Category Archives: Old Testament

40 Years

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Ray and I will be married 40 years soon.  I’ve given some though to that number and realized there are a lot of biblical applications for it. 

Moses had 3 sets of the number 40 during his life.  First he spent 40 years learning all he needed to know to be a prince of Egypt (Exodus 2:1-15).  Then he spent 40 years outside of Egypt banished for killing another Egyptian(Exodus 2:16-4.  He spent his last 40 years wandering in the desert yet, heading toward the Promised Land because God had said no one that had grumbled against Him would see Canaan (Numbers 22-23).

Jesus spent 40 days fasting in seclusion, preparing himself for the ministry ahead.  During that time he was tempted by satan 3 times.  He was offered the very things He already had.  By simply quoting the scripture back to the evil one he thwarted the plan.  (John 4:1-11)

So how do these apply to our marriage?  Although neither of us is an official member of Egyptian royalty we are a definite part of the Royal Priesthood.  These 40 years for us have been a time of ‘heading toward the Promised Land’.  Jesus’ 40 days of fasting included temptation from satan.  The evil one has tempted us many times but by spending our married lives reading, studying, and yes, even memorizing parts of it we have been able to keep his legions at bay.  We are not perfect but we certainly know Who is in control.

Praise God for this incredible span of time together.

Abba thank You for these 40 years, for allowing us to walk this journey with You, for giving us such joy and for the miracles you have done in our lives.  Guide us through the next 40.  Give us enough laughter and sorrow to keep us always mindful that You are God and You are in control.    Make it so!

NINEVAH OR BUST

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Jonah  1:1-3  Where or what is your Ninevah?  Where or to what has God called you?  Are you deliberately saying no to God?  Is your allegiance or agenda focused on something or someone else?

Jonah was a true believer.  Until the point of being told to go to Ninevah he had followed God in his life, career, and actions.  But this was just too much.  Jonah was loyally attached to his country and was more than willing to do and say whatever God wanted as long as it related to his own thoughts.   God was saying, look, Jonah, Amos and Hosea are already doing a really good job of getting the job done in Jerusalem, I need you to go to Ninevah and get the job done there.  Of course the rest of the story is really well-known.  But…

What is our story?  What is God calling/telling us to do that we are saying, look God, am I the only one who can do this particular thing right now, find someone else?  Not to sound defeatist, but He does get what He wants.  Will we be one of those who misses the blessings of obedience because the call is more than we can handle?

Look at Proverbs 3:5-6.  When we take the time to honor God and His Word, He directs us in the way we should go.  He does not give us directions to do things He can’t handle, but He wants us to know Him and follow through on what He wants of us. 

Proverbs 35-6

Father in Heaven, Creator of all that was is and is to come, give me an all-consuming desire to know Your Word so well that in any life situation I know the path to take.  I lift this prayer in the precious name of Jesus – make it so.

Thoughts on Eve

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That darn snake! Too often he gets into our minds and uses what he finds there to cause us problems. It happened to Eve and has continued through history to us. He is like a roaring lion that travels miles to find something to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) In the first part of that verse we are told to be self-controlled and alert. Alert to what? Perhaps our lack of self-control.

Read Eve’s story in Genesis 3. She had some self-control issues that we still deal with today. How about the fact that we, and Eve, let our words get us into trouble?  If she hadn’t spent so much time talking with the snake she wouldn’t have determined that she was perhaps missing something. God didn’t create us with two ears and one mouth for no reason. He wants us listening carefully, He wants us being careful about what we listen too, and He wants us to simply close our mouths to becoming involved in unnecessary conversation.

It also seems that we, and Eve, have a really big problem with coveting that which belongs to another. There is a commandment about that. We really aren’t supposed to get ourselves wrapped up in what others around us have. Jesus tells us plainly that the Father provides what we need and we need to be careful that we are not wanting more than He thinks we should have.

Lastly, we eat too much. This is both a physical and figurative statement. We certainly need real food, in appropriate proportions to nourish the body and keep us healthy. We also need to be ravenous for the food that is provided in a daily diet of God’s Word. He will feed our hunger for the answers to life’s questions if we take the time to learn what he wants for us.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie