p… my children save me! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve seen myself in them and not liked what I saw. Which then caused me to change my attitude. Thank You LORD for opening my eyes to my own behaviors and helping me change them! I certainly couldn’t do it without You… actually, with out You I probably wouldn’t care. Thank You for making me care! Thank You for being so intimately involved in my life because You care about me! You love me enough to intercede on my behalf – thank You Jesus. You love me enough that living close to me wasn’t enough for You, so you died and gave up Your Spirit for me so that You could literally love in my skin, in my body, in my heart. You love me so much that You actually WANT to be with me every moment of every day for all of eternity. No one else in my life can say that because I always end up annoying them eventually. But not You! Thank You for that. Lord, I love You, thank You for loving me the way You do!/p
Author Archives: Tamar
In
The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, You make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. Isaiah 26:7-9
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4b
I do not believe in coincidence. I’ve experienced too much of Yaweh to accept the myth of coincidence any longer. From my short thirty-two years of walking with the LORD I have lost count of the tiny details that God puts into my daily life. Small things that only I would notice. Growing up my mom always said “God is a God of details” but it took me a very long time to understand what that means. It means God CARES about the details in our lives. He CARES about the little things that get us down. For the longest time I would only pray and seek God about big decisions, big problems, big victories. Then I got married and realized that every night I would ask my husband, “So, what did you do today?” And he would always reply “work”. It would drive me crazy! I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know the answer, I was asking because I cared, because I wanted to hear him tell me about his day. I was trying to start a conversation with him! God is our heavenly husband and He cares about how our day goes. He’s trying to start a conversation with us every day. So we can’t frustrate Him with answers like “work”. Join in the conversation with Him!
Then, I got pregnant! While I was pregnant I would think very carefully about what I was eating and drinking, or not eating and not drinking. I was more aware of the things I was listening to and the chemicals and fumes I spent time around. Why? Because there was a life growing inside me that was being affected by all of those things. And I now realize that again all of those things are true spiritually as well! Because I have believed in my heart I am justified and because I have proclaimed with my mouth that Jesus is my Lord[1], His Holy Spirit that was given up for me on the cross[2], is now living and growing inside me[3], filling my belly with streams of living water[4]. Everything I expose myself to physically has an effect on me spiritually, on my relationship with the living breathing Holy Spirit within me.
He has PROMISED to never leave me or forsake me[5], but that doesn’t mean that it’s not possible for me to turn my back on Him or forget to consider Him. While there is no condemnation for those in Christ, there are still consequences for our actions. While everything is permissible, not everything is beneficial[6]. Sure we’re free to eat what we want, watch what we want and do what we want when we want to… but we need to always keep in mind that He is always IN us, He is always there. Acts 2:24 tells us that it was IMPOSSIBLE for death to keep its hold on Christ. If we remain in Christ, then it is IMPOSSIBLE for death to keep its hold on any Child of Light! Hallelujah! Praise the LORD that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ[7]!
In John 15:5-6 Jesus tells us “I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” You see, there’s a difference between Him being in us and us being in Him. Just like there’s a difference between having water in our bodies and our bodies swimming down to touch the bottom of the deep end of a swimming pool. He has promised to never leave us, but have we promised to never leave Him?
God told me the other day that prayer has very little to do with our tongues or lips and everything to do with our hearts. He lives in your heart, waiting patiently for you to look for Him in your own heart. He’s waiting for you to communicate with Him in an intimate exchange of lives. Prayer is more powerful than any of us could ever think or imagine this side of heaven. So, go on a date tonight with your heavenly husband, down to the depths of your heart and soul. Be intimate with Him. Show Him the pieces of your heart you’ve been holding back. Those things you’ve been trying to hide, like an elephant in the middle of the room. How does that saying go? How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Be Still
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Do you have one of those friends who likes to talk? I mean REALLY likes to talk, as in, you can have an hour-long conversation and you talk maybe 5 minutes of that. Yeah, that’s me. I’ve been trying really hard not to be that friend, but I haven’t been doing a very good job of it. Especially with God. I’ve been doing all the talking lately and I’ve been really frustrated about a lot of things, why? Because I haven’t been giving God the opportunity to tell me His side of the story! I’ve been so self-focused that I’ve lost a lot of my God-focus on things. I’ve unbalanced our conversations, making them more about me and my friends than Him and His plans. I’ve forgotten how important it is for me to BE STILL and know the HE is God. Yes, it is possible to be still in your spirit while your body is moving… but it is much more difficult to stay that way.
