Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

friday, 2026, april, the, blog, march, ian, life, journal, daddy, may, 24, 10, 13, february, 27, subscribe, via, email, followers, archive, contributors, persist, in, repentance, faithful, little, slave, girl, great, jumpin, jehoshaphat, naboth, martyr, only, one, hero, outsiders, inside, hatchet, man,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (182), and (128), god (71), you (55), that (54), not (51), but (48), his (48), was (44), for (41), yahweh (40), him (32), with (30), your (26), when (26), this (25), ahab (25), david (24), they (24), may (23), share (21), from (21), will (18), because (18), israel (18), one (18), who (18), have (17), are (17), then (16), them (16), even (15), had (15), jehoram (15), #february (14), joab (14), king (14), march (13), april (13), man (13), like (13), people (12), did (12), shall (12), there (12), house (12), jehoshaphat (12), ian (11), july (11), january (11), father (11), good (11), back (11), all (11), land (11), son (11), little (11), said (11), august (10), october (10), december (10), jesus (10), name (10), word (10), yet (10), repent (10), evil (10), before (10), september (9), november (9), june (9), email (9), time (9), still (9), would (9), 2026 (8), does (8), must (8), faithful (8), also (8), friday (8), sins (8), into (8), christ (8), killed (8), prophet (8), syria (8), elisha (8), pinterest (7), facebook (7), blogthis (7), comments (7), posted (7), always (7), amen (7), kingdom (7), true (7), war (7), let (7), himself (7), peace (7), kings (7), didn (7), away (7), servant (7), girl (7), naaman (7), samaria (7), blog (6), after (6), what (6), could (6), ways (6), way (6), through (6), out (6), earlier (6), now (6), says (6), which (6), make (6), those (6), know (6), only (6), naboth (6), came (5), help (5), love (5), remember (5), where (5), later (5), mercy (5), can (5), under (5), again (5), turn (5), see (5), warn (5), first (5), were (5), went (5), things (5), build (5), put (5), judgment (5), slave (5), life (5), repentance (4), samuel (4), hatchet (4), truth (4), colson (4), repented (4), body (4), everyone (4), whom (4), army (4), given (4), killing (4), though (4), our (4), just (4), ruth (4), wicked (4), implicit (4), unless (4), knew (4), being (4), many (4), she (4), called (4), temple (4), while (4), instead (4), made (4), sight (4), enemies (4), both (4), kill (4), executed (4), their (4), might (4), compromise (4), discernment (4), battle (4), athaliah (4), jehu (4), attack (4), master (4), rimmon (4), parents (4), taught (4), persist (3), enter (3), posts (3), home (3), lesson (3), notes (3), heart (3), end (3), justify (3), wrong (3), sinful (3), allow (3), bloodguilt (3), ask (3), shows (3), much (3), bad (3), murder (3), how (3), moral (3), consequences (3), deal (3), murders (3), commander (3), uriah (3), absalom (3), ben (3), amasa (3), head (3), has (3), happened (3), sacrifice (3), moabite (3), ezekiel (3), live (3), lord (3), jonah (3), why (3), refused (3), saved (3), book (3), days (3), against (3), don (3), here (3), than (3), nor (3), used (3), powerful (3), violence (3), reign (3), plan (3), between (3), today (3), blood (3), committed (3), saying (3), great (3), earth (3), throne (3), over (3), follow (3), matthew (3), obeying (3), world (3), daesh (3), family (3), year (3), sold (3), think (3), prophets (3), following (3), brought (3), syrians (3), please (3), take (3), goes (3), day (3), learn (3), worship (3), syrian (3), thing (3), bring (3), journal (3), theme (2), 2015 (2), delivered (2), subscribe (2), soap (2), reading (2), horrible (2), harm (2), others (2), means (2), remain (2), more (2), tempted (2), methods (2), requires (2), inward (2), parts (2), abuse (2), manipulation (2), cause (2), chuck (2), versus (2), self (2), justice (2), efficiency (2), reality (2), off (2), brings (2), meets (2), solomon (2), sin (2), never (2), seemed (2), own (2), failures (2), rather (2), example (2), bathsheba (2), such (2), sent (2), two (2), perhaps (2), nothing (2), thank (2), wonderful (2), grace (2), come (2), forgive (2), john (2), death (2), ninevites (2), hittite (2), ammonite (2), jebusite (2), deuteronomy (2), assembly (2), belonging (2), forever (2), nations (2), seven (2), greater (2), utterly (2), destroy (2), covenant (2), trust (2), human (2), fitting (2), glorify (2), according (2), purpose (2), uses (2), bloodshed (2), scripture (2), neither (2), morally (2), light (2), use (2), history (2), obedience (2), become (2), about (2), including (2), children (2), trying (2), adultery (2), chronicles (2), shed (2), wars (2), behold (2), give (2), around (2), every (2), until (2), well (2), big (2), run (2), cost (2), martyrdom (2), stand (2), afraid (2), able (2), soul (2), fear (2), real (2), christians (2), ended (2), allowed (2), law (2), moses (2), wanted (2), perpetuity (2), strangers (2), context (2), martyr (2), jezebel (2), having (2), partner (2), recognizing (2), pressure (2), marriage (2), corinthians (2), spiritual (2), micaiah (2), clear (2), incomplete (2), therefore (2), spared (2), rebuked (2), tried (2), descendants (2), rescued (2), restored (2), interesting (2), speak (2), horses (2), judah (2), down (2), ramoth (2), gilead (2), hand (2), keep (2), bitterness (2), silence (2), leprosy (2), israelite (2), captive (2), healing (2), movie (2), healed (2), jordan (2), wonder (2), mistress (2), heal (2), thought (2), victory (2), household (2), serve (2), any (2), bible (2), other (2), pardon (2), bow (2), myself (2), times (2), flesh (2), wife (2), sinned (2), towards (2), heading (2), problem (2), old (2), clause (2), anoint (2), enact (2), pronounced (2), theory (2), miraculously (2), haddad (2), besieged (2), pillar (2), baal (2), next (2), sackcloth (2), humbles (2), youversion (2), comment (2), simple, images, powered, blogger, luoman, contributors, 184, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 122, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, archive, followers, feedburner, address, via, atom, older, conversation, struggled, draw, incident, picture, based, illustration, 1862, updated, chatgpt, illustrirte, pracht, bibel, kairos, guard, willing, personal, gain, treat, seems, efficient, prevail, seem, necessary, hiding, behind, competence, loyalty, final, story, path, inevitable, genuinely, redeemed, doing, prison, fellowship, difference, protection, fell, available, repentant, fiercely, loyal, public, ruthlessly, serving, practice, maintaining, eliminating, rivals, built, deceit, frightening, quickly, community, conditioned, move, once, evidence, removed, taken, road, carries, deceived, managed, appearances, cries, judgement, eventually, shape, delayed, erased, usefulness, felt, unable, yes, plural, murdered, another, rival, promoted, similar, reasons, abner, saul, too, indispensable, weakened, ability, confront, decisively, functioned, richard, nixon, relied, dirty, work, matter, husband, confronted, behaviour, threatened, stability, during, excessive, mourning, sheba, bichri, launched, new, rebellion, seized, opportunity, thereby, securing, return, position, likely, consolidate, sides, civil, angry, expressly, commanded, deception, greeting, brother, striking, afterwards, calmly, resumes, command, save, isn, isaiah, reason, together, scarlet, white, snow, red, crimson, wool, need, confess, cleanse, unrighteousness, declared, pleasure, these, seemingly, blanket, condemnations, except, place, nope, huge, forty, nineveh, overthrown, ifs, buts, exceptions, contradict, forget, whole, part, zelek, araunah, tenth, generation, possess, casts, girgashite, amorite, canaanite, perizzite, hivite, mightier, delivers, strike, show, outsiders, inside, humble, truthful, loving, teach, flawed, strength, mean, equally, ideal, force, idolise, look, assume, someone, effectively, endorses, everything, works, romans, acts, necessarily, themselves, truly, established, marked, warfare, denies, historical, purposes, treats, pointed, dwelling, builder, useful, ultimate, needed, distinguish, sovereign, delight, holiness, occurs, within, redemptive, casual, illustrates, gives, unjustly, dead, permit, hands, ordain, marking, unfitting, drawn, distinguishes, knowing, ignorance, deals, graciously, blindness, observed, lot, considered, crimes, prisoners, exterminated, entire, tribes, women, etc, reprimand, reprimanded, cover, provides, background, abundantly, born, rest, quietness, establish, side, soles, feet, hero, flee, temptation, strengthen, obey, whatever, most, cross, resolve, small, gehenna, carry, spare, same, been, egyptian, along, christian, ghana, publicly, video, beach, near, sirte, libya, filmed, became, incredible, testimony, inadvertently, spreading, gospel, obeyed, lease, permitted, revert, jubilee, buy, merely, attached, leviticus, mine, foreigners, list, martyrs, tend, fact, lacking, original, realise, want, sell, queen, framed, discerning, nonbeliever, legitimately, something, acting, consistently, cooperation, unbelievers, alliances, require, shared, direction, practical, support, wickedness, possible, sincerely, fail, boundary, setting, ordering, loyalties, actions, applies, serious, partnerships, bind, oppose, unequally, yoked, usually, invoked, nowadays, enough, distrust, hearing, warning, without, obedient, separation, identify, falsehood, fully, act, received, extended, alliance, wounded, davidic, daughter, marry, finally, ahaziah, visit, uncle, joram, usurped, joash, find, recognized, asked, prophesied, lose, persisted, wear, royal, robes, dressed, ordinarily, prevailed, should, hate, wrath, affirmed, nevertheless, found, asheroth, set, seek, follower, allied, persecuted, text, invaders, allies, inquire, third, servants, ours, jumpin, sinners, ready, right, weakness, point, inspire, likewise, doesn, desire, perish, ambassadors, salt, sharing, salvation, honoured, victorious, helpless, powerless, unnamed, speaks, sets, motion, weak, reach, strong, extends, enemy, awesome, epic, guided, poster, suffering, spoke, hope, warrior, bows, conqueror, comes, worshiping, physically, spiritually, returns, changed, washes, wonders, listens, tell, bear, witness, choose, compassion, instrument, extraordinary, rises, suffers, terrible, disease, storm, feared, associated, thunder, longer, strange, language, hard, praying, calamity, forsaken, loves, cares, weep, grieve, feel, abandoned, destroyed, raiders, invade, torn, apart, carried, foreign, disaster, strikes, imagine, growing, peacefully, pray, favourite, stories, departed