Matthew 28:5 What a perfect scripture to be reading today!
The angel tells the women by Jesus’ tomb not to be afraid. Jesus wasn’t there anymore because he had risen from the dead!
His body was no longer laying dead in the tomb. He had been beaten and ridiculed and stabbed and whipped and spit on and then crucified.
For you. And for me. That’s how much he loved us.
That’s how much our Father loves us today.
He sends us a huge, forever Valentine in these verses which sets us free from guilt and sin and death and fear and emptiness and hopelessness.

Dear Father, We celebrate your love for us today! Happy Valentine’s day!

I could really use a newer car, how about you?  What do you have on your list of things you would really like to have?

I try not to think about buying a newer car because I know what happens if I think about it long enough, it changes from a ‘want’ to a ‘need’.  Suddenly I’ll be saying that I need a newer car when, in fact, I don’t.  My Maxima is now 11 years old but it’s in great shape and running well.

Matthew 25:29 convicts me about making good use of the things I already have.  God has blessed me abundantly and he expects me to be a good steward of the things he has already given me.  I don’t think that having a constant list in my head of more ‘things’ that I want really honors him because he has already given me so much.  I really think the ‘abundance’ that Jesus talks about in this verse doesn’t necessarily mean material stuff.  In my experience, it’s more about the abundance of peace and contentment I receive when I focus on all that God has already given me.

 So I try to stay out of the materialism trap but it’s very hard.  Especially when I see those newer Maxima’s on the freeway all around me every morning.  They really look nice!  I would shut my eyes, but that’s not a good idea 🙂

So I’ll just keep reading God’s word and asking him to help me soak up his wisdom so I can apply it to my life everyday.  And I’ll focus on doing a good job with the things he has already given me.

when Jesus is coming back.

In Matthew 24:36, God tells us that only he knows.

Then why do some people and some religions spend so much time and so much effort in trying to figure out when the world is ending?  Prediction after prediction, translating sign after sign, memorizing Revelations – what’s it all about?

It’s pretty clear that God knows and he’s not telling.

If he thought it was important, he would be telling us.  The Bible is jam-packed full of all of the important things God wants us to know. 

Some of the things that are really important he repeats over and over such as loving him with all of our hearts, minds and souls and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  Jesus said these 2 commandments are what it’s all about.  Short, clear, to the point. 

 It’s not about signs, predictions or weird creatures with eyes all over their bodies.  It’s not about the end of the world, it’s about loving God right now with everything we’ve got.  So how are we doing?

Reading Exodus 20 -23 can be a little boring, let’s admit it. There are alot of instructions for everything from what to do when your ox gores someone to when to return your neighbor’s cloak.
I think it’s all more interesting if we read it remembering that the Israelites had been slaves for hundreds of years. They were used to having their masters tell them what to do, when to do it and how to do it.
We remember in Exodus 17 where people were waiting in line all day to talk with Moses about all of their issues. Luckily Jethro stepped in and suggested that Moses teach some of the other honest men how to help people with all of these decisions that they didn’t know how to handle. Now we see in Exodus 21 -22 where God is bringing the teaching of right and wrong down to the level of all of the people.
From my perspective, this is much like the process of parenting. Af first, the parents tell the little kids what to do and when to do it. Gradually, the parents move into helping their children make good decisions. Maturity grows when the children internalize what is right and wrong and start to make good decisions on their own, with little help from the parents (except when asked…but that’s a whole different subject : )
As we read on we will be able to see if the Israelites decide to grow up, learn and mature or if they close their ears to the teaching and experience the consequences.

Exodus 17 tells us that the warriors of Amalek attacked the Israelites and Joshua took his army out to fight them.  While they fought, Moses stood on top of the hill holding the staff of God up in the air.

As long as Moses’ arms staying in the air, the Israelites were winning.  When his arms got tired and Moses dropped his hands down, the army would start to lose.  When Moses could no longer hold his arms up, Aaron and Hur stood beside him and held up his hands for him.  As a result, Joshua’s army won the battle.

Together they did something that they could not have done alone.

I know from my own experience that this is why God gives us people who walk our journey of faith with us.  There will be things he will ask us to do that we won’t be able to do by ourselves – we’ll need a team.  There will be events in our lives that shake us and we’ll need a team to help hold us steady upon our Rock.    Anybody who really wants to grow their relationship with God needs to be a part of a Bible Study group.  They become your team and God uses this team to bless you, to challenge you and to develop your walk with him.

I have blessed by participating in LOTs of different Bible study groups and one of the anchors in my life is a group that’s been meeting for over 13 years at 6 am on Thursday mornings.  Thank you, dear Father, for giving me people to take this journey of faith with!