Yesterday God pinned me in a corner (by sending me to bed) and said “Woman! Be still!” and it made me think, when was the last time I stopped moving and doing and just sat with the LORD? I couldn’t remember!!!!! Clue 1) Last night God used a dear friend and quite possibly my only blog-reader to call me out “You haven’t been writing!” Clue 2) This morning I scolded my son “the floor is not the proper place for the new coat God gave you.” To which my husband added “or any coat for that matter”. And it made me ask, “LORD, what things have I been throwing on the floor that don’t belong there?” Clue 3) Then after my son left for school and I was pulling laundry out of the dryer I came to a white linen tablecloth, something that most people, including myself, would normally save for special occasions only. But this one’s been on our table for the last few months gathering stains. Something that is deserving of a holy position and set aside as special has not been taken care of, let alone cherished. All those clues, pointed me to my time with God. For me, it’s when I write. I’m not writing whatever I want, I can only write what He leads me to write. I’ve tried to write things on my own and it just doesn’t work. Anyway, my writing is my way of talking with God, hearing from Him and then you get to read it too. My writing time is sacred and special and I should be setting myself apart to do it. My time with God is my covering and yet I’ve carelessly tossed it aside in my pursuit of other things instead of keeping it in its proper place in my life – a higher priority than the dishes. You know, it just occurred to me that there are three other people in this house that are FULLY capable of doing the dishes for me, but no one can spend time with God for me! Just like no one can go to the bathroom for someone else, they’ve got to do it on their own. No one can grow my relationship with God for me either. I have to do it myself. And I need to do it because I love Him and because He loves me and WANTS to spend time with me. He yearns to hear me speak and then for me to stop moving and talking long enough for Him to have a place in the conversation. God wants to be part of the conversation of our lives!
What is your special thing that you do with God? How do you communicate the best with Him? Has He been trying to get your attention lately? Has He been trying to get some lovin’ from you today? Some TLC? Please learn from my mistake and take some time today to be still and know that He is GOD. Meditate on the truth that God Almighty, the creator of the heavens and the earth wants to spend one-on-one time with YOU today! Hallelujah!
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you, you need only to be still. Exodus 14:13-14
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret – it only leads to evil. … I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Psalm 37:7-8 & 25
My soul finds rest in God alone my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. Psalm 62:1-2 & 5
Unquenchable love
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all thing. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13
As I laid wide awake in bed thinking last night I kept pondering about this relationship that I have with Christ and how often I call Him Daddy, but yet really think more of Him as a husband than a Father. So often in scripture God referred to Israel as His bride and wife and woman, and in the New Testament it even tells us that the Church is Christ’s bride. But how often do we think of ourselves as Christ’s bride? And I asked Him if I could write about being His bride. He said “Sure”. 🙂 I love Him! So, as I sat down to actually start writing this morning, I checked my Facebook homepage first… avoiding the inevitable question, “What am I going to write about today???” The second post down was a link to a photo that instantly caught my attention and a story that captured my heart.
The picture was of two marines guarding a flag-draped casket standing at the front of a barely lit church sanctuary the night before 2nd Lieutenant James J. Cathey’s funeral. Now that image alone is stunning, but that’s not what first caught my attention in the photo. It was the deceased soldier’s pregnant wife Katherine on an air mattress in front of the coffin getting ready to sleep next to her husband for the very last time. Just typing that puts tears in my eyes. The thought of the last night I sleep with my husband, never knowing if it’s the last time. The dedicated wife barely left her husband’s side from the time his body returned stateside until it was buried in the ground. She refused to leave him until the loved ones around her convinced her to sleep.
