138

I Chronicles 21:1-2 says: "Now Satan entered the scene and seduced David into taking a census."  In verse 8, David confesses his sin---substituting statistcs for trust.And verse 14 - God sent an epidemic and it took the lives of 70,000!  70,000!!! How could David deal with God taking the lives of 70,000 because of his sin?  David could smell the stench of death surrounding him at his expense for his arrogance. 70,000 lifeless warriors, abandoned parents, innocent children. Gone in one decision.  So what did David do?  David lifts forgiven eyes upward and humbly prays in verses I Chronicles 21: 16-17:  "Please!" with his head bowed, heart broken, and body covered in rough burlap. God walked with David in victory and defeat. What about the numbers game in our own churches and ministries today?  Do we do the same "substitutes for trust"?  Do we think it's success if 70,000 people respond while we are giving glory to God.  We honor those churches where 5,000 congregate. 

I wonder if those who respond really change? Or do they live their lives secretly disdaining their neighbors, sweetly demanding their children respond a certain way, and slyly distancing themselves from their spouse.  I read Phil 1:21 this morning:  "For me to live is Christ.  For me to really live is what?  Numbers that prove my ministry is really something.  Success that stamps me on the map.  Recognition that I've done well with my life.  Crabb puts it this way:
"We understand that progress on the journey is not measured by conventional external measures like:
achievement, prosperity or health
OR by conventional internal measures like:
self-esteem, social comfort, or recognition...
What therefore is wrong with each of us is
PASSIONATE ATTACHMENT TO THE WRONG THING.
For me to live is something other than knowing Christ better, enjoying Him more deeply, becoming more like Him, and revealing Him more clearly.
For me to live is ____________________________ ."

So where am I today? 

137 - "Sit In Awe of the One Who Has Brought You Thus Far" 1 Chron 17-20

When David received startling change of plans from Nathan, David sat before the Lord his God. "Who am I?" I Chron 17:16. And this family you have given me. That you have brought me thus far. 

Can I sit this day in utter awe of the One who rules my life while I lay down the control?

1Chronicles 18:6 God gave MAJOR victory over and over to David wherever he marched. Humble yourself, David. 

PHOTO: I sat on the planks tonight. Watching a sun sparkle closed. New Hope for tomorrow to surrender in small steps on whatever comes my way. 

136 - "Attend To God's Motions Both in His Providence and Influences" 1 Chronicles 14-16

"As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.”  So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army. 1 Chron 14:15

It would seem beautiful to know that all we had to do was listen to the tops of the poplar trees.  God calls us all to faith, not sight.  Even in this text.  What did David do?  He inquired of God about the attacking Philistine army.  May that direct us in all our ways to acknowledge Him who directs our paths, our every step.  "In distress, fly to Him; when wronged appeal to Him; and when we know not what to do, ask counsel at His oracles to put ourselves under His direction and beg of Him to show us the right way."  Matthew Henry.

And may the sound in the tops of the going in the tops of the mulberry trees, direct us "to attend to God's motions both in His Providence and in the influences of His Spirit." 

PHOTO:  Tracer, the future generation.  Walking with a past generation.  His Pops in Spring 2023.                  No matter what you come against, may you depend on God Alone.  Your dad and mom did when they first met you at 3 small pounds. Against the odds.  Here you are!  God bless!  

135 - "Wait Patiently for the Lord" 1 Chronicles 11-13

This is the view out of my window

at the high school where I teach.

Seems like I'm waiting on some things to happen,

or am I waiting on God?

Thinking this night of fishermen and shepherds

who were doing what they were called to do.

Waiting on God, not on circumstances to change.

I Chron 11:3 ~ The elders of Israel came to David.  Samuel had prophesied a long time ago that David would be king.  David waited on no man to move.  David waited on God.  They crowned him at just the right time in history.  Tonight, I asked a friend about what God could possibly be doing in my life.  Her response staggered me.  Just trust in the pain.  How can we figure out God and what He is up to.  Love the truth that David lived in the present moment, not trying to figure out the best position to become a king.  Oh God, help us all find You this present hour.  

