The Tennessee Trails of a Biology Major

Thought from Isaiah

2012-12-22T23:16:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been reading the book of Isaiah. Good stuff! For this week's devotional, I've included some especially encouraging passages that I've run across. Happy Sabbath, Merry Christmas, and I hope that you are blessed!

~Photobug

From Isaiah 9--

2 The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation

and increased their joy;

they rejoice before you

as people rejoice at the harvest,

as warriors rejoice

when dividing the plunder.

4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,

you have shattered

the yoke that burdens them,

the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressor.

5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle

and every garment rolled in blood

will be destined for burning,

will be fuel for the fire.

6 For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty

will accomplish this.

From Isaiah 11--
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt

and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;

and a little child will lead them.

7 The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

9 They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

From Isaiah 32-- 1 See, a king will reign in righteousness

and rulers will rule with justice.

2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind

and a refuge from the storm,

like streams of water in the desert

and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

4 The fearful heart will know and understand,

and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

5 No longer will the fool be called noble

nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

6 For fools speak folly,

their hearts are bent on evil:

They practice ungodliness

and spread error concerning the Lord;

the hungry they leave empty

and from the thirsty they withhold water.

7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,

they make up evil schemes

to destroy the poor with lies,

even when the plea of the needy is just.

8 But the noble make noble plans,

and by noble deeds they stand.

Isaiah 35--

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;

the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;

it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,

steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts,

“Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

7 The burning sand will become a pool,

the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness;

it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

wicked fools will not go about on it.

9 No lion will be there,

nor any ravenous beast;

they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

10 and those the Lord has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

The Christmas Scale

2012-12-15T17:11:00.000-05:00

I saw this Christmas video a few weeks ago and really liked it. I hope you do too! I'm sorry for the lack of devotionals lately, I've been busy with finals and college in general! Hopefully over Christmas break I'll have the time to write up some full-length devotionals. But for now, enjoy and have a Happy Sabbath!

~tnphotobug

Great is Thy Faithfulness

2012-12-08T17:39:00.000-05:00

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of young among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies."

~Psalm 57:9-10

I will follow

2012-12-01T06:11:00.000-05:00

I just ran across this video last night...and was truly blessed by it. Enjoy, and I hope you are as blessed by it as I was! Happy Sabbath and December 1!! :)

~Photobug

Blessed Harvest

2012-11-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

"May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him."

~Psalms 67:5-7

Giving Thanks

2012-11-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

~Psalm 107:1

Overflowing Barns

2012-11-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

"Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine."

~Proverbs 3:9-10

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As you may have known, I'm a freshman at Southern Adventist University now and that means that I'm extremely busy!* So busy, in fact, I don't have much time to write any devotionals. I don't want to give it up, but I do think that I'm going to change things up a bit. Instead of writing a full length devotional, I'll post a Bible verse and coorelating picture. I pray that you are blessed!

*: You might want to check out http://southernblogs12-13.posterous.com/, a blog to which I contribute and write what being a freshman at Southern is like.

Forever

2012-11-03T06:02:00.000-04:00

Here's yet another of my favorite songs. Music is so powerful, and can be used for good or bad...I really like it when I can get some good songs (like this one) into my head! Enjoy and Happy Sabbath!

~Photobug

The Good-O-Meter

2012-10-27T07:37:00.000-04:00

When I ran across the video, I just knew that I had to share it with you! It teaches a very good lesson in a very creative way. Enjoy, and have a very happy Sabbath! :)

~Photobug

God Will Make A Way

2012-10-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is one of my top favorite songs ever! It is so deep and powerful, especially if you think about the lyrics. God does make a way when there seems to be no way, and I say that from personal experience! And since starting college, this song has meant even more to me. So without further adieu...I hope and pray that you will be blessed by this song. Enjoy and have a very Happy Sabbath!

~Photobug

God is Awesome!

2012-10-13T07:30:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Lately I've been reading through the book of Psalms, and have been surprised at how much the word "awesome" is used. That got me thinking...in what other situations does the word "awesome" appear in the Bible? I hope you'll have an awesome time learning about "awesome" in the Bible!

What Jacob was running away from home, he had to sleep outside with only a stone for a pillow. That's when he had the dream which we know refer to as "Jacob's ladder". When he awoke, he declared that place "awesome" because God had been there. See Genesis 28 for details.
The statue in Nebuchadnezzar dream looked awesome--look up Daniel 2 to confirm.
God is awesome in glory--Exodus 15.
God performs awesome deeds and wonders (Exodus 34, Deuteronomy 4 & 10)
God is awesome. See Duet. 7.

But really, it all boils down to that last point. God is awesome. On multiple occasions Moses, Nehemiah, Job, and David all talked about how awesome and mighty and powerful God is. And then to think that this awesome God takes time to be individually concerned with each one of us...wow!

Have a great Sabbath!

~Photobug

Holy Is The Lord God Almighty

2012-10-06T06:07:00.000-04:00

I am especially blessed when I find good spiritual songs to sing and listen to. This is one of my favorites, and I thought that I should share it with you! Enjoy and Happy Sabbath!

~Photobug

Professor and Father?

2012-09-29T06:47:00.000-04:00

As most of you probably know, I’m a freshman at Southern Adventist University. My major is biology, and thought the bulk of my time is spent studying biology, I still have to take other classes. One of those classes is chemistry—and I’m taking it from my dad, who’s a chemistry professor at Southern! It’s an interesting experience having my father for my college professor, haha, actually it’s really cool. He teaches very well, and I appreciate being able to ask him chemistry questions outside of his office hours!

I was thinking about this unique situation, and two verses from Hebrews came to mind. I’ll share them with you in just a minute, but first let me share the preceding two, so you can get a bit of a background. Hebrews 4:12-13—

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

The important thing to get from this is how God knows everything. Onto v. 14-16:

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

These verses talk about our very unique relationship with Jesus. At one end of the spectrum, Jesus is God (which is very true)—EEK, He’s going to kill us for sinning and transgressing His law! (see Romans 3:23) But at the same time, YAY Jesus is our Savior. He came to this world, lived like us (“for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses…”), and died for us so we can live forever with Him if we so choose.

