Bible 365: Week 30

Pardon the late Bible 365 post this week.  If you haven't heard, the YUMMommy family had a recent crisis.  We're actually pulling off the most stressful move of our lives to date.  You can read all about it here.  Tomorrow is moving day and I couldn't be more happy to be free of this place, our landlord and the loud neighbors who rent the other side of the duplex.  I'm going to miss our neighbors across the yard though. They are truly the sweetest elderly couple and welcomed us into the neighborhood with open arms from day one.  Anyways, I'm sharing seven things that I learned from Week 30 below.

1-"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)  I definitely learned about waiting on the on the Lord to move in our lives over the past few days.  Really over the past year.  And tomorrow we're definitely mounting our eagles wings and flying out this situation.  God is an on time God for real because our new rental came through literally at almost the eleventh hour it seems.  Through it all I kept my hand in His hand because at the end of day He knows what's best for us.

2-"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you,.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." (Isaiah 43:2)  His protection is always with us.  

3-"The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, 'Why, it's just a block of wood!  I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god?  Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?'" (Isaiah 44:19)  The Israelites still haven't learned their lesson several generations later.  Here God points out foolish it is that they worship an idol/god made of the same thing they use to cook their food with. He's trying to get them to see that these idols do nothing for them, but that it is Him who has been blessing them and delivering time and time again.

4-"I create the light and make the darkness.  I send good times and bad times.  I, the Lord, am the one who does these things." (Isaiah 45:7) This scripture came to mind because I while back I overheard someone saying that God never sends bad times upon us.  Of course, I wanted to but in and say yes He does.  Sometimes, it's to punish us when we act like the Israelites and stray from His will and other times it's to help us grow stronger in our faith. 

5-"But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed." (Isaiah 53:5)  Isaiah tries to tell the people of Jesus' future coming and how he will suffer because our the world's wickedness.  My Bible refers to Jesus as the "sin-bearing servant."  And heaven knows Jesus had a lot of sin to bear from the Israelites and all the nations who were living outside of God's will then and today.  I often wonder why they couldn't get it right back them and why we can't get it right today?  Why is it so hard to be good to each other and live in positivity?

6-"Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time.  But no one seems to care or wonder why.  No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.  For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die." (Isaiah 57:1-2)  I've loss a lot of people who've meant a lot to me before what I considered was their time to depart this world. However, reading this scripture gives me peace finally.  I never looked at death as a type of protection but more of a curse or unfortunate part of life.  After it sounds like life in Heaven would be way better than living a life down here on Earth if you have to be surrounded but evilness 24/7.  I hope this verse gives others comfort.

7-"Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?  No!  They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush.  Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down," says the Lord." (Isaiah 60:15)  People who do wrong always justify their actions by saying 'Ain't no shame in my game.'  In their minds if they don't feel shameful then that makes their bad habits and wrongdoing ok somehow.  No, my friends.  If you don't find shame in it, trust me God does!

Week 31 Readings

7/29:  Jeremiah 11-15

7/30:  Jeremiah 16-20

7/31:  Jeremiah 21-24

8/01:  Jeremiah 25-29

8/02:  Jeremiah 30-33

8/03:  Jeremiah 34-38

8/04:  Jeremiah 39-45

Bible 365: Week 20

Almost to the halfway mark!  We're still in the book of Psalms. In week 20, we read Psalms about fellowship, praise and mercy.  I'm telling you, if you ever need to be lifted up, this is the book in the Bible to come to.  There's a Psalm for almost everything.  

"O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water," says Psalm 63:1.  This couldn't be more true for me.  Lately, I've been making the effort to get up early before the kiddies awake to do my Bible study.  I can focus better on what I'm reading and understand the word better also.

Never forget that God is awesome.  Psalm 66:5 reads, "Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men."   Many times we're so busy dwelling on the negative things that we forget just how wonderful God truly is.  I mean think about it.  He is pretty awesome.  He's the giver and creator of life.

He made the Earth in seven days.  Seriously, we give ourselves as humans too much credit.  The truth of the matter is that without God nothing would be possible.  We wouldn't even be alive!  And if that isn't enough, Psalm 68:5 tells us that "A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation."

And when we are in trouble He know our "foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You" (Psalm 69:5).  Despite our faults and transgressions, He will still be there for us like He was for the Israelites.

Again, thank you to everyone who continues to support and read these Bible 365 posts!

Week 21 Readings

5/20: Psalms 85-89

5/21: Psalms 90-92

5/22: Psalms 93-95

5/23: Psalms 96-98

5/24: Psalms 99-101

5/25: Psalms 102-104

5/26: Psalms 105-106

Bible 365: Week 19

Happy belated Mother's Day and sorry for the late Bible 365 Week 19 recap.  However, I've been a little down because I received some horrible news this past weekend.  Miss J died last Friday.  While I'm sad and heartbroken, I know that she's in better place now.

Most of the Psalms from week 19 had to due with suffering and keeping the faith during troubled times.  So, I truly believe it was a sign all things considered.  And what I learned is that God is always there for us even when it seems like to us, He has hung us out to dry.  Psalm 37:7-8 tells us to "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way.  Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret--it only causes harm."

These verses couldn't have spoken to me more.  Whether it's dealing with death or people who seek to cause drama in our lives, we often don't get the positive outcome we seek because we haven't given God a chance to act on our behalf.  We're too busy letting our frustration and anger get the best of us.  So, in the end we end up causing more harm than good and digging the our pit of torment a little deeper.  I've had a lot of hurt in my life and I'm finally at a place where I'm making the wiser choice to not react negatively or in my anger to bad situations.

I pray the answer and wait for God to guide me and resolve issue.  And because of that I'm not putting myself through unnecessary stress, jeopardizing my character/reputation and I genuinely feel happier.  "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined me, and heard my cry.  He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps," says King David in Psalm 40:1-2. There's your proof that if you just hold out and give God time to do what He does, things will be okay.

If don't remember anything else, remember that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling" (Psalm 46:1-3).

Week 20 Readings

5/13: Psalms 63-65

5/14: Psalms 66- 68

5/15: Psalms 69-72

5/16: Psalms 73-75

5/17: Psalms 76-78

5/18: Psalms 79-81

5/19: Psalms 82-84

Bible 365: Week 18

 Week 18 was all about the book of Psalms.  This is one of my all time favorite books of the Bible.  Psalms is a collection of songs mostly written by David.  Think of it as a greatest hits album.  There are Psalms about thanksgiving, anger, joy and more.  Most importantly there are lessons and truths to be found throughout the book of Psalms.

