Posted by: jakinnan | September 18, 2014

09/18/2014 Scripture

PinkSky

Don’t brag about tomorrow,
    since you don’t know what the day will bring.

Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—
    a stranger, not your own lips.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
    but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood,
    but jealousy is even more dangerous.

An open rebuke
    is better than hidden love!

Wounds from a sincere friend
    are better than many kisses from an enemy.

A person who is full refuses honey,
    but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

A person who strays from home
    is like a bird that strays from its nest.

The heartfelt counsel of a friend
    is as sweet as perfume and incense.

Never abandon a friend—
    either yours or your father’s.
When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance.
    It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad.
    Then I will be able to answer my critics.

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.
    The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.
    Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.[b]

A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning
    will be taken as a curse!

A quarrelsome wife is as annoying

    as constant dripping on a rainy day.
Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind
    or trying to hold something with greased hands.

 As iron sharpens iron,
    so a friend sharpens a friend.

 As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit,
    so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

 As a face is reflected in water,
    so the heart reflects the real person.

-Proverbs 27:1-19 NLT

Posted by: jakinnan | September 17, 2014

We Have Lost Our Story

wave

And here’s where we run into a problem.

For most of us, life feels like a movie we’ve arrived at forty-five minutes late.

Something important seems to be going on . . . maybe. I mean, good things do happen, sometimes beautiful things. You meet someone, fall in love. You find that work that is yours alone to fulfill. But tragic things happen too. You fall out of love, or perhaps the other person falls out of love with you. Work begins to feel like a punishment. Everything starts to feel like an endless routine.

If there is meaning to this life, then why do our days seem so random? What is this drama we’ve been dropped into the middle of ? If there is a God, what sort of story is he telling here? At some point we begin to wonder if Macbeth wasn’t right after all: Is life a tale “told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”?

No wonder we keep losing heart.

We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, often a confusing mixture of both, and we haven’t a clue how to make sense of it all. It’s like we’re holding in our hands some pages torn out of a book. These pages are the days of our lives. Fragments of a story. They seem important, or at least we long to know they are, but what does it all mean? If only we could find the book that contains the rest of the story.

Chesterton had it right when he said, “With every step of our lives we enter into the middle of some story which we are certain to misunderstand.”

 

– John Eldredge, Epic

Photo: Agnes Antara

Posted by: jakinnan | September 17, 2014

09/17/2014 Scripture

PurpleSky

The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
    but the godly are as bold as lions.

When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily.
    But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.

A poor person who oppresses the poor
    is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops.

To reject the law is to praise the wicked;
    to obey the law is to fight them.

Evil people don’t understand justice,
    but those who follow the Lord understand completely.

Better to be poor and honest
    than to be dishonest and rich.

Young people who obey the law are wise;
    those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.[a]

Income from charging high interest rates
    will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.

God detests the prayers
    of a person who ignores the law.

Those who lead good people along an evil path
    will fall into their own trap,
    but the honest will inherit good things.

-Proverbs 28:1-10 NLT

Photo: Jorge Maia

Posted by: jakinnan | September 16, 2014

Fierce, Wild, and Passionate

Boom

God is a romantic at heart, and his jealousy is for the hearts of his people and for their freedom. As Francis Frangipane so truly states, “Rescue is the constant pattern of God’s activity.” For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch . . . As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. (Isa. 62:1, 5)

And though she has committed adultery against him, though she has fallen captive to his enemy, God is willing to move heaven and earth to win her back. He will stop at nothing to set her free:

Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. (Isa. 63:1-4)

Whoa. Talk about a Braveheart. This is one fierce, wild, and passionate guy. I have never heard anyone in church talk like that. But this is the God of heaven and earth. The Lion of Judah.

– John Eldredge, Wild at Heart

Posted by: jakinnan | September 16, 2014

09/16/2014 Scripture

RockBeach

Evil people are trapped by sin,
    but the righteous escape, shouting for joy.

The godly care about the rights of the poor;
    the wicked don’t care at all.

The bloodthirsty hate blameless people,
    but the upright seek to help them.

Fools vent their anger,
    but the wise quietly hold it back.

To discipline a child produces wisdom,
    but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.

When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes,
    but the godly will live to see their downfall.

Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind
    and will make your heart glad.

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.
    But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

-Proverbs 29:6-7, 10-11, & 15-18 NLT

Posted by: jakinnan | September 15, 2014

09/15/2014 Scripture

snowflower

Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down?
    Who holds the wind in his fists?
Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak?
    Who has created the whole wide world?
What is his name—and his son’s name?
    Tell me if you know!

Every word of God proves true.
    He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.

-Proverbs 30:4-5 NLT

Photo: Marc Adamus

Posted by: jakinnan | September 14, 2014

09/14/2014 Scripture

stream

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves;
    ensure justice for those being crushed.
Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless,
    and see that they get justice.

-Proverbs 31:8-9 NLT

Posted by: jakinnan | September 13, 2014

09/13/2014 Scripture

Fall River

What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

-Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 NLT

Posted by: jakinnan | September 12, 2014

09/12/2014 Scripture

autumn

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

-Ecclesiastes 2:4-26 NLT

Photo: Dmitry Bakulin

Posted by: jakinnan | September 11, 2014

Born Into An Epic

Epic

A Story. An Epic.

Something hidden in the ancient past.

Something dangerous now unfolding.

Something waiting in the future for us to discover.

Some crucial role for us to play.

Christianity, in its true form, tells us that there is an Author and that he is good, the essence of all that is good and beautiful and true, for he is the source of all these things. It tells us that he has set our hearts’ longings within us, for he has made us to live in an Epic. It warns that the truth is always in danger of being twisted and corrupted and stolen from us because there is a Villain in the Story who hates our hearts and wants to destroy us. It calls us up into a Story that is truer and deeper than any other, and assures us that there we will find the meaning of our lives.

What if ?

What if all the great stories that have ever moved you, brought you joy or tears—what if they are telling you something about the true Story into which you were born, the Epic into which you have been cast?

We won’t begin to understand our lives, or what this so-called gospel is that Christianity speaks of, until we understand the Story in which we have found ourselves. For when you were born, you were born into an Epic that has already been under way for quite some time. It is a Story of beauty and intimacy and adventure, a Story of danger and loss and heroism and betrayal.

– John Eldredge, Epic

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories