Psalm_8

Scripture - What stood out?Psalm 8:4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

    human beings that you care for them? Observation - What does it say?A psalm of David. Understanding - What does it mean?Desert streams church was the first church to ask me about my posture and position towards God. And I believe it is because my church demands that I grow in my relationship with the Lord, that I am better able to understand those concepts.What I have been contemplating for the past week however is a different p word, perspective.I know there are books about laws of attraction etc etc, but I am going to attribute this one to the laws of the Holy Spirit working on me. I have really been chewing on this idea of how a person views life and the world is so important. My life changed drastically once I embraced Jesus as my Lord. And I embraced my view on life that God is great, and I am not. I think about the people I am surrounded by, filled with chaos and anger in their hearts. I think about all the hurting and hostile people out there who have not accepted Jesus in their lives and I can only pity them. It was only when I embraced this perspective, when I embraced that I would look at life from the vantage point of a mere mortal in relation to a perfect and perfectly loving God, that I began to transform. And the lack of peace in my heart was replaced with the fullness of peace that to this day I can still only describe as a supernatural one. Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?Lord, how amazing Psalm 8 is. What a great reminder of the true pecking order of our lives. My prayer Lord is that you would help me to gain greater insight into this way of living and thinking. Of thinking about you as the majestic ruler of all. For my life application Lord I choose to pray for our political leaders, regardless of their socio-ideological beliefs. I will pray for them with the perspective we are all Your children and that you wish to save not some but all. In the name of Jesus, amen. -kenneth lee 

Romans___13

Scripture

Romans 13:1-2

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves.

 

Observation

Paul continues his letter by explaining practical ways to live in salvation, and he explains this through the government. Although written a long time ago, Paul’s word are still just as important today when viewing the balance of faith and government in the modern age.

 

Understanding

Anyone who knows me, knows this: I love United States history. Like I eat, sleep, breathe it! It’s kind of sad how much I love it. I’ll get excited just thinking about it (like right now I’m getting filled with excitement). Anyway, one of the periods that I love to look at is the Revolutionary War and the forming of the Constitution.

Here’s Allison’s brief history lesson of the day: the Constitution was not the first framework for our nation, it was actually the second. The first was something called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles failed dramatically because they ceased to give the central government any power in governing the people. Ironically, the people and the states had too much power. When the government tried to tax whiskey a rebellion broke out because they just fought a whole war on the basis of taxation and representation. The founding fathers then came together in Philadelphia and decided to “revise” the Articles, but instead they rewrote it, and viola: the new U.S. Constitution. Now this process took a long time mostly because the delegates argued relentlessly with each other. They all wanted a say in this newly formed nation, and after months of fighting, revising, writing, and drafting the U.S. gained her official “living document.”

All of this to say: our nation didn’t start on agreement, but I fear it will be this same disagreeing spirit that will be its downfall. Paul writes that we should submit to governing authorities, no matter how much we like them or not (or should I say whether you voted for them or not). Our Constitution wasn’t just created on a whim it took time to make, yet we the people wish to abolish it or amend it overnight. I don’t think its an accident that we ended up with the document or presidents, Congress, or Supreme Court that we did. It is God alone who establishes the authority of the United States or any state for that matter, the least we can do is calm down and perhaps trust the process. Good things take time… and to quote the Bible and one of my favorite historical figures Abraham Lincoln:

Mark 3:25

“If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand”

And I think to add quite fittingly, Abraham Lincoln finishes his House Divided Speech with this: “Wise counsels may accelerate or mistakes may delay it, but sooner or later victory is sure to come.”

 

Life Application

Let’s look to bridge gaps, and not further the divide. We live in a wonderfully flawed, but still looking to build nation. I think that’s what makes America what it is… it’s full of imperfect people just trying to keep moving forwards. Here’s my thought on that: it is good to sometimes look back on history because it shows us how far we’ve come, or it shows us a mistake we are about to make again. Let’s be patient with one another and our government, we’re all trying our best.

Hopefully you all don’t hate me, I talked politics and history at once. I promise I’ll refrain from doing it again.

-Allison Khan

Haggai 1

Scripture

Haggai 1:5-9

5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 

Observation-What does it say?

The book of Haggai was written by the Prophet Haggai. “God sought to warn the people to heed His words.  Not only did God warn them, but He also offered promises through His servant Haggai to motivate them to follow Him. Because the people of God reverses their priorities and failed to put God in first place in their lives, Judah was sent into Babylonian exile.” 

(Reference: gotquestions.org -Summary of the Book of Haggai).

Understanding-What does it mean?

It ALL belongs to God.

When I say ALL, I mean ALL…our money, our gifts, our talents, our accomplishments, our health, our possessions, our spouses, kids, families, friends….basically our whole lives! God has the power to give and He has the power to take away. 

Moses and I are teaching our kids about tithing and are requiring them to give 10% of their financial increase back to the Lord as an act of obedience. Their tithe eventually goes back into our DSC kids church ministry. (Note: Our kids have already accepted the Lord into their hearts and were baptized, so this is not a legalistic rule we are putting on them—it’s a discipline and act of obedience that we are trying to instill in them as a child of Christ.) We get the moans and groans, but then we make them aware that God could ask them to return ALL of it since it belongs to Him anyway. This life begins and ends with Christ, not with them.

Life Application

Put Christ FIRST!

Do you want God’s blessing on your life, even beyond money? Do you want to be content and satisfied in life, living securely in the comfort of His love, joy and peace, no matter what circumstances you are faced with? Then put Him first in ALL areas of your life—finances, gifts, talents, possessions and people.

Dear Lord, this life is but a blink of Your eye. I pray that we would put our hope in things of eternal value and invest in what You want, not what we want for ourselves. I pray that we would build Your Kingdom instead of our own because our kingdom can be easily destroyed, while Yours is eternal. Amen.

-Michelle Gaddi