Judges 13; Acts 17; Jeremiah 26; Mark 12

When my kids were little, I used to tell them, “If someone has something to say, it’s important for them to say or it’s important for you to hear.” Daily, my media feeds are flooded with messages of people. I find myself wanting, more than ever, to hear what the Lord says.

⁶ The woman ran and told her husband, “A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see. I didn’t ask where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷ But he told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.’” (Judges 13:6-7, NLT, emphasis added)

Paul and Silas were used to speaking to groups and were used to hostile responses. Today, Paul is in Athens and addresses a crowd. I listen too.

²² So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, ²³ for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

²⁴ “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, ²⁵ and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. ²⁶ From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

²⁷ “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ ²⁹ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

³⁰ “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. ³¹ For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22-31, NLT, emphasis added)

Jeremiah had a message from the Lord that was important, only his audience didn’t want to hear it.

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. ² “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard in front of the Temple of the Lord, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word. ³ Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will change my mind about the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins.

⁴ “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you will not listen to me and obey my word I have given you, ⁵ and if you will not listen to my servants, the prophets—for I sent them again and again to warn you, but you would not listen to them— ⁶ then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth.’”

⁷ The priests, the prophets, and all the people listened to Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the Lord’s Temple. ⁸ But when Jeremiah had finished his message, saying everything the Lord had told him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people at the Temple mobbed him. “Kill him!” they shouted. ⁹ “What right do you have to prophesy in the Lord’s name that this Temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed and left with no inhabitants?” And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the Temple. (Jeremiah 26:1-9, NLT, emphasis added)

He reminds me today and again.

²⁸ One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. ³⁰ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

³² The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. ³³ And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”

³⁴ Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:28-34a, NLT, emphasis added)

Lord, help me to watch my words (help me to speak them). Let them be seasoned, honest, wise, encouraging. Let them reflect the time I’ve spent with you, and not the ever changing (turbulent) influence of a culture around me. Help me also to sift through words to get to the heart, to reach another whose heart cries out to be loved, to be valued, to be understood, to be seen.

Courtney (66books365)

Advertisement

Leviticus 13; Psalms 15,16; Proverbs 27; 2 Thessalonians 1

²³ Know the state of your flocks,
    and put your heart into caring for your herds,
²⁴ for riches don’t last forever,
    and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.
²⁵ After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears
    and the mountain grasses are gathered in,
²⁶ your sheep will provide wool for clothing,
    and your goats will provide the price of a field.
²⁷ And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself,
    your family, and your servant girls. (Proverbs 27:23-27, NLT, emphasis added)

My goal planner is broken down into time chunks: monthly, weekly, daily. I noticed connections linking monthly items to broad relationships, weekly tasks to discipline, and daily reminders to stewardship. But really, it is all about stewarding time, relationships, responsibilities well. These verses in Proverbs remind me to tend to what I have.

Put your heart into caring for …

¹⁹ As a face is reflected in water,
    so the heart reflects the real person. (Proverbs 27:19, NLT)

The Bible has a lot to say about heart, stewardship, wisdom, and focus.

¹¹ Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad.
    Then I will be able to answer my critics. (Proverbs 27:11, NLT)

It is hard for me to separate stewardship from God’s kingdom. When I acknowledge time, talent, and treasure are from him, I want to live more intentionally. This is all made possible because of his grace.

¹¹ So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. ¹² Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, NLT)

Lord, thank you for this time your word–for time that seems to slow down for me to look closely at the state of my flocks, the contemplation of my heart, and the alignment of my goals to your call.

Courtney (66books365)

Genesis 2; Matthew 2; Ezra 2; Acts 2

He created heavens and earth, breathed life into man, provided food. (He cares for man, creating animals and a helper just right for him.) The Lord warned man:

¹⁵ The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ¹⁶ But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:15-17, NLT, emphasis added.)

Wise men traveled to worship Jesus and met with Herod on the way. They are warned in dreams to take a different route home. Joseph is warned too.

¹² When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. ¹³ After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” (Matthew 2:12-13, NLT, emphasis added.)

A sound from heaven like the roar of a mighty windstorm filled a space and equipped the believers with new ability. It is the Holy Spirit.

⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. (Acts 2:4, NLT, emphasis added.)

God reaches to communicate with us–and this is relationship: the reaching back.

⁶³ The governor told them not to eat the priests’ share of food from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord about the matter by using the Urim and Thummim—the sacred lots. (Ezra 2:63, NLT, emphasis added.)

Lord, your word shows me glimpses of your heart and what you value. You care for your creation and dazzle with variety and beauty, you provide great provision. You equip those you call. You desire relationship, inviting me in your word to engage with you and seek you. You promise you are near to those who call on you. You give me hints of a kingdom I can’t see, reaching supernaturally into dreams, by signs and wonders here in places I can see. Help me to hear. Help me to see. Help me to know you better.

Courtney (66books365)

1Chronicles 15; James 2; Amos 9; Luke 4

My husband gave me a beautiful gift a couple of weekends ago.  First thing you must know about Jim is that he is not a dancer and has never claimed to be.  He is one of those men who always offers to get you something to drink as soon as the music starts up or manages to either get engaged in a life changing conversation or suddenly not feel well.  When those options run out, he just shakes his head, “No.”  He does not have an innate sense of rhythm and does not enjoy getting out on the dance floor.

Something magical happened a last month.  He danced.  We were at a friend’s wedding, the music was great,  we were amongst dear friends and had much to celebrate.  And suddenly the desire to dance overcame any self consciousness (I promise you no alcohol was involved).  He wanted to be out there with me, our friends and celebrate. He didn’t just dance one dance,  he went the distance and boogied to the end.  Side bar: my daughter immediately texted her brother that this seismic shift had occurred. Jim’s sudden change in heart helped me see David’s dancing in a whole new light.

My heart goes out to David who “danced before the Lord.”  His joy at what God had done was so complete that he put aside all pretense and self preoccupation and “danced with all his might”  in the midst of commoners and royalty alike. I can hear the pulsing music and see David in the sweaty, joyous crowd now.  God keep us from hardened hearts and critical spirits that try to crush the wonder of His work among us.  I pray that I am more like David and less like Michal in approach towards life with God. Both individuals had suffered physically and emotionally during the years leading up to this event.  One chose joy,  the other a bitter and a judgmental heart.  God help us choose joy.

Kathy