Saturday, January 26, 2013

January 26, 2013

Exodus 2:11-3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:7-14 (New Living Translation)

Exodus 2:13 The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. “Why are you beating up your friend?” Moses said to the one who had started the fight.

14 The man replied, “Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”




[ Wow.  This verse struck me in how we may at time think he are helping someone out of danger when in fact we are scaring them.  Moses had not earned the trust of his people.  Nor were his actions well thought out in terms of the consequences they would have.  Help for someone else without trust or forethought is foolishness.]

Mathew 17: 25 ...But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?”

26 “They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied.

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free!


[Wow what does this say about our own system of taxation.  Are we a conquered people.  The more we are taxed the more we are oppressed.  it amazes me how much god's word still speaks to our everyday issues even though it was written so many years ago.]

Psalm 22: 9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
    and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
    You have been my God from the moment I was born.

[Wow.  The influence Mother's have in rooting our children in safety and trust.  Building in them the ability to trust God as they have been safe and well fed in our arms from birth.  As a friend of mine has said.  I had to be Father, Mother, God to my child.  This verse spoke to me about her.]

Proverbs 5:12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
    Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
    and now I must face public disgrace.”

[Lord if I had only learned this in my youth.  Pursing discipline only in areas I felt education would work to my advantage rather than letting it be the cornerstone for every area of my life.  Letting passion for both the good and the bad be my guide.  For passion for the good will lead to hard work but when hard times or desire fades so does the discipline.  Discipline must come from a deeper place within us than desire and passion.  It has to come from a love for someone.  That someone is God.  For God's love for us will never fade and it will always lead us towards righteousness.]

Monday, January 21, 2013

January 21, 2013

Psalm 18:19 He led me to a place of safety;
    he rescued me because he delights in me.


He delights in us.  Did you hear that.  He delights in you and me.  Forever and always.  May we walk this day with our head held high and a smile on our face with the knowledge of this delight.  Walking around wrapped up in this love, under it's power, swooning, bathing, and basking in it's power for it is from this place of delight we will hear his voice and fend off all counter fit loves.

Genesis 42:23 Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. 24 Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.

What love this story of Joseph and his meeting with his brothers shows.  His heart could have been so filled with hate and revenge.  Yet it isn't.  He is moved to tears as they unknowing repent before him.  Lord may our hearts stay forever soft before those that have hurt us.  For like Christ on the cross spoke.  "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing?"