In The Battle

Work... Eat... Sleep... Kiss the wife... Hug the kid... Wake up and do it all over again... Is this what God would have us do?

I'm thinking this is not the life that God would have for any of us. We as men especially end up running like dogs until we break down or until we are sick or we just lose heart. No one should live like that. One thing God has instilled in me is a breaking point and I normally know it right away. When my emotions aren't in check and I'm being the wrong kind of fruit, I know that I'm doing the wrong thing. The Bible does say, "You shall know them by their fruit."

I've been thinking about this the last day or so and God doesn't want you to be without joy. Nor do I think he would have life be mundane.

Posted by DJ at 6:12 AM | 2 comments  

John 10:11-16

I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

I know that in my story I used to be a major poser. I came to church, I sang the songs... I even prayed... but the problem was... I wasn't really listening to God, nor did I care what He was doing. I "played" church... so to you out there pretending, I say... Watch yourselves very closely. You are like a hired hand... You aren't a shepherd and you leave the sheep and the wolf... snatches them...

I'm asking those who are closest to me to hold me to this. I don't want you to be snatched up by the enemy. I don't want be the one who runs and hides like a coward. I will listen for the shepherd's voice... and I encourage you to do the same... We will become one flock!

Posted by DJ at 7:32 PM | 0 comments  

I'm going to share two things... One will be part of an audio book I'm reading right now by John Eldredge called... "Walking with God"... Check my Talkshoe widget on the right to hear an excerpt from this book. It has been stuck in my head all week... and I simply love this story.

The other has to do with the book... but something I had been dealing with that goes with the book.

Eldredge has one really good story about agreements we make ... with spirits... or even ourselves without even knowing it? For instance... Joshua 1:5 says, "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."... yet people feel abandoned by God sometimes. So who is saying that to them... I'll give you a for instance from my life. When my dad passed away 9 years ago, I know that death is a part of this world, but I didn't understand. This couldn't happen now. My dad won't see my children grow... and so I felt abandoned by God and confused and terribly upset. Now... that wasn't coming from God ... was it?.. of course not. And we know that contradicts His word. Could it be that some foul spirit was intervening to make me agree that God was distant and didn't care about me? I would say ... almost certainly. And I just don't know why I never thought about these things. And the Bible most certainly talks about the battles that we will engage. Just thought I'd share that.

In the battle,

DJ

"Every man dies, but not every man really lives"

Posted by DJ at 8:41 PM | 0 comments