Skip to main content

April 14 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 104

DAILY READINGS

2 Kings 12-14 & Psalm 104

DAILY NOTES

2 Kings 12

  • Did it take 23 years (Verse 6) to realize that the temple wasn't being repaired?  No one called a trustee meeting?
2 Kings 13
  • We aren't told what illness Elisha had.  He has been a prophet for about 50 years!  Remember him praying for that double portion of Elijah's spirit?  Even as he is dying, he keeps maintains his prophetic role--his power is felt even after he is dead!
    • When the king came and wept before Elisha, he said the same thing that Elisha said when Elijah went up in the whirlwind.  Something to reflect upon?
2 Kings 14
  • Kind of feels like some kings just want to keep fighting, right?
Psalm 104
  • God is the God of all Creation.  God even plays with the sea monsters (Verse 26)--God's rubber ducky?  Because of God's care for us and all Creation, God is worthy of praise.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

Those pesky poles!

Have you noticed that even when a king comes along and does good, those poles still stay up?  The poles represent places of worship.  There may have been times when the people worshiped God at the poles, but the impression is that they were where people gave worship to other gods.  

What is it about that worship that the people cannot shake off?

I makes me think of the hymn O Jesus, I Have Promised.  The second verse says, "I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear."  That makes sense; I get that.  It reminds me that there are sights and sounds of the world trying to attract me away from the Lord.  But I love the way the Spanish version says it: es necia la pasión.  That reminds me that the forces all around me are stubborn.  They don't just go away.  I'm going to have to work to make them stay away.

When someone "officially" professes faith in Christ or joins a United Methodist Church, one of the questions we ask them is, "Do you accept the freedom and power God give you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?"

May the Lord gives us the courage to cut down the poles we keep standing today.

Stay blessed...john

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 24 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 83 The relationship between Saul and David worsens.  David is now Saul's enemy.   DAILY READINGS 1 Samuel 18-20 & Psalm 83 DAILY NOTES 1 Samuel 18 Saul's delight for David quickly turns.  Saul is jealous of David's success and the fact that everyone else seems to like David more than him. Of course, we have to think about what this evil spirit from the Lord might mean. Saul tries to kill David.  He even devises a plan to have him married into the royal family so that he can create a snare for him. What does it say about David that, even after Saul has tried to kill him, he still finds it an honor to be married to the family? David escapes Saul's traps.  So, from here on out, the text says that Saul considered David an enemy.  Think he knows what it means to love your enemies? 1 Samuel 19 Verse 5 reminds us of David's fight with Goliath.  At this point, David has fought other times.  What makes that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

May 14 + Daily readings & notes

DAY 134 We're reading another prophet today.  Here's t he Bible Project video that describes what the book is about. DAILY READINGS Jonah 1-4 & Psalm 129 DAILY NOTES Jonah 1 Notice the simple, direct message God gave Jonah.  There's no explanation for why Jonah doesn't follow through (yet).  As quickly as the word from God comes, he goes away. The mariners have their own god to cry out to for help.  They ask Jonah to cry out to his God.  Did you notice he never did?  He only told them that he worships the Lord.   The mariners feared the Lord after this.   Jonah 2 When he and the others were in trouble, Jonah didn't cry out to God.  Now that he's sitting inside a big fish, he offers a prayer to God.   And notice even the fish listens to God! Jonah 3 The word of God comes to Jonah again.  This time Jonah responds.  And the people of Nineveh respond with faith in God. Up to this p...
Post a Comment
Read more

March 17 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 76 We're finishing the book of Judges today.  The judges have ruled over Israel, but the people have strayed from God.  Things are not as they should be.  By the book, the tribes of Israel have been fighting against one of their own. DAILY READINGS Judges 19-21 & Psalm 76 DAILY NOTES Judges 19 No one is given a name in this chapter.   A Levite takes a concubine for a wife.  She gets angry and leaves to go back to her father's house. The Levite goes to her and the father-in-law and he enjoy several days of eating and drinking together. The Levite eventually leaves with his wife and they travel to Gibeah; they get no help from anyone else along the way. They stay at the home of a man from Gibeah.  While they are there, the men of Gibeah rise against the Levite.   The man of the house refuses their attack and offers both his daughter and the Levite's wife instead.   The men "wantonly" rape the wife.  ...
Post a Comment
Read more