Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
January 28
Today's reading in the OT is from Exodus 5:22- 7:25 and in this section we continue with Moses and Aaron speaking to Pharaoh regarding God's command to let the people go and Pharaoh's continued resistance. Pharaoh is unimpressed by the signs that God allows Moses and Aaron to accomplish in order to get his attention - because His magicians were able to reproduce them. Even the first plague of turning water into blood.... In spite of the fact that they were able to use trickery or sorcery to reproduce the signs, they couldn't reverse them. It is clear that there is significant power available in opposition to God, but it is not stronger than Gods! If it were, then they could have reversed rather than duplicate... And how terribly gross to have that blood everywhere.
NT reading is from Matthew 18:21-19:12 and is a great lesson in forgiveness. How many times do we have to forgive someone? Pretty much all of them! Don't keep track, don't do the math, just forgive! Why? Well, because God forgives us without keeping track, and out of our great appreciation for His Amazing Grace and Mercy, we are to do likewise. Forgiveness sucks sometimes.... we feel like someone doesn't deserve it, or that perhaps they aren't even sorry. I don't think that lets us off the hook of obedience though. We are clearly commanded to Forgive as Christ forgave us. When it is hard for us, or perhaps even humanly impossible because of horrific circumstances, may we rest in the Truth that God provides all of our needs, and will even enable us to Forgive that which seems unforgivable... Just ask for His help, admit that you must, agree to be obedient.... In any event forgiveness does way more for us than it does for whomever we forgive. To not forgive is like holding on to poison that just makes us embittered. Why forgive? The reason is never because someone deserves it, any more than we "deserve" the forgiveness of Christ. It is because as His Children we are called to be obedient. And the blessing is that it frees us and leaves it in the Lords hands to deal with.
Psalm 23 is the psalm today, what's not to love there! The Lord is my Shepherd..... He renews my strength!
Proverbs 5:22-23 "An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness."
NT reading is from Matthew 18:21-19:12 and is a great lesson in forgiveness. How many times do we have to forgive someone? Pretty much all of them! Don't keep track, don't do the math, just forgive! Why? Well, because God forgives us without keeping track, and out of our great appreciation for His Amazing Grace and Mercy, we are to do likewise. Forgiveness sucks sometimes.... we feel like someone doesn't deserve it, or that perhaps they aren't even sorry. I don't think that lets us off the hook of obedience though. We are clearly commanded to Forgive as Christ forgave us. When it is hard for us, or perhaps even humanly impossible because of horrific circumstances, may we rest in the Truth that God provides all of our needs, and will even enable us to Forgive that which seems unforgivable... Just ask for His help, admit that you must, agree to be obedient.... In any event forgiveness does way more for us than it does for whomever we forgive. To not forgive is like holding on to poison that just makes us embittered. Why forgive? The reason is never because someone deserves it, any more than we "deserve" the forgiveness of Christ. It is because as His Children we are called to be obedient. And the blessing is that it frees us and leaves it in the Lords hands to deal with.
Psalm 23 is the psalm today, what's not to love there! The Lord is my Shepherd..... He renews my strength!
Proverbs 5:22-23 "An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness."
Thursday, January 27, 2011
January 27
The OT reading covers the familiar burning bush when God calls Moses to free His people from the Egyptians. I love this section because of Moses lack of confidence and how God patiently provides for every area that Moses is concerned about. I definitely get the feeling that Moses was trying to get out of his assignment but God kept meeting every worry until there was no option. When I compare this section to a little further ahead when Moses, his wife and sons start back toward Egypt I find another interesting thing. In this section, there is a passage that says that God was about to kill Moses but his wife circumcises their son and that's takes care of things.... (my paraphrase of course) Here is why I find that so interesting: God was very patient with Moses lack of confidence, and He provided for every worry with regard to that. However, He was absolutely not going to accept lack of obedience. Moses knew the law with regard to the covenant of circumcision, and he had not obeyed - no patience granted. It does seem like it might have come up at the burning bush conversation. "And Moses" Says God. "Yes Lord" answers Moses. "About the covenant of circumcision, I'm completely serious about that, and you are going to be in big trouble if you don't hurry up and mind me." "Ok, God, I'll get right on it, sorry I'm tardy." It's odd because clearly our all knowing God knew that Moses (who he was calling for a big job) had a bit of an issue to deal with, and He didn't mention it to Him at the time, or at least if He did, it's not recorded for us to know about. In any event, what I take from that is the encouragement that God will be with me and help me overcome areas where I lack confidence and He will make sure I have everything I need to serve Him effectively. At the same time I see the warning that He takes obedience VERY seriously as well. He's patient with lack of confidence, but not lack of obedience. Thanks be to God that we live on this side of the cross of Christ, so no worries that He will Kill us for our lack of obedience. Even still we are called to live for Him and with His help we need to be obedient.
