Restoring the Temple

There are so many things I want to share with you. God has been showing me many things lately and he's been doing it right smack dab in the middle of chaos! That is what I love about Him! It hasn't been bad chaos though! You know, there is a difference! There is chaos and then there is CHAOS! Thankfully, this has just been plain ole chaos. Of course, those of you that know me, know that my life always has chaos! Okay, I'm just gonna go ahead and give you this study, I've been waiting over a week to do this! Here it goes: 2 Chron. 28:24-25 "Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the Lord's temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers, to anger". Ahaz was a very ungodly person. He was an ungodly king and led the people in Israel into Idolatry. He was also the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old. He reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. If you read in chapter 29, verse 2, it tells us that, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord". In 2 Chronicles chapters 29-31, the Bible tells us that Hezekiah led the Israelites back to the Lord their God. He had them consecrate themselves and rid the temple of all defilement. Then they purified the temple and all the articles of the temple and restored the altar of burnt offerings. After they purified all the articles that King Ahaz had removed from the temple, they placed them in front of the Lord's altar. Then they dedicated themselves to the Lord through sacrifices and worship. They bowed before the Lord and worshiped Him. The service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. They also celebrated the passover and they destroyed the high places throughout the entire kingdom. Like Hezekiah, we may not have any Godly influence in our lives. People like to blame their actions on their surroundings. They put the blame on people or on their circumstances. Sometimes, we are victim to other people's actions, but we still have control over how we respond. All of us have a choice. Like Hezekiah, we can choose to follow God's teaching and restore our temple. We can choose to bow down and worship the One True God. We can destroy the high places in our lives, no matter how long they have existed. Hezekiah had been influenced his whole life, twenty-five years, to a life of idolatry and rebellion against God. However; he made no excuse, he made a decision to change the way things were, to bring himself and his kingdom, back into true worship of the Lord. When Hezekiah led the people into purification, it was a process. You should read the chapters for yourself. It didn't happen with a simple prayer and then it was done. NO! There were decisions made and then actions that followed. It was done prayerfully, but also done in steps. We often are quick to forget, that there has to be some action behind the decisions we make. There is usually a time of purification. There are often some sacrifices that have to be made. There are some things in our lives that need to be destroyed. There has to be some true worship. When I say worship, I mean bowing yourself before God and giving Him everything. Your whole heart. If you were to study the Books of Kings and Chronicles, you would see a difference in those who "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord", those that "did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord", and here's the kicker, "those who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but did not do it wholeheartedly". Are we like Hezekiah? Maybe we have faced hard circumstances in our lives. Maybe we have been victims of abuse. Maybe we haven't really worshiped God wholeheartedly and still have some high places in our lives. Whatever the situation, I think we can all relate to Hezekiah. I pray that we would make the decision to restore ourselves and our kingdom to Him. I pray that we would follow God wholeheartedly. That we would bow down before Him and truly worship Him with everything that we have. "There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place." 2 Chronicles 30:26-27

The land of Make-Believe!

Well, it's been a little over a week since I last posted. I have been busy, busy! My nieces came to spend a couple of days with me last week and so I had a couple of things added to the good old "to-do" list! I worked out in my yard a lot last week as well. God has been showing me some great stuff though! I am putting together lessons for our KidZone Messy Camp, which takes place in July. I will be using this material that I am studying to write devotions to post on here. Here is a little bit about what we are going to be studying. Let's go to the land of make-believe! We are on location at the ancient ruins left from the temple in Jerusalem. For one week, we are going to be digging and hunting for clues to put the pieces together and find out what happened to the temple in Jerusalem. We will also investigate, and gather information and materials, to find out when the new temple will be built in Jerusalem and what we can do to help build it. The funny thing about God is, He knows what is ahead and what we need. The Bible study that we just started at church is on the Psalms of Ascent. Believe or not, alot of information that I am learning in the Bible study is helping me write the material for Messy Camp! I love the way God always works that out! He is so good! and smart! Anyway, for the next couple of weeks, we'll be learning about the temple in Jerusalem. It is very interesting. So, pretend you're in Jerusalem and you are looking for clues! Get ready to learn about the temple and what we can do now to help build the new temple. I hope everyone is having a good summer so far. I know I am! I love summer, because even though we are busy, it just don't feel that busy. So, here is some homework for you. Read your Bible and learn about King Hezekiah. You can read 2Kings 18:1-8 and 2Chronicles 29:30-31, 35-36. It's not alot of reading, only 12 verses! This will give you some insight on the King we are about to start our study on. I'll post again on Wednesday or Thursday! Have a good day! Bridgette

