Archive for January 2013
King Nebuchadnezzar after he went crazy
Daniel 4: 28-33: “All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.”
Nebuchadnezzar went insane because he attributed his greatness to his own power and ability. He forgot God and did not give the glory to God for his exalted position in life.
For the most part, the United States has gone insane. The United States has forgotten God. The United States used to be a great nation.
Too many people in America support the murder of pre-born babies and homosexual marriage. People in this country would rather worship the creation (enviro-paganism) rather than the Creator; they believe in the religion of evolution or the religion of high technology.
After seven years of being a crazy man, Nebuchadnezzar finally repented of his sin and gave the glory to the Most High.
Daniel 4: 34-37: “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”
AND THOSE THAT WALK IN PRIDE HE IS ABLE TO ABASE.
To God Belong Wisdom and Power
The Downfall of Barack Obama
Men have forgotten God
you cannot be arrogant and still be right with God
Uncle Sam Brought to His Knees
What Egypt thought of Obama
Hitchhiker
My dear friend Amanda is pregnant with her first child. I can’t quite imagine what it feels like to have a person growing inside of you- knowing that some day soon you will meet face to face a small creature that will radically transform every aspect of your life. For that first nine-ish months you are scooped up for this journey that involves lots of weird feelings and changes. I suspect the odds are in my favor that some day I will experience this aspect of adult life but now is not my time.
Since Amanda is newly pregnant and experiencing some of the “delights” of early motherhood- I decided to pay her and her husband, Dr. So and So, an impromptu visit to their little corner of Texas a couple of weeks back. I felt somewhat motherly, or attempted to be that great friend who sweeps in and cooks and cleans and restores hope for humanity… in reality I came to the conclusion that I can be motherly for a day or two but then I need a nap! It’s a good thing Amanda is the one pregnant and not me!
We did have soup, and I taught her the beginnings of knitting, and I took their sweet dog Emma Dee for a walk (or she took me for a walk), and we watched an old Hitchcock film. It felt productive.
After deciding to head home a day early so I could take my time on the journey, I stopped for a late lunch at the Huddle House. The Huddle House is a terrible wish-it-was-a Waffle House but I was hungry and the road ahead looked long so I stopped in.
As soon as I walked in I saw a man in a corner booth and immediately wondered what his story was and how he would choose to murder me given the golden opportunity.
I headed to the bathroom already feeling slightly guilty but checking to see if there were locks and proper escapes if he chose to follow me in and do away with me. (He didn’t, obviously).
On my way back into the restaurant I saw that he had a Bible verse on the back of his hoodie- not that this ensures anyone’s credibility but it incited a certain amount of conviction in me.
I sat down at my table and listened in as he quietly discussed his situation with his waitress. He used their phone to call the police- desperate for a ride to a nearby Catholic church where he hoped he might find shelter for the night and a hot meal.
I looked over several times taking in the sight of his belongings.
Backpack
Sleeping bag
Worn hands
Tired, blood-shot eyes.
A sense of compassion replaced conviction. What on earth was a lone-travelling girl supposed to do to help someone so obviously situated outside of her comfort zone and in need of a hand?
The only word pulsing through my mind was “Jesus”
Jesus.
He just wanted somewhere dry to lay his head and it looked as if his only hope was a thick pallet of concrete under the highway overpass.
I could not possibly relate to this need. Ever.
Every avenue of help ended with a laugh on the other end of the phone.
We were surrounded by hotels and motels and I thought that for sure the least that I could do was put him up in a hotel for the night so that he could have a shower and a safe place to rest.
Before I knew it he had walked out and I thought I had missed my opportunity.
Whew! Really dodged a bullet there, eh Jesus?!
However, I reluctantly agreed to do something if I saw him again. Knowing I would.
I payed for my lunch and headed out the door. Skeptic as the day is long, I checked all around my car and in the trunk to be sure a serial killer hadn’t stowed away and off I set.
I saw him as I approached the on ramp and pulled up beside him.
His sign read “Alexandria”.
It was forty miles away.
I rolled down the window and explained that I had seen him in the Huddle House and that I couldn’t let him get in the car because I have a Dad who would kill me if I ever picked up a hitchhiker.
Next thing I knew I had thrown all of my things in the back seat and opened the door for him.
Enter: Tim.
I told Tim that I was trusting the Lord to protect me and that I would prefer if he didn’t try to kill me. I find it best to be completely honest in all situations.
