Spiralling downward

I Chronicles 10:13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord.

Saul’s early and untimely death came as a result of his unfaithfulness to God.  Perhaps God allowed his death in order to keep him from going any further down the road away from God and His blessing on Saul’s life and reign as king.  In any case, Saul was on a downward spiral spiritually.  He began by not keeping the word of the Lord, and pretty quickly deteriorated spiritually after that, to the extent that he turned to a medium rather than to God for guidance.  But it all began with his being unfaithful to the Lord.  It is so easy for us to get off-track in our personal spiritual lives and unless God intervenes, we quickly go down, and oh, so easily so.  This is my powerful reminder to stay ever vigilant, knowing how easily I can get off track spiritually and how far I can wander from God and His perfect way for me.

David at Saul's death

I read an interesting short book recently about a method the author had developed to help them in their meditation on scripture that caught my attention, seeing as I am a list-maker.  This author tried to make lists of the top ten thoughts they gathered from a given passage.  As I struggled to gain some insight from the story of the death of King Saul when reading in II Samuel recently, that list-making idea came to me, and here is my first-ever top ten list from the Bible!  I gave me new insight into King David, the man after God's own heart, as the Bible declares him to be.  I can see why when pondering his response to his mortal enemy.  I want to be that kind of person.

TOP TEN WAYS DAVID RESPONDED TO THE DEATH OF HIS ENEMY SAUL

 (II Samuel 1-4)

1. He wept all day over Saul’s death (1:12)

2. He punished the man responsible for Saul’s death (1:16)

3. He continued to consider Saul as God’s appointed leader over Israel (1:14)

4. He wrote a poem extolling Saul and Jonathan (1:19ff)

5. He recognized the necessity of trying to follow God’s leading (2:1)

6. He moved on to the next step (taking control as the new king) (2:4)

7. He thanked the people who had taken Saul’s body and buried it properly (2:5)

8. He was willing to make peace with former Saul loyalists (3:20)

9. He mourned the deaths of members of Saul’s family (3:33)

10. He punished those who exacted a revenge killing on one of his enemies (4:11)

Worship is important

I Chronicles 6:64 So the Israelites gave the Levites those towns and their pasturelands.

From the very beginning of the establishment of the tabernacle, the principle of accommodating those who are ministers was established  In Exodus, the Levites were given the tasks revolving around worshipping God, and when the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land, that principle continued.  The rest of the tribes of Israel each gave some land in their territory to the Levites, thereby sharing the responsibility of supporting those responsible for leading them in worship.  The task to which the Levites were assigned was important enough to God that He established that support principle from the beginning, and it is my reminder of the importance God places on worship, as well as on those who are called to lead me in worship.  I need to remember that those who are leading me deserve my highest respect because of the role they are fulfilling in God’s plan, just as the Levites did in ancient Israel.

God-ordained leadership

Psalm 78:72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. 

This is one of my favorite descriptions of godly leadership.  One reason is the words used to describe the job David had a king of Israel: 1) shepherding the people, and 2) leading them.  The words do no include anything like “forced” or “coerced” but indicate a respect for those under his care.  “Shepherded” and “led” are much gentler terms, which tells me he was kind in his leadership.  The “withs” are equally meaningful: 1) with integrity of heart and 2) with skillful hands.  As king, David did not rule “mistake-lessly,” but he had integrity of heart, indicating that he tried to be honest and sincere.  However, he was also skillful in his leadership.  God had given him the leadership ability he needed for his job.  No wonder David has been considered one of the greatest kings who ruled over Israel.  As I pondered this in terms of the implications for my own life, I was reminded of the New Testament passage in I Corinthians 12:4-11 when the Apostle Paul talks about spiritual gifts, emphasizing that all our abilities that God has gifted us with for service are all just that: gifts from God and for His service.  I am also reminded of the story of the building of the tabernacle in the Old Testament, where it says God chose men to work on the various aspects of the tabernacle and specially gifted them to do certain tasks.  This is what David had and it is how God wants to empower me for whatever He has for me to do.  It is humbling and empowering at the same time.

Bunches of flowers!

I found a video on YouTube for making a pop-up bouquet of flowers in a card and at the request of two friends, we got together the other day to try our hand at making it. 

Each flower is made separately using a 4-inch square of paper, folded and cut, then decorated ... like this:

After some gluing of petals together, the bunch of flowers is glued to each side of the inside of the card and when it is opened, ... well, this is what you get:

Trusting God for victory

I Chronicles 5:20 They were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands, because they cried out to him during the battle.  He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.

