Tag: death

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Paralleling the Psalms.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

You welcomed him back with success and prosperity. You placed a crown of finest gold on his head. He asked you to preserve his life, and you granted his request. The days of his life stretch on forever. Your victory brings him great honor, and you have clothed him with splendor and majesty. You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling. Psalms‬ ‭21‬:‭3‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When one reads the about the life of Israel’s ancient king David, then reads through the psalms, you’ll find an uncanny parallel between the words of David and the prayers and quotes of Christ! Jesus not only quoted frequently from the law and the prophets, he exclusively spoke from the psalms. But not just any of the psalms – specifically, the psalms of David.

Jesus had most of the books of the law memorized and it was obvious that he had amazing recall of the psalms. Jesus quotes the Old Testament so often, it seems as if he is just teaching and speaking his own thoughts and words. When I read the agonizing, painful reality prayers of David, I find that Jesus used these to express his own thoughts and understanding of God the Father, and himself as the messiah. Peter Johnson says, “the psalms helped Jesus to carry through with His redemption purpose. Psalms are believed to express deep emotions and full surrender to God.”

When I read this psalm and see David realize that his past days of running and hiding from Saul are gone. David looks forward to his life, now filled with abundance and blessing. Can you see the overlay of this wonderful sense of hope in Jesus’ own life as well. In complete faith that God will help him and see him through death and the hope of redemption and resurrection, Jesus himself can hang on to these ancient words penned by David himself. “You placed a crown of finest gold on his head!”

Can you see these heavenly exchanges; removing the crown of thorns, the mocking crown of shame and suffering and replacing it with a crown of gold, of victory and freedom. When we read of David’s days in life – stretching on forever, can you see the parallel of David’s past, running for his life, living in caves, but now his days are free and full – seemingly with no end! Jesus was buried in a cave, his life from our temporary understanding was over, but his resurrection brought everlasting life! David, in his past, wore tattered, borrowed clothes while dodging death, but as king he was clothed with splendor and majesty. A dynamic picture of rags to riches, funeral shrouds to kingly robes! Jesus lived this same version of David’s life and most likely quoted and prayed these psalms to fortify his own faith in God’s plan, his own mission. Jesus’ life paralleled the psalms!

We are not David nor Jesus, but wouldn’t you think these psalms – memorized, meditated on, and PRAYED would give us hope as well? God saw us through our darkest times, maybe for some literally running for our life. God was there in the darkness of caves and doubts. Our hope is that God is also with us now, giving us eternal blessings and the joy of his own presence! Why? Because God truly loves us and proved it through Jesus’ own life, death and resurrection. We too can pray the psalms! We too can parallel and track with the lows only to come out with the highs of unfailingly love of the Most High!

Prayer

​Dad,
No wonder Jesus was such a fan of the psalms! He lived them. No wonder Jesus’ hope and faith was encouraged by memorizing the psalms, he used them when praying for strength while he was earthbound. Thank you for Your word. It is a lamp, a light and the hope of my salvation! Amen.

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When heaven is silent.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

You don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray! I think of the good old days, long since ended, when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? Psalms‬ ‭77‬:‭4‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The psalmist, Asaph, records this Psalm while Daniel was in the midst of Babylonian captivity. As you can see, the author was under great distress over the state of the nation of Israel and left with a ton of unresolved questions. These types of psalms are raw, unfiltered, yet for the reader’s sake, find a commonality in suffering.

Praying to God, begging God for sleep, kindness, love and to follow through with His promises. We have the advantage of history and the whole story, but for folks that lived through the 70 year experience- it must have been a nightmare to find God when heaven was silent.

The psalmist asks questions that many people ask when going through difficult times. Has God rejected me? Will I ever see good times again? Is God’s love, His presence, mercy, grace and compassion GONE? When one is in the dark, it is so thorough, so permeating that it feels like it will never end. This is the shadowed world of darkness, the desert fathers and mothers post New Testament termed it, “the dark night of the soul.” And many of them concluded that God invites some into this season. Jesus faced similar, the Apostle Paul was blinded for three days and spent a month out in the desert sorting out his soul. It looks frightening and most I know would think it crazy to be in a situation like this let alone take up God’s beckoning to go willingly. Yet, we all know folks who are suffering. Those who have been given a death diagnosis, those who have lost everything, those who feel lost and abandoned.

