The Bible gives us examples how to approach the throne. In First Samuel 1:10 , Hannah approached God "in bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD". Esther approached after much fasting (see Esther 4 - 5 ) (Yes, I know she was approaching the king's throne but she fasted and interceded in prayer before approaching the king's throne.) In Exodus 17 , " Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. 16 He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD." And don't forget how Jesus approached God in complete submission and obedience on the cross! From these few verses we see that 1) we should approach the throne - God expects it.  God is prepared for it.  2) we should be humbled and prepared to be honest.  3) We should approach God's throne as an act of praise. God already knows what we need.  God already knows what we want.  God wants us to understand what we need and what we want and that God can provide all ...

2 Thessalonians 2: 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth....  "Breath" is used 79 times in the NIV version of the Bible.  We find out immediately upon opening Scripture that God's breath is powerful.  After all, God spoke and everything was created. There was darkness - absent of all light, no reflections, no stars, no moon, no glittering or shining anything until God spoke. And what is speaking if it isn't breath manipulated into words and in God's case, into actions as well. In the book of Revelation, there is a huge buildup to the climax of Satan's army against Jesus. It builds through many chapters describing the evil armies and their preparations and in two short phrases out of the mouth of Jesus, comes the sword that kills them all.  Just like that all evil is destroyed. In the ...

Judges 6:6 (NLT) So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the L ord for help. The Israelites suffered after the Midianites took over their land, taking their livestock and crops.  The Israelites were in dire straits.  They had been ignoring God, forgetting to worship Him. Verse 1 says: The Israelites did evil in the L ord ’s sight. So the L ord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. It wasn't until things got very, very bad, and people were starving, that they finally cried out to God for help. Are we any different? As things are going our way, or as long as we think we can handle the situation, we ignore God.  This is doing evil in God's sight. We don't praise Him for who He is.  We don't thank Him for the innumerable gifts and mercies and grace poured out on us. We complain about a tough situation that could be so much worse. We are ungra teful, selfish, cry babies. - Ok maybe just I am but I doubt...

Exodus 12: 1- 7, 12-13   1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb [ a ] for his family, one for each household. 4 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destruct...

I was asked to do the Easter sunrise service meditation.  Here it is, complete with scripture. We had a powerpoint slide show with this on a big screen (done by Deanna Etienne).  Try to picture appropriate scenes where they come to mind.  I read this very slowly - took 6 - 7 minutes so it was SLOW and reflective! John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 1 John 4 9-10, 19 : This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 19 We love because he first loved us. Wonderful God, we praise you and ask that you guide our thoughts. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our heart s be pleasing in your sight, O LORD.  Amen. Please join me by reflecting on the significance and eve...

I received the following in an email today. I have no idea who wrote it but will gladly give proper credit if/when I find out. If I find that they don't want me to post it, I will delete it. It is Good Friday. I am babysitting for my grandson and haven't the time to create my own post. I hope you don't mind. Have a great day. Remember that Christ died today just for you. One day I(the author) hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, ...

Judgment Day By Wanda L. Dyson / WaterBrook Press When news show host Suzanne Kidwell reports a sensational story about financier John Sterling that proves false, she loses her credibility---and her job. Three months later, Sterling is found dead in Suzanne's living room! Terrified, she turns to her ex-fiance Marcus Crisp for help. Will the secrets surrounding Suzanne's enemies reveal something worth killing for? 352 pages, softcover from Waterbrook. I really like mysteries, who dunnits, and novels of suspense. I haven’t read a lot of Christian novels, but some of the ones I’ve read haven been sappy and tried too hard to demonstrate that they are Christian novels.   This book, Judgment Day , is a who-dunnit mystery that is not sappy or that tries too hard to be Christian. The characters are flawed, including the Christian ones. There is a lot of room for differing Christian character traits and diversity in Christian beliefs (i.e. gun control) while not ever becoming ...

