July 31, 2017 The Price Has Been Paid

Reading: 1 John 2 and Songs of Solomon 1-4

Scripture: 1 John 2:1-2, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Observation: This morning I was looking forward to spending time in the word again being that the last few weeks I have been struggling being in the word. During worship at church this weekend one of the songs we sang was about God setting the captives free and that is exactly what this passage is about too. We are all going to have failures in our lives and do things that will take us away from God’s will for our lives.

Application: This Passage is reminding us that not only has a payment been made for the sins that have been committed it has also been paid for those sins we have not yet committed. On top of that his love is so immense that his love and forgiveness is so great that anyone and every one can be covered by it if that would hear and accept the gift of God. Any one can come to the Lord. It doesn’t matter what you have done you will be forgiven. God will accept you where you are but he loves you too much to let you stay there when his plans for you are so much greater then what you could have ever imagined.

Prayer: Father I thank you for your son and the grace and forgiveness that you have poured out on us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. I thank you for the provisions you give us each and every day and the blessings of things not yet seen. I ask that you help us to walk in the forgiveness you give us but also strive to grow closer to you and seek your direction for our lives. 

July 24, 2017 There is nothing good in me

Reading: 1 Peter 3, Proverbs 18-19 and Psalm 16

Scripture: Psalm 16:1-2, Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

Observation: I feel like I understand David a little in this Psalm, David is crying out “God save me”, I don’t know how often I feel I am crying that our myself. After crying out for help he says “you are the only one who can save me. Here I feel most connected to what David is saying, I am a bag of poop without you. 

Application: God has called us all into his love, grace and mercy, even though we are a bag of poop God has a plan for us and we just need to walk in it. 

Prayer: Father I long to walk in your grace and mercy. I thank you that you sent your son to die on the cross to cover our sins. Lord I ask that you help me to hear your voice and seek your will in my life. 

July 21, 2017 Man I can be so stupid.

Reading: James 5, Proverbs 12-13 and Psalm 149

Scripture: Proverbs 12:1,  Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

Observation: Over the last few weeks I have been dealing with this myself, I have been allowing discipline and exhortation in my life. I grew up angry and a bit of a rage monster, I could identify with the Hulk on that. Within that rage that would build until I exploded, I would also not listen to anyone who would tell me I was in the wrong or that I was hurting people even though I never touched anyone in anger. I grew up thinking that lashing out with words or hitting objects was ok. 

Application: I was stupid, I thought that I was ok and didn't need to change and I know that looking back, one of my marriages may have ended because of this hatred of being corrected. Im not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but through the grace of God and the gathering of men to help hold me accountable God is working on healing my life. Be open to correction, God’s correction will leave a lasting mark for the better.

Prayer: Father I stand amazed that you love me enough to correct me even when I don’t want to listen. I thank you for your blessings and your daily provisions. I ask that you help me listen to your corrections and to seek you and your will and lay down the chains that you have broken in our lives but we keep picking them back up. 

July 16, 2017 Eat the fruit of your labor

Reading: Hebrews 13, Proverbs 1-2 and Psalm 128

Scripture: Psalm 128, “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!”

Observation: After going over the reading together, my wife and I started talking about the entirety of this Psalm. We talk about the imagery and the even looked at pictures of some of the things that are mentioned in this Psalm. In this time of struggling and trying not to worry about how this or that was going to be paid, but as we try not to it looms heavier upon my mind.

Application: We spent time talking about this in the context of our family and were taking this and declaring it over our family. We are going to be blessed and eat of the labor of our hands and it will be well with us. My wife's comment about being a fruitful vine is to be fruitful as a vine you have to be pruned and then said “I don't like being pruned.” As we continued to talk we talked about how for a tree to be fruitful it also has to be pruned from the top so that it will focus on producing fruit on and on filling our children the olive shoots that spring up around the base of the tree. As we grow larger and stronger in the Lord and the Holy Spirit prunes out what should not be there we are able to give more to our children and raise them up to become fruit trees and vines of their own. Then in the end it echoes the earlier line about being blessed and we will see our children's children. We are blessed and we need to walk in it to see that fear also be faith and no longer worry about the little things in our lives. 

Prayer: Father I stand in awe of how you can pack so much into a small section of scripture. You are the one who takes away all fear and doubt, the righteous fear of you helps to lead me to faith. Lord I ask that you help us to hold onto the proper fear and to leave the worry and stress behind. Help me to raise up a family that want to honor you each day. 

July 12, 2017 What a bloody mess

Reading: Hebrews 9, 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5

Scripture: 1 Kings 8:11, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Observation: After the Temple was finished and the Ark of the covenant was placed in The Most Holy Place God’s presence filled the temple so thick and tangible that the priests could not perform their duties. I love how we get to feel the presence of the Lord come around us during worship. I know that God surrounds us all the time and knows the number of hears on my head but I seem to feel it or notice it more during worship. 

