June 30 - 2 Kings 16:19-20 | 2 Chronicles 28:26-27 | Isaiah 13:1-16:14

Good morning everyone, 

This morning in Isaiah we come to what’s known as “the book of burdens.” Chapters 13-23 reveals a series of visions Isaiah has been given concerning nine nations surrounding Israel. It starts off with Babylon which is modern day Iraq, then in chapter fourteen moves on to the Assyria, the Philistines and then in chapter fifteen prophecies against Moab, modern day Jordan. 

Babylon; when Isaiah spoke the prophecy against them, Babylon was not yet a world power, only a small city on the banks of the Euphrates River. It would be two hundred years before Babylon would be a power player but what Isaiah is describing is not their rise but the fall of the empire, the story played out in the book of Daniel, chapter 5.

Moving on to chapter fourteen and the prophecy for Assyria. God’s message, “I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel” This prophecy came true and you can read about it in 2 Kings 19. Concerning the Philistines, Isaiah received this message from the Lord the same year king Ahaz died. Moab’s prophecy of an attack that would destroy them at  night also came about. What is the message here? God is calling all the shots. He sets it up and makes it happen, and just to make sure you know, to make sure we all know it is Him who is making all things happen, He tells us way in advance. He does not want any of us to get confused and think it was by our own might or coincidence events took place.

I was having a conversation with my husband today about how we have all been told in the Bible, everyone knows, that when the anti-christ appears on the scene, he is going to “make nice” with Israel and help them re-build the temple and then he is going to insist they worship him. They will realize they have been duped and run for their lives. Now even though we have been told this is going to happen, and by “we” I mean the world, Jews in particular, and we have plenty of opportunity to plan, to prepare and make an effort to not be suckered in, it will still happen. You can count on it. Why? Because God said it would. Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter, that is to say, no errors. Ten Bible prophecies were fulfilled after April 1948, when Israel became an independent country for the second time in history. The probability of that happening is so astronomical that it can only have been from God. Seriously! It is hard for most people to comprehend the magnitude of that event, and yet …… it did happen.

It is widely believed that nothing more needs to be fulfilled before the coming of Christ. The last prophecy that was even debatable was whether the gospel had been preached to all the nations. Then Billy Graham got on the air and presented the gospel to literally every country in the world, taking the debate off the table. That is not to say that God is now obligated to send Christ back tomorrow. No, not even. He may, in His mercy, wait one more day, which, in His economy of time, is as a thousand years. On the other hand, it could be today. We are instructed to live as if it could be any moment. Luke 12:35 says, "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning.” and 1 Peter 1:13 encourages us to, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” Amen?

have a great day and to God be the glory!

God bless you all …

June 29 - Isaiah 1:21-5:30

Good morning everyone,

Isaiah, whose name means “the Lord saves” served as a prophet to Judah during the rein of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, about 64 years. Isaiah, quoted at least fifty times in the New Testament, is considered the greatest Old Testament prophet, he brought powerful messages of judgement and hope speaking to not only the future of Judah but also addressing the doom that will fall on the whole world. Crazy to think about, right?, but it is coming.

This morning we begin our reading with God comparing the actions of His people to that of a prostitute. The religions, the false gods, of the east have mystified them and they have turned away from the true God but Yahweh is so loving and still offers a hope if they would come and reason with the Lord, be obedient to follow Him, He would restore and renew their land. 

Chapter two speaks to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem which must be rebuilt before the return of Jesus, however, it does not have to be rebuilt before the rapture of the church, that, my friends, could happen at any time. Are you ready? In verse 2 we read, “The Temple will be as the highest of the  mountains.” Verse 3, “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” Friends, we too should be gathering at His temple to learn His ways. There is a wonderful future awaiting those who will but bow to the Lord. We all will bow, bend a knee before Him sooner or later, Romans 14:11 says, "As surely as I live,' says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.” It begs the question, do you want to bow now or will you wait until judgement day when your destination may not be to your liking?

In the next few days we read how Judah does in fact fall, her people will not listen to God who spoke through Isaiah and they will suffer. We do not have to suffer like they did. It is so sad to see how so many people today are wandering around lost, searching for the “meaning of life” while rejecting God’s Word. We can fight the enemy and make a difference if we would, not only read, but understand the Bible, making it our standard for life. God loved us with a perfect love before we even cared to know Him, 1 John 4:19, “We love him, because He first loved us.” So, what’s your standard of life? I would encourage you to put away your false gods and be fed the bread of life; John 6:35, “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Never go hungry, never go thirsty, now to someone who really loves to eat, that is a great promise. :-) Joshua 24:15, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

June 28 - Isaiah 28:1-29 | 2 Kings 17:5 | 2 Kings 18:9-12 | 2 Kings 17:6-41 | Isaiah 1:1-20

Good morning everyone,

The day has come, we’re told in 2 Kings 17:5, “The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years.” At the end of the three years, Israel was deported. Why? Again, because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out. Now if you lived in Judah and heard of what the ten northern tribes were going through, one would hope that you would learn from it. Right? Sadly, instead of learning from the mistakes of their cousins in the north, they chose to follow along in their footsteps.

Eleanor Roosevelt was once quoted as saying, “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” God has got a plan for our lives, we can either do it the easy way by letting Him guide us, direct us and therefore receive the many blessings He has of us or we can be an obstinate people, head strong, always acting as though we know so much more than God which ultimately ends in hard knocks.

