It has been frigid for a week! It is dangerously cold. My heart goes out to those who are enduring this polar vortex without heat.

We had an “online church” on Sunday. David planned on watching it in the office. (It is cold in the office.) I grabbed the tablet and climbed back into my warm bed.

David rolled an office chair in the bedroom and watched with me.

Psalms 104:33, “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.”

Christian Standard Bible

How easy it is to just listen to the music with an “online church.” Singing and worship are an act of my will.

Monday, February 15, 2021

Psalm 108:1, “My heart is confident, God; I will sing; I will sing praises with the whole of my being.”

Christian Standard Bible

Yesterday, I sang along with worship at “online church.” But I didn’t sing with my whole being.

The temperature was below zero. I watched it in bed. I sang but didn’t clap or move my feet.

It’s easy to sing at the top of my lungs at a concert. When was the last time I sang with the “whole of my being” at church?

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Psalm 86:12, “I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor your name forever.”

Christian Standard Bible

When I praise God half-heartedly, I am not bringing him honor.

It’s easy to praise with my whole being when playing the piano. I play from memory and I need 100% of my concentration to remember where I play softly and where I play louder. Many times, there are last-minute suggestions right before the service. I must remember those, too.

I must put 100% effort into worship during an “online service.”

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

I was going to write a post about my plans to worship wholeheartedly during the online service tonight. But I care for my grandson during church. Sometimes, I can participate, but when he is teething or fussy, I wait and listen to it on Thursday.

Today I read why I should not say what I plan to do.

After Nathan told David the story of the poor man’s lamb, David said what he was going to do.

2 Samuel 12:6, “Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”

Christian Standard Bible

David took Uriah’s wife. That act cost him four of his sons:

• The baby died, 2 Samuel 12:15-18.
• Amnon, 2 Samuel 13:1-29.
• Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:1-15.
• Adonijah, 1 Kings 1:5-2:25.

I believe I won’t say anything at all.

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“If the Crisis catalyst comes on schedule, around the year 2005, then the climax will be around 2020, the resolution around 2026.”

“The Fourth Turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe

“The Fourth Turning” shows the seasons as “turnings.” Going back to the 1400’s they show plagues come every 100 years or so. Wars: national, civil, racial, or cold wars, come every 15-20 years. The Coronavirus pandemic came in 2020. The next event will be a war. Will it be without bloodshed like the “Cold War?”

Psalm 27:3, “Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid; though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident.”

Christian Standard Bible

In Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he spoke of the Civil War as the judgment of God on the nation’s sin of slavery:

“…until every drop of blood drawn from the lash, shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.'”

“The Harbinger II” by Jonathan Cahn

Cahn went on to explain that Lincoln declared April 30, 1863 “a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer.”

The next day, Ulysses Grant won the Battle of Port Gibson, the first of five victories that would lead to the taking of Vicksburg. It was the turning point of the war.

On the same day, the Battle of Chancellorsville began. On the second day of that battle Robert E. Lee’s right-hand man, Stonewall Jackson was killed. His absence at Gettysburg proved critical.

The Civil War took the lives of those who had slaves and those who stood by saying nothing. Those who amassed great wealth from slavery lost everything.

I do not need to fear war. I need to fear the judgment of God.

Psalm 27:5, “For he will conceal me in his shelter in the day of adversity, he will hide me under the cover of his tent, he will set me high upon a rock.”

Christian Standard Bible

Cahn went on to share that the law that led to “Roe vs. Wade” was signed in Albany, New York on April 9, 10, 1970. On April 9, 2019, New York passed a law making infanticide legal.

Fifty years after that first law was passed the COVID-19 pandemic took the lives of so many that they had no place for the bodies. The highest number of deaths occurred in New York City on April 9 and 10. The majority of the deaths were the elderly who voted for abortion or stood by saying nothing. In both cases, the Civil War and the Pandemic, many innocent people also lost their lives.

I am Pro-life. But I have also been silent when I should have spoken.

Psalm 26:2, “Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind.”

Christian Standard Bible

This post may be the end of this blog. If so, get yourself a “One Year Bible.”

(I am not quitting; I have the 2022 Bible Reading Guide finished!)

In the “One Year Bible” on September 11th, a portion of the reading is: “The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. All the people will know – Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria – who say in pride and arrogance of heart: ‘The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.'”

God warned about the destruction of the World Trade Center on that day. The last sentence has been repeated many times.

If you want to know the future – read your Bible. If you want to know what to do and where to go, ask God to show you. He promises to protect us.

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People are surprised when I tell them that I am housebound. They see it as a prison. I view it as a sanctuary protecting me from the allergens that make my life miserable!

1 Samuel 23:7, “When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, ‘God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.'”

Christian Standard Bible

I am not trapped. I am protected and safe. (I do leave for 4 hours a week to attend church.)

1 Samuel 23:16, 17, “Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David at Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God, 17) saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel, and I’ll be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.'”

