Tag: angels

Starting the day, Ending the day 

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Starting the day, Ending the day 

You wake up one morning and the day starts off all wrong. Murphy’s law kicks in and everything that can go wrong does? Perhaps that’s an exaggeration but I know you get the picture. So a little while ago one night I only got a few hours of sleep before I had to get up and head to work. I knew I didn’t feel well and before I got to work on my hour drive my stomach started to do summersaults. When I got to work I realized I didn’t have my badge to get myself in. Upset stomach and at least 40 minutes before I could get into the building I was miserable. I felt awful. I could start feeling beads of sweat on my forehead. I honestly felt like I was going to pass out, and I started feeling sick to my stomach. Thankfully all that eventually worked out and I started to feel better. But, of course the day I feel awful is the day that everything’s going on. Several meetings, a complaint, packages, and all the while I just want to return to my bed.

The day continued on, and I received a phone call from an unexpected source. I hesitated to decide what to do with it. Eventually I reached out to the caller. That’s when my entire day started to change. The air changed, and I had no idea how much my life would change by the end. When I got home I knew I needed to work out a problem so I called each one of my credit cards and asked for a $200 increase to cover an unexpected bill that came up. Sadly, each of them declined the increase. Over the last year the battle for a medical bill with the VA, and other unfortunate financial situations may have damaged my credit a great deal. Finances and biblical teaching on them is another blog for another time. I had no idea what I was going to do, or how I was going to pay that bill, and I needed to figure it out in less then an hour.

I went to dinner and my guest actually picked up the tab. Dinner was my idea, but they were very gracious to pay for it. We talked and as the conversation continued to grow, I could feel the work ahead to that particular relationship was going to be both heartbreaking and rewarding at the same time. Either way, talking was a positive direction I couldn’t do anything else but praise God. The day would continue to have a few positive surprises. The unexpected bill was only half of what originally thought so the extra coverage on the credit card wasn’t actually needed. The conversation continued for a while and it seemed positive albeit full of pain, it was still better then not at all.

By the end of the day I felt as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The future was still unclear as ever, but it was clear that God was working in my life, and allowing things to happen that would set a new path. We must continue to have faith in what we can’t see and understand that our path is never set in stone. One thing I’ve learned though is no matter how long the storm last no matter how long it rains, no matter how wet we are, God’s right there beside us looking up to the storm clouds. I recently heard a song for the first time by Casting Crowns; Praise you in this storm

 I was sure by now, God you would have reached down
And wiped our tears away,
Stepped in and saved the day.

 I was sure by now, God you would have reached down
And wiped our tears away,
Stepped in and saved the day.

 I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone how can I carry on
If I can’t find you

 No matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm

 This is only small cut of that song, but you can see how powerful the lyrics are. I have often felt like the cloud was following me day-to-day, month-to-month, but even as the storm rages on around me and in my heart, God’s always there with us. Isaiah 43:2 “2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” The faith to truly walk with the Lord and cast our fears and doubts aside is not an easy road and it’s one few will walk. To truly trust in the lord to see us through, to give up the fear and doubt and disbelief is something most will never manage to achieve. The truth is though a God that created the heavens and the earth, a God that created such a perfect creation, that same God that can cast down plagues, can also provide great comfort and ease the suffering of the sick. Psalm 91:1-6 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” In our battles we will be protected by God’s shield, the Angels Wings, we shall have light in the night to scare away the things that creep in the dark. We will have the protection we need because that protection is promised to the faithful. We will undergo tribulations, but in those trials the protection of the lord can give up to the hopeless, give peace to the restless.

In all things God is in the trenches with us. In those time where we just barely escape unharmed, or we realize a situation could have been worse, or we start to see the blessings, the beautiful things that remain even in the most dismal of situations, we see signs everywhere we look that God is still with us. The Apostle Peter was imprisoned and one night an Angel visited him in the cell and placed him in a trance. The Angel had Peter follow as each gate was opened and each guard was removed from the path to have a clear exit from the prison. Acts 12:5-17

We may not get the Angel treatment every day, but I’m sure everyone myself included has felt the presence of one before.

