Philippians 2 V 14-18 / 3 V 1-4a

Here in Pauls letter to the Philippians he exhorts them to be shining examples to the world, to quit muttering and arguing among themselves and to follow Christs in his obedence to God. He asks them to be glad and to rejoice that Christ is their Lord.
Today we should do no less, we should be shining examples of Christs love for us; for as found in verse 13, "God is at work in you, enabling you both to will and work for his good pleasure."

Revelation 12: 7-12

The devil's time is temporary and his playgound is our world. My faith is with Christ and His taking the sin of the world, our sin, and defeating death by His death on the cross. We have been
given the unmerited gift of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus. The world and all that makes
it up are temporary along with the devil. Our Lord is forever!

Judges 16:23-31

This chapter starts with Samson spending the night with a prostitute and then sneaking out in the middle of the night.  What an odd way to start the chapter!  But what really caught my eye was verse 20, after Delilah had cut his hair and the Philistines were ready for him and he was ready to fight them back, the verse ends:  "But he did not know that the Lord had left him."

There is such emptiness in those words.  Going from the world's strongest man to the man without a friend and more importantly a man without God.  When did God return to Samson?  Or did he ever really leave?  Verse 22, out of nowhere just says "But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved."  Its almost the author's way of saying that there is little that one can do that God can't forgive.  Even if you try to cut yourself down through sin, God will restore you to strength if you just let him.

Yet, even though God "returned" immediately, Samson still felt alone because of sin.  Samson's prayer is his way of asking for God to return to him and be on his side of the battle.  God was always there, God always is.

Psalm 28

It's funny that this Psalm has to do with asking for God to listen to you. I have recently been doing a lot of asking for this very thing. Life has seemed to be overwhelming of late and it is times like these that I often ask for God's guidance and direction. I think it is easy to get caught up in the day to day reality and forget to make time to talk to God and listen to his response. I know I should be doing this more but can't seem to make the time.

The sermon on Sunday at Sanctuary was on a similar topic. We read from Romans the passage where Jesus tells the disiples that he is the light, the truth and the way and that no one will come to God without first going through him. Mark's message was that God/Jesus is present at all times with us even if we do not feel him. We, as Christians, believe this and need to always remember this especially in times of trouble.

So as I read tonight from Psalms I was reminded of his message. "The lord is my strength" and I need to remember that at all times.

Psalm 28

I can relate to the emotions of this psalm, but I must admit that I have a very difficult time with the message.

I have always struggled with a God who actively punishes. To me, being ignorant of God's love and living in our own messy sin is punishment...I've never understood why our faith needs to believe God actively punishes. (Yes, this means that I have a very difficult time with the concept of a traditional "Hell" - I could write you a treatise or two on my theology there...it has passed many seminary and church leader tests, but Marcus thinks I'm a complete heretic.)

So much of this Psalm is set up as a ME v. THEM situation....which seems to run contrary to God. We are all created by God and for God. I don't believe God would actively tear them down and refuse to build them up again (v. 5).

It's a human psalm, and I get the human cry behind it on a very visceral level. But it's the cry that I hear in our political life all the time that I try to shout out against. It is too easy to villify "THEM" - and pitting God against "THEM" as well seems a very dangerous thing to do.

This Week's Readings

Monday: Psalm 28
Tuesday: Psalm 28
Wednesday: Judges 16:23-31
Thursday: Revelation 12:7-12
Friday: Philippians 2:14-18, 3:1-4a
Saturday: Jeremiah 6:1-10
Sunday: Isaiah 5-17, Psalm 80:7-15, Philippians 3:4b-14, Matthew 21:33-46

Ezekiel 18:19-24

In verse 22 we read: "Their sins will be forgotten. Because they have done what is right, they will live." As I read this verse I think about the beautiful gift of salvation God has given to each and everyone of us. We are saved by grace thru faith, and how wonderful it is to serve a God who forget our sins if we do what is right!

Ezekiel 18 V 5-18

How much do we really take from our parents through training and mentoring and how much is just what we might call genetics? Do I carry my own biological father inside me, his strengths and weaknesses a part of me no matter how hard I may have tried to be my own person when I was younger. I look to my own brothers and see in them some of the same traits I saw in my Dad as I grew up. We have all been given certain abilities from our parents, my own father gave to us the gift to see and understand most things mechanical as well as an inquisitive mind to use when we look around at our surroundings. Yet this gift, has it been planted in us by God, passed from generation to generation, put in place to serve Him and His plans?

If I look back to Verse # 4 in this chapter I see a truth: " Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child: only those who sin will die."

Here in Ezekiel 18 V 5-18  it is good to see that God will hold us responsible only for our own sins, that we will not have to answer for the sins of our fathers (or Mothers) and that the fate of our children will not be effected by the righteousness or unrighteousness of our own lives.


Praise God that I may live a righteous life and serve Him.

Psalm 25 - 1 thru 9

³ No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. I attempt to put the first part of this verse into action daily but fail miserably all to often. There is a constant struggle for me to let God be my refuge in all matters.
When I due put my hopes in His hands I have peace of mind and spirit. Why then do I constantly
try and do it my way?

Matthew 9:9-13

Sometimes you do things because you are told they are right and sometimes you do things because you know they are right.  Erin and I are reading  The Help and the whole book is about doing the right thing and how prevailing sentiment influences our decisions.  The author's favorite line from the book is:

"Wasn’t that the point of the book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought."

