Red Alert

Red Alert

We sit and wait, bracing for impact. All we can do is prepare, plan, and pray. We cannot worry for the storm, but trust in God that we are given the opportunity to show Christ within us as we move forward. There’s a season for everything, and while I can admit with honesty that this last 7-8 days has been a challenge. Since the accident of my car things have been one after another. Recently I spoke to a pastor, and we talked about the frequency of Satan’s attacks, and the level of attacks. It seems as though it’s no longer just one event, but now a slew of targeted attacks. The old axiom now seems the rule rather than the exception, ‘when it rains, it pours’. Sadly this makes things very difficult for people and families all over. In these times of struggles all we can do is react in a Christ like way, pray that God will deliver us, and show us a way through.

Here’s a small roadmap to manage the storm, and the upcoming storm:

Stand on God’s promises. There’s encouragement in scripture for almost every situation you may face. Be sure to build your foundation of faith on solid ground.

Pray always. It’s important to continue your prayers to the one and only that can truly make any changes, our Lord, our Abba Father.

Continue to Praise God for everything you face. It’s in our trials we rise to the occasion and we grow, but also that we grow closest to God. We must trust the Lord, and have the faith of a warrior and that means to praise God for the storms, the rainbows, and the sunshine.

Be the warrior. No one knows what they can do till they are tested. You don’t win the battle with the first swing of the sword. It takes time, it takes one step, then another. With every step and swing maintain your faith and every day bring your A game.

Miracles can happen. We may not always see the things that come together to work out situations, but if we took a deeper look, it’s likely we’d see micro miracles along the way. Trust in God that God can work anything out, and even the worst situations, good can come.

 

When the battles come, be sure to raise the alert, put on the armor, grab your shield, and prepare for spiritual battles. Psalm 18:39 (ESV)“For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.” The one who speaks of the warrior mentality, David, Psalm 144:1 ESV“Of David. Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;”

Why Can’t I Drive The Car?

Why Can’t I Drive The Car?

Have you ever wondered why your parents told you, ‘no you can’t drive the car.’? The answer is pretty obvious, you’re not ready. We are equally young in our faith. We start off as it says in scripture on the milk, and eventually work our way up to the meat and potatoes. When we are but babies in our mothers arms we are cared for and provided for in everything we may need. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, John 3:16“16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is just the skim of scripture, the milk as it were. This is what you must understand as a baby Christian, but this isn’t where your journey ends, it’s only the beginning. When you become a Christian your true life starts, and everything before it was merely just learning blocks in preschool preparing you for life as a Christian. I myself have experienced many tragedies, traumas, hardships, and heartbreak. There’s also been much joy, and happiness, and blessings along the way. Each and every event in my life at some point in time can be used for me to further the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all have experiences that mold our perspective, and in that we all have our own vantage points, and that uniqueness is a gift from God.

1 Corinthians 12:1-1112 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that[a] you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb[b] idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus [c]accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are [d]diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works [e]all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by [f]the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”

With each of our gifts and ministries we can be apart of, because we are but babies fresh into the faith, we aren’t ready to focus on our gifts and ministries. It takes time, but we jump in right away and test the waters. As part of our path we are to grow in our walk with Christ, and also in our own gifts. Like any pro athlete, or musician, practice, repetition, and guidance must be used to grow in skill, and to become proficient. Scripture is the same way. We cannot truly excel if we never move beyond the milk. If we are content in baby stage are we truly doing all that we can to bring glory to God?

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 “12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink [g]into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.”We must understand that before a baby can walk first it must develop strong kneecaps, and the muscles in its legs and hips must grow and develop. As a child grows we accept that we start off slow, and work our way to harder things along the way. Our brains grow and develop as we learn new things, experiences in life form us, shape us, and hopefully we have a strong spiritual family to shape us as God fearing children. But what does this have to do with driving the car? If God wanted us to get right to going out and telling people about Jesus Christ and share the hope and love to all, we would be gifted with all the right things to say, all the scripture we’d ever need, and we’d have all the answers. That’s not the case though. You wouldn’t let a 10 year old drive you to Walmart because they aren’t mature enough, their brains haven’t matured yet, even their size may not be mature enough yet. But when the time is right they will one day come to you and want to learn how to drive and that’s when you look at them and start to train them on drivers safety. The key word in that sentence is train them. When Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus he was gifted by God, the Holy Spirit, and yet he went to be vetted, and trained by the Apostles for 3 years before he started to evangelize, preach, and teach. We must be trained in the ways of the Lord, and we get there by reading, studying, learning about God, and using our trails to help build us for trials down our path that will be harder then before.

