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As we finished reading Judges, there was one phrase that jumped out because of its frequent use:

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Judges 17:6

In those days Israel had no king. Judges 18:1

In those days Israel had no king. Judges 19:1

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Judges 21:25

If you recall the reading, intermingled with these verses is a description of horrible decline among the Israelites. The sentence seems to be both an indictment and an explanation of their behavior.

I looked up the word “king” in the dictionary. Of the many definitions provided, I found this one to be interesting:

King: One that holds a preeminent position; especially: A chief among competitors (Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary)

Clearly the Israelites had rejected the Lord as their king. He no longer held a preeminent position in their lives – “everyone did as he saw fit.” They no longer asked the Lord what He wanted them to do (until after they got themselves into trouble by running headlong into whatever situation their emotions took them). And while He IS chief among all competitors (so much so that anything and anyone else can hardly be called a competitor because they lag so far behind in excellence and power), the Israelites chose to place other gods and their own desires above Him.

I am reminded of my last blog in which I quoted the following Scripture:

Where there is no vision/revelation/prophecy, the people perish/cast off restraint
Proverbs 29:18 (a combination of KJV, NIV and NRSV)

When the Israelites turned from the Lord, they lost the vision and revelation that He provided and it led to the people casting off all restraint – “everyone did as he saw fit.”

Who is your king today? Who (or what) holds the preeminent position in your life? To whom or what are you giving your allegiance today?
I pray that it is the King of all Kings, the Lord of all Lords, the only true God who is full of mercy and grace and has purposes and plans for your life that go way beyond all the other good things you’re pursuing.

Phil (my husband) and I are in the midst of what we’re calling our personal/spiritual/business/ministry strategic planning retreat. Yeah, it’s a mouthful, but we’re (or at least I’m) feeling a bit overwhelmed and “fractured” lately. I know it’s not how God wants me to feel. So we set aside a few days to seek the Lord for each area of our life – to determine how He wants us to move forward and/or what He wants us to weed out. Unfortunately, the retreat is falling during a time when Phil’s not feeling well and it has been interrupted by times of extreme “mal-ness” and a number of medical tests. I keep reminding myself that God knows the schedule and He will accomplish His will during this time for us. Maybe we’ll need another retreat in a few weeks and if that’s the case, He’ll provide the time and venue. Or perhaps we’ll accomplish all we need to accomplish despite the interruptions. I’m leaving it up to him and refusing to stress about it.

Anyway (all that was an aside, really), on our first morning, after a good time of worship we started by writing all the various areas of our life on sheets of paper – one said “Us” (referring to our life together and our relationship); another said “family” (referring to our extended family); we included sheets for our church, our various secular jobs/businesses and our various ministries (including Apprehending Grace Ministries). We then began to make notes on each sheet of paper about that area of our lives. Some pages only had a more detailed description of what that area encompassed, some had dreams for that area of our life, some just had a task list. Then we prayed over the sheets of paper and it was time to take a break. Later in the day I typed the information into my laptop.

The next morning while Phil was having a stress test, I began to look at the information and realized that for one of the areas we had identified:

• dreams & visions
• issues & challenges
• tasks
• questions
• other comments

That seemed like a good approach, so I began to organize the comments under the other areas into these categories. What I found was revealing – it wasn’t something I didn’t know and probably hadn’t acknowledged at some point, but still, seeing it on paper was revealing: There are some areas of our lives for which we have no dreams or vision – they are simply “obligations.” I was grieved when I realized this. I don’t want my life to be about obligations; I want it to be about pursuing dreams and visions. Phil doesn’t want his life to be about obligations; he wants it to be about pursuing dreams and visions. I’m guessing you don’t want your life to be about obligations, but about dreams and visions. And I’m guessing that most of us have areas where we have no vision. In those areas of obligation, we just do what we have to do. Yet I believe that is not how God wants us to live. If He has put an area of responsibility into my life, He has a vision for what He wants me to do in that area. Even if it’s an area that I’d call an obligation.

Finally, this morning we pulled the lists out again and we began to look at those areas in which we have no dreams. First we realized that we do, indeed, have some dreams for them – they had simply been hidden under the mountain of obligation and everyday challenges. We had allowed frustrations and disappointments to obscure the dreams and visions. Secondly, we asked God to give us dreams and vision where we lacked them and to strengthen the dreams and visions we have. We prayed and are going to continue to pray for God’s vision for our lives in these areas. He has started to reveal some vision and we are believing for stronger vision in the future. Additionally, we’re going to continue to put those visions in front of us and pray into those visions. I am getting excited about how we will approach those areas as they change in our minds and spirits from obligations to areas where we purposefully live out the vision God has given us.