Hebrews 12:15 "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." See to it that no one misses the grace of God..... The prior verse, verse 14, is " Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." It is our job as Christians to help people see God. We are supposed to be being remolded and reshaped into the image of God.  Our actions should be one way that we help people see God. When we " make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy " we help people see God. When we behave as Christ would, we demonstrate the love of God. Each and every encounter of each and every day is an opportunity to demonstrate the grace of God. You may have the same type of encounter each day.  We go to work with the same people, run into the same people at the store, live with the same people in our homes. Do they always see the grace of ...

This is Holy Week. It is the most important week in the Christian calendar. The week starited with celebration, where Jesus is hailed as the one who saves.  The crowds shouted "Hosanna" which means SAVE US. We can shout that today!  Hosanna - Jesus, Save Us! The week started with shouts of celebration, hailing the Lord. By the end of the week, there are shouts of "crucify Him"! The crowds were probably made of different groups of people but what a change! Jesus is dead by the end of the week.  He'd been beaten, ridiculed, slandered.  The wealthy, the educated, the "upper crust" feared Jesus so they wanted Him dead. But at the start of the next week, hope again rules the day. Jesus overcomes the harsh and unjust treatment He'd received. Jesus overcomes. He overcomes death, sin, unjust treatment. Jesus rose from the tomb. What is truly amazing is that this short ministry is still going on!  We are still celebrating Jesus and His ministry and teac...

Matthew 22 :14 “ For many are invited, but few are chosen. ” This is another passage that troubles me. Jesus is using another parable; this time about the Wedding Banquet. I get that many are invited. I know a lot of people who say they know God, that they even worship God in some way but haven't given themselves over to God, not even in a small way....even by their own admission. They seem like they don't know what that means. They can relay stories of how God has been with them, has provided for them but their experiences seem to be around what God does for them and not about their relationship with Him. So I get that people are invited to this relationship but don't put any effort into the relationship being a two way street. The part that bothers me, is "but few are chosen". Does that mean that some people, even though they are invited to a relationship with God are not chosen to be part of His kingdom? And since they are not chosen, they are not part of ...

You probably know Thomas the disciple as Doubting Thomas. Poor guy. One time he says something he shouldn't and it sticks with him.  John 20 :25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”    But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”  You may also know Thomas as the twin. If you've ever read the footnotes in your Bible, you might know that Thomas is also called Didymus. The footnote from the NIV version says that Thomas is Aramaic and Didymus is Greek and that both mean twin . I don't know anything about the other twin.  But most of us remember the "Unless I see the nail marks....I will not believe it" verse. Yes, that's the verse we remember. That's a pity because the another verse shows Thomas' loyalty and devotion to Jesus.  In John 11 , Jesus says that he will go back to Jerusalem to see Lazarus who has died and ...

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose to heal the ones he choose to heal? I mean, why didn't he just do mass healings?  Like when he was in the house that the friends dropped their crippled friend on a mat through the roof - why didn't Jesus heal everyone who was there? When the woman touched the hem of his robe, why didn't others who'd touched his or his robe at the same time receive healing? Some were healed when they asked to be healed. Others were healed when other people asked Jesus to heal them. A select few were chosen by Jesus to be healed.  Was this to demonstrate diversity? Diversity in who is chosen?  Diversity in condition and circumstances? Diversity in the relationships being established or enhanced? Of course, only Christ knows why he chose the ones he chose. Just like only God knows why He chooses some to be in the Book of Life. Wouldn't it be neat to find this Book of Life? Think of what we could do with that! - or maybe we better not. Judgments ...