I approach my dad’s office with confidence, with no fear or trepidation whatsoever. Why? He’s still my professor who’ll give me a grade in chemistry. But at the same time, he’s also my father who loves me. Just like Jesus, who is God who will judge us, but also is our Savior who has paid the price to forgive our sins.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him” --Psalms 103:11-13

So don’t worry about approaching God. You’ve got a Father up there!

Lessons from the Feline Kind

2012-09-22T06:11:00.000-04:00

Our family has two cats. One is named Pumpkin, and the other is named Wiggles.

Wiggles

They are both orange, but that’s pretty much where the similarities stop! Pumpkin is a slender, older cat that we got way back in 2001 (or was it 2002? I forget!). He used to have a lot of spunk in him (like, leaping door jams and getting on the table), but now he just lays around the house for most of the day. (Well, he still gets on the table! In years past that was a big no-no, but now Mom just looks the other way and pretends not to notice.) Pumpkin is Mom’s special cat.

Wiggles is my sister’s special cat, and is still considered the “new” cat even though we’ve had him for a year and a half now. When we went to the animal shelter to pick out a kitten, Mom said that she didn’t want a kitten for Alison (my sister) that would just sit around and sleep all day. My sister is very active, and we needed an active kitty. So when we approached the room at the animal shelter which housed all the kittens, one kitten came leaping out of his bed and over to the door and said, “Pick me! Pick me!” Well, we all fell for this tiny ball of fur, and took him home. En route Alison had the privilege of naming him, and she chose the name of “Wiggles”, since he had been so wiggly in the hour or so that we had interacted with him.

Boy but Alison had no clue on how well she had named her kitten! He’s grown a lot, and now her “kitten” weighs almost fifteen pounds! He is so full of energy and fun, he is really a great match for her. We like to say that he is a very bad cat (he does all sorts of bad stuff, including getting on the table and tearing around the house climbing things that he shouldn’t!), but Alison is quick to remind us that he is “just troublesome!”.

Wiggles’ name has evolved, too. Of course his official name is still “Wiggles”, but since then we have shortened it to “Wiggie”. Because he’s so big, his nickname has changed to “Biggie”. He is also referred to as “Biggie Boy” (Alison’s favorite nickname), or just simply “The Big Wig”. ;)

Pumpkin

Lately Pumpkin has been door-dashing. Normally we would expect that Wiggles would be door-dashing, and while I’m sure he would if his chance came, Pumpkin seems to be escaping right and left. We always scoop him up and bring him inside, both of our cats being indoors-only.

But Pumpkin escaping has started me thinking. Being inside-only, I’m sure in his little kitty brain it is just his dream to get outside and explore the great outdoors. But what he doesn’t realize is that his being kept in our house is the best for him. There are dangers, diseases, and enemies outside of which he knows not. By keeping Pumpkin inside, we keep him safe from all of that.

And that kinda reminds me of how we sometimes act with God. God’s set up a set of rules—the 10 Commandments—for our good. It’s not to confine us, or to limit our life or fun. That’s like us telling Pumpkin that he needs to stay inside. But we seem to want to escape outside, don’t we? Too many times we want to see what’s out there, to experiment, to do it our own way, and eventually come to the conclusion that God was right after all. Really, God’s rules are set up to keep us safe and happy.

I really don’t think that I need to elaborate on this more. Are you still trying to “escape outside”? Or are you happily living “in the house” of God’s protection?

“We all, like sheep [& cats?], have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” --Isaiah 53:6

“Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD…You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed…I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” --Psalms 119:1, 5, 32

Spelunking Through the Bible, Part 6

2012-09-15T06:35:00.000-04:00

In this final part of Spelunking Through the Bible, we'll be taking a look at many stories relating to caves, instead of just one and we'll see what we can learn. Let's get started!

* * *

Let's first open our Bibles to Judges 6. Judges 6 chronicles the story of Gideon, and while I'd love to write about the whole story, for now I'll just concentrate on the first six verses:

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

Those above verses are kind of a background to the whole Gideon story. They set the stage, and that is what I'd like to talk about. First of all: why were the Israelites hiding in mountain clefts, caves, strongholds, etc.? They were in their own land. Ahhhh yes, because of the Midianites. But is that the true reason? No. Look up top to the first sentence--"The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD". Ahhhh. So that's the true reason that the Israelites were hiding in caves--they had disobeyed God, God had sent someone to punish 'em, and now the Israelites were scared. The one good thing is the last line in verse six--"Midian so impoverished the Israrlites that they cried out to the LORD for help". That's good, they finally realized Who to call on after being punished so much. And that hopeful note starts out the story of Gideon. But still, overall, the Israelites were hiding in caves, and all due to their unfaithfulness to God.

The next story that I’d like to talk about is Lazarus. You remember him, don’t you? He was the guy who died, but whom Jesus raised to life after just four days of being dead. When I was doing my initial research for this series of devotionals on caves, I noticed something about the Lazarus story that I had never noticed before! Let’s check it out in John 11, v. 38:

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.”

I had never known before that Lazarus was buried in a cave! Interesting…so what did Jesus do? Let’s read v. 43:

“Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!””

And v. 44—

“The dead man came out”

Do you think that Jesus wanted Lazarus to stay hiding, dead, in that cave? No! Do you think that God wanted the Israelites of old to hide in caves, scared of the Midianites? No! Hold that thought…

For our third story of today, I’d like to jump waaay back to Genesis 19. Genesis 19 chronicles the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and God very kindly trying to rescue Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Unfortunately, Lot wasn’t very cooperative. He and his family had spent too much time in Sodom, built up too much wealth, and couldn’t believe that such a calamity could happen the next day. (What was that saying of, “by beholding you are changed”? But ahhh…that’s another devotional for another day!)

Finally, the two angels who had been sent to rescue Lot had to physically drag him, his wife, and his two unmarried daughters out of the city. (Lot hadn’t been able to convince his married children to come with him.) Even after the angels had dragged him and his family out of the city, Lot still wasn’t co-operating. See v. 18—Lot had just been told to not look back:

“No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

OK. I don’t know about you, but immediately several lessons jump out at me. Will this disaster really overtake Lot as he flees to the mountains? Uh, no. God is bending over backwards to rescue Lot, who is extremely uncooperative. If God tells you to do something, will He not enable you to actually do it? Hmmm….

