Being Alert!

It is sometimes a struggle getting up and having to be at work at 6:00 am each morning. Getting up and being ready is often a challenge due to staying up to late the night before, sometimes due to family, church or school events, but most often just sitting watching TV or reading. This often gets in the way of my morning quiet time. As a result I do not get into God's word like I should.

To help counter this I was given an MP3 player, a Christmas gift from my beautiful wife. On this player I have installed the complete New American Standard Bible. This allows me to listen to God's word as I work. Being somewhat an audio/visual person I have been able to hear the Scripture as I work inspecting parts (I am a quality control inspector at Titan Specialties). If I miss a verse or idea I can just rewind or re listen to each chapter, or even specific verses, over and over. This has allowed God to show me many wonderful concepts and ideas over the last several weeks as I go chapter by chapter through a book in the Bible. Over the last couple of weeks I have gone through 2 Peter first and this last week 1 Peter. Don't know why I went through them backwards, just did.

Thursday morning I was listening to chapter 5, in 1 Peter for the about the third time and was drawn to verses 6-10...

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.


While I have read and heard these verses many times, God really impressed me with them that morning. Not 20 minutes earlier Dr. David Jeremiah had used these same verses on his daily radio show, telling of how Satan will use many things to distract Christians and then attack and destroy us. Going back to work from lunch I happened to hear Dr. Michael Youssef preaching on the same verses and same topic. One of Satan's his most important tools is discouragement, according to Dr. Jeremiah. Satan uses our work, relationships with others, debt, the economy or any of many other ploys, to get us discouraged leading us to anger, fear, distrust, not spending time with our families, and most importantly not spending time with God!

After hearing not just one, but two message on this made me realise that God was trying to tell me something. (sometimes it takes a 2 x 4 upside the head for me!) Am I letting my job, uncertainty in world events, bills and the cost of living, and any number of other "distractions" lull me into discouragement? Sometimes, will have to be the answer. Then I read back to vs 6 and 7 "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." I have to realize that when I humble myself before God and pursue Him daily then I will be better prepared to deal with Satan's attacks. Daily reading (or listening) to God's word and prayer is essential in keeping me "alert" to the "prowling lion". Trusting and placing myself under the hand of God, letting him have all my fears and anxiety, because He cares for me can only be accomplished by spending time with Him. Don't get "devoured" by all the stuff going around us in the world, but keep your eyes on God!



Photo from Earth-touch.com

Protection

Over the last couple of months I have seen and read about so many natural disasters that have occurred around the world. Earthquakes, tsunami, wars and conflicts and here in the U.S. floods, big snow storms almost into spring time, wildfires, and now severe thunderstorms and massive tornadoes. So many things going on with great loss of life. Why? That is a question that has confounded smarter men than I.

In conjunction with all of these events in nature I have also been aware of many news stories concerning the State of Israel.
Many world leaders including our own have come out in favor of a Palestinian State. On the surface this sounds good and I do not have a problem with the Palestinian people having their own country, but forcing Israel to "give" up land or be carved up is not right either. As I read the bias coming from the media, many world governments and all of Israel's neighbors most would seem to wish Israel as a nation and a people would just die and go away.

As I mull all of this information around in my mind one thought keeps popping into my mind, a Bible verse. That verse is Genesis 12:3 "And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Now while God was talking to Abram in this passage in verse 2 He tells Abram that he will become a great nation. We now know that nation as Israel. Israel is God's chosen people and nation. I fully believe that God literally blesses those that stand with Israel and curses those that do not.

For the majority of the last 60 years the United States had stood by Israel, supporting her in numerous ways. Unfortunately in the past 5-10 years we have increasingly seen our Government not only back away from Israel but actually at times force them to act contrary to their best interest. Could the events and disasters occurring have any correlation to what is happening not only in the world but here in the U.S.? Could all of these disastrous events be the result of God following through with His promise to Abram? I am not a prophet or a great Biblical scholar but in my humble opinion many of these "natural" disasters are the beginnings of God removing His hand of protection.

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum."

While listening to the radio, the other day at work, I heard a quote that as a History major I have heard and read many times. I had even posted it on FaceBook the other day. The quote was "Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." which translated is "if you want peace, prepare for war" by Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus. So very true not only in real life but in our spiritual walk also!

As I sat thinking of this from a secular point of view I can remember many leaders, both civilian and military that knew this so well. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, General Ulysses S. Grant, General George Patton, President Ronald Reagan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many others. One leader that immediately came to mind was President Theodore Roosevelt. He stated the premise of Vegitius' quote in his famous saying "Talk softly and carry a big stick". While many consider
this view to be arrogant it has lead to many years of peace for the U.S. while walking the thin line between being prepared and not being prepared. There have been several times in our country's history that we have strayed from these concepts and as a result we as a nation were dragged into a war defending ourselves from aggressors that wanted what we or other freedom loving peoples had. It has been proven over and over throughout history that those that are prepared and willing to defend their freedom will have peace.

