Fear...

When God called Moses to a summit meeting, the people panicked like henless chicks….  The scurvy of fear infected everyone in the camp.  They crafted a metal cow and talked to it….  More than three thousand years removed, we understand God’s frustration.  Turn to a statue for help?  How stupid.  Face your fears by facing a cow?  Udderly foolish!  We opt for more sophisticated therapies: belly-stretching food binges or budget-busting shopping sprees.  We bow before a whiskey bottle or lose ourselves in an eighty-hour work week.  Progress?  Hardly.  We still face fears without facing God….  Rather than turn to God, we turn from him, hardening our hearts.  The result.  Cow-worshiping folly.

Max Lucado – 3:16

What Am I?

I am your constant companion.  I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.  I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.  I am completely at your command.  Half of the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.  I am easily managed - you must merely be firm with me.  Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great men; and alas, of all failures as well.  Those who are great, I have made great.  Those who are failures, I have made failures.  I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man.  You may run me for profit or run me for ruin - it makes no difference to me.  Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.  Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?  I am a habit!

Detroit and America - A Barometer

From the Oak Initiative and Rick Joyner:
   
    Just a few days ago Detroit was called not only the most dangerous city in America, but the most dangerous city in the world. Since I was there, I wanted to understand how this could happen to such a great American city. This is especially important because many of the same policies and the style of leadership that has led Detroit for decades is now being imposed on the whole nation.

     Detroit does not just look like a war zone in many areas—it is one. The population within the city has fallen from around 2 million to about 800,000. Real unemployment is over 20%, and as one observer recently said, the only people left in Detroit are the very poor who had nowhere to go and the criminals. Then many of the poor have had to become criminals to survive. In many areas it is borderline anarchy.

     Think about what your city would be like if in just a short period of time over half the people left. There are not just empty houses on virtually every block, there are whole neighborhoods that are empty, and deteriorating fast the way property does when not occupied. There seemed to be more boarded up buildings and businesses than open ones. The cloud of depression is possibly even thicker than you might find in Haiti right now, because in Haiti they at least know their catastrophe has gotten the attention of the world and there is hope. In Detroit, hope for the future is hard to find.

10 Ways to be the Best Husband Possible for My Wife

10 Ways to be the Best Husband Possible for My Wife

 1.  Love my wife first and for her sake. - She is who she is and I am who I
      am.  I will make the decision to honor her and distinguish her for who
      she is.  She will be my princess.
 2.  Be an honest mentor and guide to my wife and children. - I will provide
      guidance when needed, space when necessary, and direction always.
 3.  With my wife and family, be constantly engaged in church life. - With
      me, my wife and family will be fully integrated and active in the Lord's
      church.  We will participate and give time and energy together to the
      church before anything else.
 4.  Pray for and with my wife. - My wife needs my prayers and I need to
      hear her prayers.
 5.  Talk about spiritual matters with my wife as often as possible. - All is
      not about managing earthly affairs.  I will talk with and listen to my
      wife about matters of the spiritual nature.  I will encourage and be
      encouraged spiritually by my wife.
 6.  Live a healthy, sober, and balanced life. - For my wife's sake, I will
      provide for her by taking care of myself both to sustain her but to also
      be an example for her and my family.
 7.  Make informed and decisive decisions in behalf of my wife and family.
      - I will, to the best of my ability, make decisions if and when
      necessary for the good of my wife and family.
 8.  Read the Bible and know how to make application for me and 
      my family. - I will spend time in Scripture and be able to apply it to the
      relationship and responsibilities I have with my wife, family, and
      church.
 9.  Prepare my children for life and release them, with my wife, when it 
      is time. - I understand my time with my children is to be used to
      prepare them for life.  With my wife, we will intentionally and
      prayerfully prepare our children for life beyond our home.
10.  Listen. - I will listen as much as I can for God and to my wife.  I need
       to know what they have to tell me.