Still in Matthew for the New Testament Readings. Today's reading had another section of scripture that I am really fond of and has such great advice. It teaches of handling conflict appropriately. When someone does you wrong here is the formula: Go talk to them about it. Do that first, don't talk to everybody but them about it! If that does not work out well then go to them again but bring a witness with you... and it goes on from there. I think that as a rule people really stink at this. We'd rather talk to everybody about a situation than deal with it head on. Of course it isn't easy, but it's the right thing to do.
I didn't blog yesterday, but the NT reading from Matthew 17 was timely.... I wish I could catch a fish that would pay my taxes.... Cool miracle.
Still in Matthew for the New Testament Readings. Today's reading had another section of scripture that I am really fond of and has such great advice. It teaches of handling conflict appropriately. When someone does you wrong here is the formula: Go talk to them about it. Do that first, don't talk to everybody but them about it! If that does not work out well then go to them again but bring a witness with you... and it goes on from there. I think that as a rule people really stink at this. We'd rather talk to everybody about a situation than deal with it head on. Of course it isn't easy, but it's the right thing to do.
I didn't blog yesterday, but the NT reading from Matthew 17 was timely.... I wish I could catch a fish that would pay my taxes.... Cool miracle.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
it's lonely in blogging land....
If you are reading this blog, please drop a comment! What do you think? Do you have the same questions as me? Do you have answers or opinions?? Or if nothing else, just say hi and that you stopped by!
Blessings,
Terri
Blessings,
Terri
January 25
I think keeping up with the blog is more challenging than keeping up with the reading!
Reuban finally got called out for sleeping with his dad's wife... right before Jacob died he lays that info on him.... I'll bet Reuban thought he didn't know about it all that time.... Oh to have been a fly on the wall in that room!
Jesus does another food miracle, this time feeding 4,000 men plus women and children. Directly after this when Jesus and the disciples move on, the disciples start arguing about the fact that they forgot to bring bread with them to eat..... Really? They are worried about food after seeing two spectacular miracles that provided food for thousands .... WITH LEFTOVERS?? I have to admit that while I find it ridiculous that they did this having been witnesses of those miracles, I find it comforting as well. I get frustrated with myself for having to learn the same lessons over and over with regard to God's provision and various other areas. But clearly even those with first hand accounts that walked side by side with Jesus in the flesh had short memories as well. The best part? Jesus reminded, forgave, and redirected them and He still does the same for me today.
So now Abraham Isaac, and Jacob are dead. Enough time has passed that the current leadership in Egypt doesn't know about Joseph and his role in Egypt, but only that the Israelites are strong and many! So begins their enslavement in Egypt. Moses is born and placed in the Nile to be found by Pharaoh's daughter.... The beauty in this account is just the amazing timing of everything.... Some would call it coincidence, but I don't believe there is any such thing as coincidence. God has always had perfect timing. And while I often do not understand His ways (or His timing for that matter) I do believe it is always perfect.
Reuban finally got called out for sleeping with his dad's wife... right before Jacob died he lays that info on him.... I'll bet Reuban thought he didn't know about it all that time.... Oh to have been a fly on the wall in that room!
Jesus does another food miracle, this time feeding 4,000 men plus women and children. Directly after this when Jesus and the disciples move on, the disciples start arguing about the fact that they forgot to bring bread with them to eat..... Really? They are worried about food after seeing two spectacular miracles that provided food for thousands .... WITH LEFTOVERS?? I have to admit that while I find it ridiculous that they did this having been witnesses of those miracles, I find it comforting as well. I get frustrated with myself for having to learn the same lessons over and over with regard to God's provision and various other areas. But clearly even those with first hand accounts that walked side by side with Jesus in the flesh had short memories as well. The best part? Jesus reminded, forgave, and redirected them and He still does the same for me today.
So now Abraham Isaac, and Jacob are dead. Enough time has passed that the current leadership in Egypt doesn't know about Joseph and his role in Egypt, but only that the Israelites are strong and many! So begins their enslavement in Egypt. Moses is born and placed in the Nile to be found by Pharaoh's daughter.... The beauty in this account is just the amazing timing of everything.... Some would call it coincidence, but I don't believe there is any such thing as coincidence. God has always had perfect timing. And while I often do not understand His ways (or His timing for that matter) I do believe it is always perfect.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
January 23
Back again... haven't blogged in a couple of days, but rest assured I am still on track with the readings. Sometimes I don't set enough time aside to read and blog....