As every person who has ever been around a baby or small child knows, that when these small children are left to their own way of doing things, their own direction and curiosity, they would inevitably kill themselves. They push things in light sockets, shove any and everything in their mouths, wander out in the middle of the road, 

have no concept of height, and the list goes on. Even as they get older we are still telling them, don’t smoke, practice abstinence, stay in school, and it doesn’t stop there, for even still as adults, we are learning from those who went before us as to what works in life and what does not. Guidance. When we stray from this guidance, the consequence of choice can range from a reprimand to death.

When we read the Bible we should be learning from those who went before us. We should  recognize and understand that apart from a life with God, is certain suffering and eternal damnation. That’s not to say the Christian won’t have trials and suffer, because they will, maybe even more because Satan wants to wear you down, but Christians have the peace that surpasses all understanding and are better equipped to “deal” plus there is the living in heaven for eternity part, that personally, I am most looking forward to. The life of the “worldly” person may look fun, pretty enticing in fact, but it is an empty life, temporary at best, leaving you thirsting for more. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, a woman of the world, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” that “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” she said back to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

I would encourage you today to choose to push the world aside and drink from the Living Water. Don’t be like Judah who like their cousins in the north will also fall into captivity, choose to learn from those who went before you. Allow Jesus to lead you, Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” And all God’s people said ….. Amen!

Have a great day and to God be the glory!

God bless you all …

June 27 - Hosea 9:1-14:9

Good morning everyone,

This morning the first thing we read is, “Do not rejoice, Israel.” Here is a people God set apart from everyone else in all of the world, He loves them, He calls them his own and in Deuteronomy 28 promises them an abundance of blessings if they would but fully obey the Lord and be careful to follow His commands and He is such a fair and just God that He also allowed them to know the consequence of choice, the curses they would suffer should they decide to be disobedient. Sadly, that was the path they chose. They totally forgot all about God, worshiping every other god instead and let me just mention here, in reading through what some of these “gods” were about, how and where they were worshipped and for what, it is nothing short of disgusting. Seriously friends, Israel’s rebellion and isolation had caused them to loose discernment. They were gone. It is no wonder that God, with a broken heart, finally had had enough and used Tiglath-Pileser called Pul king of Assyria to begin the deportation of the ten northern tribes. It was not pretty the way they took them, either. We’re told in Isaiah and Ezekiel that fish hooks and ropes were used to lead them out. Friends, please remember this is all because God loved them so much He could not just stand by any longer and watch them destroy themselves.

Chapter 14 speaks to future salvation God’s promise of restoration. The people could return from their backslidden state simply by asking God to forgive their sins and repenting. We are no different from those of the ten northern tribes two thousand years ago. We often turn our back on God to watch movies that put murder and violence on a pedestal, or we skip church to worship some sort of sport or outing we deem more important. We choose to tell God “not today, I’m too tired” when it is time to get up to do devotions. Or we just plain fail to see the importance of passing God’s Holy Word on to our children, not even giving them a chance. The gods you or I choose to worship may or may not be as disgusting as those so long ago, but the truth of the matter is they are everywhere in our lives and they are every bit as destructive. Right? Anything, anything at all that we push God aside for, forget about God for is a false god and sooner or later we too will become desensitized and God will turn His back on us in our backslidden state.

The good news, repent, turn from your sins, ask God for forgiveness and He is right there waiting to welcome you back. If you have never asked God into your heart he is right there waiting for you too. Contrary to what the world have you believe, you must be born again to be able to get into heaven, you must ask Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior. Jesus is an exclusive Savior. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name in heaven given to men by which we must be saved” Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Eternal damnation, hell is the death being talked about while eternal life is with Jesus in heaven.

Are you ready to toss your false gods aside and commit or recommit to Jesus? I would totally encourage you to do it today. Do it now! Find someone to pray with you, to pray for you. Write me, I’ll pray for you. You will be so amazed at how peaceful and joyful your life can be when Jesus is you number one priority. Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

June 26 - Hosea 2:14-8:14

Good morning everyone,

This morning we continue with Hosea and the parallels being drawn between his relationship with Gomer and God’s relationship with the nation of Israel. We begin with verse 14 where it says, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.” Great things happen in the wilderness. When God had Moses rescue the people from Pharaoh’s bondage He took them into the wilderness. It was in the wilderness where Jesus was led by the Spirit and taught Satan a thing or two about who He is.(Matthew 4) It was also in the wilderness where Jesus fed four thousand with just seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. (Matthew 15:33) If you are experiencing a wilderness in your life right now, be encouraged; look for what God is trying to teach you and how He will provide for you.

In chapter three, Gomer leaves her marriage again and by all rights and laws of the time, Hosea could have taken her out to be stoned, but he loved her and so it was that he went into town and found her in the square, walking the streets as a prostitute, and he purchased her for a pitifully small amount, her worn diminished by time and lifestyle. This is a beautiful picture of the love God has for us. At any time in our life, in anyone’s life, no matter what they have done, God is right there trying to get your attention because His Son Jesus has already paid the price to purchase you, you need only repent and ask Him into your heart. 

I just want to say one small thing about sex outside of marriage, you will never ever be fulfilled within you soul with sex outside of marriage. It’s for sure God created us to be sexual and it is a beautiful thing between a husband and a wife, Genesis 2:24 says, ”Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." One flesh, every sexual encounter, whether within marriage or not, carries with it that mysterious deep bonding process of becoming "one flesh" with the other person. So when you are jumping from sexual partner to sexual partner there is a violent ripping apart of this "one flesh" bond; a tearing apart which goes to the core of one's being ultimately leaving you feeling empty and even lonelier than before. Your soul suffers, you may not feel it today, but it will take its toll. Though abstinence can be very difficult to attain after a life of promiscuity, limiting sex to marriage is not an option for the followers of Christ. There is strength in Jesus. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Amen?

