Decking the Halls

The Christmas reading for yesterday was Exodus 25. In this chapter, God gives detailed instructions for decorating the Tabernacle that would be the Lord's dwelling place. As the additional reading points out, all of those details must have had a purpose. They may have been symbolic, they may have been designed to remind the people of God's promises.

How do we decorate for the holidays? Or, more to the point, why do we decorate? Is it simply so that it will "feel like the holidays" around our homes? I have to admit that yes, that is definitely part of why I like to decorate immediately after Thanksgiving.

This year, obviously, we could not do much decorating since we are in the process of moving. In fact, we just took down what little decorations we had up and put them in boxes. But as soon as we get to the new house, you can bet those decorations will go right back up. My favorite thing that we put up is our Nativity. It looks so pretty and fancy, but really, we got all of the pieces individually at the dollar store. I love how Ophelia likes to point out Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

We used to relegate the Nativity to a table or a back room. Now that we have (and will have at the new house) a mantle above the fireplace, it is the perfect place to display the representation of what this Season is truly about. We've been reading books to Ophelia about Christmas - how it is Jesus' birthday, and Jesus is God's gift to us. In the coming years, I hope to be more thoughtful with our Christmas decorations, and use them not only to get in the "holiday spirit," but also to celebrate the blessing that God gave to us through Jesus.

A Time to Wait

I'm taking a break from my "regular" reading schedule (ha!) to do a short study in celebration of the Christmas season. The verses for today are Luke 2:21-40. In them, Simeon and Anna are both, separately, awaiting the arrival of Jesus in the Temple. The Holy Spirit said (does the Holy Spirit say things? Luke says it revealed) to Simeon that he would live to see Jesus. Based on this, Simeon waited for that day to come, and rejoiced in the Spirit's promise.

We have been waiting for a long time. Waiting for me to finish school - that took two years longer than it normally does. Waiting for Ophelia to finally get here - that may have only been nine months but it was a really long nine months. Waiting for me to pass the bar exam - we knew when we would find out but time moved extra slow while we waited to see if I had passed. Waiting for me to pass the background check - this wait was particularly grueling since we were fairly sure of the outcome, but it was not a guarantee. Waiting to see the new Harry Potter movie - a fun wait, but still a wait. Waiting to find out if we got the house that we wanted in our new city. And now waiting to move, to start a new job.

We are always waiting, waiting, waiting...for life to settle down, for life to speed up. But none of our waiting really compares to the waiting of Simeon and Anna. They sat in the Temple and waited for their Savior. They simply waited, knowing and having the utmost faith that He would be there, some day.

Every night we say prayers with Ophelia. We thank Jesus for a fun day, and for our friends and family. Sometimes we thank Him for chocolate milk, or for Christmas tree lights, or for socks. We also have been reading at least one Christmas book to her every day. She doesn't yet understand the fact that she is - we all are - waiting for Christmas. But I am happy that, at two, the first thing she knows about Christmas is Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem, where they had Jesus.

It is fitting that this new, huge transition in our lives comes with Christmas. Christmas is often celebrated as a time to be thankful, a time to show our love in the form of gifts and time. This Christmas, as we make a huge change and leave the city that we have grown up in, I want us to remember that this season began as the ultimate wait - the wait for Jesus, the Messiah.

Seeing an invisible God

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20


I love, love, love this verse. It so clearly explains what I have always firmly believed, that to look at the world is to see God. It seems almost too simplistic to me. How can someone look at the intricacies of our ecosystem, or at the vast expanse of the night sky, or at their newborn baby, and not see God's invisible qualities? Perhaps it is simply a matter of childlike faith, or perhaps this is one area where I have always felt God's peace, but when I look around, I see God's hand.

Who needs to stop making plans?

Oh, that would be me. Every time I say I am going to do something ... read a certain number of chapters per day ... read just a verse per day ... write something, anything every single day ... I don't.

From now on, I make no plans! I will simply pray that God gives me the patience and fortitude to read His Word, and if He helps me find time to read and write too, so much the better.

