I find the book of Daniel fascinating.  The third chapter is all about Shadrack, Meshack and Abendego. No where does it mention Daniel.  In any other novel the main character would not have been left out, at least in Hollywood or Disney.  God is the best story teller ever and His stories are true. I find it much more suspenseful for a main character to not even be mentioned.  Then Daniel is brought up again in chapter 6. The suspense deepens when Daniel is thrown into the Lions Den.  He misses out on the fiery furnace with his friends but he is all alone in the fiery furnace.  

The wonderful point is when they call upon his name from the outside of the Lions Den they call him "Servant of the Living God".  Wow, now that's a title to strive for, but are we willing to suffer for that title?  
Looking back again to the third chapter of Daniel we see Shadrack, Meshack and Abendego referred to as, "you servants of the Most High God, ...!”   The most wonderful thing about this entire book is how God get's the glory when we refuse to bow to sin in our lives.  

How about you today?  What forces of evil are coming against you trying to get you to bow down and worship them?  Trying to get you to compromise?  Choose you this day whom you will serve, if God--serve Him.

Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Good day my friends. Today's blog is a bit more personal.  Lets just say I'm going to pull up a chair in your living room and share a small part of my life with you.  I pray the message will touch your heart just where God intends it to be touched because this little story can hit home in many ways.  However, it is meant to get you thinking and to help soften your heart so God can continue to mold you, so that you can do His will His way.

Before my father passed away he bought me a beautiful white convertible. Many of you may have seen me driving it.  We were on our way home from the hospital when he asked me to stop and inquire about it. Actually he told me to go in and tell the owner what he would pay for it. I did exactly as my father ask. I always have. The car was mine. The first year I owned the car unknown to my father it had to have a new engine put in. I never told Daddy.  Since that time it has been nothing but a wonderful blessings and an even more wonderful memory.  My Daddy loved me.  

Now on a hot sunny day I sit inside my white convertible and feel like everyday is a vacation. I love the sunshine.  Recently however it has been extremely hot. The sun beating down on my shoulder blades has not only turned them brown but my hair has really gotten lighter. Interesting the same sun turned one part of me dark and the other part of me light.  It was how each part of me responded to the light.   I am at heart a summer girl so I love it. It is okay with me that I change because of the sun.  But a few days ago the sun almost felt like a slap instead of a kiss.  It stung my shoulders and arms to the point I put on a sweater and turned on the air conditioner.  Who would have thought what I loved and had kissed me so sweetly was now painful and damaging.  

Jesus how terrible you must have felt when Judas who had kissed your cheek then turned on you?  How painful that must have been.  But what about today?  There are many who sting your heart everyday.  The sting of murdering another child you died for.  The sting of another mother choosing to kill her baby.  The sting of one person planning to kill an entire population of a city, a bar, the twin towers, the city of Nice, France. 

So I drive through the shade on a once busy road that is now quiet because people prefer the highway.  I lean into the curves and enjoy the sway of my little white convertible. I smell the fresh cut grass. I see the beautiful foliage and flowers.  I hear the birds.  What a contrast it must have been to live on this earth and feel the heat of sin against His sinless flesh?  How refreshing it must be to be in heaven reunited with His father.  

If you are feeling the heat of life there is a place to lean in to. There is a place in the shade of the battle. There is a road less traveled.  Oh, and PS.....Daddy loves you.  But you may have trouble under the hood and need a new engine.  God can fix that.  He knows you can't enjoy the ride of life broken down.   

Psalms 91:4 (NIV) "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB) "13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

I never wore braces. My top teeth are straight. My bottom teeth were crooked.  So I decided to get them straightened.  One trip to the dentist and a mouth full of some sort of gangy blue stuff and I was on my way.  Now 16 weeks into it I am on my 4th clear correct braces.  When you first get them everything is very tight. By the time a few weeks go by the clear correct is much looser.  Bad news is you go get another one and start the process all over again.  First few days it's really hard to keep the clear braces in.  However if you take them out the pain only intensifies when you put them back in.  Lesson learned-do what your told and wear them all the time.

When you compare this to living the Christian life and staying in the word there isn't a lot of difference.  Read the word and practice the word daily and it gets easier and feels less controlling.  Get out of the word for a period and you get crooked thinking and your actions get lukewarm at best.  Then when you come back to the word of God it can be painful.  Sin has consequences, sometimes painful.  

Phillipians 4:8 (ESV) "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

The word of God is full of boundaries. Touch this and don't touch that. Go here but you shall not go there. Marry this one and not that one.  Don't touch. Don't eat.  When we obey the word things go well with us.  When the word of God is written on our hearts we desire to do the will of God.  

Psalm 40:8 (NIV) "I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart."

​I made a committment to myself and to my dentist to not just begin the process but finish it.  