I was just reading Job yesterday, not an easy book nor life lesson to comprehend. Job suffered immensely and survived heaven’s silence. Did God reject the psalmist? Was God’s love lost forever? Did God’s promises fail or did He forget to be gracious? No, No, No and No. But it was so real and lasted long enough for the psalmist to lose sleep and run out of words to express the deep trauma he felt.

We are promised in so many places in God’s Word that we are never far from His presence, and there is no place on earth where one could hide from Him. David declared that even in the valley trail that leads between the mountains of Israel, a canyon so deep and long that some places never see the sun. When one walks through this valley of shadows taking on the appearance of death, that one should fear no evil, because God’s shepherd’s rod and staff are still very much with us. Thou art with me! It’s the most important lesson to learn! In Psalm 139:11-12, “I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.” The truth to hold onto is that Heaven may be silent for the night, but God’s presence is very much near and very much real. The sun will rise again. And the Son did rise from death’s darkness! May joy come to you in the morning! Ps. 30:5.

Prayer

Dad,
I have been in some very dark moments, terrifying, soul shattering situations. Yet, even though I sat in the long lingering of night and darkness that felt like it would not end, I never felt alone. Quite the opposite! I physically felt your comfort. Your peace was palpable even when I could not sleep and words did fail. The sheer panic of feeling trapped and left with no options, was unnerving. I held on to you and you held me tight. You were with me in the darkness. Thank you for your everlasting presence. Thank you for your mercy to carry me when I felt like I was drowning in darkness. You are so good to me. Amen.

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Whom shall I fear?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

”The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.“
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

My favorite Psalm to sing when I am truly afraid. Of course I memorized this Psalm in KJV (King James Version), and learned the song when I was new in my faith, but boy oh boy, I sang it A LOT when going through dark and scary nights. There were moments I could feel darkness closing in and crushing my thoughts. This Psalm was sung at the most fearful times. The Psalm was written while Israelites were in Babylonian captivity likely by Ezra. However, it is completely possible that Daniel wrote it. Daniel – the young man that shot to the top of Darius’ advisory team (Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom – Dan 6:3). Daniel who would refuse to eat foods sacrificed to idols. Daniel who was thrown to lions for disobeying a law that was written exclusively to catch him obeying God verses the durability of an irreversible Persian law.

In my mind, I can see Daniel praying or singing this powerful psalm. In the darkness of the lion’s den. Amidst the certainty of being mauled to death. Daniel proved this song to be true! God is light and in Him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). God’s presence in that cave had to have been blindingly bright! And when the creator of all creatures shows up before the king of all beasts, I am positive they bowed before Him in humble submission. With God there, no enemy could win, no danger could overcome! I know there is war language in this Psalm – armies that devour, surround and attack, but I also know that when fear creeps in and shadows come to swallow your soul, you can call on God to deliver you. And, to borrow a line from the other three teens who faced fire instead of lions, “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods.” or Job who wrote, “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Even as Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul!” Whom shall I fear? Why should I tremble? There is no need for either when God has got your back! Remain confident in God!

Prayer

DAD,
“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me!” Your presence brings light, peace and courage. When I feel afraid. When I feel overwhelmed. When I cannot think straight and cannot stop my emotions from ruminating and cycling through my brain – You are WITH me! I will not fear, I will believe Your word over all others! Thank you for your presence that brings peace. Thank you for light that illuminates my path. Thank you for undeserved grace in the midst of darkness.

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The Exodus story lives on in us.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When one looks closely you can see the story of death, sacrifice and blood from Genesis to Revelation. God himself killed the first animal to clothe the couple in the garden, covering their nakedness (Gen 3:21). Some scholars disagree, but I believe it subtly showed up with Adam’s sons, Cain and Able. Able chose to give God the best of his flocks, the firstborn of his lambs. Cain just gave some of his crops (Gen 4:4). One was a blood sacrifice, one was not. God chose this object lesson about blood to span the eons of time for humans.

