Morning meditation

Today, I am meditating on the One Year Bible reading (Ez. 44-45; 1 Pet. 1; Ps. 119:17-32).
In Ezekiel, I see God calling his people to recognize his holiness and respond appropriately. The east gate of the temple must remain shut because God had entered though it.(44:2) And there are various regulations dealing with temple worship "to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and... how to distinguish between the clean and the unclean" (44:23)

In 1 Peter 1, I see a sparkling diamond with light reflecting from each facet and bouncing on to the next one. God's elect are strangers- foreigners in the lands to which they have been scattered. But they are God's chosen jewels there, blessed with new birth, living hope, and an unfading inheritance. They are shielded by God's power until the coming deliverance. Their trials are proving grounds for their genuine faith in Jesus Christ, whom they love and trust, and this fills them with inexpressible joy, full of glory. This follows the pattern Christ set of suffering followed by glory.O

Psalm 119, of course, is a paean to God's word.
As God allows us life, we are to live it in obedience to his word.
Only God can open our eyes to the the wonders of his word.
As foreigners, we need special help and instructions from his word just to survive.
And so on.

I am reminded of some obvious truth by memorial chimes

As my Aunt Ruth was leaving, after my father's funeral, she promised: "I will send you some wind chimes by which you can often be reminded of your father." They arrived and we hung them on the front porch. They are beautiful both to the eye and the ear. After listening to them while gardening today, I came to a realization- this memorial, just like all memories, is static. It has a limited number of notes to play. The memories I have of my dad, and the few I will remember as I occasionally dig through the cobwebs of my brain, plus another few of which family and friends remind me are ALL THERE IS. He will not be "creating new memories." So as I am reminded of my dad, I am also reminded that we all have a limited time to serve God; love, serve and interact with others; and create a small memorial in their minds.

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch

In the morning sermon today, I heard a new insight into the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch:
Acts 8:26-35
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

    "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
   and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
   so he opens not his mouth.
     In his humiliation justice was denied him.
   Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth." (Is. 53:7-8)


And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" ³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.


The preacher raised the possibility that Philip began with Isaiah 53, maybe he continued on to chapter 56-

³Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
   "The LORD will surely separate me from his people";
and let not the eunuch say,
   "Behold, I am a dry tree."⁴For thus says the LORD:"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
   who choose the things that please me
   and hold fast my covenant,⁵ I will give in my house and within my walls
   a monument and a name
   better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
   that shall not be cut off.

ZING!!! POW!
WOW! Hallelujah! what a God of mercy and grace!

Colossians 1f-2a

Paul says: In the spreading of the gospel, my physical body suffers, just as Jesus’ physical body suffered, and his spiritual body (the church) suffers. But I am glad for all that suffering. It has meaning and purpose- completing God’s plan to save the church and bring it to maturity, in a rich spiritual understanding which produces encouragement, unity, love for others, and assurance.

We know each other

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
... You know my thoughts from afar.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
... I awake, and I am still with you. (Ps 139)
Being known by God and knowing God; 
Realizing that he knows my thoughts, 
and thinking his thoughts-
this is the greatest knowledge in the universe.

Prayer

For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar. Ps 138:6


It is haughty for me to think I can begin my day without prayer, do my work without prayer, live my life without prayer. Although the Lord is high, he regards the lowly- those who realize their need of him.

Focus

After a time of drifting with the flow, I am ready to start paddling again (I'm not much of a swimmer). God is using several circumstances and events to help me focus.
First, my youngest child and only daughter, Caroline, is getting married in less than 3 weeks. In the blink of an eye, she seems to have gone from here:

to here:

 Although they tell me it was more like 21 years, and I guess there are all these other pictures in my collection that prove it:

and many, many more.




Like any big event for which I am partially responsible, this has me focused- not just on the event, but on LIFE- like the ARMY recruitment slogan of a few years back, I have to BE all I can be.


This same little girl sent me a SMS text asking how many triathlons/marathons I have done, and that I send her a list. The process got me charged up to get more serious and focused on running and riding- and maybe racing again.


Also, our Sunday School class is studying a book by Francis Chan- Crazy Love,
and the last chapter we studied involved considering how we live by thinking about our death- regrets we may have, etc. (or ecksetera, as Ian says).


Ok, so that's 3.


4. I have also been talking with Ian (#3 son) about living intentionally and walking in the Spirit on a moment by moment basis- is it possible? is it realistic?


So here is God's word on the subject:
¹³Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet 1:13


In other words, "Get you GAME face on and BRING it!"