"Dear Father.  You have given me nothing more special than my wife.  In times of stress, help me to be calm.  In times of need, help me to give.  In times of joy, help me to share.  May I always cherish, love, and protect her with all my might.  Grant me the understanding that my wife is both a physical and spiritual blessing to me that makes me whole.  Amen."

10 Ways to be the Best Wife Possible for My Husband

10 Ways to be the Best Wife Possible for My Husband

 1. Let my husband be a man. - Men do things their way sometimes.
      He needs to exercise his manly being sometimes. I support him in that.
 2. Spend more time working on my inner self than my outer self. - My
     husband will appreciate me more if I glow of inner beauty. Outer beauty
     is fleeting and flaccid.
 3. I have needs - so does my husband. - I will do what I am able and
    appropriate to keep my husband happy because I love him.
 4. Don't put my children before my husband. - I will love my husband first.
     In doing this, my children will feel loved and will see love.
 5. Actively be a participant, with my family, in church life. -
     My family is but a subset of the church family. My church's family life
     will always include my personal family.
 6. Spend time in Scripture by myself and with my husband. - I need wisdom
     from God. I want to talk about Spiritual matters with my husband.
 7. Share in and listen to my husband's prayers. - I want to know what my
     husband is thinking about him, me, our family, and our world.
 8. Camp out! - I don't like bugs. But sometimes for him, I will go where he
     goes. And he might even think I am enjoying it!
 9. Care and rear my children in the ways of God. After all, they are His.
     - My children are God's. I will, with my husband, raise them with this in
     mind. And when it is time to let them go, I will do so trusting in God and
     his providence. May I be a wonderful mom to my children.
10. Love my man as if he were a king. - He is my earthly king. I will stand
      by him as best I can through thick and thin.

"Dear God. I love my husband more than anything in this life. Give me strength and wisdom to support him, give him guidance when needed, and stand by him when he needs me. I thank you for having given me a wonderful husband. Amen."

Cardboard Testimonies - Powerful!

A Different Perspective On Government

From Romans:


13     Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, a for there is no authority except from God, b and those that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror c to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do good and you will have its approval. 4 For government is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger d that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience. e 6 And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks. f 7 Pay your obligations g to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, h tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, i and honor to those you owe honor.


a 13:1 Ti 3:1; 1Pt 2:13
b 13:1 Dn 2:21; 4:17; Jn 19:1
c 13:2 1Pt 2:14
d 13:4 1Th 4:6
e 13:5 1Pt 2:13, 19
f 13:6 Lit to this very thing
g 13:7 Mt 22:21
h 13:7 Lk 20:22; 23:2
i 13:7 Mt 17:25

Hardship...

We like to think times of health, wealth, and tension-free relationships are the norm.  In such a world cars never break down.  The worst health problem we face is an occasional headache.  And the biggest fight is over who forgot to take out the trash.  Like children who believe in fairy tales, we cling to the illusion that prosperity, peace, and good health are the norm.

I'm convinced we would do better with life if we realized that life is tough.  It's hard.  There are seasons of life that seem unbearable.  All too often we see champions of the faith and think they have avoided such hardship.  But they haven't.  They've embraced it, as every athlete embraces the pain of rigorous training.  They refuse to allow setbacks to shape their identity.

Bill Perkins - Six Battles every Man Must Win

Disservice...

God promises he will never leave us or forsake us.  We are the ones who take our eyes off of him, for his eyes never leave his own.  When we do, we do both him and ourselves a great disservice.  We do disservice to him because all glory, honor, and praise are due him for who he is.  We do disservice to ourselves because he is the only one who can make a straight path for us and make us who we are destined to become.

A song from my youth comes to mind - The Lily of the Valley:

I have found a friend in Jesus,
he's everything to me,
he's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
the Lily of the Valley, in him alone I see 
all I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow he's my comfort, in trouble he's my stay,
he tells me every care on him to roll.