Then, I think it is interesting how Lot refers to this town (later in Genesis 19 it is identified as Zoar). Lot says, “It is small, can’t I run to it?”. I truly believe that God was going to destroy Zoar along with Sodom and Gomorrah. So basically Lot is saying, “A little sin isn’t as bad as a big sin, is it?” Yeah, right. In God’s eyes there isn’t a big sin or a little sin! It’s just all sin, the transgression of God’s law! That’s another interesting point that I draw out of this passage.

And finally, in the last part of this verse Lot is reasoning that going to Zoar will save his life. Uh, no! Lot’s life is most obviously in God’s hands…going to a “small” immoral town won’t save you! And those are just the lessons that I can see in v. 18—sometime, I need to do a devotional series focused on Lot’s life!
Lot and his daughters—his wife had turned to a pillar of salt en route—did reach Zoar, and then God rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot was too afraid to stay in Zoar, however, and in the end settled in the mountains—right where God had originally told him to go! Interesting. They lived in a cave (that’s where the cave part comes in), and there Lot’s daughters performed some very immoral sexual acts which I shall not talk about here!

So did Lot obey God? Yes, well, er, um, really…no. He was halfway. He was not for God, but he wasn’t not for God. He was in the middle. Lukewarm. Lot really reminds me of the Laodicean church of Revelation 3. God is giving messages to John to send out to different area churches. For the Laodician church, God basically said, “You neither hate me or love me. You’re strattling the fence. I wish you were one or the other! Look out, because I’m going to spit you out of My mouth because you’re lukewarm!”

Lot also reminds me of a saying that the Santa Fe railroad had back in the day: “Santa Fe All the Way!” It was a catchy saying, and it really worked. The implication was that people shouldn’t just take Santa Fe for a short distance; they should ride the Santa Fe for the entire duration of their trip. I think that’s how it is with God, too. He doesn’t just want us to follow Him for a little bit. He wants us to follow Him “all the way”. He wants us to totally dedicate our lives to Him, and go with Him from now through eternity! Obviously, Lot didn’t go with God “all the way”. He followed God a little bit, but that’s all. He still had some of his interests to look out for. Don’t be like Lot! If you haven’t already, dedicate your life to God right now. Tell God that you’ll go “all the way” with Him.

For our last story on caves, I’d like to focus on caves in prophecy. Did you know that caves figured into Bible prophecy? Me either! And to begin our study, let’s read Isaiah chapter 2, verses 19-21:

“Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. In that day men will throw way to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of god, which they made to worship. They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.”

Sad, isn’t it? Let’s see what Revelation 6:12-17—

“I [John] watched as he [the Lamb, Jesus] opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

“Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”"

God didn’t want the Israelites to be hiding in caves, and I’m sure it will break God’s heart when He comes back to this earth and some of the people that He longed to take to heaven and eternity with Him are hiding from Him. Jesus didn’t like people hiding in caves so much that He took Lazarus out of one!

God doesn’t want us to be hiding from Him. Instead, when He comes back, He wants to see us joyfully expecting Him, thrilled that our Redeemer and Savior has come to get us. God wants us to say the words of Isaiah 25:9—

“Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Are you still hiding?

Spelunking Through the Bible, Part 5

2012-09-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Sabbath, everybody! Welcome back to my devotional series on caves, Spelunking Through the Bible. Each week (well, except for last week, but I digress!) I discuss a different story in the Bible that relates to caves.

Two weeks ago I featured Obadiah, the person Ahab had put in charge of his palace. Obadiah, as you may recall, hid one hundred of God's prophets in caves, away from wicked Queen Jezebel who was on a mission to kill them.

Then last week we talked about Elijah. I'm sure that you were expecting me to tie in caves somehow, but I didn't. Instead I ended up focusing on Elijah's Mount Carmel experience, including some lessor-known aspects of the story. And in the closing part of last week's article, I promised you all that I would indeed talk about caves in this week's article. Well now I am delivering on my promise! This week we'll finish up our study on Elijah, and hopefully figure out how in the world he ended up in a cave!

* * *

I don't believe in co-incidences anymore. I believe in God-incidences! Let me explain...

I'm writing this on July 7. You see, Blogger has this nice little feature in which you can write an article, but not publish it until a certain specified time and date. I really like this feature, and use it quite a lot. Most all of the devotionals that I post on here I write at least a week or two ahead of time, maybe even more. I set one devotional to be published per week, and then it's a lot easier for me to write the devotionals when I have time and not necessarily every single Sabbath (although I do write devotionals most Sabbaths).

Anyway. I just wanted to get that little time-travel hang up out of the way, now I can tell you about the really cool thing that happened to me today (today being July 7, 2012.) For the past month or so, our pastor has been preaching a series of sermons entitled, "The Questions of God". In each sermon he talks about a different question that God asked humans and that is recorded in the Bible. For example, when God asked Adam and Eve (in the Garden of Eden) where they were. Or when Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?". I've really been blessed by this series of sermons, and look forward to them each week. However, I'm never quite sure what question of God our pastor (Fred Fuller) will be preaching on, as he just calls his sermons "The Questions of God--Part I, II, III", etc.

Today's sermon was entitled "The Questions of God--Part IV". For my quiettime every day this week I've been studying about caves, and then working on writing these devotionals. You see, although you have to wait the full month and a half to read this series, I'm writing them in only a week or two. Over the past few days I've been studying and writing about the life of Elijah, and in general getting prepared to write this week's devotional (which is also on Elijah, but I felt like I had to give some background first).

As I've studied on Elijah this week I've noticed that God asks Elijah a question. I thought that that was real interesting, and it reminded me of Pastor Fuller's sermon series. Today in church, I nudged my mother and pointed out to her the question that God asked Elijah (it's in 1 Kings 19). The point being, Pastor Fuller should preach one of his sermons on God's question to Elijah. Five minutes later, when Pastor Fuller gets up to speak, the first words out of his mouth are "And now please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Kings 19..."!! Need I explain further?

So, with apologies to Fred Fuller, I now present the following devotional to you. It is a combination of my thoughts on the story as well as Pastor Fuller's very good insights as well. I pray that you will be blessed!

