Tried, True and Tested

A trip to OrthoArkansas to have the knee that was scoped on July 1 checked because of continuing pain.  The knee is worn out the joint is degenerated and has arthritis.  The shining cue ball looking surface is more akin to the surface of the moon in appearance. I was told point blank that my running career was over (I think I should have some say in that) but still I wasn't upset with that news...nothing like what my wife expected.  I feel blessed that the Lord gave me enough speed and endurance to join the sub 4 hour marathon club and to finish 34 marathon or longer races since my first marathon in 2016.  The reason I'm not upset with such otherwise devastating news?  I've been saved and Baptized and follow God's plan now and I'm sure he a amazing plan for me that needs the time I dedicated to running...something I had come to worship much like an Pagan idol.  He cleansed my heart and cleared my calendar.  I may still try to run some but most likely no more marathons and it'll be slow and for enjoyment rather than competitive, my priorities now are to lead a life that glorifies the Lord's name by continuing to learn His word through scripture and then share that word and help people build a relationship with him.

Okay, I typed the above portion on 08/26/20 when I returned from my appointment with Dr. Newbern at OrthoArkansas.  Then today's church surface was a conformation slap in the face...I believe.  

Psalm 26: 1-2

1) Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. 2) Examine me, O Lord, and prove me: try my reins and my heart.

Ole King David was sure of himself wasn't he?  I'm not that brave yet and don't know that I ever will be...I can hope to be though.  

The title for today's sermon was "Tried, True and Tested" and a portion of it was a quote from a book the Pastor had read that stated...

"They work at their play, worship their work and play at their worship"

Now that me eyes are opened to it, it's easy to see.  We do for a fact take our hobbies to serious and work at being the best we can possibly be at whatever we do.  For me it was running and as I stated a few days ago "I worshiped it much like a Pagan idol. We put them ahead of pretty much everything and it's all we want to think about or do.  It's my sincere belief that I faced condemnation with my knee and he cleansed my heart and removed my false idol. We'll worship our jobs by working hard and working extra hours to get that promotion.  At what cost though?  We neglect our family because we don't have time for them,  We neglect household duties because we don't have time.  We neglect our health by running ourselves to into the ground, eating junk on the run and sleeping very little and usually poorly all for a few extra bucks and a title. I've been there and done that as well.  Playing at worship?  That maybe the easiest to see because even I noticed when I didn't worship.  Christians what their church perfect by their standards.  They want gourmet coffee in the lobby.  They want the music to be perfect and no glitches with the fog machine or song board.  They want their Pastor to get up and speak elegantly the word of God, but do it in less than 15 minutes.  Why?  Because the game comes on at noon.  My tee time is at 11:45.  If I don't get the steaks on the grill by 1:00 they'll not be done when the guys show up for the late game.  There's many other things that can cause it and women...you're just as guilty as us men.  Our priorities are out of whack and until we get them straight and get the Lord back on top of the list we'll continue to only fool ourselves.  We'll never been in a position where we might ask to Lord to...Examine me!

>>>When your legs get tired….run with your heart<<<

Truth

 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32

I’ve recently had my left knee scoped after several years of pain that got to the point it kept me awake at night for a couple of months.  After the July first surgery it felt better than it has for years however after resting it for 2 or 3 weeks as I began to return to normal activities it started to hurt and the swelling returned.  After going back to work from my furlough (that included a job transfer from the P&R to the Street Dept.) as I started to climb up into and down out of equipment and my foot hanging of the toothed grips of the backhoe steps resulting in twisting the knee it became even worse.   Then come Thursday night yoga (08/20/20) trying to get into a pose the knee buckled and collapsed on me.  At the conclusion of the practice as we were laying there relaxing and meditating I asked God to heal my knee as the pain was becoming more than I wanted to try and handle...again.  Now I had asked a similar question multiple times lately and was still waiting on an answer, a sign...anything.  The problem was, I believe, the fact that I wasn’t being specific, I wasn’t asking for him to heal my knee.  I was asking him to allow me some relief so that I could run races for at least a couple more years because that’s how I figure I’ll meet the most of my people to share the Lord’s word with.  The same Thursday night, at bedtime I again asked the same thing...for God to heal my knee because of the pain and not so I could run some races.  Friday morning the knee that I was expecting to be swollen to about the size of a basketball and hurt so bad it would take everything I had not to cry...I was really expecting to have to use a sick day, felt okay.  It wasn’t really swollen anymore than it had been for days and the pain was minimal.  In my morning prayer I made sure to thank Him for the blessing and during the prayer at bedtime I made sure to thank Him again and asked for continued work on the healing process.  The point I’m trying to make is be specific when you talk to the Lord, don’t just throw random selfish things out there and expect it to happen.  The Lord can and will work miracles for you but not for reasons of the flesh...I wanted to race and being healthy was in second place and He showed me my error.  He showed me the truth and that truth set me free...it set me free to receive His loving, healing hands.  If you’re reading this and haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your savior please reach out to me and I’ll do what I can to help.  We can talk, we can pray together or I can put you in contact with those that are far more knowledgeable than myself.  

>>>When your legs get tired….run with your heart<<<

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In chapter 24 of Matthew, Jesus is giving the signs of the end of this age. While setting on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to him privately and ask Him  "What will be the sign of Your coming"

 

Matthew 24:10-13 says...

"And then many will be offended, will betray one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But who endures to the end shall be saved."

 

Just sit down in a quiet place where you can think without distractions and ponder that and what's going on in the world today. 

 

>>>When your legs get tired….run with your heart<<<

Spiritual Warfare? Yeah.

 Spiritual Warfare? Yeah.

We are living in terribly distressing times and I’m not necessarily talking about the pandemic.  The times I mention is where the corrupt are protected by the laws while the innocent and even those charged with enforcing the flesh and blood laws are persecuted. Many of the world's leaders are criminal not only in thought but actions as well.  These leaders serve a higher power, but it’s not the Lord...Satan controls these people and these people with their novel ideas are turning brother on brother, sister on sister and children on their parents and the only real thing they have to offer is an eternity in hell and these people are blinded to the lies because they haven’t allowed the Lord’s love to flood their hearts.  We as Christians need to quit fighting against and start fighting for nonbelievers. 

James 4:7 says...

 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 

And  John 8:32 states...

 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

If we can get those that are lost and in the devil's grasp to understand that we can really start turning the tide of this spiritual war...I mean I’ve already read the ending and I’ve chosen the winning side and would like to take as many brothers and sisters as possible with me. 

Romans 12:21

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Here’s  an example of what we face as Christians….On August 7th 2020 a  Ventura County state judge (California) issued a temporary restraining order against church, prohibiting it from meeting for worship.  However, Gov. Newsom’s orders allow the church to feed, shelter, and provide social services, but the same people in the same building cannot worship. In order words, non-religious services are acceptable but religious services are banned. 

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The same governor who encourages mass protests, bans all worship. The same governor who says the church can meet for secular services, bans the church from having religious worship. If people cannot see this obvious unconstitutional violation, they are blind. This unconstitutional hostility against religious worship must end. Enough is enough!”

If this isn’t spiritual warfare waged by a corrupt individual working for Satan, I don’t what it is.     

Romans 8:31

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

We as Christians, behind the power and love of God will win this war….but, I would like to win as many battles between now and the end times.  Someone asked Billy Graham how bad the world would have to get before God stepped in and Jesus came back?  Below was his answer…

“The Bible warns us against making precise predictions about the exact time of Jesus’ return—but His return is certain, and we may well be living in the last days before He comes again. The Bible says, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here” (Romans 13:12).

Shortly before returning to Heaven Jesus told His disciples that someday He would come back to establish His Kingdom. But before that could take place, He said, certain things would have to happen—and we see many of these today. For example, He said that before His return the Gospel must be preached throughout the world (see Mark 13:10). Never before has this been possible—but now it is, through radio and the Internet and other modern means of communication.

You also have placed your finger on another sign Jesus gave: Satan’s final attempt to halt God’s work through a massive onslaught of evil. Our world is no stranger to evil; Satan has always been working to stop God’s plans. But God’s enemies now have access to modern weapons of mass destruction, and no one can predict what the outcome will be. Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. … Nation will rise against nation” (Matthew 24:6-7).

The real question, however, is this: Are you ready for Christ’s return? You can be, by turning to Him and putting your faith and trust in Him. Don’t take His warnings lightly, but commit your life without delay to Jesus Christ.”

“When your legs get tired….run with your heart”

The News, Social Media and Friends

   Well, I had planned a completely different subject...but there's been so much happen this week it's kinda fell apart.  I got Baptized on July 26th and immediately felt different as I raised from the water...then Monday was my first day back to work since being furloughed at the end of May.

Now to the title portion...I haven't watched the news in a long while because they don't seem to report the news any longer.  They seem to either want to create the news or just give their opinion...neither one of which is what I would watch it for.  I took a 48 hour break from FB and it may have been a couple of the best days I've had in a while.  I'm thinking about seeing if I can do a full work week without it, but I've got to do my FB live of our Sunday worship service.  Now the biggie...FRIENDS!!! to be more exact what think might be or might have been friends.  Sometimes we need to back up and look at our friends, even the smallest and tightest of groups...especially if you're a newly born again Christian, your friends and you are no longer the same people and will show and show immediately.  The discussion with you and/or within the group will dwindle (with FB it would be simple to create another page and leave you pretty much by yourself with just enough activity to make ya think you're involved).  You sudden might find yourself not knowing about group activities until they're over.  You find there's a lack of responses to post, calls and text messages.  I'm not afraid to say it...I think that's where I'm at.  I've not been kicked out of a group nor have I been ask to leave, but it's a cold shoulder or exclusion type of feeling.  Sometime you just need a break from all of it...turn the TV off, turn the radio off, log off the computer and go sit on the back porch and listen to the (in my case) crickets, coyotes and traffic.

Anyhow, I'll keep praying on the subject and whether or not the Lord is telling I have a calling to teach Sunday School or if it's just all in my head.

>>>When your legs get tired...run with your heart<<<