I had intentions of pulling off at the next exit and bringing Tim back to one of the hotels in Natchitoches but the exits never came. Before I knew it we were forty miles down the road.
Tim accompanied me all the way to Alexandria where I checked him into the ever luxurious Super 8 Motel. He asked me for nothing. Literally nothing.
We talked about Jesus. We talked about Tim’s little girl who he hasn’t seen in 14 years. We talked about where he’s been and where he’s going and how badly he wants a second chance in life… and a shower.
He was weird. He smelled funny. His eyes were tired and bloodshot. He talked as if no one had listened in a long time.
I told him how I envied the simplicity of his life- having everything he owned on his back- and urged him to embrace this rough time and to seek the holiness and restoration that God offers in all of our trials and stages of life.
Without saying it, Tim taught me that God is near when he seems far and that he can use even the most unlikely people in the most unlikely situations to reveal the precious love of Christ and a glimpse of the Kingdom.
Blessed are the meek, the poor in spirit, the persecuted, those who mourn, those who seek righteousness, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the merciful.
The entire time I spent with Tim this song ran through my mind. It’s called “Jesus” and it’s by Shaun Groves.
“Where thou art. . .
Job 12: 10: “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” (NIV)
Job 12: 13-15: “With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.”
Job 12: 17-21: “He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged. He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.”
Job 12: 23-25: “He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.”
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“Intelligence alone is not nearly enough when it comes to acting wisely.”
–Fyodor Dostoyevsky
This is from the blog Daily Meditation:
Proverbs 18:10: The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
How you see God is very important. He takes his time to introduce himself to those he deals with, because he does not want the issue of mistaken identity. That is why if the devil wants to fight you, his aim is to cause a misrepresentation of God in your heart.
With Eve, what happened was exactly that (Genesis 3:1-8). The devil started by asking her a question about what God said, but by the end of the day, he had convinced her that God is a liar, that God does not have their best in mind, that they would be better off, if they look out for themselves. You know where that got her!
In his relationship with Abraham, he takes the time to tell him who he is. There was a time he told him I am God almighty (Genesis 17:1-19). At that time he wanted Abraham to start seeing him as the one who does the impossible, like having a child with your wife who is 90 years of age when.
When revealing himself to Moses when he was about to send him on the errand of setting the children of Israel free from bondage, he said he was the I am that I am (Exodus 3:13-22), which describes his eternal commitment to his promises and in that particular case, the promise he gave to their fathers to hand over the land of the Canaanites to them.
From the focus verse, we see the value in knowing and understanding the name of God, the psalmist says the name is a strong tower and through the name, salvation, is released (we are safe) (Proverbs 18:10). The names of God reveal the benefit that we derive from him. Since we cannot see him, we are introduced to him through his name and we get the right concepts about him from there. Without knowing his name we cannot relate with him but would merely grope in the dark.
The manifestation of the second person of the trinity, God the Word, is as the Lord Jesus Christ. The “Lord” describes his government; “Jesus” describes his sacrifice while “Christ” describes the power in his anointing.
He has said that no one comes to the father except through him (John 14:6); no one is saved except through his name- Jesus Christ (Acts 4:8-12), which stands for his act of sacrifice to save us and his position and power. What God can do is revealed in his name. The name of God makes him distinct and establishes him as having no equal.
The name of the Lord is full of blessings for his people. It is the anchor for faith. And in the book of John we see Jesus referring to himself in a series of “I am”s
I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
As the bread of life he is the source of life. He is the Lord of life, so when he died it was the ultimate contradiction, how can you kill the Lord of life? Answer: “It is to realise another seeming impossibility: how can the spiritually dead (you and me) come alive?” Actually what John reported was that, “in him was life (John 1:4),” outside of him there is death and decay, there is rust. A focus on him is a focus of life.
Everything was made by him (John 1:1-5), and he sustained everything with the Word of his power (Hebrews 1:3), even the atheist who does not believe in him has his physical life so sustained. Without his life you are spiritually dead, no matter the garb of religion or non-religious that you put on.
I am the light of the world (John 8:12)
Apart from him everyone is in spiritual darkness (regardless of how efficient the utility sector of your country is). His mission on earth was as light (John 9:1-5), without the light you are bound to not find your way. To move about without light is to soon fall into the pit.