When the children of Israel began to occupy the Promised Land they were a relatively small nation with an untrained, unskilled army.  They were taking on strong, skilled armies of giants so in every way they were the underdogs.  But because they trusted God and called out to Him for help as they were fighting, they were victorious. Sometimes it is hard for me to remember to trust in the Lord and to call to Him while I am right in the middle of a battle and yet this is exactly what I need to do, not to be overwhelmed by the intensity of the battle to the extent that I forget to draw strength from God for the victory.

Set your heart on pilgrimage

Psalm 84:5-6 Blessed are those whose strength is in you; who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.  They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

The first thing that struck me as I was reading these verses was that those who were blessed were those who had set their hearts on pilgrimage.  The result of that determination is that their strength is in the Lord.  I was reminded that my strength and my blessing are directly related to my determination, the setting of my heart, to the pilgrimage of walking with God.  My determination happens inside me but the result is more visible because as I make pilgrimage and go through dry, difficult places I make a difference in the landscape, leaving springs and pools of water.  At the same time I am refreshed at every step, going from strength to strength.  God truly does not waste any experience on me OR on those observing me and my pilgrimage.  This certainly gives a new perspective to whatever challenges I may be facing in my life.

No cause for celebration

II Samuel 1:12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

Death, even the death of your enemy or of an ungodly, evil person is never cause for celebration.  This event in the life of David is my reminder of that fact.  King Saul had become a wicked, ungodly man who had become David’s mortal enemy, yet when Saul died David did not celebrate.  David mourned because he recognized that Saul had been chosen by God for the job he did.  Saul had been a strong, good warrior (v.23b).  He had, as king, brought prosperity to the nation (v.24).  Even the most wicked, evil people will face death and judgment when they die and it does not please God to have to judge anyone when eternal life was available, so why should I respond any differently to that person’s death?

Serving God properly

Psalm 130:4 …with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

It is not possible to serve the Lord without having first been forgiven...  I have always known this intuitively to some extent, but this verse struck me especially strongly with that truth.  I must experience God’s forgiveness before I can serve Him adequately.  And without that forgiveness I cannot be reverent enough to serve Him, either.  Also, forgiveness and reverence seem to be key elements in effective service because they are two keys to the beginning of spiritual life within one’s heart.  If, in my service to God I can display forgiveness and reverence to unbelievers, they can be drawn to Christ and salvation more effectively.  I pray that I will always be a good example of both of these to others.  If I can do so, my service to God will be something He can actually use.

Altered paper clips

I needed to make a small but cute and useful favor for a banquet so I started looking around for something that would have a small cost but a big impact.  I found my answer in the form of what is known in the craft world as "altered paper clips!" 
It started off as a large matchbook, as you can see here:

 Inside are three decorated 2-inch paper clips, housed in slits in a decorative paper backing, like so:

They were a big hit at the banquet, so I was pleased with the result!

Finding strength in God

I Samuel 30:6b …each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters.  But David found strength in the Lord his God.

All of David’s men, including himself, had suffered a severe blow because the Philistines had come to their town in their absence and kidnapped all the women and children.  It is only natural that the men were suffering emotionally.  But the contrast between David and his men is startling – as they were bitter and ready to take it out on David (see v.6a), this verse tells us that David had a totally opposite response to his distress.  He looked for, and found, strength in the Lord.  As a result, he was able to lead his men in a raid to get their loved ones back.  What would have happened otherwise?  Guessing from what we know from these verses, David would have been dead from stoning and without his leadership the men would have also been still without their wives and children.  It pays to turn to the Lord for strength in the midst of distress!

Rich food

Psalm 63:5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Scripture sometimes has such beautiful word pictures that carry such rich meaning!  That is the way this verse is to me.  To speak of how satisfying the taste of eating rich food is so picturesque.  I immediately think of a slice of one of my favorites, a plain New York style cheesecake, and of the delight it is, not just in the flavor, but with the additional smooth texture that fills my mouth and the lingering taste that coats my tongue.  I always hate to see it go with drinking something or brushing my teeth.  That is what I think of with this verse, and the picture it gives me of how satisfying it is to read these rich scriptures or hear and sing a beautifully worded and harmonized hymn.  They bring my spirit into tune with God’s Spirit and in doing so I find a deep and rich satisfaction that is unlike any other satisfying experience.  Only God can provide the richness like the richest of foods.

