DISCOVERING THE BIGGEST LOSER – Nov 6

“God settles the solitary in a home…” Psalm 68:6a

I recently returned from a business trip to the Los Angles, California area. Like many business trips,  I found myself with an afternoon departure time leaving me with a long morning of free time.  Since I was going to be lingering through a day, I decided to do my lounging outside the confines of TSA.  My client had mentioned the Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area. Since I collect National Park lapel pins, I decided to take this opportunity to collect another. Therefore, I weaved my way along the Ventura Freeway amongst the morning commuters and a rising California sun to the Park visitor center. This visit was unique to other parks I have visited due to the solitary of the experience. I pulled my rental car under a shade canopy in the visitor center parking lot. Mine was the singular vehicle occupying a space designed for many. I got out of the car and looked for other visitors. There were none. I was the only visitor on this morning. I perused the exhibits of the visitor center and learned that I was on the King Gillette Ranch. This had been a ranch commissioned by King Camp Gillette, of the Gillette razor fame and fortune, as a “paradise on earth, California style” in the late 1920’s. I meandered from the Visitor Center along a nature trail lined with native plants, intent on working my way to see the Gillette Ranch House. In typical California fashion, the trail did not lead to the Gillette ranch house so I had drive. I found my way to yet another parking lot only this one was filled with cars. While I now parked with other cars, the atmosphere was still unsettling due to the absences of people. I wandered toward the buildings in search of King Gillette’s California styled paradise. Oddly, all of the buildings appeared to be in some sort of administrative use. There were no tourist directions or information kiosks. “Very strange”, I thought as I slowly gazed across the campus from the steps of its largest building, wondering what I should do. That was when I saw a young lady, hustling fawn-like, across the grass expanse disappearing down a trail on the opposite side. I considered returning to my car and heading back to the airport, since I had no idea what lay down the trail she traveled. However, she looked intent so I decided to follow my new “Mrs. Tumnus” and explore this rather drought stricken caricature of paradise. She led me under a grove of oaks and down a slightly descending trail. The tree canopy diffused the intensity of the sun but the appearance of activity ahead was still cloaked behind the glare particular to California. I could make out approximately a dozen people milling about as I strolled closer but that was not what focused my attention. It was the cameras. There were four cameras; two sets each focused on separate points of interest. I quickly stopped because the path  I was on was going to take me directly across their back-sight. I looped around to another trail that took me further away from the activity but still let me investigate what was going on. I immediately knew what was occurring from the voice that rushed across the woodland. “C’mon, pick up that jump rope. Two minutes; start…now!”, I had to restrain myself from instinctively jumping in-place. Jillian Michaels, the tormentor of my basement workouts, was leading a workout of two hapless fellows. My wife and I had filled our winter mornings doing the Jillian’s Body Revolution.  Therefore, I knew that voice and right there in front of me stood the rather small body of that distinctively large voice. As I looked closer, there was Bob Harper over in the corner, having an intimate discussion with one of his competitors that did not look as intimate with two cameras peering over their shoulders. I looked around me and saw a beige building with “Biggest Loser” sprawled across its entrance. I had stumbled upon the filming of an episode of the Biggest Loser. This may have been the Gillette Ranch but it is now more famous as the Biggest Loser Ranch. I pulled out my cell phone and started taking pictures, which drew the attention of an official looking individual. He approached me and inquired as to whether I was “with the show”. When he discovered that I lacked the appropriate credentials, he informed me that they could not allow me to be taking pictures. I apologized but when we continued to stare awkwardly at each other, I realized that my presence was not entirely welcome. So, I decided that it probably was time to head back to the airport rather than participating in a game of “catch me if you can” around the Biggest Loser ranch. Once I was back in the secured confines of the Burbank airport, I reflected upon how cool my little adventure had been. The unexpected surprise revealed from following “Mrs. Tumnus” provided an enjoyment, whose memory still engenders a smile within me. I would never have had the fun of discovery if I had not taken the initiative to do something different. You just never know what you might stumble upon when you explore beyond your security zones. A quick inspection of my life reveals a busy mind hard at work constructing a myriad of security zones. However, they are not really for security, but more for comfort. My tendency is toward the comfortable solitary.

