Please do not take offense at the title without looking for a little perspective.
II Kings 22:13 "Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us."
Josiah blamed it on the fathers. Could it be that we are the fathers?
The fact of the matter is that some day my kids are going to look back over the things that I have taught them and find fault. I can spend my whole life studying the book and still not have it "mastered". [(Though I could go to seminary and get a certificate that says I am a master.) Matthew 23:8 "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ."] Yet I think there is a heart attitude that we need to have. A heart attitude that shows our children that we still have a desire to learn, even a desire to be instructed when we have something wrong. A sincere desire to serve the Lord, especially when others are putting on the pressure!
Josiah had a fear (not just respect) of God because the nation of Israel had added idols, false gods, to their beliefs. Have we done the same thing? What are the idols that we put in place? What is there in our life that supersedes the scriptures? What do we worship? Do you have a fear of not following the book?
I Corinthians 15:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong!
Let me ask one more question. Is God still a God of wrath? Think carefully before answering this question!
To tie this into my last post, I needn't be discouraged because the timing and the results are not what I expected. I need to hunt until the season is over and just be thankful for the opportunity God has given me. Yet I recognize that God can still deliver the deer, skinned and all, if He chooses.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Don't overdive your headlights.
I have been thinking recently about the idea of discouragement. What causes it, and what corrects it? I recognize that it is a "normal" human emotion, yet I believe, more often than not, it is a symptom of something else. In my life anyway, discouragement comes when things do not occur in the way which I anticipate.
For the sake of illustration, let's say that I am planning a deer hunt. I spend two days finding all of my hunting gear, sighting in my shotgun, buying ammunition (because all of you know how many shots it takes me to kill a deer), and purchasing a license. Last minute of course.
After all my preparations, I head out on opening morning confident that I will take a deer. On the drive to my hunting spot I see deer crossing the road. It is still too dark to shoot, but I glimpse them in the headlights so I know there are still some that are available for the taking. As I struggle to climb into my tree stand I am racing the rising sun. I sit perfectly still for four hours and (against all odds) I never get the opportunity to take a shot.
Now hunters are optimists, we sit in the stand day after day because we know a deer is coming. We just need to be there when it happens.
A week later, hunting season ends. I spent the entire week waiting to harvest a deer. I did not struggle with discouragement because I was certain I would get a deer before the season ended. Even the last few minutes of light on the last day found me ready with anticipation. Nothing. Well, I tell myself, I had a good time anyway. Deer or no deer, hunting is fun.
I pack up all my stuff (I've been living in my truck for a week) and head home. Once again, as I drive in the dark, I see a flash of deer in the headlights. Only this time it is accompanied with the sound of an impact and a lurch of the truck. I see a deer sliding down the road ahead of me, naked as a jaybird. (by the way, this is a true story) As I get out of my truck, I see the hide of the deer under my front tire. Her body lay in the road 30 yards away. Huh.
You want to know what the funniest thing is? I was not discouraged about my week hunting until that very moment. Why?
Sometimes we get what we want, it just isn't in the way that we pictured, or the timing that we planned. Should we be discouraged because things don't proceed as we envision, or shall we move forward in faith to see what God has planned?
I have some ideas about this, I hope to have the time to share them over the next week or two. Stay tuned. Jon
Hebrews 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
For the sake of illustration, let's say that I am planning a deer hunt. I spend two days finding all of my hunting gear, sighting in my shotgun, buying ammunition (because all of you know how many shots it takes me to kill a deer), and purchasing a license. Last minute of course.
After all my preparations, I head out on opening morning confident that I will take a deer. On the drive to my hunting spot I see deer crossing the road. It is still too dark to shoot, but I glimpse them in the headlights so I know there are still some that are available for the taking. As I struggle to climb into my tree stand I am racing the rising sun. I sit perfectly still for four hours and (against all odds) I never get the opportunity to take a shot.
Now hunters are optimists, we sit in the stand day after day because we know a deer is coming. We just need to be there when it happens.
A week later, hunting season ends. I spent the entire week waiting to harvest a deer. I did not struggle with discouragement because I was certain I would get a deer before the season ended. Even the last few minutes of light on the last day found me ready with anticipation. Nothing. Well, I tell myself, I had a good time anyway. Deer or no deer, hunting is fun.