God's protection

Reading through the Bible chronologically has been such a blessing to me in recent years.  I have gained extra understanding and insight into scriptures that I had not seen before.  A good example is my reading of many of the Psalms of David as I read through the story of his life.  Picturing David writing these psalms under his circumstances gives some powerful impact.

Psalm 140:7 Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle.

This picture of God’s protection brought two truths to mind as I thought about this verse.  Obviously, if one’s head is injured in battle, your physical well-being is endangered, so the one truth is that God can, and frequently does protect us from physical harm.  How many times has He protected me physically even perhaps when I did not recognize that protection?  I am sure it is more than I could count!  The second truth is a bit more subtle but in many ways more acutely necessary to my protection and that is the battle of the mind.  We are so easily swayed by the intellectual aspects of our spiritual battle to live for God daily.  It is so easy to be influenced by the reasoning of ungodly ways, the subtle yet powerful influences to make little exceptions to what we know is not the path of true righteousness.  We must rely on God’s protection to not be persuaded away from Him and His perfect plan for our lives.

3-D cards

I spent the day yesterday working on two special card projects that I needed in the next week.  Both were card styles I had never tried before and I must say, I am pleased with the results!
The first one is a birthday card for a special friend:

I used the "Dutch Door" style card.  You will see why it is called that when you see how the card opens.  First, the top of the "door" opens:

Then you open the bottom doors for a further message:

This was so much fun to make... not hard, but the end result is lots of fun for the maker and (hopefully) the recipient as well!
My other card project was a thank you for someone who has performed a great service for Russ and me for several years.  This person studied French in Paris many years ago and so I though the Eiffel Tower theme for the front of the card was perfect for her.

The card is made like a small booklet, so it has a spine about 1/4 in. wide to acommodate three pockets on the right side inside the card. 

We will put a note in the middle pocket and as you can see, I put tea bags in the other two pockets because she is a tea drinker.

Friends helping friends

I Samuel 23:16 And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.

So many times I have felt like I couldn’t do anything useful or helpful when a friend was struggling.  But I am challenged and encouraged to see what Jonathan did for his best friend David.  There wasn’t much he could do physically.   After all, it was the king who was causing David’s distress, but what Jonathan did was something that would help David mentally and emotionally, and that would carry David further.  Jonathan helped David find strength in God.  That is what I want from my friends, and that what I want to be able to do for my friends in need.  I pray that I will be sensitive to others’ needs and find them and help them when they need it.  I say I pray that because, much to my dismay at times, I am not a sensitive as I want to be or need to be.

Trust God's love

Psalm 59:9-10a You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

When I consider the challenges of David’s situation when he wrote these verses, it reminds me of the value of trusting God.  King Saul was trying to kill David, and it isn’t difficult to imagine how challenging David’s life was.  How does a person fight against, or hide from, a powerful king/government if they are out to get you?  But throughout David’s career we find examples of his reliance on the strength that only God could give.  David learned to rely on God when he faced those difficult, even impossible, situations.  He learned about relying on God for strength and safety because of the dangers and difficulties he faced.  He couldn’t have learned that lesson any better in any other way.  God uses difficulties to help us learn and David’s experience is my reminder of that fact.  In another version (ESV), David voices his reliance on God in another way that had a powerful effect on me when I read it: "My God in his steadfast love will meet me."  It was David's complete trust in God's love for him individually that helped carry him through those difficult experiences, and that is my confidence as well ... that God's love outweighs any challenges I may face.

Don't keep mourning

I Samuel 16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil and be on your way.  I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.  I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

Samuel had obeyed God and anointed Saul to be king of Israel, so Saul held a special place in Samuel’s heart.  It was a sign of his obedience, at that time, but now he had to set aside what was in the past and move on to new steps of obedience.  He couldn’t dwell on what was already done and in this case, over with.  God had a new task that meant setting aside the past.  He had no idea that his new step of obedience would be opening the door to an even greater blessing for Israel.  He didn’t know that David would become the greatest king of all to come.  Samuel’s first step had to be putting aside his mourning over what had already happened and obeying his new directive from the Lord.  What a challenge for me, all these years later as well.  I cannot allow myself to become so comfortable with what is familiar to me that I miss moving ahead.  The older I get the more challenging that action becomes.  Although I have always prided myself in not being afraid to try new and different things, I find myself feeling more comfortable with everything staying the same, but in this story of Samuel I am reminded that I cannot dwell on my comfortable, known past.  I must forge ahead because God has more things for me to do, more things for me to learn, more things for me to experience.

