Time/Now

Quote from a friend who quoted it from a book paraphrased by myself. :)

If you could take a single moment, hold on to it, be 100% committed to it, squeeze every ounce of life out of it, shouldn't that moment be in the future and not in the past?

Love where you are and those who are there with you, take ownership of today, of every moment as it is its last, because it is. Is tomorrows mundane day at work going to be the same? No, you will encounter new problems, have new conversations, pass new people on the way to here and there. Today is a new day, this moment is a new moment. I may never have another chance to grow like I had at this very moment. I may never have another chance to tell that person the one special thing they needed to hear or give them a smile as I pass letting them know everything is ok with this world. I may never get out of my truck and see the sky painted as beautiful as it is today, or feel the breeze touch me in the way it did this morning. What if I can't run up the stairs as I did today, or walk into my workplace. The drive in was peaceful this morning with different thoughts and conversation taking place. The goals, my prayers for today all unique for this moment. Yesterday is gone, how can I learn, how can I grow, how can I seize this moment, this time of life. How do I hold on to it so I don't find myself tomorrow wondering what happened today. What slipped by, what could have been. How can I find myself in February 14th, 2008 saying I lived that day!? When someone asks me what I did today how can I actually answer them and not just say "worked", or "I don't remember" or "nothing". What nook or cranny can I grab and hold as a precious gem making this day the best day of any before it? Did I inch forward to knowing my creator better? Did I overcome a trial or temptation, even for a brief second, better then I have done in the past? In the midst of the mundane, the mediocrity, the grind, did I have a thought of hope of perseverance, of growth. Was I able to apply the word in some way, anyway? Was there anything about today that was better then the last? ANYTHING?

I like this scripture Phillipians 4:8 "Finally, brother, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

The Cave is Where God Resurrects Dead Things!

I couldn't think of the best way to write this so I will write it as the author has...

The Son of David also lost his position, his status as a teacher, his safety and security. He lost not only his best friend, but all his friends, in spite of his teaching and warning. His life, too, was endangered. But his failure got worse. he went to a cross and died. All his dreams, and all the dreams he inspired, appeared to die with him. What started as a shining success ended in ignoble failure.

And then they put his body in a cave. That was their big mistake. Hos body was there for three days. But they could not keep him there. They forgot that God does some of his best work in caves.

The cave is where God resurrects dead things.
(If You Want to Walk on Water You've Got to Get Out of the Boat p151)

Elijah in the cave of Horeb

And the word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

Do you ever feel like the "ONLY ONE".....?

The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah"?
He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected you covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me."

In typing this I am now caught in the thought as to why the Lord asked Elijah twice what he was doing there? And twice Elijah answered. The answer didn't change yet I feel much more of a peace, a quitness, in Elijah's response the second time.

Another thought runs through my mind reminding me of my feelings and actions before and after typing the above words. I started this blog with an attitude of wanting to hurry up and finish the blog on Elijah's cave so I could get on with the next cave entry. Even before that I started reading If You Want to Walk on Water You've Got to Get Out of the Boat where I left off reading yesterday, thinking about breakfast, if I even wanted to read this book, if I should wait on a friend before I read the rest of the book, if I should start over and try to take more notes and blog more concerning my readings, if I should email my small group and ask if this is something they would want to do together, if I should finish my blog from yesterday, how I will handle tonight, how I need to get ratchet straps at lunch or if I should even take lunch and use that time to make up some hours I took off, if I should pray or be praying rather than reading and if maybe I should start by reading the bible. This was all going through my mind, after two pages into my reading. As you can probably discern for yourself, I was not receiving a whole lot from where my attention was supposed to be.

After typing the above scripture containing the question from God to Elijah and thinking about Elijah's answer to Him, again, I wonder if maybe Elijah was a little more focused the second time around? I wonder if my thoughts when trying to focus on God this morning were not the wind, the earthquake and the fire. Could I hear His voice in all I was thinking and doing? Now that I have slowed down maybe I can start this quiet time over and listen for His voice.

