Psalm 8

1 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.2 You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you.3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.6 You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—7 the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.9 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Really??? Interesting Proverbs

Proverbs

      14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
      17:19b "he who makes his door high seeks destruction."
     20:14  "Bad, bad," says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts.

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise of David.

1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.2 I will praise you every day;
yes, I will praise you forever.3 Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
let them proclaim your power.5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
and your wonderful miracles.6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.8 The LORD is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.9 The LORD is good to everyone.
He showers compassion on all his creation.10 All of your works will thank you, LORD,
and your faithful followers will praise you.11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom;
they will give examples of your power.12 They will tell about your mighty deeds
and about the majesty and glory of your reign.13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
You rule throughout all generations.
The LORD always keeps his promises;
he is gracious in all he does.14 The LORD helps the fallen
and lifts those bent beneath their loads.15 The eyes of all look to you in hope;
you give them their food as they need it.16 When you open your hand,
you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.17 The LORD is righteous in everything he does;
he is filled with kindness.18 The LORD is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.19 He grants the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cries for help and rescues them.20 The LORD protects all those who love him,
but he destroys the wicked.21 I will praise the LORD,
and may everyone on earth bless his holy name
forever and ever.

Acts 5

This story is awesome! I don't remember reading the part where Gamaliel tells the council about the previous false prophets and how after they were killed, their followers dispersed. He obviously was a very knowledgeable man who does a profound thing, to have the council reconsider their attempts to have Jesus' followers killed for continuing their master's mission after his death.

I'm not sure if this is the end of Gamaliel's story, but it makes you wonder if he ever became a true follower or if it was God, working through him, saving His apostles from almost certain death. In either case, amazing wisdom to let them continue the work of Christ, for if it was of man, it would certainly fail. Luckily for us, it was not of man, but from God.

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,28 saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us."29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.35 And he said to them, "Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" So they took his advice,40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

I Samuel 22 & 23

Reading through I Samuel, I've been reminded how David began his reign as king of Israel. He has already been anointed by Samuel yet King Saul was still in power and because the Lord was with David, he wants to have him killed. What was awesome to see through this time of exile for David was how he communicated directly with God and He kept him from harms way. Also, he was hiding, but with 400 - 600 men with him. Now it would be easy to hide among that many men, but trying to hide all of them would be ridiculously hard.

I don't know why it's harder to hear from God directly now that it was back then, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying. I believe it means we just need to try harder.

John 3:30

30 He must increase, but I must decrease."


Enough said...

Psalm 84

1  How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!2  My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

3  Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.4  Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah

5  Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.t6  As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.7  They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.

8  O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 9  Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!

10  For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.11  For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.12  O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Oh how sweet it will be to dwell with God for eternity. It's hard to imagine what it will be like, but one thing is for sure, it will be lovely. From all the descriptions of hell, eternal darkness, it sounds anything but lovely compare it to this praise of heaven, it's really a no-brainer. Yet there are many who say that none of this exists, or hell will just be a eternal party with all the other "sinners". Personally, I can't put my mind around either of those. If there is nothing after death, what is the point of doing anything while you're here on earth? why would miracles happen? what would be the purpose for life in the first place? And as for a eternal party, who would want to party with all of the notorious murderers, dictators, and the such if that was even the case. I believe it will be complete and udder darkness, alone...can you imagine what that would be like...sitting in a completely dark room by yourself, for the rest of eternity...that is all of our destination, at least what we deserve. 

Praise be to God for having a plan to redeem us and set us free from the captivity of sin, that we can have hope in this life for something better coming. I know I do not deserve to be a part of God's eternal dwelling place, but I pray, beg, faint, long for it and hope that I can be a servant or even less than that just so I can be in His presence. 

Jon

Proverbs 21:2-3

2  Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the heart.3  To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.




It's so easy to justify our own decisions and think it's ok. God doesn't really care about what we think is right in our own eyes, He cares about what is in our hearts. It's also not about sacrifice, more that we are righteous and just, as they are more acceptable to Him than anything else we can "give" Him.


Just another reminder that we can't work our way into heaven, we have to believe and prove that belief by our actions.

John 1:29-34

29  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.'31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."32 And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."


It always strikes me as AWESOME, when people are able to recognize Jesus as the Messiah by just seeing him. I wonder what it would have been like to see Jesus, face-to-face. There must have been something special about his persona.


In our day-to-day lives, I believe that we do see Jesus, in people, circumstances/situations, relationships. I think though that we can easily miss him if we're not in-tune with the Spirit and not constantly watching for God-sightings. This passage just reminds me that I need to be more aware of everything going on around me, not just physically, but spiritually as well. To acknowledge my Maker as often as possible for His constant presence. 

Judges 9:1-21

Now I've always been a fan of Gideon, Jerubbaal. The way he delivered his people from the Midianites with 300 men is just another reminder that with God, all things are possible. Reading through Judges has been great to understand how the Israelites are very similar to me and my own walk with God. It seems like its just a long roller coaster of ups and downs. They turn from God and are oppressed for as long as it takes them to realize their mistake. Once they repent, God raises up a Judge among them who sets them free and there is peace, for a time, until the next time they turn. We all have our high and low times with God. I guess the trick is to keep the low times as minimal as possible and keep on a steady incline towards our Maker.

Back to this passage, Gideon has just died and his son Abimelech decides he wants to rule over his town. In doing so, he wants to make sure that none of his 71 brothers prevent that from happening and kill 70 of them. The one left had hid, but God was definitely with him. Even in his fear, he speaks God's word to the leaders of the town who put Abimelech in charge that if they had done everything right by appointed Abimelech then may God bless the appointment, otherwise, may fire devour them all. And then he runs away.

It's awesome to see how God uses even those with fear to do great things. I'm excited to reread what happens after this, to remember once again how God delivers His people from their oppressors.