A word

Today in my time of trial and anxiety, in the mist of my fear, I am reminded of what the prophet Elisha told his servant when they were surrounded by the Syrians: And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 2 Kings 6:16.  Until the day comes when the Lord opens my eyes that I might see his great host encamped around me I will believe and receive it, I will stand in faith that it is so.  In addition I am standing in faith on the other things the Bible says about us such as: Romans 8:31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?  If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  If the words of one of God's prophets and one of his Apostles is not enough, then look no further than what God himself says in: Psalm 46:10-11 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.



 
 
 
 
 

Stand To

One of the things that I learned in my time in the military was that there is a time each night, right before dawn, that is darker and colder than the rest of the night.  This time is also the most likely time of the night that your enemy will try to attack you.  To counter this the military has what they call Stand-To.  During Stand-To everyone is up, has all of their combat gear and are in their foxholes waiting for the attack.  Stand-to continues until dawn, when the chance of attack lessens and you revert back to whatever the normal security protocol is.  Today in our spiritual battle our enemy acts in a similar fashion.  Anytime that God has an increase planned for us, there is always a period right before the blessing where then enemy tries to block it by bringing us into this place where it is darkest before the dawn to try to get us to waiver or even break in our faith that God is bringing the blessing.  Today, I am, like many of you, in my foxhole and it is darker and colder then the rest of the night and the enemy has brought his lies and his minions to attack me once again.  But I know that the dawn is coming that the light of almighty God will come and chase Deceiver and his forces away if I can just hold my position if I will just stand in faith, I know deliverance is at hand.  I remind myself what Elisha told his servant when they were surrounded in 2 Kings 6: 16: "So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."  This is always the case God will show up in a supernatural way if we are willing to stand in faith, remember all of the times that God has pulled us out of darkness, all the time he has come to our rescue.  I know it's not easy, I am struggling with this in my life right now, but I know that if God were to open my eyes like he opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, I too would see that the hillside around me is filled with horses and chariots of fire, that those who are for me are greater than those who are against me.  I haven't had that happen yet, so I am going to stand in faith that God is bringing me the victory and when the Deceiver shows up I will rebuke him with all the times that God has done the impossible in my life in spite of the lies of Satan.  This is where the rubber meets the road as they say, it is so easy to say you are standing in faith when things are going your way, when then enemy comes to challenge your faith you can run or you can hold the line knowing that God is with us, that God is for us and not against us remembering what Paul says in Romans 8:31 "What shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  I say to you, that I know God is for us and because of that Satan can only win if we give up.

First Fruits

Not 2 weeks ago a prospective client said they would not be selecting us for their health plan.  We have known this prospect for a while, because they are a health care provider, and we've had a really difficult relationship with this practice (they seem to have a preconceived idea that what we do is negative  (in our opinion that's unfair and unfounded)).  It was not a surprise when we got the news, so we accepted it and moved on.  However, we have been praying and believing for God to bring us new business for some time now and recently we've been asking God to bring us business that it's obvious he is the source of.  So, we shouldn't have been surprised (but we admit we were) today when we get the call that this practice is indeed selecting us for their health plan!  It is hard to describe here but there is absolutely no way that this is anything other than God's grace, His mercy and His provision.  What we have been through with this practice, the only way they would have made this choice is from Divine intervention.

Jeremiah 29:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Security

In our business we send a lot of mail.  I have been wanting to make the switch to security tinted envelopes, but have hesitated over the cost which is as much as 2.5 times the cost of non-tinted.  Recently, I made the switch and began using tinted envelopes despite the cost.  I did worry about the increase in overhead but I decided to give it up to God, that since he put the desire to make the switch in my  heart, he would also work out the increase in cost.  Just a few days ago while out shopping, I stopped in the bargain area of our local retailer and guess what I found.  That's right enough tinted, windowed envelopes to last at least 6 months if not longer and priced less than the non-tinted windowed envelopes that we used to order.  Jehovah Jireh, the LORD will provide.

Genesis 22:14
¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide;^[b] as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

I know who I am, I know whose I am

Lying in bed this morning, I noticed the rosary by my bed was getting close to falling off of the lamp I had hung it from years ago.  As I looked at it, I noticed that when I had hung it there I oriented it not toward my side of the bed, but out away from me.  Hung not for my benefit but hung to ward off something, much like the cross I had hung outside of my loft several years ago.  I hung that cross to ward off something that was sent to torment me, something that was never really there unless it was night, and the lighting was low.  Since we hung the cross, it has left me alone, until last night, just for a moment, but it was more defined than it ever was previously.  For a split second, I could feel the fear begin to well up, but it vanished when I remembered who I was and whose I was.  This morning, lying there looking at my rosary I was reminded of the story of the seven sons of Sceva came to mind: 
Acts 19:13-16 ¹³ A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.  It occurred to me that they did not fail because they did not answer the demon correctly, they failed because they (not being Christians), did not know who they were in Christ and what Christ said his followers would be able to do once he went to be with the Father.  John 14:12: ¹² “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 

On today

When we picked up the mail at the po box today there were several pieces in there for the company whose po box is next to ours.  This happens every now and then and I returned them to the clerk to be put in the correct box.  When I got out to the truck and went through our mail I found 2 more pieces of mail for them and said I'll just drop these in the box on the way out of the lot.  That's when my wife, who is wearing a immobilization boot for a foot injury, offers to take in the mail to the clerk instead.  Normally, she would have no problem with dropping off the mail at the box and when she said that I knew that if she was willing to hobble in on this boot that the right thing to do was for me to take the mail in to the clerk myself, so I did.

Some background; we have been praying for several things that we have been praying for would come to pass this morning, neither of which did.  But as I sat in my truck I realized that God was still with us, still directing our steps helping me to make the right decisions even in the simple matter of how to deal with 2 pieces of misdirected mail.

Plan B

We've all done it, if this doesn't work then I'll do this, we call this making a "Plan B".  I think many of us, definitely myself, even let this thinking intrude in our walk with God.  I heard Plan B best described in a science fiction show my son and I used to watch and it went along the lines of -if Plan B was so good it would be Plan A!  When our Plan A is Almighty God, do we really need a Plan B?  When we make a Plan B aren't we really saying "God, I know you'll take care of this but if you don't then this is what I'll do"?  I tried to do things on my own for a large part of my life and I can say from experience that Plan B sucks!  There is no way I would be where I'm at, even here at all if I had kept doing things my way.  In my life I have decided to make God my Plan A and trust that he knows what is best for me and know that I don't have to do it all, he is with me and watching over me.  Like he says in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Today I rededicate myself to making God and his plan for my life Plan A.