Throughout this process, one song and one verse have been running through my mind. First the song. “He’s Real” was written by Russell Fragal and recorded by Hillsongs in 1995.

I got dreams, turn them into plans
Too big for human hands
Trust Him you’ll see
He’s got all the power you need!

I want to make plans that are greater than me – because quite frankly, any plans I make that I can achieve without the Lord aren’t really worth achieving. I want a life spent pursuing God’s best – and that means living His plans, not mine.

And then there’s the verse. Do you know where I’m going? I’m going to Proverbs 29:18a. Here it is in several different translations:

Where there is no vision, the people perish (KJV)

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint (NIV)

Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint (NRSV)

As I look at my sheets of paper – the various areas of my life – I find that those areas where I have little or no vision are floundering – they are dying a slow death. Further, they are the areas where I am most undisciplined – I have cast off restraints. Lacking vision leads to lacking purpose, which leads to lacking discipline.

Socrates said:

The unexamined life is not worth living.

We’ve found that to be true this week as we’ve pursued some life planning. Give it a try. I thought I needed to set aside three days for it. It turns out that I learned a lot in about five hours spread out over three days. And I’m expecting great rewards from it.

I pray God’s blessing on your time of planning. May He reveal His plans and purposes, dreams and visions to you for all areas of your life.

In yesterday’s blog, we read that the angel of the Lord greeted Gideon as “mighty warrior.” We learned that the word translated as “warrior” is chayil and means “strength, might, efficiency, wealth and army.”

We find the word chayil used in a curious place in an unexpected way in the book of Proverbs. You’ll find it right there in Proverbs 31:10. I’m guessing that most of the women reading this are groaning and crying out “Nooooo! Please, don’t make me read about this totally perfect woman that I can’t compete with!” That was my perspective for a very long time. Learning about the word “chayil” helped change it.

A Verse in Many Translations

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10 (KJV)

How does that make you feel, ladies? I like the part about rubies, but how do you feel about the “virtuous” part? Well, the longer I know the Lord, the more attractive “virtuous” is to me, but to tell you the truth, virtuous brings to mind words like prim and proper and…well, boring.

A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
Proverbs 31:10 (NIV)

A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
Proverbs 31:10 (NRSV)

Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies.
Proverbs 31:10 (NLT)

If you can find a truly good wife, she is worth more than precious gems!
Proverbs 31:10 (TLB)

The word that is translated as virtuous, noble, capable, truly good and excellent is chayil – which we’ve already said means “strength, might, efficiency, wealth and army.” There’s nothing prim and proper or wimpy about the word. In all honesty, it improves my self-esteem to know that God wants me to be strong, mighty, efficient and having great influence (wealthy).

There’s something interesting about the word chayil and how it’s been translated in the Bible.

What’s in a Word?

The word is used 249 times in 233 verses in the Old testament. It is only translated “virtue” or “virtuous” 4 times, always when referring to women. Hmmm. Whom else does it refer to, and how else is it translated? Well, generally, the word connotes power of some kind. Based on KJV, here’s how it’s translated:

Let’s use some of those words in Proverbs 31:

A powerful woman, a woman of valor is more precious than rubies. A woman of strength, who can find her?
(Sandy Hovatter translation)

That gives me a different view of myself.

I looked up virtuous in the dictionary and found:

Adj. 1. Conforming to moral and ethical principles; morally excellent; upright. 2. Chaste, as a person. 3. Archaic. Able to produce effects; potent (emphasis mine)

The King James translation, uses the word virtuous to translate chayil. In today’s language, that means morally excellent or chaste; in the time the translation was made, it most likely meant able to produce effects. Morally excellent is a wonderful, Godly thing to be. I’m just not so sure it was what the author of the Proverb was intending when he used chayil to describe what we’ve come to call The Proverbs 31 Woman.

This study, along with a study of God creating woman as a “helper” to Adam revitalized how I saw myself as a Godly woman. Perhaps another time I’ll bring you the “helper” lesson. For now, spend some time thinking about God’s Proverbs 31 Woman.

And be blessed!

I do not believe God wants us to fail. However, I believe God wants us to risk failure to spend time with him, to live life his way. God is calling us to deep relationship, and that requires some time and some sacrifice. It requires trust – trust that God’s way is better than our way.
from Attending to the Trinity blog on “Humble Future 2″

Josh Broward provides an excellent blog for today, Trinity Sunday. You can find it here.