For example, Psalm 9:1 says, "I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works."  Many times we forget to and like we are too cool to testify when God has moved in our lives.  It's really sad though considering the fact we aren't scared or too cool to call on Him in our times of trouble.  I'm not saying you have to shove God down their throats but it's ok to brag on Him every so often.

And with all the talk of "haters" and enemies, Psalm 10:8-9 reminds us that our enemies "are secretly fixed on the helpless.  He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den; he lies in wait to catch the poor; he catches the poor when he draws him into his net."  So, you have to be on guard.

And is it me or does it seem like sometimes the most worldly or evil people appear to have it all?  They're rich, sport the latest designer clothes and live in big houses.  But what we have to keep in mind is that one day they will get their just reward (punishment).  "But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, to repay it by Your hand" (Psalm 10:14).

They think (and we think) that just because they have it all they are untouchable.  But not so because God sees and keeps record of their evil doings.  And for all their unkindness Psalm 11:6 says that their punishment is to be a rain of "coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind..."

At the end of the day we have to remember that "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" according to Psalm 23:1.  Despite what we may go through in life He will continue to "prepare a table before me" (Psalm 23:5 and that "goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;" (Psalm 23:6).  We have tasted and saw that the Lord was good (Psalm 34).

Hope to see ya next week!

Week 19 Readings

5/6: Psalms  37-41

5/7: Psalms 42-45

5/8: Psalms 46-49

5/9: Psalms 50-53

5/10: Psalms 54-56

5/11: Psalms 57- 59

5/12: Psalms 60-62

Bible 365: Week 17

Yay, 17 weeks down!  We're closer that halfway mark.  I already feel like I've learned so much thus far.  Thank you again to everyone who stops by and supports my Bible 365 posts!   I greatly appreciate it.

In week 17, we finished reading about Job.  Last week we read how, God had asked Satan if he'd tried his servant Job.  Then Job lost all of his riches, his children and good health.  Hid friends tried to talk him into cursing and forsaking God, but Job wasn't having any of that.

Anyways, I guess since he refused to forsake God, his friends decided that Job had caused this terrible fortune on himself.  They accused him of not being a good Christian, but having turned his back on those in need, being a thief and more.  Of course, Job (and God) knew this all to be lies.  Job defended himself saying, "My foots has held fast to the His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.  I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:11-12).

I know it sounds like Job was tooting his own horn, but he really wasn't.  Job was indeed more righteous or obedient than the average man during his time.  Somehow, Job knew that this was test of his faithfulness because he told his friends, "When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).

Don't know of many of you have heard the gospel song goes "have you been tried in the fire/did you come through as pure gold," but that verse made me think of it.  We all go through fires (trials) in our lives.  And we all have the ability to come through them as pure gold and not faltering in our faith in God and His word.

We live in a time where evil is no longer confined to the dark.  Job 24:14 says, "The murderer rises with the light; he kills the poor and needy; and in the night is life a thief."  After the Boston bombing and all the recent murders I have heard about, I couldn't agree with this verse more.  Crooks aren't scared of getting caught anymore.  They boldly attack and destroy in broad daylight where they can be easily recognized.

It's almost like they're taunting us and daring us to take a stand against them.  "The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight saying, 'No eye will see me,' and disguises his face," reads Job 24:15.  You all already know that adultery is something that has affected my life.  Needless to say, I wondered if my father had this same thought of logic when he stepped outside of his marriage with my mom?

I wonder if he even cared if would get caught.  We lived in a very small town where everyone knew us because both my mother's and father's family had good reputations.  He had to have known that the truth would come out at some point, right?  I digress.  That's another post for another day.

In the end, God sat the record straight and told Job that he was indeed a righteous and faithful man.  He also told Job that his friends were pretty much haters who had no clue what they were talking about.  If you think about it they weren't really good friends at all.  God restored everything Job had lost twice over.

He had more children, got his health back and his possessions plus extra.  I'm definitely striving to have faith like Job.  I'm not saying that I want God to test me in the same way He did Job, but when hard times strike I want my faith to be unwavering and not falter.  I don't want to doubt God for even a millisecond.

If you were Job, how would have reacted if your friends started accusing you of being bad Christian/person?

Week 18 Readings

4/29: Psalms 9-12

4/30: Psalms 13-16

5/01: Psalms 17-20

5/02: Psalms 21-24

5/03: Psalms 25-28

5/04: Psalms 29-32

5/05: Psalms 33-36

Bible 365: Week 15

We've made it to week 15 people!!  Thanks again to those of you who are still hanging in here with me.  And before I get into our recap, I just want to ask that you keep the people of Boston in your prayers and thoughts tonight and in the coming days as they try to move on and rebuild from the bombing tragedy that occurred earlier today.  It's truly evil times that we are living in.  Don't take anything or anyone for granted because you never know what's going to happen.

Now, for our recap.  What a mighty and awesome God we serve.  I'm telling you all that the Israelites were truly blessed.  Even after generations of the Israelities proving that they couldn't stay faithful to Him or obey His commandments, God still frees them yet again from enslavement (Ezra 1).  As Ezra 3:11 reads, "...For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel."  So, the Israelites set out to rebuild, but the people of Persia did everything in their power to stop them claiming that "this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces.." (Ezra 4:15).  However, God was with them and moved their mountains.

Just the fact that God delivered them again proves how forgiving and loving He is.  Many times we sound like Nehemiah 1:11, "O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray,..."  Little do we know and did these people know, God is always attentive to our prayers despite our disobedience.  No matter how hardheaded we are (with the exception of blasphemy), our God never stops loving us or looking out for us like He did the Israelites.

And sometimes, we are blessed not due in part to anything that we are doing but because of someone else standing in the gap on our behalf.  Think about it.  God saved the entire generations of Israelites time and time again usually because one person showed fear and righteous so strong that it moved Him to mercy.

Nehemiah 4:14 really stands out today with all that's happened with this Boston Marathon bombing.  It's a reminder that "...the Lord, great and awesome,.." will "fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses."  Our times are getting more and more evil as bombings, school shootings and civil uproar become more common place not only in the United States but around the world.  It's comforting to know that God still has our back in these troubled times.

Week 16 Readings

4/15: Nehemiah 8-10

4/16: Nehemiah 11-13

4/17: Esther 1-4

4/18:  Esther 4-6

4/19: Esther 7-10

4/20: Job 1-7

4/21: Job 8-14

Bible 365: Week 14

Well, we're making our way on through this Bible 365 and I'm still loving it.  The scriptures for Week 14 couldn't have come at better time.  As I continue to work my plan for The YUMMommy Project, I'm reminded of 2 Chronicles 19:11b.  It reads, "Behave courageously and the Lord will be with the good."

