1 Chronicles 23-25, Gods Election

 “All these men were under their own fathers’ authority for the music in the Lord’s temple, with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of God’s temple. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the king’s authority. They numbered 288 together with their relatives who were all trained and skillful in music for the Lord. They cast lots for their duties, young and old alike, teacher as well as pupil. ”

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭25‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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I wonder what happened if you were assigned to the worship team but you were born tone-deaf?  Maybe God ensured that didn’t happen, or maybe you got assigned to the rhythm section?  A silly question, but it stood out to me that these families were elected (by God) to specific areas of service based on family, not necessarily skill…

Numbers 5-6, Salvation Trumps

 “He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, while the mark of consecration to his God is on his head. He is holy to the Lord during the time of consecration.”

‭‭Numbers‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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Interesting how making a vow to the Lord trumps all other relationships.  It seems like the Lord is pointing out that a decision to follow Him should become the lens for viewing all other decisions.  Just like our salvation should shape every following choice, path or venture.

Lord, help me to thoughtfully consider every idea, word or action that I make in light of knowing You!

Exodus 28-29, Set Apart

 “I will dwell  among the Israelites and be their God.  And they will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭29‬:‭45‬-‭46‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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God is once again very particular about how they accomplish all these things…but then He tells us why at the very end of these last 5 chapters:

“And they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

It is an identity statement, a reminder that they/we are not like every other people, but rather they/we are Gods people.  We are consecrated, set apart, different, a holy priesthood… if that is how I viewed myself at all times, I suspect I would have less displeasing sin in my life.

Lord, help me to embrace the calling that I am not just another person, but rather the identity You give me in Christ!

Genesis 8-11, Captivating Chaos

“And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky.  Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.” Then the Lord came down  to look over the city and the tower that the humans  were building. The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭11‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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The Tower of Babel is a story that seems to play out in miniature throughout history and in our own lives.  Many people today point to AI as the next iteration of humanity creating a technology that eliminates the need for God.  But on a small scale, I know that I can get just as fixated on some shiny new idea that distracts me from my relationship with God.  I can easily put so much attention toward whatever it is that I neglect my family and other responsibilities.

Lord, help me to keep You at the center of my attention so that I don’t pridefully chase after something that becomes an idol.  Help me to see clearly when there are distractions from my rightful priorities so that I can surrender them to You!

John 13:31-35, Standout Love

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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Our love for each other should be sacrificial and beyond what the world calls love.  Jesus is telling us that if we are loving as He instructs us, those who don’t follow Christ will think we are weird.  It should set us apart from all other people…

Lord, I know I don’t always love like this, help me to see when I am not living up to these standards.  Convicted me and show me what Your love would look like…then change me to be more like You!!!

John 10:1-13, Thief vs Shepherd

 “The gatekeeper opens it for [the Shepherd], and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 

I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭3‬-‭4‬, ‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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One way we can tell if we are following Jesus is if He is giving us life in abundance…that doesn’t necessarily mean everything is going perfectly or that we are not experiencing trials, but it does mean that He is with us, and through whatever we face, we see His fingerprints and feel His peace.  He knows us intimately, who I am, where I struggle and what my weaknesses are.

That is just as true if we are following a thief or a liar.  Death and destruction abound.  Joy is consistently stolen.  We are facing trials, with no peace, full of fear and confusion.  Every step seems to be trudging uphill through calf-deep mud sucking away our hope and energy.

Lord, I want to follow You!  Remove the blinders when I am following the thief…let me hear Your voice and follow You!

John 3:1-8, Motivational Transformation

“Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…. unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.””

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬, ‭5‬-‭6‬, ‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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What a confusing start of the conversation, especially since the answer was so much different than the question…however this is a powerful statement.  Just knowing that Jesus was from God does not give you eternal life.  Jesus is telling us that our spiritual birth will change who we are and what we actually do.

That is why he uses the analogy of the wind, just like we don’t see the wind we can very easily see the results of the wind.  The same is true of people who are “born again”, saved: we cannot see the Holy Spirit enter the person, but we see the evidence of that change.  

We go from selfishness, where every decision is based on what makes me feel good, to making decisions based on what God wants us to do.  The evidence is when we begin to sacrifice the things that previously made us happy to instead do what makes God happy.  The best part is- we are actually happier doing what God wants!!!

Psalm 120- Friends Matter

 “I have dwelt too long with those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭120‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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I am struck by this section because it highlights such an important reality: you become like the people you spend time with.  It doesn’t matter what your intentions are…you will slowly start to think and act more like your friends every day.

So, choose your friends strategically…think about it: what do you want to be in 5yrs?  Lord help me to become more Christlike!

Psalm 67- Blessings as Billboard

 “May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine upon us, 

Selah 

so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy, for you judge the peoples with fairness and lead the nations on earth.

Selah 

Let the peoples praise you, God, let all the peoples praise you. The earth has produced its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭67‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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What an amazing plan that God has…He wants to demonstrate who He is by blessing the people that follow Him.

This is The God I want to follow.  Not just so that I can be blessed, but because this is His plan.  He blesses us when we follow Him, in this life and after we die.  Other religions require sacrifices to hopefully make their gods less angry, or with a possibility of getting something good, but the true God is just the opposite.

We are truly blessed to know You Father, I pray that my life is a billboard for knowing You!

