A Sweet Little Girl!

Reading:  II Kings 1 - 5
My Verse:  "She said to her mistress, "Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria!  He would cure him of his leprosy" (5:3).

This little Israelite girl was a slave.  She had been taken from her home, "now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel." She now worked in the home of Naaman, an important man.  "Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria.  He was a mighty man of valor" (5:1,2).  This little girl "worked in the service of Naaman's wife."  So, she was a slave, far from home.  Yet, we see how sweet her spirit was.

She chose to continue to believe that God was the God of the universe.  She chose to believe that the prophet Elisha was a prophet of the one and true God.  And so she was not angry and bitter.  She chose to be kind and caring for those around her.  This one little verse says so much.  Her master, Naaman, the great man was a leper. She was concerned and so shared what she knew.  She spoke of someone who could help Naaman be healed.

This, of course, lead to this most wonderful story of Naaman's going to Elisha.  Elisha appearing to be rude but telling Naaman what he had to do to be healed.  Naaman was offended that Elisha did not speak directly to him but through a messenger.  He was also too proud at first to "wash in the Jordan seven times."  It was not a grand gesture as Naaman expected.  He had to be very humble and wash himself seven times in the dirty waters of the Jordan.  It took his servants convincing him to do it.

When he did finally do as Elisha told him he was miraculously healed!  The wonderful thing is that it was not just his body that was healed but his spirit as well. Naaman went back to Elisha and said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel" (5:15).  He also asked for prayer and and pardon because he knew that when he returned home he would still, as part of his duties, have to enter the temple of Rimmon, the Syrian god.  Elisha seemed to assure him that he would be pardoned this duty by saying, "Go in peace" (5:19).

This wonderful story was made possible by the sweet spirit of a little girl who chose to do the right thing.  Thank You, LORD God for this reminder of how we are to behave in difficult circumstances.  We do need to make a choice.  We cannot blame our circumstances for bad behavior.  You are at work in our lives, continuously.  I need to ever be aware of that.

"God will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go.  He will guide me with His eye" (Psalm 32:8).

"The LORD will guide me continually" (Isaiah 58:11).

Thank You for this sweet little Israelite girl!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

God Wants To Forgive Us!

Reading:  I Kings 20 - 22
My Verse:  "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?  Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house" (I Kings 21:29).

Wow!  LORD God, this really speaks to me!  Ahab was one of the worst evil kings ever.  "For there was no one who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab, incited by his wife Jezebel" (21:25).  And yet, when Ahab admitted his sin and humbled himself You, LORD God relented and put off his punishment.  You responded to someone as evil as King Ahab.

This tells me that You want so much to forgive us, to save us, and to do good for us; that as soon as we  humble ourselves before you, You respond to us immediately!  You respond to our change of heart.  It pleases You to have us repent, to turn away from our sin.  It pleases You to relent and forgive us.

All You require is that we confess.  If we do that, no matter the sin You will forgive us our sin!
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).

There is no sin that You would not forgive.  Too many think they have crossed the line and are beyond saving.  but that is a lie and a deception for You tell us in Your Word that You will forgive ALL sin.
Titus 2:14 speaks of how You, Jesus, gave yourself to that end.  "who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness."

We cannot hide our sin for You are omniscient.  You know all.  If we want peace we need to acknowledge that we are sinners.  "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

Thank You, LORD God for Your wonderful love for us.  How You want us to willingly come to You, to seek You out, to allow You to do for us.  I love all the verses that tell of this great love You have for me!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

"but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Here is an especially wonderful verse that tells me how very much You love us, LORD God! It makes my heart feel like singing!
"The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one Who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

Yes, King Ahab was evil and his life was a terrible tragedy.  Yet, here You, LORD God show something wonderful even in the midst of  Ahab's ugly life.  You show that even one as evil as Ahab realized Who You were.  You showed that no matter how evil and ugly we have become You want us to ask You to forgive us, to clean us and free us from those awful chains that bind us to a life of slavery to our selfishness.  And You show that You will forgive us immediately!  You will wrap us up in Your loving and cleansing arms!  Thank You!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

An Angel Touched Him

Reading:  I Kings 17 - 19
My Verse:  "As he lay asleep under the broom or juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him and said to him. Arise and eat" (19:5).

What a sweet beautiful picture!  Here is Elijah, so spent and dejected, that he asks for death. "Oh LORD. take away my life."   Yet, You LORD God do not get angry with him. You send an angel to minister unto him.  A ministering angel brought Elijah nourishment and encouragement. After Elijah eats and drinks he lies down again.  And the angel comes again. "The angel of the LORD came the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you" (19:7).

We are shown how Elijah, that towering figure of the Bible was capable of fear and depression just like the rest of us. LORD God, You show us that Elijah, a great servant of Yours,  was also a fallible man, especially when he forgot to look to You.

You miraculously provided Elijah safety and provision at the brook of Cherith. A raven brought him food and water twice daily.

You had him go to Zarephath where a poor widow and her son expected to die of starvation because all she had was a small handful of  meal and a little oil.  Yet when asked by Elijah to share this with him, she did and You LORD God miraculously fed them from that for many days.  "She did as Elijah said, And she and he and her household ate for many days.  The jar of meal was not spent nor did the bottle of oil fail, according to the word which the LORD spoke through Elijah" (17:15,16).

The widow's boy sickened and died.  Elijah cried unto You LORD God to "let this child's soul come back into him."  And You did this, the child lived.

Elijah stood up to Baal's and Asherah's prophets, 950 of them!  He challenged them in a sacrificial dual.  "you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the One Who answers by fire, let Him be God."  He mocked them when their god would not respond to them. Finally, he called on You LORD God to consume his sacrifice after dousing it with water.  You responded! "Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench" (18:38). Elijah then through the power You gave him slew all 950 of the prophets!

