when you don't know what to do

I read in I Chronicles 19 this morning and came across the story of Joab and his brother Abshai.

They were facing a difficult situation in combat with the enemy coming at them from both directions. Here's what Joab said: " Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight." ( I Chronicles 19:13)

I just sat and looked at that phrase for awhile: " be strong, and show ourselves courageous... may the Lord do what is good in His sight."

Even if you don't know what to do, you can be strong and let the Lord do what seems good to Him. Don't be paralyzed by indecision. Obey what you can see in Scripture.

why you should read the dictionary

We take for granted that we understand certain Bible passages. I've said it before and I will say it again:
read slowly ... eat the Bible -- chew it over and over

Romans 7:1-6 was never really a fascinating passage to me. I usually skipped over it on my way to Romans 7:14-25 ( because I felt this way more often). The first part of Romans 7:1-6 is amazing. It is true what one man said: " The word of God does not yield its fruit to the lazy."

So here it is: death decisively changes our relationship to someone/ something

Lee Harvey Oswald was never put on trial for the death of JFK ... why ? Because he died.

Sin picks up the law of God and uses it like a machete to chop off our limbs. Sin is always ( like the lemur said in Madagascar): " interrupting our parties and ripping our limbs off. "

In a way that is difficult to explain a Christian's death took place through Christ and here are the results of that death:
1. freedom from the law's power to condemn us ( we have been forgiven, restored, redeemed)

2. we have been joined to another ( our new husband is Christ ... spiritually speaking)

3. we can now bear fruit for God

4. we can now serve in the newness of the Spirit

I really latched on to the idea of us bearing fruit for God and I thought how does this happen ? It can only happen if we die. Fruit bearing happens when seeds die.

Listen to this : " Jesus' death is the soil out of which rich fruit grows ( see John 12:24) ; His death on the cross brings about redemption for men. As the vine, He sends out life giving power to the branches ( remember who the branches are ?) This power is the power to believe God's word. Some call it faith.
Man ( by himself) can accomplish moral and technical achievements by his natural gifts. However... the fruit of the gospel --that which God expects from man -- can only grow from the soil of obedience, which essentially consists in recognition of the bond between Creator and creature, established by the death of Christ. He ( man) no longer needs to consider his own achievements. Freed from the anxiety of failure, he is capable of the highest endeavor ( more fruit) . CHECK THIS OUT: Because the source of his capacity to bear fruit lies outside himself, the yield is certain. It counts and remains for eternal life (John 15:16). "

These ideas came from a dictionary believe it or not. ( Colin Brown's Dictionary of NT Theology page 723 vol 1) I am encouraged by that last statement: bearing fruit is certain because the source is God, not me.

I am constantly thinking of ways to stop thinking about myself. This passage in Romans reminds me that if I really want to bear fruit to God a death has to take place : namely, my death.

God takes joy seriously

Psalm 100:2 says " Serve the Lord with gladness." I wrote in the margin: " What if I don't ?"

Then for some reason, I wrote next to it Deut 28:47-48

It says: " Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things ; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you."

Basically... if I dont' serve with gladness... I will serve my enemies. This tells me that God takes joy very seriously. He is opposed to our complaining and murmuring.


Are you serving with gladness or a bitter spirit ?

busy people

“Just look for a moment at our daily routine. In general we are very busy people. We have many meetings to attend, many visits to make, many services to lead. Our calendars are filled with appointments, our days and weeks filled with engagements, and our years filled with plans and projects. There is seldom a period in which we do not know what to do, and we move through life in such a distracted way that we do not even take the time to rest and wonder if any of the things we think, say, or do are worth thinking, saying and doing. We simply go along with many of the ‘musts’ and ‘oughts’ that have been handed to us and we live with them as if they were authentic translations of the gospel of our Lord. People must be motivated to come to church, youth must be entertained, money must be raised, and above all everyone must be happy. Moreover, we must be on good terms with church and civil authorities; we ought to be liked by a majority of the congregation; we ought to move up in the ranks according to schedule; and we ought to have enough vacation and salary to live a comfortable life. Thus we are busy people and just like all other busy people, rewarded with the rewards which are rewarded to busy people.