Cathey’s comrades thought of him as invincible, and never expected him to be the one to not make it out. Which just reminds me of another man, thought to be invincible and prepared to rule the known world. But His story didn’t end the way his friends expected it to either. No, Jesus’ death caused quite a stir as well. No one was expecting it, even though He had warned them all plainly several times, they all paid no heed to His prophecies. They just didn’t get it. And Jesus, just like Cathey, had a woman who refused to leave His side as well. She was the last one to leave the cross, and the first one to return to the tomb at the first chance she got. Mary Magdalene. She was so torn by the grief of her loss that He chose to appear to her first, in the garden, to ease her mourning and reassure her that He was just fine, alive, and very well indeed.
These grave-side stories are especially touching on this Veteran’s Day as I sit typing this on my couch watching our American flag waving patriotically in the breeze on our front porch. But I’m forced to ask more. I’m drawn to dig deeper. What’s the point of it all? Why does love like this matter? Why should we care? Because it’s what God has called us to. God is love and He has called us to be like Him in every way. He has called us to love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Are you so desperately in love with the LORD that you’d refuse to leave His lifeless body just so you could lie next to Him just one more night? Do you love your spouse that much even? Love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a choice. One that we make every moment of every day. Love is an action, a verb, it’s a way of living. These days “love” has gotten so incredibly watered down that we’ll even say we “Love” that sign on the side of the road.
That’s not love. We’ve allowed our society to become too much a part of us, to warp us into thinking and saying that we love things that we don’t really love. As Christians, people should know that we follow Christ by the way that we treat them. By the way that we treat each other! Do you have an unquenchable love for the God you worship? How much are you willing to do for Him? How far will you follow Him? Step outside your comfort zone today, SHOW someone (maybe even your spouse) how much God loves them. Stop for that car on the side of the road, even though it might make you a few minutes late. Give the homeless person a couple bucks instead of ignoring them (leave the judgment of what they do with that money up to God, He just calls us to give). Feed the birds in the park. Smile at a stranger and say “God bless you!” or “Peace be with you today!” Pay for the person behind you in line at the drive through. Make a difference in one person’s life today by doing something seemingly small. But realize that small thing to you, is HUGE in their eyes. You never know, by doing that one small thing in the name of Jesus, it has the potential to change their entire lives. It may just change their perspective of Christians in general, and maybe even God in general. You don’t know what they’re going through, maybe this morning they prayed that God would send them a sign that He’s really listening to them. And maybe God has set it up so that YOU can be that sign for them today! How cool would that be??? When you bless, you are blessed as well. Because God loves you, go out and show someone else that very same love today, it may just save their soul, you never know.
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(The Cathey’s story has been told in a Pulitzer winning article by Jim Sheeler for the Rocky Mountain News and photographed by Second Place Newspaper Photographer of the Year Todd Heisler. Since I personally did not take the photos and therefore do not have ownership or permission (yet) to share them here I will only be including the links to them for you to see, but I strongly encourage you to click on them and view these extremely moving images and read all the captions under them.)
