I repeat: “For I know
the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for
calamity to give you a future and hope.
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to
you. You will seek Me and find Me when
you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:11-13).
Hey Gang: Did you beat
Satan to the punch, this morning? Did
you jump out of the rack and shout., “Good morning, Lord! Or did you crawl out
of bed and murmur “Good Lord, Morning…”
As a house dad with sixteen very active teen-aged boys, I also learned
that praise music playing, as they hit the floor, was a key ingredient as to
how many confrontations I would have to referee before breakfast.
I also learned when I started my day in the Word and
conversation with God, it may not have reduced the number of confrontations I
would face, but did give me the tools to use in dealing with those
confrontations. I learned early in my
tenure as a shepherd to damaged sheep that balanced therapy was the key to
sanity. Chuck Swindoll wrote, “Crisis’
have a time-limit and your attitude can help determine how long they will last
for “Greater is He that is you than He
that is in the world” (I John 4:4).
While cutting wood one day, the gear mechanism in the
splitter suddenly screeched and disintegrated.
It was an excellent time to enter the ‘O woe is me’ attitude but, just
as I was turning up the ‘Let’s get depressed knob, a Pilate woodpecker began to
sing his song, just a few trees down from me.
Now if you know anything about Pilates, you know they shun human
attention; but God knew I needed a touch from Him at that moment.
This morning I want to spend a few minutes sharing an
antidote to the ‘grubby times and darts of the enemy’ that tend to defeat
us. In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul gives us a
listing of God’s fringe package and joy is the second of the package, right
after love and right before peace. When
I make an active decision that I am going to fill my day with God’s love, His
joy and His peace, I have a very good chance that I have a pretty good chance
of having a day filled with victory! – Even when all things are being shaken.
This morning I want to zero in on the second, God’s joy
factor. First, we need to get to
attributes of joy into our heart and mind, it is eternal; it was incorporated
into creation! God said all that he
created was good. I have also
learned that joy is a decision, as is
love. It is not based on feelings but on the promise
and sovereignty of God. Keep in mind one
of Paul’s key phrases was, “Rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4). It is a decision on your
part to follow his lead.
Joy is part of God’s fringe package that comes with God’s
smorgasbord when we plug into His power supply.
Even in the midst of the fiery furnaces we can be joyful, knowing that
He is in the midst of that experience.
Remember the story of Moses on the mountain? God had just told him He wanted Moses to go
back to Egypt and Moses got into the “but” game. “But”
I have a price on my head; but, there are others more equipped to do that; but,
I don’t talk so good. God’s response, “What do you have in your hand?” A rod.
“Throw it down.” It turned into a serpent. “ Now pick I up by the tail.” I suspect Moses might have done as told with
a wee bit of concern. He knew the power
contained within that serpent was death but he obeyed.
And God turned the serpent back into the rod but, there was
a very significant difference – the
serpent had been removed!
We are up to speed on what quality control is all
about. God showed us His quality control
in this experience in Moses life.
Remember in the last blog, we were told to bring all that we have into
God’s storehouse and he will make sure our needs will be met, and that is fan–
tab u-lous! But, “then” in the next verse is the really wondrous promise “then I will rebuke the devourer for you”.
(Mal 3: 10-11).
Hey, folks, these are days filled with evilness. We need to have our armor in place. We need
to throw our rods on the ground and let Him take the serpent out of them, and
we need to heed “MY God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory
in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
Keep in mind the ditty from the last blog: “God said, “Good morning, I am God, Today I will be
handling all of your problems. Please
remember that I will not need your help today, so go and have a great day. I will be supplying all of your needs according
to my riches. All you need to do is bring your tithe (meaning every jot and tittle)
into the storehouse and let me dole it out as you need it”.
Also, keep in mind “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
(Nehemiah 8:10).
.
Blessings,
Gramps
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