Yet after all this Elijah was filled with fear when Queen Jezebel threatened him!  "Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life" (19:2,3).   Previously, he only gone where You, LORD God directed him.  In this case he blindly fled some 120 miles south to get as far away from the Queen as possible.  And so we are brought to him sitting under the juniper tree, exhausted and afraid, asking for death.

It does not seem to matter the heights we go to in our relationship with You, LORD God.  We are ever capable of crashing and burning as Elijah did here.  He was a towering embodiment of what a follower of You could be and yet all it took was a threat to his life and he fled in deathly fear when he took his eyes off You!

Oh, LORD God, thank You for this story.  This story of Your deep abiding love for Your own!  When I fail and am in need You send a ministering angel to touch me, encourage me and bring me along.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Doing Right In the Eyes of the LORD!

Reading: I Kings 12 - 16
My Verse:  "And Asa did right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father" (15:11).

So, because Solomon turned from You, LORD God, You told him, "Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, Because you are doing this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely rend the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant!" (11:11)  The consequence of Solomon's disobedience was a dividing of the kingdom of Israel into two nations - Judah and Israel.  Each would have its own king.  In these first four chapters of the divided kingdom there are 6 different kings between the two countries.  Sadly only one of those six kings did the right thing - "Asa did right in the eyes of the LORD."  King Asa alone stood for You, LORD God.

All the other kings did evil - their kingdoms were tumultuous and short.  Asa's lasted the longest - 41 years.  Bravely Asa "put away the sodomites"  and "removed all the idols that his fathers had made."  He even removed his own mother from her position as Queen Mother because she "made an abominable image for Asherah." What courage and steadfastness!

Oh, LORD God, how encouraging it is to read about a man like King Asa.  A man who would stand up bravely for You.  A man willing to do whatever it takes to do "right in the eyes of the LORD."  Even if it means being alone in the crowd.  I think of Noah and what that must have been like to be so alone in his fallen messed up world.  He had to withstand mockery and ridicule to obey You.  I think of Nicodemas and Joseph of Arimathea stepping forward to claim Your body LORD Jesus.  I think of Paul who was willing to leave all - his status and friends, for You when he realized that You, LORD Jesus were the truth he was seeking!  Thank you for the examples of these followers of You.

So many believe that Christianity is a crutch and only for the weak.  That is so much a lie, perpetuated by the father of all lies!  Taking a stand for You, Lord God, requires the utmost courage.  And we are not able to do "right in the eyes of the LORD" without Your help.

As a Christian one can very easily get discouraged by the events of the world, of family and friends.  I have thought this was wrong or a defect and yet You, LORD God speak to this need so very often in Your Word.  This tells me that feeling down is not necessarily wrong.  "Why are you cast down, O my inner self?  and why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me?  Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my [sad] countenance, and my God" (Psalm 43:5).  Yes, it is how I deal with difficulty and sadness that is key.  Like every decision I make I must allow You to keep me, to lift me up and carry me.  I must not, like all the those many kings, let myself go with the world and do evil in Your eyes.

Help me LORD God to "Wait and hope for and expect the LORD; be brave and of good courage and let (my) heart be stout and enduring.  Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the LORD" (Psalm 27:14).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Solomon's Slide From God's Fellowship!

Reading:  I Kings 5 - 11
My Verse:  "For Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as David his father did" (11:6).

Solomon was one of the greatest men earth has ever seen.  "So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.  And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his  mind" (10:23,24).  How does so great a man turn from You, LORD God?  He did not have to deal with adversity.  He was blessed many times over.  And yet, he strayed.

The Queen of Sheba traveled a great distance to meet and talk with him.  After meeting him she was, "breathless and overcome."  She said, "I did not believe it until I came and my eyes had seen.  Behold, the half was not told me.  You have added wisdom and goodness exceeding the fame I heard."  She said, "Blessed be the LORD your God, Who delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel!"(10:5 - 9). She was indeed a perceptive woman.  She realized that all that Solomon was came from God.  Luke 11:31 states that she said, "here is more than Solomon." Yes, she knew that You, LORD God made Solomon what he was.  It is just so sad that Solomon forgot that.

Yes, Solomon had it all and yet slowly, gradually he slid away from You, LORD God.  He placed his focus on collecting and acquiring much - silver and gold, garments, equipment, spices, chariots, horsemen.  All this you had forbidden in Deuteronomy 17:16-17. He acquired 700 wives and 300 concubines.  "But King Solomon [defiantly] loved many foreign women" (11:1)  He did this defiantly because this too You, LORD God warned against.  You have always meant that marriage be between one man and one woman. And so these many women "turned away his heart after other gods" (11:4).  Solomon stopped looking up.  He looked only to what would pleasure him at the moment!

Ecclesiastes, that great book of wisdom echoes the sadness of Solomon's slide from Your fellowship.   Ecclesiastes chapter 2 records how he tries to quench his thirst for worldly experiences, desperately trying to make himself happy.  In the end he concludes:  "This is also vanity" (2:23).

Oh, LORD God, You offer us so much and yet we on our part must make specific, definite steps - actions to walk in the path You plan for us.  You provide each of us the wisdom and skills needed to seek out Your fellowship, we need to purpose in our hearts to seek You out each and every day.  We can never allow ourselves to become slack in this.  Solomon's life illustrates why. 

Solomon's conclusion:  "The end of the matter, all has been heard.  "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgement with every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

The Proverbial Three Wishes!

Reading: I Kings 1 - 4
My Verse:  "In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night.  And God said, Ask what I shall give you" (3:5).

This is something we all, especially as children dream of!  We ask each other what would you ask for if you were given three wishes?  Well, here, Solomon is given that very thing!  You, LORD God ask him what he would like You to give him!  Wow!  And the wonderful thing here is that Solomon asked for the best thing, instead of wealth or power, he asked for wisdom.   "So give your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad" (3:9).