, urged, mules, load, offer, burnt, offering, gods, leans, lives, receive, none, dipped, child, clean, returned, company, stood, gift, captain, honourable, mighty, valour, leper, gone, bands, waited, her, wish, catholic, confession, prayer, mess, each, renew, mind, conform, ambassador, quick, stay, temporary, going, contrast, stayed, kept, unjust, natural, judge, person, offspring, parent, disciple, attacks, least, kind, drifted, guessing, siege, steps, anything, judgments, stated, helps, sending, whenever, allows, severe, actually, till, resorting, cannibalism, hunger, demanded, elsha, intervened, less, jinx, curse, say, punish, showed, remorse, temporarily, postponed, however, some, instructs, disciples, kills, invaded, anymore, staving, shaphat, stays, repeatedly, attacked, spy, camp, told, blinded, lead, shown, power, stopped, attacking, began, eighteenth, reigned, twelve, years, mother, heard, words, tore, clothes, fasted, lay, despondently, elijah, tishbite, stirred, sweep, cut, urinates, wall, shut, left, large, started, since, completed, provide, respond, remedy, section, general, daddy,

Text of the page (random words):
failures p forgive me father for i have sinned as the catholic confession prayer goes father i mess up again and again but i repent each time and head back towards you renew my mind and conform me to your son may i be a good ambassador for you in jesus name amen posted by dr ian at 5 51 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday april 24 2026 the faithful little slave girl s 2 kings 5 1 3 14 19 now naaman captain of the army of the king of syria was a great man with his master and honourable because by him yahweh had given victory to syria he was also a mighty man of valour but he was a leper 2 the syrians had gone out in bands and had brought away captive out of the land of israel a little girl and she waited on naaman s wife 3 she said to her mistress i wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in samaria then he would heal him of his leprosy 14 then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the jordan according to the saying of the man of god and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean 15 he returned to the man of god he and all his company and came and stood before him and he said see now i know that there is no god in all the earth but in israel now therefore please take a gift from your servant 16 but he said as yahweh lives before whom i stand i will receive none he urged him to take it but he refused 17 naaman said if not then please let two mules load of earth be given to your servant for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods but to yahweh 18 in this thing may yahweh pardon your servant when my master goes into the house of rimmon to worship there and he leans on my hand and i bow myself in the house of rimmon when i bow myself in the house of rimmon may yahweh pardon your servant in this thing 19 he said to him go in peace so he departed from him a little way o this is one of my favourite stories in the bible imagine being a little girl growing up peacefully with parents who taught you to worship yahweh the one true god they taught you to pray to trust him and to know that he is faithful then disaster strikes syrian raiders invade your family is torn apart your parents are killed and you are carried away as a slave into a foreign land and not just to any household you are given to serve in the house of naaman commander of the army that may have destroyed your home you weep you grieve you feel abandoned but then you remember yahweh you remember what your parents taught you that even in calamity yahweh has not forsaken you he still loves you he still cares for you so in a strange land you remain faithful you learn the syrian language you learn the hard life of a servant and through it all you keep praying over time the household you serve is no longer made up only of strangers you come to know them but they do not know yahweh they worship rimmon the god of storm and war powerful feared a god associated with thunder and victory in battle then one day you learn that naaman your master suffers from a terrible disease and an extraordinary thought rises in your heart the god of israel can heal him his prophet elisha can be the instrument of that healing and so instead of bitterness you choose compassion instead of silence you bear witness you tell your mistress if only my master would see the prophet in samaria and wonder of wonders naaman listens he goes to israel he meets the prophet he washes in the jordan and he returns changed not only healed in physically but healed spiritually the conqueror comes home worshiping yahweh the warrior bows before the god of israel and all because a little slave girl faithful in suffering spoke one word of hope what an awesome epic movie this would make so i guided ai to make the following movie poster naaman was powerful honoured and victorious yet was helpless before leprosy the little israelite slave girl was powerless unnamed and captive yet she is the one who speaks the true word that sets healing in motion god uses the weak to reach the strong and his mercy extends even to israel s enemy a god doesn t desire the wicked to perish but that they d repent and be