Eric's Thoughts

I weed whacked today.  I tried to re-install Windows XP on my work computer.  I tried to run SimCity 4 in wine.  I am still tired.  Johnson’s get back tomorrow, so this is my last night house sitting for them.  That is sad, but inevitable.

Proverbs 25:20 As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.

Constantly trying to comfort and encourage people who are down is not always a good thing. I am convinced (and I could be wrong) that it really is ok to be discouraged or sad. Life is hard, any one who says different is lying. Heaviness of heart shouldn’t be a constant thing, but I’m not sure in and of itself it is bad (bad as in sinful).

Last week was Super Summer.  Long days, late nights, not much rest.  One of the biggest problems with doing devotions at night, is when you start work at 6:30 a.m. and don’t stop till 11 or 12 p.m. you tend to go to bed right away.  At least I do.  So the one week out of the summer when I need to spend time with God the most is the one week of the summer I don’t.  Very foolish.  Well, the week is done, and for a Super Summer I thought it went very well.

We went tubing down the Stillwater yesterday.   That was fun, but rather cold, and then in the evening we had home made ice cream at the Barnard’s.  As usual it was glorious.  I have to admit when it comes to ice cream I’m a glutton.

Proverbs 24:29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.

How often in my heart I desire to do this.

I really had a bad day.  Nothing really happened, but my attitude has sucked.  Really really sucked.  The worst part is I’m not sure why.  I spent some time with God, and it got a bit better this evening, but this is not the way to start this week.

Proverbs 23:18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

There is an end. I will not be here forever. One day soon I will go home, and my hope will not prove false. Thank You Father.

II Chronicles 20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Praise the beauty of holiness. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of holiness as beautiful. Huh.

Chapter 20 is such a beautiful example of letting God fight the battle. How often I meddle, thinking I know better, unwilling to trust. Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

So why, the week before our biggest camp of the summer do we have septic field problems?  In two days we will have 350-400 people here, and they are all going to want to use the bathroom.  Bummer.  Well, such is life.  Today was a varied day.  I peeled logs, moved sprinklers, fixed a battery powered electric fence zapper (that is the technical term for it), and worked on the septic field.  Family camp officially ended, and Super Summer people will start arriving tomorrow.

II Chronicles 19:3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

There is no one righteous, yet there are good things found in king Jehoshaphat (and to top it off he didn’t have the Holy Spirit). I really do believe that people can do good things. I believe that unsaved people can do good things. I don’t think the definition of good changes because of your eternal status. I also believe that while these good things please God, they don’t save us. As far as I can tell (granted my understanding is extremely limited) this isn’t an UN-Biblical belief.

I am really tired today and I’m not sure why.  I was in bed really early last night, and got a lot of sleep.  Today was an easy day so who knows.  We got the food booths put together for Super Summer, then I had to drive to Columbus again to drop off the Schieldt’s suburban so the rafters could get back.  This after noon was sprinklers and computer stuff.  I also finally got my email news letter out.

Psalms 119:133-136 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

I really have nothing to say.  I’ve looked at these on my Facebook page, and there seems to be a lot of spaces left out.  Just for the record, I type these things on my blog (blog.michel2010.name) and Facebook automatically grabs them.  On my blog the spacing is correct (not that any of you care, but I feel better knowing that you know(of course this assumes some one reads these)).  Oooh, double parenthesis, can you do that?  I am so retarded.

Psalm 119:75-76 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness has afflicted me. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.

Proverbs 20:3 It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

How easy for me, in the position that I am in, to meddle.

I know, my title is lame.  I couldn’t think of anything better.  It was a good day.  I spent most of the morning in meetings, and all afternoon on a chainsaw blocking up wood to be split.

Psalm 119:5-8 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

II Chronicles 16:9a For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

How cool is that? God wants to prove Himself. He is looking for excuses/chances to do so. How many perfect hearts does He find?

Actually I have nothing to say, so I’ll go strait to what I read tonight.

Psalm 118:1-4 O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy en dureth for ever. Le them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Father please teach me to use my tongue for life.

II Chronicles 15:14-15 And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with comets. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them and the LORD gave them rest round about.

My prayer for myself and my country, that Christ would be our whole desire.

15:17b nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

A perfect heart. What does that look like?

Today was actually a really good day. I got the sound booth pc figured out. The power cord was bad. Then I spent the afternoon with Jim, digging a trench for the septic pipe (from the shower trailer to our main system). This evening I finished a book I bought at Fishtail General store, and it was a really good book. Then, to top the evening off Nate made me a chocolate shake (which was delicious).

Proverbs 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

II Chronicles 14:11 And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude, O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

Prayers like this fascinate me. I can’t help but feel like God’s arm is being twisted. We’re fighting in Your name, if we loose it will look bad. Then I look at the first part where Asa points out to God that they are relying on Him to win the battle. That makes it better. The rest of the chapter talks about how Asa honored God and obeyed Him. I’m tired, but I think this shows something of God’s character I just can’t figure out what yet. By the way Judah won that war.

Ok, technically I did expect today to come, I just didn’t expect it to come the way it did.  I ended up spending half of today re-arranging the main office, and the second half was spent digging in the septic field behind the Bearstooth, a trash run, and moving lawn sprinklers.  I still haven’t finished getting the rest of the sprinklers set up, but things just keep coming up.  Oh, yeah, the hard drive in my work computer just kicked the bucket (I’m pretty sure I haven’t had a chance to test it yet).

Psalm 115:1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

Father teach me, show me how to live this out.

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

II Chronicles 12:6-7 Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous. And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

God really values humility. I know this is a “duh” but for me it is a good reminder.