Can you believe we’re already in the middle of summer? I thought I’d post a few summer fun ideas – just in case your creative juices are waning in the heat.

This clever treasure box, which is organized around the principle that anything goes, has ample room for plastic bags of beach sand, seed packets, subway tokens, maps, sea glass, photos, finger paintings, invitations or even a tiny book of best friends’ autographs. Start with a sturdy cardboard box (one with a lid), which your child can label with his name and the date. As he amasses odds and ends, he can tuck them inside or, if he prefers, glue some onto the outside of the box. To give the box a durable finish, brush on a coat of white glue thinned with water or cover with Con-Tact paper.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
9 (11-inch) balloons (for 3 balls)
Funnel
2 1/4 cups of dried lentils
Scissors
Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Stretch the first balloon by inflating it halfway, holding it closed for about 30 seconds, and deflating it. 2. Place a funnel in the balloon’s neck and gradually pour in 3/4 cup of lentils, pushing them in as you go. The balloon should be firm but squeezable. 3. Snip off the balloon’s thick rubber lip. Cut the neck off a second balloon and gently stretch the opening. 4. Ease the second balloon over the filled balloon, tucking in the neck as you go. 5. Cut the neck off the third balloon, stretch the opening, and ease it over the other two. Repeat this process to make a set of three balls, or however many you’d like.

One of my favorite books that I own is a cute little notebook that I purchased several years ago.

I use this for my Praise Journal. On each page is written the date, then below it I have bulleted items for which I thank the Lord for that day. The items range from very simplistic things to specific answers to prayer. I love this book because it’s such a blessing to me to open it and be reminded of God’s goodness to me.

Here’s a smattering of some of the things listed there:

• A hot cup of Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee
• Trials that have arisen due to the Truth being taught
• First day of summer
• In answer to my prayers the Lord provided a lap top computer for me!
• Blessing is being returned from the trial we faced recently.
• Thoughts of eternity and heaven
• Relief from a migraine
• A lunch date with Dale
• Fresh strawberries
• Job provided for Allison
• The view of the mountains over the dashboard (rather than the rear view mirror!)
• God’s Word in my devotions
• Biscuits and honey for breakfast
• Sick days requiring me to be still
• The study of Ephesians 5
• Seeing my daughter respond at invitation time at church last night
• My parents’ 50th anniversary and the joy of celebrating with the whole family
• Old friends
• An encouraging note in the mail

They go on and on. This is a special book or reminders that God cares for me.

I Peter 5:7 – Casting all your care upon Him, for he cares for you. My husband translates this verse – “It’s not too much of a care for Him to care for you.” It’s no bother for Him to answer prayer, turn trials into blessings, provide nourishing food, work in the heart of your loved one…because he cares for you!

Be reminded of that simple truth and then record it somewhere so you can look back on God’s goodness and be encouraged!

Are you thankful? Verse 20

Are you submissive? Verse 22

Are you loving? Verse 25
Are you respectful? Verse 33

If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” then confess your sin and get back in fellowship so you can once again be walking in the Spirit.

It’s also God’s will for us to be sanctified, to suffer for Him, and submit to Him. When we are doing all these things we can make a decision and know that it will be in His will. Wow, does that simplify knowing God’s will, or what? Walking in the Spirit is key.

Maybe someone should create a new quiz for Facebook: Are You Walking in the Spirit? Oh, it’s already written – see Ephesians 5. =)

“Dear Lord,
I have been re-reading the record of the Rich Young Ruler and his obviously wrong choice. But it has set me thinking. No matter how much wealth he had, he could not– ride in a car, have any surgery, turn on a light, buy penicillin, hear a pipe organ, watch TV, wash dishes in running water, type a letter, mow a lawn, fly in an airplane, sleep on an innerspring mattress, or talk on the phone.

If he was rich, than what am I?”

What are we all? RICH, incredibly rich.

We are also considered rich spiritually – most of us know much about the Bible, have commentaries and Bibles to use, and have a church to go and hear the Word in our own language…that is wealth!

