You say, “The Nile belongs to me;
I made it for myself.” (Ezekiel 29:2 and Ezekiel 29:9)

These are the words of the Pharaoh of Egypt. He is so proud that he thinks that he is the creator of the Nile. As a result, the Lord punishes him and humbles him; the Lord shows him who is the true creator of the world.

Honoring God as the Creator of the world is critical. The Lord is jealous of others who take credit for His creation. It is necessary to acknowledge Him as Creator in order to give Him glory.

I would appreciate others to put up references where wicked people try to assume that they have created parts of the world. I know that there are others in the Scriptures but I had trouble finding them.

Although I have always desired a close relationship with God, I feel that my dreams of late have grown stronger to be even more intimate with Him.

Pastor Mark of Liveoak Bible Church (my dad) did a teaching a few weeks ago on the intimacy between husband and wife. At the end of the teaching, he reminded us that intimacy in marriage is not the ultimate experience. The most exhilarating experience is our relationship with Christ. And he closed with, “Have you had a taste of it lately?” You can listen to the teaching online at Liveoak’s Website. It is the first one titled, “Intimacy #1″.

His words made me thirsty for God. But how do I, now as a mom, taste of God? It seems increasingly difficult.

I am also reading a book right now called Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb. His main point is that our lower dreams may shatter so that we can see the glory and importance of our higher dream, our relationship with God. Actually, he says that our lower dreams must shatter.

We need the help of shattered dreams to put us in touch with what we most long for, to create a felt appetite for better dreams. And living for the better dreams generates a new, unfamiliar feeling that we eventually recognize as joy. (pg. 35)

Shattered dreams are necessary for spiritual growth. (pg. 52)

Notice the words “need” and “necessary”. Pain is what draw us closer to God.

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. In the middle of shattered dreams, discover a desire that Christ pledges Himself to satisfy. Don’t set out to discover that desire. The desire will surface, like bubbling water from a spring that can no longer be held back.

When that desire is discovered, we wake up to a new world of passion, a quiet world where intense desire never disturbs rest. Worship and prayer become our favorite things to do. The world we enter is the world of the Trinity, the passion-filled community of God. We begin to sense a yearling more powerful than all the others to join that community, to take our seat in heavenly places where loving community satisfies our souls’ deepest desire. (pg. 74)

Worship and prayer become our favorite things to do. Wow. We don’t try to make them our favorite things to do. God makes sure of that. He allows that desire to bubble up as a result of shattered dreams. I feel so thirsty for worship and prayer. What lengths will I go to?

I read the Book of Joel this morning. He talks about the lengths that people should go to in order to be intimate with God.

12 “Even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.

14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the LORD your God.

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.

16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.

17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, LORD.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ” Joel 2:12-17

The Lord requires our hearts. Joel is calling for those who are just married to postpone the consummation of their marriage and first seek the Lord. He encourages mothers to bring their nursing babies and seek the Lord with them. He asks the priests to weep before the Lord before offering the sacrifices. He asks the elders to leave what they are doing and come before the Lord.

Lord, I dream of closer intimacy with You. I will leave whatever I am doing to seek You first.

Often, the Lord protects the righteous from death. But sometimes he allows them to be killed. Josiah is the one king of Judah that has no sins or character flaws mentioned. He is said to follow God with his whole heart. He destroys all the altars and priests of false gods, attempts to follow the Law and celebrates the Passover. Here is what it says about him:

²⁴ Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols,^[j] and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’s Temple. ²⁵ Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since. (2 Chron. 35:24-25)

And yet, he is killed in a battle and his army is defeated by Egypt. It seems odd that God would allow this to happen when Josiah has served him his whole life.

While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah and his army marched out to fight him, but King Neco killed him when they met at Megiddo. (2 Chron. 35:29)

We can probably think of other examples where God takes the life of a righteous person unexpectedly. Keith Green, an evangelist and singer/songwriter, who seemed to be at the peak of serving the Lord wholeheartedly with his music, was killed in a plane accident along with some of his family. And of course, my brother was killed in a car accident two weeks after arriving safely back from fighting in Iraq. To me, God’s timing seems to be off.

And yet, I know we don’t have the full picture. God tells us reasons for some of the events in the Bible and in our lives. But then sometimes, he only gives us part of the picture. With Josiah, I wonder if his death was the beginning of God’s judgment on Judah for the wickedness of the kings and people before him. God promised to wait until after Josiah was dead to bring on His wrath but maybe this defeat marked the beginning of it. What do you all think?

I know that is only part of the picture though. And sometimes, that is all that God gives us. It comes down to us trusting who He says He is even when we don’t understand.

Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used. (Micah 1:7)

It makes sense that sin feeds sin. We may benefit from others’ sins and think that we are above it. But it is only temporary. It will not satisfy us. Our thirst for more will lead us into sin and continue the cycle.

Secondly, I think God’s punishment for sin is often the natural consequence of the actions. Samaria will not remain rich on wages from prostitution but will take their riches and spend it on satisfying their own sexual appetite. Sin’s addictive quality is often its own consequence.

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. (Psalm 37:16-17)

(vs. 16) As Tammy Smith puts it, we need to focus on what is and not what is not. Look at the blessings that I do have! The “little” that I do have is so much with the Lord.

(vs. 17) And even more importantly, I am trusting the only thing that will last. I am trusting in something unbreakable.

In my Psalms class at Reformed Theological Seminary, I learned a key aspect about Hebrew Poetry: Each verse is often illustrating the same point twice (or more). In other words, it uses two different images of the same concept in order to get the point across. Psalm 1 illustrates this perfectly.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 2:2)

Here we see two illustrations of a righteous man loving the Word: he delights in it and he meditates on it. And here we also see how the second thought gives a further insight into the first. How do we delight in the Word? By meditating on it day and night.

Another example:

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5)

Again, both of these thoughts are saying similar things but it gets the point across by saying them in different ways. The wicked will not have any say in judgment and in fact, they cannot be in any meeting or assembly of the righteous.

Sometimes, the two thoughts can be used to demonstrate a contrast as in the last verse:

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:6)

This is not a full explanation of this function of Hebrew Poetry. Professors who study Hebrew Poetry can explain it much better but I wanted to put up this simple concept to help others as they are reading. It has really helped open my eyes to the Scriptures. Once you recognize this pattern, you will start seeing it all over the Psalms and Proverbs (as well as the other poetry books).

I think I often ask God for things and feel that He should give them to me if I have “done all the right things”. Maybe I have worked hard, prayed hard, sought counsel etc. and so the Lord should give me what I ask for. But Daniel puts it so well in his prayer:

. . . We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. (Dan. 9:18)

We ask the Lord for things not because we deserve them but because we don’t deserve them! Lord, let me appeal to Your great mercy!!

This last verse pretty much sums up what I felt about this chapter:

. . . it was beyond understanding. (Dan. 8:27)

I was struck in Daniel 7 with how we will be given the authority to rule by the Son of Man.

Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him. (Dan. 7:27)

It sounds like Christ will hand over the rule to us. Wow! But there are so many questions about this . . . who/what are we ruling over? when will this happen? how can millions of people rule at once?

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. (Dan. 6:10-11)

Often, we think of our prayer life as a private matter. But here we see Daniel worshipping privately and yet publicly even in light of the new decree. Even though there are no major consequences, are we bold enough to publicly worship God?