And You, LORD God gave him not only that but the wealth and power as well!(I Kings 3:11-13)  How I could learn from this.  Too often I seek after the wrong things, beg You for things that are not Your best for me.  In the Amplified Bible the study note states this.  "Each one's life tells what he has asked for -"in heaven above or in the earth beneath." Which shall it be, God's will and glory, or our own?"

Growing up in a tiny village I always felt that I was so naive.  When I was with friends they would be telling jokes, there would be snickers and this odd laughing that indicated there was more to the joke or story than what I was getting.  If I asked most often I was told I didn't need or want to know.  And I am like but I did want to know - I felt so ignorant!

So, like Solomon, I did not know "how to go out or come in."  Like Solomon I wanted "an understanding mind and a hearing heart."  I too wanted to "discern between good and bad." I prayed to You, LORD God for discernment.

I admit my motives may not have always been correct but I didn't want this discernment just to "get" the bad jokes.  No, I did not want to be lead off on some rabbit trail of some wild philosophical belief.  I wanted to be able to recognize when something wasn't "right."  I wanted You LORD God to keep me from going to the "left or to the right."  And I thank You for keeping me on this path of Yours. 

"Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known"

Jeremiah 33:3.

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left" Isaiah 30:21

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come" John 16:13

So in truth we do, in a sense,  have the proverbial three wishes!  You, LORD God promise us that You will hear us when we cry out to You.  You tell us like you did Solomon to ask you for what we want.  "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:7,8).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Blameless Before God!

Reading:  II Samuel 21 - 24
My Verse:  "I was also blameless before Him and kept myself from guilt and iniquity" (22:24).

Having just read the quite incredible story of King David, it really is amazing to read these words of his.  That he was able to say this at the end of his life.  King David was certainly not sinless.  He actually committed another egregious sin shortly after this.  He ordered a census taken, which was against God's commands.  This disobedience caused the death of 70,000 men! (24:15) Yet, King David meant this.  He truly believed that when he confessed his sins You, LORD God forgave him and so he was "blameless before Him."

David speaks of this much in the Psalms.

   "Blessed is he who has forgiveness of his transgression continually exercised upon him, whose sin is covered" (Psalm 32:1).

   "Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit" (Psalm 32:2).

   "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide, I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD - then You forgave me the guilt and iniquity of my sin. Selah" (Psalms 32:5).

This is not an easy thing to wrap  my mind around.  As you know, LORD God, I struggle mightily with this whole concept of being totally "blameless before You."   And yet I know what scripture says.  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).  There it is.  

This is what David is talking about.  He acted on it.  Yes, he went on living and sinning because we are incapable of not sinning.  But, he knew deep deep in his soul that all he needed to do was humbly confess and ask Your forgiveness, and You LORD God would forgive him every time!  That is all You ask of us - to simply believe and act on Your promise to "forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 

What a wonderful lesson.  David did live largely, that is for sure.  But he also knew how to live before You.  Help me, LORD God, to simply and humbly allow You to give me that blessed sense of being blameless before You! Help me to live out my life as David did, in this wonderful knowledge that You, by dying on that awful cross forgave my every sin! I, too, can be blameless before You!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Dreadful Consequences of Sin!

Reading:  II Samuel 12 -  20
My Verse:  "Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? . . .Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house . . . I will raise up evil against you out of your own house" (12:9-11).

Sin has a way of haunting us.  While our patient and loving LORD God will forgive us our sins, He cannot or will not completely do away with the dreadful consequences. The truly sad thing is that those consequences do not impact the sinner only but the loved ones of that sinner.  David's few moments of pleasure, his following efforts to cover up that lapse resulted in havoc in his family - his children truly reaped the consequences of David's sin.

"Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house."  First his son Amnon, who raped his own sister, died by the sword when Absalom, his own brother killed him to avenge the rape (13:29).  Then Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel from his father the king; tried to steal the kingdom; finally, also dying by the sword (18:15).  Adonijah, David's eldest died by the sword when plotting to take the kingdom away from his brother Solomon (I Kings 2:25).

"I will raise up evil against you out of your own house."    This is particularly poignant.  We so want our sin to remain secret.  David tried to hide his sin.  "For you did it secretly" (12:12).  But You, LORD God told David that the evil done against him, David, would be done openly.  And so it was.  Absalom, his son, openly before all Israel, went into David's concubines.  "So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof.  And Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel" (16:22).

All this awfulness resulting from David's one adulterous act and his efforts to hide it!  Throughout scripture we are warned against this sin.  "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

You, LORD God even warn us to avoid all appearances of such sin. “Now we exhort you, brethren, . . . Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:14, 22).

We can be so thankful that we do not need to be chained down by any sin.  You, LORD God can give us the victory, the freedom that we all desire.   

"But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57  "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:37

Our motto should ever be - coram deo!  According to wikipedia the definition is "in the presence of God."  R.C. Sproul goes on to say, "To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God.  God is omnipresent.  There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze."

I am comforted by this, especially when things are not going so well.  I know I am not immune to sin or the sins of those around me.  But I know, too, I can lift up my arms and ask You, LORD God to carry me through the dreadful consequences of sin.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!



 

But . . . David Remained In Jerusalem.

Reading:  2 Samuel 7 - 11
My Verse:  "In the spring, when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab with his servants and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.  But David remained in Jerusalem" (11:1).

I never tire of reading the story of David.  Something different always seems to rise up out of the story for me to ponder, to wonder at.  "But" has an ominous sense here.  It points towards something not good, not right appearing on the horizon. There is something wrong.

LORD God, you did not tell us the reason why David did not go.  We are left to ponder and wonder at this seemingly incongruous behavior of David.  While his entire army is at battle, he is at leisure.

The sentence starts off  "In the spring, when kings go forth . . ."  This was what happened in the spring.  David was a king, he should have been going forth to battle.  Yet he sent his army forth and "remained in Jerusalem."

Psalms 1:1 states.  "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers . . "  Sin is a progressive thing.  Rarely does one sin "out of the blue" so to speak.  As Psalms 1:1 indicates, first we walk or go toward that direction, then we hang out there - thinking more about it, finally we sit amidst or engage in the sin.

David's seemingly harmless decision leads to more  and more seriously bad decisions.  They eventually lead to adultery and murder.  This was King David, considered one of the greatest men of You, our LORD God.  Yet, he too was a fallible man, as capable of the foulest sin as any man.

A phrase supposedly coined by a John Bradford in the mid-sixteenth century comes to mind here. "There but for the grace of God go I."  Meaning we are all of us capable of going down that road.  We are all of us capable of the foulest sin.  Paul says it in Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  Isaiah 53:6 says it as well.  "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-everyone-to his own way. . ."

So, yes, Kind David was a great man, a man after Your own heart LORD God.(Acts 13:22)  Yet, here You show him at his worst.  Why do You do this?  Why do you let us see that even such a man as David could crash and burn?  I need to remember that You tell us that all men sin - "for all have sinned" and "All we like sheep have gone astray."  It is only through You that I am able stay on my feet in the midst of the worst.  And David does get back up, but only after repenting.  He penned that most beautiful of Psalms!  Psalms 51.

     "Have mercy on me, Oh God,
       according to your steadfast love;
     according to your abundant mercy
       blot out my transgressions.

     Was me thoroughly from my iniquity,
       and cleanse me from my sin! 

     For I know my transgressions,
       and my sin is ever before me.

     Against You, You only, have I sinned
       and done what is evil in Your sight . . ."






David got it so right here, all sin is against You, LORD God, isn't it?  Yes, we hurt others in the process but ultimately we are rebelling against You, against Your precepts.

Thank you for this lesson.  How we need to guard our hearts against evil!
 
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it"(Proverbs 4:23 NIV).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Michal's Focus on Mere Appearances!

Reading II Samuel 1 - 6
My Verse:  "As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal, Saul's daughter [David's wife], looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart" (II Samuel 6:16).

Poor Michal!  Yes, she did have a difficult time of it, and one could see from a worldly point of view that she had some cause to be bitter, confused and focused on the wrong things of life.  And yet, to choose in this case to focus on what she thought was undignified behavior for a king rather than focus on the joy of having the ark of the LORD returning to the City of David was a great lack of spiritual discernment.  This reflected her father, Saul's same lack of spiritual discernment. All she was worried about here was that David might appear foolish to others!

Michal, was given by her father, King Saul, to David as a bride. This was not an arbitrary decision on the part of King Saul for Michal loved David.  "Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David; and they told Saul, and it pleased him" (I Sam. 18:20). Even when Saul became obsessed with trying to kill David, Michal helped David to escape. "But Michal, David's wife, told him. If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.  So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled and escaped" (I Sam. 19:11-12).  Saul then gave Michal to another man as his wife. "Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti son of Laish, who was in Gallim"(I Sam. 25:44).  It is unknown why he did this or how Michal felt about this but when David became king he demanded to have her returned to him as his wife.(II Sam. 3:14) An interesting note here was the second husband's response to this.  "But her husband went with her, weeping behind her all the way . . . "  Yes, there is a lot going on here.  From the reading of it things seemed to be a mess for Michal.  While she did not have much say in many of these things, she, like each of us,  does have a decision as to how she will respond to the situation.

It is said that we are not shaped so much by the trials we go through but how we respond to those very trials!  Earlier on we read about Abigail and her difficult situation, her marriage to an awful man, how she dealt with his poor decisions. (I Sam. 25)  Abigail is put up as a person we are to emulate because she dealt with her difficult situation with discernment and wisdom, while Michal is put up as a person not to emulate as she dwelt only on surface things.

Oh, LORD God, thank you for this lesson!  It is easy, like Michal to become focused on the wrong things - surface things that have no real meaning.  It is easy to become immersed in our everyday trials, to focus on the negative things, to put all our energy into whining or being petty or critical.

You want so much more from us and for us.  You want us to live lives that are full and purposeful.  "I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly"(John 10:10).  You want us to live lives that  lift others up.  "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise . . ."(Ephesians 5:15).

Help me LORD God, to focus on You and all that You want for me.  Help me to keep my eyes focused on You and Your great purposes for my life and for the lives of my loved ones.

Help me, LORD God, to not be like Michal and obsess about mere appearances!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

A Slip of the Tongue?

Reading:  I Samuel 23 - 26
My Verse:  "Then said Saul, . . . Behold I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly" (26:21).

This whole episode of Saul seeking to kill David is rather fascinating in a macabre kind of way.  Saul has gone so far down this path (he just had 85 priests killed!) that it would be difficult for anyone to believe or trust him.  Here he is admitting himself a fool! 

Was this a slip of the tongue?  Was Saul so caught off guard by David's behavior?

I think about where Saul was at one time.  He was God's chosen one.  He had been a humble man. Now he was a murderer.  All he could think of was his need to kill David.  In this moment, this moment of surprise, he says something that must have been gnawing at his conciousness for sometime, "I have played the fool."

Did he come to the end of himself here?  Did the stark contrast of his behavior and that of David cause him to falter? Did he finally allow himself to admit the truth about where he was emotionally and spiritually?   It is like Saul realized finally that yes, he had "erred exceedingly" and David would  "both do mightily and surely prevail."

It is said that in moments of surprise we say what plays the most on our consciousness.  No matter how skillful we may be at deception, at hiding what we are really thinking, eventually our true thoughts come out in moments of stress, surprise - when we are caught off guard. The thoughts will finally blurt out of our mouth! 

I like what J. Sidlow Baxter in the Amplified Bible study notes says about this:  "There is no escape for any man, as long as reason continues, from the naked truth about himself.  He may imagine he has hidden himself from God; but he can never hide himself from himself.  In some moment of stress and strain he says what he has been thinking all the time. . ."