I am the door of the sheep (John 10:7)
He is the access to God. No one come to the father except through him. His name is the means for getting anything from God. While Peter and John were at the temple and they healed a man who was lame from birth, they announced that it was through the name of Jesus that he was healed (Acts 3:1-10). The name is the door of healing, of salvation, of deliverance, to freedom and anything that holds us bound.
I am the good shepherd (John 10:14)
As a shepherd he is our guide. Without him we don’t know our way to God, for pasture and we are exposed to all manner of marauding animals in the journey of life. As the good shepherd he laid his life down for the sheep revealing how much he values us, more than his own life (John 10:1-30). As the good shepherd we are able to recognise his voice, as he trains us to hear his voice.
I am the Son of God (John 10:36)
As the Son of God, through him we are able to enter into that same level of closeness and relationship with God (John 1:12), we become members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:12-19), we are no longer aliens but partakers of the promises of God in Jesus Christ.
I am the resurrection and life (John 11:25)
As the resurrection and life we have the promise of our own resurrection. It may not look like that now but the miracle of transformation will still happen to the believers in Jesus and that means the grave is not the end of the story, there is time called rapture where though not all believers will die but all will be changed, our death-limited body to spiritual body (1Corinthians 15:35-57). John said it this way, “though we don’t know how we would look like when he appears (in his second coming) but we know we will be as he is, like him with his resurrected body, with all its supernatural features (1John 3:2).”
I am the way (John 14:6)
It needs reiterating that Jesus is the way. Because in the midst of very “good” people that we live with, we may get the idea that maybe God cannot be that “wicked” to throw everyone to hell. Don’t be deceived, the reason we are supposed to take evangelism serious is because of the wrath of God that is coming on those who do not obey Jesus Christ (Romans 2:8, 1Peter 4:17, 2Thessalonians 1:6-12) (not their own version of him, but the bible version of him).
There is no two ways about it, it’s either the Way, or no way, it’s either the Way or the pit. It doesn’t have anything to do with human sentiment at all; Jesus did not die on the cross for you to get away with ignoring his sacrifice and get all sentimental about issue (if God wanted to be sentimental, he would not have allowed his Son to die in the pain of the cross and be just watch). The writer to the Hebrews said that how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation (Hebrews 2:1-3) how would we dodge the consequences? There is no other way and there is nothing you can do about that. You cannot get to God on your own terms; it has to be on his own terms.
I am the truth
It is written that the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:14-17). Many are seeking for truth in all manner of places, but only through Jesus do we have the authentic truth from God. The alternatives are deception, no matter how it is coined, how it is presented, how appealing it is (remember that the devil made the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil appeal to Eve).
I am the life
As the life we owe him everything. We are to live for him, since he is the life. It is written those who believe in him we have eternal life (John 3:16), before he made that provision, we were all by nature children of wrath, but through him we made the transition from death into life, we become changed in a fundamental way, we became new creatures (2Corinthians 5:17).
I am the true vine (John 15:1)
He is the vine, we are the branches. We derive our sustenance, our identity and our productivity from him, all within the context of our unity with him. We experience his flow in us, the flow of his thought (1Corinthians 2:16), the flow of his life, the flow of his divine energy.
Related articles
By Lori Rodeheaver
David and Jonathan have spoken privately and David is to wait as Jonathan goes to find out his father’s intentions. Because David trusts Jonathan with his life, he listens to him and goes and hides while Jonathan heads to the new moon feast and sits down with Saul.
So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.~1 Samuel 20:24-25
Although it was likely a very large feast, the text gives the impression that this is an elite table of big heads. It seems that this table was meant for only four men – Saul, Jonathan, David, and Abner. A few things are notable: 1. Saul sat with his back to the wall. He was as paranoid as he was guilty and insecure. Sin makes us unstable. 2. Saul’s right hand man was neither his militarily courageous and honorably proven son, Jonathan, nor David who had also proven himself as such. No. Saul’s right hand man was Abner – his uncle who was a traitor and whose ambition really was for Saul’s throne. Sin makes us stupid. 3. David appeared to be extremely highly esteemed in Saul’s house. Sin makes us inauthentic.
Let’s see what happens when David plays hooky.
Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. ~1 Samuel 20:26-34
When one man is absent from a four man table, he’s bound to be missed. Saul gives David one day. He chalks the first “offense” up to life’s unpredictable circumstances. But the second day, Saul really does begin to wonder. Keep in mind that this is a man sitting with his back tot he wall. He’s outrageously fearful, suspicious, and insecure even without this unknown cropping into his life.
