Continuing on from my previous post- I find it fascinating the decision to draw close to God despite the obvious acknowledgement of unworthiness.
David returned to God.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Similar story with Jonah, who recognized his despair.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
Gideon got to see God's provision, despite initial hesitation.
Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years.
Lately I have been thinking about the decisions people, and myself, make. How the results of decisions are very consistent with the values of which they are made. What's the rock of my decision making, and how could it be better? (decisions can always be better) How am I improving others with my decisions, or is it just about how I can benefit? The decisions David, Jonah, Gideon, and many other biblical people make, all have that interesting turning point from self-service decision making, to God praising/glorifying decision making. From that comes the benefit of others, and the fulfillment of the role He has made me for.
Important end-note: God honoring people help with this particular goal ;) and He has blessed me with what I need!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Consistency (As We Do Today) Part 1
I've had a hard time thinking about things to write lately! Lately I have dived into the spoken language much more then the written. Which is odd considering I used to be a much bigger fan of the latter....
In anycase, it came to me during men's bible study a topic to write on that I am pretty on fire about, consistency. Pretending that I have blogged more then once in the last 2 months, I love seeing consistency in a few things.
One thing I love and purposefully seek out in people is a mindset. How do they decide how to do things? Why do they feel that is the best method to go about this decision? You'd be surprised how much you can learn from others...I find it interesting how a person will come upon multiple situations in life and yet tend to make very similar choices. Usually the decision is based off past experience. If none exists, moral/ethical/belief system. (or even a mix between the two) and if that doesn't exist, emotion or a logical prediction of an outcome based on what has been witnessed in life thus far. (<--which is very variable if you think about it) Possibly a few others that don't immediately come to mind.
I guess what I'm saying is the consistency in what I have witnessed in this area is that there's always a rock. A deciding factor, or a basis for decisions. Always. And from what I have noticed, that basis will determine how a life is lived. People will tend to face very similar situations, and react very differently. It makes me question how I make decisions.
Something I find interesting while going through the old testament lately is that the people then and the people now are very consistent in at least one area that sticks out to me. People can choose to be with God and they can choose not to, and that one decision will affect every other one a person makes- directly or indirectly.
If I pay attention, I notice consistent theme's in God's word. One of the ones that have jumped out to me lately, (with the help of my awesome wife!) is how people in the old testament have the exact same decision to make as we do today! They knew, (as do we) what is was that was required to be considered "good enough" for God. They also knew, as we do today, that nobody met the requirements.
Sadly, for people then and now- the decision tree stops there. Too many people I know today don't consider themselves good enough, without even seeing the beauty of that very realization being step one. Just the slightest bit of more digging would beg (what I hope anyway) a very revealing question- How is it that if nobody in the bible was good enough for God, (Christ excluded) there are a number of people "after God's own heart?" Clearly it must be because those particular people were indeed good enough...Right?
2 Samuel 11:26-27
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
Back story- King David (that is, KING of GOD's people) basically impregnates a woman, then arranges an army's battle plan so that her husband (woops- married.) goes first, and dies. Shady.
Jonah (not even kidding you- favorite book/story in the bible) God calls this dude directly!
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Instead, Jonah pulls what could quite possibly be the most notorious "peace out" ever recorded.
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
We just recently went over the story of Gideon at our church. Fascinating really. Maybe not as well known as the previous two. This is a guy that God calls to lead an army of Israel out of oppression. Except Gideon cites...
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
To which God responds...
The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites (oppressors), leaving none alive.”
Hmm- this is getting a little long..Stay Tuned for Part 2!
In anycase, it came to me during men's bible study a topic to write on that I am pretty on fire about, consistency. Pretending that I have blogged more then once in the last 2 months, I love seeing consistency in a few things.
One thing I love and purposefully seek out in people is a mindset. How do they decide how to do things? Why do they feel that is the best method to go about this decision? You'd be surprised how much you can learn from others...I find it interesting how a person will come upon multiple situations in life and yet tend to make very similar choices. Usually the decision is based off past experience. If none exists, moral/ethical/belief system. (or even a mix between the two) and if that doesn't exist, emotion or a logical prediction of an outcome based on what has been witnessed in life thus far. (<--which is very variable if you think about it) Possibly a few others that don't immediately come to mind.
I guess what I'm saying is the consistency in what I have witnessed in this area is that there's always a rock. A deciding factor, or a basis for decisions. Always. And from what I have noticed, that basis will determine how a life is lived. People will tend to face very similar situations, and react very differently. It makes me question how I make decisions.
Something I find interesting while going through the old testament lately is that the people then and the people now are very consistent in at least one area that sticks out to me. People can choose to be with God and they can choose not to, and that one decision will affect every other one a person makes- directly or indirectly.
If I pay attention, I notice consistent theme's in God's word. One of the ones that have jumped out to me lately, (with the help of my awesome wife!) is how people in the old testament have the exact same decision to make as we do today! They knew, (as do we) what is was that was required to be considered "good enough" for God. They also knew, as we do today, that nobody met the requirements.
Sadly, for people then and now- the decision tree stops there. Too many people I know today don't consider themselves good enough, without even seeing the beauty of that very realization being step one. Just the slightest bit of more digging would beg (what I hope anyway) a very revealing question- How is it that if nobody in the bible was good enough for God, (Christ excluded) there are a number of people "after God's own heart?" Clearly it must be because those particular people were indeed good enough...Right?
2 Samuel 11:26-27
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
Back story- King David (that is, KING of GOD's people) basically impregnates a woman, then arranges an army's battle plan so that her husband (woops- married.) goes first, and dies. Shady.
Jonah (not even kidding you- favorite book/story in the bible) God calls this dude directly!
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Instead, Jonah pulls what could quite possibly be the most notorious "peace out" ever recorded.
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
We just recently went over the story of Gideon at our church. Fascinating really. Maybe not as well known as the previous two. This is a guy that God calls to lead an army of Israel out of oppression. Except Gideon cites...
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
To which God responds...
The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites (oppressors), leaving none alive.”
Hmm- this is getting a little long..Stay Tuned for Part 2!
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