The Sweetest Frame

Try breaking this one down... "Why is it that it isn't only the sinner who suffers from their sin?" Why does God allow our sin to break the hearts of those we love?  We are bound together so much more than we know and often times we don't see it until we face the suffering of those that we love. Lord, we don't understand.  Heal us and heal those that we love.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. I've been really chewing on this verse the last couple of days. The message of Jesus is foolish to those who are perishing. They don't get it. It doesn't make sense that the death of a Jewish man brings life to the world. But to those who are being saved, this message isn't foolish, it is literally God's power at work. It is changing, remaking, renewing lives every day. It's not my job to decide who should hear it. I just need to tell it.

Really enjoying this song "Chains Hit the Ground" from Leeland...

Judges 15 13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. 16 Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.” Samson killed 1000 men with a jawbone. It's such an amazing feat that I don't think I've ever heard equaled by any fighting man. It's no wonder that this place became known as Jawbone Hill.  But what shouldn't be lost from this passage is this sentence "The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him."  Samson was able to do what he did only because he was empower...

I found this idea while reading about Gideon this morning... Judges 6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. Gideon feels that he has just seen God face to face and is probably amazed to hear the angel of the Lord tell him that he will not die. And yet, when he takes instructions from God - the one who holds life in his hands - Gideon is afraid to carry them out in the daytime because of the men of his village and because of his family. Of course, Gideon was right, they were going to kill him. You would think that if God told you to do something that you would be more afraid of God than anyone else, but it's not easy to overcome our fears and habits. I think I'm not so hard on Gideon as I used to be.   Lord give us an unwavering faith in you.  Hold us up when our fears and old habits cause us to doubt.  Use our lives, even as ...

I've started reading the book of Judges again.  Nothing profound, but just a simple reminder that if you leave a little sin hanging around, it will come back to destroy you.