Robert Browning Knows The Middle

Psalm 7-13

Extremes…that is where artists reside; it is the way we’re made.  As we read the Psalms, this truth is poignantly sung.  It’s a mountaintop or a valley, a praise song or lamenting dirge.  This passage starts out in 7:1, “O Lord my God in Thee I have taken refuge…” and ends in 13:1 with “How long, O Lord?  Wilt Thou forget me forever?  How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?” 

What is so glorious is the wonderful middle that artists pass on our way up to ecstasy or down to despair.  It’s chapter 8. 

“O Lord, our Lord,

         How majestic is Thy name in

                  all the earth…

When I consider Thy

         heavens, the work of Thy

         fingers,

The moon and the stars, which

         Thou hast ordained;

What is man, that Thou

         dost take thought of

         him?

And the son of man, that

         Thou dost care for him?

Yet Thou hast made him a

         little lower than God,

And dost crown him with

         glory and majesty!

                           8:1a, 3-5

Oh, the glorious middle of hope.  When artists rest, they always rest in the middle, that glorious and calming peaceful middle…where we lie on our backs, look at the stars and know;

The lark’s on the wing;

The sail’s on the thorn;

God’s in His heaven-

All’s right with the world!

         Robert Browning, Pippa’s Song

Robert Browning

The Psalmist Pearl Buck

Psalm 1-6

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create -- so that

without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”

                                                      Pearl Buck

The Psalms are the recordings of David, the artist.  We have read about David the great warrior and king, but I believe that the man God called ‘the man after His own heart’ was the David who wrote the Psalms.

We flourish under their balm!!!

Pearl Buck

We Will All Die Wondering Why

Job 38-42

“And Job died, an old man and full of days.”  42:17 last verse of  Job

Who are you?  That is God’s ultimate question to Job and to all of us.  It is a courageous act to sit and honestly answer that question.  It leads to the real question: will you find ultimate meaning in yourself or will you discover that you need Someone else to give you meaning?

No one can answer the questions God asked Job! 

Paul Gauguin, a gifted artist whose work I greatly admire, posed this question to himself.  In 1891, he left his wife, family and Paris to pursue his answer. He lived as a bohemian savage, rejecting social norms and living as his appetites dictated.  He moved to Tahiti, painted his master works and died of an overdose of morphine, while suffering from alcoholism, depression and syphilis.  He asked all the right questions, but accepted all the wrong answers. 

Job also asked all the right questions, but in the end he wasn’t given any of the answers.  Job was never given the answer to why he had to suffer the loss of all his children, his wealth and his health.  Yes, God restored it all to him, but He did not explain Himself.  In the end Job died wondering ‘why?’

In the end we will all die with no answer to many of life’s most critical questions.  We can die wrapped in our own cold, dead arms or we can die wrapped in the faithful, loving arms of God in Christ Jesus.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16  “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.  Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.’”  John 11:25

Gauguin's "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?"
Painted in Tahiti

How Do Rose of Sharon’s Grow?

Job 34-37

Every blade of grass is a miracle and every Rose of Sharon is a universe of truth. 

Elihu finishes his speech and makes a stunning observation.  When he speaks of rain, he talks about how the natural elements are creations of God.

“That it may do whatever He

         commands it

On the face of the inhabited

         earth.

Whether for correction, or for

         His world,

Or for lovingkindness, He

         causes it to happen.”  37:12b-13

The Rose of Sharon’s are blooming in my backyard, all for correction, or for His world or for lovingkindness.  What a beautiful thought. 

What’s His loving kindness blooming in your backyard?

Rose of Sharon growing in my backyard

My Plea to You

Job 33 and Luke 24

“I have found a ransom…” Job 33:24, Elihu speaking to Job.

“For even the Son of Man (Jesus) came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45, Jesus is telling His disciples how to be first.

The point of my Sunday school lesson is to encourage us to follow through on what the risen Lord told his disciples.