I pack up all my stuff (I've been living in my truck for a week) and head home. Once again, as I drive in the dark, I see a flash of deer in the headlights. Only this time it is accompanied with the sound of an impact and a lurch of the truck. I see a deer sliding down the road ahead of me, naked as a jaybird. (by the way, this is a true story) As I get out of my truck, I see the hide of the deer under my front tire. Her body lay in the road 30 yards away. Huh.
You want to know what the funniest thing is? I was not discouraged about my week hunting until that very moment. Why?
Sometimes we get what we want, it just isn't in the way that we pictured, or the timing that we planned. Should we be discouraged because things don't proceed as we envision, or shall we move forward in faith to see what God has planned?
I have some ideas about this, I hope to have the time to share them over the next week or two. Stay tuned. Jon
Hebrews 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Bible reading
Praise the Lord, Kaylin finished reading the Bible (cover to cover) today. It took her a little less than ten weeks from start to finish! I hadn't read through the entire Bible by the time I was eleven. I am still trying to motivate her sisters to accomplish the same task. I hope that they will be done by the time that school starts up again this fall. Any ideas on encouraging this?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
What's in your pocket?
Not wanting to bore people with overlong posts, I'll try and keep this one short. The girls and I read through II Kings last week. When we had finished we sat down and talked at length about the things that we had read. The girls thought that many things were disgusting! We sat and talked about most of the kings and the things that they had done. (good and bad) We also spent a fair amount of time discussing the miracles that were done through Elisha.
One of the questions that I asked the girls was "which king finally tore down the high places?" It was neat to hear Kaylin talk about reading all the instances where the Bible said that a king "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord...howbeit he did not remove the high places". She said "UH, it was getting so frustrating that no one would tear the high places down, then I read about Hezekiah and that he removed the high places, and brake the images and I was like YES!" (When she told me this, she gave a fist pump into the air)
As a father, I think these are memorable moments. Times when our children read the Word of God, and not only understand it, but are feeling it as well. Kaylin then talked about how neat it was that Josiah heard the book of the Lord (II Kings 22) and he rent his clothes...
1And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. 12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying, 13Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
What really stood out to her was that Josiah, upon hearing it, knew right away that God would be mad. She said that Josiah did not have a godly father ( II Kings 21:9 Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. 21And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 22And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. 23And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 24And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.) (and had been raised worshipping other gods) but that he recognized right away what was right when confronted with the Bible.
This leads me to my questions. Due to the fact that a copy of the Bible is so readily available to us, have we begun to take it for granted? Do we no longer look at the Word with a fresh perspective? Are we willing to read and study; even if it means that we may find out the way that we have always done things may not be Biblical? Do we ever think of God as someone that could be angry with us, or is God always our cheerleader?
I hope that you see what I am getting at. God is not a trinket that you put in your pocket as you merrily go about your own way. God is bigger than your...
Respectfully, Jon
One of the questions that I asked the girls was "which king finally tore down the high places?" It was neat to hear Kaylin talk about reading all the instances where the Bible said that a king "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord...howbeit he did not remove the high places". She said "UH, it was getting so frustrating that no one would tear the high places down, then I read about Hezekiah and that he removed the high places, and brake the images and I was like YES!" (When she told me this, she gave a fist pump into the air)
As a father, I think these are memorable moments. Times when our children read the Word of God, and not only understand it, but are feeling it as well. Kaylin then talked about how neat it was that Josiah heard the book of the Lord (II Kings 22) and he rent his clothes...
1And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. 12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying, 13Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
What really stood out to her was that Josiah, upon hearing it, knew right away that God would be mad. She said that Josiah did not have a godly father ( II Kings 21:9 Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. 21And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 22And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. 23And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 24And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.) (and had been raised worshipping other gods) but that he recognized right away what was right when confronted with the Bible.
This leads me to my questions. Due to the fact that a copy of the Bible is so readily available to us, have we begun to take it for granted? Do we no longer look at the Word with a fresh perspective? Are we willing to read and study; even if it means that we may find out the way that we have always done things may not be Biblical? Do we ever think of God as someone that could be angry with us, or is God always our cheerleader?
I hope that you see what I am getting at. God is not a trinket that you put in your pocket as you merrily go about your own way. God is bigger than your...
Respectfully, Jon
Monday, May 12, 2008
Thank you
Mother's Day is over! I pray it was a profitable day for all. I just want to write a quick note to thank all of you who responded to the Mother's Day post. I value the input that was given and I pray that I was able to put many of the things that I gleaned from you into practice.
