Year: 2016

Some battles offer no chance of victory

There is no victory in battling with fools.

Those people who clearly prove themselves as either imbeciles or antagonists in your life, Christian, do not let them steal your joy. Forgive them. Do your best to help them if possible,  but if they engage you for battle,  lift your sheld of faith and not your sword to meet their advances,  and they will do you know harm. 

A whip for the horse, A bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the fool’s back. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes. He who sends a message by the hand of a fool Cuts off his  own feet and drinks violence. Like the legs of the lame that hang limp Is a proverb in the mouth of fools. Like one who binds a stone in a sling Is he who gives honor to a fool. Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard Is a proverb in the mouth of fools. The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages. As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There  is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 26:3‭-‬12 NKJV

Rest Here

​And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Matthew 8:20 NKJV

Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. ” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 

Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Genesis 28:10‭-‬22 NKJV

Lay your head upon our house,  Lord. Come and abide with us,  and we will find joy in a life of close friendship and communion with the Lord. We are the little flock that you love,  favour,  and bless. We will honor you with our lives, trusting in your way,  following your precepts, demonstrating that we believe and have a grateful respect and awe in your love, mercy, honor, power, and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.

Luke 24:28‭-‬29 NKJV

“Crappy” Morning = Blessings Realized

We are living without power right now. I ordered power back in April, requesting that it be in service by June 15 in preparation for us selling our house and moving to our farm land. Buthe it is now the end of July and we still have no power. We are living off of generator power during the hottest July that I can remember. 

So I’m used to the challenge of repeatedly refilling, restarting, and flipping tripped breakers that comes with an imperfect daily life of making due with weeks of living with this challenge. I’ve also made enough peaceful noise with Duke Energy so that hopefully they know me by name even though we still sit day after day with no power. I’m also very aware of the insanely high cost of running off of gasoline or propane and how quickly we are burning through our savings that were meant to help build the house. I’ve made my peace with those things and I’m trusting the Lord even in the storm. 

But this morning when I started the generator on propane,  it ran for about a minute and then it shut off. The big tank was low after a full weekend running without a refill since Friday, but it wasn’t empty.  “Hmm,  that’s interesting.”, I thought. But I filled the generator with gasoline, switched it over to gas powered,  and fired it up,  then headed back inside. 

Before my wife even had time to ask me, we heard the generator stop again. The concerned look on her face said it all,  and I tried my best to show confidence as I headed outside to troubleshoot . “Lord, help us this morning”, I prayed, because if the generator is having problems, I knew that we are in real trouble since Duke Energy just keeps pushing our install back week after week. 

Luckily, a few maintenance checks later – cleaning the filter,  adding some oil, confirming my battery connections – and it fired up and had been running like a champ so far. “Thank you,  Jesus. Prayer really works.”, I’ll tell my friends. 

Now to empty that black tank of toilet goodies into a cart so that I can haul it to the RV sewage dump station – and the attachment hose on the “poo cart” appears to be leaking now. Yes, a sewage hose LEAKING. “Thank you,  Jesus, another opportunity for prayer.”
Have a blessed day,  friends! 

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 NLT

Trust overcomes Worry and frees Joy

​“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Matthew 6:34 NLT

Do you catch your mind racing over and over things and possibilities and risks and dangers that might lie ahead for you tomorrow? This can be paralyzing your joy and hindering your ability to enjoy the blessings of today. This can become a dam that is blocking the flow of Christ’s love through your life and a wall that is keeping you from living the abundant life that Christ has for you today. 
If you are going to think about things for tomorrow,  then limit the time spent on it to a short period of constructive planning. Write down your options on paper,  possibly with the pros and cons of each, pray about them. And instead of pickling one as your only acceptable solution – prioritize them in the order that you believe is preferred,  then pray again that God will allow you to remain flexible so that you can accept His will in leading you along the best path. 
Then, let it go. Don’t dwell over it. Don’t worry over it – especially if your worries are over something that you cannot control. Instead, trust the Lord.

God of blessing, what a mess I create when I wrestle the future out of your hand and take it upon myself. I pray for patient trust for today and good confidence for tomorrow,  knowing that nothing can separate me from your love,  because my curse fell on Jesus so your blessing can come to me. Amen. (HC 8)

Will you trust Him? Do you believe that He is faithful and true? Do you believe that He is for you and not against you? Can you accept that He has life abundant laid out for you to walk in joy today? Or will you be more content wrestling with the worry and doubt that seeks to wrap is chains around you? Those chains have no power or airport over your life, child of God. Seek first the Lord and trust in His plan and purpose for your life today. 

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
John 10:10 NLT

Decide to enjoy.  En-joy. Walk IN JOY.

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,  yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:24‭-‬33 NLT