Singing and Making Music

"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to the God your father for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:19-20 If you back up a bit to Eph. 4:29, you'll see where Paul is teaching us to talk about things that build others up. God did not intend for man to be alone. He created us for relationship. Relationship with him. Relationship with others. The relationships that I've had in my life, have taught me and encouraged my relationship with Christ. Fellowship and corporate worship are important parts of our lives. When we meet with one another, we are able to help others, encourage others, and pray for others. Now, don't expect me to walk up and start singing spiritual songs to you the next time you see me. I told you in the last post, I don't sing! I sing to God- but only to Him- because he loves me anyway! But when it talks about singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another, I believe that Paul is telling us to build one another up. Encourage one another. Pray for one another. Serve one another. When we gather together and sing spiritual songs, (that is loving and serving God and others), it unifies a body of people into The Body of Christ. "Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." We just recently started a new Bible Study by Beth Moore on the Psalms of Ascent. Something that she pointed out were all the different emotions that are in the Psalms. If you're like me, when you think of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, you think of praise and worship. When you hear, "sing and make music in your heart to the Lord," you think, "be thankful, joyful, happy". However, if you glance through the Psalms, you'll notice many different emotions that the psalmist felt. There were many times when he came before God professing to be tired, distressed, in anguish, forsaken, grieving and more. The psalmist came before God with his emotions and his feelings; he poured them out before God, but he always praised Him and gave Him thanks in every circumstance. For Example, if you look at Psalm 13, it starts out with David asking, "How long, O Lord?" He then ask, "Will you forget me forever?" Then, it ends in verses 5 & 6, "But, I will trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation, I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me". The more we pour our heart out before Him, the closer we'll be to Him. The closer we are to Him, the more we will know Him. The more we know Him, the more we will believe Him. The more we believe him, the more we will trust him. The more we trust him, the wiser we will be: making the most of our opportunities, knowing his will for our lives, filling ourselves with His Spirit, singing and making music in our hearts to Him and others, always giving thanks to Him for everything, in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. "Be very careful then, how you live-not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in you heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the father for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:15-20

Bible Study (this was going to be about bible study, however when you read this, you will see God had a different plan!)

Hey Everyone! I'm sorry I have not posted anything new in the last few days! Been a little crazy! We had a great weekend. Friday night we had our friend and her family over and had a really nice time. The kids played so well and their little baby is sooo cute! It was really a great time because we were able to just chill out while my husband grilled! That's my kinda cooking! We went to church service on Saturday ( we offer Sat. night services ) and then went to our Family Reunion in Alabama on Sunday. We had a really good time! The kids were able to swim and fish and Randy was able to show off his NEW guitar! It was nice seeing everyone. We just had a death in our family last week; Uncle Oscar went to be with Jesus. His wife, Aunt Lois, made to the reunion. We were all very thankful that she was able to come, I think it was good for her. Sometimes, it can be sad at a family reunion, when you think about those that are no longer with us. But also, it is the time that we celebrate those that are not with us; the legacy and traditions that they have left behind. It makes you remember them and look around at your family, and for just a moment, you feel the bond that has made the family strong and holds them together, in all circumstances; the good, the bad and the ugly! Every family has experiences that make them stronger. Sometimes, we think that we are not going to make it through the bad times, there may be times that are just gut-wrenching and unbearable, but it's through Christ that we are able to pull through it. When we finally come through, the bond holds the family together, a little stronger. Uncle Penny said the blessing for us, but before that he talked about their Mother, which would be my husband's, great-grandmother. They started this as her birthday party every year and then when she went to be with Jesus, they continued to meet and celebrate her life every year. I never met this woman, but you can tell that she was a strong woman. She was and still is, loved very much, by her family. Uncle Penny also announced that he and his wife, Aunt Joyce, were celebrating 62 years of marriage! What a celebration! I couldn't help but look over at Pat, and thank God for him and my family. I pray that one day he would be able to lead the blessing and say the sweet things that Uncle Penny said about their Mother and his wife. It really makes me want to be a better wife, mother, woman, all of the above! It also made me think, once again, to Praise Him in the Storm. (I like that song by Casting Crowns!) It is the storms that we go through in life where God can show us many things about ourselves! We learn our "good" qualities and what we can handle, but we also learn our "bad" qualities and what we may need to work on! God doesn't want us to suffer, he longs to shower us with His blessings and His love, but he will allow the storms to come in our life so that we are able to reach for Him. So that He can show us "I AM". It causes us to realize that we are not in control and that we need Him. When we finally let go and Let God pull us through the storm, we come out stronger, we come out knowing that HE IS and we come out believing Him. So today, I celebrate! I celebrate my husband. I celebrate my children. I celebrate my family. I celebrate my friends. I celebrate the Storms in my life that I have been through. I celebrate the Storms in my life that have not yet occurred. I celebrate My God, the Great I AM; that he is able and that He will do what he says He will do. I celebrate life. I don't know why I am trying to make us all cry first thing in the morning! I was just going to say hello and tell you that we're starting a new Bible Study at church today and that I would post the last "lesson" on Ephesians in the morning! However, as I started typing, that's what I wrote! I've been thinking about those moments since Sunday, so I guess He wanted me to share it with you. Thank you for listening and for allowing me to share my weekend with you. I celebrate all of you today, too! Bridgette You know there is a song that goes with this, but I don't sing, so I'm sure you know it, you can sing it yourself!!!