Reading through your bible in a year..

This isn't some post where

God's Wrath

Samuel

When God spoke to Samuel the first time in the temple in the last chapter..

 He informed Samuel that due to the sins of the High Priest's family were so egregious in God's eyes that he would be sending out punishments to them. 

And he told Samuel what would be their punishment..

These verses here are sharing the wrath of God toward. 

God is not one who is going to allow us to sin without consequence. 

He has rules, Laws and gives us directions to live by and just like any parent who gives directions to their child they expect that they aren't wasting their breath. 

How much more GOD should expect that we will listen to him and do as he asks of us!

1And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben–ezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.

2And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lordout of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.

4So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

6And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.

7And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.

8Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

9Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.

10And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

11And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

12And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.

13And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

14And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.

15Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.

16And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

17And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

18And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

19And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.

20And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.

21And she named the child I–chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.

22And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

God knows when we sin.. 

God knows that there needs to be order in the home

Eli failed ...

What did he fail in doing? 

DISCIPLINING and TRAINING his sons..

As priests they were so sinful that God had to judge not just them as individuals but the entire family!

Because They weren't taught how to be obedient, because they weren't taught to follow their fathers orders and directions. 

They couldn't comprehend obeying God or his orders and his directions. 

That is why God orders parents to direct and give obedience lessons to their children. 

I will be honest as I sit here writing a host of things come to my mind as things I need to get off the computer and start training my sons in..

As I don't want this fate for my children..

God is the same yesterday today and forever more..

So if the "God" you are learning about in sunday school isn't this GOD... Then you might wanna read your bible and see what it is they are preaching..

Me personally.. I am going to go and start being more diligent about raising my sons to fear and reverence myself and God's laws.

Mommy I will miss you

When your little one is going to school this phrase is cute and sweet..

When your little one is going into surgery it grips your heart

I guess today I am speaking about Perspective!

What a difference a day will make!

Today my youngest is getting a pretty simple operation

Tubes in his ears & adenoids removed!

I really understand it will probably be fine.. It is the fact that I have to say probably..

I am not good at relinquishing control when it comes to my children..

MOMMY IS WORRIED!

Hurting People, Hurt People!

**Promise he/she won’t hurt you again but is unwilling to seek help for his/her behavior or denies it being a problem?**

DID YOU KNOW? This is the biggest indicator of someone being AN ABUSER??

They don't see themselves as the abuser.. but if they keep apologizing for behaviors.. they obviously know that something isn't right... However rationalization may well keep them from seeking help.. and add to it if they are a proud person.. they won't want anyone to know they have a fault.. 

By the way... Husbands.. if your abusing your wife.. She most likely is passing on the abuse to your children.. Oh she (may not) be beating them up.. but.. she probably is saying things to them that hurt them.. Remember.. hurting people hurt people!!

p.s. remember most abusers.. be it mentally, emotionally or sexually have at one time or another been abused themselves! What most don't think about is that the abuse they are dishing out now.. is literally their sick way of replaying their own abuse. because they are afraid to deal with their own life issues!

I am not rationalizing or making excuses for them.. but inside of our culture we tend to see things as black and white.. problem is there is a million shades of Grey!

Anger 3

Anger...

I want to also focus on what we as parent's teach our children when we are angry with them. And by angry with them I don't mean frustrated with them after a bad behavior. Every Parent has that.

But I also have seen.. Go find a seat in a local mall.. And just watch the parents with their kids. 

I have never seen people so ANGRY at children.. and it isn't a one time thing... it is as if our anger is on a low boil looking for a time and a place to erupt.

Children learn what they live.. 

If your angry with them.. frequently

Then why would you assume they will have good relationships with others?

Ex..
Classmates

Teachers

Doctors

Sports team coaches

I mean if the person supposed to love them doesn't.. and is constantly angry with them.. over some imagined.. or worse yet REAL... Slight that has happened... 

How can they be happy with themselves?

How can they learn how to improve their own choices..?

I think the one thing that has been the most impressing thought on my mind recently is that many times I would tell my sons to do x,y or z...

Joshua do the dishes, I would at one point or another have stood there showing him how to put soap on the washcloth

I would have shown him how to draw the water.. Even how I expected the dishes to be done.. But did I show him how to check that it was properly cleaned... Nope.. I would come in check a few dishes and then slap all the dirty ones back into the sink and call him to re-wash them.  