A Little Help From My Friends

"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty." Job 6:14

I really like the notes in my study Bible. They are short, but they usually provide a good starting point for applying God's word in every day life. The notes in this chapter say "be slow to give advice to those who are hurting. They often need compassion more than they need advice."

I can completely relate to Job's statement about friends. True friends should always be there for you, to listen, to provide comfort. So many times all you want to do is vent, but your friends feel like they should give their opinion or advice. Usually it is most annoying when you know what the right course of action is, you just have to get there on your own. Your friends can't talk you into it. I am sure I have been guilty of this many times. I want to try and remember this verse now, and in the future, when my friends go through troubles. Unless my opinion is requested, from now on I am going to try to be devoted to my friends in the way that they need, not the way that I think is best.

Blameless

The biggest thing I learned from reading Job 1 and 2 is that God is blameless, not us. Everyone knows the story of Job. A man of great faith, he was blameless before God, and prospered. Satan asked for a chance to test his faith. Despite losing his family, his wealth, and even being ridden with disease, he never blamed God.

The notes in my Bible talk about never knowing why things happen. Good and bad things happen in this broken world to Christians and non-Christians alike. The reasons matter less than our reaction. Do we turn away from God, casting the blame for our misfortune on Him?

"Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?" Job 2:10b

I was reminded of a passage from The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis. A young princess escapes from her home. As she is riding away, a Lion chases after her and scratches her across her shoulders. It is later revealed that the Lion was Aslan, the Christ figure of the Narnia books. He asks the girl if she knows why she was torn.

"The scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother's slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her. You needed to know what it felt like."

Despite the fact that it was a good, and even right, decision for the young princess to run away, her actions had consequences that she was not aware of. It makes me think, even when we are trying our best to be good Christians in everything we do, every choice we make effects the people around us. We may never know the true consequences of our actions. Because of that, how can we begin to question why bad things happen to us sometimes? Perhaps, sometimes, we simply need to know what it feels like.

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." Job 1:21b-22

A Change in Plans

I have realized that attempting to read the entire Bible in 90 days is a bit unrealistic at this point in my life. So I have changed my plan to 365 days. My goal is not to make it easier to read the Bible, necessarily, but to make each day's reading more effective. I would find that after reading 12-20 chapters in one day, my brain was so overloaded that I wouldn't really be able to process what I had just read. Plus, when I would get behind on my reading, the task of catching up seemed insurmountable.

I ran across this wonderful C.S. Lewis quote last week. "We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." This is spot on for how our lives have been since 2005.

I just found out that I finally passed my background check. This means that I have met all of the requirements to officially become a licensed attorney. We have spent the last five years working so hard to get me through law school, it is kind of unbelievable that we have finally accomplished our goal. Soon, hopefully this week or next, I will be an attorney. As our lives change in the upcoming months, I want to be sure that the choices we make as a family, and the choices I make as a new attorney, reflect God's will for our lives. With that goal in mind, I will try to read at least one verse, if not one chapter, per day, and make a note, however short, of what God is trying to teach me.

A Pleasing Aroma

In the first three chapters of Leviticus, the phrase "an aroma pleasing to the Lord" shows up at least half a dozen times. It is always in the context of a burnt offering, usually some kind of animal.

At this time of year, I love putting out holiday candles, particularly candles that smell like pumpkins or spices. They have a pleasing aroma to me - just the smell of the candles around the house puts me in a better, calmer mood. It feels like fall is here, the season has begun. I wonder if that is how God felt when His people sacrificed burnt offerings to Him.

The Old Testament, particularly these first two books, are filled with so many laws and rules and so much rigidity. Sometimes it is hard to plow through such dense material. Of course, this is why my "walk through the Bible in 90 days" is turning into a little bit more than 90 days. Actually, it will still be a grand total of 90 days of reading, just spread out over about 120 days.