Have  good day and to God be the glory.

God bless your day … 

June 25 - Isaiah 12:1-6 | Isaiah 17:1-14 | 2 Chronicles 28:16-21 | 2 Kings 16:10-18 | 

2 Chronicles 28:22-25 | 2 Kings 18:1-8 | 2 Chronicles 29:1-2 | 2 Kings 15:30-31 | 2 Kings 17:1-4 | 

Hosea 1:1-2:13

Good morning everyone,

Well, we did a little bit of book jumping today, starting off in Isaiah with a song of praise for a promised salvation. Countless times I have prayed verse two, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” Each and every day we all face battles on many different levels. The battle can be as simple as pushing the enemy out of the way so you can get up early enough to do devotions or as difficult as perhaps maintaining your integrity in the midst of a worldly polluted work force. The attacks of the enemy are innumerable, and he is relentless; he will nag, and push and work you until you cry out. The question is, who will you cry out to? Will you just give in to the persistent harassing of the enemy and in desperation cry out “fine!” and go the way of the world ? Or will you cry out to God to be your strength and defense and rest while He does battle for you. There is so much peace at the cross!

Chapter 17 of Isaiah is a prophecy of judgement against the Syrians, because they were in alliance with Ephraim, another name for the ten northern tribes, they would be judged first but inevitable doom looms for Ephraim as well. As we read down through Kings and 2 Chronicles we get a feel for the break down that is coming soon for the ten northern tribes, however in verse six of Isaiah 17 there is a “yet,” one tiny little word that holds so much promise for the people of Israel. God is so good.

Today we also got to meet Hosea who was the last prophet God sent to the ten northern tribes before they were destroyed and exiled by Assyria. God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute knowing she would be unfaithful to him and used Hosea’s life experience with his wife as a parallel to God and his bride, the people of Israel. They walked away, they chose to worship, to hang out with, to have their devotion, their allegiance to false gods of the world, other lovers, rather than appreciate the love and the devotion of God, of Yahweh, had for them. 

Our God is a gentleman, He will never ever force himself off on you or anyone else. Having said that, He is also a loving and devoted husband always waiting for you to ask Him back. Revelation 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” He wants to be with you, he wants to be with all of us. That’s what you do when you love someone, you can hardly wait to be with them.

My husband works on a boat and is gone for half of the year usually in two week increments. When he is gone, I start counting every moment until he returns because I love, love, love him and I love to be around him, he is an amazing guy. He is the real deal!! So when the day comes that his shift is over, it is with great enthusiasm I go to meet him at the terminal to bring him home, to have meals with, talk to (though he can get a little long winded … just sayn’) to plan with, to praise God with; but however much I absolutely love being with and showering love on my husband, God’s love for us is so much bigger and it is forever. Romans 8:38 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Yea? He is that forever husband!

I would encourage you to go to God, with urgency, you are His first love. Open the door, let Him in, He is always waiting for you to repent and run to Him. He yearns to demonstrate His love for you, and His compassion overflows when you return to Him. He is patient and faithful. When we get to Hosea 12:6 we’ll read, “But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.” Yes?! What is keeping you from crying out to Yahweh today? Don’t be a harlot, turn your back on the enemy and the ways of the world and run home to a compassionate, loving God who is waiting for you with open arms to bless you in ways you never dreamed possible. Proverbs 8:17 says, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” Go find Him, look for Him in everything you do today. Amen??

Have a great day and to God be the glory!!

God bless you all…

June 24 - Isaiah 8:1-11:16

Good morning everyone,

As expert weather people (wink, wink, nod, nod) we have all looked at the sky, seen huge masses of dark clouds looming off in the distance and said something to the effect of, “A storm is a brewing, better batten down the hatches, it will be here soon” then go about doing whatever we need to to get ready for it. Right? Well, this morning we read that the Lord spoke to Isaiah, told him, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.” which translated means "Hurry to the spoils!" or "He has made haste to the plunder!" Either way, because the children of God had rejected him for so long, refusing to turn to him, his wrath was on the way and it would be there soon. Now I don’t know about you, but that would scare the bejeebers out of me! Seriously!

Isaiah continues on cautioning them, to stay away from mediums and spirits who whisper and mutter, they are sure death. In the storms of our lives, to save our lives we must cling to the cross, wrap our arms and legs around it, and hold on tight with all of our might. In 2004 supermodel Petra Němcová was at a resort in Thailand when a massive tsunami struck. Petra suffered a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries, but she managed to hold on to the top of a palm tree, swaying in the sometimes high speed winds for eight hours, until she was rescued by Thai civilians and airlifted to a hospital. I remember watching her in an interview, after her recovery, with Diane Sawyer and thinking at the time, “Wow! Though thin and “girly” this strong young woman really wanted to live. Literally through her pain, her discomfort, a storm seriously raging in her face, whipping her hair around, trying to pry her arms off and suck her into it’s turbulence, she hung on for her life.” It was a visual I will never forget. A lesson that no matter what is raging against me, what storm I am facing, how desperately the enemy and his demons are either ferociously or subtly prying to snatch me away from God, it is with equal force that I must desperately cling to the cross and not allow myself to be ripped away from, what is safe and promises life. Jesus Christ, my Savior.

