Romans 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (NIV)

Hello?  Is this my life or what? How can I even think that I could stand before a Holy God, let alone, in some way, represent any notion, even the least bit Godly, to others?

While I have often felt that I should do some work for God, I have felt impure, tainted, stained, insignificant – and to top it off, I keep doing the things that I know that God does not want me to do and don’t do the things that I am sure God would have me to do.

Such ideas have plagued me, if not all my life, at least, all my adult life.  Some time ago, I felt an inward prompting to reread the Bible and post some thoughts as I went along.  In the past year and a half, I posted nine entries on my readings and none in the past six months.

Though I became an ordained minister over fifteen years ago, outside of wedding ceremonies, I have not preached since 2007.

God may have had Paul write this verse just for me.

After considerable soul searching, meditation, prayer, guilt tripping, reading, denial, and crying out to God, a particular thought has crossed my heart.  If I was standing in Death Valley and some one was standing on Mount Everest, in relation to one another, the guy on Mount Everest might be a whole lot higher in the air than me. However, in a relationship to the sun, we really are about the same distance. (Though in all likelihood, we would both be in a rather precarious position),

That is how it is with us. In relation to one another, some people may be a whole lot further along on the righteous scale.  In a relationship to God, none of us has much of an advantage. You see, it is not about my will, my word, my situation, my circumstance, or even my sin.  It is all about God’s will, God’s Word, God’s promises, God’s love, and God’s forgiveness.  Like Paul would also write, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Time to press on.

Esther 8:8  Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.” (NLT)

The Book of Esther is a great story of the Bible depicting how Esther saves her people from annihilation.  At this point in the story, the king of Persia has issued an edict that would seem to bring destruction upon the Israelites. What has been done cannot be undone. However, what lies ahead is still in the hands of the people concerned.

That is what struck me as I read this book. We may wish we could undo evil that we have done. We may desire to redo a missed opportunity. We may want to hold on to some fleeting moment from the past. Ultimately, yesterday is out of our grasp and try as we might, we cannot change it nor hold on to it.

However, our actions today and our hope for the future is still before us, and we have a great deal to say about that.

Nehemiah 4:17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. (NASB)

Talk about tough work conditions! Nehemiah led a group of Israelites from exile back to Jerusalem. There they rebuilt the wall around the city. They faced stiff and sometimes violent opposition.

The truth is: anytime someone tries to do something good (especially Godly), opposition will arise. In fact, if you never have anyone resist or oppose you, it probably means you hadn’t done anything.

Opposition and yes, haters, can be expected. Jesus, Himself, said, “If the world hates yoy, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (See John 15:18). Do not weary of doing what is good or right. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (See John 16:33)

If you have to work with one hand and carry a weapon in the other, at least let that weapon be the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

I recently had a dream in which I was Po from “Kung Fu Panda.” In this dream, Master Oogway said to me, “You must fast from nothing.”

With my mouth full of dumplings, I said, “You mean I don’t have to fast from anything?”

Master Oogway replied, “Fasting from nothing is not the same thing as not fasting from anything.”

To which I said, “Huh?”

Oogway continued, “If you do not fast from anything that amounts to nothing. If you fast from nothing, than everything that remains becomes important. And then… anything is possible.”

When I woke up, I realized that I partake in too much of my life that is nothing, amounts to nothing, or worse still, is less than nothing. It has a negative effect on me or the people around me.

Sometimes in our journey, we seem to cram more and more into our lives. More stuff. More events. More relationships. More everything. Perhaps what we need is to cut back and simply do more improvement to the things that are more important.

2 Chronicles 25:2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a true heart.

This scripture refers to Amaziah, King of Judah. His reign seemed to start out well, for all outward appearances. However, because his heart was not in the right place, he eventually strayed and went down the wrong path and plunged his kingdom into the darkness.

I have pondered and prayed about the story of Amaziah for awhile. On a personal level, I find that I must examine my own heart. My outward appearances may seem good or godly, at times. However, if my heart is not in the right place, I eventually will find that I am heading down a dark road. On another level, if our heart as a community or even as a nation, is not right, then we are on a road with no promising lights at its destination.

Now is a good time to examine the heart of all matters.

 “If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

The First and Second Books of Chronicles in the Bible do just that. They chronicle the lives and works of the kings of the Hebrew nation, the people, the events, successes, failings, and calamities.

When reading them, something becomes very clear.  You can never be so high up that you cannot be brought down.  Likewise, you can never be so far down that God cannot bring you up.

You are never so poor that God cannot make you rich. You are never so sick that God cannot heal you. Your heart is never so hard that God cannot soften it.  There is never so much darkness that the Light of God cannot pierce it.

Clearly, we must turn from what is wicked in humility, pray and seek God’s face.  We must also remember that God’s riches, God’s healing, God’s heart, and God’s Light may be very different from the world’s.

Ornan turned and saw the angel: and while his four sons were with him hid themselves, Ornan continued to thresh wheat.  As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he went from the threshing floor, and did obeisance to David with his face to the Ground. (1 Chron 21:20-21)

The back story: David displeased God by taking a census. (I believe this displeased God because David was beginning to measure his own strength and the power of his nation rather than God’s).  As a result, David faced punishment of his own choosing: 3 years of famine; 3 months of being subject to the sword of his enemies; or 3 days of the Sword of the Lord.