September 12th 2004 the mission started bright and early. The convoy departed and as my Humvee was second in line it was game time. The plan went off the rails less then 10 minutes into it. The IED (Improvised Explosive Device) would be sure to change that. Without going into the whole story the important part was when the bullet first hit my door and both hands flung to the steering wheel the calm that came over me, the peace, the reassurance that things were going to be fine was undeniable. The RPG’s fired; the countless IED’s the sheer number of insurgents guiding us through an elaborate ambush none of them would make a solid hit to do enough damage to stop either of the two Humvee’s involved. The wings of an Angel were protecting us, the hands of the Angel was guiding my hands to keep up and go where I needed to, to avoid being struck by a direct impact from an RPG, take too much damage from bullets, or even a devastating IED to stop the truck. We took a great deal of damage, no fluids where left in the engine except gas, 3 of 4 tires were blown out by bullets and RPG shrapnel, power steering was gone, but despite all the bullets to the engine we still kept running, right up till my foot came off the gas after we reached safety. As soon as we were towed into the base and we were able to get out of the Humvee the realization of what just happened hit me. I felt like Peter during the jailbreak, in a daze, not fully away, but aware of what was going on around me. I was calm, at peace, confident in my actions. Facing over 100 insurgents and taking that much damage the odds were not in our favor, yet we managed to overcome them anyway, and made it out alive.

I love movies where the odds are so bad, so unrealistic that even the main characters things their chances are bad, but reading scripture and seeing how often the odds weren’t in the victors favor yet God was with them I realize that Odds are just that Odds, that’s not a sure thing, and it doesn’t predict the outcome. We will never be able to know for sure how our day will go after it starts. Even in the most trying of times and the worst of days, it only takes an instant to turn all that around. God has a plan, God’s working on the plan even when we can’t or don’t see it. The faith we need to get through our day is that of trust in what we can’t see. Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” No matter what our day looks like we must trust that in the right time the faithful shall be rewarded. Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” It’s in that time we must understand that we don’t’ have to understand. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Praise God for answered and unanswered prayers. We must have faith in and out of the storms. We must understand that the puzzle isn’t complete and we see only a piece at a time. The future can be so much more then we can ever imagine if we trust that our future will be what God wants it to be if we trust in Him.

 

 

 

 

 

The Little Boy 

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The Little Boy

The little boy sits in his room, no lights are on, no music or television is playing, just the silence of his own thoughts and prayers. The cool wind starts to howl as the sky turns from a red sunset to orange to a purple, to gray to black as the storm clouds tumble in like a down comforter being pulled up on the bed. The trees start to tremble and shake, they scratch the house as if asking to come in safe from the storm. The thunder rolls in the distance and the child looks out of the window thinking the storm will pass quickly. The trees aren’t scratching at the walls anymore, they are knocking. The thunder roars and grumbles loudly now, as the house shakes with each display. The child’s scared now and he grabs the worldly blanket thinking the soft and fuzzy blanket will protect him in the night’s storm. The boy’s now terrified as the lightning show turns darkness to daylight. Each flash he sees shadows on the walls. The flash looks like someone’s in the room. Another flash and he’s sure he saw the shape of a man. The flash and thunder crack in the air and he sees the man shadow again. He covers his head with the blanket but the wind, the howls, the trees, the light still rages on and he feels the cold of evil all around.

The boy scrambles off the bed to the corner, ‘get away!” he screams. The shadow turns to many now, all man shaped, some hunched over, some standing tall, all dancing around the room. The lighting and the thunder continue to play the song that the shadows dance to. The trees whipping around now and it sounds like the tree will rip through the wall. The rain falls, and falls, the sound is loud, and nearly drowns out the rest of the world.

The slow sound of water seems to be coming inside now, the boy peeks from the covers to see the glistening of the water coming from under his door. The shadows continue to dance on the walls and the boy now terrified tries to find a way away from the water. He begins to cry as the fear now can’t be controlled. The rush of water breaks down the door. The storm continues outside, but the boy’s not safe anymore. The water rises as he climbs to the bed. The thunder now sounds like laughing, the shadows seem to be celebrating, the fear the boy feels is feeding the shadows, the waters rise fast, and faster soon to be cresting the top of the bed. The water is frigid cold. The boys wet, and shivering as the water makes things float around the room. The shadows close in, the windows now covered with water, the lighting, the thunder louder and brighter then they were, the shadows now seem less like shadows but shadow men. Physical and the boy tries to tread water, still gripping his blanket, his protection.

The lighting stops, the thunder does not, the freezing waters continue to rise. The boy knows he’s going to die now. The boy shakes with fear, shakes with regret, and sorrow. He will miss his friends, mom, dad, and grandparents. He has no protection from this storm, no hope. The shadows now dance on the ceiling and the walls, but he sees one cutting through the water coming straight towards him. Fear freezes him in place. The water is nearly to the ceiling now. It’ll only be moments before he is under water drowning in this strange water. The shadow grabs the blanket away and throws it away. The boy cries, pleads with the shadow to spare him, to let him live. “What do you want!?” the little boy screams, crying, voice shaking, screaming now in fear
“Why, I want your very soul.” Exclaims the shadow. The entity grabs the boys throat and the boy feels like frostbite around his neck. His life is fading; he feels the cold spreading through his entire body. The air is now frost, his breath struggles and he sees it now in the air. The shadows on the wall seems to be more excited as his life is being drained from him. The evil shadow’s grip around the boy’s neck tightens. Why is the shadow taking so long, why make me struggle the little boy thinks.