saved ezekiel 18 23 we are ambassadors for christ and we are to be salt and light to the world sharing his love and salvation with everyone including those we think of as enemies 2 corinthians 5 matthew 5 matthew 28 john 13 let the little faithful little slave girl inspire us to go and do likewise p father thank you for your mercy to sinners and enemies through jesus christ keep me from bitterness fear and silence make me faithful like this little servant girl ready to speak one true word at the right time use even my weakness to point others to christ in jesus name amen posted by dr ian at 2 00 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday april 10 2026 great jumpin jehoshaphat s 1 kings 22 2 5 in the third year jehoshaphat the king of judah came down to the king of israel the king of israel said to his servants you know that ramoth gilead is ours and we do nothing and don t take it out of the hand of the king of syria he said to jehoshaphat will you go with me to battle to ramoth gilead jehoshaphat said to the king of israel i am as you are my people as your people my horses as your horses jehoshaphat said to the king of israel please inquire first for yahweh s word o jehoshaphat was a follower of yahweh but he allied himself with ahab who persecuted the prophets of yahweh it s not clear from the text why he did that perhaps he was afraid of invaders and wanted allies i also find it interesting that he recognized that ahab s prophets did not speak for yahweh and asked for a real prophet of yahweh and they called micaiah who prophesied that they would lose yet ahab persisted and jehoshaphat went with him even as much as to wear royal robes while ahab dressed ordinarily so that the syrians would attack him instead of ahab but god s word still prevailed and ahab was killed god spared jehoshaphat but rebuked him in 2 chronicles 19 2 3 should you help the wicked and love those who hate yahweh because of this wrath is on you from before yahweh but it also affirmed nevertheless there are good things found in you in that you have put away the asheroth out of the land and have set your heart to seek god in the end he let ahab s daughter athaliah marry his son jehoram and jehoram ended up following in ahab s ways finally when jehu brought god s judgment on the house of ahab jehoram s son ahaziah was also killed because he happened to go visit his uncle king joram of israel and athaliah usurped the throne of david and tried to kill all the descendants of david but god rescued one joash and the athaliah was executed and the throne of david restored jehoshaphat had enough spiritual discernment to distrust ahab s prophets and ask for a true prophet of yahweh yet after hearing micaiah s clear warning he still went into battle with ahab this shows that spiritual discernment without obedient separation from evil is incomplete he could identify falsehood but he did not fully act on the truth he received god therefore both spared him and rebuked him his compromise did not end with one battle it extended into family alliance with ahab s house and that compromise later wounded the davidic kingdom through athaliah a do not be unequally yoked 2 corinthians 6 14 is usually invoked nowadays in the context of marriage but it applies not only to marriage but also to serious partnerships that bind us to people who oppose god like what happened between jehoshaphat and the house of ahab not every cooperation with unbelievers is wrong but alliances become sinful when they require shared moral direction compromise of obedience or practical support for wickedness jehoshaphat shows that it is possible to love god sincerely and still fail in boundary setting true discernment is not only recognizing the word of god but ordering our loyalties and actions by it even under pressure discernment is not just recognizing truth it is acting consistently with it under pressure p father help me to be discerning when having to partner with a nonbeliever when we could legitimately partner with them do to something good and when it ll cause us to compromise with evil in jesus name amen posted by dr ian at 2 22 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday april 3 2026 naboth the martyr s 1 kings 21 o when we list martyrs we tend not to think of naboth in fact when many of us lacking the original context may not even realise naboth was a martyr we might think ah he was a man who didn t want to sell his land to king ahab and so queen jezebel had him framed and executed but naboth refused not because he was merely attached to his land but because he was obeying the law of moses leviticus 25 23 says the land shall not be sold in perpetuity for the land is mine for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me he might well have allowed king ahab to lease the land that was permitted under the law of moses but then it would revert to his family in the year of jubilee but ahab didn t ask for that he wanted to buy the land in perpetuity so naboth was killed because he obeyed yahweh a obeying god can carry a real cost he does not always spare his people from death in this world naboth was killed for obeying yahweh in the same way christians in our own time have been killed for belonging to christ such as the 21 egyptian