Dew

Job 38:28 Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?

I love dew! In the warm months, each morning the millions of individual blades of grass sparkle with the dew laid that morning. Then in the cold we witness the crystals of frost. When I think about the delicacy of how God works yet the infinite, 30-billion light year God being the same it just blows my mind. How great is our God!

Can I see some ID?

I kind of wish my drivers license had my true identity on it. You can find out what I look like from this card, but you won't find out who I am from it.

King Ahasuerus, the king of Persia, was a really bad husband. He didn't even know his wife, Esther, the queen, was a Jew.When the decree was passed down that all Jews in the empire were to be killed, she knew she was included in this. Since there weren't many who knew she was a Jew, and she had the power of being a queen, I think she could have escaped such a fate if she was just quiet about it all. But she didn't hide her identity. She risked her life to show who she really was, and how could she not if she really identified herself as a Jew.

We are children of God. I am a son of God. Let everyone know our true identity. I boast in Jesus Christ!

Proverbs 3:3-4

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

Many times going through Proverbs can feel legalistic. I can come up with a list of do's and don'ts real easily. I have heard others who start to feel this way too, but this verse just broke all that down for me.

Faithfulness seems easy for me to understand and observe. It's the actions of my daily life. It's taking the instructions given in the word and applying it, living it out. But this verse also says not to forget about love. I think the two must go hand in hand. If I grow in love, I grow in God, and this in turn will grow me in faithfulness.

Proverbs isn't about just following the rules. I think it is more like guidance about how our lives ought to be lived out we grow in Christ and become more like Him. Relationship with God is not to be forgotten in any of this because love is not to be forgotten.

Your great mercy

"For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy" -Daniel 9:18b

I've been reading Daniel during my quiet times. I'm not sure how much I understand of all his visions, but I love the relationship that Daniel had with God. Gabriel comes to Daniel to give him insight, saying that he is "greatly loved". Daniel remains faithful to God and God is faithful to him.

I miss all of you and can't wait to have you back!!!

Hi guys. I've been reading John, Proverbs and Isiah for my quiet times and have really enjoyed having more time to think about what I'm reading. In John, I picked up in chapter 15 after John Meyer talked about remaining in Christ's love at Faithwalkers. A couple of verses that stood out are 15:9-10 as well as 16:32. These hit me hard because they reveal how important for Jesus to share his life with the Father. Jesus says that he "obeyed his Father's commands and remain in his love". This doesn't mean that the Father's love for Jesus or us is conditional, but rather that in order for us to experience a real relationship with God (remain in his love), we must obey him. I don't think these verses are legalistic either. The command to obey God expresses much more than simply not sinning or performing acts of service out of a sense of duty. God wants us to walk humbly with him (Micah 6:7) and to be on a mission to obey him completely as Jesus did.

Woah

I'm still piecing this together, so if anyone has any thoughts, I would appreciate hearing them.
Psalm 59: 12-13a For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter Consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more. This is very clear, and shook me up a little. David uses the words "sins of their mouths." i guess I can fool myself into thinking speech is a small thing, but here it is treated as being a very big deal.
Then, I read in Acts 8:6 When the crowds heard Phillip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
It seems like Phillips actions spoke much louder with the people. The signs convinced them to tune into the gospel and what he was saying.
If what we say is such a big deal, then our actions must really matter in God's eyes. I'm still puzzling through this one.

First Time Faithwalker

It was sweet! Still processing. So here's a verse

Psalm 89
15) Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. 16) They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. 17) For you are their glory and strength.

Will you really?

"Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.” - Isaiah 42:6

This is what the Israelites who had survived the invasion from Babylon told Jeremiah after they asked him to get direction from God on what they should do and where they should go after all the turmoil and destruction. Mind you, they had never listened to any of Jeremiah's warnings before.

When Jeremiah had received the word from God, he relayed it to the people. He had spent 10 days seeking this from the Lord, but when he spoke to the people, the news was not what they wanted to hear. They turned it around on him calling Jeremiah a liar, saying that what he spoke was not really the word from God. The Isrealites went back on their word and did what they wanted instead of listening to the wise words from God.

May this not be the same for us. Although it is easy to think "WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE GUYS DOING, DON'T THEY EVER LEARN?!?", how often do I find myself doing the same thing. I humbly submit myself to God, and I do make the same vow that those Israelites did (except I know that every instruction from God for me is good, so I say I will obey whether I desire to do or not). I know I am deceived by my flesh at times (praise Him for his grace), but I pray by His spirit who lives in me that God will give me the wisdom and strength to follow the narrow path and obey my Father, being sensitive to the Spirit, and dead to my flesh. I feel like this is the only wise way to live life.