Saul asks Jonathan where David is. David was right – Saul was paying attention to their allegiance to one another. He knew that if anyone knew David’s story, it would be Jonathan.
But Jonathan lies to protect David. It doesn’t matter how valid the excuse for David’s absence was, when Saul realizes that his evil plans have been frustrated, he becomes irate. Not only does he lose his temper uncontrollably, he turns on Jonathan and blames him for his own frustration and disappointment.
First, Saul begins to name-call. He tears down Jonathan’s character calling him, in modern terms, a son of a whore, a traitor, and a fool. Many a man’s rage begins with a flurry of profanity.
Next, he curses David’s whole family pretending that his concern was for Jonathan’s advantage. He’s trying to get Jonathan on board with is murderous intentions. He’s reminding Jonathan of what’s in it for him if he would just compromise and cooperate. More accurately, he’s warning Jonathan about what he will lose if he does not comply. Oh, how the Enemy loves to remind us of the pleasures of sin without warning us of its consequences!
No matter what Saul says or does to hurt him, Jonathan won’t budge. He isn’t like Saul. He doesn’t care about the throne and he isn’t looking out for number one. He loves David and he tenaciously defends his friend in the face of evil and injustice.
Because of Jonathan’s stubborn resistance to do evil, Saul rages at him just as he did David. His own son is now a victim of his homicidal temper tantrums. What a sad excuse for a father, a leader, and king. Oh, I forgot, he’s a human.
Little wonder why the text tells us that Jonathan was mad. He wasn’t just mad, he left that episode in “fierce anger.” So fierce, in fact, that he couldn’t even eat. It wasn’t every day that a spread like the new moon festival brought would be laid out. Yet Jonathan is livid and his appetite is for justice, not physical satiation. Those who are most engaged in righteousness are least invested in worldliness.
Not only is he fiercely angry over his father’s sin and lack of reason, but he is also deeply disappointed and grieved. He is disappointed because he had so genuinely believed better things about his father. He had truly been convinced of his uprightness regarding this situation. He is grieved because he has finally come to the awful realization that his father is indeed a cold-blooded killer who will stop at nothing to extinguish his best friend’s life.
Ironically , that which Saul accuses David of trying to steal from Jonathan, he himself attempts to snuff out entirely. If David gains the throne, Jonathan will be a subject, but if Saul murders Jonathan, will he then be a king?! Certainly not! ”What fools and savage beasts and worse does anger make men.” ~Matthew Henry
As I wrote yesterday, Jonathan is a type of Christ in this account. As David trusts him and hides in the field, we ought to trust Christ and hide in him while the Father’s wrath is certain to rage against us. Let us remember that wicked men bent on destruction are often paranoid. They are insecure, guilty, fearful, and suspicious – especially when things do not go exactly according to their evil plans. When those evil plans become frustrated by God’s sovereign plans, all hell breaks loose and flies out of their hearts in the form of uncontrolled rage, anger, profanity, character defamation, and brawling. And all of us, at one point or another, are wicked men.
Therefore, these works of the flesh ought to make us fiercely angry. They ought to disappoint us, grieve us and give us a ravenous appetite for rectification. Likewise, physical satiation ought to lose its luster as we aggressively pursue righteousness wholeheartedly. Our attitude against sin must be as hard-nosed and tenacious as Jonathan’s attitude against his father’s sick sword – even when we, personally, are physically and emotionally hungrier than we’ve ever been.
Finally, David, too, is a type of Christ, and he demonstrates here for us how during the time of Christ’s earthly absence, we are called to stand up to evil like his beloved friend Jonathan so faithfully did. Let us never forget that the sin we defend so desperately and allow to remain will doubtless be the very sin that wreaks havoc on the self-centered fear we’re seeking to avoid.
Everyday Encounters with the Creator
Something VERY strange just happened in the past half hour. It is so strange, it had to have been the hand of God—because I don’t believe in accidents.
About an hour or so ago, I did an Internet search for William Mulholland. I began reading the article about Mulholland on Wikipedia. He was the head of a predecessor department to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Mulholland was the chief engineer for the Los Angeles Aqueduct that brought water from the Owens River Valley to Los Angeles. The aqueduct was completed in 1913. I have hitchhiked through the Owens River Valley in California on U.S. 395 many times over the years; it is one of my favorite routes in the nation.
I left my friends’ office for maybe half an hour. I walked back into the office, sat down and continued to read the article on Mulholland. The phone rang. It was a lady with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. She wanted to talk with my friends about something, but they are gone for a couple more days.
