I’m really loving this next Exodus 90 section about King David, and what it really means to get everything you want from God. What is more bizarre than ever, is how easy it is for me to copy and paste this passage below with my iPad. Then I flip the screen to landscape, standing it up with the keyboard to read and write more easily. Oh, and of course I can also just snap a picture and show you.
What is more astonishing than everything is that when i look at this picture, I realize that “I AM” king david, having everything I could imagine given to me by the Grace of God. The beautiful Salt Lamp filling my space and the little salt and pepper grinders offering me organic pink Himalayan salt or black Hawaiian salt to go with the perfect egg frittata and sausage. AND so am I here to share and honor God, or just collect more crap, that distracts me from my responsibilities of sharing this truth. I speak of all this beauty around me, knowing it’s all been a gift to allow me, to share more of this truth that God has given. And now I realize that I can also speak to this iPad, with the words appearing before me for me to edit and correct. How much more can I share in new testimony to the love of Jesus.
Pride is trying to “carry too much,” pride comes before a fall. While: vulnerability is the real value, where humility is about self-less giving, sharing, BEing the Love of Jesus. And thinking of others now, and the actions of BEing for others more. This Preaching today on TheJoyFM.com comes inline with everything I shared and read today. Even my pre-wake-up notices to John . . . Who was debating the Bible with me last night. It even was my very first note that I saw on FaceBook to remind me where my priorities belong: Yes as every Bible verse matters. That’s why BEing the Church can start here,,, Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Alive now with us . . . NOW! Here is the morning Reflections from Exodus 90:
Rapacious Desire
2 Samuel 8:7-13
This is a prevalent problem in our era. In his book on acedia, R. J. Snell says we live in an “empire of desire” (Acedia and Its Discontents, Angelico, 2015). Desire is our dictator, and we believe deeply that happiness is just the satisfaction of our every want. While our needs are met quickly, cheaply, and conveniently, we do not feel secure, but dominated by innumerable wants. We are overwhelmed with desires for all sorts of pleasure, entertainment, and accumulation of possessions. On social media, we see someone enjoying a vacation that we now want. We drive down the road and see a billboard for a store we now want to browse. We watch YouTube, only to see an advertisement for a product we now “need.” How many conversations with co-workers or friends are just little advertisements for a product they just purchased?
In our economic life, we have moved past self-interest to the encouragement of self-indulgence. Sadly, this mentality even has influenced our parenting. We don’t think our children should be denied any experience or request. We sign them up for all sorts of sports and activities and spend our time running them around from place to place. One of the major differences between previous parenting styles and ours today is that in times past, kids would serve the parents, while today parents serve their children, answering every interruption or request and giving in to a mountain of toys.
The slothful person is at the mercy of his or her wants and whims. We all know what this is like, in our helplessness before the “add to cart” button or the ice cream tub. We find our weakness repulsive, as we can’t pull ourselves away from scrolling through social media posts. We procrastinate by flitting from website to website, looking for something interesting or scandalous. We feel incapable of denying ourselves a movie series binge or an outburst of anger at the spouse or child who interrupts our schedule, etc. We are acutely aware that we have almost no power over our will and act under a compulsion to satisfy our urges as they arise. We can feel more like an addict than a man.
The intemperance of our times reveals that we lack a sense of purpose, meaning, and value, going in search of some new “thing” by which to anchor our restless souls. We are restless because we are not resting in the Lord. And we use things and experiences as a substitute for the peace that he alone can give.
Consider the way you are living. What controls you? Is it your desires? Do you tremble and bow before them? Or are you controlled by the Spirit of God? What products are you leaving in your online shopping cart, just waiting for a moment of weakness to buy? What websites do you browse in order to arouse your desires? How have you let the desire for “things” replace or subdue your passion for the Lord?
Now place yourself before God, and converse with him.