Son-Glasses
I have a very intimate relationship with God. It is a gift above any gift I could ever ask for, it is my identity and my solace. He is my husband and my friend and I would die without Him. Because my relationship with Jesus is so precious to me, and because I believed what I had been taught about sins and the importance of confessing them in order to remain in contact with God I became extremely sin conscience. It started by making sure to clear my conscience before bed every night so that the Enemy couldn’t torment me in my dreams. Eventually I started the practice of clearing my conscience and confessing my sins every time I washed my hands – which is a LOT when you’re a stay at home mom! I finally got to the point where I was afraid to talk because I might sin, I was afraid to do anything wrong because then God would turn His face from me and wouldn’t talk to me anymore. I was constantly worried that I wasn’t doing the right things: Not spending enough time with my kids and too much time writing; spending too much time with my kids and not enough time writing… I was constantly walking on eggshells and afraid that one would break and I wouldn’t notice it soon enough that I would be able to confess it before something happened. I was afraid that God would lift His shield of protection if I sinned, there’s only one place I could have picked up that idea and it’s not from GOD! Honestly, the worst part of this whole thing, is how ignorant I was to the whole thing! Sure, writing it all down now and looking back it sounds psychotic, but the change was gradual and I was, at the time, convinced in my legalism (although I wasn’t seeing it as such at the time). I was deluded. I had been lured into being held captive to the lie that I needed to constantly ask for God’s forgiveness in order to have His stamp of approval and protection on my life. But all that succeeded in doing was to tie me up in knots, stress me out and frustrate me. I certainly wasn’t living freely, or abundantly.
Here I am, a FIRM believer in “God is in control” and yet I was placing all the control on MY very weak shoulders. The way I was viewing it, is I was expecting God to protect/bless us, IF I did everything right….. ummmmmm….. Tamar, at what point did you die on a cross and rise from the dead in order to place that kind of authority and power on yourself? Honey, that’s not how GRACE works.
Grace has nothing to do with you earning anything, and everything to do with JESUS. This past week I was struggling with my priorities (as mentioned before) and when I should be doing things during my day in order to get them all done. I have decided that I need to get up at five to spend time solely for prayer while I shower so that my day will start successfully. To do this I must exhibit self-control and walk away from the TV and/or household chores at 9:45pm in order to be in bed by 10:00pm (I have yet to actually do this by the way, close, but not yet). One morning I drug myself out of bed and literally stumbled my way into the cold bright bathroom attempting to wake myself up… it didn’t work. I tried reading my Bible, but my eyes just kept closing themselves. I told the spirit of fatigue to leave me in Jesus’ name, but that didn’t work either. Finally I said, “Lord, if You REALLY want me to do this right now instead of going back to bed, You are going to have to wake me up.” Still nothing. But in my heart, I knew that it WAS His will to spend alone time with me. He’s told me so on several occasions. I gave in to the tears burning my eyes and sobbed in frustration at my lack of ability to carry out His will. I said “Lord, I am so sorry that I can’t do this. I’m sorry that I’m not good enough for You. Lord, I quit, I can’t do this anymore…” When I was finished verbally beating myself to a pulp He said, “When are you gonna get it that it’s not about what you DO?” And the verse about our righteous acts are as filthy rags popped into my head.
Pleasing God, gaining His approval, benefiting from His blessings and His protection has NOTHING to do with what you DO, that’s legalism. And it has everything to do with what has been done in your name. Every day we do things “in Jesus’ name”, without ever realizing or thinking about what HE does in our name every day. The first thing He did in our name is He died to pay for our sins. Every single one of them, both past and present. And if that was all He ever did in our name, that would be amazing. But wait, there’s more! Right this very minute Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. And because we all have sinned and fallen short, every day, when it happens, as it happens, Jesus lifts His wrist to the Father’s eyes and let’s Him watch us through the holes that the nails left, so that Yaweh can now look upon our sin and yet never turn away from us. He views our sins through Jesus’ hand-made “Son-glasses”.
When we give our lives to Christ, it is a precious thing. Something that He does NOT take lightly. He takes us and places us safely in the center of the palm of the Father’s hand, where we are free to walk, run, jump, dance, eat, drink and be merry in His presence to our hearts content. And if at any point we begin to wander too close to the edge of His hand (AKA sin) then He will begin to tighten His grip on us, to close His fingers in around us, bringing us back to the center of His grace. That tightness may be a bit uncomfortable for a time, possibly even downright painful, but I think you will agree that the end result is worth it isn’t it? Praise God that life isn’t all about us! It’s all about Him! What He has done for us, not what we do for Him. It’s about how He loves us, and shows us that love in a multi-faceted ways everyday. How He keeps us protected from all eternal harm when we’ve chosen to allow Him to do so by placing ourselves totally into His loving hand.