“God please, please help.” The boy manages to let the words escape his lips. Suddenly the roof is ripped away, the whole room is filled with a blinding light. The boy sees the shadows burst into a flame and the ash falls from the walls. The shadows look burned into the walls. The water turns to a harmless steam, the evil shadow screams towards the light and releases the boy’s throat. The boy falls, but is caught by a cloud. He’s lifted towards the sky and feels as if he’s wrapped in a blanket of warmth and softer then anything he’s ever felt. The boy can’t see in the brightness of the light, but whispers “thank you.”

“When you are in times of trouble, when the storms rage on around you, just call for me, just call my name, and I will be there to protect you my child.” The boy knows who saved him, God, the soft touch of angel’s wings protecting him, keeping him warm. The touch of God has healed his wounds, and his terror is gone.

The boy wakes in his bed, the room is back to normal, no shadow men burned to the wall, no water in site. The tree outside isn’t knocking anymore, and the moonlight shines brightly into the room casting what looks like angel wings on the wall. The boy knows he can sleep tight tonight because God has sent an angel to cover him and protect him. The God of all that’s good and just in this world so loved the child he came to the world to save him; of all the people he could save he saved the boy. With the blanket of an angel’s wing the child closed his eyes in peace and drifted off to sleep.

Every now and then the child sees the shadows dancing around, but when the Child calls out to God, the shadows draw back in fear, and the child has no fear of them anymore. The power the shadows once had are gone, because the child learned the true nature of walking with God. Never in the child’s life would he ever be in such a great storm again.

The Feathers on the Arrow

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The Feathers on the Arrow

“Fletching: The plastic vanes or feathers on an arrow. Fletching creates wind drag and also can cause the arrow to spin similar to a rifle bullet, providing stability and accuracy in flight. Fletching is made up of three or more vanes or feathers.” Psalm 127:4-5 “4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” What keeps a Christian on the straight and narrow? What keeps a Christian on track? What keeps us accurate in the most adverse situations? Staying in the word, reading the Gospel.

Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

 Isaiah 26:7 “The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous.”

 We are the arrows of God and our path is kept true because we believe and we follow the word and the teaching of Christ. We can be the black arrow that pierced the heart of Smaug. We can be the arrow fired to split another arrow, a thrown bottle cap, we can be used with pinpoint accuracy if we have faith in our God given abilities to reach others.

There are millions, perhaps billions of lives not saved yet, and we as Christians can help make a dent in that number. We can use the skills God has given to us and we can do this only after we master our fear and our knowledge that we have been saved and we no longer face eternal death.

Fly straight, and be true. Let God’s words be our feathers.

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind The Curtain

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Pay No Attention to the Man Behind The Curtain

You ever wonder why bad things happen to you? You ever wonder why it seems no matter how faithful you are, or how good of a person you think you are, the world always seems against you? The light always seems to be snuffed out by the evil in this world. That of course is the way it looks when things are bad and we’re down on our luck. 2 Corinthians 2:11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” The catch of course is that we actually see what’s going on and catch on to it. Satan of course 1 John 3:8 “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

 Think of it this way. If you were a major crime boss you’d want other people to get their hands dirty instead of you, that’s why you have people. The Devil is going to use anyone and everyone that He can get his hands on. When it comes to Sin the Devil is the man behind the curtain. The Devil will continue to pull the shots from the shadows like any other crime boss. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Are you going to be the Devils next meal?

The Devil will lie and cheat to deceive you into pulling you away from God. The power of OZ was a lie. A cleaver showman but nothing more then a used car salesman, a pretender that valued greatness anyway he could get it. Now I’m not saying that the wizard was a bad guy, but the Devil is. The Devil will tempt you with notions like “Its just sex”, “It’s a little white lie”, “No one loves me”, “I’m alone”, “I’d be better off dead”, and all kinds of horrible things that actually push the Devil own agenda. He will hide behind the curtain of the world and disguise every wrong and make them feel so good, and so right.

The Devil wants our souls and will do anything to prevent us from having a relationship with God. It’s not an easy road we walk, but the reward for the hard work is great. God will never leave us or forsake us even when it seems like everyone else has. It’s hard to remain faithful in something we cannot see or touch but we must. There are truly miracles all around us, we just need to be able to quite ourselves and see it.

The war between good and evil is fought in the shadows. Behind the curtain could also be one of God’s Angels. You will have to have the wisdom to discern which. We won’t be able to see the Wizard, but we can feel the presence.

