The Note Taker...HOPE

   While looking up scripture during my devotion time, I came across some notes I'd taken in bright orange highlighter.  I know some would be appalled at me writing in my Bible; I've used colored pencils, pens, pencils and highlighters. You see, I use to take notes on bulletins and in notebooks, but came to realize I never really went back to read those notes or couldn't find what I was looking for when I wanted to reread the notes. That's why I started taking notes in my Bible.
  What I came across was concerning HOPE. (Hope is the word God gave me for this year.) My notes were written in spaces on the pages containing Psalms 42 and 43. I think they were in a sermon Pastor Casey gave...not sure when. Here they are:

Despair is our recognition of our human condition. It drives us back to God. HOPE is God's recognition of our human condition and His response. Despair and HOPE occur simultaneously. Romans 8:8-25

   I also have verses 5 and 14 in Psalm 42 and verse 5 in Psalm 43 underlined. All are identical: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God." (NIV)

   I needed a little boost in the hope department. I was excited to find out my cancer is in remission. A little voice in the back of my mind said, "That just means you don't have symptoms; it could still pop up again." First I had to take my thoughts captive an place them under God's authority (II Corinthians 10:5). "So what if it does?" I thought, "Circumstances do not define me!" Then I was reminded that my hope is not wishful thinking. My HOPE is God's response to my human condition...that response is Jesus! My HOPE is real, unshakable and eternal.
   So glad I took those notes in my Bible! I came across them when I needed them. Think I'll continue to write in my Bible!

 

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

   No, don't worry; I won't be quoting Shakespeare.  This week's Bible study has me pondering names.  Can you guess what we're studying?  Think lists of names...genealogies...  We started I Chronicles.  I have to say, when I knew I & II Chronicles were coming up in our study, I wasn't thrilled.  I remember reading (or I guess I should say skimming) list after list of who begot who and whose father was who.  This time, however, I have a little better perspective.
   I've been reading the scripture readings on my Kindle in The Message version.  In his introduction to Chronicles, Eugene Peterson says, "Holy history is not constructed from impersonal  forces or abstract ideas; it is woven from names- persons, each one unique." Each name list is for a purpose, for a reason.
   In Adventuring Through the Bible, Ray Stedman says the genealogies are important for two reasons. One reason is to figure out Bible chronology.  The second is " to show God's plan in working through human beings to achieve His purposes." (Stedman, p.190)  Stedman goes on to point out how some people, although considered great in history, are only given a few verses, while others are covered in great detail.  The difference is some are more obedient than others.  God appears to dismiss those who human history may rank high according to human views, but do not have hearts aligned with His.
   This time as I read, instead of skimming, I looked at each name.  Oddly enough, I actually recognized some of the names as either "good" or "bad" kings and people who were mentioned in other portions of scripture.  (On a side note: I came across the name Kenaniah, my all-time favorite guy name.  Kenaniah was the Levite in charge of music/singing in the Temple. Petra, a vintage Christian rock group, had a song called "Kenaniah." )
    Saw a t-shirt.  The front said, "Christianity is not a religion."  The back said, "RELIGION IS HUMANS trying to work their way to God. CHRISTIANITY IS GOD, coming to men and women through a relationship with Jesus Christ."  Those men and women have names.  I'm not going to be skimming through the lists anymore!

Coincidence? Not!