Oh, LORD God, how many are plagued by evil thoughts!  This is where we need You so much!  We need Your healing touch on our thought life.  It is so easy to let thoughts spin out of control, drag us down, and keep us shackeled and weighed down needlessly. This does not need to be.  We can be free of this.

I do have a part to play in this.  You command us in Romans 12:2 to renew our minds. You will help me but I need to take the actual specific steps myself.  This makes me think of Joseph when he ran away from Potiphar's wife.  He took immediate action to remove himself from the situation.  And so I need to take actual steps to keep my thought life free of ugliness.

Your Word is full of promises and guidance.  I need to avail myself of that.  You have given me a "spirit of self-discipline"(2 Tim. 1:7).  Your have promised me "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness . . ." (John 8:12). And Psalm 119:105 tells me. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

Oh, LORD God, help me to be free of ugly thoughts so I need not be fearful of having a slip of the tongue.

 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart 
    be acceptable in your sight,
   O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer"  (Psalm 19:14)

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

The Deadly Slippery Slope!

Reading:  I Samuel 18 - 22
My Verse:  "And the king said to the guard that stood about him, turn and slay the LORD's priests . .." (22:17).

It truly is tragic when one turns their back on You, LORD God.  Once  that first disobedient step is taken, each step away becomes easier because if not checked, the slope downward gets steeper and easier to slide down away from Your loving precepts.

Saul was chosen by You.  He started off humbly.  You "gave him another heart."  You sent Your Spirit to him, "The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon Saul."  He was Your chosen and You were enabling him to be the man You wanted him to be. Yet, once he disobeyed You (13:9) he started that downward slide.  Each sin lead him further away from You.  Soon, jealously and murder entered his heart.  He even came to the point of killing Your servants.  "The king said to Doeg.  You turn and fall upon the priests.  And Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests and slew that day eighty-five persons who wore the priest's linen ephod" (22:18). 

How very rapid and dreadful was Saul's fall from You, LORD God!  Many of us do not fall in quite so dramatic a fashion as Saul.  For some the downward slide can be insiduously slow and deceptive. But the end result is the same - unrest, unhappiness, lack of peace and separation from You, LORD God. 

 So much to be learned here.  First, we are never immune from sin. We never arrive at the point where we too will not slip down that slippery slope!  Second, You love us so much and want so much for us to be great, to be wonderful, beautiful, and dynamic - like You had made Saul.  And thirdly, we cannot, simply cannot take our eyes off You.  Once we do that we are lost. 

Oh, LORD God, I am so grateful for Your salvation.  I am ever so grateful that You have kept me through the years, through the storms.  I am even more grateful that I can depend on You to keep me in the future if I will consistently keep my eyes on You!  "And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ, developing and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you" (Philippians 1:6).

We all face trials and situations that try us like Saul.  We also all have to make that decision of whether we will quietly wait on You, trusting in Your provision even in the face of seemingly sure disaster or like Saul, strike out on our own - in our own wisdom. Oh, LORD God, help me, to be quiet and sure before You -always!  Keep me off that deadly slippery slope!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

The Freshness & Courage of Youth!

Reading:  I Samuel 16 - 17
My Verse:  "And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands" (17:47).

How I love the story of David.  I was just speaking to my husband, as we get ready to visit our son at his school, about how wonderful it will be to see him.  There is such a freshness about youth.  Yes, they struggle, they fall flat, but they are so quick to bounce back and forge on ahead.  It is so uplifting and quite wonderful!
And so David here exemplifies that youthful courage; that  full and complete belief in His LORD.   He charges forth to do battle in what seems utter foolishness to those watching.  But David knows that he cannot win the battle alone, and he doesn't even plan to. 

He tells the giant.  "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will smite you and cut off your head.  And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (17:46).  Yes, David goes into battle against Goliath with the full knowledge that his LORD God is right there with him and will carry him through.  He has experience in this very thing - facing seemingly insurmountable odds.  When watching over his family's sheep, David faced down and killed both a  lion and a bear.  So, David knows exactly what he is doing  here in standing up to the giant, Goliath!  And as he knew so confidently would happen, he does indeed slay the giant, Goliath in front of the full army of both the Philistines and the Israelites! 

Many would think he was simply brash and luck played a part in this.  But it was not luck.  As David prefaced this confrontation with the statement above, the battle was Yours, LORD God. 

How we need this story to bolster our sagging faith.  How we need to be reminded, LORD God, that, yes, "the battle is the LORD's!"  You are in all things. 

"Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!  For who has known the mind of the LORD, or who has been his counselor?  ... For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To Him be glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:33-36).

"God works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11).

"So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy"(Romans (9:16).

Thank You, LORD God for the freshness & courage of youth. How we need that!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Life Is More Than the Physical!

Reading:  I Samuel 12 - 15
My Verse:  "And turn not aside after vain and worthless things which cannot profit or deliver you, for they are empty and futile" (12:21).

This is an amazing anecdote of the downfall of a great  man - a man You LORD God chose to be a leader. This story illustrates how very sad it is when a person becomes so full of themselves they forget from whence they came.  They forget who is truly responsible for their position of authority. "For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God" (Romans 13:1). When this happens, how the great crash and burn for life is so much more than just the physical!

This anecdote also speaks to our part in the greater scheme of things.  Yes, You LORD God choose people to do certain things.  You enable us to do and be what You require of us.  BUT - we, each of us need to respond to You.  We need to obey You and acknowledge You as our LORD God and Supreme Leader.

Samuel gives Saul and the Israelites a caution right off.  "Only fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; . . . But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away" (12:24-25).

