You did it, Paige.
Congratulations!
12,000 sunrises, 12,000 sunsets,
12,000 moons, 12,000 afternoons.
Nailed it! Here's to the next 12,000.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
day no. 14,710: but only afterward
John 14:33
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, "Where I am going you cannot come."
When Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, there was no way for them to get to where He was going. He was the way, but the road hadn't been completely paved yet or more accurately, the bridge hadn't covered the gap yet.
John 14:36
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”
By the time Jesus completed His triumphant march up to the throne and out of the grave, a way would be paved and completed that bridged entirely the gap between God and fallen man.
These two facts combined are in essence a foundational part of the Christian faith: there is no way for fallen man to reach God. We cannot be where He is. But by grace through faith in what Jesus alone accomplished once for all, we can follow Him to where He is now! A world without a cross cannot get across the chasm between it and God. Anyone on the cross can find themselves safely where God alone is.
Psalm 24:3
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
Only Jesus… and anyone who follows after Him.
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, "Where I am going you cannot come."
When Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, there was no way for them to get to where He was going. He was the way, but the road hadn't been completely paved yet or more accurately, the bridge hadn't covered the gap yet.
John 14:36
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”
By the time Jesus completed His triumphant march up to the throne and out of the grave, a way would be paved and completed that bridged entirely the gap between God and fallen man.
These two facts combined are in essence a foundational part of the Christian faith: there is no way for fallen man to reach God. We cannot be where He is. But by grace through faith in what Jesus alone accomplished once for all, we can follow Him to where He is now! A world without a cross cannot get across the chasm between it and God. Anyone on the cross can find themselves safely where God alone is.
Psalm 24:3
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
Only Jesus… and anyone who follows after Him.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
day no. 14,709: modern war fair
Isaiah 3:12
My people—infants are their oppressors,
and women rule over them.
O my people, your guides mislead you
and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.
O my people, your guides mislead you
and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.
If you win the men, you win the war.
If you aim at raising up godly men, you will get godly women.
Men are the ceiling, and you cannot be taller than your head.
If you aim at raising up godly men, you will get godly women.
Men are the ceiling, and you cannot be taller than your head.
Jeremiah 51:30
The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
day no. 14,708: grit and gratitude
Deuteronomy 8:17-18
Beware lest you say in your heart, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth." 18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.
It is sometimes difficult to remember how you got somewhere once you have arrived. I have pulled into my driveway on more than one occasion with the thought, "I know I got home, but I don't remember making any of the turns required to get here." Success and satisfaction always come pre-packaged with the temptation to forget how the success and satisfaction were acquired. It is easy to pray to God for help and even easier to forget to thank God after the prayers have been answered.
1 Corinthians 4:7
What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
Beware lest you say in your heart, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth." 18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.
It is sometimes difficult to remember how you got somewhere once you have arrived. I have pulled into my driveway on more than one occasion with the thought, "I know I got home, but I don't remember making any of the turns required to get here." Success and satisfaction always come pre-packaged with the temptation to forget how the success and satisfaction were acquired. It is easy to pray to God for help and even easier to forget to thank God after the prayers have been answered.
1 Corinthians 4:7
What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
Monday, January 28, 2019
day no. 14,707: divine discipline
Deuteronomy 8:5
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.
A father disciplines his son in order to teach him, train him and show him a better way. Discipline assumes that children don't know what's best because all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This come pre-loaded, not in post-production. It also requires the father to be disciplined, organized and committed. Discipline administered intermittently is not discipline, but haphazard punishment masquerading as discipline.
God is disciplined and He disciplines those He loves by training, teaching and showing them a better way than they would choose for themselves. God is a better father than earthly fathers, but He is not less of a father than they are. Know this in your heart, remind yourself of this: God disciplines because He loves.
Only a deadbeat dad would fail to be there for his kids.
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.
A father disciplines his son in order to teach him, train him and show him a better way. Discipline assumes that children don't know what's best because all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This come pre-loaded, not in post-production. It also requires the father to be disciplined, organized and committed. Discipline administered intermittently is not discipline, but haphazard punishment masquerading as discipline.
God is disciplined and He disciplines those He loves by training, teaching and showing them a better way than they would choose for themselves. God is a better father than earthly fathers, but He is not less of a father than they are. Know this in your heart, remind yourself of this: God disciplines because He loves.
Only a deadbeat dad would fail to be there for his kids.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
day no. 14,706: mundane miracles
Deuteronomy 8:4
Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.
The deliverance of Israel from Egypt may have been punctuated with extraordinary miracles like the Passover and the parting of the Red Sea, but it also included many ordinary, everyday miracles like clothes that did not wear out and feet that did not get too swollen to continue walking. This means that in those moments where the people of God were crying out for miraculous intervention in the form of fast food or water from rocks, they were, in those very moments, already being ministered to by the daily miracle of clothes that were holding out against the daily grind and feet that bearing up under the weight of walking mile after mile. Some miracles are more mundane than others without being any less miraculous.
Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.
The deliverance of Israel from Egypt may have been punctuated with extraordinary miracles like the Passover and the parting of the Red Sea, but it also included many ordinary, everyday miracles like clothes that did not wear out and feet that did not get too swollen to continue walking. This means that in those moments where the people of God were crying out for miraculous intervention in the form of fast food or water from rocks, they were, in those very moments, already being ministered to by the daily miracle of clothes that were holding out against the daily grind and feet that bearing up under the weight of walking mile after mile. Some miracles are more mundane than others without being any less miraculous.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
day no. 14,705: feasting on forever
Deuteronomy 8:3
Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Man most definitely needs bread – without it, he will die. But he needs more than bread if he is to live. If he only eats bread, he will only hold death off for so long, but everyone who eats bread still dies. But only those who feast on the Word of God will live forever. We become like what we worship and we are what we eat. Bread gets moldy and rots overtime – so does man. But the Word of God will live forever and so will the man who feeds on it.
1 Peter 1:24-25
All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the Word of the Lord remains forever.
Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Man most definitely needs bread – without it, he will die. But he needs more than bread if he is to live. If he only eats bread, he will only hold death off for so long, but everyone who eats bread still dies. But only those who feast on the Word of God will live forever. We become like what we worship and we are what we eat. Bread gets moldy and rots overtime – so does man. But the Word of God will live forever and so will the man who feeds on it.
1 Peter 1:24-25
All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the Word of the Lord remains forever.
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