Life is, especially in the world of today, a storm of the highest magnitude, but the tougher times are still to come. You must know, we must know, really, really know our Bibles. Know God’s promises so that we are not fooled by Satan who we’re told in 2 Corinthians 11:14 “masquerades as an angel of light.” He will lie to you, and twist God’s words to make them sound something like scripture but it won’t be. He did it to Jesus, and he most certainly will do it to you too. You will need to know the truth of God’s Word to be able to say, like we read in Matthew 4:10, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

Read your Bible, but more than just letting the words go through your head, know what it is saying. Understand what is going on and what lessons you can take from it. Pray in God’s word like David did. Take any verse and insert your name, Psalm 25 “In you, Lord my God, I, Pam, put my trust.” Memorize verses, write them down and then pass on what the Lord has shown you because if you don’t you will become a stagnant Christian, you don’t want that. It feels so good to share. If you find any of this to be too hard, well then do what I do and ask for help. John 14:26 tells us, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” So hang out with the Holy Spirit, let him be your friend, your courage, your strength, your helper. He is so super glad to help. 

When you know Jesus, not just who he is, but know and understand His heart then you will not want to live in any way that would serve to hurt Him. Foul language will burn your ears, lewd behavior will repulse you and you will have an ernest desire to know more about Yahweh, His agape, unconditional, love for you, and the grace He longs to shower you with. He is the truth, the way and the life. Cling to Him, cling to the cross! Amen?

Have a great day and to Yahweh be the glory.

God bless you all …

June 23 - 2 Kings 15:32-38 | 2 Chronicles 27:1-9 | Micah 1:1-16 | 2 Kings 16:1-9 | 2 Chronicles 28:1-15 | Isaiah 7:1-25

Good morning everyone,

Wow! There is a lot going on this morning. We started off with Jotham, who reined for twenty five years and we’re told became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the Lord his God. His son Ahaz succeeded him as king, not such a nice guy, in fact pretty wicked. He set up pagan idols in the temple and then finally nailed the temple doors shut. He even went so far as to offer up his own children to the god Molek. Nice guy … not! This did not bode well with Yahweh. 

Micah the prophet comes on the scene today. His ministry lasted for about forty years, he is unique in as much as he is the only prophet sent to the northern and southern kingdoms, his message, predicting their fall. 

Then in Isaiah seven we read where God sends Isaiah to have a chit chat with the wicked king Ahaz. The ten northern tribes had formed an alliance with Syria and were going to stage an attack against Judah, however God, in all his mercy, always wanting to give us that one last chance, has something different in mind and so it was that Isaiah was sent to tell Ahaz not to be frightened that the invasion will never happen. I am sure Ahaz was thinking, “Yea … right!” so Isaiah told him to ask God for a sign. Ahaz says, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Not that he was holy, mind you, because he wasn’t, but because as we read he had already sought out the king of Assyria and felt it was in control. Isaiah, probably shaking his head, thinking, “Ahhh, if you only knew …” tells Ahaz, verse 13 “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Personally speaking, though not perfect, I purpose never to try the patience of God.

Moving on verse 9 says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Friends, I have said this before and I will probably say it again and again, take heed to 1 Peter 5:8-9 where he warns us “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” Do not think for one minute that you are safe because you are not! The enemy is out to get you, to get me to take out as many of us, that is to say Christians, as he possibly can and he will use every trick in the book to do it. It is imperative that you understand that when you became a Christian that you were drafted into God’s army and every day you are engaged in a battle with an unseen spiritual enemy who wants nothing more than to see you act sinfully and turn your back on God. Seriously!  Ughh, the enemy makes me stupid crazy as I can literally hear his hideous, cackling laugh towards me when he gets me to act ugly, or say something that’s not uplifting or … well, you know what I’m saying, out of God’s will for us. Jesus assured us of His love and promised us peace, but He also told us that in this world we would have tribulation and that we would be hated and persecuted. Believe it.

The good news, God promises us we are not in this alone, like Ahaz, God is right there to fight for us. Our job? Exodus 14:13, “Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today,” 2 Chronicles 20:17, “stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you,” Job 11:15 “stand firm without fear,” Psalm 20, 30, 33, 93, Proverbs, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the list goes on and on with the same message, “Stand Firm.” 

You may be discouraged or struggling with some pretty heavy life problems right now, we all do. Right? Nahum 1:7 says, "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knows them that trust in Him” and 2 Timothy 4:18 says,  “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.” Are you hearing that? Rescue me, rescue you, He will rescue all of us who call on Him, who stand firm, from every evil attack and will bring us safely to his heavenly kingdom. I would earnestly, sincerely, resolutely, firmly, ardently, fervently, eagerly, encourage you to learn to lean on Him with complete trust and acceptance of what He is allowing in our lives. He loves you! He loves, loves, loves you and always only wants what is best for you. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory!

God bless you all …

June 22 - Amos 7:1-9:15 | 2 Kings 14:28-29 | 2 Kings 15:8-29 | 2 Kings 15:6-7 | 2 Chronicles 26:22-23 | Isaiah 6:1-13

Good morning everyone, 

Today we finish up the book of Amos with a series of visions God gives him. The first two speak to Israel’s impending punishment the first by locusts the second by fire, however Amos fervently prayed, “ O Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He (Israel) is so small!” The Lord heard and relented from both plans. Prayer is such a powerful tool. A privilege, in fact. Lives can be altered, minds changed, nations saved by simply falling to our knees and calling on God. 

The third vision is one of a plumb line. A rather cool and yet oh so simple invention used to make sure a wall is straight in the construction of a building because we all know (or at least I do … don’t ask) a wall that is crooked will eventually fall. In this case God wants his people to be right with him, walking the straight and narrow. 

The third vision is that of over ripe fruit, again, we all know how stinky that can be after it has been left in a closed up, warm house for just a couple of days even. Right? The people of Israel who were once a beautiful people who loved and worshipped Yahweh were now corrupted by the false gods of the land and gone rotten. 