And he'd be frustrated and I'd be frustrated.. 

But it wasn't till one day during a sermon at church that I realized there is a huge difference between telling someone to do something..and training them how to do it.. In that particular surmon the preacher had pointed out that JESUS had spent 3 years teaching the disciples how to be disciples.. and even then after 3 years with the savior... they hadn't "gotten the point" till they went out to practice what they had been taught after Pentecost..

I mean Jeez.. they had JESUS CHRIST as their teacher.. 

If he wasn't any more successful than that.. well I think I am asking too much for me to have my son taught in one day..

I think a big part of the Anger epidemic in america is we have UNREALISTIC expectations..

Anger 2

Anger...

11A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

Proverbs 29:11

So what is God's words for us today going to tell us?

Well lets look at Proverbs 29:11 first..

A FOOL.... Yepper it said it.. If you say everything that comes to your mind.. Your a fool.

As my pastor will often tell us.. "People now a days are so quickly giving away pieces of their mind that they often don't realize when they no longer have any left..."

And I won't lie I have been very guilty of this. And as this proverb tells us in the second half of the verse we could often save ourselves from reproach and shame if we would just mull over what has been said and what has been done till "afterwards"

Let me give you all an example of a thing that I was guilty of..

This last year's VBS I was really frustrated with one of the women who were running the vbs. She had chosen the theme without ever asking or having a vote done about the upcoming themes.. Assumed so many of us would dedicate hours to getting it ready.. and apparently she had been right because we all did come do just that. 

But then she didn't even bring her kids to the vbs.. and for 4 of the 5 nights hadn't even showed up herself... I was HOT!

And had no reason been offered.. Until last weekend.. 

Last weekend me and everyone at our church learned the real reason she hadn't made it most of the time for the last 2 months.. 

She has cancer.. she had been going through chemo..

And she didn't want to bother us.. 

I had unfairly judged her. 

I had gossiped about how if she didn't want the job why had she bothered..

She had wanted the job.. she was however fighting for her life.. 

But I had failed.. I had failed to show my faith.. I had failed to go to her and find out..

Nope I had assumed evil of her.. and tried, tarred and feathered her and had I been allowed in my assumed righteous anger.. I would have stripped her of a much loved position..

I WAS WRONG!

I HAD NO RIGHT!

And I am deeply ashamed of myself. 

And what's more God had known all along.. 

Had I shut my mouth.. I would have kept myself from much shame.

Lord God.. Help us all to learn to not let Anger give us permission to say, think and do things to one another that is EVIL in your sight!

Anger 1

Anger..

What is the purpose of Anger?

19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Romans 12:19

26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

 27Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27

19Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

 20For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20

So what does God say about Anger?

Avenge not yourselves.. Could it be that God knows we would.. 

Could it be that we are prone to wanting revenge? 

Just look around our society.. The answer is very blatantly obvious

Being angry seems to be the "pet sin" of Modern America

All I hear all the time is "I am so mad" or "Did you see what they did... Makes me mad enough to...."

We seem to be delighting in the mental imaginings of our minds about what ever injustices we think have been laden onto us..

I guess that makes me wonder.. What can a person who claims salvation have happen to them.. that is UNJUST??

If you are a person who claims that Jesus Christ Died for you..

1 You have at one time said you were so dirty and full of sin that JUSTIFIABLY God could have and should have sent you to HELL!

2 You have admitted by GOD'S GRACE.. You have been pardoned from the sure and just consequences of YOUR SIN.. and given you not only Jesus's righteousness.. but TOTAL FORGIVENESS..

3 So you already have been forgiven everything.. even those things which you really should be swimming in hell because you did such evil in the sight of God.. that you had to come and cling to the base of that blood soaked cross begging A Holy God not to give you what YOU REALLY DESERVED..

So what is it that a christian can honestly say they are angry about.. ?

Their own forgiveness? Well that surely has merit for others to be angry.. you sinned against God and hurt those others and your sins are now forgiven never going to be given retribution for those things done.. I'd says someone is probably pretty upset about that.. But you want to keep your forgiveness right? But you think someone else isn't entitled to your forgiveness??

We want justice for others.. but Forgiveness for ourselves??