Not all of my friends will want scripture in their feeds for 7 days straight, so I modified my approach by listing all 7 in the post and letting folks opt in to checking them out if they so choose.
I also chose to add some tunes to the mix, because music, 2nd only to the visual expression, is the language o' my heart - much more so than reading. So... with all of that said... here goes...
Psalm 13 - "How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise, for he has been good to me."
- I love this passage because it feels realistic to me. Four of its six verses are questioning God. They are written by a man that feels disconnected, fearful, and maybe even a bit ticked off. But that same man circles back around to the Truth that he knows is eternal and talks himself off his own ledge. It's a model for us to follow and one that I wish I was better at. If it were me, I'd probably write a couple of whiny chapters before I came back to the truth.
- Tune: Shane & Shane: Psalm 13
Matthew 6:33-34 - "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
- I remember verse 33 as one of the first verses I ever learned as a kid. I didn't know that verse 34 existed until I was older, and, as a control freak, I think I should have learned it first. The two combined are great instruction, simple enough for a kid to get, and more meaningful as I continue to get older. Good stuff.
- Tune: Steve Moakler: Crooked Heart - Absolutely love this tune - it's a realistic depiction of what it looks like to pursue his kingdom
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 - "I have the right to do anything," you say - but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything" - but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others."
- This is one that can either cause us to get all judgy about "society", or have us take a look in the mirror. I'm a selfish litter bugger that wants to do what I want to do. This brief passage is a great reminder for me.
- Tune: Steve Moakler: Riser - it's a song about a guy working to be a protector and provider. Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. Hopefully you'll see the connection as you listen
1 Corinthians 13:4-13 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. but where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we phrophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see fact to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
- This passage was read during our wedding ceremony and has been something to aspire to ever since. I don't read it, or do it, often enough. It's also a passage that began to get even more real after the arrival of my son.
- Tune: Josh Garrels: Little Blue - it's a song about he and his wife expecting the birth of their daughter. Beautiful little ditty.
- Bonus Tune: Josh Garrels: Million Miles - it's a beautiful love song. I'm pretty sure it was the prelude to Little Blue. ;)
Luke 22:31-34 - "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times that you know me."
- I find hope in this passage. It demonstrates that, even a disciple that walked with Jesus, ate with him, saw his miracles, and did life, came up short when he worried about his own well-being. And his God knew it was coming and loved him anyway. A beautiful message to a guy with the same name and the same tendencies. He is constant, even when we are not.
- Tune: Judah & the Lion: Everything Changes - it's a great summary of my last sentence above.
Psalms 90:12 - "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
- Love the spirit of this simple, but profound verse. I want to live deliberately while I'm here.
- Tune: Judah & the Lion: Rich Kids - these little smart arses are on to something.
Joshua 1:9 - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you."
- This one is easy to mistake with muscling through day-to-day stress with our own power. The reason for courage in this passage has nothing to do with us. It centers on the fact that we are to be courageous because our Lord is with us. If it was just us, we'd be delusional to be courageous.
- Tune: Crowder: I Am - "In the middle of the storm, I am holding on, I Am." - love the play on words and the message. His hope is in his Creator, not his own power.
