The King we ask for, a wild Donkey Chase

This morning I read in 1st Samuel 7-9. There were several interesting concepts.

They Brought the Ark of the Lord to Abinadab's house and consecrated it and then the people turned back to God. When this happened Samuel told the people to truly return to God and get rid of goreign Gods and commit yourself to the Lord and serve him only. It is interesting that it says they put away their Baals and Ashtoroths and served God Only (why would you not destroy these man made images of a false God if you were truly returning)? Are we doing this in our own lives? When we turn back to God is that only when we are feeling Good about Him or just at a time when we fear him (the Philistines of life are bearing down on us)?

The Israelites ask Samuel to cry out to the Lord and intercede for them, and God does deliver them and help them to route the Philistines, so much that Samuel sets up a stone called Ebenezer (the Lord is our help). After that for awhile all was well. Samuel was Israel's leader and he used to travel around in a circuit, acting as Judge.

Then in the very next chapter they ask for a king. It is very important that the men of God raise their kids to fear God and lead as they did, or people will seek out some other form of Order! People will seek to follow things that the world follow and Not God if you cannot teach your own children to rise up after you.

They ask for a King and God tells Samuel that they have rejected God as their king, he gives them what they want but he also chooses the King the same way that the world would have chosen him. GOd tells the people that this will not really go Well for them. He will take their rights and freedom away, put men to work for the governement, make them soldiers, etc. He says that he will take from you and you will become his slaves. and God will not answer you.

But the people still wanted a king over them to lead them into battle like other nations.

Before you go judging, do we not do the same thing? We see the sin the world has and we accept it as "normal" then we long for it as "we just want to be like everybody else". Stupid. We are God's children, Kings and conquerors, he gives us the choice to be slaves to him a just and forgiving God. He even lets us make bad decisions like asking for our own worldly king. Tells us the consequences and still allows us to have one. What other King would do that? That is why God is the King of Kings, because he loves us. He has the Power but he does not force us to do anything. He does however lay out the consequences.

It is interesting about Saul, we get to see a little forshadowing of his disobedience to the heavenly father. His Father Kish had asked him to find his lost donkeys. Saul and his servant are looking and they just cannot find these donkeys. Saul is ready to give up and instead of turning to God he brushes things under the carpet. "my father will be more worried about us than the donkeys" The servant is righteous and asks Saul to inquire of Samuel.

God was basically just working out a way to send Saul to Samuel. I wonder how many times God has sent me on a wild Donkey Chase so that I could find what I need or be the answer to someone else's prayer? What a great and mighty God, the orchestrator of our lives and our steps.

Yesterdays spiritual Blindness

So Yesterday I studied out Spiritual Blindness. This is a very interesting topic to me

Matthew 6: 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

What are you putting in front of your eyes? What do you watch? What do they call TV, a television program, it does program you, becomes acceptable. Are you aware that what you take in can have a severe impact on your decision making and thought processes? How many lines can you quote from your favorite movie? How about the Bible?

John 12:37-40 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”[g] 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”

We have seen the truth and the word and we still just continue to blend into the world and its evil without making an impact or sharing anything. Who is the lost one there. We are blind since we have seen the truth but are not doing anything about it.

2 Corinthians 4:4:The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

So based on this scripture if you do not see God's truth you will likely be used to show other people God's glory?

1 John 2:9-11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

Provberbs 4:10-12- 10 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. 11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Proverbs 14: 12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

Proverbs 16:9:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Is God in everything?

It is an interesting question. Many people would say that he is. Especially when walking in the wilderness and seeing the rays of the sun poke through the trees. When feeling the breeze at the peak of a mountain you just climbed. Perhaps God is in your child's smile.

It's difficult however to see God in the things that we consider evil. Drug dealers, a tragic death in the family. Someone who you love has turned away from God. How can that have God in it?

Is the Bible a book full of fairy tales and happy endings? Hardly! People rise up, do well, sin, disobey God, perhaps they repent, perhaps they perish. Maybe they are great leaders, most of them were killed for their faith. It makes you wonder how radical our lives are. Achan's sin caused many people's deaths including the stoning of his family and many warriors who thought the Lord was with them. Does that challenge your faith? If you were one of those people would you have started to question God?