Well, Saul very quickly strays.  He is impatient (13:9).  He makes a rash, foolish and unwise oath (14:24).  He compromises on how he obeys (15:9).  And because Saul has chosen to be disobedient, You, LORD God, choose to withdraw Your blessing and promise from him.  You, LORD God utter those most dreaded words. "I regret making Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commands" (15:11). How this grieved Samuel!  When he confronted Saul with this, Saul seemed to repent.  But it was obviously not heartfelt for he continued to stray and sink deeper into a dark and sad life.  He died a sad death (chapter 31).

Saul chose to do what was wise in his own eyes.  He chose to live a life based on the immediate circumstances.  He forgot Who You were LORD God.

We still see this today, great men and women imbibed with great skills and abilities.  You place them in places of great influence and then they forget, like Saul, Who You are.  They begin to think they got to their position of greatness through their own  power.  They get so caught up in their "greatness" that they forget there is a spiritual side to their life.  Slowly things begin to unravel for them as they did for Saul, and then it all falls apart.  Some go out in a blaze, others kind of slowly flicker out. 

Oh, LORD God, help me to not become so focused on the immediate, the tangible things of life.  There is so much more to living than just the living!

"For life is more than food and the body more than clothing" (Luke 12:23).

Thank You, LORD God for this reminder.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

God's Transforming Power

Reading:  1 Samuel 9, 10, 11
My Verse:  "Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you will show yourself to be a prophet with them; and you will be turned into another man" (10:6).

  I love how this story of Saul illustrates Your transforming power, LORD God!  This is what You continue to do in our lives even today!  We should not be amazed because You are God after all but still it is fun, exciting, inspirational and yes, amazing to see people's lives transformed by Your loving grace and power.

Saul was someone who had a rather humble background and he was well aware of that.  "And Saul said.  Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel?  And is not  my family the least of all the families of the clans of Benjamin?  Why then do you speak this way to me" (9:21)?  This was his response to Samuel when Samuel treated him as though he were someone very special. "Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons" (9:22).

I am intrigued by Saul's attitude.  Yes, he did have a humble background as he pointed out.  Yet, his family was wealthy. "There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish . . . a man of wealth" (9:1)  This was his father.  Saul was also apparently very handsome.  "There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he.  From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people" (9:2). So Saul did stand out.  And yet here he is looking for some lost donkeys.  They go quite a ways looking for these donkeys and Saul is finally ready to give up.  However, his helper tells him about Samuel, "Behold there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true.  So now let us go there.  Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go" (9:6).  Saul is reluctant but lets his servant talk him into seeking out Samuel.  Again, this shows how humble Saul is that he is willing to listen to a lowly servant.

It is always so interesting how You operate, LORD God.  You often take the lowliest person and use them for Your awesome purposes.  Other wonderful examples of this are Moses, Ruth,  and Gideon.    

Samuel then tells Saul what You, LORD God had ordained..  "Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel?  And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies" (10:1). I like too how You, LORD God provide Saul with something tangible to help him to believe that what Samuel said will indeed come to pass.  "When  you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you. The donkeys that you went to seek are found" (10:2).

And it all came to pass.  You, LORD God, gave Saul "another heart" (10:9).  You, LORD God enabled him to prophesy.  "and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them" (10:10).

Yet even after this Saul was still reluctant and afraid to take on what You ordained for him.  When it was made public that he was indeed the chosen one to rule, Saul hid away.  "But when they sought him, he could not be found. He (Saul) had hidden himself among the baggage" (10:22).  It is a scary thing to suddenly be thrust into the limelight as a leader, to have so much expected of you.  And so it is understandable Saul's hesitation.  Yet, You LORD God empowered him to do all that You expected of him!  And so You continue to do in our lives today.

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13).

Thank You, LORD God for this story of Saul and how You can empower us to be what You would have us to be!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Wrong Desires!

Reading:  I Samuel 7, 8
My Verse:  "Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations" (8:4b).

This seemed like a simple and harmless request.  After all, all the nations around had a king. Yet, when the Israelites demanded this of Samuel he was upset because he knew this was a wrong thing that the people wanted. "But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us."  Samuel asked his LORD God for guidance and You, LORD God told him to do as the people wished!  Even though this was not as You wanted!  What the people were asking was not a wrong thing in and of itself.  It was simply wrong for them.  It was not Your best for them. 

I like that first of all You were thoughtful of Samuel and told him that it wasn't him that the people were rejecting but You.  "for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them" (8:7).

So sad those words, LORD God, that the people were rejecting You after all that You had done for them.  And yet that is the very thing that we do, isn't it?  We seek after the wrong things.  We beg You for things You know would not be best for us. We reject Your wise ways and love. We turn our backs to You for immediate gratification of our wrong desires.

Here the Israelites want to be like the nations around them, "like all the nations."  How often do we compromise ourselves to be like those around us?  How often do we insist that we need something that isn't good for us so we could fit in?

I also like that You give a warning about this wrong desire.  You instruct Samuel to "solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."

Oh, LORD God, it seems odd but this little verse, this story of the people of Israel rejecting You gives me some hope.  It shows how even though we tend to mess things up,  even though we insist on having our way, You LORD God will keep loving us.  You may end up giving us what we want.  We will then suffer the bad consequences of that but You don't give up on us.  You will when we relent and return to You make things aright again.  Yes, it gives me hope as I see so much going wrong around me.  It gives me hope that You can use the bad things that happen for Your purposes.  And those purposes are good and perfect.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

Help me, LORD God to allow You to lead and guide me even when I don't understand the why of things happening. Help me to trust myself and my loved ones to You in all things.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Do Not Harden Your Heart!

Reading:  1 Samuel 5 - 6

My Verse:  "Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharoah hardened their hearts?  When He had done wonders and made a mock of them, did they not let the people go and they departed" (6:6)?

This is a rather fascinating statement!  Especially, because the persons that said it were not followers of You, LORD God, they were the "diviners and priests" of the Philistines.  Yet, here they saw Your hand in what was happening.  They knew the history of what You had done to the Egyptians when they would not do what You had asked them to do and that was to let the Israelites go free.  They, these "diviners and priests" recognized You as the all powerful God.  They knew what needed to be done. 

