Wrapped in light

Psalm 104:1-3

"O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.  He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.  He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind."

As I read these verses, the imagery and language really made God come alive.  Reading poetry like this helps put things in perspective.  I had a sense of the 'bigness' of God.  He is so far above us, and all around us!  It's great just to sit for a few minutes and think about his glory and power.  This can be a spiritual act of worship.

Generosity overflowing

Doesn't it hurt to be generous sometimes?  I don't know about you, but even though I want to give freely to God's mission, or those in need, or just enjoy a good time with friends, there's something in me that says, "No, this is mine.  This is my money, my time."  But how liberating would it be to just let go?  If we have the right attitude, we would receive back one-hundred-fold the reward if we were generous versus reticent.  If we do it grudgingly, and all the while think about what else could have been done with our resources, there's really no point, although after a while it might become a little easier to do.  If you're one of the ones who finds it difficult to be benevolent, ask that God would develop that gift in you, and you'll see a difference.

Godly sorrow

2 Corinthians
Sometimes, sorrow and grief are necessary.  As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7, we need to feel the pain of our mistakes in order to correct our behaviour and move on.  The key is that this sorrow comes from God's Spirit in us. Sometimes we can feel bad for no reason and try to change ourselves, or we feel bad because we got caught.  With godly sorrow, God's Spirit in us will work on our conscience and we'll be grieved because we disobeyed God.  When the Holy Spirit is involved, we have a far better chance at repentance and new life than we would on our own.
When you experience grief, sorrow, or guilt over your actions or lifestyle, ask God to work in your heart and he can renew you.

Obedience is better than sacrifice

1 Samuel
Today I learned that even if we think we're doing God a favour, we aren't if we have not followed his commands.  That's where this verse comes in - 1 Samuel 15:22 - Obedience is better than sacrifice.  Saul had just waged war against the Amalekites, as the Lord had asked.  However, God had also told Saul to kill all the Amalekites, both the people and their animals.  Saul killed the weak ones, but left the king alive, as well as the choicest sheep and other animals.  He was going to sacrifice these animals to God, thinking he would be pleasing God. However, this is what Samuel the prophet tells Saul: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."
God is not interested in our offerings if we can't actually follow his word.  In the end, it will go better for us, even if we can't seem to understand that right away.  Here's what happened to Saul - Samuel killed the Amalekite king, and God took the kingship away from Saul and gave it to David.
It seems to me that living within the will of God is far better than trying to get on his good side in our own way.

Clearing out the temple

Mark
Jesus wasn't just concerned about clearing out the moneychangers and livestock market from the temple.  The temple area where these people were conducting business was meant to be the court of the Gentiles, the place where Gentiles could come and worship God.  They couldn't move any farther into the temple, but they could come to this outer court to worship and pray.  When the place was full of animals and people trying to do business, the hubbub was so loud that others could hardly think, let alone try and pray to God.  When Jesus cleared out the temple (Mark 11), he said "My house is a house of prayer for all nations."  He wanted all people to be able to come and worship God, not just the Jews.  God is available for all of us!

Light and momentary troubles

2 Corinthians
It sounds so nice and simple - our "light and momentary troubles" are achieving for us an eternal glory.  And yet, when we're living through these circumstances, they don't seem so light and momentary.  That's where our weekly gatherings with other Christians come in handy - we can encourage each other to keep going, to remember that there are far better experiences in store for us.  When we're all alone, it's a lot easier to get tunnel vision and start thinking that what is here and now is all there is.  Let's encourage each other to lift our eyes to a higher power and stay focused on God's kingdom, not ours.  With that new mindset, we'll be able to withstand anything!

The fall of Jericho

Today's post doesn't have anything to do with today's readings, but it does relate to something else I read today.  I'm reading Paul Copan's book "When God Goes to Starbucks".  He was giving reasons for believing that God does indeed participate in this world, as opposed to the belief of Deists, who think that God set the world in motion and then basically forgot about it.  Anyway, God interacts with us through natural events and through miracles.  Natural events follow the laws of nature, but the timing of such events was directly affected by God, while miracles are events that cannot be explained through natural causes.  For example, an earthquake is a naturally occurring event, while someone coming back to life when they were physically dead is a miracle as that conflicts with natural laws.  All this is to say that perhaps the fall of Jericho wasn't a miracle, so to speak.  I always read this story and thought that the Israelites blew the trumpets and the city fell.  Copan mentioned in passing that God could have timed the two events - the blowing of the trumpets and the falling of the city - at the perfect moment so that when an earthquake hit Jericho and it collapsed, the Israelites just happened to be blowing the trumpets on their final round around the city.  Sort of like when the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry land due to an earthquake upstream.  It's amazing to see how God may have used such natural occurrences to achieve his goals.  What are your thoughts on this version of Josh and the Big Wall?