Why is this so ? Why do the children of light so easily become conspirators with the darkness ? The answer is quite simple. Our identity is at stake. Who am I ? I am the one who is liked, praised, admired,disliked, hated or despised. Whether I am a pianist, a businessman, or a pastor, what matters is how I am perceived by my world. If being busy is a good thing, then I must be busy. If having money is a sign of real freedom, then I must claim my money. If knowing many people proves my importance, I will have to make the necessary contacts. The compulsion manifests itself in the lurking fear of failing and the steady urge to prevent this by gathering more of the same – more work, more money, more friends. It has been said that anger and greed are the sour fruits of our worldly dependencies. What else is anger than the impulsive response to the experience of being deprived ? When my sense of self depends on what others say of me, anger is quite a natural reaction to a critical word. And when my sense of self depends on what I can acquire, greed flares up when my desires are frustrated.

Anger in particular seems close to a professional vice in contemporary ministry. Pastors are angry at their leaders for not leading and at their followers for not following. They are angry at those who do not come to church for not coming and angry at those who do come for coming without enthusiasm. They are angry at their families, who make them feel guilty, and angry at themselves for not being who they want to be. This is not an open, blatant, roaring anger, but an anger hidden behind the smooth word, the smiling face and the polite handshake. It is a frozen anger, an anger which settles into a biting resentment and slowly paralyzes a generous heart. If there is anything that makes the ministry look grim and dull, it is this dark, insidious anger in the servants of Christ. “



Taken from “ The Way of the Heart” by Henri Nouwen page 22-24

on female dress

I found this in article written between 161 -230 A.D. buy a man named Tertullian :

here's an excerpt:

" But why should you be a danger to your neighbor ? Why should you excite him in lustful desires ? In amplifying His law God makes no distinction of penalty between lust and fornication, and it will scarcely be that they escape punishment who have been to another the cause of perdition. That other, as soon as he has lusted after your beauty and in his mind committed the lustful act, perishes; and you have been made the sword of his destruction. "

He goes on to address why women change their appearance ? " Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God's skill in crafting them. In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things..."

best Bible advice

When I read " Living By the Book" ( Howard Hendricks) he talked about reading repeatedly. I think this is some of the best advice I have received on Bible study. We read too much and comprehend too little. Whenever we read repeatedly, we can saturate, soak, and immerse ourselves in the Word. Here's what happened one day while doing this:

I was reading in 2 Corinthians 7 ( for about the third day in a row) and I found this verse...

( verse 4)
"...I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction..." So Paul is in affliction (which can be translated pressure) and he says, " I am overflowing with joy." WHAT ? How can anyone overflow with joy in affliction ? I cry, pout, write blogs and complain when I am in affliction. However, I kept reading and noticed that in verse 6 he explains how he could overflow with joy in affliction... it says ( my translation): " God comforted us with the coming of Titus..."

Something clicked in my head... Paul was overflowing with joy in affliction because he had a friend. If you have a friend in ministry or in life you can have joy. If we all had one good friend, we probably would not need psychiatrists. Back in September of 2007, I prayed that God would send me a good friend here in El Paso. God answered that prayer. It is so good to have someone to bounce ideas off of and share in the pain and joy of life. Do you have one good friend ? If not, cry out to the Lord and see if He will answer your prayer.

bound together

2 Cor 6:14 says: " Do not be bound together with unbelievers..." and later in the same passage: "Come out from among them and be separate."

These are bold ideas and make it difficult for me to discern sometimes what it means to be "in the world but not of the world."


Do we ever stop to reflect on our relationships and evaluate whether or not they are healthy ? Do you spend time with people who drain you or cause you to stumble ? Do I ( do you) have the courage to pull away and separate ? How can this happen without coming off as arrogant or "thinking too highly of ourselves" ?