2.29.12 real talk

Bible Reading:  Numbers 32-34, Romans 8


Reel thoughts:


So, I've been thinking about this lately: God is so good isn't He?  I mean, think about all of the things that we put Him through, denying His attempts to love us, yet He still doesn't give up on us.  The old testament readings are a testament to this fact.  Then there's the promise, that nothing can drive a wedge between us and God.  Not hard times, not self-inflicted wounds, nothing.  It's encouraging and inspiring all at the same time.  


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2.28.12- Getting Me out of the way

Bible Reading:  Numbers 30-31, Romans 8


Reel thoughts:


What does life on God's terms look like? 


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2.27.12 Freedom

Reel thoughts:


continuation from yesterday's reading...Freedom.  


You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom.

2.26.12- What you're held accountable for

Reel thoughts:


Don't leave grace, or what you know about God and what's possible on the table.  That's why God holds folks who know Him, accountable.  The more you know, the more you can do.  And God has allowed you to get to the point where you know enough to do something.  So, the question is, what are you doing?


Balaam, a key character in the past few days readings certainly had me fooled (which really says more about me than him right?).  Here's a man who talks the talk, yet, if you look closely at his life, he's constantly skirting the fine line between the real deal, and totally unreliable.  Just when you think he can be trusted, he goes and demonstrates that either he's not fully obedient or has ulterior motives.  What a waste of grace...


I wonder what leads to this?  I wonder if Balaam was so seduced by what he could get, or what he could experience, that he forgot about what was most important.  Here is a man who knows at least some of the bounty of God, yet he still manages to take his attention off of it.  


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2.25.12 Questions

Reel thoughts:


From this past week's readings, a key question is:
How do the extremes of God at His best, and people at their worst coexist both in the bible and in reality? 

2.24.12 What we can learn from Balaam

Bible Reading: Numbers 21-23, Romans 5


Reel thoughts:


I was thinking about this during today's reading.  Why is it that it was so easy for an outsider to see, and pursue God's power, but God's very own people seemed to get too "familiar" with Him and took Him for granted?  They grumbled when they didn't get exactly what they wanted, yet, they called out to God when they needed Him (sound familiar, I know it does to me).  How do we continue to remind ourselves of just how honorable God really is, particularly when faced with the temptation to take God and everything around us for granted so easliy?  


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2.23.12 love on the line

Bible reading: Numbers 18-20, Romans 5


Reel thoughts:


God put his love on the line for us by offering His Soon in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatsoever to Him.  


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2.22.12 The contrast

Bible Reading: Numbers 15-17, Romans 4


Reel thoughts:
If you look at the contrast of today's readings it tells the story of belief and disbelief, and the disparate paths they each take you down.  


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2.21.12 God's response

Bible reading: Numbers 12-14, Romans 3


Reel thoughts:


The verse that matters the most right now: 
What we've learned is this:  God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does.  We've finally figured it out.  Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.  


I don't want my life to be about my agenda.  I want it to be about God.


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2.20.12 Be careful what you ask for

Bible reading: Numbers 8-10, Romans 2


Reel thoughts:

The readings in Numbers are particularly interesting because it recounts how God's people grumbled against him, including his leader Moses.  How did God respond?  By giving them what they begged for, so much that they regretted asking for it.  And all the while, God asked one central question to Moses, so you think I can't take care of you?  In what ways do we make Him ask us that question as well? 


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2.19.12 Illiterate regarding life

Bible Verses: Numbers 6-8, Romans 1


Reel thoughts:


Every time i'm reading the litany of old testament laws, rules, and regulations my mind is tempted to wander, and I begin to wonder, why is this important?  Then it dawns on me...it costs a price to be in relationship with God.  What am I willing to sacrifice?  


A few verses in Romans that affirms this thought process for me: 
...they pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life


Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. 


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2.18.12 Fallibility

Reel thoughts:


As I think back over the past week's worth of bible readings, a theme sticks in my mind: the difference between how God designs things to be, and how they sometimes turn out.  We're fallible beings, which means that by nature, we need an infallible God to make things work the way they're supposed to work.  


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2.17.12 God's plan

Bible Reading: Numbers 3-5, Romans 1


Reel thoughts:


I've been recently spending some time reading a book about the Holy Spirit.  As it so happens, a lot of the reading in that particular book overlaps with the questions I've been asking myself about God's plans.  For example, how do we fully understand God's plan, especially what He expects of us?  How do we live up to God's standard?  What about our fears, worries, concerns, how do we get those addressed?  


