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Showing posts from June, 2017

Never Too Far

"So now the Lord says, 'I will bring disaster on you (King Ahab) and consume you ... for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.' ... But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning."  I Kings 21:21,27 There are regrets and then there are deep regrets. Deep regrets haunt us. We don't want to think about them, talk about them or even remember they ever existed. Normal regrets are bad enough, but the deep regrets leave us wondering if forgiveness is truly possible. Something inside of us crumbles at the sight of the devastation caused by choices we've made. Is there any hope?  King Ahab was a mess. His rebellion against God was thorough and unending. He worshiped idols. He stole. He murdered. He encouraged his people to turn away from God. His wife Jezebel was right there to fuel his rebellion against God. Along came God's prophet to tell

In Tune

"As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, 'Go south down the desert road ... So he did and he met treasurer of Ethiopia ... The Holy Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and walk along beside the carriage.' Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah." Acts 8:26-30  I really like listening to the radio when I'm driving. Sometimes music. Sometimes talk radio. It's a nice distraction from the dotted yellow lines. At least once on any trip of length, there'll be a song I'm really enjoying and then all of the sudden it goes fuzzy. Another song starts playing over the top of it or it just cuts in and out. Simply diagnosed, the radio is no longer tuned in. Philip was quite the kingdom warrior. He was on the go preaching Jesus and making disciples. He never knew what was next and he seemed to be just fine with that. The Holy Spirit told him what to do and off he went. Later in this particular story the Holy Spirit even tr

Never Disciplined

"About that time time, David's son Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, began boasting, 'I will make myself king.' So he provided himself with chariots and charioteers and recruited fifty men to run in front of him. Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, 'Why are you doing that?' Adonijah had been born next to Absalom, and he was very handsome."  I Kings 1:5-6 Something told me it was a bad idea, but I did it anyway. When the family pictures came back and every one revealed a ten year old boy making the worst possible faces at the camera, my earlier suspicions were confirmed. The paddling I received served as a strong deterrent for me to avoid rude and disrespectful behavior in the future.  David ran into the problem of undisciplined children over and over and over again. Adonijah was never disciplined. He was a boaster. He was very handsome. Evidently, he was quite stuck on himself. Being self-centered