Starting this project is scary because it's hard to get others to believe in your cause as passionately as you do.  And while you'd think that it would be easy to get people to give, volunteer and more it's not.  We live in a somewhat selfish and self-centered world.  However, I will not be deterred.  I'm going to behave courageously and push forward.  I've seen a need and I don't want to be a bystander any longer.

"[F]or the battle is not yours, but God's" (2 Chronicles 20:15).  I know that I'm not the only who tries to fight battles that are beyond what I am capable of handling alone.  No matter how strong we think we are, there is always going to be an issue that requires a little supernatural help or miracle.  I've had to turn over a battle that I was trying to fight alone to God that has to do with an aspect of my personal life.

Worrying and frustration are not things that I'm convinced God wants us to feel.  If we let Him, He will work out our issues one way or another.  It may not always work out the way we want it to but it will always work out for our good!

When was the last time you did something bold or courageous?

Week 15 Readings

4/8:  Ezra 1-2

4/9:  Ezra 3-6

4/10:  Ezra 7-8

4/11:  Ezra 9-10

4/12:  Nehemiah 1-2

4/13:  Nehemiah 3-5

4/14:  Nehemiah 6-7

Bible 365: Week 13

I'm sure that by now many of you are wondering if you are experiencing deja vu.  1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles "present the same story line as First and Second Kings but from a different perspective and by a different storyteller."  So, we're pretty getting a different point of view about the reign of Kind David and King Solomon.  Remember, there's always more than one side to every story!  Here are a few of the verses that stuck out to me in Week 13.

"Do not touch My anointed ones and do My prophets no harm, " reads 1 Chronicles 16:22.   I've heard this verse a million times.  I like it for the simple fact that it helps me to be mindful of how I treat people.  (Kinda like the 'Golden Rule.")  In today's society not every minister, anointed one or prophet wears a special collar, robe or name tag identifying themselves as such.  And while we should treat all with love and respect, we often times don't.  But when you do wrong or evil to God's 'chosen' people, He is especially not pleased.

You never know if that person you flipped the bird for accidentally cutting you off on the highway a minister or what.  Therefore, strive to treat all people with respect and kindness as you go throughout your day.  Also, in 1 Chronicles 16, David points out what God has been trying to get through to the Israelites since He freed them from the Egyptians.  Verse 25 says, "For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods."

The Israelites just couldn't grasp this concept for some reason.  No matter how many signs and miracles God showed them, they always doubted His greatness.  Despite showing them the consequences of their serving idols and disobeying His commands, they didn't fully fear Him.  Instead, they chose to fear each other and their gods made of gold or silver that they could see with their eyes.  And I get why.

I know people argue that Christians are crazy for believing in a God we can't see and for really thinking He performed acts like parting the Red Sea or making food appear out of thin air.  But what's the difference from putting your faith in a man made god of gold or silver if you really think about it?  If I drop it or hit hard enough, I can break it.  Thus, I could never see myself as an idol worshiper because in my eyes I'd always be more powerful.  However, with God because I can't see Him there's always an added pressure to follow His commands because He could be watching (and is watching).

We see on the news everyday what happens when people don't fear God.  They disobey His commandments-killing, stealing and committing fraud.  Others are cheating on their spouses, engaging in acts of lust at the strip clubs and giving in to greed.  I am by no means perfect or sinless but my fear of God and appreciation of His greatness keeps me striving to cleanse myself of the bad habits that I do have.

And I know many of us believe that Jesus was the only son of God, but 1 Chronicles 28:6 claims, "It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father."  I don't recall having read too many scriptures in the Bible where God specifically says that somebody is His son.  Yes, we are all His children, but Solomon was called by name to be God's son and that was a great honor to have.

Honestly, I think that as a son, Solomon would have been pretty close being perfect if he hadn't let his wives lead him astray as we read about in Kings.  God gave him the wisdom and knowledge to judge and rule over the Israelites (2 Chronicles 1:1-12).  However, it seems that Solomon's shortfall was being unable to apply that wisdom and knowledge to himself.

I'm sure we all know people like King Solomon.  They're great at giving other's advice that helps others improve, but can't seem to live by their own advice better their own lives.

What keeps you anchored in your walk with God?

Week 14 Readings

4/1:   2 Chronicles 15-17

4/2:  2 Chronicles 18-21

4/3:  2 Chronicles 22-24

4/4:  2 Chronicles 25-28

4/5:  2 Chronicles 29-32

4/6:  2 Chronicles 33-34

4/7:  2 Chronicles 35-36

Bible 365: Week 12

Happy Week 12!  I hope that those of you who are following me along with this Bible 365 Challenge are still hanging in there.  Remember the purpose of this challenge is to read the Bible in its entirety within a year. So, if you miss a day of reading just double up the next day.  I understand that life happens and many of us are busy with soccer practice, PTO meetings or band concerts.

Week 12's reading was a little depressing.  If someone wasn't dying, they getting killed off.  Probably the second most violent death and killing in the Bible was Jezebel's.  Jesus' crucifixion of course holds the number one spot.  Jezebel was actually a queen.  She had married King Ahab and made more than her share of enemies during that time. 

If you recall in 1 Kings 19, she tried to have the prophet Elijah killed after he killed the prophets of Baal.  Anyways, Jezebel's sons became kings after her husband died although Jehu had been anointed king by God (2 Kings 9:6).  However, God knew that Jezebel and her sons wouldn't just turn over the throne to Jehu.  So, it was prophesied by Elisha that Jehu would kill Jezebel.  And that's just what happened.

Jehu decided to go to Jezreel and when Jezebel called to him from the window, he told her court servants to throw her down into the street.  "So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot (2 Kings 9:33).  As if her death wasn't horrific enough, when he sent guards to go and bury her body all they could find were "the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands" (2 Kings 9:35) because the dogs had eaten the rest of her body as foretold by Elisha.

When you mess with God's plans for greatness be careful because there is always a consequence!

Week 13 Readings

3/25 1 Chronicles 13-17

3/26 1 Chronicles 18-21

3/27 1 Chronicles 22-25

3/28 1 Chronicles 26-29

3/29 2 Chronicles 1-5

3/30 2 Chronicles 6-9

3/31 2 Chronicles 10-14

Bible 365: Week 11

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Today has been such a busy day for me that I almost forgot to post the recap for Week 11.  But at last I have found a moment to finally sit down and blog.  I'm looking forward to being more present here on the blog this week and getting up some posts that I've been tossing around in my mind for a few days now.  I've also been working updating the URL.  This whole domain name changing business can be tricky, but I think that by the end of the week we'll be YUMMommy.com!  Super excited!!