I believe that everything we need can be found in God's will.  Jesus pretty much promised that in Matthew 6 saying that when we seek Him first, everything else that He already knows we needed will be taken care of.  So as I continue to read about all of the old testament laws that seem so trivial and hard to uphold now, while concurrently reading about God's new system of grace, I think some pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together about how to live in God's plan.  It requires first loving God, and second caring to learn and obey God's plan.  


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2.16.12- What matters most

Bible Reading: Numbers 1-2, Hebrews 13


Reel thoughts:


Right now, the three verses that are most resonating with me from tonight's reading:  


Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others.  


Don't be obsessed with getting more material things.  Be relaxed with what you have.  


Don't be lured away from Him by the latest speculations about Him.  The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life.


Powerful.  Great reminders of what matters most.  I'm also digging on this song by Chris August I want to be real.  I had an interesting conversation with my wife a few days ago about these very things, and interesting conclusion, we both decided that we want what matters most.  We named what that is for us.  And now we're pursuing it.  Not taking things for granted, not being obsessed with things that are fleeting.  God's blessed us tremendously, and now, while we're having the time of our lives we want to extend the opportunity for others to join the party.  


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2.15.12- God's way

Bible Reading: Leviticus 26-27, Hebrews 12


Reel thoughts:


The major point of the readings for today: God's way is the best way.  Either way you choose there are consequences.    


My favorite verse from today: Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short term appetite.  


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2.14.12 God's love

Bible Reading: Leviticus 24-25, Hebrews 11


Reel growth:


How do you measure God's love?  Is it in the moments you have each day?  Or the opportunities that come your way?  Perhaps it's in the ability to believe, and the hope for a better tomorrow.  Either way, we wouldn't have any reason to believe, any hope at all, without God's love.  And that's something worth celebrating.  The scriptures for today have a lot to say about that.  


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2.13.12- Birthday readings

Bible Reading: Leviticus 22-23, Hebrews 10


Reel thoughts:


So, as could be expected, on my birthday I'm a bit introspective.  Particularly as I read the readings for today, and most of the Old Testament readings dealt with celebrating the past, in particular the way God delivered His people.  It makes me think about the greatest joys of my days usually come from reliving a victory, and using that encouragement to tackle a current obstacles.  God was (still is) pretty big on keeping our memory fresh.  And thus the biggest reminder in Hebrews: 


So let's do it- full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out.  Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going.  He always keeps His word. 


We've got every reason to believe, and when we replay past victories, no excuse not to believe.  
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2.12.12- Freedom

Bible Reading: Leviticus 18-20, Hebrews 10


Reel thoughts:


I keep wondering, what does it have to take to get us (me included) to realize that God has given me an enormous degree of freedom?  I'm literally no longer bound by the limitations of human frailty, because I have the grace of God to overcome everything.  So what's holding me back?  


http://youtu.be/wCEUvY2bCDA 


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2.11.12 Draw near to me

Reel thoughts:


The author of the Message Bible had this to say about this previous week's readings: 


Over the past 6 days you read how the holy God provided a way to bring you and everything about you, into His presence.  And then he posed an important question worth pondering: What stands in your way as you try to get closer to God?  Is it TV?  Too many other "obligations" that make you tired and unable to spend time with Him?  Fear, disbelief?  What would it take for you to get to know God better, to want to substitute time spent doing something else, for time with Him?  There's something special about being in God's presence.  Don't take the opportunity to interact with Him lightly.  We've seen the results of that before.  


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2.10.12 The Atonement

Bible Reading: Leviticus 16-17, Hebrews 9

Reel thoughts:

What does it take for us to really understand the power and significance of Jesus's atoning blood?  The contrast in today's bible reading is a good start.

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2.9.12 What does God care about?

Bible Reading: Leviticus 13-15, Hebrews 7


Reel thoughts:


So, while reading the old testament Leviticus law, and also reading in Hebrews about how Jesus came to create a new order, or way of interacting with God- I began to wonder- what do these two different ways of engaging with God (the law and Jesus) tell me about what really matters to God?  With the old testament laws, it was primarily about compliance, but not just for the sake of compliance.  Looking at a lot of these rules, they were common sense rules for healthy living.  Other things may have been particular to the context of their given setting or God's personal preferences.  Jesus, the new method of connecting to God freed us from compliance via our own efforts, and put the focus on God's saving grace and our receiving of His gift.  Both are God's attempts to connect with the people He created, to give them better lives with Him.  