* * *

Remember where we left off last time? That's right, we left Elijah between 1 Kings chapters 18 and 19. So let's turn in our Bibles to 1 Kings 19, and pick up the story from there. A very quick recap--we are now in the aftermath of Mount Carmel. God has given Elijah marvelous strength, and through Elijah God has shown Israel in marvelous ways Who really is the true God. The people acknowledge the True God, and Elijah slaughters all of the false prophets. The people are dismissed, and Elijah prays for rain. Elijah's prayers are answered in the form of a terrenchal thunderstorm. In strength not his own Elijah runs in front of Ahab’s chariot all the way down Carmel and to Jezreel, Israel’s capital. Elijah collapses into a heap outside the gate, but Ahab goes into the palace and relates all the day's happenings to his wife. Well, I don't think I need to tell you what Jezebel thought of all this! Quickly she dispatched a message out to Elijah which basically said, "I'm gonna kill you by this time tomorrow!"

So what does Elijah do next? Stay put and stand up for God? Actually, sadly no. Let's check out the story in 1 Kings 19, v. 3-5:

"Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep."

Sadly, Elijah did not trust God. He felt scared (really, as any human would) and ran away. He even felt so bad about it all that he pleaded with God to let him die! One of my favorite books, Prophets and Kings, explores the possibility of what might have happened if Elijah had stayed at Jezreel:

"Elijah should not have fled from his post of duty. He should have met the threat of Jezebel with an appeal for protection to the One who had commissioned him to vindicate the honor of Jehovah. He should have told the messenger that the God in whom he trusted would protect him against the hatred of the queen. Only a few hours had passed since he had witnessed a wonderful manifestation of divine power, and this should have given him assurance that he would not now be forsaken. Had he remained where he was, had he made God his refuge and strength, standing steadfast for the truth, he would have been shielded from harm. The Lord would have given him another signal victory by sending His judgments on Jezebel; and the impression made on the king and the people would have wrought a great reformation." ~Prophets and Kings, p. 160

Did you ever think about that? What would have happened if Elijah had stayed and obeyed? But here's the good news: even though Elijah ran away, God was still able to use him. That's true of us, too. Even if we run away and disobey God, if we return to Him He always has something for us to do, to advance His kingdom. God has a way of turning bad things into good things. Remember Romans 8:28?

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

However, as you saw in the Prophets and Kings quote, the greatness of whatever God has us do is hampered by our bad decisions. God would've loved to have brought about a full reformation in Israel, but He wasn't able to do that right then because Elijah ran away. Still, the very good news is that if we return to God, He is still able to use us and even turn those bad things into good things!

Prophets and Kings goes on to say how Elijah had hoped for a much more complete revival on Carmel. He had hoped that after Carmel Jezebel would have no more sway over Ahab, and a speedy revival would spread over Israel. Then he started to fear that even the little revival which had started on Carmel would get snuffed out, and so he because very afraid and depressed. This is where he allowed the devil to take control of him--because, as Pastor Fuller pointed out, the devil can only control us if we let him. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

There is danger after spiritual victories, spiritual highs, but that doesn't mean we have to succumb. Remember what 1 Corinthians 10:13 says? God always gives us the power to overcome, and He never lets a temptation be presented to us which we-with His help--conquer.

Even as Elijah ran away, God was still kind to him. As he slumped under the bush ready to die, physically exhausted, God sent an angel to him with food from heaven:

"All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night." (1 Kings 19, v. 5-9)

On the super-food that God strengthened Elijah with, the prophet was able to travel for forty days and nights straight, through the desert, to Mount Horeb.

And it was at that cave that God asked the million-dollar questions:

"What are you doing here, Elijah?" (v. 9)

What are you doing out here in this cave, Elijah? I remember sending you to many other places and people, but not this cave. I need you back in Jezreel, in Israel continuing your prophetic ministry. What in the world are you doing hiding in this cave?

Elijah's response?

“I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn 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.” (v. 10)

Pastor Fuller made a very good point here. When we do it alone, by ourselves, without God, doing that gives us a "me" focus. Notice this fact in the above passage: "I have been very zealous...", "I am the only one left...", "they are trying to kill me too" (emphasis added)

Another very good point that Pastor Fuller brought out is the fact that God followed Elijah. Even when Elijah was running away, not doing what he was supposed to do, God still followed him, and worked with him to get him back where he should be. Praise God that He never gives up on us, and there is no place that we can hide that He can't find us!

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

  if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

  if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰
even there your hand will guide me,

  your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

  and the light become night around me,”
¹²
even the darkness will not be dark to you;

  the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

Psalms 139:7-12

God's response to Elijah's cry of "I'm the only one left" was to state that the He was going to pass by, and would Elijah please come out of the cave to watch.

A mighty wind came and went, shattering and blowing the rocks to pieces. But God was not in the wind.
An earthquake came next, but God was not in the earthquake.
Next a fire, but God wasn't in that either.

Then came a still, small voice.

God was in that.

God once again repeated his question of "what are you doing here", and Elijah gave the same reply. God then assured Elijah that there were still 7,000 people in Israel who were faithful to God, and had not bowed to Baal. God also reassured Elijah that God still had work for Elijah to do, such as anointing kings and prophets.

And so Elijah left the cave at Mount Horeb, and once again went about God's business.

God was not found in the big, mighty, and powerful wind, earthquake, or fire. But He was in the still, small voice. When we have problems, questions, Who do we go to? Let us make it a practice to always go to God first, and then listen for His still, small voice to see what He wants us to do next.

Spelunking Through the Bible, Part 4

2012-09-01T06:58:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Spelunking Through the Bible! Last week we talked about Obadiah, Ahab's palace administrator and how Obadiah hid and fed one hundred of God's prophets in caves! Last week we left Obadiah and Elijah right after Elijah had requested that Obadiah bring Ahab to him. Obadiah wasn't too keen on this, since Ahab had searched the four corners of the earth but still couldn't find Elijah! So what would happen if Obadiah went to Ahab and said, "Uh, hey king, Elijah's here and he wants to talk to you!", but then in the mean time Elijah disappeared? Well you get the idea!