So this morning and, I pray, every morning from here on out when I get up I will place my own set of Son-glasses on over my eyes to help me remember that what Jesus did on the cross and in the tomb, is a FINISHED work that He did in my name before God Almighty, so that the laundry list of my sins past, present and future are FORGIVEN. Once and for all, so that I can go about living life and not get wrapped up in sin. I can walk with confidence knowing that if I am doing something wrong, He will alert me to the situation and I pray that I will choose to heed His warnings and cease and desist immediately!
Who’s Holding the Scissors?
Mommy: “Anna, your pants have been cut! Who cut them???”
Anna (4 yr old): “The scissors did.”
Mommy: “and who was holding the scissors……?”
Oh, how many times we would love to blame the scissors for the cuts in our lives! The pens for the misspelled words, the guns for the deaths, the paper for the cuts. But is it ever really the scissors’ fault? So often I’d really like to… no, I do, blame the Tempter for my sins. But was it really his fault? He didn’t make me sin, I chose to. He didn’t make me say those words, I chose to.
Lord, today, please help me choose to obey You and not give in to sin. Please deliver me from the evil that prowls around like a lion seeking whom he can devour. Lord, I thank You and praise You that he can not devour me! Though he may maul me, he can not devour me. Though I may be pressed I am never crushed. I may be persecuted but I am never abandoned, struck down but never destroyed. Because I am blessed beyond the curse, Your promises will endure and Your name will be my strength! You are my God in whom I trust, so whom shall I fear? Neither height nor depth nor the darkness of night can separate me from Your loving embrace and I praise You for that! Lord, thank You for being who You are! My God in whom I place my trust.
Lord, I praise that You have mercy on me, according to Your unfailing love and Your great compassion You have blotted out my transgressions. You have cleansed me from all my stain-filled sins and washed me as white as a newly cleaned carpet that once had a stubborn grape juice stain on it from a careless 4-year-old that brought an open cup into the living room. (Oh Lord, I digress! Focus girl!) Lord, thank You for creating in me a pure heart and renewing a steadfast spirit with in me.
Lord, I praise You that You have restored to me the joy of Your salvation and have granted me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Lord, KEEP ME FROM SIN! I can’t stand to be away from Your presence and light. The dark has become too dark for me. The shadows too dreary, the gloom too gloomy. I praise You for restoring my spirit by helping me see the folly of my ways and to realize I was heading off in the wrong direction like a toddler wandering off in the store in search of the toy aisle, not realizing that that is where You were headed to begin with! Lord thank You for calling my name and grabbing my hand to keep me from walking into the oncoming traffic of my foolish and rash choices. You are SO GOOD! I love You LORD, thank You for being who You are! My GOD in whom I place my trust and my life!
He knows the plans
I’ve been having a rough week this week, things haven’t really been horrible, just not great either. It’s been a lot of sleepless nights, vivid dreams I can’t seem to remember and some I’d rather not. But today things seemed harder because today was the end of an era.
I’ve written a book for God with my husband and have not been able to publish it yet. We have a self-publishing company that we’re planning on going with, but the money for the project just isn’t coming in at all. God confirmed to me two Weeks ago that it is His will for me to be creating a program, to go along with the book we wrote, for small groups to go through the book together and support each other. He confirmed this to me by having the publishing company send me a flyer for their “publish two books for the price of one” sale. So, I’ve got to admit that when I saw the flyer the day after I realized that it was God’s will for me to write a companion journal for True Intimacy I assumed that it also meant that the funds for this whole project to get it off the ground would be here by the ending date of the sale… today.