Saul was raised up to be King (as the people requested) and what did he do time and again? What he thought was best. God Chose him to lead his people and what happened. Disobedience. Eventually God sends an evil spirit to come onto Saul (1 Samuel 19:9) and Saul tries to Kill David. What is that about? Do we all still trust God. Can a God who sends an evil spirit onto someone be trusted? I would say just like Abraham trusted that God could raise Isaac from the dead because he knew God would fulfill his promises we should trust that God did not intend harm for David. But he knew Saul's heart and that it was getting close to the time for David to be raised up. Or perhaps he wanted Jonathan to see the evil in his father so that it would make it easier for him to relinquish power to David, the man after God's own heart.

What about Samson? What a perfect example of wretched disobedience of God! From his youth he disobeyed his parents, rumbled around violently having his own exploits and adventures. He was reckless and wild. He made wagers with other men, killed or beat up people at random, set things on fire. When he chose to marry a Philistine (who the Israelites were captive of) should not God have abandoned him? Surely this was not of the Lord? His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” ⁴ (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.) But God used him for his Glory, did he not? That is what God is about, his Glory, and why shouldn't he be? Do you marvel at the power of God? Good, you should, God can carry the dirt of the earth around in a bucket and he tells the sea where to stop. Surely this is what we should be afraid of and not death, not public speaking, not sharing our faith, not that we won't have time to do what WE want to do. Are you pleasing your father?

When bad things happen what do you do? Do you pout? Or do you have a Godly perspective. God has taught us through Judges that when we turn our back on God, he will punish us, but when we repent and turn to Him he will deliver us. Sometimes His ways will not make sense to us. Many times we may question what He is doing. Who can see more though? More of the world? More of the past present and future. More of your heart or those around you. How this will impact your family and the Kingdom of God?

If we praise God for the things that make us happy, should we not also praise him for giving us the discipline and guidance we need by helping us to experience difficult circumstances and encountering evil?

So the next time I look at a beautiful sunrise, or feel the breeze lightly brushing against my cheek, I will also seek to remember that the same God who made this happen can also invoke a hurricane, earthquake, Tsunami or even a crazy thunderstorm. And he has every right. He is God! At the end of it what will we say? This was the will of God in whom I have put every hope and trust and faith.

No one Expects you to be Perfect

Man I just totally typed this QT out but was logged into a different account, so when it tried to save it, it was gone. Boo

Anyways!

What I was saying is that I have an unfortunate behavior at times when I sniff any hint of criticism or rejection from anyone close to me of going turtle shell/fetal position with my feelings and I self depricate my self so that no one else can hurt me and I can control it. It is very ugly and it is not Godly.

While this likely stems from my childhood wish to please people around me and always feeling like I never measured up, what I have to remember is as a Disciple of Jesus I am to please God. He himself tells us that we will not be perfect (though we are to try to imitate Jesus)

Romans 3: God’s Faithfulness 1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”[a] 5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” 8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!No One Is Righteous 9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”[b]

We will not be perfect! How arrogant to think that we could go through life without being challenged on our character! God does not expect perfection. He does expect us to be many things however.

Open: James 5:13-16 13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James tells us to Pray if we are in trouble and get help if you are in sin, do you wait until you are downtrodden or are you maintaining a vulnerability with other people consistently? Do you call people and ask them to hold you accountable in your life for areas you are weak? Or does it need to be pried out of you.

Humble:What better example than Jesus?

Philippians 2:

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

A pity party is definitely a selfish and immature way to pretty much avoid dealing with the areas you are falling short in. If we are in touch with God we realize that we need help. If we are considering others better than ourselves it would only make sense to ask them what they see and when challenged be grateful for their help. Knowing that when we are weak we have room to grow and not depend on ourselves but our love for God.

2 Corinthians 12:10New International Version (NIV)10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Does God have to bring you to your knees or are you already there? Do you only pray after you have exhausted everything that you can possibly think of. Or is it a daily practice that you realize you need the Father to survive and not just your own thoughts and wisdom.