What is that?  “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  Luke 19:10

“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.  We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”  II Corinthians 5:20

If you are reading this, that is the only reason it is being written.

MY PLEA:

"Come Back to God."

“I have found a ransom…” Christ Jesus, Savior and Lord!!!  

a. lee benson

Stubbed Toes and Ecstasy

Job 29-32

The youngster, Elihu, enters the story just as Job finishes reflecting on his own youth.  We’re glad to know that the perplexing nature of growing old is not new to us.  Job bemoans the good old days when he was young and strong and the world was his oyster.

Here’s the surest sign you’re growing old: when you stub your toe and you have time to think, “boy, this is gonna hurt” before you actually feel the pain. 

Here’s the good news.  If you tally all the good times we will ever experience on this good earth, they will all be like dulled and peeling wallpaper on the sides of our souls compared to the ecstasy to come.  

William Blakes, Elihu Confronting Job

I Am Afraid

Job 23-28

“Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;” 28:28

That word “fear” is used in the same context in Psalms 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10.  What do Job, David and Solomon mean? 

The Hebrew word is Yir’ah.  It means the fear of God and is a positive quality and acknowledges God’s good intentions.  It motivates and delights, is produced by God’s word and makes us receptive to wisdom and knowledge.  It restrains us from sin, gives us confidence, helps rulers and causes judges to act justly. (NASB, Key Word Study Bible, pg 1894)

This fear does not mean ‘to be afraid’.  Most often the first words out of God’s mouth when He meets humans are “Fear not!”  Let me put it another way that might help us understand the difference.

I am afraid that the greatest loss of contemporary culture is the fear of God.

Blood Soaked Diamond

Job 17-22

Job carries the day today.  If you have read this passage you realize the torrent of torment Jobs friends are lashing across his soul.  

But deep within Job’s being lies a truth that nothing can tear out.  It’s deeper than his anguish of losing all his children.  It’s deeper than losing his health.  It’s deeper than his wife turning from him.  It’s deeper than his friend’s accusations of evil.  It’s even deeper than his own understanding. 

His inner being is ripped bloody open and what do we find?

“And as for me, I know that

             my Redeemer lives,

And at the last He will take His

             stand on the earth.

Even after my skin is

              destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I shall

              see God” 19:25-26

Blood soaked and horror filled but at the core the most sparkling diamond of faith.

We Hurt, Job Hurts, God Hurts

Job 15-17

If there was ever a lament that sounded as if a man had lost all his beloved children, chapters 16-17 is it.  Hopeless anguish!!!  Have you ever been there?   I have...on July 5, 1986.

Anguish we can know, but it never has to be hopeless.  Why?  Because God understands our anguish.

“He (God) who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all…” Romans 8:32a

Sometimes we just need to write out our laments, but always end them with…

God!!!

Good vs. Dead Children and HIV Positive

Job 11-14

Life is a vexing proposition and Job is learning it the hard way.  His next friend, Zophar, steps up and arrogantly insists that Job’s plight is a result of sin. 

This is a continual struggle for Christians.  We often believe that bad things happen to believers as a result of sin in their lives.  Obviously this can be the case as proved by Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5.  It’s also true that sin has consequences that believers often have to suffer with.  I recently heard the testimony of a believer who came to know Christ after years involved in homosexuality.  He is HIV positive. 

Even though God has a right to and sometimes does punish us for sin, and although sin does have consequences, neither is true in Job’s situation. 

There is only one truth that is assured as true every time and in every circumstance.   

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  Romans 8:28 

We Don't Get to Get God

Job 6-10

Sometimes we can read Job and forget that he has just lost all ten of his children to a meaningless death.  Let’s be honest.  Job doesn’t get it!  Job’s friends don’t get it!  We don’t get it!  Job says in 10:19, “from womb to tomb…” he doesn’t understand. 

