1 Kings 2; 1 Chronicles 29; 2 Corinthians 11; Psalm 95

Last Monday I completed my last day of teaching Life Skills to a high school class. For a spring semester, for an hour and a half on Mondays, we focused on honoring God through stewardship of time, talent, treasure, heart (faith), and health. In that time constraint, it was a crash course, and like a lot of parents feel in the high school years, I also felt a pressure to tell these students as much as I could to prepare them for a next chapter in life. But this mostly: have a Bible, read it, put God’s Word in their hearts.

A friend had shared a quote with me by St. Jerome, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

Reading David’s words to Solomon today, I hear his heart’s desire for his son:

As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon:

² “I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. ³ Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. ⁴ If you do this, then the Lord will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

1 Kings 2:1-4, NLT, emphasis mine

What better advice can a parent offer a child? To follow the Lord. To honor him.

“O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! ¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. ¹² Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

1 Chronicles 29:10-12, NLT

Lord, I don’t want to be ignorant of you. I need your Word and your holy Spirit every day.

² For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. ³ But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. ⁴ You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.

2 Corinthians 11:2-4, NLT

I am so grateful for your words in my hands and in my heart.

¹ Come, let us sing to the Lord!
    Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
² Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
    Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
³ For the Lord is a great God,
    a great King above all gods.
⁴ He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
    and the mightiest mountains.
⁵ The sea belongs to him, for he made it.
    His hands formed the dry land, too.

⁶ Come, let us worship and bow down.
    Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,
⁷     for he is our God.
We are the people he watches over,
    the flock under his care.

If only you would listen to his voice today!

Psalm 95:1-7, NLT

One year, I signed up for a bird watching hike with my youngest daughter, and our group made our way to a pavilion in the woods, binoculars in hand. We sat there, and I impatiently wondered what the hold up was. Were we waiting for someone? Then the guide instructed us to use our senses, to hear the birds’ song and follow the sound to sight the birds. Song? I only heard the running stream of stressful thoughts and concerns in my head. When I turned down my own voice, I was washed over with birdsong. If I couldn’t hear the birds singing, how would I hear the Lord? I learned to quiet myself and sit at his feet, to listen to his voice. He is near.

Courtney (66books365)

Advertisement

Numbers 26-29; Acts 21

Sacrifice always held a punitive meaning to me, until recently. I used to think it required suffering or mournful loss. Maybe that was because what was forfeited may have held worth or desire. But my view of it changed when posed a question about what I was willing to sacrifice for something I valued.

What would I sacrifice for: my health, my faith, my family? Was it really a sacrifice to give up junk food so that my body would stop being slammed with inflammation and sugar surges? Was it really a loss to say no to an event that cost me time and focus with the people I’m called to care for and who I love so much under my roof? Was it a hardship to turn away from media sources that promote dissension, perversion, and hatred? How did comfort foods, pressures and pop culture ever gain worth or desire in the first place?

In Numbers, there are stipulations of what an offering to the Lord looks like, by quality, frequency, and measurement.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’

Numbers 28:1, ESV

When finer things were offered up to the Lord, how does a cheap muffin even qualify for a sacrifice?

Paul demonstrates how to live life as an offering.

¹⁰ While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” ¹² When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

Acts 21:10-14, ESV

He was willing to face imprisonment or even death for the name of the Lord.

Lord, you have given me time, ability, treasure, heart, and health to steward. My view of these things is clearer in light of these Scriptures–an offering of value and intention in the giving–for you, who I value most. It is all yours to begin with. If from these things I present an offering to you, please help me to be intentional to honor and glorify you with my life.

Courtney (66books365)

Proverbs 11:12-13:25

Sometimes I get so caught up in what’s going on around me that I lose sight of a kingdom focus.

The grass needs to be cut. Laundry needs to be washed and folded. Supplies and planning for a next school year are on my mind. I need to get the oil changed in the car … plan a menu for the week … go by the store. Pay this bill … plan that outing … put out that fire …

When I read through Proverbs, I try to fit the teachings into what’s around me, but the lessons lift my gaze to a kingdom where the things that are valued can be possessed, but not touched.

A kindhearted woman gains honor,
    but ruthless men gain only wealth. (Proverbs 11:16, NIV)

Honor straddles two realms. It is gain. But it can’t be measured or held. Wealth is also a type of gain that can be hoarded and held, but not taken past the grave.

When I read through Proverbs, honesty, generosity, honor, diligence, prudence, righteousness, and more are the sweet and juicy fruits and gains of a heart’s focus, a person’s choices and actions. These traits show true prosperity.

