"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy..." -- Psalms 96:11-12

As our land becomes more covered by concrete road and parking lot, let's not lose sight that this is God's creation.  The earth breathes and it gives us air to breath.  It drinks, and gives us water to drink.  The earth is alive and we are its caretakers.  If someone came and poured gasoline on your yard, I trust you'd be a bit upset. If someone came and tore out your flowers and shrubs, the same.  If someone cut your shade trees down, you'd probably sue.  We do this all the time without guilt because we don't see it as vandalism.  But we forget that the earth is the Lord's and all that is in it.

Readings: Judges 6:1-40; Luke 22:544-23:12; Psalms 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 14:5-6

"Then Jesus asked them (his disciples), 'When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?' 'Nothing,' they answered. He said to them, 'But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.'" -- Luke 22:35-36

Jesus is referring to an earlier mission he sent the disciples on where he instructed them to take nothing with them, but to depend on others to host them and care for their needs.  Now the tide has changed.  It's time for them to care for themselves.  It's a fine line we walk as Christians when trying to follow Jesus' instruction for living.  "Don't worry about tomorrow..." He tells us.  But here we find instruction to be prepared.  Is that a contradiction?  I would say no, it's not.  You can prepare without worrying.  You can save money and still live for today.  You can have peace in understanding your own mortality and taste the sweetness of life while you have it.  While we are to be interdependent with one another, we aren't called to be completely dependent on others.  You will have weaknesses, and you will draw upon the strength of others.  At the same time, it's important to build your own strength in order that others can draw from you.  You do not live this life alone.  You are connected whether you like it or not.  It's better that way anyway.  Live life prepared.

Readings:  Judges 4:1-5:31; Luke 22:35-53; Psalms 94:1-23; Proverbs 14:3-4

"After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel." -- Judges 2:10

This will become a bit of a recurring theme in the Old Testament-- later generations of Israel forgetting who they are and whose they are.  When things go bad for them, the writers reflect and say it's because they drifted away.  The prophets will speak doom, the people won't listen, and destruction and captivity will follow.  There are tough times ahead.  What we must remember is that we can't do better than God.  When we think we can, when we begin to doubt God, when we begin to even question God's existence, we need to get back to basics and remember who and what God is.  Then there will be no question.  Then we will remember.  Then we will be aligned again.  From generation to generation, we must teach well so that our children and their children's children will know who and whose they are.

Readings:  Judges 2:10-3:31; Luke 22:14-34; Psalms 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 14:1-2

"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." -- Luke 21:32-33

Second and third generation Christians had trouble with this teaching because they thought that Jesus was talking about the end of physical creation.  Some felt in awkward positions because many first century Christians believed and taught that the end was coming.  Today, the debates continue to rage.  There are some opportunists who say they can predict when the world will end.  Some Christians take no comfort in the Bible because someone told them the world will end because the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and they choose to believe it.  When will the second coming occur?  No one knows.  In fact, many Bible scholars believe that the second coming is not something to watch for, as it will not be a return from the resurrection, but that the second coming was the resurrection itself (Jesus came to earth when he was born.  Taught while he was living that he would come again.  Died on a cross.  Then came again when he was resurrected.)  Point is, people are all over the map when speaking of the end of reality as we know it. The truth is, we don't know.  Not one of us.  What we do know is that life is filled with beginnings and ends.  Every end for us is a new beginning and what we think we know now is nothing compared to what we'll know in another age.  Paul said it well in 1 Corinthians 13:  "Now I see in a mirror dimly, then I will see face to face."  Your life, as you know it, will come to an end.  Live in the way God intends while you have this life.

Readings:  Judges 1:1-2:9; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalms 90:91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25

"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." -- Proverbs 13:20

Remember the saying, "you are what you eat"?  Well that's not true.  Look, I can prove it:  if you like apples and an apple withers in your pantry, you might be disappointed that you didn't get to enjoy the apple, but there is no lasting sting over the apple going bad.  However, when you lose someone who is close to you, someone you love and care about, you feel like you have lost a part of yourself.  We are not what we eat.  We are, however, a compilation of the people we know and love-- our parents, our siblings, our friends, our teachers, our children, our community, our leaders... when we lose any of these in our lives, the sting of loss lasts forever.  So if we are a makeup of the people in our life, doesn't it follow then that we must be very selective of who we choose as our influencers?  If you want to be wise, place wise people in your life.  Whoever you want to be, find others like this and do life with them.

Readings: Joshua 24:1-33; Luke 21:1-28; Psalm 89:38-52;

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your (the Lord's) throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord." -- Psalms 89:14-15

You live once.  And while your birth dictates some of what life experiences you'll have (family, nationality, childhood socioeconomic status), at some point, your choices begin to trump your circumstances.  At a certain age, you choose the life you will live, and you can live for Good, or you can live for Evil.  You can live for self, or you can live for others.  You can grab and gobble up and destroy everything you possibly can while living and leave the world with the odor of bad gas when you die, or you can share in the creative work of building, sustaining, and healing things that support life and leave a legacy of goodness when you go.  You can choose righteousness or you can choose folly.  You can choose Life or you can choose death.  It's your life.  What's your choice?  Live well.

Readings:  Joshua 22:21-23:16; Luke 20:27-47; Psalms 89:14-37; Proverbs 13:17-19

"But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you; to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." -- Joshua 22:5

The scene above occurs after Joshua has brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, defeated all enemies, and who are experiencing peace and prosperity.  He is telling the people that they have accomplished the mission God has given them, and God is pleased.  He basically goes on to say (these are my words), "Okay, you have a good thing here.  Don't blow it.  Remember the rules and don't mess it up for everybody or it won't be good for you.  Got it?"  It won't stay restful forever, and as we know from this side of the story, later generations will  forget and fall away.

So much of what we do, we seem to approach with a sense of permanence.  That is, we kid ourselves into thinking that our works will last beyond us.  Some will, but most won't.  The Israelites may have thought that they had reached a place of utopia and that it would now be heaven on earth.  Their long awaited and worked-for goal had been complete.  Now it was happy ever after, right?  But people forget...

Can you think of the names of the Secretaries of Education during the Presidential Administrations of the twentieth century?  I didn't think so.  Neither can I.  However, I use that as an illustration to indicate that we can be elevated to very high positions and do very important work, but to think that we will be remembered or that our lessons will be heeded... that's wishful thinking.  Our work may be important, and may have lasting effect.  In fact, we want timeless impact, and we should strive for it.  But most of our living will impact the day in which we live.  So enjoy the peace you have today, and if your life is in turmoil, understand peace will one day come to you.  Just remember the rules whatever your situation:  love God and be good to each other.  At least we've come to remember that over the generations.  Haven't we?

Readings:  Joshua 21:1-22:20; Luke 20:1-26; Psalms 89:1-13; Proverbs 13:15-16