The Exodus is an eternal story of redemption and sacrifice that points to the Messiah, Jesus, and beyond. Yet, even after Jesus’ own innocent blood become the markings on a wooden cross for us, death did not pass over Christ. Jesus gave his life as the one and only perfect sacrifice for anyone who would believe and recognize his death, his blood, as payment for their sin. Remember, anyone who eats the fruit of the tree of knowledge will die! The couple ate and immediately, spiritually died and eventually physically died as well.

Every human being has also eaten of the forbidden fruit since! Every human being, ever born, has believed the lie, eaten the fruit, and disobeyed God. Thus, every human is destined to die both spiritually and physically. Jesus death, his blood becomes the “sign,” the covering, on the doorposts of our heart and our life. To believe means that through faith, we have applied that covering so the death angel will pass over us as well, because we are marked (the New Testament uses the phrase, sealed with the Holy Spirit).

In the final book, Revelation, the ending of all things, we see the same theme of the blood as an end-cap to God’s grand story of redemption, of exodus, of completion. A loud voice declares that believers in Jesus have conquered the slanderer by the blood of the lamb (Jesus) and the word of their testimony (they lived and spoke of – not their own truth, but of Christ’s truth). We actually “bear witness” through belief and telling of our own story of being rescued! The Exodus story still lives on, in and through our lives today. Once I was blind, but now I see. I was lost but now I am found. Amazing grace how sweet the sound.

Prayer

​Dad,
What a grand story we are living! I am so thankful to not just be alive today, but to be a part of Your very long story.

Bravo God 🙌🏼 🙌🏼 🙌🏼.

When I was young in faith and in understanding of who You are, I thought these themes of sin, death and blood were so dark and creepy. Now, as I have matured, I see them as marvelously mysterious! I am not a huge fan of blood, I get pretty queasy, but I am a huge fan of being rescued and restored to a full and amazing life. I see more clearly now than ever before. And, I am hundreds of times more grateful.

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Wearing a crown in heaven?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

John the revelator, has to break the news to the folks who call Smyrna their home and home church. Bibleplaces.com writes, “Smyrna sat 35 miles (56 km) north of Ephesus, built near the ruins of an ancient Greek colony destroyed in the 7th century BC. Lysimachus, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, rebuilt Smyrna as a new Hellenistic city in the 3rd century BC. The city was later established as a Roman commercial center with a port on the Aegean Sea. The name of the city since about 1930 is İzmir” But at the time of John’s writing it was not a good place for Jesus followers. They were dirt poor and under tremendous persecution for being Christian.

It is interesting that John forewarns this church of what is to come, with some very specific details. “The devil will throw some into prison for ten days!” Biblical scholars believe it may have been ten YEARS! How would you like that prophetic news to be read in your church this Sunday? The pressure of being poor and now prison?

John’s tender words from God Himself is moving. Like slave runners in the ancient Greek games, the winner would receive the ultimate prize – their freedom. And, they would be given their freedom, not with a trophy but a woven wreath placed on their head – deemed, “the crown of life.” Caesar’s gift of life after living as a Roman slave. Paul, James, Peter and John use this secular symbol to remind the church that God is the ultimate ruler over life and even though God did not enslave anyone (sin does this), His own gift of life would be found through the crown of thorns placed on Jesus, accurately but mockingly calling him the king of the Jews.

God’s crown would not only be freedom, which is obtained here while still alive on this planet, but also for those who suffer on His behalf. It appears there will be some kind of special, particular crown given as an eternal reminder for all to see. There’s a bit of discussion about this crown in the New Testament. John uses the word, “stéphanos,” a victor’s crown, verses the word, “diádēma,” a royal crown. This crown appears to be unique in that the only way to receive this crown is through suffering or Martyrdom.

Might it be that there are those who will be known in heaven by this crown of glory. Not for their own applause, but to the beauty, the gift that few can endure, of being put to death for their faith. This glory is shared because it reflects Jesus willingness and determination to go all the way to death for His mission of salvation for humanity.