Some notable things....Joseph and his brothers and father have all reunited in Egypt and we get the blessing of seeing how God used all the really awful things that happened to Joseph to not only be resolved on the family level, but also to spare a nation from the ravages of famine. I want so much to remember that God sees the whole picture and is ABLE to work all things together for good. Even when He doesn't spare us hardships He still has a plan and a purpose and His plan and purpose will prevail!
Herod had John the Baptist beheaded and his head brought on a tray to Herodias's daughter. Besides being disgusting this section caught my attention because of vs 9 "Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders." Note to self: Engage brain before engaging mouth!
The miracle of Jesus turning a tiny bit of food into enough for 5,000 men (plus women and children) with left overs is a great reminder that God can take our "little" and make and abundance, He is our provider in every instance, but of course when it is so dramatic we pay attention. Often God provides in unexpected ways. I experienced it yet again this past week when Katie called and said "We're in big trouble" Turns out the $5,000 scholarship that we thought would be applied to the 2nd term of school (and we made our financial aid requests based on this information) is actually to be distributed over 4 years of her education. So instead of five grand, Michigan State received just over one thousand dollars leaving $4,086 still due.... in less than two weeks. UGH. But God of course was not surprised by this as I was and His provision was in place. Den and I had refinanced our home to take advantage of the low interest rate. We cashed out several thousand dollars to take care of some projects that we had been talking about (new carpet, finish bathroom/laundry room project, refinish hardwood floors in the kitchen, etc.) We were still in the process of figuring out the priority of our list and hadn't spent the money, so...... off it goes to Michigan State, and our daughter will be able to continue her education without any lapse. I feel so blessed. No, it isn't how we planned to spend the money, but I feel so very thankful that it worked out as it did. There is no way that we could have met that tuition without the refinancing money. And I am just as sure that the projects will get done because in the same way God provided for Katie's tuition, He will provide for our other projects, or He will show us how He would have us spend our Time & money instead....
Also read about Jesus walking on water and Peter coming out to him on the water as well. What an amazing and then frightening experience.... Note to self: Keep my eyes on the savior, not the storms of my life!
I think I've made up for not posting the last couple of days.....
Some notable things....Joseph and his brothers and father have all reunited in Egypt and we get the blessing of seeing how God used all the really awful things that happened to Joseph to not only be resolved on the family level, but also to spare a nation from the ravages of famine. I want so much to remember that God sees the whole picture and is ABLE to work all things together for good. Even when He doesn't spare us hardships He still has a plan and a purpose and His plan and purpose will prevail!
Herod had John the Baptist beheaded and his head brought on a tray to Herodias's daughter. Besides being disgusting this section caught my attention because of vs 9 "Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders." Note to self: Engage brain before engaging mouth!
The miracle of Jesus turning a tiny bit of food into enough for 5,000 men (plus women and children) with left overs is a great reminder that God can take our "little" and make and abundance, He is our provider in every instance, but of course when it is so dramatic we pay attention. Often God provides in unexpected ways. I experienced it yet again this past week when Katie called and said "We're in big trouble" Turns out the $5,000 scholarship that we thought would be applied to the 2nd term of school (and we made our financial aid requests based on this information) is actually to be distributed over 4 years of her education. So instead of five grand, Michigan State received just over one thousand dollars leaving $4,086 still due.... in less than two weeks. UGH. But God of course was not surprised by this as I was and His provision was in place. Den and I had refinanced our home to take advantage of the low interest rate. We cashed out several thousand dollars to take care of some projects that we had been talking about (new carpet, finish bathroom/laundry room project, refinish hardwood floors in the kitchen, etc.) We were still in the process of figuring out the priority of our list and hadn't spent the money, so...... off it goes to Michigan State, and our daughter will be able to continue her education without any lapse. I feel so blessed. No, it isn't how we planned to spend the money, but I feel so very thankful that it worked out as it did. There is no way that we could have met that tuition without the refinancing money. And I am just as sure that the projects will get done because in the same way God provided for Katie's tuition, He will provide for our other projects, or He will show us how He would have us spend our Time & money instead....
Also read about Jesus walking on water and Peter coming out to him on the water as well. What an amazing and then frightening experience.... Note to self: Keep my eyes on the savior, not the storms of my life!
I think I've made up for not posting the last couple of days.....
Thursday, January 20, 2011
January 20
Joseph's dream comes true...And so do the ones that he interpreted.
The best nugget from today is Psalm 18:1 " I love you, Lord; you are my strength." And to that I say AMEN! In spite of my questions, and all that I do not understand or find fair from my meager human perspective, that statement remains absolutely true for me. "I love you, Lord; you are my strength!"
The best nugget from today is Psalm 18:1 " I love you, Lord; you are my strength." And to that I say AMEN! In spite of my questions, and all that I do not understand or find fair from my meager human perspective, that statement remains absolutely true for me. "I love you, Lord; you are my strength!"
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