Sometimes the truth and the "right" is directly in front of our face, but we can't see it because our eyes can't see through the opinions of our friends and family.  Going against them makes us vulnerable and subject to ridicule and obscurity.  But Jesus breaks bread with the sinners of the world because those are the ones who need him the most.  Not because it is easy, but because it is right.  He died for that, but guess how it turned out in the end?

Romans 16: 17-20

Interesting verses here. How many people take bits and pieces of the bible and use them to prove their own point or try to sway people to their way of thinking? Using the bible for you own purpose is something that we humans try to do but why? Why can't we take the word of God for truth? Too many times do we try to make our own sense out of what God is trying to tell us.

Take time to really think about the message you are reading. (Great advice for myself since I really slacked on reading it this summer). When I do this I get more out of the message and feel more at peace.

I love the last verse "Enjoy the best of Jesus!" I think we all long for that.

Psalm 106:1-12

Thank God for the Psalms!

September has hit me and the family with a BANG! I'm running around with my head cut off doing everything I can to make sure that I'm prepared for the next hour - haven't gotten to the point yet of looking ahead to the next day. Everyone has a pile of responsibilities and papers that need signed and forms that need filled out and laundry that needs washed and practices they need rides to and homework that needs checked. My brain is running a mile a minute and I can barely see beyond a given moment.

And in rushes the Psalms. Take a deep breath. And put it all in perspective. God is God. God's story and our story are intertwined through the millenia. God was active in Egypt, in the Red Sea - in spite of the people's unfaithfulness.

And God is active now...even when my attention is everywhere else - places that seem important, but are not as important as being grounded in faith. I have sinned, even as my ancestors did (v. 6). Sometimes by commission - but lately by omission - I have not nurtured the link to God that I need. I have been swallowed in so much "stuff" that my feet are slipping.

v. 4. Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people. Come to my aid when you save them.

Taking on a new blogging theme!

For those of you reading along with us, the few of us still blogging met to talk after church today and decided to change directions.  Instead of reading books of the Bible, instead we will be using the the Celebrate insert's "Preparing for Next Week."  On Sunday/Monday we will post the week's readings which can always be found on the back of the Celebrate and the blogger is welcome to take the verses to whatever level they want!

The readings/blogger are:
Monday: Psalm 106:1-12 / Kelly
Tuesday: Romans 16:17-20 / ?
Wednesday Matthew 9:9-13 / Jordan
Thursday Psalm 25 1-9 / Mark
Friday Ezekiel 18:5-18 / Bill
Saturday Ezekiel 18:19-24: ?

Leviticus 27

Well. This book just ends. No wrap up, no "Peace be with you" no "Sincerely, Moses". Just ends.

Can't say that I'm very impressed with the details of this chapter, either. I really love that they explicitly state that females are worth less than males in all circumstances and ages. Harumph.

I'm also really hard pressed to find much of a link to my own life in this chapter. Perhaps the emphasis on tithing, and that the firstborn (firstfruits, first and best) already belong to God. What we give and dedicate is on top of what is already God's by right.

Leviticus 23

God is good. Through Moses He announces festivals for His people to rejoice and praise Him with
sacrifice and rest. He gives abundantly and expects to be praised accordingly. Today my blessings are countless and they are all due to God's grace in my life. Any fortune or happiness
experienced is an unmerited gift from my Father. My role is to share what is mine in all areas
of my life and when I due this God is not only pleased but life is better for me and mine.

Leviticus 22

The Law here is telling us to give our first fruits to God.  The only thing that automatically comes from my paycheck at a true percentage of my earnings is my 401k pre-tax deductions.  How sad is that.  What would God say to that?  I can guess that he would probably say that I am putting my harvest in barns for safekeeping, when I might be taken before I can use it.  The church and others could use my gifts now, not 100 years from now...

Did you know that the U.S. is one of only a few countries that allows tax deductions for money given to charitable causes?  That means that others, who are taxed higher and make less money, truly give that money away not expecting anything in return...

Leviticus 20

When we filed for our marriage license, the state of Colorado asked Marcus and I if we were first cousins. "No" - but apparently it's legal in CO to marry your cousin -they just want to keep track of it if that's the case. With this new information, my loving fiance paused....looked at me, and said "you know, my cousin Jamie is a real looker. Now that I know it would be legal..." Yeah, he's a real cut-up.

Two main things strike me in this passage. First - that this is one of the places in the Bible most cited against homosexuality. Really - and it's in Leviticus....like we actually follow all of this other stuff. Just 12 verses later (v. 25) we're being reminded that we're only allowed to eat Kosher (clean animals, meat separate from dairy). There's stuff in this chapter that I agree with (obviously) but you can't use part of the chapter and ignore another part.

Second - a great deal of this chapter seems to take things out on victims more than I'm comfortable with. Women are killed along with the men who did wrong in many cases - and we all know there's a good chance that it wasn't always consentual sex. Even animals are killed along with the wrongdoers...and that certainly wasn't consentual.

Lovin' Leviticus...

Leviticus 16

This chapter focuses on God giving a specific day for the atonement and forgiveness of the people's sins. Again, there are specific steps that are expected to be followed by Aaron to cleanse the people for their wickedness. Today as Christians are forgiveness has been won by Christ's sacrifice on the cross, He alone has triumphed over the world. He gives us the opportunity to have a relationship with the Father through Him.