Prayer

Dad,
Of all the crowns mentioned in the New Testament, this one seems to be the most treasured and honored. Reserved for folks like Blandina, who was so young and new to faith, yet she actually wore out her torturers because she just would not recant, nor release her will to live and suffer for you! Astounding. I am humbled by that tenacity of faith in you. Forgive me for thinking, even a moment, that I have suffered through anything equivalent. I am truly blessed.

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The smell of life.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’m really a smell fanatic, or maybe a smellunatic. Most normal things don’t bother me at all. I’m not a big fragrance person with colognes or perfumes, but I’m really sensitive (annoyed) by certain smells. I can smell mechanical or electrical dangers long before most. I don’t mind the smell of Skunks. Tuna doesn’t bother me, but old fishy smells do. Robin can smell the effects of garlic and asparagus after someone eats it, I cannot. I love nature smells like ocean, mountain, rain, redwoods and desert.

The Apostle Paul has used the idea of scent before. Someone blogged that there are 52 aroma references in the Bible, Paul wrote about all 5 in the New Testament. I like the word aroma instead of odor, it feels more majestic. Paul believes that there is a Christ-like fragrance that believers carry on themselves. He uses the word “euódia” a good smell.

If life itself had a smell, emitting a fragrance, it would smell like Jesus? That’s a wild thought! I mean, He is God, the creator of all things – life itself. I’ve been a part of the “Church,” all of my adult life. I don’t mean as an attender or a congregant. I’ve been a part of the leadership in local churches as a career. I work for God. I work in His Church. I have come to believe that I want to be part of a life-giving church, not a life-sucking church. I want to BE a church that gives off the aromatic scents of LIFE. Paul says that’s what we are supposed to smell like, especially to believers.

To the world, to a dying, self-determined culture that wants to cast off all constraints of moral sensibility, the smell of Jesus presents itself as death. Do I stink to those who are rebellious towards God? Maybe! But to those are searching, hurting, and desperate, my prayer is that I smell like the ocean breeze, the mountain air, the summer rain – life itself! Paul uniquely writes, these contrasting phrases to those who are in process of being saved and those in process of being condemned. We are either “life to life” or “death-to-death.” Same Jesus, but Him in us, smells very different to folks, depending on their heart and eternal determination. Back to church folk… I not only want to be a church that is life-giving, I also want the foyer aroma of our lives to smell like life itself – like Jesus on resurrection morning!

Prayer

Dad,
Oh my goodness! I do not want to stink. I certainly don’t want to be or live a stinky life, smelling like death around those heading towards heaven! And, as much as I do not want to stink as a “in your nose” reminder to those destined to harden their heart towards you, I get it. When I smell like Jesus around people who are genuinely offended by Him, I guess that’s going to happen. Please, wash me, clean me and let me smell like Christ!

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The Apostle Paul goes deep.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul goes super deep, far more than just six feet under! In written, warp-speed, he goes from the most eloquent, beautiful description of love in chapter 13, to the incredibly complex conversation about what happens to us after death!

The Corinth church was asking for some hard proof and details about what physically happens to our bodies after we die. He starts off very practical about the facts Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead – there were witnesses! He concludes with one of the more favorite apologetic arguments: “And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” ‭‭1 Cor.‬ ‭15‬:‭19‬. Then moves towards answering their other questions – “but how Paul? How does this all work?

This mix of spiritual discussion with physical object lessons is so deep, the Holy Spirit had definitely been guiding his thoughts and answering his own questions while he was experiencing his club-pen time in prison. In later verses, Paul asks the questions for them, “But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” ‭‭1 Cor. 15‬:‭35‬. He writes, “that’s a foolish question!” But is it?

Paul clearly articulates that we are living in two worlds at the same time and seem to be completely ignorant of one of them. We have a very physical world and we also have a very spiritual world. Both are real, but one is but a dim reflection, a blurry representation of the other. The spiritual world is the real, solid and clear one – we live on and in the dim darkness of this planet. C.S. Lewis called this place, “The silent planet,” written in 1938, one of his famous space trilogy of books, Out of the Silent Planet.