My preference has been to read a book at the airport rather than explore the unfamiliar.

I cringe when confronted with social mingling in its various forms.

I would rather have on one real conversation than twenty superficial discussions of the weather.

I have turned from gatherings due to the absence of an insider to make my introduction.

I have curiously watched many a “Mrs. Tumnus” walk over a ridge into the unfamiliar and merely returned to the security zone of a known life.

I have written about being an introvert before (Hello, My Name is JD and I’m an Introvert). Yet, I still find it an embarrassing admission that even now with so many gray hairs in my beard, my actions can still be dominated by such a childlike preoccupation with self. My little surprise in the Santa Monica mountains reminded me that while it is fine to be an introvert (I needed my own blog to preach that back to me) there might just be wonderful discoveries just beyond the safe boundaries that we have established for our self-esteem. Maybe, the curious draw of the “Mr. Tumnus” or “Mrs. Tumnus” that we encounter is really the Spirit leading us to an enjoyment that will bring a lasting smiling to our hearts.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for giving me a little surprise in the Santa Monica mountains.  Thank you for for encouraging me to go beyond my comfort zone while reassuring me that there is nothing wrong with me.  Lord, please make this disposition to be with people that you have given me be a blessing to others.  Lord, lead me to the wonderful surprises you have awaiting.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

NONE CARE FOR CHUCK – Oct 21

“Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.” Psalm 142:4

Our duck, Chuck, cannot fairly be considered our duck. Chuck lives with us or, more accurately, around us. He was delivered to our home by some friends needing to relocate Chuck. Chuck needed to exist at a new home or he was soon to cease existing.

My wife, who has a soft spot for ducks, agreed to take in Chuck.

Chuck is a Muscovy duck. Muscovians can fly and perch in trees. They are a very hardy duck. Even so, we originally enclosed Chuck in our chicken coop at night. Coyotes roam our vicinity and we have lost several chickens in the night’s darkness to a local pack. We did not want Chuck to become “foie gras” for a coyote, so each night we herded him into the refuge of the coop.

However, Chuck is a large, male, bird. This means he eats a lot, without producing any eggs. We noticed a steep increase in the consumption of chicken feed after Chuck took up residence in our coop. The chicken food consumed by Chuck was proving to be expensive amusement of watching him waddle across our lawn. Our friends told us that they had never put Chuck in their chicken coop and he had survived.  So, Chuck has been deprived of the refuge of the coop.

I was awakened at 3 AM last week to the yipping of several coyotes. I groggily remembered that I had forgotten to close the gate to the chicken coop. I pulled myself out of bed, slipped into rubber boots, and headed outside with flashlight in hand. The sounds of the coyotes immediately cease as I closed the door behind me. They were close.

I went into the coop and counted my chickens. They were all silently and safely roosting. I looked for Chuck as I closed the coop gate behind me. He was nowhere to be seen so I headed back to the house. I wished Chuck good luck as I went back to bed.

The following morning, there was Chuck waddling across the lawn. He had made it. “Good for you, Chuck”, I thought as I ate my oatmeal.

We don’t really provide care to Chuck. We give him inexpensive corn and water, but as far as security, Chuck is on his own.  I look for Chuck each morning, half expecting to see a strewn patch of feathers signifying the demise of Chuck the duck. Yet, I am pleased to see him make it through the night…”good for you Chuck”.

I know that many people feel that God has the same attitude toward them, as I have for Chuck.  I have heard too many times the adage, “God helps those who help themselves”. It is an unspoken belief that God sleeps through our dark nights, coming to our aid only when we have shown enough resilience to survive to the dawn.

Those who are in Christ are not Chucks. We are the precious children of our Heavenly Father, for whom He provides care.

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own knows me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:12-15)

Our God cares not only enough to get out of bed when He hears the threatening sounds of wolves, He cared enough to send His own Son as the good shepherd to lay down His life for the sheep – you who know His voice.

