Lance’s Life Journal

Scripture
1 Ki. 20, 21; 2 Chr. 17; Col. 3

Aaaaw, man, now “you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Well, it looks like I’ve failed again (I won’t get into which one!). It is possible though. I remember as a new Christian, it was like I was a shiny new penny. All was new and I was in no trouble. I was different . . . funny how the old man tries to creep back in.

I’ve talked to friends about rearing children and we often get to the “how does a kid turn out like that” stage of the conversation. I almost always come back to who influences the child. Obviously a relationship with Christ is key, but also surrounding yourself with Christians is a vital contributor to your behavior (in my humble opinion). But, ultimately, the choice is yours to make - just keep someone close to pull you back before you fall in head first.

Prayer
“Thank you, God for my close friends and their Godly influences.”

Scripture
1 Ki. 17-19; Col. 2

How awesome is 1 Kings 17-19. Go ahead and read it (above) if you haven’t . . . I’ll wait, go ahead. First, Elijah gets fed by ravens . . . seriously, they bring him food. Then, he tells a widow to bring him food to eat, knowing that she has very little - just enough to feed her son and herself one last time before dying. No big deal with God. He keeps the food coming (nice forshadowing of the loaves and fishes). Then, the widow’s son dies . . . no worries, Elijah will just call on God to raise him from the dead. So, 3 years into the famine, God tells Elijah to present himself to Ahab with news of rain with the realization that Jezebel is knocking off prophets left and right. So, he follows through, tells Ahab to hurry home before the storm, but not before beating Ahab’s chariots home by running on foot!

Seriously, can we even come close to this kind of miraculous power today? I think we can, er, could had we a fraction of the faith. It’s funny, we have faith that we’ll get to work or wherever and won’t have a fatal car wreck. We have faith that our heart will keep beating at a regular pace . . . who powers our hearts? That’s right, the almighty. I think it’s time to start claiming victories in the name of the Lord . . .

Prayer
“Lord, thank you for your power. Thank you for access to it through faith and prayer. Now, help me to realize when it is needed and to call on you!”

Scripture
1 Ki. 13, 14; 2 Chr. 12; Phil. 3

Reading in Kings today was just weird today. We learn about a prophet proclaiming a message from the Lord. Then, another prophet finds out and goes to meet him. He tricks him into coming home with him to eat (the first prophet has been told by the Lord not to eat, but return without food). So, the 2nd prophet (stay with me) lies and says that the Lord told him to bring the other home to eat.

Then, to make it even more somewhat confusing, the 2nd prophet receives a word from the Lord and rebukes the first for eating and that he will surely die. Sure enough, the 1st prophet is mauled by a lion on the way home. After it was all said and done, the 2nd prophet realized the first was legit and mourned for him.

That’s when it hit me. The 2nd prophet didn’t quite believe the first, so he tested him (he tested God) by seeing if he’d really die. My questions are a) why was the 1st prophet so easily swayed into eating when he knew the Lord told him not too, and b) why was the 2nd so worried about proving the prophecy that he’d risk the life of the other?

If anyone wants to shed light on this, please leave some comments. This is intriguing to me and I’d love some discussion! I’ll leave it at that today!

Prayer
“Lord, keep my faith strong when you speak to others. Give me the discernment to know who’s telling the truth.”

Scripture
1 Ki. 12; 2 Chr. 10,11; Phil 2

Have you set up your golden calf this week? We read of Jeroboam setting up 2 golden calves for the people to worship so they wouldn’t travel to the temple to worship in Jerusalem. What’s funny, is I was thinking of the obvious material possessions vs. worship and service and the usual things like that that are discussed, when I looked at my computer screen. I’m actually catching up on this journal from the future (oooo, spooky)! You’ll see June 12th on the title, but it’s actually a few days later.

Why? Well, I simply let my other days events supercede writing in this journal. So, there you go, there are ALL sorts of things that challenge our attention. Not necessarily bad things (work, family, etc.), but you see my point. This journal has been a fun and creative way to “think out loud” about the scriptures read in daily bible study. However, just reading through is half the objective . . . I gotta keep up! Anyway, that spoke to me today. I’ll try to get caught up and back in the routine!

Prayer
“God, thank you for time to spend wisely. Keep my schedule in the right order!”

Scripture
Song 5-8; Phil. 1

Boy, Phillipians is full of some great stuff today. Anyone remotely familiar with Paul will recognize some of today’s reading. We’ll probably never know a fraction of what Paul went through for the cause of Christ. Yet, there he is finding strength and purpose in dire situations. I like in verse twelve where he states that his captivity has served to advance the Gospel. I tried to find any situation where I could relate that. Of course, I don’t see any of us being thrown into prison (yet) for belief in Jesus, but there are some parrallels, I believe. Simply living for Jesus (great hymn, by the way) around non-Christians is, in a way, a trial that benefits the overall battle. People are influenced by those around them. Why not show them the right way to live, even amidst the possibility of being talked about or made fun of. That’s a very real threat to the Christian. Not life threatening by any means, but it’s a powerful way to have influence.