God tells us in Isaiah 55:8, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.  “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

Jesus said at his crucifixion, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:24)

Let’s face it.  WE DO NOT GET GOD!  That’s Job’s, his friends’ and humankind’s greatest dilemma!  Will we make “getting God” a requirement for believing in God? 

If so, there’s no hope!!! 

Naked

Job 5 and Luke 23:32-39

I have been writing my Sunday school lesson since early morning.  It’s titled: “He (Jesus) Offers Salvation: Believe”.  The theme is to help us to express our faith in Christ.  In Job we find one of the greatest expressions of faith.  After learning of all that has gone wrong, Job says this;

“Naked I came from my

       mother’s womb,

And naked I shall return

       there.

The Lord gave and the Lord

       has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the

       Lord.”

I saw my son Aaron come into the world and he was naked.  I saw my Dad on the mortician’s table leaving this world and he was naked.  That’s how we all came and that’s how we’re all going. 

What is our only expression of faith?

“Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

drawing by Kulhanek of Job

Does God Trust You?

Job 1-4

So we begin the story of one of the greatest men to ever live, Job, the great patriarch and ancient of days.  All humans find comfort in the book Job because it deals with one of the greatest mysteries of faith; if God is all loving, compassionate and powerful why do good people suffer?  The answer? 

We don’t know!

But a cosmic wrinkle occurs that may give us a clue.  It’s found in Job 1:8, “And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.’”  Did you catch that?  God brought Job to Satan’s attention.  What?  Why would He do that?  Who wants God to point us out to Satan as an example of righteousness?

The point?  God trusted Job.  God trusted him to act blameless and upright no matter what may come!

I wonder if God trusts me?

Then What ???????

Esther 9-10

The book of Ester comes to an end with startling contrasts.  One group, the Jews, are saved and celebrate with a great party.  One group, the enemies of the Jews, are slaughtered in mass and in the end Mordecai is made a national hero.  Hard to seem celebratory with so much death lying around on the pages. 

It underscores a sad, but vital truth all humans must face.  Death is not the wages of old age, sickness, violence, or war.  Death is the wage of sin; it is the ultimate and assured, last installment for sin, sin’s final payment.  Human bodies die because all are infected with sin. 

We all die…then what?  Every human has to decide what they believe about “then what?”

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23

There’s a “then what” we can die with, with the power to change our “Now what.”

50’ Gallows Is Not High Enough, Except in Gunsmoke

Esther 4-8

What a powerful story of intrigue, murder plots, fear, vast wealth and sudden changes of fortune.  This story ranks as one of the great examples of Numbers 32:23, “…be sure your sins will find you out”.

As I look back over my life, the last thing I want to happen is for my sins to be found out.   There wouldn’t be a gallows high enough to hang my shame.  Who can spare me from myself? 

“He (God) has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”  Psalms 103:12

Whew! I’ve seen enough Gunsmoke to know I don’t want anything to do with a gallows!!!

Don’t you just love Jesus?  “You garran darn tootun!!” (Festus phrase) 

Red and Yellow, Black and White

Esther 1-3

History is filled with individuals willing facing great personal sacrifice in order to spare an entire group of people. David Livingstone, Lottie Moon, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. just to name a few.   The book of Esther is the story of two others, Esther and her guardian, Mordecai, whose names should appear on the list. 

There is one name; a name above all names that would be at the top of the list.  In fact, this Person would be on a list all His own.  The people He cared about?  Every human who ever was.  My Sunday school lesson records a singular event that sincerely illustrates this.  The criminal on the cross turns to Jesus and says, “Remember me…” Jesus, filled with loving compassion even in His agonizing death, culminates His ministry to save people in His response, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

It wasn’t Africans, Chinese’s, Indians or Blacks that Jesus came to save.  If you will pardon my politically incorrectness, let me sing you the answer:

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white

They are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Don’t you just love the “politically incorrect” Jesus!!!

deGelder's Esther and Mordecai

Do You Really Want To Be Remembered?