As you have probably figured out, no money fell into my pockets from the sky today. And I have to admit there is a big part of me that wants to be disappointed about it. But at the same time I also know that GOD knows the plans that He has for me. They’re plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans for a hope and a future. Because I have called upon Him, I have come to Him in prayer and He has listened to me. I have sought Him with my whole heart, so I will find Him. He will bring me back from the captivity that we are in (financially). He will gather us from all the nations and places where He has banished us to and will bring us back to the place from which He carried us into exile. (Jeremiah 29:11-14)
You see, there is something I have learned over the last few years of getting to know God more intimately… He really likes the dramatic last second rescue. He likes to be our knight in shining armor, riding in on His white horse to save the day. And why not? He is God after all, it’s not like He can’t do it. In Jeremiah 32:27 He tells us “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?” IS anything to hard for God? Is it too hard for God to get $25,000 together and into my bank account in 14 days? Of course not! So why didn’t He do it then? Because He has something better in mind that’s why!
He knows that it’s not my big dream to pay someone to publish our book, it’s my dream to have someone pay me to publish our book. And I believe that He will do it that way too.
Is anybody out there???
Quick question. I need to know if the RSS feed is working for you! Please leave a comment on this page to let me know if you’re getting them. I’m considering looking for a different method of sending this out since not everyone is familiar with RSS. If the RSS IS working then I’m not going to take the time to mess with it.
Thank you for your input!!!
Tamar
Press into Me
Today I get to unfold a wonderful secret truth to you! And I am so excited to share it with you! Our main story comes from 1 Kings 20. This is so much more than a story of what was happening centuries ago. This is a story of what is happening right now! TODAY! The names may be different, but the story is exactly the same.
Let me introduce you to our two main characters. In one corner we have Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, enemy of the people of God… aka. Satan. In the opposite corner we have Ahab king of Israel, child of the living God, a symbol of you, today, right now.
1-3 At about this same time Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his troops. He recruited in addition thirty-two local sheiks, all outfitted with horses and chariots. He set out in force and surrounded Samaria, ready to make war. He sent an envoy into the city to set his terms before Ahab king of Israel: “Ben-Hadad lays claim to your silver and gold, and to the pick of your wives and sons.”
4 The king of Israel accepted the terms: “As you say, distinguished lord; I and everything I have is yours.”
5-6 But then the envoy returned a second time, saying, “On second thought, I want it all—your silver and gold and all your wives and sons. Hand them over—the whole works. I’ll give you twenty-four hours; then my servants will arrive to search your palace and the houses of your officials and loot them; anything that strikes their fancy, they’ll take.”
7 The king of Israel called a meeting of all his tribal elders. He said, “Look at this—outrageous! He’s just looking for trouble. He means to clean me out, demanding all my women and children. And after I already agreed to pay him off handsomely!”
8 The elders, backed by the people, said, “Don’t cave in to him. Don’t give an inch.”
9 So he sent an envoy to Ben-Hadad, “Tell my distinguished lord, ‘I agreed to the terms you delivered the first time, but this I can’t do—this I won’t do!'”
The envoy went back and delivered the answer.
10 Ben-Hadad shot back his response: “May the gods do their worst to me, and then worse again, if there’ll be anything left of Samaria but rubble.”
11 The king of Israel countered, “Think about it—it’s easier to start a fight than end one.”
12 It happened that when Ben-Hadad heard this retort he was into some heavy drinking, boozing it up with the sheiks in their field shelters. Drunkenly, he ordered his henchmen, “Go after them!” And they attacked the city.
13 Just then a lone prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “God’s word: Have you taken a good look at this mob? Well, look again—I’m turning it over to you this very day. And you’ll know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I am God.”
14 Ahab said, “Really? And who is going to make this happen?”
God said, “The young commandos of the regional chiefs.”
“And who,” said Ahab, “will strike the first blow?”
God said, “You.”
15 Ahab looked over the commandos of the regional chiefs; he counted 232. Then he assessed the available troops—7,000.
16-17 At noon they set out after Ben-Hadad who, with his allies, the thirty-two sheiks, was busy at serious drinking in the field shelters. The commandos of the regional chiefs made up the vanguard.
A report was brought to Ben-Hadad: “Men are on their way from Samaria.”
18 He said, “If they’ve come in peace, take them alive as hostages; if they’ve come to fight, the same—take them alive as hostages.”
19-20 The commandos poured out of the city with the full army behind them. They hit hard in hand-to-hand combat. The Arameans scattered from the field, with Israel hard on their heels. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram got away on horseback, along with his cavalry.
21 The king of Israel cut down both horses and chariots—an enormous defeat for Aram.
22 Sometime later the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “On the alert now—build up your army, assess your capabilities, and see what has to be done. Before the year is out, the king of Aram will be back in force.”
23-25 Meanwhile the advisors to the king of Aram said, “Their god is a god of the mountains—we don’t stand a chance against them there. So let’s engage them on the plain where we’ll have the advantage. Here’s the strategy: Remove each sheik from his place of leadership and replace him with a seasoned officer. Then recruit a fighting force equivalent in size to the army that deserted earlier—horse for horse, chariot for chariot. And we’ll fight them on the plain—we’re sure to prove stronger than they are.”
It sounded good to the king; he did what they advised.
26-27 As the new year approached, Ben-Hadad rallied Aram and they went up to Aphek to make war on Israel. The Israelite army prepared to fight and took the field to meet Aram. They moved into battle formation before Aram in two camps, like two flocks of goats. The plain was seething with Arameans.
28 Just then a holy man approached the king of Israel saying, “This is God’s word: Because Aram said, ‘God is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,’ I’ll hand over this huge mob of an army to you. Then you’ll know that I am God.”
29-30 The two armies were poised in a standoff for seven days. On the seventh day fighting broke out. The Israelites killed 100,000 of the Aramean infantry in one day. The rest of the army ran for their lives back to the city, Aphek, only to have the city wall fall on 27,000 of the survivors.
30-31 Ben-Hadad escaped into the city and hid in a closet. Then his advisors told him, “Look, we’ve heard that the kings of Israel play by the rules; let’s dress in old gunnysacks, carry a white flag of truce, and present ourselves to the king of Israel on the chance that he’ll let you live.”
You see, the Armean forces, today, are real. There really are demons flooding the streets looking for people to attack, looking for people to drag down into a pit of despair and depression. They are surrounding the people of God and trying to hold them back from an intimate relationship with their God. And so many times the people allow them to win, they allow the Enemy to sink into their mind and convince them that they’re fat or that they’re not good mothers. But God is so gracious! Because we don’t just get the honor of winning the battles on the moutain tops of life, because He is also the God of the valleys of life as well. He doesn’t just bring victory in the good things and the good times, He brings victory in the low times of life too. In those times when we feel like two tiny little herds of goats and the Enemy is covering the entire countryside against us. But GOD is with us! God sends His messengers into our lives to encourage us and let us know that He IS with us and that He will bring us victory! Victory in ALL the battles of life, the mountains and the valleys! The high points and the low points! How? Check out what is happening to Elisha in 2 Kings 6
8 One time when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, after consulting with his officers, he said, “At such and such a place I want an ambush set.”
9 The Holy Man sent a message to the king of Israel: “Watch out when you’re passing this place, because Aram has set an ambush there.”
10 So the king of Israel sent word concerning the place of which the Holy Man had warned him.
This kind of thing happened all the time.
11 The king of Aram was furious over all this. He called his officers together and said, “Tell me, who is leaking information to the king of Israel? Who is the spy in our ranks?”
12 But one of his men said, “No, my master, dear king. It’s not any of us. It’s Elisha the prophet in Israel. He tells the king of Israel everything you say, even what you whisper in your bedroom.”
13 The king said, “Go and find out where he is. I’ll send someone and capture him.”
The report came back, “He’s in Dothan.”
14 Then he dispatched horses and chariots, an impressive fighting force. They came by night and surrounded the city.
15 Early in the morning a servant of the Holy Man got up and went out. Surprise! Horses and chariots surrounding the city! The young man exclaimed, “Oh, master! What shall we do?”
16 He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.”
17 Then Elisha prayed, “O God, open his eyes and let him see.”
The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!