 

 

 

 

 

Duality

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Duality
When something is liked and disliked at the same time, loved and hated, and okay and not okay at the same time.

When you wait all day for an absolution that would never come, when you look for peace that never seems to come. Waiting for God to send His Angels to pull you out of the wreckage of your life. When the Angels never come, but that voice inside your head tells you God’s with you. The snakes are nipping at your heals and you keep climbing higher and higher to get away, the beautiful escape. We never plan for the world to crumble, and we never plan on falling to our knees at the brink of a broken world, screaming to the heavens to save us. You’ve been a good soldier, a faithful man and in that moment the snakes, the vultures are tossed away. Saved by God, moved from broken to mending.

The faith it takes to overcome the world is Jesus. So why do I hate myself so much? Why do I feel so low about whom I am? The going gets rough and some hate God, some hate people, some hate themselves. That’s where my own duality comes into play. I both love and hate who I am. The fact that God loves me I know I’m special. I know I’m someone worthwhile, but I’ve largely not been treated well by others throughout my whole life. I’ve not been beaten and tortured, I’ve suffered loss, and blame. God thought tells us that we cannot put our faith in mankind because man is sinful and that sinful nature will let you down, will hurt you, and the Devil through Sin will find any little chink in the human armor and infiltrate like a virus, replicating, until sinful desire is all that’s left.

The same goes with the little whispers inside my own head. The negative whispers I hear are the Devil or his minions telling me lies, that hidden war going on all around us that we cannot see. The truth is the helmet is supposed to help, and it does so long as we keep our head in the Bible and don’t let ourselves get distracted by the world.

Don’t shut God out; don’t keep the gates closed from God. God doesn’t want us to be alone, God wants us to have someone, God wants us to know that He is always with us. God’s blessings and guidance, and the army of Angels are always by our side. When we finally realize this, when we finally tear down the walls we will realize that Love has been there all along. The season of love is always. We can’t let the trials of this world build walls and defenses. Love concurs all. Love is the strongest of emotions, strongest of actions, and that Love shows me that there is no Winter of love, no Fall of love, there’s just love. We will suffer heartbreak from love, but Love is a gift from up above, and that’s the only Love that really matters.

Take the duality inside and shatter that mirror and let God take up both sides in your heart.

The Battle that Rages on

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The Battle that Rages on

Sometimes we lay in our bed unwilling to get up. Some days we don’t want to leave the house or face the masses. Some days we are afraid to be in our own skin. When we look in the mirror whose looking back? Many tell you you’re special, you’re kind, you’re a wonderful person and while that all may be true, but the monster inside lies to you. The healing path is never an easy one, it’s full of monsters that creep around the woods, monsters that sleep under your bed, in your closet. How do we fight back against a monster we cannot see or touch. For some, some people resort to cutting or self-harm to feel physically the monster inside. The physical nature of the manifestation of an internal fight is a scary place to be. How do we fight back? How do we explain to others how we are feeling?

We must step out of our own feelings and realize it’s worth fighting for. We can be redeemed, we can learn to fight back, we can find a new way. Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” Don’t be a slave to this world, don’t let the Devil win the fight for your soul. Stand high, stand proud, and know that you have the golden ticket. 1 Corinthians 7:23 “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” A man died to give us peace. A man died to save our eternal souls. As tough as life may be today, with a lot of prayer, action, and fortitude anything can be changed. People walk again after serious spinal injuries. People learn to live again after everything they have is taken from them. Have no fears for the Angels above watch over us. Gods will, will be and we can fight the path or walk the path. Colossians 1:20-22 “And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,” No matter what we did, what we have in our closet, confess our pain, our sins to Christ. Be washed new and cleansed in the light of the Lord. Run your race but know that one day we will stand and be judged. Don’t just know the word, live it, walk with it. Surrender yourself and all your pain and suffering to the lord.

PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, Heart Break, Betrayal are all serious and should never be taken lightly. Even the strongest can fall victim to the above syndromes. Find peace and guidance by the Northern Star of Christ. When the world is too much and you feel like you can’t take anymore follow in the path of Christ. Luke 5:16 “But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” It’s okay for us to be alone when we need to be. We must learn to know what the difference is. We must learn when solitude is the right path, when reaching out and talking to someone is what we need. Never give up hope and never loose sight of the Golden Ring at the end of this crazy ride. Remember when the time comes as a bow is drawn back, so if you feel like you’re being drawn back, the bow will release and the arrow will soar through the air to meet it’s target. You can be Gods Arrows, let yourself be drawn back to pick up tension to fly forward. As an archer is patient, holding the arrow, feeling the breeze, feeling the air, the tightness of the string, knowing his or her own breath, the archer knows when it’s time to release. Never underestimate the power of finding calm. Know that when you fly, you’ll find your own target.