One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. (Proverbs 11:24, NIV)

A dear woman at my daughter’s church turns 101 years old today. She’s a fixture of the church and community–even one of these old country roads bears her family name. She invests her love by serving others. She’s an amazing seamstress and wears lovely clothing that she made herself. A neighbor of mine down the road spoke of her and her sewing skills, and I was taken by surprise that he knew her and had had his clothes altered by her! She attended my daughter’s piano recital. She always took time to greet us after church service and offer a kind and encouraging word to my daughter when she was finished playing. She gives gifts freely and randomly. She is loved dearly by the community and celebrated–because of her kindness.

… a kindhearted woman gains honor … one person gives freely, yet gains even more …

Lord, help me to keep a kingdom focus. I need you and your word–a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Courtney (66books365)

Psalms 40-42

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
    and put their trust in him. (Psalm 40:1-3, NIV)

Yesterday’s reading emphasized, for me, that our only hope is the Lord. The verses today put my thoughts to deliverance and blessing–a blessing that is born from hardship. Not only that, but how through situations likened to pit, muck and mire, the Lord’s deliverance magnifies his glory for all to see.

I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
    I do not seal my lips, Lord,
    as you know.
¹⁰ I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
    I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
    from the great assembly. (Psalm 40:9-10, NIV)

I’ve usually been one to want a way out of a hardship, and not a way through it. I am not alone in a hardship–there are others who either walk alongside or who walk away. Those who stay–do they know they are blessed?

Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
    the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
² The Lord protects and preserves them—
    they are counted among the blessed in the land—
    he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
³ The Lord sustains them on their sickbed
    and restores them from their bed of illness. (Psalm 41:1-3, NIV)

I haven’t always looked for the blessing from or the honor due to God in a trial. In fact, I may have been more preoccupied with the details of the pit and the muck and mire. Certain events this year have caused me to look at life differently. One being, on a lighter note, a self-imposed (inflicted!) challenge (75 Hard) that I had to restart several times. I ended up getting a copy of the book (originally I was just going off the checklist), which was key in reframing the purpose of the challenge: to develop mental toughness. In what could be a long story, God used the purpose of mental toughness and paired it with my walk with him in a situation where I not only needed his guidance and kindness, but also needed the mental toughness to step into conflict with maturity and composure.

Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:11, NIV)

Life really does have a lot of conflict, hardship and trial. Lord, I want to handle the “little” situations in a way that honors you. These little things prepare me for the bigger things. Again I ask, “How do I want to show up in the world?” The answer unchanged: like I am the Lord’s.

Lord, you know I’ve made a lot of excuses. I’ve whined and complained. I’ve avoided hard situations out of my own fear and discomfort. All of these things have kept me dull, weak and ineffective. Thank you for being with me the other day when I picked up the phone. Thank you for putting scripture in my mind to hold my focus. Thank you for putting a new song in my heart.

Courtney (66books365)

Job 12:13-16:10

I recently caught up with a friend who has been going through severe and mysterious health ailments. Tentatively she shared a detail, then another. I don’t have the full picture of what she’s been through these past months, but I recognized a holy privilege to be invited into any space of her journey. (Oh, the awe of holy ground. I do not want to mar it with an impulsive or incomplete response!) As I listened to her, I heard the natural bubble of her voice. She has always been joyful. And even in this, she waits with joy and patience and confidence.

² “I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters, all of you!
³ Will your long-winded speeches never end?
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?
⁴ I also could speak like you,
    if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
    and shake my head at you.
⁵ But my mouth would encourage you;
    comfort from my lips would bring you relief.” (Job 16:2-5, NIV, emphasis added)

I wonder if it is the deep lows in life that allow one to speak comfort to another. Empathy. Compassion. Sincerity.

I don’t know all that she’s experienced in this trial, but I know she still walks by faith on this dark path. She looks at me and shines her light. She is in the deep lows, and yet when our conversation was over, I felt hope, comfort, and relief because of her joy and confidence.

As I read through Job’s story, I think on his friends and their responses. They speak in judgment. They speak judgment of God. But God wasn’t penalizing or punishing Job–God called Job faithful. Maybe someone carries a heavy burden because of mistakes they’ve made, or from actions made by others. And maybe someone was appointed by God to carry a heavy burden, because God knew he could.

Lord, I hope I always remember the person’s heart who walks through heartache and trial. I pray that you would give me guidance how to comfort, encourage, or even to be still as I bear witness the journey. I pray that in my own walk, that you would send me support to encourage me for burdens I might carry. I give thanks for my friend, Lord, and your presence with us.

Courtney (66books365)