July 15

OT -- 1 Chronicles 19:1- 21:30
Chapter 20 Chronicles is where the story of Bathsheba resides in Kings. This story is totally missing in Chronicles which brings the question, why? I really have no answer for it, I guess that the Chronicler was not into the dirt of the situations.
Chapter 21 is about the census. And if you have forgotten or did not know, it was against God's command to take a census of the Jews. They got around it by bringing something to be counted -- wheat or a coin or some such. But to count a person was evil. This brings the whole census stuff in Luke to a brand new light.

After the plague, David wrote Psalm 60 as a petition to God. Read what he had to say:
Psalm 60
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam[b] of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim[c] and Aram Zobah,[d] and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

1 You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry —now restore us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3 You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow.[e]

5 Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
“In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin,
on Edom I toss my sandal;
over Philistia I shout in triumph. ”

9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies?
11 Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless.
12 With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies.


NT -- Romans 2:25-3:8
Okay, this is where Paul and I differ. He really lays hard into the Jews for not following the Law perfectly but relying on circumcision to get them there. I don't see it that way at all. Circumcision is just the outward symbol to most of the Jews I know. Now, some are only culturally Jewish and only circumcise their boys because Mama would have a stroke if they didn't. But I think a lot of Jewish people do it because it is part of their evolution in their spiritual growth with God. And this is just one more step on that path.
There are many Christians who have that same thing with their children. They bring them to a church to be baptized. Now, they may or may not be active members. Some churches require that. But I see it differently. Maybe this is just the first step towards a more fulfilling relationship with God. And maybe that takes years and an ugly crisis. Or maybe you just fall into the rhythm of going to church, volunteering here and there and all the sudden, you realize, you are a God-girl and there is no place you would rather be than among other Christians.
We each follow our own paths and everyone is different. I did not have the Damascus Road experience that Paul had. Mine has come in spurts and drivels, sometimes taking many, many steps backwards before I gained a little ground. It makes me no less or better than Paul just because it is different.
Tonight, we were at a Tennessee Smokies' game in Seveirville TN. TN does not have the smoking laws that Georgia does and while you can't smoke in the stands, you can smoke right behind them. I am an ex-smoker. There is nothing worse about cigarettes than an ex. And then I realized that I was doing EXACTLY what I don't like Paul doing. I was criticizing someone for doing just what I had done. Condemning them might be too hard a word but I certainly wished that they were not there and that there were rules that banned them from my presence. Seriously.
Maybe that is human nature to be so mean to those who have not chosen to follow your 'new' path. But it is something to guard against and really pray to be humble and merciful to all regardless of what they are or are not doing.