Nehemiah 11-13

Remember me!  Three times in the last chapter Nehemiah asked God to remember him and the deeds he had done in His service.  My Sunday school lesson this week is “He (Jesus) Offers Salvation: Believe.”  It is the story of the criminal being crucified with Christ asking Jesus to “remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”  Luke 23:42 

“Remember me”; sometimes we have cause for asking God this and sometimes we would like God to forget the life we lived and just remember our need for a Savior. 

What is the great foundational truth of God?  When we have placed our faith in Christ as our Redeemer, the only thing God remembers when our name comes up is Christ.  Now there’s a Life and Savior worth remembering.

Party Time

Nehemiah 8-10

Welcome to the big party.  In chapter 8 the Word of God is read to the people and it reveals to them the sinfulness of their lives.  They begin to mourn, but Ezra and Nehemiah command them to eat drink and be merry “for the joy of the Lord is your strength”.  What does this mean?  When we are sincere in our desire to live in a relationship with God, He continually reveals to us our need for Him.  This in turn does not produce a religious us.

“O Lord, open my lips

That my mouth may declare

Thy praise.

For Thou dost not delight in

sacrifice, otherwise I

Would give it…

The sacrifices of God are a

broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite

heart, O God, Thou wilt not

despise.

Psalms 51:15-17

What it produces is a person who is filled with gratitude and thankfulness because their life produces “the joy of the Lord”.   God finds joy in our lives being lived out in gratitude toward Him.

When we make God joy-filled, it’s time to party!!!!!! 

Padding the Resume

Nehemiah 7

Nehemiah is taking a census of all the people who have come back to help rebuild Jerusalem and he’s counting everything.  In-laws and outlaws, saints and sinners, gold and silver, preachers and camels, clothes and bowls, donkeys and mules…all make the list.  It always helps to pad up a little when counting your resources; especially if you’re like Nehemiah and there aint much.

But as you pad up, always remember this, “What then shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

The only Name needed on your census?  JESUS!!!

The Accomplisher

Nehemiah 3-6

The work of the Lord is being accomplished.  This is the theme of Nehemiah.  It’s the theme of you and me.  It’s the theme of the earth and the universe.  From the moment God saw “the earth was formless and void” (Genesis 1:2); till He saw the wall of Jerusalem in disrepair, till this morning…uhh…night when I got up and there was no morning, the work of the Lord is being accomplished.  Formlessness became form; rubble became a wall and right now as I write from the porch, night is becoming morning complete with birds and light.  God also has a work in each of us that He desires to accomplish.  Each day is a day by which we can sincerely submit to Him and allow Him to accomplish what He wills in us. 

This passage also tells of a force that is always working against the work of the Lord.  In the beginning formlessness and darkness had to be overcome in order for form and light to exist.  Nehemiah had to overcome enemies who didn’t want the wall rebuilt and you and I will have to overcome ourselves who do not naturally want to submit to the will of God. 

The truest truth is the work of the Lord will be accomplished despite darkness, enemies or self.  We should always choose to be on the side of The Accomplisher!!!

Be Keeper

Nehemiah 1-2

We are moved with the dignity of the Godly man Nehemiah who hears of his beloved homeland in ruins and weeps in despair.  His sorrow does not paralyze him, but animates him to action.  Can we not see and hear the same today?  Our brothers and sisters lie in ruins across the earth, crumbling under hunger and wars.  Fear and persecution destroy their peace and inflict them with brokenness.  Sickness, nakedness and poverty afflict them while we lounge in the palace of the king, America, sipping the wine of unbelievable affluence.  “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?”  Matthew 25:44 Ahhh….the taste of my own paralyzing affluent wine. 

God hear the prayers of our truer selves.  Let us be our brother’s keeper.  Let us be Your keeper.

