in Him I have a shelter

"How happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How happy is the man the LORD does not charge with sin, and in whose spirit is no deceit!

When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer's heat. Selah Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and You took away the guilt of my sin. Selah

Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You at a time that You may be found. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. Selah

I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with My eye on you, I will give counsel. Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding, that must be controlled with bit and bridle, or else it will not come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the LORD will have faithful love surrounding him. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart." Psalm 32 (HCSB)

Unconfessed sin; in my silence I feel the weight of guilt bearing down onto me. The Lord's hand heavy upon me, reminding me that there is something we need to discuss and bring into the open.

Giving up, I turn to God and confess what He already knows; He has been waiting to hear me admit my transgressions. With my honest admission relief comes like a wave. I open my mouth and my heart to my God and He removes the oppression of my stubbornness, my deceit, my disregard for His instruction. He forgives.

In my God I find release and relief, in Him I have a shelter, a peace, a joy, His comforting presence.

He reminds me that He has plans for me, structure, progress, purposeful travel. He whispers to me and I incline my ear to His voice. He corrects my stubbornness and reminds me that faithfulness is rewarded with understanding, His love encompasses me and brings my heart to song.
I shout out, "I am loved by the God of All Creation! He knows my name!"

I am His anew, again.

There has never been a time such as this, when we have had such a wealth of resources to assist us in our study of God's Word, the Holy Bible.

Please enjoy one of my recently updated pages, Bible Helps and Study.

It is my prayer that your study of God's Word may be helped in some way by the information gathered here.

"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior; because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY"." 1 Peter 1:14-16

Author Jerry Bridges, in his book "The Pursuit of Holiness" states, "God has called every Christian to a holy life.". He defines holiness as, "nothing less than conformity to the character of God".

"Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing." Habakkuk 1:13a

God is holy, does not consider evil, always does that which is right and just.

He is the standard.

I wonder how the gaps between my family and I, and everyone else around me, would be bridged if I took to heart, to purpose, the mandate to walk in a Godly character all the time.

My family would be blessed to see God emulated and I would be blessed to see my family following an example to live a life in pursuit of Godlike character.

Father God, help me to consider your heart before I open my mouth to speak. Help me to consider your holiness before I take a step in any direction.

I know that I shall be misunderstood-understood, ridiculed and persecuted for standing for your righteousness. I know that those who remain "in ignorance" will not fathom you and will not understand your perfection.

Help me, Lord, to be unbending and unyielding in following you; not without mercy or compassion, but without compromise.

Help me, Lord. to be that beacon of light you designed.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Matthew 5:10-16

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.

You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Tonight we are in prayer for a family close at hand. We are reminded of our own struggles in similar areas and we are reminded of the very real battle we all do face as saved believers. I am reminded of the battle that was waged for me eleven years ago and of the hard fought victory that was won by the mighty hand of Jesus, through the prayers of the church, the faithfulness of the saints.

My wife reminded me tonight of the dire need to not "move from the wall", the hedge of protection that must be mounted around our children. We must be firmly planted on the wall, not allowing the cares of this world to distract us, not allowing the wiles of the enemy to move us off our God appointed post.

Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, Chapter 6, verses 10-18, from the Amplified Bible:

"In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].". (Amplified Bible)

Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.

For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].

Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God, And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.

Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people)

As the people of God, as His children, as His chosen and bonded saints, we fight. We fight or we are defeated in this world.

All armies have a purpose, to overcome the enemy. We, saved believers, have a purpose as the "Army of God", to stand against the enemy.

Satan and his troops fight, not against God, but against you and me, God's army in this world. We have a need to resist the strategies of the devil. The war is real.

Put on the armor God prepared for you to use in this battle. Use it. Use it in the confident knowledge that Jesus won the victory, but we must maintain the peace, in the power of the Holy Spirit, using the weapons and strategies God left here for us.

It's a real war and there are very real casualties; our children, our spouses, our families, our friends, our cities, our countries.

Some deny the existence of Satan and his demon warriors as myth, fantasy, metal illness, or as some aspect of the bible long gone and "not for today". He is real, he is here today and he will be with us to the "end of the age". We have a need to be mindful, to be prepared and to not waiver; to stand.

Stand, hold your ground, lift up the shield, swing the sword.

Chuck Swindoll mentions 1 Corinthians 16:13 as a charge to men, to dads.

Verses 13 and 14 state, "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.".

This is a man in the faith, alert, standing rock solid, not confused about who he is, strong and unwavering, uncompromisingly filled with the love of God for those around him.

I want to be like this. Father God, help me to be like this.

Help me to keep my mind, my eyes, my ears open to the truth and to not be misled in any thing, by anyone. Help me keep watch over my family and friends.

Help me keep my feet firmly planted on The Rock. The Truth has set me free, hold me up that I may not waver in any direction.

Father, I want to be the man You designed me to be, confirmed in You.

Give me the strength to endure the trials that beset me and to give a solid arm to those who need the same from me.

Help me to love, my God, with a pure and undefiled passion that overflows of Your love. Help me to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Help me show my wife and my children You, working in me.

Help me Lord, to be a man.

Git R Done!

Long before Larry the Cable Guy lifted this bit of southern dialect from Ben Johnson's character in John Wayne's "Rio Grande", Jesus reminded us to be about our Father's work.

In John 9:4 Jesus states, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.".

We have work to do and we need to be steadfast about it.

As we begin our new year, I challenge you to keep Jesus' challenge fresh in your mind, and ask you to hold me accountable to the same.

Our Lord has given to all of us the discipleship commission found in Matthew 28, the task of spreading the Good News, to be a specific light to and in a dark and dying world.

Each one of us will also be given specific tasks from our Lord, using our personal spiritual gifts, to further accomplish His will in a variety of arenas.

We are designed to be involved, to be participants in God's plan for this world. Each one of us has a responsibility to seek out and discover the Lord's specific call on our life and then to "Git R Done" to God's glory!

superheroes

"Superheroes are strong, cool, helpful men and women. You can depend on them in every kind of way to help when you need help, to fight for justice, to protect the weak, and to defend the world."

My young friend Caleb wrote these words in a recent essay, and as I read them I considered some of the roles of the church.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

In Matthew 25:34-36, Jesus said, Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me."

In our American culture, we often look to the government to provide care for the sick, the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the misguided and the lost; but that's not what our Father in heaven had in mind. We, the church, are blessed to be a blessing.

God gave Himself for us. He desires us to give ourselves to others, to be super heroes to those in need, "in every kind of way to help when you need help, to fight for justice, to protect the weak, and to defend the world.".

We who call ourselves by the Name of The Lord have a mission. Let's work together to fulfill that mission.

it's all His

Psalm 24:1 (NAS) "The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it."

Each one of us is a caretaker. We are provided by God with the things of this world and are expected to be good stewards of these provisions; we must carefully consider how best to serve God and give glory to His name with them.

I must purpose to be a faithful tither, cheerfully returning to God the "first fruits" of His provision.

I must be watchful for opportunity to bless others with my abundance and with my lack.

I must be faithful in praise and in thanksgiving to the Giver of all creation.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NAS) "And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work."

The first instance I have found recorded in the Bible of one person praying for the healing of another is found in Genesis 20.

God tells Abimelech in a dream that he should return Abraham's wife to him and that Abraham will pray for him, God's curse against him will be removed and he and his family will live.

Gen 20:7 "Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.

Gen 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, Gen 20:18 for the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech's household on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife."

Our Father has long used the prayers of His children to affect the lives of others in this world.

Why do atheists expend so much energy railing against something they believe not to exist?