When is the last time someone challenged you on your character? Perhaps you walk around with an ora of "I'm Good" or "I'm all set". Is your pride standing in the way of your growth as a child of God? When people challenge you what is your response? It is difficult to Hug a porcupine, meaning that if every time someone approaches you they are poked by your Insecurity and pride it may be difficult for them to want to help you again. Consider not only the words people are saying, but the heart behind them. Is this someone that loves and cares about you and truly knows you? Why would they say something that could potentially upset you?

Proverbs 27:6Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

I know I need people in my life to help me. I am working on letting my guard down. I hope you will too.

Sunday Sermon Fear factor and it is well

Great message yesterday by Ron Drabot. Speaking out of Mark 4 talking about storms in your life. Books to readChasing Daylight irwin Mcmanus, 1 Chronicles 4 the prayer of Jabez. Tony evans No more excuses, Robert Morris the blessed life.

Ron's Message called The fear factor. People are afraid of a lot of things. Flying, heights, Darkness, Intimay, Death, failure, Commitment. God wants us to fear him and nothing else. Isiah 8:12-13- 12 “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. 13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. The world is afraid of the perils of this life, we need to fear what can take away our eternal life.

Psalm 147:11 The Lord delights in those who fear him. Proverbs 1:7 fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and knowledge.

Mark 4:35-41 Sea of Galilee, Jesus had been teaching out on the water, his disciples in the boat with him. Jesus told them they would go to the other side. The storm comes, waves breaking over the boat (up to 30 foot swells as the cold winds from the Mountains of Lebanon came down and combined with the warm sea air). But Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat, in the troubled times Jesus is the picture of perfect peace. He speaks to the wind and rebukes it. Then he asks them why they were afraid. When the storms comes do you think God is not there? Perhaps the storm is exactly what you need.

Matthew 7:24-25 (building a firm foundation on God's word) 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Storms are challenges to your faith and opportunities for God to be glorified. The fact the the storms come should challenge our faith and make it stronger (hebrews 11) any one who wants to be called a son will be disciplined, not pleasant at the time, but helps to build character

(james 1) consider it pure joy when enduring trials of many kind 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

The trials we go through make us stronger and able to endure and help others, not destroy your faith, do not be a coward, face the storms, God is refining you

2 Corinthians 8-11

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Rely on God, not yourself. It is easy to say, but put it into practice and it will forever change your life.

The amazing story of the hymn "it is well with my soul"

This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford. You might think to write a worship song titled,'It is well with my soul', you would indeed have to be a rich, successful Chicago lawyer. But the words,"When sorrows like sea billows roll ... It is well with my soul”, were not written during the happiest period of Spafford's life. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords' only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."On November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with 'The Lochearn', an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford's first reaction was one of complete despair. Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.No matter what circumstances overtake us may we be able to say with Horatio Spafford...

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well with my soul.Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,Let this blest assurance control,That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul!It is well ... with my soul!It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Great Saturday

So, Today is for sure a busy day! Had singing practice this AM (Worship) and that was great. Always encouraged by Ian's Leadership and Passion for Music. After that we took Jade Simpson out for Brunch and then dropped her off at her house. Went back up north and switched our Car ins. over to be joint, multi car discount is nice! Then home for some great Married time just relaxing.

We got to reread a chapter in a great book by Learning to Live as one by Randall Alexander. It is incredible. This book really helped us get ready for being married. Talks about resolving conflict, reasons for getting married, Communicating, making decisions, how to spend our money, budget, Intimacy.

What we went over today was called a Man and a women, its about understanding the differences between a man and a woman and our roles in Marriage. It was encouraging Talking about what it means to lead and submit. Jennifer and I had been having a tough time just trying to have times with God and she felt bad about some things with discipline just on a daily basis with our lives and each other. She got to the point where she was very down. In our D-time actually that day Frank Dowd actually talked to me about being gentle (I can be very impatient and super logical and unsympathetic). I sat for two hours or so and helped her biblically and lovingly to see how much God loves her and us and has a great plan for our lives. It meant the world to her. Sometimes for me I get frustrated and walk away angry and then come back and try to iron things out instead of being patient.

This has meant the world to her, just listening, hearing what she feels and trying to help her solve it with God and not my logic is incredible.

