'God projects'

Romans 9: 30-33

We would have ended up like ghost towns,
like Sodom and Gomorrah. How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling.

need a break

^{Psalm 69:13} And me? I pray. God, it's time for a break!

kickstand

they come out riding bikes on the stage.... one child struggles with his kickstand, but bikes finally get parked, they pretend to be playing in the park.... walking away in the distance off the stage. the scene is now set for the start of the series...Kickstand.

OPEN

saw this sign in a business over a year ago... that got me to thinking.... am I OPEN to what God has for me, my life, my possessions, my family? some days I don't think God really wants us to say yes or no but to just say I am open, willing and available.

trashed

took the trash out today and was just thinking.... most people that have to haul off their own garbage usually make sure all the cans are emptied, all the garbage is bagged and out. God wants ALL of us... including our garbage. no need to hide any of it from him or leave any cans unemptied. He wants all of us, the good and the bad, so he can make us the best. True the cans will get filled daily, weekly, monthly... but it is our job to make sure that we give it to God, so he can haul it off.

Godly direction

One step towards God is one step in the right direction.

taking away more than you bring

2Chron 9:12
¹² King Solomon, for his part, gave the queen of Sheba all her heart's desire—everything she asked for. She took away more than she brought. Satisfied, she returned home with her train of servants.

accomplishments

2 Chron. 8:1-6
^{1 -6} At the end of twenty years, Solomon had quite a list of ^{1 -6} At the end of twenty years, Solomon had quite a list of accomplishments. He had:
built The Temple of God and his own palace;
rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given him and colonized them with Israelites;
marched on Hamath Zobah and took it;
fortified Tadmor in the desert and all the store-cities he had founded in Hamath;
built the fortress cities Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, complete with walls, gates, and bars;
built Baalath and store-cities;
built chariot-cities for his horses.

Solomon built impulsively and extravagantly—whenever a whim took him. And in Jerusalem, in Lebanon—wherever he fancied.

2 Chron.7:2-3

God so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of God fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking God:
Yes! God is good! His love never quits!

cleaning on my knees

i cleaned the bathroom floor on my knees today... and quiet frankly, you get a different perspective down there.... see areas you just normally don't see, areas that most disreguard. got me to thinking about my relationship with God and how getting on our knees makes us see things different and can help us see areas that need cleaning better than when we are standing.

luke 22 safe distance

^{54 -56}Arresting Jesus, they marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a safe distance.

1 kings 18 (the fence)

²¹ Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it's Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!"

sin

Luke 22

The Passover Meal

^{1 -2}The Feast of Unleavened Bread, also called Passover, drew near. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way to do away with Jesus but, fearful of the people, they were also looking for a way to cover their tracks.

^{3 -6}That's when Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot. He was one of the Twelve. Leaving the others, he conferred with the high priests and the Temple guards about how he might betray Jesus to them. They couldn't believe their good luck and agreed to pay him well. He gave them his word and started looking for a way to betray Jesus, but out of sight of the crowd.

challenge words

Most recently, someone was telling me about a person that we both know. She said " the more I get to know her, the less I admire and respect her." I could hear my own heart asking the question "do they say the same of me?" We must live our lives in such a way, that the more people know us, the more they respect us.

2 sam 24

^{24 -25} But the king said to Araunah, "No. I've got to buy it from you for a good price; I'm not going to offer God, my God, sacrifices that are no sacrifice."

heavy heart

2Sam 11:^{14 -15} In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back and leave him exposed so that he's sure to be killed."

^{16 -17} So Joab, holding the city under siege, put Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce enemy fighters. When the city's defenders came out to fight Joab, some of David's soldiers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.

^{18 -21} Joab sent David a full report on the battle. He instructed the messenger, "After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle, if he flares in anger, say, 'And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'"

^{22 -24} Joab's messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report. He said, "The enemy was too much for us. They advanced on us in the open field, and we pushed them back to the city gate. But then arrows came hot and heavy on us from the city wall, and eighteen of the king's soldiers died."

²⁵ When the messenger completed his report of the battle, David got angry at Joab. He vented it on the messenger: "Why did you get so close to the city? Didn't you know you'd be attacked from the wall? Didn't you remember how Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth got killed? Wasn't it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall and crushed him at Thebez? Why did you go close to the wall!"