It’s quite long and worth reading the whole blog. If, however, you feel inclined to bail out before even starting, let me suggest that you skip the history at the beginning of the blog and start after the first break in the blog where the author writes “But what does it mean? What is the point?” You won’t have missed anything substantive. Additionally, there are two videos totaling about six and a half minutes. I didn’t particularly like them, but they make the author’s point. Skip them if you’re pressed for time.

But don’t skip the blog altogether. Consider it part of your observance of this special Lord’s Day (Christian Sabbath), Trinity Sunday.

Which of the author’s three suggestions are you going to implement this week? Since this is the second thing I’ve read recently suggesting a practice similar to what he calls the “HOLY 5″ I think that’s where I’ll start.

Anyone who is married struggles with expectations for their spouses. “I thought you were going to do that!” “Well, I thought you were going to do it!” “When are you going to…” “Isn’t it time to…” “Will you finish…..before friends come tomorrow?”

I work really hard at not having a Honey-Do list. I don’t want to be that whining, nagging wife. I don’t want to be the one who sets “standards” for our life and home that someone else must meet. I don’t want to define his life, I want to let him define it as he hears from God. Of course my wants and my actions don’t always match up.

Scripture says that “a nagging wife annoys like a constant dripping” (Proverbs 19:13 and 27:15). Ouch! And that it’s “better to live on the corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife” (Proverbs 21:9 and 25:24). Again, I don’t want to be that wife.

I friend gave me an expression many years ago that has been helpful to me: In the light of eternity, how important is it? I think a friend of hers gave it to her when she was angry because her husband had bought the wrong color door for their garage!

Here’s a blog by a woman whose deck furniture mocked her – both before and after she nagged her husband to finish the refinishing he had started!

What mocks you? Will you let it get away with the mocking or will you focus your attention on what really matters? (And be sure to give your husband/wife a kiss today. Not a peck, a kiss like you mean it!)

One day last week I was thinking about what we were to have for lunch and dinner that day. On our menu was rice and beans. Quite frankly, I was getting a little tired of that entrée! We bought ourselves a rice cooker for Christmas last year and we eat a lot of whole grain rice. I like rice and we make it lots of different ways…but we frequently make enough to last several days. Sometimes we make just the rice and doctor it up with other ingredients after it’s cooked, giving lots of opportunity for variety. Other times we dump all the ingredients in the rice cooker and eat the same thing for a couple of days in a row. Somehow we ended up with many meals of rice and beans. It was tasty and nutritious. It had just become boring.

The same thing happens with oatmeal or other whole-grain hot cereals we make in the cooker. So I was probably facing a breakfast of oatmeal and a lunch of rice and beans and a dinner of…something equally unexciting. (I’m not complaining, just reporting what life was like last week.) The truth is that I was bored with the food we were eating. Now don’t feel sorry for us. We cook tasty, heart-healthy meals sometimes, but when we get busy we revert to lots of leftovers. And there are many in this world for whom a daily meal of rice and beans would be a treat.

I remember very specifically walking down the stairs thinking about what we would be having for lunch and God spoke into my mind: “Not every bite needs to be a vacation in your mouth!” Hmmmm….. It got me thinking.

Many of us in America are so blessed – we can buy just about any food we want to eat whenever we want to eat it. As a nation we’ve learned that we like rich foods and really greasy foods, and it’s why our obesity rate is so high. Nearly one third of adults in the US are obese. (Yes, I am among them.) And the prevalence of obesity in adults has more than doubled in the last forty years, most of the increase occurring in the last twenty years.

I like rich, creamy foods. My favorite food (well, dessert actually) is cheese cake. My second favorite food is pizza. With lots of cheese. But God, with his one line instruction, has helped me to begin to think about food differently.

As I meditated on God’s message to me, I began to reflect on my life in general. Newsflash: Not everything I do during the day is a vacation! Instead, I work hard most days of the year so that I can enjoy a relatively few days of vacation every year. Generally, less than five percent of my days are vacation days. I don’t think I’ve ever reached ten percent in a year. Do I think that’s a lifestyle that honors God? Yes. Vacations are good for recharging our batteries, reconnecting with our families and just generally having fun, but God’s Word clearly honors working diligently.

So if about five percent of my life is spent in vacation mode, why should I view food any differently? Why should I think it honors God to eat rich foods at every meal? Why should I think it honors God to even expect “vacations in my mouth” many times a day? Or even once a week for that matter?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that healthy, nutritious meals shouldn’t taste good, but there’s a difference between a healthy-tasty meal and a rich, creamy vacation-tasty meal.