Prayer
“God, give me boldness in my stand for Christ”

Scripture
Song 1-4; Eph. 6

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist . . . “Eph 6:14
I think sometimes there’s a lot of shouting going on. You’ve seen the shouting matches going on on TV and otherwise. In most cases, to me, that rules out any credibility a person might have with me. I’m usually going to listen to the person who calmly stands their ground under the attack. Now, I look at my life. I look at the way I’m living (and think of the ways I should be living). We are to stand firm. Our very character, dimeanor, relationships, attitudes, and expressions should be grounded in our faith in Jesus Christ. I think each instance of someone thinking, “You know, that guy (or girl) really has it together and lives the right way” is proof that we are standing firm (even if we never hear about it). I think a periodic evaluation of your character is always in order.

Prayer
“Lord, may my character always be measured against yours. Show me my faults and help me to correct them”

Scripture
Ecc. 10-12; Ps. 94; Eph. 5

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie. Ecc. 11-3
Now, there’s a good one. There was some crazy sounding terminology going on in those first passages, but that one reached out and slapped me! I immediately thought of my dad (of whom I’ve become!). Any time I would get riled up about something that happened (usually something that didn’t go my way), he’s calmly let me know it wasn’t a big deal and I needed to deal with the current situation rather than dwell on the cause. But, man, don’t we just want to “stew” on it sometimes!? Just think of it this way - if we repent of our sinful error and confess to God, He won’t sit around griping about it. He’ll forgive us and move on to shaping us so that we learn from it!

Prayer
“Give me a level head, Lord. Keep me slow to anger about petty things!”

Scripture
Ecc. 1-3; Ps. 45; Eph. 2

Whew, what a downer! There’s nothing new under the sun? Really? Bummer! Be sure, however, when you read Ecclesiastes 1-3 that you get that last verse. That says alot to enjoy your work. Now, I’ve pretty much only known 2 jobs - singing and web design. Gratefully, I love doing both (and it takes both to make ends meat, so there’s good incentive too!). But, I do recall way back when in my teenage days when there were some jobs I just despised (think in your mind summer work weed eating a half mile of lakeshore . . . mmmm, character building work!).

I think the thing to take away from todays reading is to move that love for work to a love for spiritual work. As much as working for your salary to support you and your family is important, it’s even more important to enjoy Kingdom work. You don’t like a grumpy boss, right? Well, unsaved/unchurched people don’t like grumpy Christians either!

Prayer
“Thank you, Lord, for providing jobs that bring joy. Let the Joy of my salvation resound as I labor for You!”

Scripture
Prov. 30, 31; Ps. 33; Eph. 1

Man, greed is a tough little bugger, isn’t it. In Proverbs today, the question is asked to give his daily bread - no more, no less. I think it’s safe to say we’re a far cry from that in this country. And I am in no way immune. My will tell you I crave just about every little gadget or computer related gem that comes along. I dare say, if I had the means, I’d just buy up whatever caught my eye. Oh, I don’t need the stuff to get by in any way . . . fortunately, I’ve been given enough to sustain my family . . . will a few perks here and there! But, really, greed affects all of us I think in some way. In many ways, it’s been conditioned by our culture. But, still it’s something to keep track of and guard against.

Prayer
“Father, please calm any desire to replace you with things or activities. Thank you for your blessings of possessions, but keep me mindful that they are worthless compared to my relationship with You.”

Scripture
Prov. 28-29; Ps. 60; Rom 16

How bold did David speak to God? Psalm 60 gives a pretty good insight into David’s relationship with our creator. How cool is it that he was close enough to speak his mind and tell God how he felt abandoned all the while praising Him for His greatness. Pretty powerful if you asked me.

Ooooo, I like this verse: ” . . . but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” Romans 16:19. I grew up in church. I grew up with rock solid Christian parents (at least to me) and I hope I can convey a fraction of that to my children. I was “sheltered” for lack of a better term from the evils of this world. I think I had some hint of things, but the lifestyle I was accustomed to was never even close to acknowledging some of the crazy things that go on. Well, as I am much older now, my eyes are opened. “Be innocent about what is evil” . . . to me, that means stay away from it. What you don’t know really can’t hurt you. And, do your best to keep others away from it too!

Prayer
“Lord, thank you for keeping me from evil. Guard and protect me from it daily.”