* * *

So let's open our Bibles to 1 Kings 18:16-17:

"So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”"

Uh, no, but Elijah refutes this and keeps on going:

"“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 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”" (verses 18-19)

Funny thing, that the king of Israel is taking orders from a prophet whom he hates. I have the suspicion that Ahab has grudgingly realized who really is in charge here. And we all know what happened on Carmel, so I won't go into much detail on that. Elijah sets up a huge "who is God" contest, the winner being the god who answers by fire. The contenders are Baal, and the True God. The prophets of Baal take nearly all day, cut themselves up even, but no luck. Finally, in the evening, Elijah takes a turn for the True God. He rebuilds God's altar, and then asked for water to be dumped all over the altar. This was done in the form of four huge water jars, and repeated three times. Elijah wanted no one to think that he had started the fire himself.

After the altar is prepared, and Elijah starts to pray:

"At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham,Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will knowthat you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

"Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

"When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”" (verses 36-39)

WOW. That must have been one amazing prayer for Elijah. He prays, and then God answers him IMMEDIATELY and in a big way. Not only is the sacrifice burned up by the fire, but also the wood, the stones, the soil, and even the water in the trench! And then the people declared, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

Amazing.

Most people think that the story ends there. But does it? No! There is much more to be told of Elijah's life, and many more lessons to be learned. Immediately after the Israelites declare that the LORD is God, Elijah orders the slaughter of all of the prophets of Baal. After that, he dismisses everyone from Carmel, and the people all head home. Elijah tells Ahab to

"“Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”" (verse 41)

Was there rain? No. But Elijah had an incredible faith in God. Now that the people had acknowledged who was truly God, he was sure that God would send the rain. So he sends Ahab off, and then Elijah gets down on his knees. He puts his face between his knees! Six times he prays for rain. After each prayer has ended, Elijah tells his servant to go look toward the sea, to see if there was any cloud. Six times, nothing. The sky was as clear and rainless as it ever was. Elijah prays a seventh time, then tells his servant to once again look toward the sea. This time there's a change in the report! The servant says,

"“A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”" (verse 44)

Wow! A change! Even though it is small, Elijah has no doubt that it is the answer to his prayers. He tells his servant to go tell Ahab (who evidently was still on the mountain) to,

"“Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”" (verse 44)

The storm struck suddenly. Black clouds, a ferocious wind, and a heavy rain all caught Ahab off guard as he prepared to descend from Mount Carmel. The last verse (46) of this chapter describes quite succulently the amazing feat of what happened next:

The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Wow. Elijah ran all the way down Mount Carmel in front of Ahab? Yes. As the verse says, the power of the LORD came upon Elijah, but still. Just think how spent YOU would've been after a Mount Carmel experience! And then praying for rain, and now there is this monster thunderstorm that is underway. And then in the power of the Lord you run in front of your enemy all the way down a mountain and to Israel's capital? Yep, that's what Elijah did! As the verse says, God gave Elijah superhuman strength to do this, and to guide Ahab down Carmel. If Elijah hadn't done this, Ahab may have crashed on the way down.

* * *

...And that's where I'm going to stop for this week! I know, I know, we didn't get to caves this week. But I promise that next week we'll talk about them! This article has kind of been a connector between last week and next week. Now that you have the proper background, next week's story will be much more meaningful.

However, I still think we can learn several good lessons from Elijah. He was brave, and very obedient to God. God told him go present himself before Ahab--Elijah did. God told him to call all the people to Mount Carmel and start a revival--Elijah did. God told him to run ahead of Ahab--Elijah did. God may give us hard tasks, but we don't have to do it alone. I like to think about Philippians 4:13--

" I can do all this through him who gives me strength. "

God will always give us the needed strength to do what He wants us to do! Let us remember that as we proceed into the coming week, and with God's help rely on Him more and more as trials and tribulations come our way.

Spelunking Through the Bible, Part 3

2012-08-25T07:19:00.000-04:00

In a time when water could not be found...in a time when a severe drought and famine was upon the land...in a time when idol worship was at its' peak...two godly men responded to the same threat in a very different way. One you may not have heard of before, and you will not be surprised what his reaction is. The other you have heard of before, and chances are you will be shocked what his response was. Do I have your curiosity up yet? Then keep reading, as we discuss the decisions of Obadiah and Elijah in the next three editions of Spelunking Through the Bible!

* * *

It's really quite interesting. The part about caves in today's featured story really figures into the Bible just as an aside. The writer of 1 Kings is about to introduce Obadiah, and then chronicle Obadiah's conversation with Elijah, but first the writer puts in parentheses that Obadiah hid 100 of God's prophets in two caves.

What?

When I read over that, I knew that I had to come back for further study. This sounded way too interesting!

Well before we get too deep into all of this, let's read the Bible, specifically we'll be focusing on 1 Kings 18 today. First, let's read v. 3-4:

"(Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)"

Do you know the background here? Well, if you don't, let me give some:

Ahab the king of Israel and his wife Jezebel the queen of Israel were the worst royalty to ever reign on Israel's throne. (now remember, when we say "Israel" we're talking about the ten northern tribes, see my Rehoboam articles to learn why they separated from the other two tribes.) Instead of promoting worship of the true God, this ungodly pair encouraged--no, insisted on--idol worship in the form of Baal. Baal shrines and altars were set up everywhere, and everyone was told to worship at them.

Finally, it got bad enough that God sent Elijah on in to Ahab. In the boldness of God, Elijah just stomps his way to Ahab, says "hey king, there's gonna be no more rain 'till I say so!", and POOF! Elijah disappears. Since then (it's been about three years), Ahab has sent search parties to the four corners of the earth, but no one has been able to find Elijah. The other thing that I should mention is that Elijah's word has come true--a huge famine and drought has come upon the land, everyone is dying, and no one has any hope of it stopping because no one can find Elijah, who apparently is the only one who can stop this disaster!

Obadiah was Ahab's palace administrator. At the start of this story, Ahab and Obadiah are out looking for a last few bits of grass to feed their animals. Ahab has gone off in one direction, Obadiah in the other. Then suddenly Elijah shows up, and tells Obadiah to go fetch Ahab!