A few days after God spoke to me, I read Proverbs 23:

¹ When you sit to dine with a ruler,
note well what is before you,

² and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to gluttony.

³ Do not crave his delicacies,
for that food is deceptive.
Proverbs 23:1-3

I imagine a king’s table as a buffet with lots of “vacation” bites on it. Perfectly cooked meats in rich sauces. Desserts that fill your mouth before melting away. Maybe a good salad to cleanse the pallet before reaching for another vacation bite.

God says that when you sit to dine with a king, make a note of the food before you and control your eating. He goes on to say “do not crave his delicacies” because the “food is deceptive.” The food is deceptive in that it doesn’t increase our strength, as God designed it to, but it bogs us down and makes us lethargic. What God has created and provided for our health and strength, we have made into delicacies that rob us of both. The food is deceptive.

Lord, forgive me for tasting and craving the delicacies that do not give life. Forgive me for wanting every bite to be a vacation! Help me to discipline my eating habits in a way that brings You honor.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and most of us will indulge in comfort foods from our childhood. I’m looking forward to the stuffing and gravy and pumpkin pie. Enjoy! It is a vacation day! But be mindful on Friday that yesterday was one of your five or ten percent days – the vacation days for your taste buds – and not every bite needs to be a vacation in your mouth!

This week, churches in our community have participated in a 24/7 prayer vigil. Each evening there were times of worship led by different churches. During one of the meetings, as a song ended quietly, the worship leader whispered “We need you, Jesus. We are desperate for you.”

The words that immediately popped into my head were “It’s when you’re quiet that I know you’re listening. It’s when you’re quiet that I know you’re listening. Exuberant praise is good and fun. Loud declarations based on My Word are important for building your faith and shattering the enemy’s camp. But it’s when you’re quiet that I know you’re listening.”

As I thought about that for awhile, an image came to my mind of the parent who takes the face of their active child, holds it between both hands and looks directly into it, eye to eye, to get and keep the child’s attention. The parent isn’t yelling to make himself or herself heard. He is waiting for the child to be quiet and listen. “It’s when you’re quiet that I know you’re listening.” I think God wants to take our face in His hands at times, turn our heads so that we are looking directly at Him, and then wait for us to be quiet so He can clearly communicate something to us. Something important. Something He wants us to understand and remember. Something very special because He wants to be sure He has our attention before He tells us.

Today a verse in Isaiah 30 reminded me of God’s Words from earlier in the week:

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)

God tells the Israelites that it is in repentance and REST that they find their salvation – not in activity and loud praise. He tells them that their strength is in quietness and trust. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) How much easier to lean on our own understanding than to trust God! (But that’s the subject of a blog that should appear next week.)

Rest…quietness…trust – words that all speak of a calm faith. That’s the kind of faith I want to live.

I love loud worship. Let me repeat that. I LOVE LOUD worship. And I firmly believe that my God is worthy of way more celebration than should ever occur for our favorite sports team (sorry sports fans). Yet I can’t help wondering – how many messages from God do we miss because we are celebrating and not resting in quietness?

Lord, teach us to wait on You in quiet faith, trusting that You will speak when You know we’re listening.

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9b, 10b

³⁴ Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Proverbs 14:34

¹⁰ When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
¹¹ Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.
Proverbs 11:10-11

If you live in America, please vote today.

Father, we pray for Your standard to be upheld during today’s election. May the righteous prevail so that the nation may prosper. We ask that You show mercy and bless our nation.

Yesterday’s blog was about choosing to have an unoffendable heart, even when others do things that are meant to harm us. Some would describe that as developing tougher skin. As I began to write this follow-on blog, I realized that it’s not tougher skin, but softer skin – skin that is so conformed to the image of Christ that we ooze His passions and His compassion. Christ’s Number 1 desire is that people come to know Him – that each person accept Him as their Savior. Paul shared Christ’s passion and he rejoiced even when others preached the gospel for the purpose of stirring up trouble that would result in him being treated more harshly in prison. It’s a hard thing to rejoice when others are purposefully trying to harm you. In one sense, Paul’s skin was tough enough to let those assaults roll off him. But in a greater sense, his skin was softened with compassion for even those who assaulted him, wanting to see the Gospel proclaimed to all.

Well, that was yesterday. Today I came to this verse:

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates correction is stupid.
Proverbs 12:1

As I started writing this blog, the phrase that was rolling around in my head was that we need to develop a “tougher skin.” It seems to me that few people accept discipline well these days. It seems that the slightest word of correction brings offense, and in many cases causes people to leave their church and often not find another one. The end result is that the Body of Christ is harmed in a number of ways.