If you recall last week, we read a little bit about David's son, Solomon.  Well, in this week's reading we get to really meet Solomon and see what he is all about after he is appointed king by David. Before he dies his father instructs him to "...be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.  And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in  His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandment, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do.." (1 Kings 2:2-3).   I loved how David was really trying to stress the importance of walking right in the sight of God.  I truly believe that David's indiscretion with Bathsheba was probably his biggest disappointment in himself because he knew that he was called  by God and he was supposed to be a righteous leader and role model for the Israelites.

So, I definitely don't think he wanted to Solomon to stray from God like he had.  But of course, before Solomon was appointed and crowned king, his half brother, Adonijah had already tried to claim the thrown for himself.  Therefore, it shouldn't have come as a shocker that after David died, he tried once again to reclaim what he thought was his right to rule over the Israelites by trying to get Bathsheba to convince Solomon to give him Abishag.  Solomon was wise enough to look see that this was his half brother's way of starting to lay claim to what had been King David's and the throne was sure to be the next thing he came after.

Therefore, Solomon had him executed.  I'm pretty sure that this was hard task for Solomon because Adonijah was his brother, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he didn't strike first Adonijah's greed and jealously over the throne would have caused him to kill Solomon eventually.  I couldn't imagine battling with one of my siblings over ruling a nation and having to kill them before they killed me.  However, we know that power sometimes brings out the worst in people.  

One of the things I admire most about Solomon is that when God told him to ask for anything, Solomon didn't ask all the money in the world, the finest woman or the best clothing riches could buy.  Instead, he said, "..give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between god and evil.  For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (1 Kings 3:9).   According to Solomon's own admission in 1 Kings 3:7, he was a child and had no clue about any of the ruling over a nation business.  I don't know too many teenagers in these times that if put in a high position of power and then given the opportunity to have been able to pick anything this is world to have would have picked wisdom to make them a better ruler.

Reading this makes me wonder if I'm doing a good job at raising my children to not be materialistic.  I would like to hope that my children would be like Solomon and ask for a trait or skill that would help them to better serve the purpose that God has intended for their lives.  Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with having or wanting material things but when you're able to choose something such as wisdom over riches, that's when you really know that you've grown and that you're serious about your purpose in life.

But I wish I could say that Solomon's wisdom kept him on the straight and narrow all the time, but it didn't.  You see Solomon had the same weakness as his father and Sampson- beautiful women.  "...he had seven hundred wives, princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart.  For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was  not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David" (1 Kings 11:3-4).  Talk about sister wives! I can't imagine sharing my husband 699 other women!

Secondly, this is just proof of we let the people closest to us like our spouses lead us down the wrong paths. It's sad that your spouse would do such things but for some the desire for control overrules our judgment of right and wrong.

How do handle pressure from your spouse to do things that you're not comfortable with? 

Week 12 Readings

3/18- 2 Kings 7-10

3/19- 2 Kings 11-13

3/20- 2 Kings 14-17

3/21- 2 Kings 18-21

3/22- 2 Kings 22-25

3/23- 1 Chronicles 1-6

3/24- 1 Chronicles 7-12

Bible 365: Week 10

Sorry for the late posting.  I'm still visiting with family.  Things are way more chaotic and hectic here than when I'm back at my house.  Every night this week it's been a real struggle for me to keep my eyes open after I put the kiddies to bed.  Thank goodness for audio bibles!

So, in Week 10, David is finally given thrown to rule over the Israelites.  He continues to lead them in battle to conquer their neighboring enemies.  Up until this point David hasn't really strayed too far from God's commandments.

However, one evening he was feeling restless and decided to go for a little walk on his roof.  "And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold" (2 Samuel 11:2).  And thus David let his lust get the best of him.

The woman he was watching bathe was Bathsheba.  And he was fully aware that she was married to Uriah, one of his men.  However, this did not stop David from sending some of his other men to fetch her so that he could sleep with her. (Power tripping!)  She ends up pregnant and to cover up his sin or to stop Uriah from confronting him, David has him sent to the frontline knowing he'll get killed in battle.

This is the kind of stuff you'd see on a soap opera for sure!  Uriah dies of course and David takes Bathsheba on as one of his wives.  Now, we know from our previous readings that God doesn't put up with foolishness and direct disobedience from leaders He has chosen and anointed to be more righteous than the rest of the Israelites.  So, God tells David that his punishment will be the death of his love child with Bathsheba.

David thought that he could get God to change his mind and show him some mercy by fasting and praying.  However, God follows through and seven days after Bathsheba gave birth their son died (2 Samuel 12:18).  Soon afterwards David sleeps with Bathsheba and she gets pregnant again.  This time their son lives and they name him Solomon.

We get to meet Solomon again later on in the Bible.  He has own book which is one of my favorites.  It's a cross between his personal diary and one of the best love letters ever written in my opinion.  Can't wait to get to it.

Trouble didn't end for David with the death of his newborn son either.  His older son, Amnon, rapes his daughter Tamar (Amnon's half-sister).  Then Amnon's half-brother Absalom gets even with Amnon for raping his sister by killing him (2 Samuel 13).  Absalom then flees from their father thinking David is going to be furious with him.  

However, since it was already commanded under Moses that the sin for sexual sins committed against close relatives was death, David forgives Absalom.  I guess he felt it was better that Amnon die by the hand of a loved one than a stranger.

I personally don't know how I would have handled or felt about the situation.  I imagine that David felt embarrassed and a great deal of pain having had one child rape another and then yet another one of his children killed the offending child.  That is beyond being a dysfunctional family.

As if David hadn't been through enough, Absalom turns his back on his father when David welcomes him back to Jerusalem.  Thus, David goes on the run from his own son!  In the end Absalom gets his due and is killed by Joab and his men (2 Samuel 18:12-18).

One of my favorite passages from Week 10 was 2 Samuel 22.  It's David's song of praise to God for delivering him from his many enemies.  It's definitely one of those passages to bookmark to read during times when you need reassurance or to remember why God is totally awesome!

Week 11 Readings

3/11- 1 Kings 1-4

3/12- 1 Kings 5-8

3/13- 1 Kings 9-11

3/14- 1 Kings 12-16

3/15- 1 Kings 17-19

3/16- 1 Kings 20-22

3/17 2 Kings 1-6

Bible 365: Week 9

Week 9 starts off with the ark of the covenant being stolen by the Philistines after they defeated Israelites.  Among the 30,000 foot soldiers killed in the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines were two of the sons of Eli.  Remember, that in week 8 God had vowed to punish them and Eli because of their wickedness. What happened to Eli?

"Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy" (1 Samuel 4:18).  The Philistines end up returning the ark to the Israelites because God cursed them with the plague of tumors.  Twenty years after the ark is returned Samuel tells the Israelites to  "return to the Lord with all you hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among youn, and prepare your heart for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines" (1 Samuel 7:3).  And just like that the Israelites are once again delivered from their enemies.

You'd think that by now the Israelites would stop complaining and be grateful for all that God has done for them, but they start to demanding that a king be appointed to rule over them like other nations have.  Samuel tries to forewarn them that having a king is not going to be all that they think it is, but as usual the Israelites don't listen and Saul is appointed king.  However, Saul's reign as king is short lived because he too turns his back on God claiming that "I have sinned for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people of and obeyed their voice" (1 Samuel 15:24).

One of my favorite verses from the Bible is 1 Samuel 16:7 which says, "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."  This is verse is very true.  Whether it's friends or a spouse, so many of us are quick to write others off just based on their looks.  And often times when we do that we are passing up on the very people God has sent to us in exchange for people  that the Devil has placed in our way to get us off track.  I definitely try to look more at people's attitudes, actions and listen to their words when it comes to letting them in my circle and establishing relationships.

We also got to read about the story of David and Goliath.  Since, God rejected Saul as king, He appoints David to be the next king over the Israelites and His spirit with him.  So, when the Philistines decide to that they want to war against the Israelites to reclaim their land, David's father sends him to take supplies and food to his brothers.  Well, when he gets to the battle he finds the Israelites pretty much hiding out like chickens because they are scared of the Philistines, who are known to be giants or unusually tall stature. 

David tells Saul that he will fight because he's not afraid of the giants.  He tells them how as a shepherd he's had to battle lions with his bare hands to save the flock.  So, going up against men should be a piece of cake.  Talk about faith and courage!  I know that I wouldn't have the courage to fight off lions with my bare hands. I think I would have let them just have the sheep they were cornering and move the rest of the heard.  And I would have definitely been worried about going up against giants like the Philistines, but since God had already delivered them from the Philistines once before I wouldn't have doubted Him to do it again.

And after David kills the Philistine with just his sling shot and wins the battle for the Israelites, you'd think Saul, who was still king, would have been appreciative.  Instead he gets jealous of David because he sees that God's spirit is now with David instead of him and the Israelites all love David now.  So, Saul sets out on a mission to kill David, but David flees.  Saul's jealousy is so red hot that he even kills priests because they did not tell him that David had fled the city (1 Samuel 22:16-25).

In the end, it's David who ends up sparing Saul's life after David and his men surround Saul in a cave. It's the perfect opportunity for David to kill Saul but he doesn't.  Instead, he calls out to Saul and tells him that he could have killed him but didn't.  It's then that Saul realizes just how righteous David really is and calls off the hunt for David.  Or so he claimed. 

David sends out spies and finds out that Saul has not called off the bounty on David's head but instead has doubled back to follow David into the wilderness.  I'm sorry but if I was Saul and I knew that God was with David, I would have just stepped down from the thrown and left David alone.  In the end, Saul ends up taking his own life after he is fatally wounded in yet another battle against the Philistines.  He doesn't want to die from wounds and asked one of his soldiers to kill him.

The soldier declines and Saul is forced to kill himself by falling on his own sword.  His sons are also killed in battle.  Thus, no heirs from Saul's household are left to battle David for the thrown.

Week 10 Readings

3/4- 2 Samuel 1-4

3/5- 2 Samuel 5-7

3/6- 2 Samuel 8-10

3/7- 2 Samuel 11-12

3/8- 2 Samuel 13-15

3/9- 2 Samuel 16-20

3/10- 2 Samuel 21-24

Bible 365: Week 8

8 weeks down and 44 more to go!  Yes, I'm still pushing forward with my Bible 365 challenge.  If you recall, last week we ended the book of Joshua with the death of Joshua and the Israelites not having fully conquered Canaan.  The Israelites were suppose to drive out the people, their idols and follow the commands that God had laid out for them under Moses and Joshua.

Now, we know the Israelites instinctive nature back then was to give up on God as soon as they were faced with hard times.  So, with Joshua being dead and them not having a leader the Israelites tried to complete the takeover of Canaan but sadly as God had predicted to Moses and Joshua, the Israelites rebelled against God and didn't follow His instructions.  Judges 2:1-2 say, "...I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you.  And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?"

I've often asked myself why it was so hard for the Israelites to follow God's instructions too?  I mean if you God were tell me that all I had to do to get a land following with milk and honey, abundance and easy living was to not make covenants with the enemy or take up any of their practices and that He was going to drive them out of the land before me, I would totally jump on that deal and not think twice.  After all the miracles and curses they've seen God perform you would also think they would have a healthy dose of fear to keep them on the straight and narrow but alas "...the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.  So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,..." (Judges 6:1).

Yep, back to slavery and servitude they went.  After that God decided to deliver them from the Midianites and appointed Gideon to help them defeat the Midianites.  And for that short time, the Israelites did ok, but as soon as Gideon died and they were again without a leader they turned their backs on God yet again.  "Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Gideon in accordance with the good he done for Israel" (Judges 8:34-35).

Also, in the book of Judges we learn about Samson and how he came delivered Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.   Samson was like almost like Conan the Barbarian.  What do I mean by that?  Well, this man tore a lion to pieces using his bare hands (Judges 14:5-6) and killed a 1,000 men using a donkey jawbone (Judges 15:15-17).

I imagine that Samson was the kind of man who made all the ladies weak in the knees.  However, he was definitely not someone you wanted to cross or get on his bad side.  But he did have a heroic downfall-women.  And his attraction/fascination with beautiful women caused him to get captured by his enemies.

Yep, his woman Delilah turned on him for a boatload of silver.  She got Samson to tell her the secret to his supernatural strength- his hair and then she had it shaved off in his sleep.  Then the Philistines captured him, gauged his eyes out and kept him as their entertainment slave.  Well, once Samson's hair started to grow back, he called on God to help get vengeance on the Philistines. 

So, one day the Philistines decided have a party and bring Samson up to be their entertainment.  They chained him between two pillars.  God heard Samson's request and gave him his strength back.  Samson toppled the temple by crushing the pillars thus killing the Philistines and himself (Judges 16).

The book of Ruth is about the best daughter in-law who ever lived.  Her husband and brother in-laws die and when her mother in-laws announces to her and her other sister in-law that since she has no more sons for them marry and nothing to offer them that they can go back home to their families and move on, Ruth makes the brave choice to stay with her mother in-law.  How many of us can say that we bonds like that with our in-laws?

Most of us would have been like Orpah, chucked up the deuces and went back home to our family, inheritance and another chance at true love.  But I think that Ruth felt compassion for Naomi and didn't want her to be alone.  And for that God blessed her and led her to Boaz.  This love story is short, but sweet and just shows that when you let do what is right you will get rewarded.

In 1 Samuel chapters 1-3, we meet Samuel's mother Hannah, who is barren, but prays to the Lord to give her son and she will dedicate him to the Lord.  God answers her prayer and Hannah keeps her end of the bargain and dedicates Samuel to God.  And Samuel becomes the first child minister and receives his first prophecy from God regarding the punishment of the house of Eli. 

Why were they being punished? Well, Eli's sons were wicked.  They were laying "with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting" (1 Samuel 2:22) and Eli did nothing to really stop his sons from doing these bad things.  Looks like another case of people not taking God's commands seriously.  Overall, week 8 had some action packed reading.  Definitely not dull moments.

Week 9 Reading

2/25- 1 Samuel 4-7

2/26- 1 Samuel 8-12

2/27- 1 Samuel 13-15

2/28- 1 Samuel 16-18

3/1- 1 Samuel 19-22

3/2- 1 Samuel 23-26

3/3- 1 Samuel 27-31

Bible 365: Week 7

This week we finished up the book of Deuteronomy.  Picking up from where we left off in in Week 6, we already talked about how Moses wasn't going to live in the Promise Land.  So, God gave Moses some instructions to pass down to the new generation of elders and leaders.  One of those was that once the Israelites had passed "over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime.  You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, 'a land flowing with milk and honey', just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you" (Deuteronomy 27:2-3).

In Deuteronomy 31, Joshua is appointed as the new leader of the Israelites. One of the key verses that stood out to me was Deuteronomy 31:8, "And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you.  He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."  Often times, storms and challenges will arise in our lives and we will feel like throwing in the towel.  However, as this verse says we are not alone and we should be dismayed.  I'm definitely committing this verse to memory because this past week has been one full of more downs than ups.

God also predicted to Moses that the Israelites would rebel against Him one final time and thus forfeit their inheritance of the Promise Land.  So, He told Moses to write a song which was to be taught to the Israelites to explain why they would forfeit the Promise Land.  After Moses dies on Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34), Joshua then begins the task of rounding up troops to cross the Jordan and conquer all the lands that God has promised to the Israelites forefathers.  

And you would think that at this point the Israelites would know to take heed to whatever God tells them to do.  However, Achan decided to disobey God and took silver, clothing and gold from the land of Ai after God had commanded all the silver and gold to be put in a treasury and everything else was to be burned to the ground in the city.  That bad decision cost Achan his life.  He was stoned to death and then they burned his body and covered him with stones (Joshua 7:10-26).  This just goes to show us that our sins do indeed have consequences.

Although, bad things happen to good and faithful people, bad things can also be going in our lives because we have failed to do as God has commanded us to do.  For the most part, the book of Joshua details the conquering of all the different lands and how it was equally divided up among the 12 tribes.   You also notice that there is a difference between Joshua and Moses as leaders.  Moses allowed the Israelites to pull at his heartstrings and whenever they did wrong, he would also go to God to get Him to not bring wrath down on them.  Whereas, if God told Joshua that His wrath was about to come down on a particular person or tribe, Joshua just said ok and followed whatever God told him to do with the guilty party.

I definitely think that this was in part due to Joshua having witnessed the stubbornness and rebellion of the Israelites under Moses' leadership.  I'm sure he also saw how God punished Moses and probably didn't want to end  the same.  However, Joshua dies at the age of 110 and Eleazar, the son of Aaron (Moses' brother), dies too at the end of the book of Joshua.  

The the Israelites haven't fully conquered the Promise Land, but the lands around it  and in Week 9 we'll find out whether not God's prediction to Moses will come true and see if the Israelites will forfeit their inheritance.  What do you all think?

Week 8 Readings

2/18 Judges 1-3

2/19 Judges 4-8

2/20 Judges 9-12

2/21 Judges 13-16

2/22 Judges 17-21

2/23 Ruth 1-4

2/24 1 Samuel 1-3

Bible 365: Week 6

It's week 6 and I'm still going strong with my Bible 365 challenge for myself.  Week 6's reading was Deuteronomy chapters 1 through 26.  Most of this was just review of the events that happened from Exodus and up to current time.  God had told Moses in the book of Numbers that he wasn't going to be allowed into the Promise Land because he had allowed the Israelites to cause him to rebel against God.  

Therefore, Moses was retelling all the events that happened over the Israelites 40 years of wandering around in the wilderness to the younger generation and Caleb, Joshua and Eleazer who would be leading the new generation of younger Israelites into the Promise Land.  Therefore, was a lot of mentions of obeying the commandments set force by God.  In fact, I would say that within these 26 chapters I read that the words command or commandment was probably written at least 50 times.

And with this being Black History Month, Deuteronomy 4:9 really stuck out to me: "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them."  Just like it's important for us in today's society to teach our children about all the things our people and we as nation have to endure over the years, God wanted the Israelites to pass on their history to their children and encourage them to pass it on to their children.

After all, how can we expect the younger generation to move forward if they don't know where they've come from?  And contrary to how many of the kings behaved, God actually commanded that kings "must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray" (Deuteronomy 17:17).  This makes total sense because imagine if the Israelite king had one wife who believed in God and another who believed in false idols.  It would be easy for him to be pulled in the wrong direction.

Another interesting Bible fact is that if man was discovered in the act of raping a woman, he wasn't put to death.  Instead, he  had to pay the woman's father fifty shekels of silver and then take her as his wife FOREVER (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)!  I couldn't imagine having to be the wife of a man who raped me.  That would just disgust me beyond no ends.  I know that this was meant to be punishment for the man because he wouldn't be able to get rid of the woman or seek out another wife, but still I imagine that it felt like punishment for the woman as well.

Those women must have had emotional strength as strong as nails back then.  "If a man has recently married, he must be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him.  for one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married," says Deuteronomy 24:5.  I'm sure a lot our military families specifically would love to have this law still in effect in today's society.  Honestly, I feel that if married couples had a year to not have to worry about work and bills but just getting to know each other, we'd have lower divorce rates.

And since a lot of people have been asking, I'm going to start sharing the reading for each day for the following week.  I don't know why I didn't do this from the start, but better late than never.  And if you want to start from the beginning and catch up here's the link to a FREE audio Bible.  They do different voices for the characters and have background soundtracks.  It's better than any audio Bible I've ever heard before.