Psalm 60- Battle for Us

 “Save with your right hand, and answer me, so that those you love may be rescued. Give us aid against the foe, for human help is worthless. With God we will perform valiantly; he will trample our foes.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭60‬:‭5‬, ‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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David was at war and felt that God was holding back.  David recognizes that it truly is God which is needed to help.  Anything less would just drag out the suffering…

Today I don’t have physical enemies but I do face this battle spiritually.  Daily I am faced with temptation that I am at war with…it may just be laziness or even fighting against performance to define my value.  Those seem silly because they are the opposite ends of the same spectrum, but the battle is real, and I must depend on God to bring me through with the healthy mindset.  We all face similar challenges that can only be overcome by God!

Lord help me to turn to you as soon as I recognize the fight is starting.  Allow me to recognize it early and not waste time fighting in my strength…it is just wasted energy because nothing can stand before You! We are so blessed to have your strength, power and support at every moment of every day!  Thank You for loving me!

Psalm 53- Wisdom & Foolishness

 ”The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.“

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭53‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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This Psalm is contrasting the wise with the foolish person. The fool is one who pretends like there is no God.  They walk around not thinking about God or about what He may desire for them.  The result is that they focus only on themselves and what seems “good” to them…which cascades into selfish behavior that is packed with sin…often unintentional, but sin nonetheless.

This is contrasted by the wise person who is seeking after God.  Seeking requires effort…it is not just stumbling upon God, rather it is thinking, planing and making decisions to understand God.  Choosing to learn about God from the Bible, spending time with people who know Him more than they do and shaping their behavior in a way the would please God.  This choice always requires sacrifice of things that they would rather do, places they would prefer to go and even priorities of life.  Wise people seek God and are changed.

Lord, help me delight in seeking You!  You have shaped my sometimes aimless life into one that brings joy and peace, knowing that I am serving You in thought, word and action.  My delight is knowing You and living in a way that demonstrates that to the people around me.  Thank You for saving me from my natural foolishness and allowing wisdom to grow in its place!

Zechariah 5- Worshiping Sin?

 ”So I asked, “What is it?” He responded, “It’s a measuring basket that is approaching.” And he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” “To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “When that is ready, the basket will be placed there on its pedestal.”“

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬, ‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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Zechariah continues to see visions and this one is shocking!  A basket, which is normally used to measure out their produce and see how profitable their harvest is, is flying toward them.  A strange sight indeed…but even more interesting is that the Angel (who is explaining the vision) tells him it represents all of their sin.  The work of their hands (what they work at producing, what they toil to make) is literally sin!

Then it gets worse!  They are working diligently to sin, intentionally doing more against God, and then worshiping the sin itself!!!  This is horrifying and tragic…

But the question I must ask is, how are we like this?  How do I behave in a similar way?  

I know that I have worshiped my work.  What I mean is that the work that I did seemed more important than family commitments.  I spent years traveling away from family.  I spent seasons dragging my kids and wife to event after event weather it was good for them or not…that sounds a lot like worshiping sin.  

What made this tricky, is that those things seemed like they were good.  I was able to convince myself and others that these were the right choices.

I look around and see the same thing in society, we desire something. so we convince ourselves and everyone around us that what we want is actually good!  Then we are willing to do the sinful things that we want and get angry if anyone does not join us in admiring the “goodness” of our sin.  How tragic!!!

Lord open my eyes to see where I still do this today.  I am so weak that I can fall into this trap again…but I desperately want to avoid it!  I want to worship You only and recognize my sin for what it is, repent and run away from it!  I want my life, my words, my actions and motives to bring You glory.  I want to hate sin and love Your ways.  That is the opposite of natural for me, I need You to empower me! Give me the strength to hate evil and surrender my desires to You!!!

Zephaniah 1- False Hope

 ”And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who settle down comfortably, who say to themselves: The Lord will do nothing — good or bad. Their wealth will become plunder and their houses a ruin. They will build houses but never live in them, plant vineyards but never drink their wine. Their silver and their gold will be unable to rescue them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all the inhabitants of the earth.“

‭‭Zephaniah‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬-‭13‬, ‭18‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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Zephaniah was a prophet in the time of King Josiah who became king as a boy.  The priests found the scriptures while cleaning out the Temple and Josiah turned the whole country back to following God.  This must have been written prior to them returning to God because Zephaniah is going on and on about how God will punish them for rejecting Gods path.

Gods people have slowly turned away from following Him, to the point they don’t think that He will ever do anything, good or bad.  They are acting like He doesn’t exist.  They feel safe because they have a home and food and even some good times.  But God is not stopped by these things, in fact it just makes their destruction more devastating.

Lord, help me not trust in my paycheck, or good health.  Let me not find comfort in my possessions or even my service to you.  Help me to rest only in you, in who you are and how you have transformed me.  All of those physical things are fleeting…but my identity in you is forever.  You are amazing to love me, help me to love you and serve you with every thought, action and conversation!

Hosea 8- Identity

 ”Though I were to write out for him ten thousand points of my instruction, they would be regarded as something strange.“

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬ ‭CSB‬‬

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This chapter is hard to read because Israel is continuing in their own way and looking for new ways to reject God.  But this verse to me is the pinnacle: even if God were to write out a step-by-step instruction manual for how to know Him, their response would be “what language is this written in?”  They are so far from Him that they have no clue who He is, or what He desires for them.

How devastating for Israel!  They are literally a people who are defined by knowing God and following His instructions.  This is the only thing that sets them apart, it is their identity…

Lord, help me to never forget who you are.  My only valuable identity is as your child, as one who seeks to know you more.  I want to know and love your instruction!  But God, I need your protection so that I don’t forget, so that I don’t get distracted, so that I don’t hold any identity as more valuable than child of God.