From a personal standpoint, I just want to say that I feel like a weight has been lifted. If the Word is offensive when I preach, that is one thing, but when I had to take a "secular" holiday and try to marry it to a church service, I experienced much trepidation.
I you are interested, I was told after the service by one person that they felt the Lord had answered my prayer; "the right message, at the right time, for the right audience." Praise the Lord!
From a personal standpoint, I just want to say that I feel like a weight has been lifted. If the Word is offensive when I preach, that is one thing, but when I had to take a "secular" holiday and try to marry it to a church service, I experienced much trepidation.
I you are interested, I was told after the service by one person that they felt the Lord had answered my prayer; "the right message, at the right time, for the right audience." Praise the Lord!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Married Up
Karen and I have an anniversary this week. May 8th. It may not be one of the big ones, but it means a lot to me. We were married young (against the advice of some) and we have "grown up" together. I know that many of you are thinking that I have much to be thankful for. I do.
As I have been thinking for the last two days about how busy our week is going to be, (and how I need to fit in some time to show Karen how much I appreciate her) I have also been thinking about our time together. As I review our marriage, something very significant comes to my mind. In the 15 years we have been married, I have never had to listen to anyone make negative or disparaging remarks about my wife. I am not only grateful for the lady that she is, but for the lady that she is perceived to be. No doubt, I married up!
The flip side is that she is not able to say the same. She has had to listen to many negative remarks about the man that she married. All of them probably having some percentage of merit. This is not over for her either. I would imagine that over the next year she will hear many more. I pray that the Lord will help me be sensitive to how that makes her feel. I pray that the Lord will help me protect and love her as she needs. I pray that at this time next year, we are even more thankful that the Lord has brought us together, that He has made us who we are, that we are not fearful to serve, that we live by faith, and that we find ourselves looking forward with anticipation to the years ahead.
As I have been thinking for the last two days about how busy our week is going to be, (and how I need to fit in some time to show Karen how much I appreciate her) I have also been thinking about our time together. As I review our marriage, something very significant comes to my mind. In the 15 years we have been married, I have never had to listen to anyone make negative or disparaging remarks about my wife. I am not only grateful for the lady that she is, but for the lady that she is perceived to be. No doubt, I married up!
The flip side is that she is not able to say the same. She has had to listen to many negative remarks about the man that she married. All of them probably having some percentage of merit. This is not over for her either. I would imagine that over the next year she will hear many more. I pray that the Lord will help me be sensitive to how that makes her feel. I pray that the Lord will help me protect and love her as she needs. I pray that at this time next year, we are even more thankful that the Lord has brought us together, that He has made us who we are, that we are not fearful to serve, that we live by faith, and that we find ourselves looking forward with anticipation to the years ahead.
Right?
I have been considering all the comments that have been submitted regarding the Mother's Day post. I have wondered for years about the gifts that have gone out to mothers and that is one of the reasons that I posted the questions that I did.
Mother's Day is next week. I have changed my message (and my plan) about three times. I was asked yesterday what the message was going to be about. This has been a difficult question for me to answer. With all of the things going on in our church at this time, I have been consumed with some very specific teachings. I have had to combat what I believe the Apostle Paul would term "doctrines of devils". These doctrines are being embraced by believers.
The reason that I write this on the blog is to ask you to pray that I will have discernment in the message that I deliver this coming Sunday. I want the message to be from the Lord, and I want it to be for the right audience. The "doctrines" that have been consuming my time for the last week need to be addressed in our church, but just because I have been given the "platform" doesn't mean that I need to deliver the message this week.
To put it plainly, I need the right message for the right audience at the right time.
Mother's Day is next week. I have changed my message (and my plan) about three times. I was asked yesterday what the message was going to be about. This has been a difficult question for me to answer. With all of the things going on in our church at this time, I have been consumed with some very specific teachings. I have had to combat what I believe the Apostle Paul would term "doctrines of devils". These doctrines are being embraced by believers.
The reason that I write this on the blog is to ask you to pray that I will have discernment in the message that I deliver this coming Sunday. I want the message to be from the Lord, and I want it to be for the right audience. The "doctrines" that have been consuming my time for the last week need to be addressed in our church, but just because I have been given the "platform" doesn't mean that I need to deliver the message this week.
To put it plainly, I need the right message for the right audience at the right time.
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