     I don't believe in coincidences.  I believe everything happens for a reason (even if I don't always know that reason). Some people call those things that apparently happen "Godcidences."  One of those happened to me today.
     May 24th is my anniversary of sorts.  Four years ago today, I had a surgery that made me cancer free.  This evening I was reading scripture in preparation for my Bible study tomorrow evening.  I've been really busy packing my classroom, so I got a late start on reading the first thirteen chapters of II Kings.  I think I was reading exactly what I was suppose to read, exactly when I was suppose to read it.  You see, I remember vividly the scripture I read for my devotion the morning I received my cancer diagnosis.  It was  II Kings chapter 6. 
     In this chapter God causes an iron axhead to float and delivers an entire army into the hands of an unarmed prophet. I remember that morning when the question asked, after listing the amazing things God did, "Is there anything God cannot do?" I quickly thought, "Well, no, of course not!" When I heard the words, "It is cancer," that evening from my primary care doctor, I was reminded of my devotion from that morning and experienced peace as I tried to wrap my mind around what I'd just heard and prepare for the fight.
     Tonight, as I sat with my nephews while my sis kept a watch on the weather, I read over those same scriptures and was reminded of my experience from four years ago.  I shared with my nephews about the scriptures and they were wowed by the fact I didn't plan to read that particular passage, but did on my anniversary. I was wowed, too.  God continues to remind me that no matter what it is...cancer, storms, things seen, things unseen...there is nothing God cannot do.
     Thanks, God! I needed that reminder!

How Much of the Bible do You Believe?

   Last night I heard Todd Burpo speak.  Todd is the dad of Colton Burpo, the boy in the book Heaven is For Real.  ( I talked about the book on a past blog post.) I really enjoyed hearing Todd speak and Colton and his aunt sing.  It was wonderful seeing Colton's aunt and my sis's roomie from college.  One of my students and his family also attended.  I sat behind them and didn't realize it for the longest time!
    Something Todd said really hit me, and I've been thinking about it a lot.  First he asked, "How much of the Bible do you believe?"  I automatically thought, "All of it!"  Todd went on the say that most people would say they believe all of the Bible. (Is he a mind reader?!) He then stated, "The part that you do is the part that you believe."  Wow! Now that was a statement that challenged me.  I say I believe all of the Bible, but do I really act like it?  I remember somebody telling me that sometimes I may be the only Bible someone ever reads.  I need to work on making sure, if that's the case, I give the complete story!

Who is your country?

     No, that's not a misprint.  Who is your country? It's the question I asked myself after reading the introduction to I & II Samuel in The Message. Eugene Peterson is talking about four characters that dominate the two books...Hannah, Samuel, Saul, and David.  Peterson says, "Not one of them can be accounted for in terms of cultural conditions or psychological dynamics; God is the country in which they live."
     Okay, so that got me thinking, "Do I let my culture determine how I live.  Do I let what others think about me, my beliefs and my morals determine how I live?"  I think about how Romans 12:1-2 challenges me not to conform to the way the world thinks and acts. I am very blessed to have been born in the physical country in which I reside.  I've seen the conditions and heard stories from the people of those countries about the persecution they suffered because of their beliefs. In spite of our location on the Earth, I believe that God can be the country in which we live.  I want God to be the country in which I live. 
     Being a teacher, I think of what defines a country's boarders and gives it its identity.  Things like mountains, rivers, plains, deserts...natural things that may physically mark a boarder...surround a country to define where it ends/begins or give the country it's physical features. Other things define a country. Currency, economy, culture, and government come to mind. 
     Being a Christian, I see how the things that define a country are the some of the very things that define God.  God did come in the physical...Jesus.  He lived, taught how to live in God's kingdom, died, was resurrected and lives.  When I think of currency and economy, I think about God's currency and exchange rate being love, grace and mercy and how He gives it freely.  In God's economy, giving is the priority.  Does that mean God wants us to be poor? No, He wants us to take our gifts and talents, whatever they may be, and use them for His glory. God's culture is described in detail in His book, the Bible.  The descriptions tell stories of real people in real situations who make good and bad choices.  The descriptions tell about a God who is personally involved in the lives of people. God's culture is not materialistic, greedy, about success or power or being in style.  What is it about?  See Romans 12:1-2.
     Okay, I'm done.  I do want to close with one more quote from Peterson's intro to I & II Samuel.  "God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves" (The Message-the Kindle Edition, 2002).  That actually reminds me of the study "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby.  What I really remember from that study is that instead of trying to come up with some really great program or "thing" to do for God, see where God is working and join Him. A post for another day!