As we read the story of Nabal, the fool we see that he was also considered rich. Our lesson reminds us that there are some pitfalls of wealth. These things arn’t necessarily true of all wealthy people, but they can be. Consider:

• Wealthy people can become independent spirited. Other people need them, but they don’t need anyone.
  In your spiritual richness do you have an air that sets you apart from others? Does appear that you don’t need fellowship, encouragement from others, or Bible studies because you already know it all?
• Sometimes for those that are wealthy it’s hard for others to be honest with them. In verse 17 of I Samuel 25 one of Nabal’s servant’s says “a man cannot speak to him.” If someone tried to tell Nabal he was acting foolish he could have lost his position – or his head! Proverbs 23:9 – Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
  In our spiritual wealth can someone approach us and tell us about an issue they see in our lives? How will we respond – like a wise man or a fool?
• It’s easy for wealthy people to assume the worst about others. Later in the chapter we will see that that’s exactly what Nabal did about David. David would be the next king, but Nabal talks to him like he was a low-life that didn’t deserve his time or attention. Wealthy people sometimes feel they can talk any way they want to talk – they own the world! Proverbs 18:23 – The poor use pleas, the rich answer roughly.
  In our spiritual richness do we assume negatively of other Christians? If they don’t have the same convictions as we have or read from the same translation of the Bible do we automatically assume the worst, or think negatively about them?

As we continue to walk through this chapter of I Samuel we read that Nabal was not only rich, but he was “churlish.” In Hebrew this word means, hard, unyielding, unbending, uncontrollable, severe, stubborn, violent, deliberately stiffened. Does this sound like the kind of guy you would want to deal with? He was abusive with his words, abusive to his wife and others. He was just a mean man. There are men and women like that, and sometimes you have to live with a fool.

The Scriptures go on to say that he was of the house of Caleb – he was a Calebite. This can mean that he was a descendent of the godly man Caleb from the tribe of Judah, but some commentators say this is an adjective describing Nabal’s behavior. The word “calebite” means, dog. It can be rendered, “He was snappish as a dog.” I’m not knowledgeable about dog breeds, but I’ve seen some snappish dogs – teeth snarling, barking, mean in their natures. This is what Nabal was like! He is best described by the meaning of his name – fool.

Remember that a fool isn’t someone who is mentally deficient, but morally deficient. It’s someone who says there is no God (Psalm 14:1) He lives life as if there is no God. He has no regard for spiritual things, no fear of God or of man. He has no regard for what is moral, and as a result he acts foolishly. Isaiah 32:6 – And his heart inclines towards wickedness: to practice ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord, to keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to withhold drink from the thirsty. We’ll see later that this is exactly what Nabal did to David and his men.

Why did Nabal act this way? Why do we act foolishly? It’s because of what is in our heart. We will act out of what is there. We speak out of what is there. If we have a foolish heart we will act foolishly.

As we close this second lesson, let’s turn our focus to ourselves rather than Nabal. Let’s be honest and ask ourselves some tough questions. Could any of this be true of me?

1. Am I sometimes impossible to deal with?
2. Can people be honest with me? Or will I blow up?
3. Am I arrogant, proud, harsh?
4. Am I difficult to speak to?
5. Do I assume the worst in others?
6. Do I answer roughly rather than graciously?

The Scriptures say we’re all born fools. We’re all born going our own way. Every single day our heart would lead us astray without the wonderful grace of our God. We need Him initially to give us a heart transplant – take out the foolish heart and replace it with a wise one. Then each day we need to run to Him for grace and wisdom so that we will act graciously, with discernment, and godliness in a world that so much needs to see what a difference Christ can make in our lives. We are rich indeed people!

“Dealing with my husband is making me so angry. He won’t listen or talk. He’s just impossible to live with!”

“My boss is frustrating me in my job – she’s always changing her mind.”

“Trying to deal with my stubborn child is a huge disappointment. After all my training, he’s still going his own way.”

