pain

knowing why i am having such pain, should at least ease my mind. i am not persuaded that the dr's diagnosis is all correct though. feel like i am in labor half the time with back pains and front pains. feel miserable.

disgusting to God

what disgusts God? is it the gay dr or the lesbian friend? is it the person who commits murder or the prisoner behind locked doors? is it the neighbor growing pot or the one in the home owners associtation who just won't mow his lawn? it might just be that father that doesn't seek HIM or the pastor's wife that just didn't make time for HIM. i think my list could go on and own. the truth be known they are all the same. each little sin or big sin.... that separates us from God. who am i to judge, who am i to say. what disgusts me might not be what disgusts God. why not?

buried

you don't know how buried you are until you try to dig yourself out..... (quote from tv show Buried Alive) the guy continued by saying I am just taking it one day at a time.

wow. powerful words. he probably has no idea what he has said. we have no idea how buried we are in sin until we try to dig ourselves out. only to find, if we have Jesus' blood covering our hearts and lives that He holds the dirty shovel in HIS hands.... He has dug us out.

King Hezekiah

2 Chronicles 29

King Hezekiah

^{1 -2} Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old and was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God's opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.

^{3 -9} In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, having first repaired the doors of The Temple of God, threw them open to the public. He assembled the priests and Levites in the court on the east side and said, "Levites, listen! Consecrate yourselves and consecrate The Temple of God—give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning. Our ancestors went wrong and lived badly before God—they discarded him, turned away from this house where we meet with God, and walked off. They boarded up the doors, turned out the lights, and canceled all the acts of worship of the God of Israel in the holy Temple. And because of that, God's anger flared up and he turned those people into a public exhibit of disaster, a moral history lesson—look and read! This is why our ancestors were killed, and this is why our wives and sons and daughters were taken prisoner and made slaves.

^{10 -11} "I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don't drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well."

In God's opinion, Hezekiah was a good king. In my opinion, God's opinion is the only one that counts. God has an opinion on how I am living my life. Am I serving God with all that I am? Is my heart all in? Does he think that I am a surface server? Am I dragging my feet with God? Am I doing my life work WELL?

mass

2 Chronicles 16:9 "God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him. You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God's help. Now you're in trouble—one round of war after another. "^{11 -14} A full account of Asa is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa came down with a severe case of foot infection.

He didn't ask God for help, but went instead to the doctors.

Then Asa died; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. They buried him in a mausoleum that he had built for himself in the City of David. They laid him in a crypt full of aromatic oils and spices. Then they had a huge bonfire in his memory.

---

John 12

^{27 -28}"Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.'"

^{36 -40}Jesus said all this, and then went into hiding. All these God-signs he had given them and they still didn't get it, still wouldn't trust him.

knowing it is there, i turn to you. i cling. not too scared. reassured because of who you are. wanting more than ever for your glory to be on display. show up and show out God. thank you for your quiet whispers. i need them. use the charity of others to bring clarity to my family. we trust in you.

bypass

2 Kings 1

¹After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.

² One day Ahaziah fell through the balcony railing on the rooftop of his house in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, "Am I going to recover from this accident?" ^{3 -4} God's angel spoke to Elijah the Tishbite: "Up on your feet! Go out and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria with this word, 'Is it because there's no God in Israel that you're running off to consult Baal-Zebub god of Ekron?' Here's a message from the God you've tried to bypass: 'You're not going to get out of that bed you're in—you're as good as dead already.'" Elijah delivered the message and was gone.

Most of us like short cuts... we can get to our destination quicker and seem to be added time to do other things. Even people of Biblical times sometimes chose the shorter path, the seemingly easy way. They were regular people doing what people today do.... just maybe a different way. Sitting on a balcony railing, Ahaziah fell. And not just a small fall. He was injured. He wanted to know "Am I going to recover from this?" Don't we still do these things. We fall or fell at something and get injured in the process. We want to know...."Hey, will I recover and move on from this?" Ahaziah wanted to bypass God's message for him. Do I want to really hear what God has to say or would I rather bypass His will, His way and run after my own out come?

Simon saw

Luke 33 -34 "They didn't waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: "It's really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!"

³⁵Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

They said "Simon saw him!" Why didn't they say "We all saw him!"