Stay the Course~

 TGIF greetings,

 Yesterday we saw that Deborah called upon a man named Barak to organize an army of 10,000 men, and that she herself was not afraid to get into the fight; the plan was for them to meet up at the Kishon River.  But look at what Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go (Judges 4:8).”

Powerful truth of the day: It doesn’t matter what others do or don’t do.  We must stay the course. 

Even if no one else is encouraging you, or if they are putting conditions to their participation, no matter what the excuses and/or obstacles, we must stay focused and in prayer.  Why? Because in verse six it is “The Lord, the God of Israel, (Who) commands you, ‘Go!’” Deborah is not giving orders for orders sake.  As the Judge over the nation at the time, she and God had close communication.  The people knew this as they had recognized her in her God-given position for years.  Barak should have known better, and we should too.  We have the precious Holy Bible as our guide repeatedly encouraging us to “fight the good fight,” “run the course,” “pray without ceasing,” “make our petitions known…”

Nevertheless, Deborah answers, “Certainly I will go with you, but because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.”

There is a price to pay for backing down. For Barak it was a loss of honor.  Really a shame, if you think about it, because he did go on to organize an army of 10,000, and that is no small feat. 

But there is also glory to be had when we do as the Lord asks.  There are chains of addiction that are broken, there are negative emotions that are crushed, there are relationships restored, and countless other blessings that come as a result of our staying in the fight!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Do not let us lose focus.  It is easy to make excuses and get distracted from our daily walk with You.  Sometimes we feel alone – as though no one else will join us in our struggles.  It does not matter.  With You on our side, the victory is at hand! In Jesus’ name, AMEN~       

Jesus Loves Baseball~

Monday Greetings~

As we start off yet another week with the drizzles, let all that rain remind you of God's bountiful blessings. Well, this reminds me of a hymn.

The chorus goes like this:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

I am confident that if we took out a sheet of paper and starting writing all our blessings down, our pages would fill up quickly and we would be blessed by our blessings.

Something I would have to include is what I saw Saturday night. Hormone went to play baseball with some buddies and before the game started, they made a circle with the opposing team, held hands, bowed their heads and prayed.

Glory glory hallelujah!

This proves that strong, athletic, handsome, fiercely competitive young men are not--I repeat--not embarrassed or afraid to ask the Almighty for protection and help.

It was a beautiful moment, and I quickly asked Hormone's dad to snap a picture so I could send it out today.

Does Jesus even care about a baseball game? He does if we make Him part of it.

1 Corinthians 10:31...everything should be done to bring glory to God.

God has great power to keep us safe, bless us, protect us, provide for us, and fill us with peace and enjoyment no matter what we are doing, so we should verbally acknowledge Him for these things. When we honor Him by inviting Him to be part of our lives, we glorify Him.

It is important to note that the folks on Hormone's team took it a step further by also glorifying God in deed as well. There was no cussing, spitting, or rude gestures from anyone. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, for a change, and was glad to see that it is possible to have fun and keep it clean.

My daughter-in-law and I even cheered. Remember Fire Cracker, Fire Cracker, Boom Boom Boom!? I was kicking especially high that night.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We glorify You right now by inviting You to come into our life today and everyday. We thank You in advance for Your provision and protection and for all the beautiful things You will show us this week. We want You to be a part of every single thing we do. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

 

We're Better Than That~

TGIF Greetings~

Thank you all so much for your kind words on yesterday's DEVO; I appreciate them! More importantly, I hope the message is deeply ingrained in all of us: GOD ANSWERS PRAYER!

And I know there are still some folks who struggle with praying for themselves, which is why I want you to consider what God took the time to include in the Bible about Jabez.

1 Chronicles 4:9 "Jabez was a better man than his brothers, a man of honor...."

If you read chapter four of 1 Chronicles, it is a list of the descendants of Judah, Etam, Kenaz, Caleb...pretty unremarkable stuff. But right in the middle of this list appears Jabez, his prayer, and God's personal analysis--Jabez was a man of honor.

Everyone else is just named, but Jabez is highlighted. When God highlights somethings--when something stands out--we should pay attention. Why would God say Jabez was a man of honor?

Because a man of honor realizes his need for God's intervention in his life. A foolish man doesn't realize this, and a prideful man won't admit it.

I am going to confidently say that none of is prideful or foolish. That means we are all honorable and better than we would be because we pray.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We offer You today our praise straight out of Pslam 116: "We love You! You answer our prayers. You pay attention to us, adn so we will pray to You as long as we live." In Jesus' name, AMEN~