David put his fate in the Hands of God.

At the point of these verses, an angel of God was about to destroy Jerusalem, when God said, “Enough”. Upon the very ground that the angel stood was the threshing floor of Ornan.

David came and paid a handsome price for the land, on which he built an altar.

Now here’s the point: Ornan’s sons saw the angel and ran from God. We never read about them again in the Bible, as far as I can tell.  Ornan did not seem to fear the angel nor show any awe except to the king. He seemed to honor man more than God. He honored the man after God’s own heart, but a man nevertheless. Ornan received a fortune for the land, money, but not from God.  After this, we never hear of him again.

David honored God. A few verses later, we are told that David, himself, was too afraid to inquire of God because of his sin. He did, however, offer sacrifices to God. Fire came from heaven and consumed it. It was upon this ground, that David bought from Ornan, that the great Temple would be built.

The lesson is clear. Fear, honor, serve, and put your fate in the hands of man, you may get your just rewards. They will be a worldly blessing, but not God’s. If you fear, honor, serve, and put your fate in the hands of God, you will get a move of God in your life, and His blessing. I guess the choice is ours. What will your choice be?

And Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to number Israel   (1Chronicles 21:1)

I have always found this passage to be curious. King David gets himself (and subsequently the whole nation) into trouble with God by taking a census. However, what is wrong with a census? Isn’t pretty much the whole book of Numbers a census?

Let’s take a different look at this verse. The name Israel means “where God prevails”.  If we substitute the meaning of that name in this passage, it could read more like this: “And Satan rose up against where God prevails and incited David to limit where God prevails.”

God sees beyond what man can see. Perhaps at the heart of the matter, David began to trust in the power of his army, or perhaps he began to trust in himself and his own reasoning instead of trusting God. Whatever the reason, David did what he believed was right rather than what God said on the issue.

Man often does what is right in his own sight rather than follow the heart of God. Whenever that happens the door is open for Satan to rise up where once God had prevailed. Ignoring God’s Word did not work out so well in David’s time. I don’t think we should expect it to work out so well today.

Then let us bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of Him in Saul’s days. (1 Chronicles 13:3)

The people of Israel demanded a king. God gave them Saul, which seemed to please the majority of the people. However, King Saul soon got himself into trouble with God. I believe this verse touches on the heart of the matter. Saul failed to seek the Lord.

Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary says that the Hebrew word used here for inquire also means to consult; to seek in prayer and worship; to practice, study or follow. King Saul failed to do this and as a result he and his descendants would be removed from the throne and replaced by David and his lineage.

David was hardly perfect. He committed some grievous sins. However, when he did, he turned from where he missed the mark. He would repent and diligently seek the Lord. Not coincidentally, David’s reign would unite the Israelites and forge them into a great nation.

Subsequent kings would sometimes fall far from the Godly way and the nation would be plunged into deeper depths. Some kings would, to various degrees, seek the Lord and the Kingdom would be righted, for a time.

These are examples to which we should pay attention. The leaders of a nation, especially one in which the people ultimately choose those leaders, are a reflection of the cultural, ethical, and moral strengths and weaknesses of that people. When a people seek and value answers from a man or a group of men, instead of God, the nation and that people cannot avoid being pulled into decay and darkness.

The Good News is this: the Bible is clear on the way out. “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Enough said.

Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. (1 Chronicles 1:32)

It’s funny how you can read something in the Bible and yet it never sinks in. I read this verse in the Bible and Bam! I have always thought of Abraham has having two sons, Isaac and Ishmael.

The promise of God to Abraham would pass on to Isaac. The promises would pass on to his son Jacob and his offspring and to God’s chosen people. Ishamel would go on to tell the story of a great white whale. (Just seeing if you are paying attention).

Anyway, if I missed that one line in this verse that would not be so bad, right? Well lo and behold, Genesis 25 tells of Abraham’s second wife and their six sons together. Abraham took a second wife after Sarah died. When Sarah died, Abraham was 137 years old. Now everyone points out that God had to be behind Sarah getting pregnant when Abraham was a 100 years old, but here Abraham was having six more sons with Keturah when he was much older.

The Bible says that Abraham left his entire inheritance to Isaac, but while he was still alive he had given some (apparently substantial) gifts to the other sons. He then sent the sons of Keturah to the East.

Each of Abraham’s eight sons became the progenitor of a civilization, people, tribe or nation. As an interesting little point of discussion, in the Book of Matthew, it is written that the Magi (the Wise Men) came from the East to see the Christ child. Could they have been descendants of Abraham also?

My point being, if I missed this, how much more have I missed? The Bible tells us that it is the Holy Spirit that reveals truth to us and guides us. Many verses apply, but check out John 16:13. Wouldn’t it be a good idea for me to ask God for the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth and guide me through scripture every time I read my Bible.

Hey, I had a thought! Wouldn’t it be a good idea to ask God to reveal the truth and guide me through EVERYTHING every day of my life. Might cause me to look at things differently.