(How many of us would be willing to hang with non-believers to the point our Christian friends wondered why we were hanging with  "such scum"?)


********

2 Corinthians 6

2b God is ready to help you right now.


3 We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us,

     & no one will find fault with our ministry.

4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God.

We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.
5 We have been beaten,

     been put in prison,

     faced angry mobs,

    worked to exhaustion,

     endured sleepless nights,

    and gone without food.
6 We prove ourselves by our purity,

     our understanding,

     our patience,

     our kindness,

     by the Holy Spirit within us,

     and by our sincere love.
7 We faithfully preach the truth.

God's power is working in us.

We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.

8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us,

     whether they slander us or praise us.

We are honest,

     but they call us impostors.

9 We are ignored,

     even though we are well known.

We live close to death,

     but we are still alive.

We have been beaten,

     but we have not been killed.
10 Our hearts ache,

     but we always have joy.

We are poor,

     but we give spiritual riches to others.

We own nothing,

     and yet we have everything.


(How many of us prissy & precious "American Dream" Christians would live a life like Paul? Not many, I would guess.)

(Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to the Christ followers in Corinth. He didn't live a Club Med existence as a Christ follower or as a minister...

     ...neither did he ask people he'd been instrumental in converting to provide him with a $65 million jet plane! ;-) LOL)


18 I will be your Father,

     & you will be my sons & daughters,

     says the Lord Almighty

(Paul was quoting in the verse from 2 Samuel 7:14 - yes, he'd read the Old Testament! ;-) LOL)