We may not make actual living sacrifices to the Lord anymore, but I hope that at the very least, through the upcoming holiday season, I can dedicate everything that I do to Him. Whether it is waiting to hear about a job, picking pumpkins with my family, or lighting candles around the house while I clean, I will try to let everything I do be an offering to God.

Beware the blood and infectious diseases

Just a word of caution. Don't read Leviticus while you are eating lunch.

The Law

Having finally graduated law school and PASSED THE BAR EXAM, I am surprised that I am still interested in anything having to do with the law. As I was reading Exodus 21-23, I was struck by the similarity of God's laws, as handed down through Moses, to our current criminal laws. I probably shouldn't have been surprised. Where else did we get the ideas for punishment for crimes but from God? But it is really very interesting to a criminal law nut like myself.

Exod. 21:14 But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.

Hello, first degree murder! From a purely historical standpoint, it is fascinating that our society, and most societies around the world, probably, have followed this law since the time of Moses. Capital Punishment is always a hot-button issue. There are those that are die-hard pro death penalty (hello, Texas). And there are those that see it as a murder on its own. I suppose I fall somewhat in the middle - that is, I am wishy-washy. I think that I believe that capital punishment is okay, but I don't know that, were I to be on a jury, I could actually impose it. At this rate, I won't be making the jury in a capital case any time soon. They want you to be decisive on this issue.

As I read the Bible cover to cover, I wonder how my views on capital punishment will change, or if I will still be indecisive on the issue. I know a lot of people tend to split up God as "the God of the Old Testament" and "the God of the New Testament." I am not sure how I feel about that. My gut reaction is God would not have left us the Old Testament if it weren't important. But I guess the question becomes, why is it important? Are we to diligently follow its laws? Or are we to look at how God was before he sent his Son and be grateful? I am not sure yet. I hope that reading and praying will give me some interesting insight.

In other legal news, God said this:

Exod. 23:9 Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt. 

Ha! Early immigration law is what that is! That is what Nathan and I have always talked about. How can we not welcome immigrants to this country, when that is all any of us are? I am definitely an advocate for legal immigration, but I definitely think the process should be less time consuming and cumbersome. It takes some people literally a decade or more to move here legally just to be with their families. It is no wonder we have such an illegal immigrant problem.

God Remembers

So, oops! I had to restart my "start date" on my 90 day reading plan! I missed an entire week of reading, which is bad. I am still a little bit behind, but I hope I can catch up over the weekend. Thank goodness that God is better at remembering stuff than I am.

Gen. 9:16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

Exod. 6:5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 


I have always heard that a rainbow is a sign of God's promise to us. But it is actually a sign of his covenant, which I think is stronger than just a promise. We make and break promises all the time, to ourselves, to each other. But a covenant is serious. God made a covenant with Noah after he covered the earth in water. He made another covenant with the Israelites to bring them out of Egypt. He got them out of Egypt by drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea. God does not just make his promises lightly. In the Old Testament, he killed off a bunch of evildoers when he made a covenant with his people. I am interested to keep reading and see under what other circumstances God makes a covenant with man. He certainly doesn't take these "promises" lightly.

THIS...is American Idol

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes." Gen. 35:2

So we got rid of cable a few months ago. We did not do it for any noble reason, like cutting television out of our lives and focusing on what is important. Nope, we just couldn't afford the $200 monthly cable bill with me in school/studying for the bar exam/not working very much.

It was terrible. It still is terrible! I miss my DVR. We got a digital converter box - like the OLD PEOPLE had to do with the digital conversion! (See how judgmental I am? That was mean. I almost deleted it, too, but it was my honest thought at the time. Literally, the only people I knew at the time that didn't have cable were old people, or hippies. We were neither of those, therefore - I judged.)

So, we spent the end of the Spring television season watching network shows. And it was a difficult change. We would have to always make sure to be home in time to watch a show. We dug out the old VCR to tape shows that were on at the same time. It was like living in the dark ages. But something happened over the course of the last few months. Our house got quieter.

No longer was the television constantly on in the background (that is because there is NOTHING TO WATCH on broadcast t.v.). We got an old Muppet video for Ophelia at Goodwill for her to watch (over and over and over and over again). We turned on the news in the morning instead of music videos. If we missed a show on t.v. because we were out doing something else, we might try to catch it online. But it turns out we weren't as addicted as we thought, and not watching shows is generally preferable to watching them on the computer. The digital antenna didn't like American Idol very much. The picture froze a lot, the sound skipped. So we stopped watching it.

We are still getting used to it. Our lives were still extra busy because I was studying every night. It's only been in the last month, when none of us has had something else to do, that we've been able to appreciate the benefits of not having 200 channels to surf. We rarely turn on the t.v. (except to watch Muppets) before Ophelia goes to bed. And we usually turn it off by 9.

We got rid of one of our idols, those things in our lives that stand between us and God. Our house is cleaner, our food is healthier. I was able to finally see that all that noise, the constant television watching, was getting in the way of my spending time in God's word. So instead of watching a dating show or a cooking show for an hour in the evening, I am trying to spend that hour reading the Bible.

But I still miss cable.

Jacob Have I Loved - even when he's wrong

It is nice to know that even those who had the benefit of literally having a conversation with God still acted like complete idiots a lot of the time. Abraham was told that Sarah would give birth to a child, that he would father many nations, but he still didn't, or couldn't bring himself to, believe God. So Sarah just gives him her servant and says, here, get her pregnant. That's just a horrible idea. And these were people who talked to God all the time!

Then Jacob, taking after his grandfather, did the same thing with both Rachel and Leah's servants. Plus, the whole having four wives thing was not the best. I always remember hearing about all of these people in the Bible, some of God's best, having wives and concubines, and just thinking that it was okay - that's how they did it back then. But reading it now, I realize that it was never okay. Just because these were God's people, that does not mean they did not make mistakes. Huge, glaring mistakes.

It is clear that these amazing people with amazing stories did selfish, foolish things. A lot. Even Joseph was prideful and boastful. His brothers were no picnic, but is it really any surprise they wanted to kill him, and ended up selling him?

On the one hand, it is kind of a bummer. These were the people who walked with God, who talked with God. If they couldn't even live fairly blameless lives, what kind of chance do we have? But on the other, much more important hand, it's great. We are not expected to be perfect. No one is perfect. But we are expected to always turn to God. Despite Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph's mistakes, God kept his promises to them. Somewhere later in the Bible it says God will never leave us, nor forsake us. After reading the first 40 chapters of Genesis, I'd say that's pretty obvious.

The Nephilim

Gen 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

I am not sure how I missed this interesting tidbit in all the previous times I have read Genesis. I need to do some research, purely for my own historical amusement. A quick internet search produces some interesting images and theories. The Nephilim might have been giants, possibly the same that Goliath came from. Some say they were the product of fallen angels procreating with human women. Sounds like something out of Supernatural (the CW show).

Walking with God

So I have read Genesis at least 10 times, but I am picking up on different things this time. Between chapters 5 and 6 the phrase "walked with God" appears three times; twice in reference to Enoch, and once referring to Noah. I'm using my youversion page to "tag" these references. I'd like to know how many times that phrase is used, and in what context. Particularly in these first few chapters of Genesis, it seems like the phrase is literal. I'd like to read some commentary to see if that is the case or not.

14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

I've never really noticed before that God says in Genesis 9:14-15 that whenever a rainbow appears he will remember his covenant. Not Noah, or everyone else. I've always found rainbows to be comforting, reminding me of God's promise. It's nice to know that God is reminded, too. It's kind of like sharing a secret with God.

Through the Bible in 90 Days

I've always wanted to read through the entire Bible. I have probably read most of it in bits and pieces. Everytime I start one of those year long reading plans, though, I get through maybe the first five books and quit. I stumbled upon the youversion site and decided to jump right into the 90 day reading plan. It is a lot of reading, but it will be worth it to get done with the entire Bible in three months.