By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones. By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
You may want to read the entire chapter, Hebrews 11, to get a better "feel" for what the writer is communicating to the readers.
How many times does the expression "by faith" occur in these verses?
How is faith exhibited in each occurrence?
What would have happened in each occurrence if there had been no faith?
What do we learn from this?
How can we develop a "faith" mind-set or attitude that allows us to view life in this way?
Sunday, March 08, 2009
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So, how are you?
This is a special week for us, Kedra and me. On Tuesday we will have been married 25 years. I have now been married half of my life. It certainly has been the best half.
I wonder what the next 25 years hold? Grandkids?? ha ha. I announced at Maddie and Lester's wedding weekend that I was now official a grandp-in-waiting. I am patient, however.
Think it's going to rain? Seems to keep scooting north of us. I like a good rain, so I wouldn't mind it all.
I am really enjoying the warm weather. The grass is greening up. I guess I need to think about getting the piece of junk I call a lawnmower out soon. ha ha. I nearly always mow my grass sometime during March; hard to believe.
Did you have any trouble adjusting to Daylight Saving Time?
For more than you probably want to know about it click here.
Twenty-five years ago today Kedra and I were married in Huntsville. It's been great.
We'll eat lunch today to celebrate. I was thinking the pizza and drink combo at Sam's might be a good way to go. What do you think?
You know we need some new gutters on the old church building, right? We have needed them for a few years now.
Yesterday Mr. Wessel came by to give us a quote. He asked me, "Do you want me to hang them, or are you guys going to do it yourself?" I said, "I'm not really in this loop, but I'll try find out."
I couldn't get in touch with Brent, so I told Mr. W. to quote it both ways. He came in the building after looking around outside. I asked him, "Did you get it figured out?" He said, "I need a table to write on."
I invited him to sit down at the big round table where Wayne and I were sitting. We had just finished our weekly staff meeting and devotional.
Mr. W. was clicking around on his calculator and said, "It looks like about $395 if I do it and about $285 if you do it." Then he started writing it out. As he was writing, Wayne and I were discussing Honduras and the cost of tickets etc. Mr. W. interrupted us with a question. "You going to Honduras?" We said, "Yes." He said, "We'll, here's the deal I am going to quote you: I do it - $395; you do it - free. I'll give you the gutters as my contribution to your trip." Wow!
I called Brent and asked if we want Mr. W to put up the gutter or did we want to do it. Brent says, "I want him to do it." I said, "I want us to do it." Brent was surprised at my immediate disagreement. Laughing, he said, "Why??" I told him the story.
Now, we have some guttering to do.
Sherron, our poet, sent this today as an anniversary present:
SWEET UNION
Sentences they finish for one another,
For God and family they’ve journeyed farther.
Their union on earth cannot be compared
Of blessings and heartaches they chose to share.
Unable to tell where one starts and one ends;
Walking this life, the best of friends
Oh, yes there were battles, worry and strife
But they made the choice, walk together for life.
Don’t toss this precious, sweet union away
Was the choice that they made that long ago day
When they began their walk together as one
Bound in sweet union they walk toward the Son.
Be careful your choices, be very sure
Because it takes courage to stay and endure;
Stick to your promises; don’t turn away.
Be vigilant and wise, sweet union just stays.
Sherron Fields
6/28/2008
Thanks Sherron!
Some really cool, thought-provoking words from our text, talking about Moses:
He persevered because he saw him who is invisible.
He was looking ahead to his reward.
Earlier in the chapter the writer says:
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. --Hebrews 11:3
And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. --Hebrews 11:6
Another day!
Yesterday was good. I studied all morning, and then Kedra and I went for lunch at Olive Garden to celebrate our 25 years together. What better way to extend the celebration than to go to Sam's afterwards and pick up a few things?
Then it was back home to the some of the products of our 25 years. Rebecca had volleyball at the girl's club and Ben was inducted into the Junior High Honor Society. Of course both took place at the same time. Oh well...
To add to the craziness I did my Tuesday Tempo run with the running folks in Bedford. It was warm and windy! I saw some improvement, which surprised me after a big lunch and warm weather. I ran 7.15, 7.33, and 7.23 for my miles. My goal was to run 7.30s; went out too fast.
Today is a busy day. I have a meeting with area ministers in a few minutes. We'll continue our conversation about poverty and accountability. We are making strides; they're (strides not guys) just slow. It takes time.
Gonna try squeeze in workout after that - weights and running. I hope to see M at the gym today. Saw him on Monday, and vulgarity continued. I'm going to ask him about that pretty soon.
I got some study to do for this evening and prep for Sunday's class. I am going to see a guy and then have a Bible study with a couple from the food pantry.
Honduras meeting at 6. We hope to book our flights this evening! Wow, it's getting real and exciting.
Class at 7.
Zzzzzzzzzzzz after that sometime.
We got our flights to Honduras (and back) booked last night! All 16 of us are on the same flight, and everything looks good to go. Jamie E. came and booked it all for us; she did a great job.
This is such a relief. I've been concerned about multiple things regarding flying there; things like - can we all get on the same flight? Are we going to be able to afford it? We got a really good deal; about 200 dollars per person less than I budgeted for.
Our prayers were answered (again).
Gonna put in a hard half day today; gonna take off this afternoon.
Our beloved children surprised us with an anniversary gift: a night at the dome in West Baden. That's really nice.
When we get back tomorrow we'll be getting ready to have Lester and Maddie and Luke all come home for the weekend. I'm really excited about that!
It gives me an excuse to fire up the smoker on Saturday. More ribs. Gonna try smoking/grilling chicken legs, using the same technique that I use for wings.
My class last night was really interesting. We explored some the development of Moses' faith. Have you ever thought about that?
How did he know that he was an Israelite? His mother raised him inside the Egyptian palace, so she must have told him all the stories of her (and his) people.
Moses flees to the desert - a man without a country for many years. Have you ever noticed that good things usually follow desert experiences? God speaks to Moses, but Moses is reluctant, hesitant. God converses with him to develop his faith. Interesting.
The Hebrew writer just states his faith as a matter of fact, but there is a lot behind that statement. I find that encouraging. Our faith development is not unlike that of Moses. It comes over time and through trials, maybe even some desert wanderings.
Reading through the Bible this year...
Judges has to be one of the more interesting books in the Bible. Blood. Guts. Gore. And more. It's certainly not a dull book. It was probably written to help explain/justify the establishment of the monarchy (kings) in Israel.
It says (my translation): "In those days there was no king, so everyone did what was right in their own eyes."
Kinda sounds post-modern and familiar.
How do the birds know when it's time to eat?
It's fascinating how they all--different species--just show up at the feeder at about the same time. And the time varies from day to day.
I guess you figured out that I am looking out my office window and it's feeding time...
OK, back to work.
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