Worship into the Week- Occupied with Joy

  

The Vanity of Wealth and Honor

 Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

Solomon had a few things to say about

 the accumulation of wealth.

He knew that it didn't bring satisfaction.

Money can also easily disappear.

What will we remember of our 

work and toil here on earth?

When God occupies our hearts with JOY-

it is so much better of our daily walk,

We come and go.

Let us move in our days without

 our focus solely on money.

Let us find joy in the daily life of eating

and drinking as we go about our days and work.

It is pleasing to the Lord.

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Worship into the Week- Seek the Lord and Live

Worship into the Week-

Seek the Lord and Live:

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

Here- Amos declares judgment on the kingdom of Israel.

There can still be time for repentance.

There is the warning that they are to set themselves 

apart from their wicked nation and seek good and not evil-

so that they may live.

Amos was a "herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees."

(Amos 1:1, 7:14)

God called him to  be the truth teller to the people 

of the northern Kingdom of Israel.

 He was a "nobody" and his audience 

were the wealthy and powerful, 

and the religious establishment.

The words of Amos were dire and he was not welcome.

He comes to tell of a nation already dead.

They didn't pay attention to Amos since the "upper class"

 were doing well. His words are dismissed.

But, Amos gives hope.

"Seek the Lord and live." v.6

There is an opportunity for a turnaround and second chance.

His audience thinks they have been "seeking the Lord" 

since they worship at Bethel. 

So, there must be something more- a new way.

God was seeking a lifestyle that wasn't just "at worship time",

 but in all their dealings with people.

God was looking for hearts of compassion, 

justice at the "city gate", honest interactions,

and are for the poor.

Amos makes it pretty plain.

Seeking God is Seeking Good.

It is looking for the poor and vulnerable.

A remnant will remain through the Assyrian invasion

 and the Babylonian invasion. 

Are we ready to hear the warning of Amos today?

The poor are vulnerable, wealth is unfairly distributed, 

and economies are volatile. 

Not much has changed in the world centuries later.

The words of Amos are also a call for us to align with

seeking God in ways that also seek good.

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Worship into the Week- God's Design

 

Worship into the Week- Genesis 2:18-25

God's Design

The creation of woman begins the plan 

for living in our earthly relationships.

Woman is Adam's helper and companion.

She is named Eve and they are to become one flesh.

This marriage covenant is established by God

 and sets in motion the nature of love

and human relationships.

This gift also establishes the ideal connection

 between Jesus and the church.

This bond between a man and a woman is so strong

 that to alter it is like cutting out a part of one's own body.

Good gives humans the blueprint for married life 

with one man and one women in a life long 

relationship together.

It is the very first part of the Bible where God lays out

 his design for the people He loves so much.

It is a mapped out plan for flourishing here on earth.

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Worship into the Week- Spirit on Them

 The Spirit on Them-

Numbers 11:4-29

So the people in this story have a bad case of 

"spiritual amnesia".

We all have the tendency to remember in the moment

 the stories of God's goodness and then they simply 

slip away in our harried and busy lives.

The people of Israel began compiling that perhaps

 it would be better 

if they had never left Egypt.

At least there, they had meat to eat. 

Round that out with melons, cucumbers,

 leeks, onions and garlic.

They were a grumbling and complaining, 

unhappy lot of folks.

God was angry and Moses was pretty perturbed with God.

These lousy mess of people was not "his doing."

Moses told God that he could not carry the weight 

of all these people alone.

Then God sends in those to help carry the burden.

We actually see that 70 elders are commissioned here to 

aid and help Moses.

 The men were placed around the tent.

"And I will come down and talk with you there. 

And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you

 and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden 

of the people with you, 

so that you may not bear it yourself alone."

The men soon prophesied, but then stopped doing it.

But, even that became a bone of contention,

 as others quickly began to "tattle" 

about those who had spoken in prophecy.

Moses squelched that attitude.

"Would that all the Lord's people were prophets,

 that the LORD would put his Spirit on them."

So Moses and the elders went back to the camp.

So Moses had a hard time believing that God could

 provide the meat just has he had the manna. 

His concept of God was minuscule 

and he could not fathom with his own

 understanding how that would work.

How often don't we think that the power

 of God has been shortchanged in a situation?

God has resources and power that Moses 

knew nothing about.

That is the choice of God for each of us.

 For God can come into every life situation 

with a completely unexpected way.

Let's trust him on that! 

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House Reno- September 2024

 

Still a bit of learning as we go with insulation going

 in this month with inspections for that process.

The hole was cut through the brick in the family room

 for the door into the new office area.

                 Things are getting brighter and we can see just how

                      yellow the lighting was in the front hallway.

Insulation to dry wall.

We did some making of the studs

 to pray over and bless this new space.

More room for our loved ones 

and friends and neighbors.

Then the coating and the sanding.

AND the DUST.

So more of all of that process going on this month.

                        This is the lower level office space.

New door is cut into the shop space. 

All the plastic up for the sanding of the drywall.

Things are moving along.

Calendar Journaling- September 2024

 

September Calendar 

Along the way- the story of the journey

 of my devotional life.

Four colored pencils.

What are the words that make up this past month?

Keeping a word log of the words 

that seem to bubble to the surface.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to me?

What am I going to do about it?

                                    Here is a larger image to 

see the grace words a bit easier.

Devotions-

 Jesus Be in Me by Sarah Hornsby