20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, so he went out and bowed to the king with his face to the ground. 21 Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?"
David replied, "To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord, so the plague on the people may be halted." 22 Araunah said to David, "My lord the king may take whatever he wants and offer it. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23 My king, Araunah gives everything here to the king." Then he said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you." 24 The king answered Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 ounces of silver. 25 He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer on behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel ended. 2 Samuel 24:20-25
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a collection of my thoughts, notes from time with God, embracing the life that i have been given and yearning to ignite a generation for Christ, to awaken the apathetic, and to be a catalyst that takes Christians from luke warm to absolutely on fire, to bridge people to the love of God through relationships, to lead people to the indescribable joy of calling Jesus their Lord and Savior, to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. leaving the gray
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Offerings that cost me nothing...
Monday, May 24, 2010
From the lips of babes: "I love you bigger than..."
As I was getting ready to leave for work today, we went through our "standard procedure" for saying goodbye:
"Bye baby- see you tonight."
"Bye Daddy- hey Daddy, do you know how much I love you?"
"How much?"
Now I have to stop here for a moment and give some background information. Her usual response to this question is "bigger than the house," or "bigger than the whole. Wide. World!" About 6 months ago she threw me a curve ball and said, "I love you bigger than your work." This response alone is worthy of exploring, but I digress... :)
So back to my story-
"Daddy do you know how much I love you?" And she looks over at the tv, which is playing one of her favorite movies, and says with a big ole cute grin, "I love you bigger than the tv."
Talk about knocking your socks off! She just told me that she loved me more than her most favorite thing in the whole-wide-world! If that doesn't warm your heart, then I don't know what will!
So what's the significance? Why tell this story? I think that it is profound when a 4yr old little girl is able to communicate a correct understanding of true love, a love that esteems someone more than any other cherished thing they posses. And given to a little introspective thinking, I realize that, while I might say that I love God "bigger" than anything in my life, I often live the exact opposite, by demonstrating through the use of my time and money that things (or even my family) are "bigger" in my life than my relationship with Christ, and His transformation of my heart to reflect more of His.
As Christ followers, we all will say that we love Jesus. Let's be certain that our love is not mere lip service, but one that demonstrates that we truly love God "bigger" than anything else.
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Saturday, May 22, 2010
Psalm 62:5-7
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Psalm 32: Best Psalm of all, IMHO!!!
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Sunday, May 16, 2010
Perspective
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Thursday, May 13, 2010
Psalm 36:5-7
5 Lord, Your faithful love reaches to heaven, Your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountain; Your judgments, like the deepest sea. Lord, You preserve man and beast. 7 God, Your faithful love is so valuable
that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
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Tuesday, May 11, 2010
what is deep, high, long & wide?
This song by Jami Smith will mess you up. Well worth the buck or two you have to pay to download from itunes or amazon.
Your love is deep
Your love is high
Your love is long
Your love is wide
Deeper than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than this road I travel
Wider than the gap You filled
Who shall separate us
Who shall separate us from Your love
Nothing can separate us
Nothing can separate us from Your love
Sunday, May 9, 2010
In case you were wondering...
Psalm 103:8-12
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Couldn't have said it better myself
Psalm 19
1 For the choir director. A Davidic psalm. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a groom coming from the bridal chamber; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat. 7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the commandment of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. 10 They are more desirable than gold- than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey- than honey dripping from the comb. 11 In addition, Your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them. 12 Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. 13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me. Then I will be innocent,
and cleansed from blatant rebellion. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.