But I'm getting ahead of myself...we'll return to this story next week. What I'd like to talk about now is caves! At about this point in Scripture we learn that Obadiah has hidden one hundred of God's prophets in two caves...and constantly supplied food and water to all of them, too. Do you really realize the magnitude of what Obadiah was doing? He could easily die if either Ahab or Jezebel found out. As mentioned earlier, Jezebel was killing off every one of God's true prophets that she possibly could. What do you think she would've done if she had found out that one of her top guys is disobeying her? Not to mention the fact that Obadiah had to ferry out, three times a day most likely, food for one hundred hungry men! Sure, if anyone had food the palace would have food. And Obadiah being palace administrator did help.

But still...that was some risky--right, but risky--moves for Obadiah to take. He could get killed for what he was doing! But Obadiah believed in God, and somehow God must have impressed him that this was what God wanted him to do. He was bold. He was brave. Obadiah did what God wanted him to do, even though it meant a constant threat to his own life.

Are we bold for God, too? Are we brave? Do we do the right thing no matter what, even with our personal Ahabs and Jezebels lurking about? I think these are good questions for all of us to contemplate on throughout the coming week.

Our God

2012-08-18T05:50:00.000-04:00

We'll get back to caves next week, but this week I wanted to take a break from that and share with you a song that has really meant a lot to me throughout the past week. College has been incredible, exhilarating, amazing, wonderful, but also challenging. In those challenging times I listen to some of my favorite uplifting songs on YouTube...this one by Chris Tomlin, "Our God", has become my new favorite! I hope and pray that you are blessed by it just like I was.

Happy Sabbath and enjoy!

~Photobug

Spelunking Through the Bible, Part 2

2012-08-11T06:29:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Spelunking Through the Bible! This time, for Part 2, we'll be talking about a cave in which Israel's first two kings hid in...neither knowing that the other was there! Want to learn more? Then open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 24!

* * *

OK, as I said, we'll be focusing on 1 Samuel 24. Let's first look at v. 1-2:

"After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi. ” So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats."

Know what's going on here? I'll give you a little background. First of all, back in chapter 15 Saul was told by Samuel that he was rejected by God to be king of Israel. Then in chapter 16, Samuel anoints David. Since then, David has been rising in Saul's service, but Saul is so jealous of David the future king of Israel that Saul the current king of Israel tries to kill David! So David takes to hiding in caves all over the place. The story that we're about to cover is just another episode of the big game of cat-and-mouse that Saul and David played for years on end.

V. 3-4:

^"He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe."

I don't know where, but evidently at some point God had told David this line...I guess. To me it just doesn't sound like God. I kinda think that David's men were edging him on. Anyway, but do you get the significance of the situation here? David and his men are hiding in a cave. Saul, en route to chasing/finding/killing David, just happens to relieve himself (please hold the chuckles!) in that very same cave! Of course David and his men realize what's happening, and David's men feel like this is David's golden opportunity to kill Saul and assert himself as king over Israel. David doesn't want to come to the kingdom that way (he'd rather wait for God), but he is influenced enough by his men to go cut off a piece of Saul's robe.

OK, onto v. 5-7:

"Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way."

While I do give that David shouldn't have cut off a piece of Saul's robe, you still gotta admire the guy. I mean, what would you have done? You know that you're going to be the next king of Israel. The current king of Israel hates you, is not following God, and is in fact taking his whole army out to the middle of nowhere just to kill you. And it just so happens that this enemy chooses to use the restroom in the same cave that you are hidden in...what an awesome opportunity to take things into your own hands! But David doesn't do that. He recognizes that Saul is still God's chosen leader, and knows that God will in His own way and time bring about the downfall of Saul and the rise of David.

The rest of the chapter chronicles a discussion between Saul and David. After Saul finished his business and rejoined his troops, David comes out in broad daylight and shows Saul the piece of robe that he had cut off. This establishes some good relations for the moment, and Saul goes back home in peace.

But I'd like to return to David. Do we have the self-control and dedication that he had? To let God work, instead of taking things into our own hands? Sometimes, when I take a good, deep, look at myself, the answer is not what I wish it to be. Let's pray to God this week for self-control and patience, which will help us wait for God's timing. Because, of course, in the end, waiting for God is always better than trying to do it ourselves!

Spelunking Through the Bible, Part 1

2012-08-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but for some reason lately I've gotten interested with caves. I think that it actually began with perusing a Bible trivia book of mine which mentioned caves. That got me thinking...how many other times are caves mentioned in the Bible?

The findings of my research surprised me. There were way more stories in the Bible that involved caves than I had previously thought! And as I did even more thinking, I realized how many good lessons that we can learn from these stories.

So that's how this series has come about! I'd love to share some of the lessons that I've learned from cave Bible stories with you, and throughout the next few weeks I'll do just that. :)

* * *

The first cave that I'd like to talk about is the cave of Machpelah. Do you remember it? Don't worry, I could hardly do some before I did some more study! To learn more about it, let's turn in our Bibles to Genesis 23. I'll be posting a few key passages here in the article, but you'll gain a greater blessing and understanding by reading God's Word for yourself.

Okay. You there yet? Let's read verses 1-4:

"Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”"

To sum up a lot of words, the next several verses describe the bantering of the native Hittites and Abraham as he tries to persuade them to let him pay for a burial spot. He finally succeeds, and pays four hundred shekels of silver to Ephron for a field and adjourning cave. The cave, as you may have guessed, was called the cave of Machpelah.

Verses 19 & 20 continue the story:

"Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron ) in the land of Canaan.So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site."

As an aside, I think that it is interesting that this cave (and field) of Machpelah is the only plot of ground that Abraham ever owned in Canaan! God had promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit this whole land (see Gen. 15); and yet while Abraham was there, he owned just a small spot of ground to bury his dead.

Anyway! On with our story. The next mention of this family cave is made in Genesis chapter 25, just a few pages over from where we currently are. Let's pay special attention to verses 7-10:

"Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah."

Once again, we see the cave of Machpelah coming into play. But what I'd like to point out is that Issac and Ishmael came together to bury their father. To be honest, I haven't studied up on Abraham's sons recently, but from what I remember they weren't exactly buddies. They lived separate lives, far apart from each other, going in drastically different ways. But while Isaac and Ishmael were very different, one task brought them together: burying their father in the cave of Machpelah. Hold that thought...