Jonah 2:8 : “Those who cling to worthless idols    forfeit the grace that could be theirs." I want to look at a verse in Jonah's prayer. I already noted what I thought of the circumstances of that prayer in a previous post called God's Way with Jonah . I think this verse deserves some time on its own, apart from Jonah's prayer. Jonah is an Old Testament book. It was written long before Jesus ushered in a known state of grace with his death and resurrection. I can't think off hand of a lot of emphasis of grace in the Old Testament. I know it's there. Abraham didn't sacrifice Isaac. Lot wasn't killed during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Rahab and her family were spared when Jericho was destroyed. There are examples of God's grace but it doesn't seem to be a theme of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is about the Law and preparing us for the coming of Jesus. At least that's my take on it. Don't get me wrong. I love the Old T...

Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny By Mark Batterson / Multnomah Books Many people live their entire lives trying to be something they're not---don't be one of them! Drawing on theology, psychology, neurology, and defining moments in the life of King David, Batterson helps 20- to 30-somethings process the baggage of old mistakes, insecurities, and outright lies in order to live the authentic life God wants. 192 pages, hardcover from Multnomah. I received and read this book through the Blogging for Books program for Multnomah publishing. I am glad I did. It was worth my time and contemplation. I was pleasantly surprised that the book has a discussion of David throughout.  I was not expecting that. While I do not think every assumption and assertion is directly from the Bible, the book discusses many ideas that are certainly thought-provoking. I am usually reluctant to read this type of book because so many authors write as though “having it all” is easy, and is ...

Let me set the scene for you.  God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and relay a message from God. Jonah doesn't like this "request" from God. He doesn't like the people.  Thinks it is unfair that God would send them a message to change to be saved from destruction. Jonah doesn't want any part in this plan. So he not only refuses to go to Nineveh, he also decides to leave and go the opposite direction!  He didn't even want to stay where he'd received this request from God. Talk about stubborn! Anyway, Jonah gets on a ship and heads in the opposite direction from Nineveh. He might have been better off just pretending he didn't hear God than try to run away from Him. The ship was tossed around like a bathtub toy in a storm.  Everyone on the ship thought they were going to die, including Jonah. They were so afraid they threw cargo overboard. They were each praying to their own gods, (like that'd help!)  Somehow Jonah slept through part of the storm. The...

This post is a milestone of sorts. It is my 300th published post. (Published and not just started but haven't done anything with them for you to see!) I don't know about you, but I think this is a wonderful thing. When I started, I didn't know how long I would write. I didn't know if anyone would care if I continued or not. I didn't know if anyone would read any of them. I write anyway. I like it when people mention to me that they've read something, or make a comment directly to the blog.  But mostly, I write these as a way to examine my relationship to my Jesus and to more fully meditate and think through scripture. I believe I've grown through these 300 posts. I want to thank everyone who has commented either in person or on the blog. You would be surprised the number of "hits" this blog has had in those 300 posts and the number of countries where the "hits" have originated. I hope to continue examining and sharing a long time. If an...

Matthew 12:35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. These are the words of Jesus. It's part of the good-trees-produce-fruit discussion that Jesus has with the Pharisees when they accuse Him of using the power of Beelzebub to drive demons from someone. There is no revelation to the statement but it offers an opportunity for self-examination. I really haven't thought much about what I "store up" within myself. I've thought about storing treasures in heaven but not about whether I store good things or bad things within myself.  I think when I harbor ill-feelings for someone or something, I may be "storing" them. When I nurse hurt feelings, or remain angry about something, or want bad things to happen, I risk "storing up evil". I need to rid myself of that and work to store up good things within me so that I am more able to bring forth good thi...

John 10:17-18 "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” I noticed today when I read this for the umpteenth time that not only did Jesus say He had the authority to lay His life down for us, but He also had the authority to take it up again. I'm not sure what that means. I don't find commentary about it. God gave Jesus free reign, just like we have. Jesus could obey or not. Jesus could come be our savior or not. He could have been a great teacher and walked away from the rest of what God requested. He could have taken Satan's bait after the wilderness 40-day fast. He could have paid Judas to not tell the Jewish authorities where to find Jesus away from the crowds. There were so many things that Jesus could have done, that He had power and authority to do. He...