In conclusion, Paul then writes about the end of all things. The end, in this context is about Christ destroying death, not in his own physical body a couple millennia ago, but in ours – humans. Paul’s take on the end times – Christ will reign until he humbles all his enemies! We know Christ’s enemy, that would be Satan. We know what the plurality (enemies) mean, and all the fallen angels that chose to rebel against God. The saddest part, is that we know there will be humans that choose to join Satan and the fallen angels in this rebellion. They will know God and God’s plan, yet still choose to rebel, choose to join the lie. Why? Their hope, unlike Satan or the dark angel’s, is that they “might” just get to spend eternity just doing their own thing, especially without God. There is no such hope in the enemy nor his evil horde – for they know it will not work. The enemy’s plan is just to take as many as possible with them to lash out at God. This is the reality of our long war and the tragedy of loss that is at stake in our spiritual and very much physical existence.

Prayer

Dad,
What an epic war, a war to usurp and eclipse all other wars. This life, this existence on our planet is just a tiny fraction of what exists in other physical worlds. Science searches for life somewhere out there in the vast universes and galaxies of outer space. And the only reason they search the heavens is they cannot believe we are alone. They cannot come to terms that we may be the only physical expression of life or humanity. We may or may not be the only ones. Or, we may be the only silent planet, the dark planet of created beings that are fallen, broken and filled with rebellion and sin. This is so wild to think about. Paul seems to go all “sci-fi” for a moment with the Corinthian churches. I love it! I know you are both my entire physical and spiritual reality. I chose you and have decided not to rebel, but to repent! I chose to spend my life here, and in all of eternity, with you.

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Newsflash Reminder.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Once you were dead! I don’t know about you, but I remember my disobedience and MANY sins. I wasn’t born a believer. I did not surrender my life to Jesus as a child. I had a fairly high sin-rate in Junior and Senior High School. I agree with the Apostle Paul, I used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world – obeying the devil and the disordered desires of my heart. In fact, I’m not exactly sure I had a decent conscience. I had a twisted view of guilt. Not only did I rarely feel guilty for my decisions and behaviors, I was really good at masking those feelings behind massive blame of others and the crummy chaotic, dysfunctional life I was handed from my parents.

It was those decisions to ignore my conscience where I can clearly see myself being subject to God’s anger – just like everyone else. Being a sinner didn’t make me special or unique at all. In fact it was slowly stripping away the real me that I was trying to push away.

When I look around at the multiple sin-fests on constant display in entertainment, socials and curated news cycles, I must remember Paul’s words. There is a real devil and he’s commanding the powers of unseen world! My heart breaks as I see my friends, family and neighbors swallow the reverse sour-patch candy. First the lies are sweet, by a well crafted design to follow our passionate desires and inclinations, but turn bitter as they produce rotten results.

I pray that God reveals Himself and rescues them, just as He did for me. These verses lead Paul, via the Holy Spirit, to release one of the most powerful truths found in the New Testament. “For it is by grace you are saved, through faith. It is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” My path, my decisions, my sin was disrupted and redeemed by that powerful, undeserved grace of God. I will never forget who I was. Yet, I will remember what God can do that for others even today.

Prayer

Dad,
Do it again in those I love! Arrest them by your grace. Hunt them down by your love and mercy, relentlessly pursuing them as you did for me. Lift the blinders from their eyes. Penetrate their hearts with light that shatters the lies that lead them to darkness. Expose the wicked plans against them to reveal your love and true freedom. I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

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Forget the bread, what about my boy?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Shocker, I just found out this past year that the widow mentioned in this story was a Gentile, not a Jew. And the Jewish people reading about the life and times of Elijah did not like it! Luke 4:25-26 and Acts 10:34-35.

There was drought and famine going on and widows had it the worse because they had little to no means to provide on their own. Elijah didn’t just ask her for her last meal, but her son’s as well. You can hear the resignation in the widow’s words, “we’ll eat it and then die.” Obviously no hope there.

