The Sweetest Frame

Today I was tremendously blessed by two different speakers at Calvary. The Lord spoke loud and clear to me. Lesson 1: Don't serve out of guilt or even duty. Pray to be motivated by love. Ephesians 5: 1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Lesson 2: Follow Me. John 21: 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Thanks to Jim and Luke for delivering God's word.

I heard the phrase "sharpen your axe" used a lot in seminary - I didn't know it had biblical roots. Ecclesiastes 10:10 If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.

Jeremiah 9:23 Thus says the Lord : “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me , that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord .”

Solomon had such promise, but his faithfulness was lacking. In words like these throughout Ecclesiastes, I think I can hear the sadness in his voice... Ecclesiastes 9: 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun , because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun . 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. As Shane and Shane would say, " Get OVER the sun !"

Sometimes I'm a little slow. I didn't realize how many references there are to stones in the book of Joshua. There's the 12 stone Memorial after crossing the Jordan, The stones piled on Achan and his family (see yesterday's post ) The stones piled on the king of Ai The stones set by the Cave after the killing of the 5 kings The stones of the wall of Jericho Any others that you know of?

Do you have any monuments to remind you of your past failures and God's judgement of those failures? Usually when I think of monuments, I think of successes - something left as a tribute to great people. In Joshua 7 there is a monument left to remind people of great sin and God's judgment on that sin. 22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord . 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and...

Kevin (our team leader) is blogging about the vision of The Heights Church . You can check out his blog at www.wakebeforedawn.com A BIG Thank you to everyone who has been praying. Please continue to pray, God has been answering in a big way. We both now have jobs, we have an apartment, and we hope to close on our house at the end of the month.

John the Baptist was considered a fanatical fundamentalist, because of his ascetic ways and his harsh message. Jesus was a flaming liberal because he drank and ate with the sinners. Matthew 11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” The religious couldn't stand John, because he was too holy, and couldn't stand Jesus because he wasn't holy enough. Sound familiar? When will the church stop bickering over methodologies? Never. But notice that last part... " Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” So whether your ultra conservative, fundamental, libertarian, post-modern, ortho-praxis oriented, seeker friendly, attractional, missional, Christians or Christ followers, let's be sure of this--wisdom is justified by her deeds. Lord, I want you to make a diffe...

From today's reading ... Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. How I would love this to be said of me if I live to a good old age.