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2.8.12 Growing Up In My Faith

Bible Reading: Leviticus 11-12, Hebrews 5:11-6:20


Reel thoughts:


One of my favorite PJ Morton songs is entitled Growing Up and it's about the difficulties of growing up.  I think about this song often sometimes as I'm pondering my own spiritual growth (and growth in other areas).  I don't know that spiritual growth should be so difficult (but hey, no pain, no gain right?), however even the writer to the Hebrew church felt the need to tell his folks to grow up.  God was so concerned about how the Israelites would function that he methodically told them how to govern seemingly every aspect of their lives so that they would grow well.  It's a wonder that we don't pay more attention to the things God tries to tell us that could probably ease more of our growing pains.  


For me, that could be simple things like...be obedient, the first time instructed to do something.  What heartache, wasted time and energy that might save me... Or, always remember that you represent and are full of the grace of God.  We are all witnesses.  So act like it.  Even now, I'm reminded of these things, and when I think about how I carry on sometimes, I want to tell myself to just grow up.  But I also have to remind myself that growth doesn't equal perfection, it just reflects development over time.  It can be passive, or an active process.  I prefer to be proactive about my growth process (at least my spiritual, mental, and emotional growth) by turning in trust to God.  He'll help mold me, I'm sure of it.  


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2.7.12- The Privilege of Serving God

Bible Reading: Leviticus 8-10, Hebrews 4


Reel Thoughts:


In both Aaron's priesthood and in the Messiah's priesthood, the illumination is made that service to God is both a privilege and an awesome responsibility.  So we should esteem it highly, and give it the due diligence of our full attention, energies, passion, obedience, basically everything we have to offer God.  Because He accepts nothing less than our best in service to Him. 


Service keeps you honest before God.  Service keeps you grounded and humble. Service gives you a greater perspective of your need for God.  


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2.6.12 Sin

Bible Reading: Leviticus 4-7; 


Reel thoughts:


God doesn't judge the person, but the sin.  But, God is in love with us as individual people, and hates our sin.  It's our sin that separates us from Him.


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2.5.12- The offerings

Bible Readings: Leviticus 1-3, Hebrews 1


Reel Thoughts:


The whole offering and the peace offering were both depicted in today's reading as opportunities to express dedication and gratitude to God.  While reading through these depictions, I can't help but think, how cool that they had a dedicated way to express these kinds of convictions.  It makes me wonder, hw do I do the same thing today? 


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2.4.12

The past week's readings have been about a few things: creating a temple made with human hands (the old testament scriptures) and paving the way for temples of men's heart where God can dwell.  There are a lot of parallels between the two for how to prepare to receive God and how to reverence His presence. 


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2.3.12- Finishing Things

Bible Reading: Exodus 38-41, John 21


Reel Thoughts:


Today's bible reading was about bringing things full circle, finishing stuff.  Jesus wanted Peter to commit to finishing the work of his life's calling.  Moses finished completing the elaborate creation of a dwelling place for God to be worshiped.  The beauty of finishing things is in knowing what you've accomplished, and being able to hear God say, well done.  


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2.2.12 The stuff we bring to God

Bible Reading: Exodus 35-37, John 20:19-31


Reel Thoughts:


A few verses caught my attention: 
Gather from among you an offering for Go.  Recieve on God's behalf what everyone is willing to give as an offering.  


Everyone whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely reponive, brining offerings to God for the building of the Tent of Meeting


The people were ordered to stop bringing offerings!  There was plenty of material for all the work to be done.  


All this giving was in order to create a dwelling place for God to live.  God put this gold, jewelry, and wealth in the people's possession, not for them to create a god unto themselves with it (which they'd previously done), but for them to give it the building of a place for Him to live.  God still wants our stuff to be used to create places for Him to live, except now we're building temples on the inside of people.  


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2.1.12- A Jealous God

Bible Reading- Exodus 28-31, John 20:1-18


Reel thoughts:


While reading what happened to the Israelites while Moses was up on the mountain meeting with God, and seeing God's "harsh" reaction (i say "harsh" because i'm certain that's how I initially viewed it), I now realize that God really is a jealous God.  He doesn't just want to to be my "whenever I feel like it" God or my "convenient" God, but rather He wants exclusive, unlimited, uninterrupted access to my life in the form of an ongoing, constant relationship.  Is that too much to ask?  Does He need to even justify why?  


On another note, Moses was gone for a little over a month (40 days) and the people's commitment to God had already waned in just that short time away.  It makes me think about my own commitment to do something so simple as read my bible daily and chronicle my reflections.  How interesting, that things start to feel like a chore, when you lose sight of the passion that initially drove you to them #refreshinglyinsightful.  


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