Photo © Unsplash/Sharon McCutcheon
Imagine having to pay for your life
the way you pay for your heat
the way you buy your electricity
the way you purchase water and sewer.
Perhaps if we received
a monthly bill for
"Life-Services Rendered"
breath and
blood and
heart beating and
neurons firing and
general suspension of the return-to-dust clause
we would remember that
life is a utility we can't generate
and be immune to
the otherwise-all-pervasive plague
of self-sufficiency.
Nehemiah 4
Well, some people just didn’t want that Jerusalem wall rebuilt! "When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry." (vs 7) First, they had tried to intimidate the people with insults and threats. When that didn’t stop the work, they plotted to attack the people who were rebuilding the wall.
Darkness does not exist
It has no properties
no matter
no makeup
Darkness does not exist
It cannot be measured
or observed
or heard
Darkness does not exist
It functions only as a corollary
It's a symptom
a condition
/and a temporary one at that/
Darkness does not exist
It's just the absence of something else
a ghost quantity
a negative integer
Light obliterates darkness.
Every time.
It's not even a contest.
There's never a doubt.
When darkness presses in around you,
you need only remember the Lampstand.
Let the tiniest, flickering flame appear—
the darkness must obey
and immediately poof away.
1 Chronicles 16
Do you ever feel weak? Powerless? Insecure? Quite honestly, with the world we live in, I can’t imagine how people don’t feel this way. There seems to be little solid ground to stand on. What can we count on these days? It seems that everywhere you turn, you find unrest, violence, hard times, and despair. The economy may be currently booming in America, but it feels like that could turn around at any time. Is there any true security? What can we really count on?
1 Chronicles 8
After eight chapters, we are nearly done with the genealogies. (At least the ones at the beginning of this book. I’m sure we will encounter more as we go along.) In today’s chapter—as I’m sure you noticed if you read it—there wasn’t particularly much to take hold of. Just another long list of names, following a previous seven chapters of long lists of names.
1 Chronicles 1
Okay, brace yourself. We’re about to wade through nine—yes, that’s nine—chapters of genealogies at the beginning of 1 Chronicles. Mercy! Seems like a daunting task for a blogger. However, I think God had a very good reason for inspiring the writer of this book (Ezra, perhaps) to begin with this long genealogy, and it’s a lesson we can take to heart as well.
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Generations come and generations go,
but nothing ever changes.
We don't remember what happened in the past,
and in future generations,
no one will remember what we are doing now.
—from Ecclesiastes 1
No wonder the Teacher
took such a dim view
of human accomplishment.
Back-breaking labor.
Hours of study.
/blood/
Tragedy absorbed.
Ingenious invention.
/sweat/
Disaster averted.
Strategy planned.
/tears/
Battles lost and won
and lost again.
If a man can
single-handedly
deliver an entire nation
from destruction
and be forgotten
within a
single
generation,
there is no such thing
as a lasting achievement
among the peers
you try so hard
to impress.
Joseph would have fallen
into eternal obscurity
if his name hadn't been
remembered by
the only One
who doesn't
come and go,
the only One not
under the sun.
JOSHUA 8
How would you like to take part in a two-million voice choir? How incredible would that be?! I never realized before that this is precisely what was happening at the end of Joshua 8: "All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel." (vs 33)
JOSHUA 4
My father-in-law is always taking pictures. I think he may have been born with a camera stitched into his hand. Whenever and wherever a few of us are gathered together, you can always count on the camera coming out for a few rounds of pictures. My husband’s life is, quite possibly, the most photo-documented life on the face of the planet. No occasion is too small for a photo.
JOSHUA 3
Having a past is part of what it means to be a human being. And our past life is a rich tapestry of events and experiences that has shaped the way we think about and look at the world around us. So, one of the things I really love about God is that He honors our heritage—where we have come from. He acknowledges our past and finds ways to make connections to it in order to make a connection with us.
DEUTERONOMY 33
I know. No big “earth-shattering” revelation today. We all know that God doesn’t remember our sins, but it’s awfully nice to see it in action. This promise of God’s isn’t just a claim; it’s a reality. In Deuteronomy 33, Moses pronounces a blessing on the people of Israel as they are getting ready to enter the Promised Land. As I read through the list of blessings, I couldn’t help once again noticing the names behind the tribes of Israel: Dan, Asher, Gad, Levi, Judah...
DEUTERONOMY 29
So, yet again, this chapter opens with a litany of Israel’s history—how they were slaves in Egypt, how God brought them out with signs and wonders, how God cared for them in the desert, and how they defeated all the nations who have come against them thus far. And I’m thinking, how many times have we heard this already? Do the Israelites have short-term memory loss? Why does Moses keep going over this again and again and again?
LEVITICUS 23
One of the things my husband will tell you about me is that I’m an incurable romantic. And, in my experience with the male gender, for the life of me, I can’t understand why the word man is in the middle of the word romantic. It just doesn’t seem like a task they’re up to. Every once in a while, there are flashes of brilliance, but I don’t think a man’s brain can begin to go to the romantic depths that a woman’s brain is capable of.
EXODUS 28
And now we come to the priestly garments. Here’s the thing I loved about this chapter: "Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the Lord." (vs 11-12)
EXODUS 1
I was so intrigued by this statement in the first chapter of Exodus: "Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt." (vs 8) This astonished me! Certainly, some time had passed in Egypt, but a new king came to power who did not know about Joseph? This was the man who had single-handedly come up with the plan to rescue Egypt (and all the surrounding nations) from famine. How could anyone forget about Joseph?!
