Awake At 30

Sleeping and Awakening In The Lord's Care  "I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." ~ Psalm 4:8 NKJV "Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up." ~ Psalm 5:1-3 NKJV If we are serving God as we ought, we have this comfort. We can pray to God and know that He will hear and He will answer ( Jms.5:16 ). However if we're living unrighteous lives, our Lord will not answer our cries for we are separated from Him so long as we live in sin. Were you able to rest peacefully last night due to your pure state before Him; have you awakened this morning to praise and glorify His name, giving thanks for yet another day to serve Him? Will you live in such a manner as to abide in His care throughout this day, will you d...

Becoming A Father (Deut.6; Eph.6:4) So many thoughts run through my mind as I think about my son on the way. So much of my life has been spent worrying about me, fixing my problems, overcoming my issues, forgiving myself, and struggling to keep myself whole before God. The cycle of self-improvement never ends individually; however, as we age and enter new phases of life we should have a good deal of our former issues worked out so we can better focus our time on the new challenges before us. Especially as a man, the childish ways of before are no longer acceptable and one must step up to be the head of his household. Selfishness as head of the household, provider, protector, and as a leader is something that should be far from each of us. Now that I have my own household that I am responsible for, my life and how I conduct myself affects more than me, it directly affects my household. My actions will influence my son, he will learn what kind of man to be primarily by watching and ...

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in  the  thing for which I sent it." - Isaiah 55:10-11 NKJV Do we live in such a way that we demonstrate our belief and trust in this verse? Or are we like obstinate children in the sight of our God, hopelessly trying to come up with "better" ways to serve Him which He has not authorized? Do we truly believe that His word will be prosperous; do we show our belief in how we carry out our role in spreading His word; are we truly sowing the seed He has given? God's holy will, and His word, shall be done; whether by our hand or not, it shall be done...the question for you and me is if we will be a help or a hindrance? If we are His...

At The End Of The Day (2 Cor.5:1-10) At the end of the day... I come home. I come home to my family. I come home to my loving and beautiful best friend, mother of our child, my wife. I come home to my precious, already active, soon-to-be-born son. I come home to our energetic, crazy but affectionate dogs. I come home to our house that keeps us warm, keeps us comfortable, keeps us sheltered from the weather. I come home to where we have food to spare, clothes to wear, and comforts of this life aplenty. I come home to where the Bible is read, the Lord is our bread, and the riches in Christ flow abundantly. I come home to where peace reigns, where gentleness abounds, where care and concern for others and one another are real.  I come home to a woman who knows me intimately, sees my faults and my triumphs, and still stands faithfully by my side; someone who truly loves me. I come home to a woman who is invested and cares what I have to say, truly listens to me, and encourag...

Veterans' Day It is on this day that we remember, as a nation, our veterans who have honorably served this country. I thank each and every one for their service to our country, the price they have paid, and the scars they bear daily, both external and internal. I thank and each of you, not just on this day, but for each day I live in a free nation that you have helped keep safe; I recognize that, as a result of your service, many of you live and remember daily their time spent in service to this country. The memories don't go away; many of you have seen combat; you've seen the enemy eye to eye, or scope to scope, or put your training up against his/her; I recognize that those sights, sounds, and smells don't go away. If you came in contact with the enemy, those brushes with death, the fear and the adrenaline, the blood, the possible tears from rage or from the adrenaline of coming so close to death; the flood of all kinds of emotion; the acting on instinct and allowing...

Tired of Running  ( Matthew 4; 1 Peter 5:8-9; James 4:7-10 )  Do you ever get tired of running? Get tired of being pursued? Running so hard only to tire out, slow down, and be overtaken time and again by satan and his followers? Are you tired yet? I am. I'm exhausted.  I'm weary of satan's relentless pursuit, his chasing me, catching me, then devouring me. It's time he be the one on the run. It's time to devour him, time to make him and his followers run. Time to stand my ground. Time to take my stand with God and utilize the tools He has given me ( Eph.6:10-17 ). I am arrayed for battle, I'm ready to fight, I'm ready for war. It is now time to fight, and win decisively, against the devil. Time to beat him over and over and over, beat him and his ways to death. Time to slay him, daily. Time to stop running, turn around, face this fierce lion and reject him. Refuse to be kept down to become carrion and the stinking decaying flesh he so desires us...

Efficient. I like this word; better yet, I like for things to work in this manner. Here's what it means: "performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort; having and using requisite knowledge, skill, and industry; competent; capable" There is no sense, in my mind, in doing something inefficiently. Why waste time doing something another way? When there is a prescribed way to do something, there's often a very good reason as to why, and to act outside the bounds of that way is illogical. While this word, efficient, is one you'll be hard-pressed to find in scripture, the concept is all throughout God's word. The best way to be efficient is to obey God. To act outside the bounds of God's word is inefficient. That's it. So much, in my mind, is black and white; it either is or it is not; it either is "yes" or it is "no" and I don't believe much else in life is an exception to that rul...