What are the odds of me reading about the L.A. Department of Water and Power and then the phone rings and I speak with someone from the L.A. Department of Water and Power? Very interesting. Perfect timing. God is in the details. I don’t know what it all means at this time.
I remember hitchhiking in Montana a few years ago and this guy picked me up. He had a Ph.D and taught at Idaho State University in Pocatello. He was originally from California. He told me about the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the California Water Wars. So I have always been curious about some of the history of Los Angeles and the Owens River Valley from that time period.
William Mulholland
Solomon Islands Earthquake
Prisoner for the TESTIMONY OF TRUTH, (for could I have denied TRUTH,
I might have avoided the SNARE), at Reading Jail
The Bows of the Mighty are broken; and they that stumbled are girded with Strength. 1 Sam 2:4
1672
“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” It is a precious thing to witness this scripture fulfilled in the heart; to experience that there, which inwardly circumcises, which cuts off the foreskin of the heart, which lies over it and veils it, until it is cut off by the inward appearance of the life and power of the Lord Jesus Christ inwardly revealed. Then when this is done, I can truly and sensibly say, I am a Jew inward. How so? How can that is proved? Why, I am inwardly circumcised. I have felt that within which circumcises the heart, and have borne the inward pain and cutting thereof, and am circumcised by it. That which stood between me and the Lord is cut off, the veil has been taken away, my stiff-necked and rebellious nature to God removed, the wall of separation is inwardly broken down, and now I am in true unity of Spirit and communion with my God, even with the Father, and the Son, in that One Holy Spirit by which they are One.
The Holy Truth Defended
By Lori Rodeheaver
“…and there was war again…”
If there is war, David is fighting. David is winning. He has God’s favor and protection. But Saul, aka Mister Big Britches, well, Saul is losing. He has God’s unfavor and displeasure.
Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.
9 But an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, 10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape. ~1 Samuel 19:8-10
Really, how desperate must a man be to sit in his own home with a spear in his hand? Meanwhile, David’s playing songs for the man – seeking only to help and relieve him. That’s the equivalent of sitting on my couch clutching a gun while those trying to serve and befriend me write me a song and sing me a hymn.
Saul was a sad, sorry excuse for a leader.
Once again, this miserable, insecure leader seeks to kill and destroy David’s life. But once again, God faithfully protects and preserves David completely. This whole shenanigan must be getting quite frustrating for Saul. Nothing he does seems to get him any closer to accomplishing his ill-intentions. God himself is frustrating his evil efforts. And he just keeps making himself look foolish and small.
Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning.~1 Samuel 19:11a
Saul’s plan was always the same – kill, defame, and destroy. There was absolutely no willingness on Saul’s part to trust a man who sought only to do good and serve his master. One has to wonder why. Why was there not peace in this relationship? I mean, if Saul had simply asked David to stay and truly sought to know him and find out his intentions, surely David would have obliged. Well, if Saul hadn’t been throwing spears at him, that is.
After failing with his murder plot once again, Saul becomes so desperate that he sends other people to “watch” David. Was this measure really necessary? I mean, if Saul had simply been the leader he should have been, would he really have had to resort to “watching” his subordinate? It seems that he did so for fear of what this righteous life might reveal about his own unrighteous one; for fear of what a man with God’s favor might show up in a man making pretense about God’s favor without it; for fear of losing his almighty, already rejected, position.
Clearly, David wasn’t an unreasonable man. On the contrary – he was extremely compliant and reasonable – especially towards his king. He served, he loved, he fought, and he did all that which he was obligated to do, and then some. If Saul had simply been man enough and leader enough to accept God’s will and get to know David as a friend, he would have had no need to clutch weapons as he sat at home. He would have had no need to try to kill an innocent man who had no intention of stealing his throne. He would have had no need to “watch” David’s every move waiting for an opportunity to destroy him.
But Saul wasn’t a good leader. He wasn’t a good man, and he certainly wasn’t reasonable.
Little wonder why David runs away. He’s got enough battles to fight! He doesn’t need a sergeant from his own camp throwing spears at him! David has no reason to stay where he is hated and repeatedly injured by one he seeks only to serve. Besides, David has a God to serve. There’s bigger fish to fry than having to worry about whether he’ll get to finish picking his favorite tune for fear of a jealous man’s rage. David’s out.
