Fear Not.....

This is my life verse....I am so excited to see it in a daily devotion...

Fear Not...
This devotional was written by Leslie Snyder

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.—

Joshua 1:9

Standing thirty feet above me, the young girl was seized with fear. The Ropes Course at camp was one of the highlights of the week for many campers, and this particular camper came ready to conquer the course. However, fear crept in at thirty feet and literally immobilized her. It didn’t matter that she was securely fastened to a harness, or that she was wearing a helmet, or that many others had successfully gone before her. All she knew is that she was balancing thirty feet above the ground on a wire that was no more than 3 inches in diameter. Her legs locked up, her muscles began to shake and she began repeating the words, "I can’t do this, I can’t do this."
Fear has incredible power. It can literally overtake people and stop them in their tracks, both in the body and in the mind. Blood vessels constrict, heart rate increases, breathing becomes shallow and our senses are enhanced. But, when fear is given permission to overtake a person, it often causes us to stop short of something amazing.

Looking back up at the young camper standing, she had made it to the final challenge, the zip line. On the platform, fear began creeping back in. The only way down now was to jump, but everything in her body screamed just the opposite. With words of encouragement from the Ropes leaders, fellow campers, and adult sponsors she finally closed her eyes and jumped! It was an exhilarating moment. She flew down the zip line, exhausted, challenged, yet victorious.
Scripture is full of examples of individuals and groups of people who had to face tremendous obstacles. In the above passage, Joshua was leading the people of God across the Jordan River. Moses, his mentor, was gone and now Joshua would take the cloak of leadership of the Israelites. His fear was justified. But read again how this is paraphrased in The Message: "Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take."


GOING DEEPER:
What fear do you need to conquer today? You may find that something amazing is waiting on the other side.

FURTHER READING:
1 Timothy 1:7

Seven Seasons

I truly believe that we each go through different season in our lives, each season, God is revealing something to us. Some seasons, he is allowing us to go thru a struggle to show us that he is there with us, some seasons he allows for us to go thru a struggle so that we will trust in him. Some seasons he is rewarding us for faithful service, while some seasons he is preparing us for something he has planned for us in the future. If we had not gone thru this season, we would not have been prepared to deal with this issue, or able to help someone else thru that season.

Here are the Seven Seasons of a Man's Life; according to the book 'Man in the Mirror'

1. Season of Success: Integrity is one-to-one correlation between my Bible, my belief, and my behavior.
2. Season of Reflection: The goal of reflection is to see ourselves as God sees us.
3. Season of Suffering: There is comfort in suffering because there is purpose to suffering.
4. Season of Building: Lord, help us to say no where we should say no, so that we can say yes where we should say yes.
5. Season of Crisis: Hold on to the One who won't let you go.
6. Season of Rebuilding: Don't focus on a list of things to do, instead order your life around the person of Christ.
7. Season of Renewal: Trust God to do his part, then do yours.

I know that we are each going thru one of these seasons, sometimes it may feel that we are going thru a few at the same time. However, we each need to keep in mind that each season is for a reason, and we should accept that particular season as a gift and use the season to grow closer to our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will continue to pray for each of you, as I ask you to pray for me as well.

I chooose

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it!

You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood."

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked

He continued, "..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'.

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything .

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Howdy

Hello by fellow bloggers and friends,
I guess I am going to stop apologizing for my lack of post, I can only ask for forgivness so many times.....I will tell you that I have good intentions of posting everyday....but my follow-though is not that great. I just wanted to up date you all on the whats new or old in the life as of today. I can tell you that everything is really great, Momma and I are as close as we have ever been.....each day I see her I jsut want to hold her and tell her how much she means to me. The tribe is doing really well, Val and Dez are working a lot, (so thankful to God for allowing them to have jobs), Ash x 2 are doing really well in school, both have almost straight A's. LM is really into Church and his Bible, it is so awsome to see and to work with him. Lexie is growing so much, it seems that everyday I come home from work, she has grown another inch and has 2 new words.....It is so awsome to watch her grow.
Other than that, life is the same, I would ask that you all continue to keep us in your prayers, as we do each of you.

Love
ME

Obeying God-How We Speak of Our Elected Rulers

I was, (still am) so excited to write today, regardless of who you voted for President, vice, or any of the propositions, we must keep in mind that we serve a GOD that is greater than any law of the land, of any other human, and greater than any other propositon. My thoughts where to write about how I feel with the results, and even how I came to some of the decisions that I made. Then I got this email from a friend, and I knew that it had to be shared....


He removes kings and raises up kings; Daniel 2:21 (NKJV)

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Romans 13:1-2 (NKJV)

Okay, it’s November 5th and we have voted for our next president here in the United States. At least half of the nation will be upset at the time of this writing while the other half is celebrating the victory of their candidate.

In either case, there will be continued voting going on over the next several days, weeks, months, and even years. I’m not speaking of the votes cast for the president or any other candidate or proposition for that matter; I am speaking of the votes cast by those who will be watching every Christian that they know of. They will be voting on whether they believe in what you have been preaching or sharing for the last few years. And they will be voting on how well you have lived what you have preached.

What will come out of your mouth if the person that was elected or the proposition that was passed does not line up with the choice that you selected on voting day?

Will it edify, or tear down. Will it speak evil of the winning person, or will it showcase the respect deserved of the office with which they now occupy?

According to the Scripture above, we can plainly see that God has a role in those who get elected. He has a clear plan for each situation, even when we don’t agree or see clearly any possible good that may come of it. That’s why He is God. God spoke to Moses and gave clear instructions about how we are to treat those who lead us:

“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. Exodus 22:28 (NKJV)

The Apostle Paul spoke to us very clearly as well, when he quoted this passage in the book of Acts.

‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ” Acts 23:5 (NKJV)

And he went on in the book of 1 Timothy to tell us how we were to conduct ourselves as Christians towards those who are in the position of leadership.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 1Timothy 2:1-2 (NKJV)

Maybe those who hold elected office are not people of God, and maybe they don’t hold the same opinion of those who call themselves Christians, but that does not negate the fact that God has called us to lift up and pray for those who hold those positions. We are just as much at test during these times as those officials. As Christians, we supposedly know better, and we have a blessed hope in our future because we know that God is in control. So why would we act in any other way than to live Christ and to serve and respect the rulers that have been put in charge of us.

I am not telling you to imitate or condone the immoral actions of these leaders, because there are many who have defiled the office that they hold. I am simply saying that after you have done everything within your legal capabilities with respect to voting for your perspective candidate, even if it means voting for the lesser of two evils, you now have a command from God to move forward and to abide by His will. Treat those in office with respect and honor, and pray for them continually. This is your Christian duty, and it is God’s perfect will for you in this situation. To do less than this is no better than what you are condemning in that person that you speak evil of.

We are to submit to the leadership and obey them unless what they are asking is in violation of what God has commanded us. If our Christian convictions do not permit compliance, then we should accept the consequences of such refusal.

This is the way our Christian forefathers lived for Christ, and this is the example that the Word of God has given us.

I want to encourage you today to remember that God has a plan for the future. He will use the people that are in office to coincide with His plans so that all will know that He is God, and will have a chance to decide to accept or decline the offer of salvation prior to His return. I feel that there is a change on the horizon, and it is called the rapture…

STUDY QUESTION: What confidence can we gain from Romans 13:1-2?

PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you willing to pray for and submit to the leaders appointed over you?

APPLICATION: Seek God and His will with respects to your conversations regarding those in office. Find a way to turn negative conversations into positive ones. When the conversations turn negative, suggest praying for the person being spoken of.

Father, Thank You that we live in a country that allows us to exercise our freedom in casting a vote. Thank You that You have a plan for every situation, and that we can place our confidence in Your perfect plan regardless of what we see with our eyes. May we remember this each time we are tempted to doubt the future because of any specific person in office. Help me be the Christian that You have called me to be so that I may lead by example when I am tempted to criticize. In Jesus precious name, amen…

Be Blessed, Pastor Scott