Nothing can hinder the Lord

There are times when my mind plays tricks on me, and it seems to get worse the older I get!  So yesterday I thought to myself that it could not be true that I had missed almost a whole week of reading my chronological Bible reading schedule and I was already at the end of the book of I Samuel, but what I read and then journaled from yesterday was my reading that I planned to do a week from yesterday!  So here I am, back on track in the middle of I Samuel, where I "should" be for April 11!  But I must say, it was worth coming back to!

I Samuel 14:6b Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.

Jonathan knew that the Philistine army was a force to be reckoned with—a large, strong enemy that could potentially eat that Israelite army alive, so to speak, if given the chance.  But Jonathan also knew that army had been defeated in the past by the Israelites.  That knowledge, coupled with his faith in God’s power, gave him the courage and faith to know this time would be no different.  If God wants to do something for me, then He can accomplish it, no matter how big or little, weak or strong, my enemy may be.  Nothing can stop Him.  What comfort!  I see shades of Philippians here ... "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,"

REMEMBER album

I just finished making a new mini album... one that will hold a minimum of 22 photographs, most of them up to 4 x 6 size.  I titled it "Remember."

Here is the front cover:

I love the colors and designs in this packet of paper I purchased from Paper Wishes called "Charming."  Love the teals and pinks and grays on the paper.  I had bought it with card making in mind but when I saw the idea of this mini album on Pinterest, I immediately thought of these papers and am so pleased with the final result.
Here are some sample pages from the album:

 Each page is a pocket that holds a two-sided tab for photos.

What I think is so "neat" is that this album is made from plain brown lunch bags... the cheap ones you can buy for just pennies a packet!  I must admit I did a little rearranging of each bag (each bag is a page/pocket), but the end result is a lot of fun, I think.
I did not like two things that each bag had (the little zig-zaggy top and the gussets on each side of the bag that make it open up to a rectangle instead of a flat pocket), so I fixed both with a paper cutter and some glue, as you can see in the next two pictures:

I won't go into details here about how I turned the bag into a pocket, but it was not difficult to do, just a little time consuming.

For the next step, I punched holes in the bottom of each bag, then covered two pieces of chipboard with decorative paper that I would attach to the front and back bags of the book.  This made a stiff spine when all the bags were glued together at the bottom of the bags.  The holes were for tying ribbon to make a pretty way to tie all the bags together, and I did glue them together even though it technically would not have been necessary.

When the book was fully assembled, I cut paper for each page and each tag and glued them onto the pages and the tags (that I had cut out of kraft card stock paper), and attached a tab to each tag (did you notice them on the completed album?).

Discernment and encouragement

I Samuel 25:28 The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord because you fight the Lord’s battles.

The hand of God was on David from the very beginning of his life.  We can see that in hindsight, which is fairly easy for us.  But at the time David was living these experiences, the fact that Abigail could recognize God at work in David and his circumstances was very perceptive of her.  She was also very astute and able to say the right things at the right time.  I hope and pray that I will be wise and discerning like she was, and equally successful in recognizing and acknowledging God’s hand at work around me, even in the lives of people, and perhaps even be able to speak a word of encouragement to them, just as Abigail did to David in this story.

Using Distress Inks

I had to make a thank you card this week and because I have been working at learning to make the best and most use of distress ink, I decided to use my new set that I found on sale several weeks ago.  Using white card stock, I embossed the entire piece I wanted for the front of the card using white embossing powder.  After heat embossing it, I shaded the embossed area with four shades of ink, then wiped it lightly with a cloth to clean the ink off the embossed parts.   Then I did the same thing with just one flower and some leaves and added them using puffy tape.

 
 I had done that before and love the results, but this time I added one other step;  I sprayed the entire paper with glittery clear spray and if you look hard at this side view of the card you may be able to see the glittering aspect, especially in the upper right corner, plus a better view of the raised flower.

I really like the springtime look with these soft colors, and I want to try another spring look today using another process I've been reading about using distress ink (distress ink is water activated so I hope to make a water-colored look on the next card). 