These "diviners and priests" knew that ignoring You and "hardening their hearts" was not the answer and could lead to more disaster.  Often we try to get out of doing the right thing and end up paying for it.  These "diviners and priests"  pointed this out by stating.  "When He had done wonders and made a mock of them, did they not let the people go and they departed?"  Yes, the Egyptians paid dearly for "hardening" their hearts against You, LORD God. They paid dearly and ended doing what You demanded despite their attempts to disobey You.

This has always been a hard thing for me to understand - that there are people out there who recognize You for Who You are and yet still refuse to submit to You.  They simply will not allow You, LORD God,  supremacy over their lives.  And oh how they pay for it, not only in their own personal life but this stubborn disobedience affects all the people in their lives, especially their loved ones.

The lyrics to a song keep coming to me, "just believing in living is a hard way to go."  I do not understand how anyone could be satisfied with "just living." I do not understand how one shuts You out.  How one turns their mind off to You.  Hardening ones heart is most dangerous. It is a very slippery slope that simply gets more slippery and the slope steepens as one continues to shut You out, LORD God.  You show this throughout the Bible, how when people harden their hearts You will come to a point where You make it harder for them to turn to You, as You did with Pharaoh.  "But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses" (Exodus 9:12).

Oh, LORD God, thank you for drawing me to You.  Thank You for enabling me to see You as Truth!  I pray for those about me who continue to turn their back to You.  Help me to be the kind of person that would help them to see YOU!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Do Not Mock God's Promises and Gifts!

Reading:  1 Samuel 1 - 4
My Verse:  "“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, I did promise that your house and that of your father [forefather Aaron] should go in and out before Me forever. But now the Lord says, Be it far from Me. For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed" (2:30).

This is a fascinating thing.  God made promises and God will keep his promises, but . . .we have a part in those promises.  He will not be mocked!

"And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it" (Jeremiah 18: 9,10).  He will not follow through on His promises if we do not abide by his precepts, if we scorn his gifts he will in turn scorn us!

Eli, was the high priest and his two sons were priests but they, the sons, Hophni and Phineas were evil.  "Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD" (1 Sam. 2:12).  "Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt"(3:17).  Eli knew that his sons were doing bad things, "he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel", but he did not stop them and so was to be punished as well.  "And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them" (3:13).  It is also interesting that God gave Eli two warnings, first through another man of God then through the boy Samuel.  I like that You, LORD God are so tender and caring that You give us the opportunity whenever possible to turn and correct ourselves.

This is fascinating not only that God's promises are so dependent on how we respond to them  but that we have such a vital role in the way things play out.  It shows how very dynamic life here on earth is. It is fascinating and yet so very sad.  You, LORD God love us so much and want to bless us in so many ways.  We on the other hand are so careless, we too often turn our backs on  Your precious gifts.

I am thinking of the many ways this happens. You bless us with special abilities, friends, families and we in turn turn our backs to those special gifts.  As a result there is so much brokenness in this world - broken lives, broken friendships, broken families.  I tried to watch a movie with my family and ended up walking out.  I could now bear the awful things that people are capable of doing to each other. How I long for Your ultimate healing of all that we have broken here on earth!

Help me, LORD God, to be thankful for what You have given me, to be thankful and make the most of those gifts and promises that You have blessed me with.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

A Most Beautiful Truth!

Reading: Ruth
My verse:  "“and the Lord caused her to conceive, and she bore a son" (4:13b)

This is an achingly beautiful story of loss, kindness, loyalty, love and redemption.  It also is a beautiful example of how You, LORD God, work in our lives - in the smallest details of our lives.  I like this because it shows how our lives are not random, nothing is really by chance.  You, LORD God, are in all things. This is a most important truth.

Ruth is a Moabite, a widow, and though she had been married was childless so likely she was barren.  Yet, because she decided to love and care for her mother-in-law, Naomi, You LORD God blessed her in the most wonderful way.

Ruth persisted in her kindness to Naomi, even when it was difficult.  Her prospects did not look good from the human point of view.  She chose to go with Naomi, her mother-in-law, back to Israel where she, Ruth, would be a foreigner.  Once in Israel, she chose to do whatever she could to provide for her aging mother-in-law.  She went to the fields to glean, much like a slave.  It was dangerous - there was the strong possibility of her being molested in the fields.

Then enters Boaz, another person who has chosen to follow Your precepts of love and kindness.  He notices Ruth right off, makes a point to make her feel safe and even gives her advice.  He instructs his workers to look out for her. So Ruth worked the entire season, laboring in his fields as a gleaner.

Then at the end of the harvesting season Naomi tells Ruth to do a very strange thing.  She tells her to "Wash therefore and anoint yourself . . . observe the place where he (Boaz) lies.  Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do" (3:3,4).  This is an incredibly bold and risky thing to do.  Ruth is seeking out Boaz as her redeemer -she is basically asking him  to marry her.  While there is that very great possibility of rejection and ridicule she obeys her mother-in-law, Naomi and does what she is told.

The result is quite beautiful. Boaz does the right thing and marries Ruth, they have a child and Ruth, the  Moab widow, becomes a part of Your great lineage, LORD Jesus!

Thank You, LORD God, for this most beautiful illustration of how You work in our lives.  Sometimes, especially when we are in the midst of difficulty it is hard to hang onto that truth. 

"One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all" (Ephesians 4:6).

Help me today to see You at work in all the happenings of my life!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

The Saga of Samson

Reading: Judges15 - 21
My Verse:  "And he came up and told his father and mother, I saw one of the Daughters of the Philistines at Timnah;  now get her for me as my wife" (14:2).

