Jeremiah 17
7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord
& have made the Lord their hope & confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves are green,
& they go right on producing delicious fruit.
What is the "water" that the psalmist metaphorically uses to illustrate what keeps these trees so healthy?
Could it be one type of water would be reading the Bible every day?
Could
it be a connection to God all day long, a realizing that He's not one
hand just when we "kneel in prayer" but is with us & in us all the
time?
But how many of us simply don't make the effort to experience either?
How many of us lack the will to do this?
And why do we do this?
Is it we don't think He wants that kind of connection with someone like us?
Do
we know that if we do connect thru His word & His presence the very
parts of us we don't want to address will be addressed by Him?
Does it have to do with control - us being in control?
And what other reasons could it be? You tell me.
Doesn't it seem that in the final analysis it seems to be so stupid to not sink out roots deeply in Him?
If
anyone has been alive any length of time at all knows that rough times
are just around the bend. And ya never know when they're coming.
I wanna be like a tree living along the riverbank.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
last's & first's
I've started hearing people my age say something new - "Well, that's the last time I'll do that."
It represents to me a mind set of "last's" - a saying goodbye to life, a closing out of many of the experiences of life we all do regularly.
I don't want that to be my mind set in the years ahead.
I want my life to be defined by the "first's" I'm encountering. As long as I live, whether it be long or short, I want to be growing, questing, experimenting, saying "hello" to new things, new people, new thinking, & new experiences.
My grandmother lived to be 108. She once told me, at 104, "Danny, live till ya die."
I intend to, Granny.
It represents to me a mind set of "last's" - a saying goodbye to life, a closing out of many of the experiences of life we all do regularly.
I don't want that to be my mind set in the years ahead.
I want my life to be defined by the "first's" I'm encountering. As long as I live, whether it be long or short, I want to be growing, questing, experimenting, saying "hello" to new things, new people, new thinking, & new experiences.
My grandmother lived to be 108. She once told me, at 104, "Danny, live till ya die."
I intend to, Granny.
a word from a while back
I wrote this in my daily blog on February 6, 2007.
It was during a very dark period, a period of great discouragement & embarrassment.
What's even more interesting is the many things that have happened since then.
But at the time, all I could see was what was right in front of me.
Don't know who that all is for besides me.
All I can say to you is what I'm saying to myself - simply hold on to it, like I am.
********
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust.
He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him
and how you have shown your love to Him by caring to other believers,
as you still do.
11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others
as long as life lasts,
in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.
My Life Application Bible has these thoughts in the footer notes....
"It's easy to get discouraged, thinking that God has forgotten us.
But God is never unjust.
He never forgets or overlooks our hard work for Him.
Presently you may not be receiving rewards or acclaim,
but God knows your efforts of love & ministry.
Let God's love for you
& His intimate knowledge of your service for Him
bolster you as you face disappointment & rejection here on earth."
********
Here's what most of the rest of that section of Hebrews 6 says...
Hebrews 6:12 Then you will not become spiritually dull & indifferent.
Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith & patience.
13 For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in His own name, saying:
14 "I will certainly bless you,
& I will multiply your descendants beyond number."
15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
(dan note: how long did Abraham wait for the promise of children? 20 years?!)
16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it.
And without any question that oath is binding.
17 God also bound Himself with an oath,
so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind.
18 So God has given both His promise and His oath.
These two things are unchangeable
because it is impossible for God to lie.
Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence
as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
19a This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.
It was during a very dark period, a period of great discouragement & embarrassment.
What's even more interesting is the many things that have happened since then.
But at the time, all I could see was what was right in front of me.
Don't know who that all is for besides me.
All I can say to you is what I'm saying to myself - simply hold on to it, like I am.
********
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust.
He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him
and how you have shown your love to Him by caring to other believers,
as you still do.
11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others
as long as life lasts,
in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.
My Life Application Bible has these thoughts in the footer notes....
"It's easy to get discouraged, thinking that God has forgotten us.
But God is never unjust.
He never forgets or overlooks our hard work for Him.
Presently you may not be receiving rewards or acclaim,
but God knows your efforts of love & ministry.
Let God's love for you
& His intimate knowledge of your service for Him
bolster you as you face disappointment & rejection here on earth."
********
Here's what most of the rest of that section of Hebrews 6 says...
Hebrews 6:12 Then you will not become spiritually dull & indifferent.
Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith & patience.
13 For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in His own name, saying:
14 "I will certainly bless you,
& I will multiply your descendants beyond number."
15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
(dan note: how long did Abraham wait for the promise of children? 20 years?!)
16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it.
And without any question that oath is binding.
17 God also bound Himself with an oath,
so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind.
18 So God has given both His promise and His oath.
These two things are unchangeable
because it is impossible for God to lie.
Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence
as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
19a This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.
Friday, May 4, 2012
what it takes sometimes
Acts 8:1 Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.
4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
It's a fairly accepted idea that God used the persecution He knew would happen to scatter the new believers around the countryside. And as it says in verse 4, as a result, they started telling people about Jesus, just because that's who they were.
Now, I want to be very careful what I say next...
Sometimes, it seems to me & has & is true in my life so far, that God uses some of the difficult things or periods in our lives to accomplish His purpose for us, or to refine our walk with Him, or to bring about more of the completion of the BIG picture.