christians along with one christian from ghana whom daesh executed publicly on video on a beach near sirte in libya in 2015 they called on jesus even as daesh filmed them being executed they became an incredible testimony to the world in their martyrdom so daesh inadvertently ended up spreading the gospel as jesus said in matthew 10 28 don t be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in gehenna most of us are not called to martyrdom but this good friday as we remember christ s sacrifice on the cross let us resolve that we will always stand for christ and follow yahweh in both small and big ways p father help me to follow you in the little things as well as the big things help me to flee temptation and run to you strengthen me to obey you whatever the cost in jesus name amen posted by dr ian at 2 13 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday march 13 2026 only one hero s 1 kings 5 3 you know that david my father could not build a house for the name of yahweh his god because of the wars which were around him on every side until yahweh put his enemies under the soles of his feet o 1 chronicles 22 8 10 provides the background to this but yahweh s word came to me saying you have shed blood abundantly and have made great wars you shall not build a house to my name because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight behold a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of peace i will give him rest from all his enemies all around for his name shall be solomon and i will give peace and quietness to israel in his days he shall build a house for my name and he will be my son and i will be his father and i will establish the throne of his kingdom over israel forever as i have observed in earlier blog posts david committed a lot what would be considered war crimes today he killed prisoners of war he exterminated entire tribes including women and children etc but god did not reprimand him for killing so many people instead god reprimanded him for killing one man uriah in trying to cover up his adultery with bathsheba one lesson i had drawn from that earlier was that god distinguishes between sins david committed knowing he was wrong and sins he committed in ignorance and in god s mercy he deals graciously with human blindness today s soap illustrates that while god gives us grace for those things they still do have consequences the people david unjustly killed are still dead and god could not permit him to build his temple because of the blood on his hands god can ordain a kingdom purpose through david s reign while still marking killing people as unfitting for the temple so we distinguish between god s sovereign use of war in history and god s delight in peace holiness and covenant obedience even when violence occurs within redemptive history scripture does not let us become casual about bloodshed god truly established david s kingdom but he did not allow david to build the temple because david s reign was marked by warfare and bloodshed this means scripture neither denies god s historical purposes in war nor treats violence as morally light the temple pointed to god s dwelling in peace so a man of war was not the fitting builder david was useful in god s plan but not morally ultimate the kingdom needed a greater son than david a we must not assume that just because god used someone effectively that god endorses everything he or she does god does not glorify violence even though he may have used it for good god works all things for good for those who love god who are called according to his purpose romans 8 28 the acts are not necessarily good in themselves but god still uses them for good so being used by god does not mean all one does is equally fitting or ideal we must not glorify force and must not idolise a powerful man like david but look to christ the true king of peace p lord make me humble truthful and peace loving teach me to trust christ not flawed human strength amen posted by dr ian at 1 15 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday march 6 2026 outsiders inside s 2 samuel 23 24 o back in deuteronomy 7 1 2 it says when yahweh your god brings you into the land where you go to possess it and casts out many nations before you the hittite the girgashite the amorite the canaanite the perizzite the hivite and the jebusite seven nations greater and mightier than you 2 and when yahweh your god delivers them up before you and you strike them then you shall utterly destroy them you shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them and back in deuteronomy 23 3 it says an ammonite or a moabite shall not enter into yahweh s assembly even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into yahweh s assembly forever yet here in 2 samuel 23 24 we see as part of the people of god uriah the hittite zelek the ammonite and araunah the jebusite and don t forget the whole book of ruth ruth being a moabite how did god contradict himself nope the book of jonah is a huge example of this in forty days nineveh will be overthrown no ifs buts or exceptions yet when they repent god went back against his word except that everyone knew that there was that implicit unless you repent jonah knew that s why he refused to go warn them in the first place and the...