Judgement was inevitable and it would begin at the alter. Some commentators believe it is the alter in Bethel, while  others believe it was the alter at the Temple in Jerusalem but whatever the case may be, the destruction would begin at the center of the people’s lives, a place where they expected protection and blessings, and the destruction would be thorough. They would hit rock bottom for many, many years., however, God did promise a restoration. He promised to bring the people back from exile to the land He has set aside for them, their own land, never to be uprooted again. 

I love this promise, because I know what it is like to be a woman of God and to get off track, to hit rock bottom and then experience God’s sweet soft voice beckoning me to come back, growing me stronger and stronger in Him than I ever thought possible. Sometimes friends ….. sometimes, He has to break you, like he broke me, to make us all that we can be through Him. God, our Abba Father loves us so much more than we could ever begin to wrap our heads around, and when you love someone that much you want what is best for them even if it means allowing them to be taken into captivity to bring them to their knees. You know? When life brings you to your knees, you should, we all should, stay there and pray to, cry out to, Yahweh as David did in Psalm 57:1-2,” Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.”  Right?

Just one more thing for today, Isaiah 6 was a part of our reading, Isaiah gets this vision, if you haven’t read it, please let yourself be blessed and read it now because we are going to see stuff like this when we get to heaven. And what’s Isaiah’s reaction when he sees God? Well, while I am sure he had a plethora of emotions, he is so humbled by it all, he drops and says “Woe is me.”  A Seraphim flew to him with a live coal in his hand, touched his mouth and told him, “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Are you kidding! You can’t make this stuff up. This really happened, I love it. Then, while I am sure his head is still reeling from all that, he hears the voice, (Yes! THE voice) of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send me!” That, my friends, should be our mantra. “Here I am God. Send me!!” Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

June 21 - Amos 1:1-6:14

Good morning everyone,

Amos, the prophet, is another guy in the Bible I really like. He was a self proclaimed herdsman, a grower of sycamore figs, a country bumpkin, who came from a small town about ten miles south of Jerusalem. He is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible and was perhaps the very first missionary, sent to the ten tribes in the north, a nation that was doing pretty good at the time, to deliver a message God wanted them to hear. His messages were not real sophisticated but rather riddled with references to the farm life. I like that :-) God will use anyone to do His work. Many times at Calvary Chapel I heard, God does not call the qualified but qualifies the ones he calls. God actually likes to use those who are not qualified so that the credit does, indeed, go to God.

In 1:1 we read that Amos began his ministry two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah. Remember yesterday we read that Uzziah entered the temple and though not a Levite assumed the role of a priest? Well according to timelines calculated with information from Zechariah and Josephus this is when that earthquake occurred. It had to have been a whopper of a quake to leave leave such an impression that it was still being talked about 200 plus years later. Crazy; right? I love that kind of meshing and validation. 

Amos will begin his series of messages with the Syrians and then continue on addressing the different nations surrounding Israel. The people of Israel really liked these consequence of choice messages .… at first. I can see them in my mind’s eye, all assembled cheering; “Way to go God. Yea, that’s what they get!” Then Amos gets to Judah and the crowd, though still hurrahing it up, because after all Judah is their arch enemy, have got to be getting a bit fidgety; a little nervous realizing the judgements are getting a little closer to home. Then …. then, chapter three, “Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt.” I can only imagine the hush that fell upon the crowd as Amos began. The first charge against them being bribery, then slavery, then immorality, then insensitivity. Boy, he nailed these guys to the wall with the truth of their sins. He reminds them that the Ammonites were destroyed for doing the same things they are doing and of the times of drought and famine God brought on them in an effort to get them to turn back to Yahweh, all for not.

What does this say to us today? Well, to me it looks like, that while it was “good times” for the people of Israel, they had plenty of money, food, luxuries, really no worries, all appeared to be in order on the outside but on the inside their hearts were just not right. It begs the question how is your heart? How is my heart? Quite frankly, and please don’t judge, I sometimes have to check myself when I get impatient or angry at something. Ask myself, where did that come from? I look good on the outside but clearly there is some house cleaning that needs to be done on the inside if I am allowing something to rile me like that. What sin is there that is once more trying to surface? Pride? Righteousness? Selfishness? Could be anything, but what ever the sin, I will name it, claim it, then pass it along to God to take care of, asking His forgiveness. Then I will rest in the promise of His grace and mercy. Do you have anything that you need to name and claim then drop off at the foot of the cross for Jesus? Matthew 11:29 says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Can’t you just feel the weight getting lighter just by reading that? I do. Then Lamentations 3:22-23 promises, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! Because He first loved me. Amen?

Have a great day and and to God, our loving Abba Father be all the glory.

God bless you all …

June 20 - 2 Kings 14:1-14 | 2 Chronicles 25:1-24 | 2 Kings 13:12-13 | 2 Kings 14:15-16 | 2 Kings 14:23-27 | 2 Chronicles 25:25-28 | 2 Kings 14:17-22 | 2 Kings 15:1-5 | 2 Chronicles 26:1-21 | Jonah 1:1-4:11

Good morning everyone,

Pride by definition is a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people: a feeling that you are more important or better than other people. Proverbs 8:13 tells us that God hates pride and arrogance, evil ways and perverse conversation; these render men unwilling to hear his humbling, awakening, holy instructions. This morning we read about two kings whose pride was their downfall.

Amaziah, king of Judah was twenty five years old when he took the throne. We’re told he did what was right in the eyes of the the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. He liked to do war and apparently was very successful at it ….. until he wasn’t. Amaziah challenged Joash, king of Israel to battle. Joash tried to warn him off, his own advisors tried to warn him off, but Amaziah’s pride spurred him on. Ultimately he was captured, Jerusalem’s treasures stolen and his own people would assassinate him. 