You are cared for, Beloved of God, even when you feel like you are without refuge. “Good for you, JD” is not the affirmation I receive from God as I emerge from a trial or temptation. He is the good shepherd who watches over me through my long nights. He is our refuge who closes the gate of our soul to the wolves of darkness. He is the one who cares for us as we are silently sleeping in the security of our faith.

Therefore, we need to remember the love of our Father and learn to cry out to Him as the Psalmist when dark thoughts threaten our security:

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings. (Psalm 61:1-4)

PRAYER: Father, thank you for being my refuge.  Thank you for caring for me.  Thank you for your Son – who layed down his life for me.  Thank you for sustaining me through every trial and temptation.  Thank you for leading me to the rock that is higher than I.  Thank you for being my strong tower against the enemy even when I am unaware of the danger around me.  Lord, let me take refuge in the shelter of your wings.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

“SEEING JESUS” – Nov 16

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw several golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.   In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”  Revelation 1: 12-16

Christopher JL / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

I know that my eyes do not work the same as others.  I perceive a world unseen by those who have stumbled against the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When I became a new creation, my vision became inverted to my previous awareness.

I do not see the same man hanging on a Roman cross, thousand years ago, as many.  Many see a good man; tortured and beaten.  They see a teacher of a unique philosophy that was brutalized by a cruel system.  They see a revolutionary crushed by an empire.  They see a philosopher with ideas that transformed the world.

mareeshastar / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

That is not who I see on that cross.

I see a King.  I see the most powerful warrior to have ever walked this earth, following His orders.  I see the Divine, who could vanquish the world with a word, allowing the created to abuse Him.  I see the most glorious act of love that this world will ever know.  I see the savior of the world.  I see my Savior.

I hear the call of my Father when I have wandered too far, like that of a Dad drawing his child from the danger of playing in the street.  I hear a beacon drawing me home through fog covered water.

The principalities that wedge themselves between me and my God feel the roar like that of a hapless victim who wandered between a grizzly bear and her cub.

pipitdapo / Foter.com / CC BY

I see my loving Father running to me with arms wide open, ready to embrace, when I repent and return to Him.  (When God Ran, Phillips, Craig & Dean)

The spiritual world sees the Commander of God’s army, standing triumphantly over a vanquished field of battle, sword drawn with lighting in His eyes.

I feel my Lord graciously removing all the desires that entangle my heart and cause me to stumble.  I perceive his everlasting presence clearing the path before me, leading me to righteousness.

Phil Romans / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

The thorn-filled vine of my flesh and the evil that ensnares me feels the crushing weight of His mercy.  His grace to me is a tearing hurricane that scours my path clear, bending all that might cling too closely from beyond my passageway. (How He Loves Us, David Crowder Band)

I know the loving embrace of my Father when the world seems too much.  I feel the comfort of a lullaby when fear grasps my heart and I struggle to see beyond my emotions.  (My Child, Plumb)

The powers of this world see the King of kings standing in the gap, holding back the hordes of hell, with the authority to command, “You shall not pass!  This one is mine and he is greatly loved.”

I long for the day when all of creation will worship the Lord of lords.  Every word that I pen, every action that I take, every conversation that glorifies God, increases my hope and longing for the day of my Savior’s return.  I feel the Lord opening my mind to a hope that is beyond this world.  I see the seed of faith that He planned in my heart blooming into yearnings for that which cannot be satisfied by anything in this world. (Lord of lords, Hillsong)

The powers of this world see only defeat and punishment of a conquering, irresistible, power.  They see the terror of chains, fire, and outer darkness.  Their inability to stop the work of the Spirit through God’s children is a reminder of their impending powerlessness.  The praise of the redeemed curses them to the abyss.

I have been blinded by the love of God.
I cannot see the world from outside His love.

By God’s amazing grace and fathomless mercy, I have been adopted by my heavenly Father.  I know His refuge.  I know the nourishment that comes only from His table. I know the tender correction that flows from His love.  My soul has flourished from my time in His holy courts.  I know just a hint of all the evil that He has spared me from.  I know a hope beyond my understanding.

I know that neither life nor death will ever sever me from my God.
His grace is sufficient.
He will never leave me nor forsake me.
His love will always preserve me.
(Children of the Heavenly Father, Plumb)

ecstaticist / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

I know that there are two worlds out there.  I know by the love of God I cannot truly see from the perspective of that other world and I don’t want to.  I am grateful that I will only know Jesus Christ as my friend, teacher, advocate, propitiation, redeemer, Lord and Savior.

I am thankful that I will never know Him as condemning judge.  I am thankful that I will never have to look into His eyes, flaming like fire, feel the weight of His burnished bronze like foot, or hear the roar His voice in condemning me to everlasting punishment.

All of mankind will one day see Jesus Christ.
By what eyes will you see Him? 

PRAYER: O Lord, thank you for making the way  for me to know your love.  Thank you for giving me new eyes to see you as my loving Father, Redeemer, and Savior.  Thank you for taking care of me, shepherding me, nourishing me.  Thank you for keeping me safe in your arms; for being my refuge.  I love you Jesus.   I give you my life for your glory and for your pleasure.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.

“ALL WEATHER REFUGE” – Oct 7

“Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.  I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”  Psalm 142:4-5

I spent the weekend building fence, trimming trees, and cleaning up the garden.  The beautiful fall skies of southern Idaho enticed me out from the confines of the indoors and the fresh air propelled me into puttering exhaustion without scarcely breaking a sweat.  These wonderful fall days can make one forget about the winter that is a few flips of the calendar away.

I remember standing before our front window, warm cup of coffee in hand, marveling at the biting wind driving snow across the landscape that I am now manicuring.  I am always so thankful for the refuge of a warm home when the storms are raging outside.

It is easy to diminish the value of our refuge when the weather is fair. 

Equally, we can forget about our refuge while we walk through a fair weather season in our lives.  Those time when we feel valued and honored; when we are loved and nurtured; when the future appears secure and our health robust; when our souls abound in the joy of a new day.

I typically ask, “why God”, as I seek his refuge when a storm is raging in my life.  I often do not ask that same question when I am enjoying a period of fair weather.  I have a mindless concept that a refuge is needed only in times when the elements are raging.

English: Refuge Tower of the castle of Porrentruy, canton of Jura, Switzerland Esperanto: Rifuĝturo de Porrentruy, Kantono Ĵuraso, Svislando Deutsch: Fluchtturms des Schlosses von Pruntrut, Kanton Jura, Schweiz (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However, when don’t I need refuge?

A perpetual tempest rages all around us.  Someday, the unknown grace and mercy of our Father will astound us when we realize the unseen storms that He has sheltered us from.  The reality that the seasons of fair weather are actually blooming from the grace of refuge that is continually being shown to those who are His.

Someday, our praise and worship will be heightened when we understand how He protected us through the most painful of storms.  We are not washed from the sure foundation of Christ by our own clinging efforts.  It is the refuge of our Lord that holds us firmly against the enemies of our soul.

He is our refuge while the storm rages.
He is our refuge while the sun shines.
He is our refuge in all seasons.

May our hearts rejoice in all seasons, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

PRAYER: Lord, I will praise You in the storm.  I will praise You on the sunny days.  I will praise You during the labors of work and I will praise You in the joys of harvest.  Father, forgive my fickle nature of seeking You in times of trouble and relying upon my strength in times of ease.  Open my eyes to the grace and mercy that You are showing me today and every day.  Thank you for being my faithful refuge in all of the seasons of my life.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.

GIVING THE BEST OF OUR TIME – Feb. 1

“…I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing…”  2 Samuel 24:24b

February 1!  How did that happen?

