January 15 - 21st

Just some thoughts of mine from the daily readings.

Jan 15

• Genesis 31: Rachel stole her father's household idols. This is one other difference that set Lot's family and heirs apart from Abraham's. Not only did they speak a different language, they worshiped different gods. Funny, I thought, how adamant Isaac was about not having Jacob marry a Canaanite woman, yet I would argue that Rachel might not have been much of an improvement.
• Matthew 10:35 - Jesus comes "not to bring peace, but a sword". He sets people apart from each other: those who follow Him and those who don't. We who follow need to be willing to lose ourselves completely to Him.

Jan 16

• Gen 32 - Seems that time can heal relationships, at least to the point of civility. Jacob and Esau were never going to be best friends, but at least they weren't trying to kill each other anymore.
  The story of Dinah is horrifying in so many ways: rape of a young woman, the vengeance and bloodthirst of her brother and the way an entire village is slaughtered because of it.


• Psalm 14 - Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God".
• Prov. 3: The foundation of the world and all creation is wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Humans are preprogrammed, if you will, with a need to know things. It comes from the very nature of the One in whose Image we are created.

Jan 17

• Psalm 15 - what a great list of behaviors of righteous persons

Jan 18

• Genesis: Judah's sons were wicked and God killed each of them. Judah didn't do the right thing by Tamar and ended up treating her as a prostitute. What an ugly story, yet one of the twins born to them is in the lineage of Jesus.
• Matthew - This verse seems to put an interesting "ranking" on two members of the Trinity. Why would blaspheming against the Son of Man (Jesus) be forgiven, but not blaspheming the Holy Spirit?
• Proverbs - "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it and it is in your power to give." Is this a comment on not judging others, or the fact that nothing you have is yours? Or both?

Jan 19

• Genesis - The Lord was with Joseph in prison. Powerful.

Jan 21-21

• Genesis - Think of all the years that Jacob's sons lied to him! What a load of guilt they must have carried.
• Matthew - comments, I believe, on how blessed they would be if many of the religious leaders of the day would come to follow Jesus. They are a wealth of understanding and knowledge, which we see from Proverbs is a blessing to have! Secondly, I found it interesting that later on it says that 'He did few miracles because of their unbelief'. How many miracles do I miss because I didn't believe they would happen?

Day 4...

...and I'm still on track!! So far we've read

the story of creation: completely fascinating--as a writer (wannabe, anyway) I find the use of God speaking the Word (Jesus) and everything coming into being to be astonishing. Just another proof that God's words have power! The way all aspects of the Trinity had a hand in the creation is a beautiful part of the story as well. I love how the writer of the story tells the general story of each day of creation so we have an overview, then gets all the details afterward, like how Eve was created and why. And why does God use the phrase 'you shall surely die' regarding the eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why use the word 'death' when it wasn't a physical death? I know it's spiritual, or even the death of their perfect life, but why 'death'?

the lineage of Jesus: another fascinating account to see who God used throughout the history of Israel--flawed human beings--to carry out the most important of all divine plans

Noah and the ark: the beginning of the covenant of God and man; a continuation of the strife between brothers, which seems to be a major theme throughout history, in this case, Ham and his sons will become the servants of his brothers' sons.

Psalms 1-4: a major theme here being that God is our salvation--he keeps us safe (Ps. 4:8)--he watches our path (Ps. 1)--he lifts our head (Ps 3)--he is our joy (Ps 2)

And I've just scratched the surface!

A Blog Resurrected

It's been over a year since I've posted here. I thought this might be a perfect spot to keep a journal about my new endeavor this year--reading the Bible in one year. We are participating in this as a church using the God Sightings One Year Bible in the New Living Translation. I'm hoping that the easier translation will make it easier for me (and all of us) to keep up with the readings.

I know this will be a rewarding experience...I just hope I can do it!

"White Board" Testimonies

This morning during our church service we went out on a limb (for us, anyway) and invited people to join our praise team in sharing 'white board testimonies'. If you haven't seen Cardboard Testimonies then you really need to check out the awesome witness of how God works in people's lives.

I have seen several of these videos and they bring me to tears every time, but there is something even more moving when these are people that I know. These people are my family. Over the years I've worshipped with them, cried with them and rejoiced with them. I know some of the heartaches behind their testimonies. Seeing the evidence of God in their lives affirms that the Spirit of God is alive and working in our church and the Body of Christ.

What a fabulous, beautiful way to start the week. Praise Jesus!

Hope

It's been WAY too long since I posted at this blog. So I thought I would share the devotion that I gave at our homeless shelter last weekend when it was our church's turn to supply a meal. We feed them lasagna and applesauce, but my prayer is that they come away filled with more than that :)

Hope has been on my mind a lot lately. At First Church this year our theme is 'Suprised by Hope'. The motto of this very mission is 'Homeless, not Hopeles'. Hope is all around.

  How often, though, do we use the word 'hope' in our conversation. I HOPE I make it to the store before it closes. I HOPE I don't say something stupid while I'm standing up here! I HOPE the Vikings win a game soon (which they did this afternoon)!

  We toss that word off sometimes like it doesn't mean anything more than something we wish would happen but don't think it really will. I would propose that when that was is used in the Bible it means something a whole lot different.
  Jeremiah 29:11 was written while the Hebrew people were held in captivity. But in the midst of a seemingly hopeless situation, the prophet Jeremiah was given a word from God to tell the people: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

  Because I belive that God never changes, those promises from the Old Testament still hold true for us in the New Testament church. I belive that God knows my future. And not only that He knows, but that He CARES what happens to me. I have HOPE that my life will be better, yes, someday in Heaven, but I can have a better life right now here today.

  Remember that HOPE is not just a wish or a dream, but a real desire and an EXPECTATION that God is at work in your life and the life of everyone here in this room.

First Praise Video

Here is one of the small ensembles that leads praise singing at our church. I'm in the middle, and my dad is next to me! Be blessed!

Faithbook page

I haven't done a faithbook page in several months. I just can't seem to find the time to do everything I want to do in life. *sigh* But here goes: I used The Luckiest Girl kit by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Jennilyn Designs.