My blog was in the wrong place

When I sat down this morning to continue setting up this webpage, I realized yesterday's post was in the "Mountaintop". It was clearly supposed to be a "Valley" entry, vineyard picture, valley scripture, the whole bit. But it ended up in the "Mountaintop". Not a problem. Nothing that a whole lot of coffee and a lit bit of copy and paste won't fix.

You can stop laughing now. Really. Clearly I was off the mark. I needed a whole lot of Jesus, a little bit of caffeine and the patience of Job. That last one, got it covered. (You'll discover that as I add more entries.)

By now you may be confused because "He handpicked this bible verse" is back in the Valley. Then again, it may not be. That's pretty much my life. I plan one direction and end up going a completely opposite way. For the past four hours, I've tried to complete enough of this page to publish it, while at the same time, trying to switch the blog. In that I realized something. With plenty of time to think about yesterday's blog, I realized that what I'd started as a "Valley", God turned into a "Mountaintop". If you haven't read it yet, I won't ruin it, but if you have read it, I'm sure you'll agree.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." -Matthew 7:7-8

This is the scripture I was drawn to for the "In His Presence" page. Everyone knows it, has heard it, you've even seen the picture of Jesus standing at the door that has no door knob, waiting to hear that knock. And if you are like me, you even have a copy, of some kind, of that picture in your house.

This scripture is from the Sermon on the Mount, so we know its important. And its in red, so we really have to pay attention, right? The Sermon on the Mount starts with the Beatitudes and ends with the wise and foolish builder. Right in the middle is the "ask, seek, knock". I always look at the bottom of the page, reference section, after reading a passage, in order to try to figure out what God wants me to learn. Well, when you look for this, there is nothing. There are references for 7:6 and next is 7:12. Absolutely nothing for this part. That's when I realized this was going to be a"seek and you will find" bible study moment for me.

I am fortunate enough to have numerous christian reference books and study guides collected over the years. That's where I headed....to the office. Now it wasn't just a matter of going in and grabbing another generic reference guide, like Eerdmans' "Handbook to the Bible". I have two copies of that and didn't see either one. What I saw first was a 2013 LIFE magazine devoted to Jesus. You know, the ones they have out at Christmas, with fifty seven eleven pictures of everything religious presented in chronological order, matching it to art and history of the time. They are really neat, and trust me, we'll get to it in a minute. Next, I saw Calvin Miller's "The Book of Jesus". This is a 600+ page collection of writings about Jesus from C.S.Lewis, to Ghanghi, to John Updike. Its one of my favorites. Between both of those, this will be fun.

"The 18th century Scottish poet Micheal Bruce put it quite beautifully in one of the Gospel Sonnets when commenting upon Jesus' constant connection with humanity in the years since His death: "In every pang that rends the heart The Man of Sorrow had a part'." - LIFE Jesus:Who Do You Say I Am

That doesn't mean He had a part of the pain, but He has still been a part of our lives. Alfred de Musset, Napoleon Bonaparte's countryman, was a a poet and said, "Christianity ruined empires, but saved peoples." Even Bonaparte knew that Jesus' empire was built on love and was unshakable. Jesus' empire was built with Jews and Gentiles alike, with only one thing in common; they were all sinners. We are all sinners. We are part of his empire.

Empires are made of soldiers, or guards. In the bible, guards have many different responsibilities. We often forget the directions for us to "guard" over several things, that make a huge difference in our everyday lives. Psalms 141 tells us that David ask for God to guard his mouth. I know I've asked for that several times myself. In Proverbs we are told to guard our life and our heart. And throughout the bible we are told that God will be our guard in the rear (Isaiah), guard against all kinds (Luke) and he will help guard our hearts (Philippians). In return, we are to stand firm in the faith (I Cor.) and guard what God has entrusted to us (I Tim).

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door is opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 7:7-12

If we ask, God will provide. All we have o do is ask His help in these days of uncertainty. Have a heart for the Lord. Seek time for time just with Him every day. He has given us faith and has promised to guard that faith and our hearts. And He never breaks a promise.