Approval that matters

“When Ahithophel saw that Absalom and the leaders of Israel were not going to follow his advice, he saddled his donkey and rode back to his home in Gilo.  He told his family and servants what to do.  Then he hanged himself.”  2 Sam. 17:23 

Let’s go back to chapter 16 vs. 23:  “Ahithophel gave such good advice in those days that both Absalom and David thought it came straight from God.”

I know I started this off with a shocker of a verse this morning, but it’s reality.  Let’s face it, Ahithophel had fallen far.  

At one time his advice was revered by both King David, a man after God’s own heart, and his son, Absalom, who was now trying to be king.  They literally regarded his advice as though he was one who had been in a consultation with God.  And later, no one wanted to follow his advice.  

It didn’t just hurt his feelings a little or make him feel a bit disgraced.  It caused him to go commit suicide.  

It may sound shocking to you, but it shouldn’t.  When we get our sense of self-worth from people, this can easily happen.  If our identity is tied up in those around us, and they don’t approve of us, then, just like Ahithophel, we may feel like that is our only answer.  

When we are regarded by men as the best or regarded by men as not much, we need to keep our eyes on the Maker of heaven and earth.  He is the One who is our Strength.  He fights for us, gives us wisdom, lets us run to Him for refuge, and comforts us in times of need.  

Our identity comes from the One who created us, wonderfully, and willingly gave His Son to die for us so that we could have eternal life.  God made us in His image, and calls us His own.  He created us with a purpose.  We are loved so much that Jesus chose to die for us–we were worth dying for.  

No matter what happens or what they say…stand on what God says, and run to Him when you need a word of encouragement.  He is always faithful, and He can be trusted.  

Choose to stay, with Him,

jamie

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Feeling dismayed?

These all look to You to give them their food in due season.  When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are filled with good things.  When You hide Your face, they are dismayed…”  Ps. 104:27-29

Since Creation began there have been moments where the creation has felt like God has hidden His face from them.  All throughout the Pslams you can see the questions, posed, “Why do you hide Your face from me? Why are You so far from helping me?”

Before that, Job asked, “Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?” We even heard Jesus, from the cross, ask, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Because we look to God for all things, it is in our moments of sorrow, pain, anxiousness, or uncertainty; it’s in the moments of silence that we sometimes feel as though He has hidden His face, and we are dismayed.

As we can see from the reaction of Jesus, and all throughout the Bible, it is a normal, human reaction.  We were created in God’s image, with emotions; and loneliness, uncertainty, grief, and pain are some of those emotions.

What can we do?  Keep looking for Him, seeking Him, and reminding ourselves of all He has done.  Job was looking for him in his darkest moments, when all he wanted to do was die, and he couldn’t find God to the right or the left–he kept seeking.

He spoke of all the works and wonders God had done in the past, and even as he wondered at first where God was, speaking of who God is built him up, and helped him keep close the One he needed all along.  Eventually he found his way back, not just to physical health, but to emotional and spiritual health, too.  This is how it works for us all.

I know there was a lot involved behind the scenes in Job’s story, but seeking God in the tough times the way Job did, praising, and reminding ourselves of God’s works and the things He has done in the past is the best way to find our way out.

We tend to pull away when we go through pain and crisis, and we feel like we can’t find God, but the truth is that the answer lies with Him alone.  He is the One.  He is the Salvation.  He is the Deliverance.  He is the Healing.  He is the Provision.  He is the Wisdom.  He is the Unity.  He is the Peace.  He is All in All, the Great I Am.

Every answer we need to fill the great gaping hole we feel inside is found in Him.  We just have to hold on and seek Him.   God said in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  This is still true today.

Grateful for a God who cares,

jamie

What’s trending now

I love to study nutrition.  I love how God put foods on the earth to heal and protect us.  I love how different foods have different vitamins and minerals.  I like making new recipes with healthy foods.  It fascinates me.  I’ve noticed a trend in nutrition; however, that is very concerning to me and it reminds of the way that I heard satan say to Eve in the Garden of Eden, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree in the garden?'”

That subtle change in God’s Word was enough to get Eve to begin a conversation with satan so that he could tempt her to believe what he said instead of what she knew to be the truth of God’s Word.  This is the same thing I see him doing in the world of nutrition.

I just picked up 3 of my favorite nutrition books this morning to verify.  The first one had a picture of the chain of evolution from monkey to human to fat human.  The second and third talked about how far we’ve come since being cave men.

So, I consulted my book on the history of creation:  The Bible.  I see that God created man and woman in a garden.  He gave them trees with fruit that bore seeds, herbs, and plants.  After they sinned and had to leave the garden, their son Abel was a keeper of sheep.  Cain was a tiller of the ground.  (Shepherd and farmer)  These aren’t unintelligent cavemen with no food.  These are intelligent people with access to healthy foods, intentionally growing them.

I see Jubal coming in a while.  He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.  Tubal-Cain was an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.  Oh!  And did I mention that before these two were born, Cain built a city and named it after his son?  He wasn’t living in a cave, unable to form words or think properly.

Even after the great flood, Noah became a farmer.  He planted a vineyard, too.  It just goes on and on from there.  As Christians, we have to guard ourselves.  Yes, be wise enough to eat whole foods and take care of your body.  I believe 100% that God put foods on this earth to nourish our bodies and give us the things we need.  But we must beware of what subtleties we allow into our minds.  Know the truth of God’s Word.  Know your Creator and how all things began.  Make sure your house is built on the Rock and you will be safe when the winds of untruth come blowing by.

We must remain in the Word and pray as it says in Ps. 25:5, “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

Dig in!

jamie

Scripture references for the things I mentioned today, in order:  Gen. 3: 1-24, Gen. 2:7-25, Gen. 4:2, Gen. 4:20-21, Gen. 4:22, Gen. 4:17, Gen. 9:20

Lessons from creation

Mt. 18:14:  “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

The song of a Carolina Wren caught my attention this morning.  I found it was perched on my fence, singing.  I noticed a rustling in the garden below and realized that it’s mate was down there eating.  I watched as they took turns perching and eating.  It was nice to see the unity between the birds.

After that, I read the parable of the lost sheep, and I couldn’t help but see the way God shows us His feelings throughout His creation.  Mt. 18:12 says that if one sheep is lost it will be sought.  Every single one of us is important to God.

When we think of the way we feel about our own family, we can understand why this is important to God.  If one of our own family becomes separated from us, we would give anything to bring them back to us.  The birds I was watching this morning were in sync, so beautifully paired, that I know they’re union has meaning to them.

God put examples of His own feelings within His creation.  We can better understand that God truly doesn’t want to lose a single one of us.  He wants us all with Him.  We are important to Him and it grieves Him to lose us, just as it grieves us to lose someone.

If we know someone’s family member is missing, we do everything in our power to help them find that person.  God asked us to do the same with His children.  When one strays away, or one hasn’t found the way to Him, He asks us to show them the way.  He asks us to introduce them to the One who is the Way, Jesus Christ.

We can take a lesson from God’s creation and lovingly seek out God’s lost children and bring them to Him.

Lord, help us show them the Way.  Help us to get over the fear of  speaking to others about You.  Help us to remember that the love we have for our own family is just a glimmer of the love You have for Your own children.  Help us to be willing to seek and find those who are lost.  We know this is Your will.  Thank You for loving each one of us this much, Lord.  You are a good Father.

Found,

jamie

How Great He Is!

“When He prepared the heavens, I was [wisdom] was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoice always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men.”  Pr. 8:27-31

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the works Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

How Great Thou Art, by:  Carl Boberg

Awestruck,

jamie

Forsake foolishness

Pr. 9:6:  “Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.”

The Word also tells us in Pr. 14:1 that, “the fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”  Creation screams out the existence of God.  Science points us to the Creator, as well.  The Holy Spirit tugs at our hearts to remind us that there is One God who holds this world in His hands and who wants communion with us.  Satan loves to deceive and get our eyes off the Lord, even to the point that we would deny His existence.

Romans 1:18-32 talks about how people suppress the truth and become futile in their thoughts, allowing their foolish hearts to be hardened.  It says that people exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator.  “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like a corruptible man.”  (vs.22-23)

Doesn’t this sound just like our world?  So many people profess their “wise” opinions that point away from the Lord, the Creator of all things, and are exchanging the truth of God for a lie.  We don’t naturally want to be outsiders, so occasionally we go with the flow of the thoughts, opinions, or lifestyles around us.

The word of God tells us that understanding is knowledge of the Holy One, but Ro. 1:28 says, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting…”  If we deny the Lord or His power and insist on continuing in that way, God will allow us to have what we want and we become fools who are headed toward destruction.

David said, in Psalm 16:8, “I have set the Lord always before me.”  This sounds like what we all should do.  If we want true understanding, we must know more about the Lord.  Fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, points us away from the things not fitting, as described in Romans 1:29-32; and points us straight to the Creator and to eternal life.

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”  1Tim. 4:1-3.

Sounds like these latter times are upon us.  Don’t be swept up by futile thoughts, lies, and deceiving spirits.  Stand firm on the solid foundation that is Jesus Christ.  Go in the way of understanding.  Know the Lord and His word and have life!

Cramming,

jamie

 

Why should we Respect God?

My Sunday School lesson this morning was about respecting God.  Before I could tell my 4th graders how they should respect Him, I thought it was important to give them some reasons why they should.  These are the verses I shared with them.  There are countless reasons why the Lord our God should be respected, but I hope these scriptures put you in awe of Him tonight.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9

“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” 2 Samuel 22:31

“The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.” Psalm 93:4

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalm 90:2

“You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them.” Psalm 89:9

“For You are my hope, O lord God; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth, You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.” Psalm 71:5-6

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:11

Respectfully,

jamie

 

Needing some hope?

Pr. 24:14:  “So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; if you have found it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not be cut off.”

“And your hope will not be cut off.”  Don’t those words sound wonderful?  Isn’t that something we’d love to experience?  Surely we can.

As sweet as honey is to the taste, so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to our souls.  Where do we get that knowledge of wisdom?  You know what I’m going to say:  The Word of God.  If you are looking for some other answer, then you are going to be quickly disappointed.  We can be knowledgeable about many things, but those things will never bring true wisdom.  True wisdom comes from the Lord.

Fear of the Lord is the ultimate wisdom.  When we fear the Lord and stand in awe of Him and His greatness, then we are truly wise; we have allowed the truth of His word to penetrate our hearts and our souls.

Does the reality of creation truly capture your attention?  He simply spoke, and the heavens were made.  He said the word and the waters were gathered together and given boundaries.  He breathed a word of life and all creatures were created.  He commanded; and it all stands fast, unable to be shaken.  He is the One who holds the world in His mighty hands.  Do you have knowledge of that?  Does it create awe within you to think of the awesome power that it takes to do these things?

When you are able to trust that His Word is right, pure, and proven, and you are able to stand in awe of His greatness, you will have true fear of the Lord.  When His wisdom causes you to yearn for more, then you are truly growing in knowledge.  When His Word opens your eyes to the truth, and causes you to reflect on Him, then you are filling yourself with understanding.

…and your hope will not be cut off.  🙂

Making melody to Him in my heart,

jamie