Ephesians 5:22-23- Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body of which he is the Savior.

The modern world tries to diminish God's plan in two ways, to define the roles in an extreme manner as if the Man is trying to be a dictator and lord over the wife, making it unreasonable and undesirable. (this obviously is very sinful and perverts God's plan in a manipulative move)

The second way is by watering down the meaning of the roles until they have no real application. Defines the husband as the leader but only when the wife agrees. It also defines her as submissive, but only if the husband is loving and effective in leadership. This appeals to those who seek to appear to be putting the Bible into practice but lack the conviction to do what the Bible says when it differs from what appeals to their thinking on the subject. I am sure this is very challenging. Are you all in in your relationship or are you worshipping God on your terms?

I love that Jennifer has opinions and convictions, there are many things that she does and brings to my attention and I am like "wow, I never thought about it like that!" and she says it is the same with me. A big part of Leading is realizing that you are a servant and listening, and a large part of submitting is respecting that you chose to be with this person and choosing to value their judgement and discretion. We feel we are both flexible but that we definitely will voice the truth if we feel each other are in error. How open is your relationship? Is your wife afraid to talk to you for fear of being shot down? Does your husband feel that he is responsible for helping to get you to heaven or do you "Got it covered?" Jennifer is very grateful that I take our spiritual well being personally.

Anyhoo, time to go celebrate the wedding of my Friend Lee Estep and the 40th (yes I know its unbelievable) birthday of Leslie Price!

Marriage and accountability

So, it appears it has been like a stinking long time since I blogged. Well, Here is the deal. I am going to try to post my quiet times since I do not like writing in journals. This way I can access them at any time if there is something I want to share, encourage someone with, etc.. It is also great accountability. Now that I am married I am very convicted about the fact that I am personally responsible for getting my wife and I to heaven!

I am reading a book about the parables and metaphors of God right now (not sure about rules for blogging but do I reference the book and author or stay ambiguous?).

A lot of cool stuff happening today, At any rate. My 15th spiritual Birthday is today, back in march (and it was a cold March) of 1997 I got baptized in the Eagles hot tub by Brent Stevens and paul brown was filming. It was incredible. But nothing compared to what i would go through after that!

Daniel and Heather Leas are due today, so I am praying that that is incredible.

And Dr. Leas is now ok to say!

Bible Reading for today Joshua 13-15, Luke 1:57-80: Pretty awesome stuff about how Joshua is Getting old and God is like "go". There are still massive areas of land to be taken over (and I want to give them to you, but you have to GO!). God was not OK with Joshua sitting back and growing old feeling good about what he had done. In 13, God shows how he is constantly thinking of his people and using other peoples things to bless his chosen (awesome). 13:14 is interesting to me because he talks about the priests (like evangelists today). He gave them no inheritance. If you are doing God's will then the church should be supporting you (the levites lived off the food offerings presented to God and he promised them their inheritance).

So if you are poor and doing God's will, guess what you are inheriting?

14:6-15awesome for Caleb to be so faithful for 45 years despite the sin of his people. He was fired up to go and take the land, just like he was when he was 40! are we that way? Am I looking to swing the sword and cut some souls for the Lord?

Luke 1: the birth of John the Baptist: 57-62 Zechariah's mouth opened because he obeyed God.

Zechariah's song: It is important to note that Zechariah knew the words of his God and its history. So when he praised God it was with wisdom and Honor. How well do you know your Bible? Can you instruct others and help their faith? Zechariah knew what God had said to Abraham, and prophesied about to what was to come. Are we teaching our children?

Book for today: Parables and Metaphors

Parable of the sower: First they focus on the Eastern Nature of the sower, they would not have farmed the way that we farm in the west. It would have been open plots of land, making this illustration much more understandable.

It would have been very difficult to find land that had not been plowed before, or even land that had a chance to recover from the last crop it yielded. Very interesting. Jesus is the sower (vs. 37). The author talks about the sower, the seed, the soil and the sequence. I am going to read this again tomorrow as it is very intriguing. It is a very meaty book, reading the same 3 pages many times is very possible, some great nuggets in here.

It is great to be digging in, Tune in tomorrow and hold me accountable!