I am not part of it every month but my church has monthly corporate prayer, where anyone can join us and pray for all aspects of what God is doing around us and though us. At the end of every corporate prayer one of the things we do is go to the entrance of the church and ask the Holy spirit to come into our church. Not that he ever leaves but we alway ask for God’s glory to fill our house of worship, teaching and discipleship, we ask him to be apart of all we do. 

Application: May your house be fill with his glory

Prayer: Father, you are so wonderful, Your glory shines about us each and every day. I thank you for my family, a wife that is patient with me, Children to love and teach your ways. I thank you for the provisions you give us and the blessings we don’t see. I ask you to fill this house with your glory, impress upon us your love and kindness. 

July 11, 2017 It's only a shadow

Reading: Hebrews 8, 1 Kings 7 and 2 Chronicles 4

Scripture: Hebrews 8:5, They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." 

Observation: Tonight during the reading about how the Temple was built and furnished, my wife and I started discussing how wonderful it would be to see the temple just after it was finished. I have always hoped that when we get to heaven that we would be able to see things like the temple or watch some sort of holy DVR to go and watch some of these things we have read about in the word, things like the 10 plagues crossing the Red Sea or sit and listen to Jesus teach. Then the Holy Spirit remained me of this scripture in Hebrews, and I said but we are going to be in the Heavenly Temple when we get there this Temple as grand as Salomon made it, it was still only a shadow of what is in Heaven. 

We have been shown these shadows and given these accounts of what happened back then, to point us to the glory and majesty of God and what he has for us. Through Christ we have been made citizens of heaven and hears with him. We are resident aliens here on earth and we need to live our lives in honor of where we are from.

Prayer: Father you are so wonderful, I stand in awe of how you can cause one little comment lead to a better understanding. I thank you for all that you do for us I thank you for my family and the provisions you give us each day and the blessings you pour out on us. I ask that you help me to continue to gain a better understanding you and to live as a citizen of heaven. 

July 10, 2017 Can We Build It

Reading: Hebrews 7, 1 Kings 5-6 and 2 Chronicles 2-3

Scripture: 1 Kings 5:3  You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.

Observation: I know that so often I think, “I want to do this and that and this thing over here” and even when it something that would (in my eyes) benefit the Church or could bring people to know the Father and then when I start trying to pursue it I fall on my face or there are insurmountable obstacles that keep me from doing it. 

Application: God has a plan for all of us, some of us are great warriors, David was the warrior king, poet and psalmist. Because of his history of war God told him that he could not build the temple, his son who would be king after him would build it. Some of us are Davids, we are the Warriors who are out battling and some of us are Solomons who are charged with building the temple. We may be laying the ground work for our children or we could be the ones to start the work. As we seek God’s plan in our lives it will almost never look like what we think it should but it will fit into God’s painting much better if we listen to his plan.

Prayer: Father you are so amazing I long to sit in your lap and gaze into your glory. I thank you for your provisions in my life, you give us all we need and bless us beyond our understanding. I ask that you help me to see your plan and to help me to prepare the way for my children as I build what you have called me to. 

July 9, 2017 All to you

Reading: Hebrews 6, 1 Kings 4 and Psalm 9

Scripture: Psalm 9:1-2 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Over this last few weeks I have let things get the better of me and because of that I let changes get me to put my devotions and my time with God on the back burner. Part of what happened was me losing my temper and not breaking but helping my laptop to fell its age and reminded me that it needed replacing. We don’t currently have the funds to replace it so I am developing new was to do my devotions. I know that I have gotten into this rut of being good about doing them in the mornings on my own during the week and failing a little on the weekends, but my wife had been struggling to find a time to do them being tired from being a mother of a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old and working full time. 

Today we are trying to start the process of reading and going over the readings each day together after we get the kids to bed. As a man who grew up being taught that having a temper is ok by watching a father who has a temper. I am grateful that I also was raised to not to hit people that I don’t have that tendency but my outburst are just as painful to my wife and children with words and actions. 

Todays reading in Psalms was a reminder that as we have been struggling with adjusting to the new normal of having two kids, having a computer that is in a bit of an inconvenient location and not being able to do thing the way I was used to doing them. I need to focus on giving thanks for what I have, share the blessings and great deeds that I have see God do in my life and in the lives of those around me. The last section of this passage is why I love worship I want to sing the praises of his name and point to God in a way that I feel that I am good at.

Prayer: Father I thank you for all you have done for me, you provide all we need and pour out blessings even when we don’t feel that we deserve it. I thank you for my wife and children and I place them in your hands. They are yours and I thank you for the stewardship of them and I pray that I will point them to you every day.