In this world, our wars wage on. We must fight, continually under the direction of our God if we seek to win. But the more battles we win, the more the Enemy will pursue us. He sits on his self-made throne, clutching weapons from the safest vantage point, in hopes to destroy us from under the radar. He masquerades as a king and a leader when all he is is a slanderous, murderous liar. The more Our God protects and preserves us, the closer that fake snake watches us. His jealousy and rage will not cease until our very blood is drawn.
Run away, Christian soldiers. Resist the devil and he will flee. Run to Christ and be delivered from evil.
Everyday Encounters with the Creator
Tammy and Clint Romesha
Former Army Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha, a native of Lake City, California, earns the Medal of Honor for service in Afghanistan.
The film The Outpost (2020), stars Scott Eastwood as Sergeant Clint Romesha. The film is about Romesha’s experience at Combat Outpost Keating in northern Afghanistan in 2009.
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Sgt. Romesha Awarded Medal of Honor
Clint Romesha – Wikipedia
The Outpost by Jake Tapper
Alvin C. York
GUNS UP!
The Outpost (2020)
The Outpost – Wikipedia
Intercessors are Great Warriors
There was this man who was a great warrior. He had been in many battles over the years. His body had many scars from bullet wounds, bayonet thrusts and artillery barrages. He was a sergeant in the army and he was 45 years old.
There was a platoon of soldiers dug in on some high ground—they were of the same army as the sergeant. The average age of the soldiers in the platoon was 19 years old; they were led by a 24-year-old 2nd lieutenant.
Ten miles away was an enemy force of three thousand soldiers. The sergeant placed himself between the platoon and the enemy. Whenever the enemy sent their soldiers to attack the platoon, the sergeant killed them with his rifle. This pattern continued for many weeks: the enemy would send their soldiers to attack the platoon and the sergeant would kill them all. The platoon was never touched, it was never in danger. The sergeant was their hedge of protection against the enemy.
One day the sergeant walked to the platoon to see how they were doing. The sergeant walked up to the 2nd lieutenant and told him about the many skirmishes he had fought with the enemy, so as to protect the platoon.
The 2nd lieutenant looked at the sergeant in stunned disbelief. He didn’t believe a word the sergeant said and began mocking him and ridiculing him. The 2nd lieutenant told the rest of the platoon what the sergeant had said and the whole platoon began laughing at the sergeant in derision.
The sergeant didn’t say another word. He shouldered his pack, his rifle and ammo and walked away from the platoon. Fifty yards from where the platoon was dug in, he took off his boots and shook the dirt from his boots in plain sight of the platoon. He put his boots back on and walked away. The platoon never saw him again.
A week later, the enemy launched an attack on the platoon’s position and killed all of the soldiers.
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I Samuel 25: 14-17: “But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.”
I Samuel 25: “Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.”
Intercession
Battlefield Commission
Overcome With Great Sorrow
A.W. Tozer Quote
Shiloh
Beat plowshares in swords
The Decline of the Oral Roberts Dynasty
Snipers in the Kingdom
Hog Pen Christianity
Alexander the Great: “An army of sheep”
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Shiloh
By Tim Shey
Brutal deathdance;
My eyes weep blood.
Pharisees smile like vipers,
They laugh and mock their venom:
Blind snakes leading
The deaf and dumb multitude.
Where are my friends?
The landscape is dry and desolate.
They have stretched my shredded body
On this humiliating tree.
The hands that healed
And the feet that brought good news
They have pierced
With their fierce hatred.
The man-made whip
That opened up my back
Preaches from a proper pulpit.
They sit in comfort:
That vacant-eyed congregation.
The respected, demon-possessed reverend
Forks his tongue
Scratching itchy ears
While Cain bludgeons
Abel into silence.
My flesh in tattered pieces
Clots red and cold and sticks
To the rough-hewn timber
That props up my limp, vertical carcase
Between heaven and earth.
My life drips and puddles
Below my feet,
As I gaze down dizzily
On merciless eyes and dagger teeth.
The chapter-and-versed wolves
Jeer and taunt me.
Their sheepwool clothing
Is stained black with the furious violence
Of their heart of stone.
They worship me in lip service,
But I confess,
I never knew them
(Though they are my creation).
My tongue tastes like ashes:
It sticks to the roof of my mouth.
I am so thirsty.
This famine is too much for me.
The bulls of Bashan have bled me white.
Papa, into your hands
I commend my Spirit.
Ethos
February/March 1997
Iowa State University
Genesis 49: 10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
The Road 