Not only do I feel this is important for our country today, I feel it is important to us in our spiritual walk also. It seems like every day the last several weeks I have been drug into a "war" by Satan and his attacks, at work, home, church and in the lives of my family. Some days I have been prepared and others I have not.

"If you want peace, prepare for war" is equally sound for our Christian walk. While we do not take up physical arms we are in a war, a spiritual war. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 "12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." As in one of my first blogs "Putting on the Armour" we have to "prepare for war" by prayer, studying God's word and trusting in the direction of the Holy Spirit. This is a winner take all, no holds barred fight that we are in, against Satan and his forces, and if we want peace, God's peace, then we must prepare for war. As Teddy probably told his Rough Riders as they prepared for war, "Saddle up!"

Freedom of Speech

Last week the Supreme Court ruled on a case that I think will have long lasting implications. Now whether those implications will will be positive or negative, have yet to been seen. The case I am referring to involved the Westboro Baptist Church and the father of a fallen Marine, and revolves around the issue of Free Speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Before I go any further let make it clear, I do not agree with, or feel the Westboro church and their members are in the right in their actions. I think those actions DO NOT represent Jesus Christ and His church. They, in my opinion, have brought a bad name to not only Baptists but Christians as a whole.

After saying this. I have pondered the fact that the High Court voted 8-1 that the Westboro church has the right to say what they want under protection of the First Amendment. Upon much consideration I have to agree with the the Court, and while I feel Westboro is in the wrong they do have the right to say and speak as they see fit. This is what the First Amendment was written for. As I have said while I don't agree with the actions Westboro, if they are not allowed to exercise their free speech rights then one day we may not be able to either. If we as free men cannot speak for or against issues we feel may have an affect on our lives, especially as Christians, then we as a nation and a people are in grave danger.

One aspect of the decision does give me hope though. As a result of this ruling our pastors and Churches will be given protection (I hope and pray) to speak out against issues that run contrary to our Christian beliefs. If Westboro can speak out against groups and/or issues that are controversial, and be protected then we should be also. This will also give Christian based legal firms very firm ground to stand on when protecting our fellow brothers and sisters against those who oppose the church.

While I do not like everything I hear, I will stand up for the freedom to to speak that way. As a Christian I should and will try to let Christ guide and direct what and how I say something. The old adage of "think before speaking" is true. We should always consider if our speech or actions are going to bring glory or scorn to Christ. Also this attitude should be present when responding to speech directed at me. I feel this is how our founding fathers were divinely inspired and directed when they wrote our Constitution and it's first 13 amendments.



Photo from theindianreporter.com

Absences

It has been several months since my last blog and I have kind of missed doing it. The last several months have been busy and hectic. With the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, New Year's and my 51st birthday in January and countless activities involving kids we have been very busy. In addition to this work has been somewhat challenging. There have been many changes going on at Titan, some that effect me personally, most company wide. In mid December I was moved from the area of Inspection that I have been in for over two years and into the inspection receiving group. This involved a physical move from one building to another and from working on parts and pieces Titan manufactures here to outsourced parts. Outsource parts are anything that Titan contracts out to other shops or companies to make for us. Most of what I inspect revolves around our Instrument and Logging departments, much of it prototype parts. While this had been a new and good learning experience, I have never been one to embrace change with open arms. More paperwork and sometimes more stress, topped with the uncertainty of more changes that are possible in the Titan future.

Other issues fall closer to home with still being bothered my knee that I has scoped this last fall, Mom's Alzheimer's is getting worse, and my yearly physical had some results that will either be confirmed or dismissed after some further tests. I don't feel at this time is will be anything serious, but who knows.

Through all of this I will have to admit that my walk with God has not been where it needs to be. As a result Satan has taken every opportunity to derail my walk with the Lord, and unfortunately I have all too often let him "tear up my tracks". I have had to remind myself daily that God is in control of ALL things, and He has me where I need to be at this time in my life. Besides just like a knife cannot be sharpened without being ground on a stone, we cannot grow as Christians without being "ground on" in our walk with God.

Through all the change and stress I still see His magnificent hand at work in my life and my families. Sandra and I have been blessed with 5 wonderful kids (who are typical siblings that fight. pick and prod each other)are facing life and problems that the world throws at them, relatively well. We are also going to celebrate our 25th Anniversary this year!! Sarah will graduate from Wayland and Ben the youngest is now in school.

Looking back at the last three months I will have to say that we are being treated better than we deserve!! Thank you God, for all that you do and allow, in our lives and help me to know that through it all you are leading and walking with me!