Hourglass Shadow (Photo credit: Bill David Brooks)

I find the realization of that date rather troubling.  One-twelfth of 2013 is already gone and I still have to make a conscious effort not to date documents 2012.  I know that it will not seem that long and I will be packing Christmas decorations back up stairs as 2013 is coming to a close.  Blink and 2013 will be gone.  We realize how precious time is when it is gone or we don’t have enough of it.   We feel its flight when we look back at pictures whose time-stamp doesn’t match up to our internal clocks.

There are whole professions established to protect our assets.  Banks have large vaults to protect our valuables.  There are financial experts to guide us to the investments that have the best opportunity to cause our assets to increase.  We can get security systems to help protect our house and vehicles.  What about our time?

Time is our most valuable asset.

The lawn-care industry exists because people don’t want to spend the time mowing their own lawn.  It is preferable to pay someone else to do that job so they can have time do something more preferable.

Most of us are not independently wealthy.  Therefore, we have to work a job.  When we go into work we are making a transaction for our time.  We are willing to sell our time to an employer in exchange for money.  I am not going into work unless my employer is willing to buy my time.  My time has a value.

The problem with these transactions is that they are not reciprocal.  You can sell your time but you cannot buy more of it.  You can spend money and time to live healthy and active but that is merely stretching time.  Time can be used to reclaim lost money but money cannot be used to reclaim lost time.

An asset is valuable only if it is scarce.  Gold would not be valuable if it was in everyone’s backyard.  Diamonds would not be valuable if we were digging them out of the treads of our shoes.  We all have a limited number of days – no one knows what that number might be.  That makes time a very scarce resource.

Our time is a scarce resource, which makes time our most valuable asset.

What are you giving God of your most valuable asset?

David understood that worship of God should never be cheap or careless.  God wants our best.  He deserves our best.  He is worthy of our “first fruit.” A person who loves God with all that they are will want to give God their best.

Proverbs 90:12 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

Thinking about the number of our days makes us invest our time wisely.  I have heard and used the many excuses about conserving my time:

“I can’t find time to read my Bible.”

“I can’t find time to pray.”

“Our Church has paid staff to serve those people.”

“I don’t want to give up vacation time for that.”

The tendency is to give God the blemished part of our time – to spend time with Him when we are exhausted and about to fall asleep – to be so busy with other things that there is not time to serve Him and His sheep – to help out only when it is convenient.    That is all time that doesn’t cost us much.

That is our blemished time. 

I will agree that giving blemished time is better than nothing at all but does anyone of us really want to be making that argument?  I want to be worshiping God with my best.  I want to be gratefully worshiping God with my most valuable asset – my time.  I can think of no wiser use of my time than giving it as an offering to my King.

PRAYER: Lord, forgive me for not giving you my best and first-fruit of my time.  Father, help me to be wise about how I spend my limited time on this earth.  Give me a heart that is generous with my time.     Amen

THE ANSWERS ARE UP CLOSE – Jan. 31

“And they say, “How can God know?  Is there knowledge in the Most High?”” Psalm 73:11

There is nothing new under the sun.  I was reading through Psalm 73 this morning and was struck by the reality that man does not really change, we just get better toys.  There have been incredible advances in knowledge and technology since the time of the Psalmist.  I love what those advances have brought.  I love that we understand this incredible creation better.  I am a huge proponent of modern medicine, computers, motorized vehicles, infrastructure, etc.

Yet, the philosophical questions about God and the origin of knowledge persist.  We have been unable to answer them.

A short study of the history of philosophy will reveal that these questions have been pondered for centuries.  Theories have been proposed and modified and modified and rejected and re-proposed and modified. I appreciate the honesty of the Psalmist:

“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,” (Psalm 73:16)

I think that there are many who ponder these types of questions or have these types of questions thrust upon them do find them wearisome.  The Psalmist is once again of help:

“until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” (Psalm 73:17)

Those who set themselves apart from God in an attempt to answer these larger philosophical questions of the universe are setting themselves on very unstable ground:

“Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.” (Psalm 73:18)

“For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;…” (Psalm 73:27)

The problem is that when man sets himself apart from God he is inevitably lost. There are many who arrogantly pride ourselves in their intellectual prowess and our ability to discern what is truth and what is not.  There are many who think that they have the ability to discern between good knowledge and bad knowledge.  There are many who place their confidence in the logical devices of man to dissect the mind of God.