It's hard to figure out sometimes the why behind all that. The persecution back then included the killing or imprisoning of Christ followers, which hardly seems as part of God's plan. But He used that persecution to motivate people to get off their butts & spread the word about Jesus.
Could it follow that He would do the same with us? Could He use the negative, terrible, or inexplicable things & seasons of our lives for a whole slew of things?
Do we truly believe that "all things work together for them that love the Lord & are called to His purpose."
Think about it...
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.
4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
It's a fairly accepted idea that God used the persecution He knew would happen to scatter the new believers around the countryside. And as it says in verse 4, as a result, they started telling people about Jesus, just because that's who they were.
Now, I want to be very careful what I say next...
Sometimes, it seems to me & has & is true in my life so far, that God uses some of the difficult things or periods in our lives to accomplish His purpose for us, or to refine our walk with Him, or to bring about more of the completion of the BIG picture.
It's hard to figure out sometimes the why behind all that. The persecution back then included the killing or imprisoning of Christ followers, which hardly seems as part of God's plan. But He used that persecution to motivate people to get off their butts & spread the word about Jesus.
Could it follow that He would do the same with us? Could He use the negative, terrible, or inexplicable things & seasons of our lives for a whole slew of things?
Do we truly believe that "all things work together for them that love the Lord & are called to His purpose."
Think about it...
Thursday, May 3, 2012
what would we do?
Acts 7
51 "You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God's law, even though you received it from the hands of angels."
54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. 56 And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!"
57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.
As I read this section about the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, I wondered what I would do if faced with certain death simply because I believed Jesus was the Messiah.
What would you do?
Considering how willy-nilly, wishy-washy - let's call it what it is: cowardly - we can be in our prissy, precious little easy street lives, I just wonder if we'd have the guts to stand up to that kind of evil, no matter if it cost us our lives through a rather ugly way to die? Stoning is up there in the 10 ten worst ways to be killed - it's pretty brutal.
Furthermore, how many of us could ask the Lord to forgive them as we were being killed?!
Is our faith in Jesus just part of our lives, or is our relationship the very essence of our liives, the core of who we are, there is nothing - nothing - that would cause us to make something even as important to us as our very existence less important than our connection with Him.
But how many times a day do we already put something, or someone, more important to us than our relationship to Jesus? How many secret sins do we harbor, or missed opportunities to be or do what He wants us to do or be do we ignore?
Think about it...
51 "You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God's law, even though you received it from the hands of angels."
54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. 56 And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!"
57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.
As I read this section about the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, I wondered what I would do if faced with certain death simply because I believed Jesus was the Messiah.
What would you do?
Considering how willy-nilly, wishy-washy - let's call it what it is: cowardly - we can be in our prissy, precious little easy street lives, I just wonder if we'd have the guts to stand up to that kind of evil, no matter if it cost us our lives through a rather ugly way to die? Stoning is up there in the 10 ten worst ways to be killed - it's pretty brutal.
Furthermore, how many of us could ask the Lord to forgive them as we were being killed?!
Is our faith in Jesus just part of our lives, or is our relationship the very essence of our liives, the core of who we are, there is nothing - nothing - that would cause us to make something even as important to us as our very existence less important than our connection with Him.
But how many times a day do we already put something, or someone, more important to us than our relationship to Jesus? How many secret sins do we harbor, or missed opportunities to be or do what He wants us to do or be do we ignore?
Think about it...
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
breathe in
Sometimes we simply to breathe in what we know in spite of what we see or feel.
Matthew 6
33 Steep your life in
God-reality,
God-initiative,
God-provisions.
Don't worry about missing out.
You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 6
33 Steep your life in
God-reality,
God-initiative,
God-provisions.
Don't worry about missing out.
You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
not so new
Psalm 78:7 So each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering His glorious miracles & obeying His commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors - stubborn, rebellious, & unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.
I'm so thankful for the hunger for the things of God that I see in this present young adult generation, called Millenials by many. They have a quality of following God in the deep places that is such an wonderful refreshing thing. Who know what & where this passion will take them.
********
Acts 5:38 "So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown.39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!"
I remember the days in the early 1990's when we started the move from traditional worship to what became contemporary worship. It was a struggle we lived through in that decade.
But thankfully we have moved into a 21st century form of new worship & doing church - one that is appropriate for our culture.
As the naysayers continue to denigrate & castigate new way of being, doing life as a Christ follower, & expressing that following in a 21st century paradigm, I would remind all these words of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrin.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors - stubborn, rebellious, & unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.
I'm so thankful for the hunger for the things of God that I see in this present young adult generation, called Millenials by many. They have a quality of following God in the deep places that is such an wonderful refreshing thing. Who know what & where this passion will take them.
********
Acts 5:38 "So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown.39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!"
I remember the days in the early 1990's when we started the move from traditional worship to what became contemporary worship. It was a struggle we lived through in that decade.
But thankfully we have moved into a 21st century form of new worship & doing church - one that is appropriate for our culture.
As the naysayers continue to denigrate & castigate new way of being, doing life as a Christ follower, & expressing that following in a 21st century paradigm, I would remind all these words of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrin.
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