"By the way," said Joab's messenger, "your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead."

Then David told the messenger, "Oh. I see. Tell Joab, 'Don't trouble yourself over this. War kills—sometimes one, sometimes another—you never know who's next. Redouble your assault on the city and destroy it.' Encourage Joab."

^{26 -27} When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband. When the time of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son.

Uriah carried his own death sentence and did not have a clue. Joab was ordered to carry it out, knowing that Uriah would surely die. In the end, David sends a note to try to encourage Joab's heavy heart and guilt.

not listening

^{Luke 15:22 -24}"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.

^{25 -27}"All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, 'Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.'

^{28 -30}"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!'

^{31 -32}"His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'"

The father wasn't listening, because he had already heard his son's plea by his action of coming home. The son wouldn't listen because he couldn't see.

stumbling oxen

^{2 Sam. 6:3 -7} They placed the Chest of God on a brand-new oxcart and removed it from Abinadab's house on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab's sons, were driving the new cart loaded with the Chest of God, Ahio in the lead and Uzzah alongside the Chest. David and the whole company of Israel were in the parade, singing at the top of their lungs and playing mandolins, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, so Uzzah reached out and grabbed the Chest of God. God blazed in anger against Uzzah and struck him hard because he had profaned the Chest. Uzzah died on the spot, right alongside the Chest."

They carried the chest on a brand spanking new cart. They were parading down the street, singing and playing instruments. The oxen stumbled. Maybe the oxen was weary. Maybe the oxen was old. Maybe the oxen just miss stepped. But the oxen stumbled. The man Uzzah reached out, perhaps to steady it. He died right there in the streets on the parade route.

leaking on the inside

just when you think no more pitfalls can come your way, the new (2year old) roof leaks and not just in one place, I might add, but 4. yep, leaking in the inside. things look fine on the outside. new architectural shin. and curb appeal. go in and things look fine.... look up. there's a leak in there, and not just in one spot. you are leaking on the inside... ceiling has turned brown with a ring and a water mark runs down the side of your walls... a simple paint job could hide, but in time it would appear again. the roofer is called back and hopeful amends remedy the problem.

David the leader

1 Samuel 22

Saul Murders the Priests of God

^{1 -2} So David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around—losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all...

^{14 -15} Ahimelech answered the king, "There's not an official in your administration as true to you as David, your own son-in-law and captain of your bodyguard. None more honorable either. Do you think that was the first time I prayed with him for God's guidance? Hardly! But don't accuse me of any wrongdoing, me or my family. I have no idea what you're trying to get at with this 'outlaw' talk."

pj day

Sore throat today and ear hurting again.... laundry to do and so much around the house that I am trying not to over look. Feeling bad today and it is Saturday. Jon and Nathan have run off to Statesboro and you know I am just not motivated to get around here if they left without me. A honk of a car horn and I pretend no one is home. I peak out the window as soon as "he" is gone only to find a package on the patio table from my best friend. Glad I stayed home today!

Thanks and I am going to shower, put a clean set of pj's on and curl up on the bed with the book of my friend.

judges 10

¹⁵ The People of Israel said to God: "We've sinned. Do to us whatever you think best, but please, get us out of this!"

¹⁶ Then they cleaned house of the foreign gods and worshiped only God. And God took Israel's troubles to heart.

(ever said a prayer like this? they didn't just pray, they put prayer in action and cleaned house. then God took their troubles to heart.)

yet to receive

Joshua 18

The Shiloh Survey

^{1 -2} Then the entire congregation of the People of Israel got together at Shiloh. They put up the Tent of Meeting. The land was under their control but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had yet to receive their inheritance.

^{3 -5} Joshua addressed the People of Israel: "How long are you going to sit around on your hands, putting off taking possession of the land that God, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

motives

God sees your tears and hears the beat and motives of your heart.

open door

Standing before an open door never resulted in a single changed life. Walking through an open door has changed the lives of millions. Are you willing to walk through it? (from Charles Stanley's Pathway to His Presence)

1Cor. 16:9 For a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries.