A BIT OF AN ADVANTAGE

9 feet 9 inches —- is TALL.  Can you imagine being that tall?  You would need a special house.  A tall sink so you could bend over and brush your teeth.  An extra, extra long bed.  Tall and wider doors.  Tables and chairs would have to be special ordered.

Can you imagine walking around wearing a coat of bronze weighing 125 pounds, a bronze helmet, and bronze greaves?  Don’t stop there.  You are also going to carry a javelin.  His poor shield bearer went ahead of him.

Goliath was that tall and was thought to be a descendant of the Anakims.  He must have thought a lot of himself because he told the ranks of Israel, “Choose a man and have him come down to me.  If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”  He sounds like a bully who has gotten his way because of his size.  One on one seems like he would have a bit of an advantage.

Enter a young man that had to stand up to his brothers and figured he could stand up to a big guy with an attitude.  I guess no one saw the secret weapon David carried with him.  They saw a sling and a few stones.  They saw a young man putting himself in danger.  What could he do with a staff and a sling?  Were they ever in for a surprise!!

From this point, we all know the story of David and Goliath.  Goliath gets mouthy.  David takes him down with a measly slingshot, cuts off his head, and becomes the local hero.  

BUT what about the secret weapon David had?  Everyone watching saw a stone fly out of a slingshot.  They failed to see the Almighty God being in charge of the situation.  They had quickly forgotten what David said to Goliath:  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands.  ….. the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel …. for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give all of you into our hands.

Goliath thought he had a bit of an advantage, BUT David had a much larger advantage.  AND SO DO WE!  Often we fail to use this advantage.  We fail to use the advantage of having a Lord who will deliver us from our enemies.  

So take your slingshot in hand and face your enemy, BUT turn the battle over to God.  For the battle is the LORD’s and he will give your enemy into your hands.

Taken from I Samuel 17

 ABSOLUTE FEAR

“Oh no, my lord!  Give her the child —- ….

Did I read that right?  Giver her the child?  Is there more that I need to know?  Why would this woman, who is in great anguish, say such a thing?  There has to be a reason she is looking at this baby with such absolute fear.

Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled. “Please, my Lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. Three days later this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house. 

“But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.” 

Then the other woman interrupted, “It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine.” “No,” the first woman said, “the living child is mine, and the dead one is yours.” And so they argued back and forth before the king. 

Then the king said, “Let’s get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours, and each says that the dead one belongs to the other. All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king. 

Then he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!” 

Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, my Lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!” 

But the other woman said, “All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!” 

Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”

When all Israel heard the king’s decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.

‭‭

     1 Kings‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭28‬ ‭NLT‬

Now I understand.  The real mother did not want her son killed.  Solomon was very wise.  “Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”  

But think what the real mother went through.  It must have seemed like an eternity between the time she found a dead baby in her arms and when they stepped before Solomon. Her voice must have trembled with fear as she told Solomon, “But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.”  Her hands would have been clasped hard.  It would have seemed like the world disappeared and became silent when the man lifted the sword.  Her eyes must have wanted to close, so she could not see the sword and, at the same time, her eyes never left her son.  Oh how my heart breaks for this mother.  She was feeling absolute fear.

Finally she screamed, “Oh no, my Lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!”  Various translations word this sentence differently, but I believe she screamed.  There would not have been any calm  “and she said.”  The real mother would have fallen to the floor and lifted her hands, begging.  The real mother would have yelled/screamed at the top of her voice so there would be no chance that Solomon would not hear her.  The real mother would then have bowed her head, lowered her arms, and waited.

And as she waited, she heard Solomon say to give her the child.  And fear turned to absolute joy!

Now, turn in your Bible and read 1 Kings 3:16-28.  Picture the characters.  Watch them walk.  See their body language as they enter and stop before King Solomon.  Hear their voices.  Hear them yelling at each other.  Watch King Solomon listen and react to the women.  Stop and watch a sword being brought into the room.  See those in the room, take a deep breath as they wondered what would happen.  This is not just words on a page.  These were real people.  This was a real King who had to judge two women and the fate of one baby boy.  

Now picture the real mother holding her son close to her breast.  And see the tears of joy fall across a smile that came from the mother’s soul.

DO I?

I was having trouble deciding what to write.  Then a song popped into my head: I Surrender All.  Great song, but it made me think, “Do I?”  And the answer was no.  I am not going into great detail, so this will be short.

THINGS I DO NOT SURRENDER:

• My time - I waste way too much time on Facebook.  I try to justify that with, “I listen to ministers.”
• My pain - And that, I realize, is the biggest thing I am holding onto.

I have a few physical issues and, at times, they cause great pain.  One is my left knee.  The right knee is already fake.  I made the decision to go ahead and get the left one done.  I called the doctor and cannot get in for a pre-surgery until July 7.  And with that, God and I had another talk.  My part went, “I have asked you to take the pain away, and now I can’t even get into the doctor quickly.”

BUT, when the song entered my head, I realized I have done everything except turn it over to God.  I have prayed for Him to take my pain or heal it.  That didn’t happen.  I have prayed for…..  And that is the problem.  I prayed for what I want, but I have not surrendered the pain to him.

I have not prayed that I would see what I can do with physical limitations.  I have not prayed to go through the pain with grace.  I have not prayed that the pain would end in His time.  I have not surrendered the pain.

I have now!  I know I will still hurt.  I know the timing of healing will come when it is right for His plan.  I know I will still hurt, but the pain is in God’s hands, where it belongs.

STORMS

I love storms.  I love how the air changes and the sky begins to get dark.  I love to hear the rain start slowly and then either be a gentle rain or turn into a downpour.  I have never been in a really bad storm or tornado and pray I never am, but I so enjoy a “normal” storm.

When I was a kid, I would sit on our porch and watch the clouds twist and turn.  I could feel the temperature drop.  I could hear the thunder and see the lightening fly across the sky.  There was a corner that never got wet and that is where you would find me.

Then my dad messed it all up.  He enclosed the porch and it was never the same.  Yes, I would sit in the swing — no sense sitting in the corner —  and watch the storm, but I was no longer a part of the changes.  I no longer felt the air get colder.  The roof hid the white clouds being replaced by dark ones, the thunder was muffled, and the lightening flew across the sky unobserved.  Yes, dad messed it all up.  He put walls and a roof between me and the storm.  

Or was dad protecting me from the storm?

My Heavenly Father puts a hedge of protection around me.  Yes, I go through trials, but I do not do it alone and He warns me what to watch out for.

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭

When I read this verse, I saw everything that is going on right now. Paul wrote two letters to help Timothy get the Ephesians to return to the true message Paul had given them.  The Ephesians had become greedy.  Alexander, Hymenaeus, and Philetus were leading the church into a corrupted version of the faith.  In 2 Timothy, Paul was telling Timothy how to protect himself and how to use the Holy Scriptures in dealing with those that have fallen away.

Using the words of the Holy Scriptures, Paul “enclosed” Timothy so he would know how to protect himself against the false teachers.  Paul told Timothy how to encourage the Ephesians to turn back to the true teachings of Jesus.

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬ ‭

Dear Heavenly Father, Protect my Soul so I can see through false teachers and stay true to the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God.  Amen

IS IS IMPORTANT

How important is one little word?  VERY!!!!  Take the word “is” for example.

Psalms 46:1 -- God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

 

2 Corinthians 12:9 -- But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

Habakkuk 3:19 first part -- The Sovereign Lord is my strength; …..

How important is the word “is”?  These and hundreds of other Bible verses show that a tiny, two-letter word is extremely important.  What strength would you find if Psalms 46:1 said God “might be” our refuge?  Would you rejoice if the Lord told you, “My grace will come close to being sufficient for you and my power will be nearly perfect.”?

“Is” IS important.  What about the “Word of God”?

2 Timothy 3:16 first part – All Scripture is God-breathed …..

 

Psalms 119:89 – Your word, LORD, is eternal;  it stands firm in the heavens.

The meaning of 3:16 in 2 Timothy would change if it read, “All Scripture is pretty close to what God said…”  What if Psalms 119:89 was miscopied and said, “Your word, LORD, is good until the next reprint.”?

One more.  Can we get through life without “hope”?

Romans 15:13 -- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Hebrews 10:23 -- Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 

What if the Bible said, “You have sinned over and over.  There is no hope for you”?  Or if, instead of hope, the Bible said, “May the God of wishes ……”?

When giving an overview or the cliff notes or in your own words, make sure you let those listening or reading know that is what you are doing.  Words have power!  That is why quoting Scripture accurately is so important.  If you cannot quote the Scripture accurately, LOOK IT UP!!  Believe me --- I am not a person who remembers chapter and verse.  I spend a lot of time looking it up!

 OH NO —- NO WI-FI

We had finished playing our nightly game of Quiddler, which is the only game I can get my hubby to play, when I found out there was NO WI-FI!!  I took a deep breath.  I took another one.  No wifi meant Bill could not send his nightly message to our kids saying good night and I love you.  I do have limited cellular service so I sent them his message.  BUT — BUT — WHAT ABOUT FACEBOOK?  How am I supposed to know what everyone is doing?  How can I post my political ideas?  I will miss ….

I was being dramatic.  No wifi does mean I cannot get on Facebook, Instagram, or Prime Video, but it is not the end of the world.  It is not like life aimed this straight at me.  Our retirement community is experiencing a glitch.  I would say a pretty big glitch for the offices and those that require wifi.  But what will I do with my time?

And isn’t that where this is leading?  Our time… a precious commodity.

A gentleman, at church, told me he got rid of his TV and it is the best thing he has done.  He now uses his time reading the Bible.  Reading in depth, instead of hurrying so he could watch a show.

• My in depth study comes when I prepare for a Sunday School lesson.  Daily reading?  Do I allow watching “MKR .. my kitchen rules” on Prime Video to take precedence over Bible reading?

There are a number of people who get up early to read the Bible and a devotional.  Bill does his at 6:00 AM.

• If I wake up at 6:00 AM, I consider that early.  Since Bill does his reading and Upper Room at 6:00, I grab my coffee and go back to the bedroom so I don’t disturb his reading time.  Could I make this my reading time?  Not making an excuse, just stating the fact that my brain needs at least two cups of coffee to function.

There are couples that study together.  Many women study after everyone is in bed.  There are Bible studies available.  There are studies on the Bible app.  There is no excuse for not having the time to read the Bible everyday.

• But … But … BUT, I sure can find those excuses.  I have to admit, my reading is not on a schedule.  I need to learn from my friends and spouse. I need to set a time (and not before I have my morning coffee) to read every day, so the day does not slip away.  I need to set a place where I can read without distractions.  I know what I need. 

I need two things:

I need to set a time and place.  The way I sleep, maybe that time is during the night instead of during the day.  I usually wake up at 3:00 AM and am awake for about an hour.  An hour of time, in a room by myself (Yes, we have separate bedrooms.) and with no TV.  Maybe I am to read the Bible at 3:00 AM.

I need someone to hold me accountable.  So easy to make an excuse to myself why I didn’t read that day.  What if I had a person who expected a message every day telling them what I read?  Telling them what I discovered?  

Yes, I need to set a time and place.  I need to find someone who will hold me accountable.

What about you?  Do you read the Bible every day?  Do you need to set a time and place?  Do you need someone to hold you accountable?  

MORE THAN WORDS ON THE PAGE

“God, you awake?”

“Isaiah 40:28.”

“I looked it up.  You mean you never get tired or weary?  I bet you get tired and weary after our conversations.”

“Nope.  Not even after talking to you.”

“Want to hear a funny?  I’ll just go ahead and tell you:  I just got a present labeled, 'From Mom and Dad,' and I know darn well that Dad has no idea what's inside.  Isn’t that a hoot?”

“Does that remind …”

“You’re going to turn this into a lesson, aren’t you?”

“I might if I thought you were listening.“

“I am all ears.”

“Do you know all the gifts I have given you?”

“Well, …..  I know Bill is a gift from you.  The kids, grandkids, friends, ..”    

“Yes, these were all gifts, but what about the other gifts?”

“I am confused.  ….”

“You confused? What a shocker.”

“Okay.  Okay.  Are you done now?  I don’t remember gifts all wrapped and tied with a nice bow and a gift card saying, “From God.”  When did I get these gifts?” 

“They were not wrapped.  I thought that was a good idea until the Angels Union pointed out how much wrapping paper costs and the amount of trash it would add to landfills.  That means my gifts come unwrapped.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

“I like the joy gift.  I try to use these, but the self-control one causes my mouth a bit of a problem.  Just the other day ..”

“I know about the other day.  Your interaction with the telemarketer was way overboard.  They are annoying, but next time, try a bit of self-control.”

“My goodness, do you know everything I say and do?”

“We need to wrap this up  -- get it, wrap this up --   or your readers will get tired and miss the good part.

You have many gifts available and they will free you from sin.  They will lead you to be kind and gentle towards others.  They will increase your faithfulness and give you peace.  You have been given the gift of love and joy.

When did you receive these gifts?  The moment you walked down the aisle on a Sunday so many, many years ago, confessed your sins, and accepted Jesus into your heart.”

“I remember that Sunday.  I remember feeling so free because Jesus became mine.  Mine.  Not because my Grandma wanted me to believe.  Not because my Sunday School teacher wanted me to believe.  I just flat out believed!!!”

“And at that moment, every gift I have for you — the Fruits of the Spirit, mercy, grace, forgiveness, …”

“God, if you list them all, this blog will never end.  So, make it quick.”

“You are getting a bit bossy.  The cliff notes: I want each of my children to believe — to have faith — to feel the love I have for them —  to accept and use my gifts.”

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Are you still reading?  Bless your heart.  I decided to have a conversation with God, and He decided that 5:00 AM would be a good time to talk.  God has given you gifts to help you as you navigate every day!!  Don’t forget about his gifts.  Remember them and use them.  They are worthless; if you close your Bible and leave them as just printed words on a page.  Especially when a telemarketer calls.

A challenge:  Keep a notepad with your Bible and write down every gift you come across.  You might be surprised how long the list will get.  I’ll give you the first one:  God’s love.