18 When the Arameans attacked, Elisha prayed to God, “Strike these people blind!” And God struck them blind, just as Elisha said.
19 Then Elisha called out to them, “Not that way! Not this city! Follow me and I’ll lead you to the man you’re looking for.” And he led them into Samaria.
20 As they entered the city, Elisha prayed, “O God, open their eyes so they can see where they are.” God opened their eyes. They looked around—they were trapped in Samaria!
Again, a man of God was completely surrounded and seemingly incapacitated by the Enemy forces around him… but those Enemy forces had no idea what was REALLY going on! Only God and Elisha did. Elisha could SEE what the battle REALLY looked like. Heavenly Chariots of fire surrounding the Enemy. And that is the case for us every day! We HAVE to walk in the confidence that God’s faithfulness is our shield and our rampart! (Psalm 91: 4) It has nothing to do with our faith or our goodness or our works, it is all dependent on Him and Him alone. When we realize that the battle belongs to the LORD and not to us, then the battle becomes so much easier. Look at the Israelites, they still had to fight the battle, they still had to go through that valley, but they went through it KNOWING that the victory was theirs! They fought that battle and they WON that battle! They did SERIOUS damage to the enemy forces while they were fighting too! It wasn’t just that they survived the battle with their lives in tact, NO! They WON that battle, they DEFEATED their foe! Leaving a trail of bloodshed and defeat behind them! In the story with Elisha, God opens our eyes to the fact that although we may not be able to see them, the warrior angels ARE there to help us defeat the seemingly overwhelming enemy force that may surround us at the moment. TAKE HEART my friend, because those that are with us are more than those who are with them! Because GOD is with us, who can be against us???
This morning while still snuggling with my husband in bed, God said so lovingly to me: “Press into ME”. This is our command, this is our honor, this is our privilege, to press into Him. Jesus is our heavenly husband. He loves us more than we could ever hope or imagine! He desperately wants us to press into Him; to stand close to Him and lean into Him, laying our heads on His shoulder with our nose against His neck and our arms around His waist, so that He can wrap His loving tender arms around us and hold us tightly. Just like those angel troops surrounded the enemy forces, His arms surround and protect us from the Enemy and his efforts to destroy us, causing him to fail! So today I pray (feel free to pray with me):
“Lord, I press into You. You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1) I believe that it is Your faithfulness to me that is my shield and my rampart and not my own faithfulness to You. God I THANK YOU for always being here for me, to shield me from the storm and to draw me nearer to where You are. Lord, I will praise You in this storm, because I BELIEVE that You are with me, and that You will bring me victory in Your own way. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!”
Are your shoes on?
“and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” Ephesians 6:13
This morning has already proven to be very interesting. Anna wanted to come out to the bus stop with Gabe and I but couldn’t seem to obey my “Then, you’d better get your shoes on”. Until finally it was too late and we had to leave her in the house. I had to shut the door on her desperate screams of “wait for me!”. It was terrible and I hated breaking her heart like that, but we barely made it out there in time the way it was. His driver does not wait for anyone.
Thirty seconds later when I walked back up our path I could see her little face pressed against the window of the door. As I got closer I could see the anguish on her tear-stained face. I opened the door back up to her standing there tears running down her face, one little pink polka dot shoe on her foot and the other dangling from her hand. She dropped it as I knelt down and wrapped her in my arms. She sobbed into my shoulder as I told her that I was sorry, but we couldn’t wait for her any longer because Gabe would have missed the bus.
It was when I came in and saw her shoes, one on and the other in her hand, that I realized what a powerful message this is to us all. The bus home is almost here and Daddy is telling us to get our shoes of the gospel of peace on. To be ready. But if we’re not obeying and are playing around instead, we’re going to get left behind. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get caught with only one shoe on, the other in my hand and have the door shut in my face while I’m crying “wait for me!”… do you?
It might be a good time to pray and check with God if there’s anything He’s been telling you to do to get ready that you haven’t done yet.
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