Darkened Counsel

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? -Job 38:2

Who hasn't received counsel from someone who just doesn't know what they're talking about?  This is such a stern rebuke to Job when God tells him he is without knowledge.  I am without knowledge.  You are without knowledge.  Only God truly has knowledge.  We can come up with many theories, hypotheses, and theologies, but in the end we live in a world full of mysteries.  How did God create the Universe?  Why did he choose me?  Why does he allow violence?  Why did he make a universe that he knew would be fallen and would require the death of his son (himself)?  Go read a couple hundred commentaries and philosophers' writings on these questions, and in the end, all you'll know is that we're all without knowledge.

Word of the LORD

In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. - Dan 9:2

When reading Scripture, we need to remember that it is the word of the Lord. It's not the book of Jeremiah--it's the book of the Lord to Jeremiah. Doesn't that just make you tremble thinking about it? This applies to all Scripture. The Mosaic law is really God's law delivered to Moses. The book of Isaiah is the word of the Lord to Isaiah. Revelation is God's revelation to John. All scripture is God breathed and none of it is written by the will of man, but by God.

Did not Understand

And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it. - Dan 8:27

Daniel expresses my thoughts on most of his book....I "did not understand it."

Son of Man

(It's been slow going lately with vacation, not waking up early enough, being tired/having trouble concentrating during my quiet times...but hopefully, Lord willing, that's turning around.)

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. -Dan 7:13-14

• This is Jesus. When Jesus spoke of being the "son of man," he was referring back to this passage.
• Even Jesus was presented before the Father (the Ancient of Days)
• Jesus is not the one who calls us to serve him. The Father calls us to. In handing the Father's authority (dominion) to Jesus, he changed the nature of our servanthood.

Seen From Afar

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. - Hebrews 11:13

They saw the promises from afar, yet they died without receiving them. I hope my faith is that strong. Do I see the promises or greet them? I can see much more than I did in the past, but my vision is SOOOOOOOO blurry. Lord, make my vision clear so I can see your promises by faith.

Runner's Knee

I suspected it...and now I have a doctor who confirmed it: I have runner's knee.  What I didn't expect to hear him say was that I actually have it in both knees!  I knew my left knee is bad--that's the whole reason I went to see the doctor, but my right knee?  Well, in hindsight, I'm not surprised.  Everything I've ever read about runner's knee mentions "clicking" in the knee.  Well I never thought anything of it since my knees have clicked every time I've stood up since I was about twelve.

The good news is that my case isn't very bad.  I have to say I did a good job of listening to my body on this one and seeking treatment at the first sign of a problem (well except for that clicking for 18 years) and not waiting until it was debilitating.  What's the solution?  Oddly enough, more exercise...at least different exercise.  I need to strengthen my inner thighs and stretch my outer thighs so my knee cap will track in a straight line.  I can also put on a funny brace to help--but that's just a Band-Aid, not a solution.  I can also do whatever doesn't cause pain--biking with high cadence, possibly running on flat surfaces, swimming.

Now comes the debate of whether physical therapy is worth the $15 copay.  I know what I need to do, I have a gym membership, and I know how to find all sorts of stuff on the internet...so I'm guessing I'll hold off for a while.

My hope:  Doing these strengthening & stretching exercises will balance my legs out better and I'll come out of this injury stronger and faster than ever!

Squander a Shilling

"How many of us have such a strong sense that we belong to Another that we dare not squander a shilling of our money, or an hour of our time, or any of our mental or physical powers?" -Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life, p43

This sentence has been reverberating in my head the past couple days. I can conclusively say I am not one who feels this sense of belonging to the LORD that I don't squander anything. The next paragraph after this tells of a man who was asked to play a game of cards but refused because his hands were not his own. Maybe that's taking things a little too far, but I'm nowhere near that point. Are my bike rides squandering time? Is my time spent reading pointless blogs squandering my time? How about the money and time spent renting and watching movies? At some point I need to find a balance--because we know we need to "squander time" for sleeping, but not too much...

"It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep." -Psalm 127:2

Exact Imprint of God

Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness"

Heb 1:3 He [God's Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature

There is such a huge difference between man (us) and the Son of God. We are made in the image of God, but we are never told how good that image is. Are we an image like a fine sculpture or more like a 3-year-old's drawing? Or maybe even a modern art painting where you really have to use your imagination to call it an image of something? I would lean more toward a fine painting--one where you can tell what it's supposed to be--maybe as fine as the Mona Lisa. We are a painting with brush strokes, colors that don't quite reflect the real thing, only show from the shoulders up, shading that isn't exactly true to life.

Jesus, however, is an "exact imprint." He is closer to the real thing than a photograph at a billion mega pixels. There isn't a single subtlety of God's that is missed on the Son. His colors are true and his shading is perfect. Every hair is perfectly defined and perfectly accurate.