Wait…Then Wait Some More

Psalms 27:13-14 “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

So I had to go to court today in an attempt to have a ticket dismissed. To make a long story short I didn’t know I had to take defensive driving, then I received a letter from the court, then I had 15 days to complete defensive driving and turn in the certificate. Well the certificate was due yesterday and I had not received it in the mail yet, so I was pretty anxious. When I called the court and explained things I was told I had to see the judge, who was not very pleasant last time I was in his court. So I was almost to the courthouse and I thought, “I need to pray real quick as I walk in.” The Lord spoke and said, “Why would you wait until you are right in the middle of the situation before asking for my help.” Needless to say I stopped what I was doing, got quiet and spent some time praying before I got to the building. I was still a little nervous going in but the judge called my name and took my certificate like it was no big deal. It was a huge blessing for me because I really don’t need a ticket on my record. The moral of this not so short story is to wait on the Lord, He is good, He has good for me if I will just wait on Him instead of running in “half cocked.” This was a cool day for me, I spent a lot of my time praising Papa and staying in His presence as I went through the day. Also, it led me to this Psalms which I really enjoyed.

…with humility comes wisdom

² When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
       but with humility comes wisdom.  (Proverbs 11:2)

I read Psalm 127- 130 today, but at the end I just flipped into Proverbs the first one I read was this one. So apparently pride not only goes before destruction, but also disgrace.

But with humility comes wisdom. Want to be wise? Be humble. We were talking one day in our staff time this last week about humility and we settled on the idea that humility comes when we ask God for help in any and all situations and decisions. It is our plea to him, in complete dependence, to help us, because we recognize that we are incapable on our own.

Branches, Leaves and Fruit (John 15:5)

I am studying the occurances of the word (0r form of the word) “leaf” in the Bible.  God is stirring up something of a message in it.

As I read several passages about leaves tonight, God kept bringing up the words of Christ saying “I am the vine. You are the branches.” found in John 15:5 (for further reading check out a writing I did November 2006 called “Remaining In (John 15:1-17)“)  That verse is:

John 15:5 (ESV) ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Because it’s become obvious in my studies that I cannot study the leaf, without also studying the branches and the fruit.  According to this verse, I am a branch plugged into the true vine (or think trunk, for a tree).  So my question is becoming this:

What is the “leaf” vs. what is the “fruit”?

Several places in the Scriptures, the word “fruit” is often associated with the words “in season,” which would imply there are times that we do not produce fruit.  (See: Num 13:20;  Ps 1:3; Hos 9:10;  Matt 21:34; Matt 21:41; Acts 14:17 as a few examples of fruit associated with season).

This opens up a whole line of questioning about what I’ve always defined as “fruit” – think the Gal 5:22-23 “fruits of the Spirit”.  If there are seasons of no fruit by definition, then “fruit in season” can’t mean what I’ve thought it meant, because I should be producing the fruits of the Spirit, year round, regardless of the season.

Thoughts?

Like Father, Like Son

I feel like I am reading genesis for the 1st time.  There are so many details in the stories that I have forgotten or that I am seeing for the first time.  So, what’s up with Isaac?  Famine comes… again, God’s chosen moves… again, God’s chosen lies out of fear and tels everyone that his wife is his sister.

Did Abraham not tell Isaac the story about him doing that a couple of times?  Or did Isaac know the story and assume that since it worked for Dad, it will work for me?  I simply find it interesting that the sins of the father (lying and manipulation) come back out with the son.  Makes me want to continue to examine my life to ensure that I am not setting my son up for misfortune in the future.