Caravaggio's, "Dionysius",
Greek god of wine

There's a Storm Coming Out of That Graveyard

Ezra 8-10

A dangerous journey ladened with treasure and children, a cold and rain-soaked remnant repent and dozens of marriages are dissolved.  A very rich passage of the trials and sufferings accepted by a small group of believers who have determined in their heart to follow God.  We can often read the Bible as detached individuals reading a required text whistling by the graveyard as if somehow God will suspend His commands when He considers our culture and us.  I am convinced, after reading the Bible through multiple times, that I as well as everyone who has ever lived will be held accountable for every moment of our lives.  That is why we should all cling to “Yet it was our weaknesses he (Jesus) carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins. But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”  Isaiah 53:4-6 

Hold on, it might get rough!!!

Eucharisteo

Ezra 6-7

The temple is complete and the first thing the returnees do is to celebrate the Passover.  The passage reads, “And the sons of Israel who returned from exile and all those who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover” 6:21.  That tradition is now part of our own faith tradition as we celebrate the new covenant Passover of Christ’s atoning death for our sins.  We refer to it as The Lord’s Supper or Eucharist.  The term Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharisteo which means to “give thanks.”  Living a grateful and thankful life in response to Christ’s atonement for you is the sincerest act of obedience.  It’s what makes for a good exile!!!

This Old House

This Old House Life

Ezra 3-5

This is a very poignant passage telling of the difficulties faced by the children of Israel who chose to follow the Lord.  Their choice to follow God, return to Jerusalem, and rebuild the temple was met with great opposition.  It records them being “frightened” and “terrified” by the decision.  Following God can still place us in unsettling situations because like these Israelites we are asked continually to rebuild our lives to accurately reflect the “temple” of the Lord.  The renovating acts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control are often seen as weaknesses and even threatening to those around us.  They can see this rebuilding of our lives as somehow religious or extreme.  However, in its purest form this “transforming” is the sincerest act of thanksgiving for the gift of rebirth.  

Love Lifted Me

II Chronicles 36-Ezra 2

Israel is carried into exile; a Persian King is moved by God to repatriate them to rebuild God’s Temple and the returnees are listed.  In the middle of this passage is a moment of ultimate clarity: “And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.”  II Chronicles 36:15

I love the compassions of our Lord.  He continually bathes us in His goodness and whispers His truths into our hearts.  Again and again, men and women all over the earth proclaim Him and His message of love and reconciliation to all who will hear.  Songs are sung, verses are written and instruments play out His anthem of love.  Snuggling grandbabies, big full moons, honeysuckle, kissing, roses and stretching anoint us daily with His compassions. 

Yes, we love the compassions of our Lord.  One of His greatest compassions is a believer with a thankful heart!  Let us each live as a committed compassion of our Lord!!!   “I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore…”

Ancient Furnace, Ancient Cave, New Love

II Chronicles 33-35

It’s the familiar story of finding the word of God, King Josiah leading the people to repent and the greatest celebration of faith ever.  Here’s what I didn’t know: chapter 35 records the last mention of the Ark of the Covenant.  The Ark was the holiest of the holy objects in the Temple.  It was the Seat Of God, the symbolic object of His being with us, living among us.  It disappeared from history and has never been seen since.  Where is it?  Melted down in some ancient Babylonian furnace?  Hidden in some cave waiting to be revealed at the Second Coming?  No one knows.  One of the great mysteries of mankind remains unsolved.  

However, what brings us peace even in the face of this mystery is that a God man, Christ the Lord, has replaced the Ark.  He now offers to live in us as God’s promised to be with us and in us.   It is the New Covenant and once you have faithfully accepted Christ, He can never be lost.  “I (Jesus) give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  John 10:28-29

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Romans 8:38-39

Fill’er Up

II Chronicles 30-32

Faithfulness is one of the sweetest words for one of the greatest qualities of character.  These chapters conclude the life and times of Hezekiah, a faithful man and king.  Life was not always easy for him.  This passage records that most people laughed at his faith and his enemies mocked his God.  Such is the world today.  Faithfulness to God is viewed as a character flaw for the feeble mind. 