PRAYER FROM PSALMS

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way or even because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.  Rest, Bev.  God is doing you good through even t.h.i.s.  Help me, God, to see things from your perspective.  Psalm 37:7

134 - "I Want To Be Greater Than David" 1 Chronicles 8-10

The valiant men stripped Saul of his head and armor. I Chronicles 10:8.  On a mount separating two unfriendly regions. And Saul's body is hung on the fence.  No more breath. I stood there on Mount Gilboa where you can see as far as the eye stretches both east and west. They chose that spot so that both directions could see Saul was dead. I stood at the spot where they hung Saul's body. And I so wondered as I stood there what it would have been like to have a father-in-law that wreaked so much havoc on you; and I wondered what it was like to live in those days.  Did they struggle with being invisible or independent.  Did they try to manage their lives to just make things work.  And the words of Saul haunt me---you remember the dancing in the street party where the women sang to Saul and he contemplated:  "They have ascribed unto David ten thousands but to me they have ascribed thousands."  I Sam 18:6-9.  From that day and forward to his very death, Saul never dealt with what really went on in his own soul.  May I deal this day with these misgivings that plague me. I struggle with everyone having a place, a space, an ace in the hold.  Things are not that tidy for me.  May we be a people known for surrender.  May I repent of anything that is not dependence on my Lord. 

I wrestle today, my LORD, with this mantra of Saul. Someone I trusted with my heart once told me: We will see who is right by the results of your life and church growth. I didn't think it was right then nor now. We are here for your glory, not numbers and prestige. Saul wanted to be somebody better and greater than David.  Father, help me to put on the full armor of God not just a shiny armor of protection.  Clothe me in this chink that I may learn to think better than this.  Thank you for detaching us from anything that makes us want to look for credit and praise for ourselves. 

PHOTO:  Reminds me of Mount Gilboa where you could see forever.  Something contemplative about miles and miles.  Something going on in my heart where I feel invisible and have found Something far better and I was looking for the wrong thing. 

133 - "For What Do I Wait?" 1 Chronicles 6-7

It's terribly Quiet here at the Quarries.

For what do I wait this night?

Psalm 39:7

Do I wait for things to turn around?

I'm at the Hyde Park Track Banquet setting things up for the season awards.  By myself.

I am feeling worse as days progress.  

I hit an all-time low today with this job. 

Here is the tribe of Levi in today's reading. I Chron 6:1. It's a long chronicled list.  Here are names we recognize astonishingly with such respect:  

Aaron and Moses---instruments in God's Hand to deliver Israel.  Faith.  Forbearance.  Foreshadowing.  Moses the Prophet.  

Aaron the Priest.  And we know them.  

And they are right next to Abihu and Nadab in the genealogy---your remember the terror they brought, the very strange fire. 

One rebuilt the temple and lived for God; the other tried to rebuild their lives---and lived for themselves.   "Devote your first energies to rebuilding the temple, not your lives." 66LL.   To the exiled but still proud community in this list, God underlined sin.  To the restored but discouraged community in this list, God aroused hope.  66LL.  

That's it, God.  Arouse my hope.  I have it. 

We come down so hard on ourselves for being discouraged, but I wonder if the real question is this---do we have hope this day?  

We are no longer exiles. 

We are living in hope. Delivered. Adopted. Beloved. 

PHOTO: These two girls. Megan and Hannah have meant so much to me over their high school career.  We are all letters written not with ink but with heart. 1 Cor 3:2.  As the ink dries on this track season, may God pass on things from our lives that matter for Eternity.

132 - "The Fabric Rose; The Fabric Tugged" 1 Chronicles 3-5

132 The fabric of the Temple was all built in silence. No hammers. No chisels. No iron tools. it Rose like an "exaltation"---so we too live our lives in quiet and confidence. #talkingtomyself

The Temple was built in silence. 
No hammers | No chisels | No iron tools were heard.

I Kings 6:7.
It rose like an "exhalation," says one commentary.

"No hammer fell, no ponderous axes rung.
Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung." Reginald Heber

The fabric rose in silence in the Old Testament. I Kings 6:7.

The fabric of the Sanctuary - roof, walls, floor. 
The fabric tugged in silence in the New Testament. Mark 5:27.

The fabric of the Savior Himself - his robe. 

We are to live out our lives in quietness and in confidence. Isaiah 30:15.
Thy Kingdom Come. 

Never an Observer. Always a Participator.

But that still small Voice.
The One we hear behind us, saying, this is the way. Walk in it.

And the commentary speaks to me:  "Don't mistake notoriety for spiritual progress."                                  The Kingdom went unnoticed by the Caesars and the philosophers of the day.                                                       The commentator said it grew silently like a baby in the womb, unheard, unnoticed, unknown.                   But this New Kingdom.  

Changes people 

in degrees, 

radically, 

publicly, 

inches. 

This new humanity was not so sudden.

“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you." No better thought. No better plan.

PHOTO:  I have tugged at His fabric for as long as I can remember.  Even as a Catholic school girl.  Sacred Heart was my first invitation to the Savior.  But the real tug came when I was in my junior year at LSU and wild as the winds of a tornado.  I knew there had to be more.  A whole lot more than what I was experiencing.  And I found Him. And I turned to a whole new life. And I raised up a generation of kids offering them the Truth I found. Trying to live it out my troubled past before them every day. This is a grandkid.