There are a host of emotions that can be involved when dealing with a foolish person. If anyone could have felt angry, frustrated or disappointed, I expect Abigail would have had a right to, but we don’t see those emotions displayed as we continue hers’ and Nabal’s story in I Samuel 25:1-3.

We are now introduced to Nabal, who is described in this passage as a wealthy man, owning 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. In that culture he was considered rich with these possessions. We also meet his wife, Abigail who is described as “a woman of good understanding and a beautiful countenance.

We’ve already learned that Nabal’s name means fool and he lived up to his name and all the attributes of a foolish individual. How could a person call Abigail a woman of understanding if she married this kind of man?

In the culture in which Abigail was living it was a common practice to have your daughter’s marriage arranged. I read a story recently about a mother and father that accompanied their son and his fiancee to meet with the pastor to sign some pre-wedding ceremony papers. While filling out the forms, the son read aloud a few questions. When he got to the last one, which read, “Are you entering this marriage at your own will?” he looked over at his fiancee. “Put down ‘Yes,’” she said. =) Hmmm, maybe this was a pre-arranged wedding too! It was likely that Abigail didn’t have a say in her marriage– just like the humorous story of the young man and his fiancee, Abigail was probably being forced to marry Nabal. Her father put this together, probably thinking he was doing Abigail a favor marrying her into this rich man’s family. A rich man and a beautiful woman may sound like a wonderful combination, but these are only external qualities, and what is needed most in each of our lives is godly character. The difference in these two individuals’ character is extreme. They are complete opposites.

Whether you’re looking for a mate or encouraging a young person about dating someone, can I urge you to consider godly character traits rather than externals? We focus so much on the outside, but God puts a preeminence on what’s in a person’s heart. ( I Samuel 16:7) Your reputation is what others know you to be – your character is what God knows you to be. What kind of character traits should you be looking for, and what kind of traits should each of us be developing in our own lives? How about:

• Attentiveness
• Compassion
• Diligence
• Forgiveness
• Godliness
• Love
• Promptness
• Submission
• Truthfulness
• Wisdom
  …to name a few. These traits were sadly missing in Nabal’s life!

A couple applications we can make to our own lives at the onset of the story:

1. The fact that you’re godly doesn’t automatically guarantee that those around you will be godly. I Peter 3 tells us that we can be a powerful influence on others, but there is no guarantee that our godly behavior will cause them to change – they may never change, just as we see in Nabal’s life.
2. You don’t have to let a harsh badly behaved man turn you into a harsh badly behaved woman. Because someone in your life is ungodly doesn’t mean you can’t be godly. We tend to think that our behavior is linked to someone else’s. “I could be a godly wife if only my husband would be a godly husband.” “If my child didn’t push me to the edge I wouldn’t lash out like this!” “My in-laws just know which buttons to push to upset me; I can’t help it!” The fact is, no one can make us behave in an ungodly way. Your responses don’t have to be controlled by others.

Let’s break down the principle even more and say, you don’t have to let a harsh, badly behaved toddler turn you into a harsh badly behaved woman. A harsh, badly behaved teenager, a harsh badly behaved boss, neighbor or in-law shouldn’t turn you into a Nabal-ish woman either!
It’s obvious that Abigail didn’t let Nabal destroy her. She was still a gracious, wise, discerning woman. She kept hold of the promises of God, even though she lived with a fool.

Remember that a fool is not someone who is mentally deficient, but morally deficient. This is the person that has no heart for God and acts as though there is no God. He has no regard for spiritual things, and as a result he acts foolishly. He acts this way because that is what is in his heart.

What’s in your heart? Are you acting wisely or do you see some of Nabal’s foolishness in your own life? If we’re honest, we’d all have to admit that we act foolishly at times. We are all born fools – all going our own way, and were it not for the grace of God we would continue to act as foolishly. If there is anything good in us it is only because He has given us a heart transplant. Oh, may we be more wise than foolish and more like our God than like Nabal!

Lesson #2 will continue on Friday’s posting.