July 22

Today's Reading

2 Chronicles: it strikes me that Solomon left the intensive time in God's presence and went to work building his kingdom. So far so good, but the further he was from his time with God, the more he made decisions based on human wisdom rather than godly leadership. Ultimately, this would bring great pain and destruction to the land. I appreciate the reminder in my own life!

Romans: I believe that chapters 6-8 are the "meat" of this letter. Chapter 6 makes it clear that receiving Christ produces the death of our "old man" -- that is our old, sinful nature. Chapter 7 speaks of the internal battle we have: our "new man" is alive, but the flesh (a better translation than "sinful nature" which New Living Translation uses) struggles against our reborn spirit. Chapter 8 makes it clear, that even though we have these struggles, being "in Christ Jesus" means that we are longer under condemnation for our sins. Heavy stuff. Worth a lifetime of pondering.

Psalms: this vivid word picture of God's power revealed in a storm was something we experienced quite suddenly on a recent day. The July air was very hot (116 degrees) and fairly humid for Yuma. At about 3:00 in the afternoon, Cathy looked out the window and mentioned how dark it was getting. Less than five minutes later, a roaring wind began to blow, along with dust and a smattering of rain. I heard that the wind reached peaks of 50 miles per hour, which is small compared to many storms. But it was as if the earth was shaking in the the power of it. How mighty is our God!

Proverbs: hard work is a blessing. Correction is good for anyone who will accept it.

Your thoughts today?