Christian Standard Bible

Jonathan encouraged David in David’s faith in God. Did Jonathan have faith in God? Would things have worked out differently if he had?

Psalm 57:1, “Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me, for I take refuge in you. I seek refuge in the shadow of your wings until danger passes.”

Christian Standard Bible

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Saul was not the only one who did whatever he wanted. Jonathan took on an army garrison without telling his commanding officer and father, King Saul.

1 Samuel 14:1, “That same day Saul’s son Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, ‘Come on, let’s cross over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.'”

Christian Standard Bible

Talk about tempting God!

This rebellious heart could be why God disqualified him as the next king. (What have I missed out on because of a rebellious heart?)

Jonathan was good at giving commands but not good at waiting for a command. He was a horrible leader! How do I know? No one was following him. He did this secretly.

1 Samuel 14:3, “…But the troops did not know Jonathan had left.”

Christian Standard Bible

Jonathan did not go on this mission by faith.

1 Samuel 1:6, “…Perhaps the Lord will help us.”

Christian Standard Bible

1 Samuel 15:15, “Terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops. Even the garrison and the raiding parties were terrified. The earth shook, and terror spread from God.”

Christian Standard Bible

Speaking of terror, in my last post I wrote about the terror of God falling on us. Then we will be in unity. And that it was a sin to forget to pray.

Then I forgot to pray. What!?!

When I realized my mistake, I felt a little terror from God. I rectified it.

1 Samuel 14:19, “…So Saul said to the priest, ‘Stop what you’re doing.'”

Christian Standard Bible

Saul didn’t think he had time to seek God. Just like I thought I didn’t have time to pray. I had to make time. Today, I prayed before I read.

Jonathan lived under Saul’s curse because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be to hear the command, see 1 Samuel 14:24.

Dear Lord,

Show me anything that could bring a curse in my life.

Amen

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Saul had been crowned king. Not everyone was thrilled. He went back to work for his father. Then a crisis came.

Nahash the Ammonite, wanted to gouge out the right eye of everyone in Jabesh-Gilead and make them his servants. The messengers came to Gibeah, Saul’s hometown, and told the terms to the people, and they all wept.

1 Samuel 11:5, “… ‘What’s the matter with the people?’…”

Christian Standard Bible

Saul had separated himself from everyone. He didn’t see individuals, his friends, or his family; he saw “the people.”

Do my political representatives see me? Or am I just part of a crowd referred to as constituents?

1 Samuel 11:6, “When Saul heard these words, the Spirit of God suddenly came powerfully on him, and his anger burned furiously.”

Christian Standard Bible

God was angry! Was Saul?

What would have happened if the Spirit of God had not touched Saul? Would he have sent the men of Gibeah home? Would he have said, “Sorry, some of you are going to die? It’s going to hurt and you will never recover your sight?”

Dear God,

I pray that Your Spirit will suddenly come powerfully on our politicians.

Amen

Our politicians are asking for unity. The Bible showed us how to get unity.

1 Samuel 11:7, “…the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out united.”

Christan Standard Bible

It was easy to pray for the Spirit of God to fall on the politicians. It is harder to pray for the “terror of the Lord” to fall on me!

1 Samuel 12:23-24, “As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way. 24) Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.”

Christian Standard Bible

I must pray for them, or I sin against the Lord. I must teach the “good and right way,” or I sin against the Lord.

What is the “good and right way?”

1. Fear (respect) God.
2. Worship Him.
3. Be faithful to Him.
4. Worship Him wholeheartedly.
5. Remember the great things He has done.

How did Saul do?

1 Samuel 13:9, “So Saul said, ‘Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.’ Then he offered the burnt offering.”

Christian Standard Bible

• He did not fear or respect God. Only the priests could offer burnt offerings.
• He was impatient and wouldn’t wait on Samuel. Why? His army was deserting him. His trust was in his army, not God.
• Worshipping irreverently is not worship. Just as it is not my place to try to “lead worship” from the congregation, it was not Saul’s place to offer a burnt offering.
• Saul didn’t remember the great victory over Nahash and the Ammonites, see 1 Samuel 11:11.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the great thing you did for me yesterday. After 16 months battling facial hives, the dermatologist found the trigger – air-born eucalyptus from my vaporizer and diffuser. Thank you for the great improvement after one treatment. I know you are healing me because the treatments were supposed to take two weeks! I am humbled and grateful.

Thank you for the fruit from my suffering. While I was at the dermatologist’s office, David took his Bible to “The Vine,” (a coffee shop), and ordered breakfast. When he finished reading, a young man came over and asked some questions.

When I get to heaven, I will meet that young man. He may ask me if the pain, suffering, embarrassment, and humiliation were worth it.

I will say, “Yes!”

Thank you for forgiving me when I tried to lead worship from the congregation. I will never forget the humiliation I felt when You pointed it out to me.

Thank you for loving me even when I am too embarrassed to love myself.

Thank you for teaching me.

Thank you for never giving up on me.

In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen!

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