Hello! Elijah wasn’t being greedy, he was being obedient. Elijah may have tried to ease the bluntness by asking for a drink of water first. Uh… fail. That wasn’t a smooth segue because of the drought. As she walked away, Elijah threw in the request, “…bring me a bite of bread as well.” Just a bite? I hope you hear the sheer awkwardness of being obedient to God in THE worst kinds of circumstances possible. Are we obedient regardless of what we know, see or sense? Woof.

Elijah gives her a promise, “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” The widow has just enough faith to be obedient. Promise made, promise kept. The widow provides Elijah room and board while he stays in the village of Zarephath. Why did Elijah stay? Because God told him to “live” there – “Go and live in the village of Zarephath. This next scene is disturbing in so many ways.

The widow’s son gets sick, then dies. The widow blames Elijah for her son’s death because he must be judging her sins. What? Wow. You see the ancient world was simple cause and effect. Someone gets sick, who’s to blame? Someone died, who sinned? God or God’s agents were directly held responsible because they obviously weren’t happy with something. It’s Elijah’s prayer to God that verifies this mindset. “Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” Why why why?

God seemed comfortable putting Elijah on the spot with the health and well being of the widow and her son. That’s doesn’t seem fair. The miracle of long lasting bread and oil supply wasn’t enough of an official credential proving that Elijah is a spokesperson for God? Elijah is bold, if not weird, in his prayer and physical application to make sure that God hears him. Was the “stretching himself” out over the child three times necessary? Apparently, the first time didn’t work, so he went for three (“three” may be a significant brain-bookmark for us in the future). God heard, God answered and raised the boy from death to life. Ah, then the widow says confidently… “yep, now I believe you’re from God and God speaks through you.”

God is really into us having faith! God loves us having faith. It is pleasing to him because it completely says “I trust you more than anything else going on in my life.” Faith doesn’t just make God happy, faith is the critical decisions that saves us and is saving us.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow. Both Elijah and the widow shared in the experience of having faith in you. I never saw that before. You asked Elijah to do and say some really tough things and I get the responsibility, but I did not grasp the level of trust that Elijah was exercising in you. It was important wasn’t it. I want to be obedient so badly, but it is ALWAYS diluted by the thought of what others will think when I follow through with what you’ve asked. It feels so much more risky when it comes to the question of “who do I want to please more?” You or people. I have faith, but need more courage!

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Proverbs promotes purity

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The entire chapter is a contrast/comparison to giving into immoral decisions or staying true to one person and remaining pure. The cast of characters is the young man, referred to as son. The immoral woman, seen as a thirst trap, luring and devouring innocence. And, the wife of one’s youth, depicted as a spring, a fountain filled with blessing and satisfaction.

The wisdom writers get gritty in detail when they ask, “Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?” Directly referring to not just love but a man’s semen seed for procreation. This is clearly a chapter on purposeful restraint, shutting down the entire fallacy that sex should be abundantly and freely engaged with anyone you like.

Again, since Proverbs is mostly a young man’s wisdom curriculum, I’ll let you figure out how to reverse the roles and applications for young women seeking moral men instead of being seduced by fantasy and false promises of “players.”

Proverbs chapter five gives a summary that captures a strong word of advice for the wise and the fool. God sees all. God knows the motive of EVERY human heart. In the end, the hell or heaven that one finds is determination of decisions. Hell is the cage constructed by our own desires. The ropes of slavery and captivity are woven by our sins. And death awaits because we will lack the will to be made pure and whole. The warning to the young and old – be very careful about giving into the lust and cravings of our body, mind and soul.

The promiscuous lies that promise peace and fulfillment are not just dangerous, they are deadly. Words like chastity and purity are for temporal and eternal safety as well as real satisfaction.

Prayer

Dad,
How absolutely ludicrous that the cultural lies pitched today are all word-swapped, redefining truth. Phrases and words like sexual freedom, exploration, experimentation all masked by this lie. It’s a very clever trap leading to the opposite of everything we really need. It quickly becomes exploitation leaving perpetrators and victims with hollowed out souls, finding no peace. We are left with a vicious cycle of unquenchable desires that become our master of a slaved life. Oh, how we need your Spirit to pour over us. Breathe life in us once again for we have descended back into the dust of our dirty lives.