Sunday, September 25, 2005

The Road of Life

Psalm 90 : " 10 Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone. 11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.

12 Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. 13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us see your miracles again; let our children see your glory at work. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!"

Had a fun football win Friday night and then ran a 5K race on SAT- I haven't been running as much because of football- and the course was a winding up hill for half the race challenge!

While I was running, I became overwhelmed at how good God has been to me. Just to be able to run when last fall I had a torn meniscus and could barely walk- the trail was beautiful- and I was hurting. It is like life- it is bittersweet- glory and pain- successs and emptiness.

I agree with the Psalmist- Come to us Oh Lord- no more delay! Let our children see you anew! Yes- make our efforts successful!
AMEN

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The Desire of Delight

Psalm 81:8 "Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen! 9 You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god. 10 For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. 11 "But no, my people wouldn't listen. Israel did not want me around. 12 So I let them follow their blind and stubborn way, living according to their own desires. 13 But oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths! 14 How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes! 15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him; their desolation would last forever. 16 But I would feed you with the best of foods. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."

Open your mouth wide to God and He will fill it with good things. Your enemies will be subdued quickly, you will eat the best of foods, and receive wild honey from the rock. God is that good. He brings blessings when we can't imagine. Open up to Him, be willing to be submissive to His ways. He humble and quietly trust. It is a delicious life with Him!

But if you resist and bow up to Him and shut your eyes and mouth- then beware. You have no clue how unfulfilling it is to follow your own desires. You serve other gods, ultimately being a god to yourself- and we are very poor gods.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The Control of Katrina

How does one Biblically respond to Katrina?

#1 God is in control- He was not absent from the storm. He was the fury of it. He was the pilot of it. Nothing happens outside of His sovereignty.

#2 The rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt 5). Katrina represented judgement for some and graduation to heaven for others. See Jesus commentary in Luke 13 on human disaster. The question is always- "Am I ready for my death?"

#3 God is love and compassionate. In the storm, is also God's love. It is the same love shown on the cross. Where was God when Katrina struck? He was in the same place as when His Son hung on the cross. He is in control and full of love.

#4 For the believer. tragedy is turned to triumph. Rom, 8:28 promises that all things work for good. How can that be? The reaction to the tragedy shows God's truth. It shows mans depraved nature (Rom 3:23) in the looting and crime. It shows the existence of God in how we value life (we spend money and risk lives to save lives). It gives God's people a chance to show compassion (II Corin 1). It wakes us up from trivial lives of idolatry.

What is more comforting? Katrina with no God in control or Katrina being used by God to fulfill His purposes?

How you answer that question shows what risk you have taken for eternity.

See Joseph's faith in Genesis 50.

Psalm 74:9 You stand up to judge those who do evil, O God, and to rescue the oppressed of the earth. 10 Human opposition only enhances your glory, for you use it as a sword of judgment.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

WIN WIN WIN !

Wow- a great, exciting victory last night! Our players played so hard. We still made a ton of mistakes, but I loved their fire and passion!

I am so humbled. My God is so generous to me.

Did He cause us to win? I can't argue that. He does care about the game and sovereignly uses the outcome for His good purposes.

But reagrdless.... it was pure fun. A thrilling come from behind, down to the last play..WIN.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Game Day

Tonight at 7:00 we get another chance to win after a two week wait. Man, this has been tough. We have a very tough opponent tonight. We will have a packed stadium and the game will be live on TV. we have had good preparation and are OK healthy.

I love gameday. It actually starts for me yesterday, we go out in shorts and rehearse game situations on our gamefield. We then watched our middle school win a good game.

The school relaxed our dress code today, we are wearing jeans and school colors- we will have a pep rally at the end of the school day.

It is just a fun day.

I'm thankful to live in a country where we can do this. At the same time, I will be thinking about New Orleans today and praying.

I hope to report big win in my next post.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

God's Special Treasure

Micah 2:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him. 17 "They will be my people," says the LORD Almighty. "On the day when I act, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient and dutiful child. 18 Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."

Oh to be a treasure of the Lord- to be remembered- to be adopted- to be paid for by the blood of Jesus-to be spared- to be His people.


Do we really understand what it means to be in His shelter?

All I can say is a hollow "thanks"- O h Lord, Do I even know to whom I pray? Please translate this limping metaphor of praise.