I wish I could report that I’d completed Desiring God by John Piper, but unfortunately that isn’t the case.
I read chapters 5 & 6 during this time period. Chapter 6 I re-read numerous times. It is beautifully written.
Chapter 5 – Scripture
Chapter 6 – Prayer
I want to share a quote from Chapter 6: “If you were a sailor severely afflicted with scurvy, and a generous man came aboard ship with his pockets bulging with vitamin C and asked you for an orange slice, you might give it to him. But if you knew that he was generous and that he carried all you needed to be well, you would turn the tables and ask him for help.
Jesus says to the woman, ‘If you just knew the gift of God and who I am, you would ask Me—you would pray to Me!’ There is a direct correlation between not knowing Jesus well and not asking much from Him. A failure in our prayer life is generally a failure to know Jesus. ‘If you knew who was talking to you, you would ask Me!’ A prayerless Christian is like a bus driver trying alone to push his bus out of a rut because he doesn’t know Clark Kent is on board. ‘If you knew, you would ask.’ A prayerless Christian is like having your room wallpapered with Saks Fifth Avenue gift certificates but always shopping at Goodwill because you can’t read. ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that speaks to you, you would ask—you would ask!’”
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Regarding Scripture, I did read Revelation as well as a few of the commentaries that my new friend let me borrow. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get through all of the them as they contained just a little too much personal commentary (opinion) for my taste. I did illustrate the throne room of God via pen and ink (ballpoint). Despite my best attempts, I get an F. So much of the imagery in this particular book of the Bible is so overly complex and surreal that it’s simply overwhelms even my overactive imagination.
I put my toe into the waters of Romans as I prepared to teach through some of that heavy material in June. A few related blog posts ensued.
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On to 1 Samuel:
- Chapter 1, verse 1: “Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah… he had two wives: Hannah (no children) & Peninnah (children).”
- Chapter 1, verse 3: “Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship & to sacrifice… The priest at the temple was Eli: he had 2 sons: Hopphni & Phinehas which were also priests.”
- Chapter 1, verse 8: “…why Hannah do you weep…am I not better to you than 10 sons?” (During the sacrifice, Elkanah would give Hannah a double portion to give).
- Chapter 1, verse 9: “Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She, greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord & wept bitterly. She made a vow and said, ‘Oh Lord of Hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maid-servant, and remember me, and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”
- Chapter 1, verse 12: [Hannah was seen praying to herself by Eli & he accused her of being drunk. She discounted his claim honestly (which had to have been difficult) & he ended up blessing her. Then she left him “and was no longer sad”.
- Chapter 2, verse 8: [A portion of Hannah’s prayer]: “He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ask heap to make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; for the pillars of the Earth are the Lord’s, and he set the world on them.”
- Chapter 2, verse 27: “Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the House of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?”
- Chapter 3, verse 10: “Then the Lord came & stood and called as at other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening!’”
- Chapter 4, verse 18: “When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backwards beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel for forty years.”
- Chapter 5, verse 2: “Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord.”
- Chapter 5, verse 11: “They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, ‘Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.’ For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was heavy there. And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven.”
- Chapter 6, verse 9: “Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then he has done us this great evil. But if not then, we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”
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I decided to read Samuel because he’s the last prophet of the Old Testament and his story starts at the beginning of his life, literally with his parents. I like stories like this. Thankfully, the Bible is filled with similar examples. It’s rare to find a Bible character that stands alone within Scripture.
I also am intrigued by mysterious figures within Scripture like the one in chapter 2. And reading the account of the ark of the covenant was like icing on the cake. God’s spirit residing inside furniture, what could possibly be more appealing to an architect?
I read through chapter 3, verse 10 with my children, dramatizing along the way. A small markerboard came in handy in listing characters as we read. I hope to make it through a few more chapters tonight.
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I proclaimed my intentions in the past during this very hot summer. Regarding our sex life, it hasn’t been as active as either of us would like. It’s ironic, when our children are out of our hair (which they’ve been on two separate occasions this summer – other than the baby), Ang and I notoriously use the opportunities presented to us for physical intimacy to discuss the future. Obviously, it’s difficult to have an orgasm this way, but it’s intimacy nonetheless. I hope to have a more interesting report for you at the end of July or August.
I am happy to report that my tongue has been much tamer as of late, though I have enjoyed hearing other Christians curse a little hear and there. My Timothy made a comment about running that stood out in my mind. He said he believes it much more manly than cycling. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that, but I do feel that a well placed profanity turns the masculinity up a notch regardless.
I believe I haven’t looked at / used porn since April, though the temptation has been there. The main reason for this is because I know my Tim is still using it on a regular basis. For his sake, and by God’s grace, I’ve put it aside.