The next, and final, mention of the cave of Machpelah comes in Genesis chapters 49 & 50. To begin our study of this segment, let's read chapter 49, verses 29-33. But first, a little background. Joseph is in charge of Egypt, and invites his father, brothers, and their families to come down and live with him. They do so for several happy years, but then Jacob realizes that he is about to die. So he gathers all his sons around him, gives them his blessing, and that's where this passage comes in:

"Then [Jacob] gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamrein Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”

When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people."

We learn in this passage that Abraham and Sarah aren't the only patriarchs buried in this cave. Abraham's son Isaac, and his wife Rebekah, are also buried in this cave. As well as Jacob's wife Leah. So as Jacob dies, he makes Joseph promise that he will bury him in the cave of his fathers--the cave of Machpelah. Chapter 50 chronicles Joseph carrying out that mission. After properly grieving for and embalming Jacob, Joseph, his brothers, plus several Egyptians make the trek up to Machpelah to bury Jacob.

What's remarkable to me is how similar are the burials of Abraham and Jacob. Oh yes, they are buried in the same cave; and yes, I'd cede that the circumstances surrounding their deaths are different. But what I think is interesting is how in both cases the deaths brought the living family members--usually the sons--together. Now please don't get me wrong--I'm certainly not advocating death as a way to bring a family closer! But I do think it is interesting that it happened that way.

But let's clarify this a little more. Not only did it bring the sons together for a time, but it brought them back to their roots. Did you ever think about that before? Coming back to their roots. Isn't that something that we all should do from time to time? To see where we've come from, to see where we're going, to get a refresher on what we're doing?

Two things pop into my mind as I think about coming back to my roots. First on that list is family worship. Every evening, my parents have made it a point to have family worship with my sister and I. We read out of a devotional book for my sister, and out of a book called More College Faith for me. More College Faith is a really cool collection of stories relating to college life. Not only do they relate to college life, but the different authors tell of how God has in a very obvious way helped them and strengthened their faith during their college years. As one going into/basically in college, these stories really help!

After More College Faith, my dad always reads out of one of Sam Campbell's books. I don't know if you all know who Sam Campbell is, but for those of you who don't, he was a naturalist who in the 1940's and '50s filmed wild animals and then wrote books about his friendships with them. Campbell and his wife lived on a two-acre island in a northern Wisconsin wildlife sanctuary, and would often take in and raise orphaned baby animals (they were doing it legally, of course). The Campbells also had a feeding station on their island, and many of their animal friends would come to eat there.

As I mentioned earlier, the Campbells spent their summers on their island in Wisconsin filming all the wild animals that they came into contact with. When winter came, they would visit schools all over the Midwest and share the films that they had made with schoolchildren.

The other thing that Sam Campbell did was write books of his adventures, and our family has all of them. And so every evening at family worship, Dad reads a chapter or so out of one of these books. They are so good and fun and wholesome...something that is very rare nowadays. Whether Sam is exploring the Canadian canoe country, or barely surviving a mule ride down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, or just exploring the woods near his home, I feel so refreshed by these stories that teach. I feel like I'm transported to another, better world. Where better morals exist, and the true and noble things of life are honored and dwelt upon.

It's hard to explain, but I can say that I really like what these books do! For me, I feel like I am coming back to my roots when I listen to Dad reading the Sam Campbell books. My mind is elevated to better things, and I am connected with my family once again.

The second thing that comes to mind as I think of "coming back to our roots" is the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a full 24-hour period (Saturday) on which I can rest from my regular duties and cares of life to just spend some time with God. I get to go to church, listen to the sermon, and participate in discussion on the Bible. In the afternoon I am able to have some physical rest, plus opportunities to witness for God by writing these devotionals. (Did you know that I spend most of my Sabbath afternoons writing devotionals? Even though I'm writing this on June 30, I'm looking ahead to August when you will be able to read these devotionals on caves!). I love the social interaction with fellow believers, and the encouragement that they give me. Sabbath's a great gift from God to me, and I wouldn't miss it for anything!

I definitely feel like the Sabbath is an example of "coming back to our roots". It's one day in the week when I can set everything aside, and come back to my ultimate Roots...God. I find it interesting that even the Israelites of old had to be reminded by God to remember the Sabbath, to come back to their roots (the Sabbath was actually instituted at Creation, see Gen. 2:2-3):

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." ~Exodus 20:8-11, emphasis mine

I could probably find many more examples of "coming back to our roots", but I think that you get the idea. Through various forms and ways, we need to come back to our roots. To get a refresher of who we are, to elevate our minds to the better things of life. Will you do that this coming week? And now I shall leave you with a very special Bible verse, found in Jeremiah 6:16--

This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls."

The 31st--Issue #7

2012-07-31T09:01:00.000-04:00

"...And welcome back, everyone, to The 31st, a semi-regular column featuring all sorts of wild and wacky trivia!"

And that's right, folks! This is the seventh issue of The 31st, a periodic column that I run on my blog in each month that has a 31st day! As mentioned above, it is full of all sorts of fascinating trivia. Have fun learning some new things this month!

~Photobug

Did you know...

That the Gyrfalcon is the largest falcon, and breads on Arctic islands and coasts? This bird's body can grow to be 24 inches long.
Sawfish, also known as Carpenter Sharks, can grow to be 23 feet long? They are in the ray family, and have long, toothy snouts.
That there are more than 300 breeds of pure bred dogs?
That the word "zoo" is short for "zoological garden"?
That Baku is Azerbaijan's capital?
That the United States Postal Service started using airplanes for mail delivery back in 1918?
That near Puerto Rico the Atlantic Ocean is nearly 30,000 feet deep?
That Chester Arthur was the 21st President?
That Neil Armstrong was born in 1930?
That the Arkansas River starts in Colorado and flows through Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas before emptying into the Mississippi River?

See you in August!

Choices

2012-07-28T06:03:00.000-04:00

My family and I were vacationing in Michigan! We were having a grand time visiting with my grandparents, going to history museums, hanging out, and just making some fun memories. We planned our vacation to be nine days long; we had left on a Wednesday and were planning to return home the Thursday of the following week.

