Two are better than one

I just wonder if Solomon thought of this seeing his dad on his deathbed not being able to keep warm. A man that was deeply flawed but believed God and received such mercy, yet a valiant hero maybe in Solomon's eyes. David, at the end...once so strong...now so frail (I'm choking up) and Solomon's (son of david and bathsheba) tenure was one of peace but he was a playboy nonetheless...and as he pens what would indeed be some of his final words in Ecclesiastes (after possessing everything a man could want and seeing it was a chasing after the wind)..I wonder if the thought of his dad and what really matters in life. His servants advised him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, to take care of the king’s needs and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you and keep our master, the king, warm.” (1 Kings 1:2 NET)
And then his words: Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor. For if they fall, one will help his companion up, but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm, but how can one person keep warm by himself? Although an assailant may overpower one person, two can withstand him. Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NET)

The Lord being our life not a number on a list and loving others out of the love He gives us...
I pray we don't have to look back on a life that is wasted with deep regret because we were chasing what was so empty.

GET UP!

I receive a lot of prayer requests (which is why Morgan is banned from my phone as I want them to stay private) and one thing I've always encouraged is that no matter what you've done, no matter how far you feel you've fallen, what a travesty and tragedy it would be for you just to drop out of corporate worship but moreover how tragic to just put His word down. What you need more than anything is to pick it up. Go to the psalms. You won't find anyone who has blown it, had to utterly depend on God, or had such height and depth of emotion then the man after Gods own heart, David, who penned much of the psalms under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No matter what he did (murder, adultery, taking a forbidden census and having so much bloodshed on his hands, past victories, failures, betrayal, loss) he believed God would take him back and wanted him back. That's the deal breaker. Do we sin so grace may abound? Heck NO! But did The Lord pay for your sins past, present, and future before you were ever born? Yes! They were nailed to the cross. Do we still face consequences...yes but The Lord still doesn't treat us as our sins deserve. I've seen people light a match to their own flame and medicate with alcohol or drugs until they all but self-destruct. If The Lord allows the enemy to sift you like wheat let Him as something in you needs to die so you may fully live. But as long as you have breath 1) LIFT UP...cry out and stretch your hands up for The Lord to deliver you. 2) GET UP! Strengthen your weak knees so that the lame behind you may walk and endure that discipline as The Lord disciplines is for our good and because we are His (Hebrews 12). 3) WAKE UP! Stay alert. Know where you are weak and where the enemy gets a foothold. Make a plan. But seek not to medicate (I'm not talking about people who truly need medicine for certain things...I'm talking about trying to drown your sorrows or guilt from not repenting with some sort of substance. Run to the word to medicate and take comfort. 4) PICK UP!! Pick up the word of God. We are without excuse and we are to know the truth and abide in it and the truth will set is free. It's not words on a page. 5) OWN UP! confess and own your sin before God. He already knows. He is big enough to handle us spilling our hearts out and urges us too. Also, remember that the Lord is after relationship. He would rather you know Him then you just get delivered to live for yourself. Some of the places of bondage in your life probably didn't just Happen over night and may require some time of critical care with the LORD so your gaping wounds can become scars or even tattoos. Don't forget what He has brought you from or how incapable you are apart from Him and how capable you are of any amount of sin. All of us are sinners and on equal ground at the cross. If you start to get proud GET DOWN and humble yourself. Then, 6) DON'T SHUT UP! Turn back like Peter after he denied Christ what did The Lord pray for him as he knew satan had asked permission to sift him like wheat? That after that he would turn back and strengthen the brethren. People behind you need to know (and maybe not in detail) that if you can blow it and experience full redemption that they can to. The Lord is not finished with you if you still have breath. COME LET US RETURN. “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6:1-3 ESV)

Benefits without relationship?

In reading this in relationship to God...I thought what a word it is to those in relationships and ESP if you are single. You are not cheap! Do not give what is precious and costly to someone who wants the benefits of a relationship with no responsibility or sacrifice. That's not the way we should roll. And speaking of rolling...when we decide to do it our way, The Lord is redemptive yes, but the stone we roll (whatever it may be that is forbidden) will indeed roll back on us and be the death of us.

Is God a Big Deal to You?

I'm so convinced that a lot of people that say they are believers, yet don't have any demonstration of Christ in their life, yet can show devotion to so many things (work, football, hobbies...and the list could go on even with really good things) but say their faith is private or they aren't demonstrative...that just like the following verse they have not really spent the time to know Him and to taste and see that He is good. If they had, they wouldn't be able to settle for mediocre. Of course we can all fall into lethargy in our walk but are we ok with that kind of apathy? A lot of us are content to settle for less than Gods best. Also, we were all created to worship. It is in our DNA. You don't have to be a hand lifter at church during praise...God looks on the heart. I've seen people who say they aren't demonstrative scream, yell, jump up and down, be ticked at the opposing football team all in a game. We are called to worship and we have an unseen battle, a very real unseen opponent, a team that is eternal, some cheering on we need to do for others in the faith that we need to pass the baton too...yet we get so distracted and caught up that we deafen ourselves to what really matters. I'm not saying don't have hobbies and don't cheer at a game...I'm saying that if you walk with God there should be a demonstration of that. Our faith in Christ and our call in scripture is not a private matter. You can't keep it to yourself and hold to His word being true that we are called to preach the good news, to always be ready to give a reason for the hope we have, and to keep our lamps burning as we hasten His return. Praying God will move in our hearts and lives. That He will give us hearts and minds that love Him with every ounce of us. And that this generation would commend His works to the next. That we would tell of His wonderful deeds and His faithfulness to all who fear Him. I have heard a thousand times that our problem in America is taking God out of schools. Friends God is not in a lot of our homes is the problem. We don't drop our kids off at school or church to teach them about Jesus. We are to teach them diligently.

That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord ’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel. (Judges 2:10 NET)