Are You Guarding The King’s Gate?

Have you ever met someone & felt like you’ve known them long before that first conversation?

That was the case last night as my husband & I shared a table with another couple at a rehearsal dinner. We wondered if we’d be the only ones attending who weren’t officially family, but there we sat by our new friends learning how our lives were already connected through our sons🤗

At one point in the conversation, they asked a question & before I knew it, I ended up sharing the majority of my messy story😳 We all shed tears over the faithful pursuit of God through it all.

Even though none of us were biological family, we were intimately connected on a much higher plane, by the blood of our King Who died for us! 💞

That conversation about my return from captivity surfaced in my thoughts as I read Chronicles today.

The exiled Israelites begin THEIR long-awaited return from captivity. The Levites, among the first to arrive, start rebuilding The Temple of God It was in severe disrepair, & of the many responsibilities to fill, there’s one that caught my eye👉🏽the gatekeepers.

Some are assigned as musicians to worship before God day & night, some are to care for The Temple, while others are called to guard the gates.

Verse 20, however, tells us of a very specific one - the King’s Gate.

This gate is exclusively reserved for the king. Although they had no king upon return from captivity, the gatekeeper stood position at the closed gate, guarding the way for the next King of the Jews to come!

I can’t fathom the gratitude that filled their hearts as they served in the safety of their Rescuer God.

The history around the Temple is fascinating, but it takes a quick turn to application & accountability when we remember that our very bodies are now the temple of the Holy Spirit!

Whether you‘re far away in land of captivity or you've made your way back, I want to remind you that we DO have a reigning King who gave His life for our freedom!

Father, thank you for Your saving grace! Remind us to care for Your Temple like the Levites did, living a life of continual worship & guarding the King’s Gate allowing exclusive entrance for our Messiah Whose blood saves for eternity!

#OneYearBible

July 10th One Year Bible Readings

1 CHRONICLES 9:1-10:14

ACTS 27:21-44

PSALM 8:1-9

PROVERBS 18:23-24

Lacking Hope? Remember This: God Only “Misses the Mark” When We Set It!

My mom says that hindsight is 20/20. It’s much easier to look behind at former years & see something, that at the time was clear as mud, with great clarity.

When I recall times of deep disappointment, times when it felt like God missed the mark, I realize this one thing with stinging revelation:

The only time God “missed” the mark was when I set it!

Today I read of Paul’s journey to Rome where he’d appeal to Caesar about his innocence. The Jews accused him of many untrue things & hated him so much that they even tried to assassinate him! Acts 27 finds him on a ship in the wiles of fall weather when a wind of typhoon strength suddenly descends.

The storm ensues for days while the sailors do what they can to keep the ship in one piece. The passage for today, however, ends abruptly at verse 20, leaving us hanging with this:

“The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun & stars, until all hope was gone.”

Makes you want to jump ahead into tomorrow’s reading, right?

Or maybe, like me, something about the verse hit far deeper than a storyline?

There will be stormy seasons in life when it feels like winds of typhoon strength begin battering against your life-you lose a job, loved one, relationship, home…& suddenly you find yourself in the eye of the storm that seems to have blotted out THE SON.

All hope SEEMS lost, but it’s not & here’s why. When we set our sights on a mark God didn’t set, the FEELING of hopelessness settles quickly.

But when we fix our gaze on the Truth that we have a Living Hope Who conquered death, nothing might not change with the swirling storm AROUND us, but everything changes INSIDE because we know The One Who envelops us within His Presence, even closer than the storm!

We are never without Hope because it’s held in the personhood of Jesus, Emmanuel, God WITH us!

Oh Father, when hard things begin to blot out Hope, remind us that Hope begins & ends with Your Son. Any Hope apart from Him is a mark we set that eventually leads to hopeLESSness.

May we, like Paul, remain well content when we face persecutions & difficulties for it is in those low moments that we’re reminded to look high TO Whom (& FROM Whom) our help comes!

#OneYearBible

July 9th One Year Bible Readings

1 CHRONICLES 7:1-8:40

ACTS 27:1-20

PSALM 7:1-17

PROVERBS 18:22

As We Think, so Shall we Speak, & as We Speak, so Shall We Become!

“The most important part of an athlete is above his shoulders.”

I recently read that in the book, “Mind Gym”. My son is reading it for a sports psychology class & it’s filled with scientific tidbits that support Biblical Truth.

Sports psychology is considered the science of success. Studies show that within a group of athletes with similar ability, those who receive mental training outperform those who don’t almost every single time!

It’s this idea of training your mind & mouth around principles of life. Philippians 4:8 addresses this very thing, reminding us to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable & praiseworthy!

The mind is the starting point of ALL behavior. As we think, so shall we speak, & as we speak, so shall we become!

Proverbs 18:21 reminds us of this simple Truth:

Speak life, bring life

Speak death, bring death

We’re all comprised of soul, body & spirit, & when we “work out” all three, strengthening the spirit to lead, so the mind & body will follow, rockstar athletes are developed!

If we invest time in our spiritual gym, even before our mind gym & physical gym, a Divine alignment begins to happen with unstoppable potential!

I believe there are potential superstar “athletes” in ALL walks of life! Regardless of your current job, the success of your VOCATION is directly linked to your AVOCATION!

Avocation is the act of calling aside, away from employment & it comes from the root word for “voice”.

In light of that, what are we giving voice to? Even before that, what are we lending our ears to SO THAT our spirits might be strengthened to lead our minds to think Truth, leading our bodies to speak & act in Truth?

Father, Your Word says that those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Our tongue can bring forth life & death, but it starts with spirit.

Holy Spirit, lead our spirits. Fill us with Truth so the things we think & words we speak bring forth “consequences” of life!

Help us fall out of agreement with man-made labels & negative self talk…if we’re about to think or say something that aligns with death, stop us in our tracks & replace our thoughts & words with The Word of God that ALWAYS creates life!

#OneYearBible

July 8th One Year Bible Readings

1 CHRONICLES 5:18-6:81

ACTS 26:1-32

PSALM 6:1-10

PROVERBS 18:20-21