Not my strength

I Samuel 2:10 It is not by strength that one prevails…

This is from the prayer of Hannah, prayed when she brought Samuel to the temple to serve there.  She knew from her own experience that faith in God and prayer is the way to prevail over challenges.  She had agonized over her desire for a child and had not had any strength in herself t make that desire come to reality.  This is a good reminder to me to not work to make things happen… it is not my strength that accomplishes God’s purposes.  It is my faith in God’s strength that gives me strength and success.

Glean in this field

Ruth 2:9 My daughter, listen to me.  Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here.

Boaz’s field was the one where Naomi knew Ruth should work in because of his connection to her family, so Ruth was there, working.  Boaz had a kind heart, made obvious by these words to Ruth when he learned who she was.  Sometimes God uses other people’s wisdom to help us be in the right place and to stay there even though the staying might be difficult.  I often remember the wise counsel of a good friend when I was in one of those difficult places.  She suggested that I attend library school while I waited for God to give me clear direction as to my next step and recovered from a very emotionally difficult time.  Looking back, it was God’s way of directing me into my next step, one I probably would not have had to courage to take any other way.  Don’t go looking to change your location just because you are feeling like a stranger … the grass may seem greener on the other side of the fence but you can’t know it really is so stay where God puts you and wait to see what He has planned.  Ruth had no way of knowing at the time of that first encounter with Boaz that she would end up marrying him and thus becoming an ancestor of Jesus Himself.  If she had not stayed and gleaned in that field, her life would have ended up totally different.

Disciplinary action

Judges 21:6 Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites.  “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said.

The Benjaminites had, as a group, become quite wicked, wicked to the extent that no one stood up for doing what was right even to the extent of mistreating travelers (see chapter 19) who stopped for the night.  The leaders of the other tribes of Israel tried to make things right by talking to those from Benjamin, to no avail.  In chapter 20 we are told the Israelites prayed for wisdom then went to battle against the Benjaminites.  In the horrific defeat and consequent ostracizing of the Benjaminites, I see a picture of the Church as God has intended when disciplinary action must be taken.  Even when having to punish someone drastically, there should be an undercurrent of love and tenderness over the “loss” of an errant fellow-believer.  In “the rest of the story” they worked out a plan for restoration of the wayward Benjaminites – a great picture of mercy and love.

The saddest verse in the Bible

Judges 16:20b But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

I think this is the saddest verse in the Bible.  For Samson, who had lived his entire life under the vow of a Nazarite (one dedicated to serving God), not cutting his hair as a part of his dedication to God, for him to not even recognize the absence of God’s Spirit, is so sad.  It is also frightening to me to see how easily this happened.  In spite of that vow of service, Samson lived a life of extreme self-indulgence without any regard for anything or anyone else, it appears.  Everything was about Samson, with no thought about his relationship with God.  I never want to become so full of myself and my own desires that I lose my sensitivity for holiness, for God’s presence and activity in my life, for attention to godliness, that I lose the ability to recognize spiritual weakness and the desire to be right with God first of all.

Breaking the ropes

Judges 15:14 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.  The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.

I don’t think that we, for the most part, have a real grasp of just what the Spirit of God in us can accomplish through us if He is given the opportunity.  Samson had the strength to resist his enemies from the very start, but he waited for just the right opportunity and timing to use that strength.  When he did so, the power of the Spirit of God gave him the ability to make the most of the situation.  And from what followed, it is clear that God used Samson in spite of, and not because of, his general attitude of selfishness (see Judges 15:18-19).  The Spirit of God can work in me and through me in spite of my weaknesses if my heart is right.

Misery

Judges 10:16 Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord.  And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.

As happened so many times in the history of the Israelites in the early years in their promised land, the Israelites were heavily influenced by the worship of other gods and in doing so, forsook their worship of God alone.  In the verses leading up to this verse, we are told that God became angry with them and “sold them” into oppression by surrounding peoples.  He allowed them to fall into hard times.  This time, when the Israelites called out to God, His response was, “Go and cry out to those gods you are worshipping.  Let them save you!”  And, as happens to all of us from time to time, the troubles we face can be like a smack on the side of our head, the “ah-ha” moment when we realize that we have lost our focus on God.  At that moment, we can refocus and take steps to get back in line with God’s purpose for us.  I love the end of this verse as it reminds me of God’s continuous love and care for me even when He has to allow bad things to happen to me to get me back on track.  He cannot bear to see me in misery ... it is never His delight or His will for that to happen, but He will allow it to happen if that is what it will take to get me back on track spiritually.