Then, we’re told, all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah, he reined for fifty two years and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, temporarily bringing the nation out of idolatry. I like this kid. He was a real go getter, he made things happen. He was creative, inventive, he loved the soil he had people working fields and vineyards, he had a well trained army, he had a really good life ….. until he didn’t. Ahhh, pride! He was unfaithful to the Lord, presuming the position of a priest, lit incense in the temple. Azariah, the priest, backed up by eighty of his most courageous priests, (can you see these guys in the back ground kind of quivering but with mumbles of “yea, yea”) confronted the king. Uzziah became angry and while he was raging the Lord struck him with leprosy. He was banned from the temple and had to live in a separate house until the day he died. Tragic ending to a seemingly great life.

Over and over and over again we see it in scripture and in present day life how kind, humble, God fearing persons will slowly but ever so surely, let pride and arrogance, two of the enemy’s favorite tools, take over and destroy their lives. We forget that it is but by the grace of God that we have anything at all and that it all, in fact, belongs to Him. Right!? God calls us to avoid pride and take on humility as part of our character. Romans 12:3 says, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” 

It hurts my heart, it makes me sad that Uzziah went down, and that Solomon went down and that so many others we that have read about started out so well, but ended up choosing to be out of the grace of God. The lives of these men have been documented for us in the Bible (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) so that we can learn. So that we can recognize and fight the enemy before he gets a foothold in our lives. Friends, heed the warnings. Don’t let these men’s life stories be in vain. Don’t be sucker punched, subtly blinded by the enemy. God loves us. He loves you and he loves me, He desperately does not want to see us taken down by the the father of lies, Satan or his demons; quite the contrary, it is God’s deepest desire to bless us abundantly. Right on?

One quick thing about Jonah, it was fun to read the story today! Like visiting an old friend, yes? It is a great “mind’s eye” story, seeing Jonah just kicking the dust, sleeping in the hull of a ship, pouting on the hill above Nineveh. Man, while reading about Jonah this morning I thought, “how could you not want everyone to go to heaven?” Think about it. Hell is a for real place, a forever nightmare. The Bible tells us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation, God wants to see us ALL there :-) 

Alright, I’m out. A huge “thank you” from the bottom of my heart to all of you who are so faithful to follow me in my daily devotional. You totally help me to stay on task and faithful to what I truly believe God wants me to do. I love you guys and pray for you all of the time.

Have a brilliant day and to God be the glory!

God bless you all …

June 19 - 2 Kings 13:1-11 | 2 Kings 12:17-21 | 2 Chronicles 24:23-27 | 2 Kings 13:14-25

Good morning everyone,

We begin today back up in the north where Jehoahaz is now the king of Israel. This guy did evil in the eyes of the Lord and so, we’re told, the Lord’s anger burned against Israel for a long time. It had to have been very draining, exhausting even because, alas, Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor. He was wise enough to know that the oppression they were suffering was a direct result of them turning their back on God, their sinful behavior; so what what did God do when Jehoahaz called out to him? God listened to Jehoahaz and then provided a deliverer for them. This absolutely blows me away. Our God is such a loving, compassionate God. Here is a people God knows will turn their backs on him again, and yet He loves them so much that His cup overflows and he helps them out. 

Our God is so slow to anger and desperately wants to bless us and is prepared to give us the benefit of the doubt in any situation if we would but call on him.  Several years ago, a couple decades in fact, I was living in California and this dear girl in her mid twenties was moving to New Mexico to go to school. She was going to be driving by herself and pulling a U-Haul trailer behind a little Honda Accord, a huge task for her to take on. She did not have a relationship with Jesus or even believe in God for that matter and was a little nervous about the whole trip. She came to me one day before she left and asked if I would pray for her as she traveled across the country and of course I was honored to do so. If I remember correctly it was a three or four day trip crossing the desert, over treacherous mountain passes through countless cities and strange faces. When at last she arrived to her destination (this was in a day before cell phones) she called me, her heart obviously moved, as she relayed the story to me of how while on her journey she had encountered a storm over one of the mountain passes. She got a little frightened as the trailer she was pulling started getting a bit wobbly. It was then, she told me, a beautiful rainbow arched over the road in front of her and she knew all was was going to be okay. She knew I had been praying to “my God” for her and it was a sign from Him that all would be good. To this day she still does not call Jesus her Lord and Savior but there is a seed there growing.

The point is, God loves us ALL so very much. Why? Because God is love. An agape, selfless, unconditional love. An infinite and perfect love, greater than any love that we can ever imagine, love. Our human ability to love is finite, that is to say, we keep it in a box and limit it, and then ….. then we apply those same boundaries to God’s love. But friends, God’s love has no boundaries; God’s love is full of mercy and compassion for all who ask for it. Oh for sure He desperately wants you, he wants us, to have a personal relationship with him which would allow us to spend eternity with Him in heaven but relationship or not, God’s love is an absolutely free gift of God’s very self to all of us. That is so cRaZy great! Right? When I think about it, my mind can not get that big to wrap around it. (no old jokes please:-)) I find myself totally perplexed at why everyone does not claim the peace, joy and love of Yahweh. 

Romans 8:38-39 tells us, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” NOTHING can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus! And all God’s people said …. Amen!

