Memories of a Lived Life

Legos

When my boys were little, it was easy to buy Christmas and birthdays for them because they had limited interests: For my oldest, it was baseball cards, Nintendo games, clothes (he always needed new clothes), and science fiction and vampire books. For my youngest, it was Lego blocks, Tonka Toys, matchbox cars, Nintendo games and clothes (he always needed new clothes, too).

Every Christmas and every birthday, my youngest son, Justin, got a new set of Lego blocks. We bought him a plastic tub to store them all in. He had quite a collection.

One day, when we lived in an apartment in Houston, Texas, I went to work. It was a long day. I worked about 12 hours that day. When I came home, I opened the living room door to an immaculate city that spanned the length and width of the living room. There were stores, shopping malls, cars on the roads, gas stations, schools, homes...I was utterly amazed. It had to have taken that seven-year-old all day to do that. I was afraid to walk through the living room, and I wished I had a camera.

After a long sigh, I regretfully had to tell him, "Justin, I REALLY hate to tell you this son... (and I REALLY did), but you have to pick your toys up".

"Okay, mom," he said. He was such a good kid. He never argued and he always minded. Just this once, I had hoped he would. But, he dutifully put away his legos.


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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Samual 30

David left Achish on the battlefield and returned to Ziklag, where he had been staying with his two wives. Ziklag was listed as one of the 29 towns in Negev and was assigned to the tribe of Simeon (Josh 15:31; 19:5). It was apparently controlled by the Philistines during King Saul's rule, and was given by King Achish of Gath to David when he was running from Saul. David used it for a home base for raids against various groups who threatened the southern borders of Judah (1 Sam 27).

When he got there, he found that the city had been destroyed by the Amelekites, and all the people had been taken captive, including his two wives.

The people that were with David were upset that they had left their families there and followed David, and threatened to stone David, which made David even more upset. But David comforted himself by seeking out God's purpose in this. So David used the Ephod to communicate with God as to whether or not he should go after the Amelekites.

When they got to the brook "Besor, 200 of Davids men were too tired to go any further, so they decided to stay there while he and the other 400 continued their pursuit.

A servant of the Amelekites fell sick and the Amelekites left him behind. David's men found him in a field and brought him to David, who nursed him back to health. He asked the servant to take him to where the Amelekites were going, and the servant agreed, providing David would not kill him.

David killed all but 400 of them, who fled on horseback away from David, in about a day and a half of fighting. Then he returned to Besor with their spoils, where the 200 men greeted them.

Some of the men that travelled with David thought the 200 men that didn't go shouldn't get any of the spoils for pay. David said, "No. They stayed and watched over our stuff while we went to battle. They kept watch at home, therefore they deserve their portion." So, it became a law from that day forward that when there were spoils, everyone would get a piece of the pie.

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The lesson I got out of all this was that when you are being persecuted for things that are beyond your control, you should seek out God's purpose, enlist the persecuters to help you, and fix the problems together, giving credit to everyone involved when you are victorious.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Samual 29

The Philistines were quartered in Aphek, which, according to Wikipedia was a city of the tribe of Issachar, near to Jezreel, in the north of the plain of Sharon. The Israelites were encamped near a fountain in Jezreel,which, according to Wikipedia, was an ancient Israelite city and fortress originally within the boundaries of the Tribe of Issachar, and later within the northern Kingdom of Israel.

David was with Achish when the elders of the Philistines came to him and advised him against letting David go to battle with them. After all, they said, we are going to fight his own people. Achish trusted David, but did not want any discontent in his troops or any danger to their morale. So, he respectfully dismissed David.

So David returned to the Land of the Philistines.

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This very well could have been David's chance to rid himself of Saul and his constant persecution. However, God obviously had other plans for David. With respectful objection, David did as he was told by the Philistine King. This kept David in the clear for anything that was about to happen. God did not want Saul's blood on David's hands.

This also got David out of being called a traitor to his own countrymen, even though he had worked diligently as a double agent, to secure his kingdom from the Philistines for when the time came.

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The lesson in this, then, is that God knows the past, the present and the future. He allows us to be in places that will secure our future for His purpose. David was in a unique position for a reason. We will have to read further to see what God had intended by sending David back.

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The Stones: A Novel of the Life of King David No Synopsis Available

Daily Bible Reading: 1 Samual 28

While David was in the land of the Philistines, the Philistines got ready to go to war. King Achish asked David to go out with him to do battle. David said, "You know how good I am at that kind of stuff." To which Achish replied, "I want you to be my main bodyguard."

In the meanwhile, Saul also got his army ready for warfare; but, he wanted to know if it was worth it to fight, and God's Spirit had left Saul -- so there was no communication. Since God wouldn't speak to Saul, Saul sought out a medium who could talk to dead people. Previously, he had all those who had similiar talents put to death, so he had to promise her no harm would come to her if she helped him. He asked her to call up Samual, who was already dead and buried in Ramah.

Samual told him that because he was disobedient, he would lose the kingdom and die in battle.

The woman finished, then had to coerce Saul to eat to gain his strength, then he and his men left her company. Saul was greatly distressed.

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The lesson in this is that not knowing is better than disobedience. It seems like Saul was trying everything he could to be the great king he was supposed to be, but all the wrong choices he made in pursuit of that goal prevented him from obtaining success. He failed to learn that obedience was all God wanted and required.

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The sad thing is, I actually know people today who are just like Saul. It seems like the more they fight to dig themselves out of their holes in life, the deeper their holes get. The simple solution for people like that is to stop doing anything and let God work it out. However, their pride keeps telling them that their own works will be rewarded. After all, if they are good people then won't God reward them for doing it their own way? Unfortunately for them, God doesn't think like that.

To do anything your way means that you don't trust God, and if you don't trust God, then you are undermining His efforts in your life -- and there can no good end come of that.

I guess this is why some people have to reach rock bottom in order to climb up. God loves taking nothing and turning it into something. Until you learn to let go and let God, you will never see progress.

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Message : Parallel Study Bible - Two Bibles Side by Side with Study Notes No Synopsis Available

Daily Bible Reading: 1 Samual Chapter 27

David went to the Philistine's territory which was ruled by a King called Achish in order to get out of Saul's reach. So Saul gave up on pursuing David. While he was there, he worked steadily to rid the Israelites from the Philistines but lied to Achish and said he was working to build up the Philistine kingdom. Achish believed him. He had Achish fooled.

I guess the lesson I get from this one is that David was remaining patriotic, even though he was a fugitive, and God was blessing him for it.

Thought for the day: Always stay patriotic to your home country. God gave this to you as a gift, and He put you there for a reason. The best thanks you can give Him is to protect it and to love it.

I'm Back

Well. I am not the same person I was when I left the internet a few years ago. But, I think I am a better person, in spite of my absence. I am going to try to post more, but it's going to take some time to get the hang of this new, paid for, all mine, computer.

Wish me luck as I get my thoughts back in order.