Samson's story is so tragic.  He was such an impulsive, demanding man.  When he saw something he wanted, he demanded or simply took it - even when advised against it, even when it was against Your precepts, LORD God.  This story is so relevant to us today. It reflects the predominant thought of the day.  Society teaches us to appease our selfish desires, without regard to You.  We are to do whatever keeps us happy, or what we think will keep us happy.

He, Samson, saw this Philistine woman and wanted her.  His parents pleaded with him to not take this woman as she was not the best for him, but Samson persisted.  He did end up marrying her but it all ended very badly.  She betrayed him and married  his best friend.

Samson then decided that he loved Delilah, also a Philistine.  She, too,  betrayed Samson, not just once but many times and yet he stayed with her until she persuaded him to tell her the secret to his great strength.  She passed this on to the Philistine leaders.  They had his eyes taken out and made him a slave.

In the end Samson killed many of the Philistines in one last great effort but died himself in that event.

I never liked this story, because it seemed to me that Samson had no common sense.  And yet, here it is in the Bible.  Everything in the  Bible is there for my edification.  So what do I take away from this story, LORD God?  What I am to learn from it that helps me in my walk with you today?

I have been trying to see your hand in the daily events of my day.  This is often hard and confusing because I see so many things that should not be, at least from my point of view.  I know I need to get away from that.  I need to focus on You.  I need to focus on the fact of Your goodness.  We are wayward.  We do things against Your precepts, and more often than not make a great mess as Samson did. And yet You are at work in our lives.  If we will allow it, You will make things aright, even when it seems impossible.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

How I need to remember this not just for my own life but for those around me.  If someone belongs to You, LORD God, no matter how they mess up You will redeem them.  Thank You for this story of Samson.  Help me to always look to your goodness.  Help me to always remember that You have a grand purpose and I need to entrust myself and my loved ones to that grand purpose.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

He Is Wonderful!

Reading:  Judges 12, 13
My Verse:  "And the Angel of the LORD said to him, Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful" (13:18)?

So the Israelites are back again to their sinful ways.  "And the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. . . " (13:1).  Various men are raised up to bring them relief from their oppressers, but only for brief periods of time.  According to the account, these men did not sound like they gave their all to You, LORD God.  They sound like they were too much caught up into the culture of their time - acquiring many wives and living for self.

It is so easy to forget who we are, Who You are.  We get caught up in the time we live in, in the culture, the way of thinking.  We allow ouselves to become dull to Who You are, to the precepts of Your Word.  I have been so sad as the saga of the whole homosexuality movement gathers steam.  Great leaders, one by one  fall to the lie that this is a "civil liberty" likened to the fight for equality for ethnic groups and the fight for women's rights.  Yet, Your Word is so very clear on what this is - a sin, an aberration of what You intended when You created us. We are so susceptible to the cultural beliefs that we live in.

I love this account of how You intercede into the lives of man.  Manoah is unsure of just Who You are.  He wants to know Your name and You tell Him is it "Wonderful."  Love it!  You are all that is good.  You want to bring us to that goodness of You - that rightness.  You also want to show us how truly wonderful and amazing You are.  You are going to give Manoah and his barren wife a child - a special child.  Then You do some amazing things in front of Manoah and his wife.  "the Angel  working wonders, while Manoah and his wife looked on.  For when  the flame went up toward the heavens from the altar, the Angel of the LORD ascended in the altar flame" (13:19,20).  Yes, You always meet us where we are. You provide us assurance of Your deity, Your holiness.  Thank You, for that.

I love Clyde Kilby's resolutions for living.  I have been reading and rereading them and include them here.  Wonderful to meditate on as they help me realize Your Wonderfulness LORD God!

"1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death, when he said: “There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic” existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the “child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.”

8. I shall follow Darwin’s advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, “fulfill the moment as the moment.” I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega."  -from Pastor John Piper

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

A Harlot's Son

Reading:  Judges 8 - 11
My Verse:  "Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a harlot, Gilead was Jephthah's father" (Judges 11:1).


LORD God, the Bible is so fascinating.  Each and every story, in fact every word was recorded for our benefit, our edification.  You had a purpose for recording these events.  We may not understand completely or fully the reasons behind these stories but we can through study and meditation on them get some  edification - some small spark of understanding that helps us in our walk with You.

Here, is this man Jephthah.  He was apparently a great man - that men would follow him, and the elders would seek him out to be their leader.  He even seems to be a believer in You.  In verse 11:9, he acknowledges that any victory he achieved would be through You - "and the LORD gives them over to me."  He knew well the history of Israel and acknowledged that You were behind all Israel's victories.  He even seemed to be able to be diplomatic by trying to first talk to the Ammonites.  So he did seem a natural leader.

However, You did not raise him up to be Israel's leader.  The Israelites did this themselves, without seeking Your guidance in this.  Did you not choose him because even though he believed he did not surround himself with good people? The men that followed him were described as "worthless fellows."   He did not seek You out - seek out Your wisdom in all things?

You did enable him to do amazing things. "Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah" (11:29).

Yet Jephthah was foolish. He said and made rash statements - like the terrible vow he made which had awful results.  "And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, "If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering" (11:30).  Well, of course it was his only child, his daughter that ran out to meet him!

LORD God, what do I take away from this fascinating and tragic story?  I think one thing I do learn from this is that our background does not need to define who we become.  The fact that Jephthah's mother was a harlot caused him to be looked down on by his own family, yet he was sought out by the Israelites later because of the natural talents that You, LORD God gave him.  He had great skills and abilities.  He also chose to believe in You and so was a believer.

Yet, it is so important even as believers that we do our part.  We have decisions to make every day - decisions that will either bring us closer to You or draw us away.  Too many of us take a lackadaisical attitude toward our walk with You. As a result we too, like Jephthah, act foolishly and sometimes suffer the awful consequences of our foolishness.

Thank You, LORD God for this edifying story of Jephthah, the harlot's son.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!