"What's Around the Corner?"     2007

From Matthew 6

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.   Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Miles of Tile, 2007

We've been a little pre-occupied lately.  Sorry for not posting.  Working on floors, cabinets, shelves...but musing all the while about the things I would say, if I would take the time to say them.

I hope to have something to say soon.

Tonight, I heard a quote that summarizes it well.

"Some of us are in the season of fruit, while others are in the season of root, but God is in it all to His glory." - Isreal Houghton, Front Row Live, Moody Church

Last night, I awoke in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep.  So I got up and prayed for friends and family for a little while and then did some searching in the scriptures for the word HOPE.  I noticed at least three different uses of the word.

1. The Hope that comes through God's Word -- as we know His Word and meditate on it, God will fill our doubting hearts with His Hope (Psalm 119, 130, 131).

2. The act of placing our hope in God, as the only source of hope -- there are many things we can put our trust in or place our desires for completion and wholeness in, but only God will fill that void for us with hope (Psalm 31, 33, 42, 146).

3. The promise of Hope that comes through the work of God in our lives through His spirit -- that it is a grace of God to not only give us His Spirit to fill our lives with good fruit, but also to bring Hope when going through various trials (Romans 8, 2 Thessalonians 2).


From Psalm 119:145 - 152

 145 I cry out with my whole heart;
         Hear me, O LORD!
         I will keep Your statutes.
 146 I cry out to You;
         Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.
 147 I rise before the dawning of the morning,
         And cry for help;
         I hope in Your word.
 148 My eyes are awake through the night watches,
         That I may meditate on Your word.
 149 Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness;
         O LORD, revive me according to Your justice.
 150 They draw near who follow after wickedness;
         They are far from Your law.
 151 You are near, O LORD,
         And all Your commandments are truth.
 152 Concerning Your testimonies,
         I have known of old that You have founded them forever. 
         

Ghana Faucet, 2006

From Psalm 63

O God, You are my God;
         Early will I seek You;
         My soul thirsts for You;
         My flesh longs for You
         In a dry and thirsty land
         Where there is no water.

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
         To see Your power and Your glory. 
         
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
         My lips shall praise You.

Flicker we hardly knew thee, 2007

I am a scavenger.  My boys are scavengers.  We have this inability to walk by "interesting" things on the ground without picking them up to determine whether or not we should bring the item home.  My youngest son is an expert at finding money on the floor at Target (mostly pennies).  My older son is an expert at finding "another man's treasure," and I seem to be an expert at finding birds...dead ones.

To date, I have brought home a wood pecker, an unidentified avion (who spent many months in the freezer next to the ice cream waiting to be identified), and last week, I brought home a flicker.  There are so many amazing feathers on this one bird.  Breast feathers with spots, back feathers with diamond bars, yellow and black tail feathers and its head feathers are amazing, super-fine taupe feathers with a blaze of bright red.

There are a number of pasages in the scripture that speak to us being "under the shelter of His wings."  I know that it is a picture of protection, but after looking closely at the wings of God's creation I am also moved by the beauty of the idea.

From Psalm 91

 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
         And from the perilous pestilence.
 He shall cover you with His feathers,
         And under His wings you shall take refuge;
         His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
         Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

This past Sunday I sat down with my boys and we studied the following passage from Proverbs 6:

16 These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

I had the boys divide a sheet of paper into 7 quadrants and we wrote down or illustrated a Biblical example of each of the 7 things God finds an abomination. Over the last 18 months or so we have read as a family the books of Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Genesis, Exodus, Esther and are currently reading from Daniel and Numbers.

It was a wonderful time to review God's various judgments on people and nations that we have been studying from the perspective of Proverbs 6.

Here's the list that boys came up with:

1. The humbling of King Nebuchadnezzar (a proud look),
2. The striking down Ananais and Sappharia (a lying tongue),
3. The banishment of Cain (hands that shed innocent blood),
4. The downfall of Haman (a heart that devises wicked plans),
5. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (feet that are swift in running to evil--Daddy came up with that one),
6. The injustice of Christ's trial (a false witness who tells lies), and
7. Miriam's leprosy (one who sows discord among brethren).

I think that one of the great things about Proverbs 6:16 - 19 is that it gives us a way of understanding God's judgements (and His promises) as we read through the scriptures.  Whether that is the purifying of the Promised Land or the humbling of a Babylonian King, there are things that God hates and will not allow to continue.  Its been cool to already see the guys identifying those areas where they need to turn their hearts away from these items in thier own lives.

May our lives be free of these six, yes seven abominations.