Today in my reading I read through 1 Chronicles 12. Short description: It's going through the mighty men who joined David against Saul to make David king. At this point in time David is at Ziklag (geographically I have no clue where that is and historically I know nothing of the place) but nonetheless, he is here hiding from Saul because Saul wants to kill David. I get a lot from David. He is a man that has great faith in God. However, in this particular moment I get different guidance from this passage. First it lists the men that deserted David because was with the Philistine to battle Saul, even though later the Philistines decided to not help David because of the danger to themselves. Double wammy there, David loses the men of Manasseh that were with him then loses the Philistines. But God comes through like he always does. Men came "day to day" to help David. The mighty men that come to David are listed here. So here is a brief rundown of who comes:
~Judah 6,800 armed troops
~Simeonites 7,100 men
~Levites 4,600 men
~prince Jehoiada with 3,700 men
~Zadok and 22 commanders
~Benjaminites (kinsmen of Saul) 3,000 men
~Ephraminites 20,800 men
~The half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000 men
~Issachar 200 Chiefs and all the kinsmen under their command
~Zebulum 50,000 seasoned troops
~Naphtali 1,000 commanders with "whom were" 37,000 men
~Danites 28,600 men
~Asher 40,00 seasoned troops
~Reubenites and Gadites and half tribe of Manasseh "from beyond the Jordan" 120,000 men
I did not add up all these men but that's a lot!! What amazes me is that the Benjaminites were men of Saul that we loyal to him until this point where they came to help David! That is God at work. But all these men came to help David. Imagine if we as a world would do that for one another! Or even as a workplace, family, community, or just in random places! Imagine the live that could be saved, physically on earth and even by the salvation of Jesus Christ! We can barely help the person next to us get through some menial task, whether it be personal issue, school work, something from the top shelf, or at work.
So maybe next time you see someone in need think of the men that helped David. They put their lives on the line to help a man that for all we know they had never met.
Thought provoking stuff. :)
Friday, May 20, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
God will provide....
I stress out easy over just about anything. Anyone that really knows me, sees this. However, I have been working on. Over time the realization and the true understanding that God can do anything has really been sinking in. Have you ever seen something and believed it but never really taken it in? That's been most of my life. I have understood and seen all my life that God can do anything but I think I finally reached a point a while back where seeing and understanding aren't enough, I have show God through my actions that I truly trust Him. That means giving it all to God and trusting he will provide.
It gets a tad nerve racking thinking about it and all the what ifs but if I look back, even just the last few months it is so incredibly obvious that God has provided for us when we need it. So why should I think he wouldn't provide now? It's pretty awesome though. When the anxiety and worry comes in to my head I just tell myself "God will provide" or "It will work out" something like that. Then BAM! God provides. :) Why should I stress, God's got this!
Just saying. Something to think about...
It gets a tad nerve racking thinking about it and all the what ifs but if I look back, even just the last few months it is so incredibly obvious that God has provided for us when we need it. So why should I think he wouldn't provide now? It's pretty awesome though. When the anxiety and worry comes in to my head I just tell myself "God will provide" or "It will work out" something like that. Then BAM! God provides. :) Why should I stress, God's got this!
Just saying. Something to think about...
Natural Disasters, Not So Natural.
HAHAHA Though I posted this last week. But I didn't. :)
I managed to wait a week to post again but it will be ok. I sadly have not been keeping up with my daily reading. Most of this week has been waking up going to work coming home back to sleep then back awake and back to work...literally. McDonald's requires 9 hours between shift and that is what I was given Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday. So needless to say I caught up on some shut eye today.
Started reading my Sunday school lesson today and I'm liking it. Still on the 'The 10 lies about God'. I have never thought of this from any other perspective then God is in control of everything. However, my lesson mentions a different point of view, that is incorrect by the way. It mentions that God just lets the "natural" disaster happen. I say that with quotation marks because if God is the origin of these disasters then how are they natural. Anyways, this perspective states there are certain laws of the natural order that are happening and God is hands-off and had nothing to do with it. It was just a by product of nature. For example, the faults of the earth rubbing together to create an earthquake is solely a happening of nature. But I know that God is in control. Nothing happens with out His permission. God personally creates these incidents and he uses secondary means, like the faults of earth and the earthquake.
The lessons mentions people that say God is hands off in these instances and that God has nothing to do with them but then agree they are acts of God or thank God for the timing of them. Kind of contradicting yourself there pal!
There are several verses of Scripture that directly states God is in control of nature. Now if he is in control of nature how can it not be by His doing? But some people asks 'Why do these things happen?' We look to Genesis 3:17-18 "And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field." The ground was cursed because of the acts of man. Makes sense, why should sinful man be allowed to live in a world that is perfect and good. The nature around us mimics our personal nature. Go figure. But just like we are redeemed in Christ and one day will live joyfully, so will nature be set free from it's curse. Romans 8:19-21 "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God."
I managed to wait a week to post again but it will be ok. I sadly have not been keeping up with my daily reading. Most of this week has been waking up going to work coming home back to sleep then back awake and back to work...literally. McDonald's requires 9 hours between shift and that is what I was given Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday. So needless to say I caught up on some shut eye today.
Started reading my Sunday school lesson today and I'm liking it. Still on the 'The 10 lies about God'. I have never thought of this from any other perspective then God is in control of everything. However, my lesson mentions a different point of view, that is incorrect by the way. It mentions that God just lets the "natural" disaster happen. I say that with quotation marks because if God is the origin of these disasters then how are they natural. Anyways, this perspective states there are certain laws of the natural order that are happening and God is hands-off and had nothing to do with it. It was just a by product of nature. For example, the faults of the earth rubbing together to create an earthquake is solely a happening of nature. But I know that God is in control. Nothing happens with out His permission. God personally creates these incidents and he uses secondary means, like the faults of earth and the earthquake.
The lessons mentions people that say God is hands off in these instances and that God has nothing to do with them but then agree they are acts of God or thank God for the timing of them. Kind of contradicting yourself there pal!
There are several verses of Scripture that directly states God is in control of nature. Now if he is in control of nature how can it not be by His doing? But some people asks 'Why do these things happen?' We look to Genesis 3:17-18 "And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field." The ground was cursed because of the acts of man. Makes sense, why should sinful man be allowed to live in a world that is perfect and good. The nature around us mimics our personal nature. Go figure. But just like we are redeemed in Christ and one day will live joyfully, so will nature be set free from it's curse. Romans 8:19-21 "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God."
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