Wind and Waves

I read in John 6.  Jesus sent out the disciples on the boat and He went into the mountains because the people were going to come and MAKE Him king, and He didn’t want that.  The sea is going off all around the disciples they are freaking out, Jesus is walking on water…..again (show off).  He gets in the boat and they immediately show up on shore.  God began to show me how many times I have given credit to the enemy when really it was God doing things.  Mark 4, 6 and 8 are the 3 boat experiences with the wind and waves.  God is the one who made that stuff happen so e could reteach the disciples and train them and show them who He really is.  I also realized how many times I quiet the wind and waves because I can and I miss Jesus.  The disciples are worried about the things outside and miss Jesus sleeping or walking on water.  Too many times I use my authority out of pride or just out of being a man and I miss Jesus in the middle of everything.  Jesus didn’t focus on the wind and the waves in this story at all, never even a concern to Him.  He got in the boat and knew exactly where they were going, the other side, and as soon as He was in the boat immediately they arrived.  He got to where He was going without talking to the storm around Him.  Jesus told the disciples when He put them in the boat they were going to the other side, so they knew that was their destination and yet when the storm happened they got scared even though God told them where they were going and that they would make it there.  They forgot the other times God saved them from the wind and waves.  Yet Jesus never mentioned it or quieted it.  Don’t forget where God told you to go.  Don’t focus anymore on the storms around you.  If God said this is where you are going, than you will make it there alive.  Stop speaking to the wind and waves all the time and focus on Jesus right in the middle of everything.

Ready

Today I am ready for whatever God wants to bring.  In pray this morning, that’s what He told me to do.  He said it’s a good day, because He made it, and for me to get ready for today, to go out and have a good day. 
I’m looking forward today, and for whatever lays ahead.  I trust Him and know that He loves me.  God has me in one of the most different/weird kinda of times right now.  And even though I don’t understand really all what He is doing (like I need to) and am at peace with whatever it is.

An Honorable Rapist? (Gen 34)

Genesis 34

This is the account of Dinah’s rape by Shechem.

Three things stand out.

1.  Soul Tie?

v3 “^3 His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.“  Is this a soul tie?

2.  Generational Curse?

Funny how the sins of the father become the sins of the sons… Jacob was a deceiver.  So here are two of his sons who deceive the man who raped their sister.  Here the deception leads to much more than just a blessing.  Here these two men murder all the men of a community and take all their possessions.

3. An Honorable Rapist?

Simeon and Levi deceive Shechem and his father Hamor saying that they will cross-pollinate with their countrymen if all the men of their city/province would get circumcised.  For whatever reason, they they do.

v 19 “^19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father. “

The “young man” referenced is Shechem.  HE IS MORE HONORABLE?  What is up with that?  I don’t understand.  It must not say much about Hamor, his father.

vv 25-31

^25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. ^26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. ^27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. ^28 They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, ^29 and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

^30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

^31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”

Who’s right here?  Simeon and Levi who avenged their sister’s honor and innocence or Jacob whois now fearing for the life of himself and his family/clan?

Psalm 127:1-2 “All for not”

¹ Unless the Lord builds a house,
      the work of the builders is wasted.
   Unless the Lord protects a city,
      guarding it with sentries will do no good.
 ² It is useless for you to work so hard
      from early morning until late at night,
   anxiously working for food to eat;
      for God gives rest to his loved ones.  (Psalm 127:1-2)

What I see is this, if God isn’t in it…whatever it is isn’t worth the effort…it is in “vain”

That is why it is critical for me to know God’s voice, to seek His guidance, to ask Him before I undertake or commence. If He hasn’t given the go ahead, then I am in essence banging my head against the wall. 

“Wasted…no good…useless…anxious…” these are the results of living my life without the purpose of God. I am choosing as we say to step out from under God’s covering. I am choosing to block God’s blessing. I am choosing to do it my way instead of His. And even when I am doing “good things”, a life led in that way is devoid of rest and peace. 

But when I choose to wait on instructions from the Lord and set my heart on His purpose, He carries the weight and blesses the work of my hands. He gives me peace and rest in His love 

More Genesis

I read more about Ishmael’s kids, and about Isaac having Jacob and Esau.  Nothing great or revealing.

Time Tithe

I have been struggling the last few weeks with spending the first part of my day with Papa, not necessarily a full blown quiet time but just spending time with Him at the beginnning of my day. Yesterday, I went to church and in the last few minutes Brady Boyd said, “Today has enough troubles of it’s own without adding tomorrow’s to it.” Father spoke to me and said, “That’s why you need to spend the first part of your day with me. Because there will be troubles and without me you can’t do it.” It was pretty cool because usually church is good but I dont normally get a specific word like that. So today I spent the first part of my day with Papa, and then continued to stay in his presence as I ran my errands and did my day to day stuff. It was amazing the difference that I felt. I was a lot more productive than I normally am, and I wasn’t tired or run down afterwards. I actually felt good. So that’s what my time with Father has been so far, I have high hopes for the rest of my night.