With every passing day of doing Yoga the workout will get easier and easier. Eventually I will no longer get anything from them and I can either sit idle, or I can move on to the next step. I wouldn’t want to start off at level 3 or 4, but it forces me to continue to grow. The key word in that sentence is grow. Every day we are on this planet we are given the opportunity to grow closer to God. Every trial we face, every love we have, every skinned knee, job, and loss, and anything else you can think of is an opportunity to grow closer to our Father. We can look at our lives with frustration, and anger, and bitterness if we want to, but ultimately that will not change your situation, nor will it bring you closer to God. If we truly hated our children we could give them the keys at 10 years old and tell them to knock themselves out, and they likely would, literally. The disaster that would come from allowing your child to go through such an experience when they were clearly not ready for it, all you would do is set them up to fail. While there is a lesson for failure, this is not the context for that lesion. All of you new age Yoda fans, sorry, not today. Being good stewards of our gifts, and not squandering them, not being foolish and careless, and being wise and deliberate with the spiritual gifts, and most importantly the gift of life is by far the most important lesion we could learn. Each lesson we face we should try to find the good in it, and understand that our lessons may be a chance to witness to others, or a chance to grow to God, or an attack of the Devil, or an attack of this world. It’s even very possible that the hardships or lessons of your own doing. We are often our greatest enemy causing our own pains along the way. God will usually try to get us to stay away from a particular path, but if we ignore the warning signs and choose to drive straight for the cliff, that’s on us. So before you start throwing a temper tantrum about how unfair God is, ask yourself how you can serve God no matter what circumstance you may find yourself in. And don’t rush into things you’re clearly not ready for, that’s one of those signs saying ‘cliff ahead’, but if you like cliff jumping, by all means, jump away. Just remember, sometimes God will stop you from splatitng on the rocks below, sometimes he wont.

 

img_0128

http://www.travelrewardsus.com

http://hangout.paid2save.com/

https://zoom.us/recording/play/guvtqpnxT02lJVLfgKRjUnZ7Z1vMDZ15eEl-Smju1fpuOw31wg56gyvYHYiO2LvB

It’s a wonderful thing to be able to share the blessings and teachings of Christ with all of you. For those who read my works in Christ, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Recently I came across an amazing home business based in Travel and Entertainment that’s the real deal. The savings found through this business are amazing. If you shop online, like to go to movies, or travel, this gift card for you can save you up to 50%. Please enjoy your gift as a symbol of my appreciation and gratitude. God Bless.

Emergency Preparedness Kit

Emergency Preparedness Kit

 I enjoy hiking and camping. I love going out into the woods and seeing what nature has to offer. To be surrounded by all of Gods glory what does it mean to you? Some people hate the idea of being in the woods. The bugs, the heat, the humidity, some people just hate it. Me, I thrive on walking in the woods, going on hikes, long and short. It’s not the hike itself we’re going to talk about today; it’s being prepared for it.

When I was in Iraq I was known for one thing and that was being prepared for as many contingencies as possible. I would consider as many outcomes of a mission as possible and I would pack my bag with as many things I could carry that I thought would be needed. When I go hiking I do the same. My boots, my belt, my emergency kit in my bag, my hand held GPS, my binoculars, fire starters, mirrors, even as much as my Phoenix strobes (night vision strobes). I try to plan for as much as possible. What happens if I fall and break or sprain something? What happens if I get turned around and lost in the woods? What happens if something bites me? What do I do if the worst-case scenario happens? Will I be prepared for it? How do you go about preparing yourself for the worst-case scenario?

When I am getting ready for my hike I think about where I’m going. I think about the weather for the next 24 hours. I think about the amount of water I would need, how long could I go without food? I consider what kind of terrain I’m walking and what I can do for shelter or long term water. I have everything in a pack I can carry. I always have a little extra water, I always have a few extra protein bars, and I always tell someone where I’m going. Not everyone plans ahead as I do.

It’s always a good idea to plan ahead because Private Murphy is always lurking around the corner. What can go wrong, will go wrong. And sadly it usually does. As many times as I’ve gone hiking, or out playing around in the wilderness so far I’ve never needed the emergency kit, but for the same reason I take it day in and day out on my travels, why do we keep insurance on homes or cars? It’s not a matter of if it’ll happen, but what if it does and you aren’t prepared for it. I would rather have it and never use it, then need it and not have it. I have insurance on my home, but pray to God I never have to use it.

What does all this have to do with God? Matthew 24:44 “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Will you be ready when the wolf growls at your door? Will you be ready when Satin decides it’s your time? The Devil will find you when you least expect it, and that’s when the enemy will attack you. 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” The day may come when the fight comes to you, are you faithful in the Lord to withstand the attacks? The power of the Word Of God, is how we prepare. God is my Emergency preparedness Kit. Through God I can withstand the attacks by the wicked one. It’s not about wishing the fight will never come it’s about being able to fireproof, to guard and withstand the flaming arrows. The fight will come one day, the battles will happen whether you like it or not. Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Police officers wear body armor knowing that have it but pray they never need it. As such we have the tools to do so also. Ephesians 6:11 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

When the day comes I hope your emergency kit is solid and ready to go. As for mine, I have my kit for hiking, and for life, I have my God. God is my emergency preparedness kit.