131 - "This *One Thing* Made Him Fall" 1 Kings 3-4

He loved the LORD, only this...
Can it be said of us. Only but this one thing. I Kings 3:3.

Let's lay aside that "only" one thing and run the race before us.

Solomon knew that God showed great favor to his father, David.

"Ask what I shall give you."  I Kings 3:5.
"Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” I Kings 3:9

This pleased the LORD that Solomon didn't ask for himself but for his calling. 
May this very day, we see through what "only" we can do.

And David ends with a prayer for Solomon. Psalm 72:6. May he be like rain falling on the fresh mown grass. An answer to the drought in so many lives.  

Father, cause us to live like rain failling on a parched land.  Empower us today with the Energy that stirs so powerfully within.

PHOTO:  It's rain.  Falling in the Hill Country.  Let Him fall all over me. 

130 - "Deal With What Is Happening In Your Own Soul" 2 Kings 23-25

130 All we can deal with is what is happening in our own soul. We can lead people but we cannot make them follow God, not even our own children.  We lay them in the lap of our LORD.  We can invite, intrigue, engage, entertain in sober ways what is holy and what counts in life.  

                                                                

The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord

to walk after the Lord, and

to keep His commandments and His testimonies, 

and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul

to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book.

 II Kings 23:3.  

And all the people entered into the covenant.  King Josiah had just heard from his God that he could not stop the ruin of Jerusalem.  All we can deal with is what is happening in our own soul. We can lead people but we cannot make them follow God, not even our own children.  We lay them in the lap of our LORD.  We can invite, intrigue, engage, entertain in sober ways what is holy and what counts in life.  Josiah led his people to abolish idolatry, serve God in righteous living, find true repentance.  Many of those he led were compliant hypocrites who will stand before God, alone.  While Josiah could rein in the wickedness, he couldn't change their very souls.  

Judah and Jerusalem overflowed with wickedness. Would our forefathers have thought that America could do the same and evolve into such an evil place?  I grew up with broken people who never locked their doors, fearing no break-ins.  No more.  We all live behind bars and locks and gates.  In Josiah's 18 years of exemplary service, he lived from a humbled heart.  Yet, he could not change his nation.  "The records of God's word teach that all the real godliness or goodness ever found on earth is derived from the new-creating Spirit of Jesus Christ." M.Henry

Through Passion and Passover, revival broke out under the good hand of Josiah. The Mighty Hand of God.  God rained on them His Presence, His Favor.  Josiah must have been beside himself.  But, it only lasted until the traitors cut off the life of Josiah to raise up the next king.  Evil reigns again.  And the point of the passage is t.h.i.s. ~ We must take care of our own souls to stand next to the pillars in our own lives, make a covenant, keep His Word, carry out His Words. And when we can't; when we don't; when we won't, take care of your soul and repent under the Holy Hand of a very Good God Who is always doing us good. Colossians 1:29. 

God of Jacob, such is the generation of those who seek your Face not your Hand.
May we be a generation of people who deal with what stirs in our own soul.
May we seek your Face not our own ambition, safety, personal peace.
May our decisions never be made apart from Your Face.
Psalm 24:6

Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. 2 Kings 23:16

Never before or after---a king like him---yet his own son, Jehoahaz, could not be influenced.  I remember telling words about a decade ago spoken to me in angst.  "We will see who was right by the size of your ministry."  I didn't believe it then.  I don't believe it now.  Josiah's own son couldn't be swayed by the strongest of kings.  We will all individually give account to God for our lives not for how our sons and daughters and followers turn out. 

129 - "Cut Me Off From the Wild Olive" 2 Kings 21-22

He was only 8 years old when he began to reign...and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. 2 Kings 22:1. He was a mere child who inherited a wicked rule. He had nothing to do with the state of affairs. He had everything to do with Kingdom affairs. "Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left." 2 Kings 22:2. It's my prayer for our children. God did for this child king: Romans 11:24 God cut him off from the wild olive and grafted him into the good olive. Nothing is too hard for that Grace to do." Josiah walked the narrow middle road. He took care to repair the temple. He took care to watch and wait in the Word of God. 

Oh Father, start with me. Cut me off from the wild olive. Graft us in today. May we take deep care to the place where we have been called. May we wait in Your Word this day, always!

PHOTO:  Narrow Paths.  May we find that narrow path, the walk of life and truth and love and God.  Thinking this day about doing what is right in the eyes of God.  Thinking about being grafted into the good narrow path.