Of course, weather plays an important part in when and how well our travel goes. So the Tuesday night before we were going to leave, my dad and I checked NOAA's weather page online to see what the weather would be in various cities along our route. Unfortunately, it did not look good. We take I-75 to go from Michigan to Tennessee and vice versa, so we checked the weather of cities such as Toledo, Dayton, Lexington, and Knoxville. In every city, 60-70% chance of severe thunderstorms was predicted.

FYI: 60-70% chance of severe thunderstorms is not good weather to drive in for almost 650 miles!

Besides being not preferable, it's quite dangerous too. Dad and I called Mom over to discuss things. We didn't want to cut short our vacation a day, but should we? Should we come home on Wednesday instead? We checked Wednesday weather for I-75. Wednesday, while slightly better, didn't look good either! There wasn't 60-70% chance of severe thunderstorms, instead, it was about 40-50% chance. Problem was, we couldn't just stay longer in Michigan. College was ramping up quick, and I had an appointment on Friday! So, after much prayer and discussion, we decided to go home a day early, on Wednesday.

That was at 8:45pm on Tuesday night. God blessed us with speed and clarity of thought, I know. Because just over an hour later, by 10 PM, we were ready and packed to go.

Fast-forward to Wednesday--Dad woke both me and my sister up at approximately 5:24am. About twenty minutes later, we were out the door. We had a brief downpour of rain about half hour into our trip, but for most of the day it was just overcast. We went as fast as we could, getting as many miles behind us as fast as we could. Because we had no idea when the storms would come.

The storms came in southern Kentucky. Unlike other parts of our trip, where we are very close to cities (think Ann Arbor, MI and Toledo, OH; Dayton and Cincinnati, OH, etc.), southern Kentucky does not have any cities. Just a few towns. From Lexington you drop straight down to Knoxville--WHEEEEEEE! as my sister would say! ;) So anyway, I guess I'm just trying to say that we were really out in the boondocks when the storms hit. Lightning flashed multiple times, and not too far away either. Thunder rolled, and the rain came in torrents. Dad almost couldn't see because the rain was so blinding. I was praying hard.

Then a whole new twist came into the story. Overhead signs, which can be constantly updated, told us that there might be considerable delays on I-75 once we crossed into Tennessee. We had experienced some of these on the way up; construction had closed the interstate down to one lane. Fine. We'd just go on through, at least it was only like 1:30pm. (It's about three hours from the TN-KY to our home.) However, as we approached Tennessee, the signs that we encountered gave us conflicting messages. Some said that there would just be delays; others stated that I-75S was completely shut down. EEK!

One sign even advised us to turn to a certain radio station, which of course we did. While not very clear, we did make out that I-75 southbound was indeed totally closed, due to an accident that had happened just an hour before. Motorists were advised to take Exit 160 (the Jellico exit, the first one you come to in TN) and take 25W as a detour around the accident, and then rejoin I-75S at Exit 134.

With really no other option left, that's what we decided to do. But as we got off the interstate, I saw many more cars not get off the interstate. Had they not heard the radio? Had they not seen the signs? Didn't they know what they were getting into? I honestly felt sorry for those people.

Did you ever pause to ponder that that may be how God feels about us sometimes? When He sees us keeping on sinning, going to our destruction? Even when we have been well-warned way ahead of time, with His heavenly "radio" and "signs"? For hundreds--no, thousands--of years, God has untiringly tried to save humankind. We don't deserve it. We don't deserve anything but our rightful punishment--death. (see Romans 6:23) But God has lavished His love upon undeserving us, and has set in place a way for us and Him to be together again someday. That's really the crux of it all. God can't stand to be away from us. Have you ever experienced that? A time when you had to part ways with a friend or loved one, and couldn't wait to get back together again? If so, I think you'll understand where God is coming from.

To continue the analogy, what if you saw that your friend was swiftly walking towards a cliff's edge, which surely spelled instant death? If they didn't know about it, wouldn't you want to warn them? But what would you think if, after being warned, they decided to not change their course? To continue walking towards' that cliffs' edge? Well, I think you see what I mean.

God communicates with us in a variety of ways. He communicates through His written word, the Bible. When you hear that still, small voice speaking to you, that's God! Or God may choose to tell you things through a pastor's sermon, or any number of other ways. And that gets me thinking--the word communicate stems from the word commune. What does it mean to commune with God? Merriam-Webster defines commune (or communing) as talking things over, or discussing different matters with other people. Just think! God wants to hang out and talk with us! Is that incredible or what?

Anyway, anyway, back to my original story...God did keep us safe as we traveled through Tennessee. He stopped the rain while we were on 25W, some twisty-turny country that I don't know if I ever want to go through again! God miraculously let my GPS acquire satellites quite easily, and I was able to track our progress. This assures us all that we were on the right road, going somewhere. As we once again joined I-75 at Exit 134, a stark, scary, frightening black sky met our gaze. We prayed once more, and proceeded on. Mile after blinding mile (the rain had started again) crept by, but God protected us through it all. I'm sure He gave my dad extra wisdom and alertness, and somehow by three o'clock in the afternoon we found ourselves in Knoxville. As we turned our sights towards Chattanooga, blue skies greeted us. We raced home and reached our destination just over an hour later.

I think that the lesson of this devotional is pretty obvious. God is very involved with mankind and He is constantly trying to figure out ways for us to be together with Him again. He has set up a plan, really a gift, of salvation by which we may be saved and live forever with Him. But none of that can happen unless we follow His signs and directions, and do what He says.

Are you following God today?

Everlasting God (Strength Will Rise)

2012-07-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

Here is another of my favorite songs from campmeeting. While I like all of them, this one especially means a lot to me. I love it! Especially when I really listen to the lyrics and think about the message...enjoy and have a very Happy Sabbath!

~Photobug

Hosanna

2012-07-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

So at this year's campmeeting (yes, it happened almost two months ago, but bear with me!) I was really blessed by all the music and messages. Music that helped me praise God better, and messages that challenged me to follow God even more. It was an awesome experience, and definitely one that I want to remember forever.

One of the many things that I liked about campmeeting is the songs, and so starting this week I'll be sharing one of my favorite songs that I learned at campmeeting. This week I'd like to share (see video above) the theme song for this year's campmeeting--Hosanna. It's a wonderful song and I hope that you are truly blessed. Enjoy and have a wonderful Sabbath!

~Photobug