Week 7 Readings

2/11 Deuteronomy 27-30

2/12 Deuteronomy 31-34

2/13 Joshua 1-5

2/14 Joshua 6-8

 2/15 Joshua 9-12

2/16 Joshua 13-19

2/17 Joshua 20-24

Bible 365: Week 5

Sorry for the late post today.  JJ is back to teething again and today has been all about meltdowns.  This is the first free moment I've had to sit down and blog.  Anyways, I read the book of Numbers this week.  The children of Israel have been freed from the Egyptians, God has given them the Ten Commandments in addition to the rules and regulations they already had and by now they've been journeying to the Promise Land for about two years.

You'd think that after all the miracles God has performed for the Israelites to deliver them from Pharaoh and while they were in the wilderness that they wouldn't question Him.  However, people back then must have been really hard to convince because the Israelites rebelled a LOT.  And the book of Numbers gives us a glimpse at the ways they tried God's patience and His mercy.  First, they started to complain about not having meat to eat.

Yes, they had flocks but I guess they didn't eat the goats or cows because they had also use those animals to make sacrifices and for atonement offerings.  God had been giving the manana out of which they could make bread or a cake similar to our modern day rice cakes.  That clearly was not good enough for them.  So, they all gathered outside of Moses' tent and complained yet again.  And of course, Moses had already had his doubts about this whole delivering of the Israelites situation.

And after they made that golden calf idol, Moses was just too through with these people. So, he cried out to God saying, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me?  I cannot carry these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.  If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now- if I have found favor in your eyes- and do not let me face my own ruin: (Numbers 11:11, 14-15).  

He is beyond at the end of rope and would rather DIE than continue on having to deal with the rebellion, sinning and complaints by this point.  Now, God is pleased to see that once again rather just simply asking for what they want the Israelites have resulted to whining like children and complaining about how God can't be as powerful as He's supposed to be because He can't even give them meat!  Well, God is like ok, you want meat I'll give y'all some meat.  "You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month-until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it- because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you and have wailed before him, saying 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?' " (Numbers 11:19-20)

And give them meat He did.  "Now a wind out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea.  It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction" (Numbers 11:31).  God also put a plague on them.  And you would think that after this nobody else would complain or try to come up against Moses.  Well, his own brother Aaron and his sister in-law, Miriam, get a little jealous that Moses seems to be God's favorite- a teacher's pet pretty much.

And they started to talking and trying to plot against him.  Now, Moses probably was God's favorite.  Numbers 12:3 says "now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth."  Anyways, God doesn't stand for this foolishness and punishes them by giving Miriam leprosy for 7 days and has to live outside of the camp.  Aaron was the high priest and therefore would have been unclean if he had been punished with leprosy.  Being the good person that he is, Moses pleads with God for him to heal her but God is like enough is enough.  She serves her 7 days and that's that.

Finally, God tells Moses to send out scouts from each of the different tribes to go and explore Canaan aka the Promise Land aka the Land of Milk and Honey.   So, they scouts go and they see that this is indeed the prosperous place that Moses has been telling that God is going to deliver to them because of the convent he made with Abraham and Issac.  However, many of the men get scared because they see how well populated and united the Canaanites are.  Their feat and doubt of God's ability to to deliver this land into their hands causes them to lie to the Israelites saying, "The land we explored devours those living in it.  All the people we saw there are of great size" (Numbers 13:32).

So, you can only imagine how this made Moses, Aaron and God look.  Joshua and Caleb, who were also scouts, try to call the other men out but the Israelites weren't trying to hear that.  "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in the this desert!  Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?  Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" Numbers 14:2-3).

I'm sorry but I would not be trying to go back into slavery.  The Egyptians treated them horribly. Anyways, they started debating whether to stone Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua for trying to lead them into a deathtrap.  God is like oh so you trying me again?!  I "will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you [Moses] into a nation greater and stronger than they" (Numbers 14:12).  But Moses intercedes on their behalf asking God not to destroy them.

I think any other leader would have let God have gone through with his original plan and felt relief to be free of the doubters and complainers.  So, rather destroy God decides that none of the men 20 years and up (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) will see or enter the Promise Land.  Instead, they have to wonder around the wilderness for 40 years until the current generations dies off.  Only their children and grandchildren will be allowed to enter Canaan.  And as for those lying scouts, they got their just punishment and were put to death.

This is only half of the drama that goes down in the book of Numbers.  You really have to read it to get a sense of how unappreciative these Israelites were.  At the first glimpse of struggle they turned on God and were ready run back to the enemy.  Maybe, I will post a part two tomorrow.

Bible 365: Week 4

I'm still marching full steam ahead with my Bible 365 Challenge.  As Steve Harvey would say, "He ain't through with me yet!"  I've definitely been learning some things.  Week 4's reading was Leviticus chapters 1 through 27.  And the book of Leviticus, written by Moses, got its name because Aaron and his sons were from the tribe of Levi.  God appoints them to be priests of the Israelites.

This particular book of the Bible focused on establishment of the different offerings (burnt, grain, fellowship, etc), the ordination of Aaron and his sons and regulations and laws from the Lord.  When it came to offerings every family had to offerings you had to bring the best of the best of whatever you were going to offer.  For example, if you were offering up a goat or sheep for a burnt offering it couldn't have a blemish or spot on it.  The purpose of this was to symbolize the cleaning of the slate for their sins.  Once forgive they became blemish-free in the eyes of God.

And you know how some of us like walk on the wild side and eat adventurous food like squid and crocodile?  Well, the Israelites had a list of forbidden or unclean foods that included pork, shell fish, and rabbit.  Can you imagine being forbidden to eat smothered pork chops or fat back?  And in the summer time, many of us would be going crazy if the only sea food we could was fish.  I don't know about you but I love my blue crabs!  However, I would give them up if God said I had to.

Other foods on the list I thought made sense like camel, eagles, vultures, bat and insects (except grasshoppers).  Also, if you touched any of these forbidden animals you were considered unclean until the evening.  You had to bath and wash your clothes.  And of course Leviticus 7:26-27 says, "Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast.  Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people."

No rare or medium rare back then.  The juices that ran from the meat could not be red.  That would have been fine by me because I prefer all my meat well done anyway.  And when it came to pregnancy, if a woman had a son she had to wait 33 to be purified and 66 days if she had a girl.  Before your time was up you weren't allowed to go to the sanctuary and you weren't allowed to have sex.  But those aren't long periods of time because six weeks is the time recommended by doctors to allow your body to heal and get back to normal in today's society.

One thing I wouldn't have wanted to have back them was an infectious disease.  Leviticus 13:45-46 says, "The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as he has the infection he remains unclean.  He must live alone; he must live outside the camp."  Imagine having to trade in your Steve Maddens for house slippers and your Gucci for a potato sack.  Yes, I would have been a bigger cleaning freak back then trying to keep any germs out of my house. 