I don’t think any of us fully understands how completely blind we really are.

Cloudy Mountain (Photo credit: mikey.saltas)

A friend of mine told me a story of a ski experience he and his family had while at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  They had ridden the gondola to the top of the mountain into a dense cloud bank.  They could not see more than thirty feet and they were on a mountain that they had never skied before.  They proceeded to work their way through the fog by following the natural slope of the mountain.  They came to a yellow barrier and followed the yellow line until they got below the cloud.  The next day the mountain was clear and they went back up to the top.  They realized at that moment the danger that they had actually been in.  The yellow barrier that they had followed was at the edge of a fifty foot cliff.  The day before they had casually followed this barrier but now the proximity to the cliff was actually fear inducing.

Jesus tells us, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46)  Proceeding without Christ is like trying to find your way down a cloud encased mountain.  We need a guide.  We need a light to our path.  We need a yellow barrier that will lead us to safety.  We need the darkness removed.

We are incapable of removing the darkness.  We don’t have the eyes to see clearly.  We need the Light of the world.

That is the folly of seeking the answers of God by separating ourselves from him.  When we do that, we are merely stepping out into the darkness.  The answers lie in getting closer to God.

“Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me to glory.” (Psalm 73:23-24)

We have to draw close to God so that He can take us by the hand and guide us with His counsel, which is the Bible.  It is when we draw close to God that He guides us to glory.  Otherwise, we are left groping in the darkness and will eventually fall over the cliff to our own destruction because we don’t have eyes to see.

I echo the conclusion of the Psalmist:

“But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” (Psalm 73:28)

Amen!

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for mercifully coming to show me the way.  Thank you reaching out and grasping my hand.  Father, please don’t let go of me.  Pull me in close to your shelter.  I want to be fully in the refuge of you my Lord and my God.  Lord, you know that I am prone to wander away.  You know that I can be arrogant in my own understanding.  Father, keep me close to you; bind my right hand to you and lead me to glory because I cannot find it on my own.     Amen

IT IS COLD OUTSIDE; COME ON IN – Nov. 29th

“Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” Psalm 61:2b-4

We had a strong storm blow through not that long ago. It was a cold driving wind that turned rain drops into stinging projectiles. In a pasture along the road home, I saw several horses out in the storm because they had no shelter. They had pointed their backsides into the wind, hunched their backs, and dropped their heads. Since there was no escape, they were miserably enduring the storm. I was thinking about those poor beasts as our garage door automatically opened and we silently slipped into the refuge of our home; fully protected from the ravages of the storm. I was very appreciative of my house.

It would have been silly of me to park outside our garage. It would have been even sillier to seek refuge under one of our leave-less shade trees. I would have quickly been as miserable as those horses.  I would have been a fool since I had an escape to refuge only feet away.

You can have a refuge but you have to go in. A strong tower is only of value if you are inside of it. However, we are told in Luke 14:28-29 that there is a cost to strong towers. There is an issue with entering the strong tower of the Bible.  It is like getting through security at the airport. You are not going to get through with prohibited items.

We cannot enter the strong tower of our Lord with the prohibited passions of this world. “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33 We have to lay aside all of those things that we value more than the Rock of our salvation. Sadly, many are miserably bewildered as they are caught in a raging storm of our enemy, just outside the refuge of our Lord, clutching their trinkets.

Come inside, where the enemy cannot reach you.  It is so much better than miserably enduring. There is no trinket of this world that can match the treasures that await you inside the strong tower of our Lord.

PRAYER: Lord, Forgive me for clucthing onto valueless trinkets, thinking they are great treasures. You are the greatest treasure in all the universe.  It it through You that I can find value in all that you have created.  Thank you for being my strong tower. Thank you for protecting me from the stinging storms of this world. I will praise your name as the storms of this world pelt the outside of my faithful refuge. Amen

Image from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/72280416