Elijah's Cave

Speaking of caves:

Elijah shows up out of nowhere in 1Kings 17 to tell Ahab, the king of Israel, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." Then the word of God came to Elijah and he left that place.


So what is so significant about this? In my bible it talks about the message Elijah brought to Ahab was in the form of an oath, an oath being the "most solemn form of binding obligation between parties." It goes on to say "In this case it was sanctioned by God, given as his challenge to Baal, who was represented by Ahab. If the Lord withheld the rain, rendering Baal - considered the god of fertility and lord of the rain clouds - powerless, he would be proven the true God and Elijah the true prophet of his word." A SHOWDOWN!

Elijah is called back by the Lord three years later, still no rain anywhere. Elijah walks straight up to Ahab the king of Israel and tells him "'I have not made trouble for Israel,' Elijah replied. 'But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred propets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.'" (1Kings 18:18-19) Jezebel is the kings wife.

What happens next, WOW!!! You read it for yourself. :)

So now Elijah is under a broom tree in the desert praying he may die (1Kings 19:4) "'I have had enough, Lord' he said. 'Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.'" Just a minute ago he was one top the mountain, jeering baal and asherah worshipers, summoning the power of his God, our God, and out running chariots of horses from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel! Now he is in the desert wanting to die. Elijah travels in the desert for forty days and nights and spends the night in Horeb, the mountain of God, in a cave.

Will continue this tomorrow....

David's Cave

Reading the book If You Want to Walk on Water You've Got to Get Out of the Boat today Ortberg spoke about failing. This portion started with using David, from the bible, as an example. "He was anointed by Samuel to be king Israel. As a boy he defeated Israel's most formidable enemy - Goliath. King Saul chose him as a warrior and musician. The army loved him, the people wrote songs about him... David knew what it was to walk on water. he trusted God, and for along time everything he touched turned to gold. He was on his way to the palace." Then everything went bad. Saul became jealous of David and wanted him dead. Now David is out of the palace, with the king after him. He ends up losing his wife Michal, Saul's daughter. David fled to Samuel but Saul soon found out where he was so David fled from there. David then went to Jonathon, Saul's son, but Jonathon would not go against his father. David then went to Gath, the hometown of Goliath. "David was very much afraid of King Achish of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them; he pretended to be a mad when in their presence. He scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard." David did this to get away from there and King Achish ended up just tossing him out. David found himself in a cave, the cave of Adullam (1Samuel22). Ortberg calls this "The Cave Named Failure". David was not through the rut yet because the tribe he would begin to lead, when there wives and children were taken away, they found this out after returning from some time away, they wanted to kill and stone David.

In the discussion all of the pain and discouragement David must have been feeling Ortberg talks about something wonderful that happens in this cave. He says David "gets quiet enough before the Lord to get to the bottom of his pain and discouragement." He uses Psalm 142 as an example of Davids crying out to the Lord. The title of the psalm is "A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer". Orteberg goes on to mention how "many people never have the courage to do this. Instead, they seek to bury their discouragement deep down inside. They put on a stoic exterior. They force a few smiles, but in doing so they avoid experiencing the pain inside." He goes on to say his biggest regret, in the times he failed or felt like a failure, was not that he failed, but it was that he felt the pain so keenly that he backed away from owning it and learning from it, "so I could not heal and move on." "I wanted to bury it so deeply that no one would ever guess it was there - not even me."

Never try to have more faith.....

In reading the book If You Want to Walk on Water You've Got to Get Out of the Boat at the end of chapter 4 one of the questions read "Never try to have more faith. Instead, just get to know God better." It then went on to ask "How would you describe your faith these days? What might help you get to know God better?"

Sweetly Broken

Jeremy Riddle - Sweetly Broken
From the album Sweetly Broken

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

Chorus:
At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

Chorus:

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness