along the way

On the fortieth year of my life, I hit a mile stone that is changing me.
I read through the bible, chronologically, from start to finish.
I learned so much along the way,
I was more calm in my outlook,
more patient in my relationship,
I walked taller,
I smiled brighter,
I felt deeper,
and I thought better, much, much better.

I can't explain any other way than to say that God's word is alive, it's a force that changes, and no matter what the daily passage was, I was different.  Changed.  Impacted.  Draw into a bigger story, my characterization developed, refined, deepened.

I'm at it again this year, taking a different path, but heading to the same destination.

Here's what I learned along the way:

• (Deut 33)God's entrance is blazing, "dawning upon us", shining forth, with flaming fire in his right hand
• (I Samual 15:23) Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshipping idols.  Not getting your way, being stubborn, disobedience, rebellion, in God's eyes, is as bad as idolatry and witchcraft.  Oh, my.
• (2 Kings 13:21) Elisha's dead bones bring a dead man back to life. Dead bones, Way dead, long dead, completely-tucked-away-dead still hold so much power that when another newly-recently-dead-person is thrown in, as the bones touch, jostle one another, the newly dead arose!
• (2 Kings 21) King Josiah became king at 8 years old because ever other option, all other choices, were dead. To me, that changes things from the Sunday School answer of "look kids, even 8 year olds can do cool things....because while I agree that 8 year olds can do cool things, the shaping of Josiah's life, the sober reality of hiding out in terror, losing all loved ones to battle, would severely impact Josiah's character.
• (Isaiah 7: 10-25).  God dares King Ahaz and for once, the evil King resists.  The Virgin will conceive a child, something not even a king could dream up!
• (Isaiah 49:16) "See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands."  My name. God's Hands. Whoa.
• (Isaiah 62:6,7) Don't stop prayer. Ever.
• (Jeremiah 10:1-16) "Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field."  Zing!
• (Jeremiah 12) "Why do the rich prosper?"  God's Reply, "If racing against men makes you tired, how will you race against horses?"  Perspective.  We need it!
• (Jeremiah 17: 5-10) Wisdom comes from God alone, and those who refuse God are cursed.
• (Proverbs 19:3)  We make our plans, choose stupidly, ruin our lives, and blame God.  It figures.
• (Proverbs 20:24) The Lord directs our steps, don't ask why, you'll never understand. Why wastes time, is disobedient, and is an enemy to faith.
• (Psalm 85:10) "unfailing love and truth have met together.  Righteousness and peace have kissed."  I know that place, I seek that place, I run to that place!
• (Psalm 104: 1-4) All majesty, glory, and honor to God!
• (Psalm 139:7-10) Hide and seek, God is the ultimate seeker, finder, winner!
• (Zechariah 11:13) Thirty pieces of silver, what the value of God is, as prophesied way before Judas and his betrayal. It brings further miraculousness to the story.
• (2 Corinthians 3:15)  The hearts of healers a veiled.  More is at play than I can know.
• (Romans 13:14) Don't know what to wear? Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus
• (2 Thess 1:8) The Lord Jesus will come in flaming fire
• (Hebrews 4: 12-13) We are accountable to God, nothing is hidden from him, and his word is alive!
• (Hebrews 12:18-24) We can approach God, with grace, not like the Israelites at Mount Sinai, in complete terror, animals falling dead beside us if they touched the mountain.  That terror, that trembling, has passed.
• (2 Peter 3: 15-16) God gives time for people to be saved, and some of what is written is hard to understand, and further still, those who are ignorant will not understand.
• (2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 22)  Paul's final words. May the Lord be with your spirit and his grace be with you.  The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight.

At first glance, a random list of bible trivial, seemingly unrelated

but, I dare you 

to begin,

to trace the dots, 

to find the connections, 

to see,

to learn, 

to explore who God is, 

what He looks like, 

what is to come, 

what already is, and how we play a role.  

Join the story.