• Both the person giving correction and the person receiving it are often hurt deeply. The closer the relationship they enjoyed, the deeper the pain.
• The larger Body of Christ is harmed as those around the people involved grieve and are now in the situation of having friends who are at odds with each other.
• The larger Body of Christ is also harmed as those not yet a part of the Body watch and walk away discouraged from ever joining themselves from such a group.

Sometimes this leads people to no longer give loving discipline. The results of this are equally devastating. Children who are never disciplined become spoiled and unruly. They develop an attitude of superiority. They grow up believing they can do whatever they want whenever they want, unconcerned about the effect their actions may have on others. Adult “children” are no different.

As I said, my first thought was that “we need to develop tougher skin” so that we are not offended at the slightest correction. We ought to welcome discipline, even seek it out if it helps us to become more like Christ. We ought to talk it out and then take it back to our prayer closets and ask God to reveal the truth in it. If we are the one being disciplined, we probably need to ask an objective brother or sister to pray with us and provide objective counseling based on God’s Word, because we may be too emotionally caught up in the situation and not able to hear God through our emotions.

It was as I sat down to write that I realized it’s not a tougher skin that we need, it’s a softer skin that can be more easily molded into the image of Christ. The attitude required to have tougher skin doesn’t yield itself to being reshaped by the working of Christ in our lives – because that’s what the correction and even the true offenses are – Christ, working in us to mold and shape us into the image of Christ.

Can we agree to have an unoffendable heart and a soft skin? Can we agree to rejoice in offenses and discipline that further the cause of Christ? Can we agree to allow Christ to have His way with us, putting us into situations that require us to humbly be molded into His image so that others see Him through us? Not an easy thing we’re called to, this Christ-likeness. But the payoff is high – seeing the Gospel preached (in word and deed) throughout our world.

Many many years ago, I was faced with the situation where my boss wanted me to lie to some auditors. Perhaps many of you have faced similar situations.

My job at the time was to train people how to pass audits. Sometimes that meant teaching them how to explain discrepancies. I had and still have absolutely no qualms about that because I wasn’t teaching them to lie, I was teaching them how to use words that communicate to people from another “culture” in a way that didn’t raise red flags. Having previously been an auditor, I knew that even the most sincere auditor understands that it is their responsibility to look for red flags and pursue those areas to determine if there are discrepancies. My training consisted of teaching engineers generally that “when you say “A”, I hear “B” and it makes me think something may not be right.” Another way of saying what you’re trying to say is “C” – it’s the truth put in words that assure me, the auditor, that you understand and have properly implemented the program. Now there were always times when the program wasn’t implemented properly. At those times, my job was to teach the engineers to speak the truth in a way that was least damaging to my employer. At least that’s how I saw my job. When faced with a particularly bad mistake, my boss wanted me to outright lie to the auditors, and to teach others how to do so.

I was still a fairly new Christian. I knew lying wasn’t consistent with the way God did things (seems like I’d heard it was one of the Big Ten), but I didn’t want to lose my job. I liked my job most of the time, my employer was the only one in the area who used my specialized knowledge, and I was providing half the income to our household budget. As I struggled with the issue, I remember reading the following verse during my morning devotions:

¹⁶ There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-29

Wow! I think that was the first time that Scripture I was reading in my daily devotions directly related to my current life situation. Scripture clearly says that a lying tongue is detestable to God. Detestable is a strong word. I don’t want to do anything that God finds detestable. I decided on the spot to not do what my boss asked. The decision led to my resignation and the finding of a better job! Isn’t God good? He chose that moment to grow my faith in His ability to provide when I am obedient to His Word.

In my business reading today, I came across this article entitled “Why White Lies are More Dangerous Than You Think.” It’s a good article, full of secular wisdom about the danger of even those lies we call “white lies.” (God doesn’t differentiate between the white lies and all other lies, of course.) I love it when secular wisdom “discovers” Biblical Truth. I don’t know if the author realizes he’s confirming Biblical Truth, but I commend him for publishing such an article.

Back to real life – may I encourage you to view white lies the way God does – as detestable. Avoid them just as you would avoid many of the other sins you find listed in Scripture. I know they’re not always easy to avoid. Doing so sometimes requires that we have difficult conversations we’d prefer not to have. Avoiding the white lies also means, however, that we are not doing what is detestable in God’s eyes. That’s always a good thing!