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

June 18 - 2 Kings 11:1-3 | 2 Chronicles 22:10-12 | 2 Kings 11:4-12 | 2 Chronicles 23:1-11 | 2 Kings 11:13-16 | 2 Chronicles 23:12-15 | 2 Kings 11:17-21 | 2 Chronicles 23:16-21 | 2 Kings 12:1-16 | 2 Chronicles 24:1-22 | 2 Kings 10:32-36

Good morning everyone,

Well, this morning we are going to travel back down to Judah where we find Athaliah, the mother of king Ahaziah, you remember him; right? He was killed by Jehu the same day Jehu killed king Joram while carrying out his orders to wipe out the entire family of Ahab. Anyway, with king Ahaziah now dead his mother, not such a sweet woman, is going to do all in her power to secure the throne, giving orders to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah; (yikes! that’s not good for us!) all of her sons and grandsons, leaving her to rule the land.  However, unbeknownst to her, there would be one who escaped. With the help of his Auntie, little one year old Joash, along with his nurse, were quickly swept away and hid in the temple of God for six years.

 In the seventh year Jehoiada the priest felt it was time to put the king on the throne, so he gathered the Levites and the heads of the Israelite families to an assembly where they made a covenant with the king, seven year old Joash, at the temple of God. Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David.” They brought him out into the open, and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!” As you can imagine, when Athaliah heard all the commotion  and realized her plan had at long last failed, she was not a happy person, tearing her robes and shouting, “Treason!” They promptly marched her out and put her to death. Then, Jehoiada made a covenant that he, the people and the king would be the Lord’s people. Love that! Don’t you? 

Preserving the life of Joash was a big deal for Christians. Had the line of David ended so would end any hope that we have for salvation because God tells us in Isaiah that that is where our Wonderful Counselor will come from. It comes as no surprise that God had his way over the evil attempts of Satin. You can always believe and act on anything, on everything God says he will do. God always tells the truth. 

I loved in todays reading how in 2 Kings 11:10-11 they took the spears and shields hanging from the walls that King David had used in his victories and used them in their battle. It begs the question, what victories do you have, do we all have, hanging on our walls that we can take down and use to fight for someone else? What wondrous deeds has God blessed you with to share to encourage others? We all should be exploding with “This is what the Lord has done in my life today,” stories, sharing His goodness. Because you know what? We all have suffered in some way, needed to exercise faith at some time and it is so much easier to go through anything when we know someone else has been there and survived. It gives us hope, it helps us to recognize wicked lies of the enemy as just that, lies. Right? 

So let’s be one in Christ, united, supporting one another. 2 Chronicles 30:12 reads, “Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.”  The enemy prowls around looking for that sheep who is straying, poised to pounce. 1 Corinthians 10:24 says, “People should be concerned about others and not just about themselves.” I would encourage you to look for those stray sheep and use your weapons of victory to help and encourage them. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

June 17 - 2 Chronicles 21:8-20 | 2 Kings 8:23-29 | 2 Chronicles 22:1-7 | 2 Kings 9:1-10:17 | 2 Chronicles 22:8-9 | 2 Kings 10:18-31

Good morning everyone,

Well, today we are going to see how God uses a non-believer to accomplish his goals. Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” In chapter nine of Kings, Elisha sends one of his junior prophets to Ramoth Gilead in quest of Jehu with a message from the Lord anointing him king over Israel and that he is to destroy the house of Ahab in an effort to rid the the nation of the false god Baal. Upon receiving the information, Jehu wastes no time in first killing the reigning king, Joram, to secure the throne and then proceeds to do what he was told to, turning the nation into a blood bath. Seventy sons of Ahab were brutally murdered, their heads lopped off and delivered to Jehu. Then Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor. Then headed out toward Samaria where he killed all who were left in Ahab’s family. Brutal you say? Or consequence of choice. It all goes back to Deuteronomy where God flat out tells them, flat out tells us, that if we would just live how God calls us to live he would bless us abundantly. If we don’t, He will turn His back on us.

Regardless of what our beliefs are, every person in the world is a possible vessel for God, that’s what we’re here for, right? When we get to the book of Isaiah we will see that Nebuchadnezzar, though a babylonian pagan was a servant of God; Cyrus the Persian king, God called him his anointed one and said, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please.” God used Satan to accomplish his goals.  And let us not forget Judas, who fulfilled the Scriptures and the predictions of the prophets on that night he betrayed Jesus. So God can use anyone.

This certainly begs the question, how is God going to you? For good? Or for an example of what not to be like. No matter where you are in your life, believer or not, God can change you and use you to influence people for Christ.  Let’s take a look at the apostle Paul who as Saul was a very unlikely candidate for service to the Lord apart from wicked. He hunted Christians down, he was feared by all, doing everything in his power to destroy the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, one day, God met Saul on the road to Damascus. Changed his heart, changed his name and the rest, as they say, “is history.”

Can God use your life for good? Are you saved, that is to say, a born again Christian? John 3:7 says, “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.” Are you fully surrendered to God, and if so, available for his use? Examine your heart, pray and ask God to reveal to you if there is any sin you need to confess. Anything holding you back from being used in a beautiful way to further God’s kingdom. After all, as Pastor Rick Warren has been quoted as saying, "It's not about you." Life is about God. God is the Creator of all, and all of creation, including me and you, exists to bring Him glory. Believing and living otherwise is a never-ending, empty uphill battle. 

Romans 12:1 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -- the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?” And all God’s people said … Amen!

I pray you have an amazing day and to God be the Glory.