Something else I found interesting was Leviticus 15:18, "When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening."  So, you pretty much had to get all your sex in at one time.  If you were going to give a burnt offering or a sin offering that next day, you and your household had to be "clean."  Some of us would be up a creek for real.

Did you know tattoos were forbidden too? Yep, it's right there in Leviticus 19:28, "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves."  And mean couldn't shave their sideburns or trim the edges of their beards according to Leviticus 19:27.  And you know how that Long Island Medium show on TLC?  Well, if you saw her coming your way you'd better head the opposite way because seeking out mediums and spiritists got your exiled and being known as a medium or spiritists could get you stoned!

A spanking for kids who talk back and curse their parents doesn't seem so bad in today's society considered to what the punishment was back in Moses' day.  "If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to DEATH.  He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head," according to Leviticus 19:9.

Cheating was also punishable by death back then too.  I wonder how Tiger Woods and Jesse James would have survived being that they both claimed to suffer from sex addiction?  And priests were allowed to get married contrary to popular belief.  They had to marry virgins only though.  Also, if you killed somebody there was no life on death row with cable tv and free meals.  You were automatically sentenced to death.

Know that famous eye for an eye quote everybody says?  That's Leviticus 24:19-20, "If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.  As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured."  God wasn't playing when He commanded them to love their neighbors as themselves!

What I liked most is Leviticus 25:35, "If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you."  At the end of the day, charity and being good to others is what it's all about.  This verse made me think about all these families that we still have struggling due to the decline of the economy and the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.  This verse is exactly why I'm always going through my belongings and donating to the charities in my neighborhood. 

I'm so blessed when it comes to material things like having shelter, food, clothes and transportation but Leviticus 25:35 reminds me that others don't have these luxuries.  Thus, you and I should be then become that blessing and become a bridge to help them achieve that blessing by doing what we can.

What is your favorite way to giveback or help those less fortunate?

Bible 365: Week 3

Week 3, I started the book of Exodus.  This book got its name because the word exodus means a mass departure.  And that is exactly what happens in this book of the Bible.  God calls Moses to lead an exodus of the Hebrews (600,000 according to Exodus 12:37) from out of the hands of the evil Pharaoh.  This week I read chapters 1 through 34.

Exodus opens with the death of the old Pharaoh who had some kind of compassion towards Hebrews.   However, this new Pharaoh all out hated the Hebrews and convinced the Egyptians to help him enslave them.  As if that wasn't enough, he then ordered that all the newborn Hebrew babies that were boys had to be killed in an attempt to make sure they didn't continue to grow.  After all, if their future generations only consisted of women and none of the Egyptian men took them as wives thus the Hebrews would have eventually died off.

Thankfully, Moses's mom was able to hide him for three months.  After that she put him a basket and set him  a river where his sister kept an eye out to see who would find him.  Well, turns out Pharaoh's daughter found him.  How ironic right?  And genius too because Moses's sister then tells the princess that she knows a wet nurse who can nurse Moses until it's time for him to be weaned.  

The wet nurse of course was his birth mother.  So, Moses's mom did get to help raise him.  Then when Moses was about 80 years old, God came to him as the burning bush and told him that He wanted Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand that the Hebrews be freed.  However, Moses did not feel worthy of such a task saying, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt...." (Exodus 3:11).

I mean can you imagine being 80 years old and God telling you to go one of the most powerful men on the earth and telling him to let go of his slaves?  I bet Moses was worried that Pharaoh would get angry and demand to have him killed.  Not to mention, Moses told God that he wasn't and eloquent speaker.  He got nervous and shy.  So, God told him to take his 83 year old brother Aaron with him to be his mouth.

Of course, we all know that Pharaoh did not turn over the Hebrews easily.  There were 10 plagues that were cast on only the Egyptians.  The first plague caused all the rivers, ponds, streams and even stored drinking water to turn into blood for seven days.  For the second plague, God caused Egypt to be overrun with frogs.   Exodus 8:3 says, "So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls."

So, there was not a safe place from the frogs.  The third plague was lice.  I've never had lice but I hear they will make you itch worst than the chicken pox.  Next came the plague of flies.  After that was the plague of diseased livestock and the almost all of the Egyptians animals died.  Yep, there meat supply pretty much went up in smokes you could say.

The sixth plague was boils that cover them from head to toe.  I shutter just thinking about how painful that must have been.  And don't even get me start of them bursting...just ewww!  The seventh plague was hail.  Now God did warn Pharaoh that any man or animal left outside would die if hit with a piece of the hail.  However, some of the Egyptians didn't take that warning seriously and lost their lives and even more of their livestock.

The eighth plague was a swarm of locusts.  The locusts pretty destroyed whatever was left of the Egyptian's crops that the hail didn't kill.  So, not only did their meat supply take a hit but now they don't have wheat, herbs, etc.  The ninth plague was darkness.  It was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.  For three days the Egyptians couldn't even get out of bed for fear of running into something.  They couldn't light fires or anything.

The tenth and final plague was the death of the firstborn which was also the start of the first Passover.  It was only after Pharaoh loss his son that he freed the Hebrews and kicked them out of Egypt.  I know you're wondering why he just didn't turn them over from the get go, but the Bible says that God hardened his heart on purpose.  Why? Well, Exodus 9:16 says that God did so that, "I may show My power in you, and the My name may be declared in all the earth."

Sometimes, in order for people to be humbled they have to be broken down.  I think that if Pharaoh would have had to let the people go on his own that he would have just as quickly changed his mind and enslaved again.  In the end, God did kill Pharaoh and his army by drowning them in the Red Sea.  Just goes to show you how God feels about discrimination and enslavement out of hatred.  It also proved that when God makes a covenant of promise He keeps it. 

He made a promise to Abraham to be with his future generations and deliver them into a land of milk and honey.  Another interesting read in the book of Exodus is one of the first mentions of generational curses.  Exodus 20:5, "..for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me..."  So, there you have it folks.  That sin that you do and think God forgot about could end up being atoned for by your children, grandchildren, great children and beyond.  Be careful about what you think you're doing in the dark!

Overall, I think that reading the story of the Hebrews and the Ten Commandments has taught me to not complain and to trust God.  The children of Israel did a lot of complaining and when times got hard they forsook God and created a golden cow to worship instead.  That act cost three thousand men their lives. I don't about you but if God would have delivered me from an evil ruler, gave me food and water miraculously and I had witnessed the parting of the Red Sea, I would have NEVER doubted God for another second for all of my days!  If something like that happened today my mind would be blown in amazement.

Do you think that you could do what Moses did if you were in his shoes?