But there is one who is always faithful, regardless of the world’s silliness.  God is!!!  An example; I breathe all the time, but my world never runs short of oxygen.  Even if I laughed at God, I would surely be thankful to whoever keeps filling my oxygen tank!!!

Song Birds and Red Hair

II Chronicles 26-29

Good king, bad king and then Hezekiah and chapter 29.  What a beautiful passage to start one’s day.  The temple, long since abandoned, is scrubbed clean, atoned for, anointed and then filled with music and songs to the Lord God.  It is beautifully symbolic of the covenant we spoke of yesterday.  We have long since been abandoned as our brains and bodies chase after the god of affluence, abundance and entertainment leaving our true selves barren and destitute.  God quietly and continually woos us through singing birds, warm fires, deep night skies and snow-covered mountains.  As our attention is slowly turned from ourselves to Him, He offers us cleansing and atonement through the sacrificial death of His Beloved Son, the Christ.  At that moment of faith we are reborn, literally, and are introduced to our truest selves, the selves that are aliens in the cities, but alive in the gardens.  Then our lives become increasingly sensitive to His goodness in the deep reds of our granddaughter’s hair to the softness of a spring breeze and we are filled with music and songs of praise.  What’s the result of this rebirth?  A Grateful Heart filled with Thanksgiving!!!  Those who have ears to hear let them hear.

Reese Jane Benson, first grandbaby

Following the Leader

II Chronicles 23-25

It’s always true that following God is a generational movement.  It only takes one generation for its effect to be lost or found.  No one in my father’s family was redeemed until he was.  Afterwards all those of age and most of the ones older than he have been redeemed.  This passage brings that truth to the forefront.  Whatever fathers follow, that generation follows.  “Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people.”  23:16  “…because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.”  24:24b   As the generation goes, so goes the culture and the country.   My older brother, a great Methodist minister, preached a sermon one time titled “What’s worse than going to hell?” The answer was  “Going to hell and meeting your children there.”

If anything is better than going to heaven, it would have to be going there and being with all your children.  It’s never too late to meet God; introduce Him to your children and make a covenant between Him and all of you.  Anyone can do it.  My father was 16 when he made The Covenant.  He is now “gathered to his fathers”, but The Covenant is being faithfully passed on to his great grandchildren, Reese, Cora, Knox Lee and Baby Bray!!!

DISTRACTED

II Chronicles 19-22

3:20 a.m.  Can’t sleep.  Up drinking chamomile tea and sitting on my back porch.  For once I beat the birds up.  Not many distractions at 3 a.m.  This passage starts out so well as the people of Judah live out lives dependent upon God, then they become distracted by power, ships and wounds.  Humans are so easily distracted, especially now that technology offers us so many ways to be that way.  The greatest distraction of all, however, is ourselves.  We are always trying to distract ourselves from thinking about, considering and meditating upon God.  God always requires our complete attention and we are often unwilling to offer that.  So we distract ourselves. 

You know what the good news is?  God is never distracted from us!   “How precious are your thoughts about me God.  They cannot be numbered.  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!  And when I wake up, (even at 3a.m.) you are still with me!”  Psalms 139:17-18

How Do I Live?

II Chronicles 15-18

Americans are desperate to know how to live.  Oprah tells us; CNN and Fox News ante up; Ellen and the government are laying it on thick and self-help and self-improvement books abound. 

These four chapters tell us that seeking the Lord is the best way to learn to live.  Many of us don’t know how to “seek the Lord.”  It’s very simple.  You read the Bible with a desire to know Him.   That’s what happens twice in this passage.  In 17:9 it says, “…having the book of the law of the Lord with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.”  Again in 18:6 “…is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” 

Here is one of the greatest truths you will ever learn: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”  II Timothy 3:16

Before you listen to anyone tell you how to live, you should ensure that they are daily reading the Bible, or better yet, you can read it yourself and get it first hand.  Whatta Deal!!!