God bless you all …

June 16 - 2 Kings 5:1-8:15

Good morning everyone,

Gosh there is so much packed into today’s reading. In a word … Amazing! We started off with the the commander of the army of Aram, Naaman. What I loved most about this story, and I use that term loosely as they are more than stories, they are actual events that happened and have been retold in the Bible. Much the same as me telling the account of how Matt tore down the old dilapidated fence and reconstructed a new one, the only difference being you’ll only find that story in my journal, not the Bible. Anyway, like I was saying, what I love most about this story is how the young girl from Israel was sharing the story of Elisha, God’s prophet and that’s what led to Naaman being saved. 

It is so important that, as Christians, we reach the hearts of the young so they, in turn, can share the Good News. In 2004 a study was completed indicating that nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching the age of 13, and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday. The young have an innocence, an acceptance that fades with age. If we want, and we most certainly want, our children to go to heaven, then we have got to be telling them about Jesus from even before they are born and they in turn will pass it on, leading others to be saved. Right on?

Well, I would like to expound on Naaman, the floating ax head and the famine, lots to glean from there, but I only have so much room and I really want to touch on spiritual warfare. In chapter six we are told that the king of Aram believes there is a trader in the house because “somehow” Israel always knew when he would be attacking them.  He’s furious and confronts his men and they tell him, “Yea, not us king. It is the prophet Elisha. He even knows what you say to your wife in your bedroom.” (What!! he’s thinking. Oh please see this in your mind’s eye) Now fuming, the king sends his men out to capture Elisha. Elisha’s servant wakes up the next morning, steps outside and sees that they are completely surrounded by Aram’s army. The dude quickly jumps back in the tent, looks at Elisha and exclaims, “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” Elisha calmly looks at him and says (I love this!)  “Don’t be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then asks the Lord to open his eyes to see the magnitude of God’s army there to protect them. You can not make this stuff up. It is so awesome!!!

My little granddaughter loves to come spend the night. Several years ago she was going through a time when she would have terrible nightmares, to the point where she did not want to go to sleep. She would lay awake for hours frightened of what would wake her if she drifted off. Finally she confided her fears in me and so it was that we began to pray for the soldiers of God to surround her, to protect her in her sleep. Every night she stayed, when it was time for bed, we would talk about what we thought a mighty warrior of God looked like standing there with sword in hand not letting anything evil or ugly or scary pass through. We would also ask for God to not only keep the bad dreams out but to also allow her sweet dreams and in the morning, every time, she in fact had received the protection from God’s mighty warriors and had sweet dreams. I love God’s faithfulness!

Friends, spiritual warfare is for real. It would be a very frightening experience, probably your worse nightmare ever, if you were allowed to have your, if I was allowed to have my, eyes opened to all the spiritual activity going all around us at any given moment each and every day. I am certain we would be amazed at how many times an angel has helped us and we didn’t even know it. Psalm 91:11 tells us, “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Hebrews 3:2 says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Angels ministered to Jesus to strengthen him in Gethsemane at his suffering. Angels also appear at His tomb to roll the stone away when he resurrected and they appeared when He was taken to heaven at his ascension by the Father. I promise you, Angels minister to you too! Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

June 15 - 2 Kings 2:1-25 | 2 Kings 4:1-44

Good morning everyone,

The Bible is so amazing. I find almost every day is another “Oh, that’s another one of my favorite stories” day, and today is no different. When I read about Elijah and Elisha, the names kind of make me chuckle reminding me of my own daughters names, as in the english language they sound so familiar. My oldest daughter I named Kari, I love the name and she wears it well. My younger daughter I named Karin, now I know it seems I lacked imagination and creativity, but there was a method to my madness I may share someday, but for now let’s, for a moment, look at these gentlemen’s names. 

In the Hebrew when you see the word “El” in a name it means God. The “i” means “my” so the name Eli translates to “my God.” Elijah means "My God is the Yahweh," or "My God is the LORD."  Elisha means "My God is salvation."  Together the two prophets will travel on a journey, wandering around the Jordan River valley meeting minor obstacles while Elijah-My God is the Yahweh mentors Elisha-My God is salvation. Elijah giving Elisha every opportunity to walk away, but each time Elisha would tell him, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” 

When they get to the Jordan River, Elijah rolls up his cloak, struck the water with it and the water divided so that they could walk across on dry ground. 2:9 tells us, “When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. It was a request to carry on Elijah’s ministry. Then suddenly, (this is a mind’s eye moment friends) verse 11,  a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Do you think he was waving good-bye? How amazing would that be!?! Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father!” 

For seven or eight years Elisha was Elijah's close attendant, his confidant,his friend. He loved him and so while sad, I’m sure, he turns in the wake of that amazing chariot, picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen and went back to the bank of the Jordan where his first miracle of his ministry would be the exact same as the the last one of Elijah’s.

So how does this apply to you or to me today? Well, no matter the task, we all need mentors in our lives, we learn by example, right? The more important the venture is, the more important it is that you, that we all, have a mentor. Getting to to know God as intimately as you can and passing that information along, is a pretty big undertaking, I would say, definitely a great area to have a mentor in place. Our mentors don’t necessarily have to be someone we see every day, someone we know or even someone who is alive. One of my biggest mentors (is that how you would say that?) a person I most strive to be like, though he has moved to heaven now, is Pastor Chuck Smith. Oh, I never met the man but his calm, his peace that surpassed all understanding, his undeniable love for the Lord, will be forever seared in my mind’s eye from the few times I saw him interviewed online or heard him speak on the radio. I want, I desperately want what he had here on earth so it is from his books and the memory of the way he conducted his self that I try to pattern my life.

Who do you pattern your life after? What do you read that influences you? What programs do you watch that serves to effect your behavior and speech. Who is your mentor? Jesus made His style of mentoring clear: He led so that we can follow. He said, “If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me” and Paul said “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” I like that. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless your day …