A beautiful state park near my home called Valley Falls is a great place to just sit and enjoy God's beautiful creation.  It's loud.  It's windy. It's perfect.  If you are wanting a place to just go hang out go to Fairmont WV and find this little spot.  It's a beautiful drive through the mountains and around a lake just to get here, but it's worth it.  The falls drown out all the other sounds.  The cool mist off the falls is just what you need on a hot and sunny day.  If you go through the week it's pretty desolate, but a crowd can gather on a weekend and still you can manage to find your own spot.

There is a great song by Dara Maclean on the CD One Worship #7 called Overflow.  It is one of the best songs I have ever heard.  I wanted to attach it here but it wasn't available yet on YouTube or iTunes.  The lyrics include, "I can hear the walls crashing down, I can feel the water all around, It's Your heartbeat, You're for me...".  The presence of God was so strong today I literally felt His presence in my car overflowing in and through me.  The Holy Spirit desires to fill us to the overflow and remove all obstacles in His way that He might consume us.  

The Falls consume everything in their way.  Those falls are powerful enough to move everything in their way.  As beautiful as the water is, it is also dangerous.  Ride on them and you will definitely go places few have been.  Ride against the falls and you will only go backwards.  When the presence of God comes into our lives we need to go with it not against it.  Many times I have fought the spirit to no avail.  However when I have went with His ways and power things have been amazing. 

Today go with the Holy Spirit.  Allow His power and presence to take you where you have never gone before.  It was so important to receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus had them go wait for Him in an upper room. Jesus is still waiting for many too accept Him and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  If you are waiting God wants you to receive.  In His presence we are changed.

​

Waiting on some friends to arrive that are like family got me thinking.  I wanted the friends to arrive. I thought they would be here around 9 PM.  Then they text me to let me know they'd be arriving around 9:30 PM and then they were later than they thought.  Some unforeseen things came up, so they were delayed.   So I waited, but while I waited I began to think about  how Jesus is sitting at the right hand of Father God waiting for us to arrive.  We all have a scheduled meeting time with Daddy God.  Until each one of us arrives He is waiting. Not one of us can take another's place.  Jesus probably finds it difficult with each passing day to wait for our arrival. Just like Jesus I prepared a place for my friends to rest.  We got some extra food for everyone and made sure the beds were ready for our weary travelers.  Then I just waited. Waiting is hard but the reunion is so sweet.  

John 14:2 (KJV) " My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?"

Jesus is waiting for us.  Jesus wants to be with you and I forever.  God desires to spend eternity with us. Jesus paid the price for our sins just so we could be with Him.  

When my friends arrived all that mattered is that they were there.  The smiles upon all of our faces told the story that the wait was worth it all.  So now for the next few days we will celebrate doing life together.  Then they will leave and return to their home, their jobs and the people they do life with.  They will be gone.  Once again we will be separated.  The wonderful thing about Heaven is we will be together forever--we will be home.  

I will see you soon my friend and there will be no more good-byes.  Heaven will be....well....heaven.

Purification is a process.  For the most part process is not a particularly found thing to go through.  We all want to be pure but having the heat turned up in ones life so the impurities can rise to the surface--no I'll pass.  But when we say no to God about a thing He wants to do in and through us to make us better He may not always agree.  

 
Malachi 3:3 (NIV) "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,"
 
Purifciation is the process where something impure becomes pure.  Purification is when things are cleaned and made pure. Salt water must undergo purification before it's safe to drink. Some filters do a purification of the air to reduce allergens. Many puriciation processes  however use heat.  Hence the term "Turning the heat up".  So the next time you find yourself in the hot seat, stay put.  Allow God to purify you and you will be amazed at the places He can take you.
 
Psalm 26:2 (NIV) "Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;"

I am so excited in just a little over a month I will be present at the adoption of my lil grandson.  In my heart he is already ours but legally he belongs to the state of West Virginia.  Until this adoption is final I can not do anything legally as far as disciplining him or taking him out of state on vacation.  To his own hurt I can not treat him like I would my own grandson.  I am sure he would love the beach, Disney, Kennywood and the Zoo but it would require special permission at the least and I am not sure even that would grant me the rights.  

I am sure God would love to take many people to some lovely places. I am also fairly certain He would like to discipline His own even though it would bring Him pain, but the legality of ownership prevents Him.  Until we are born again of the spirit according to Romans 10:9-10 we belong to satan.  Satan could care less about us. Satan uses us to get done his dirty work on this earth and when he is finished with us, he destroys us because he has no further use for us.  On the other hand God desires to use us as well.  He is never finished with us rather His desire is for us to live forever with Him.  

When we consider both of these scenarios who wouldn't want to be adopted as God's own son or daughter? Only those that are unaware of this great truth.  This is why it is so important that as we get to know Him we need to introduce others as quickly as possible. Time is short. The battle is raging for the souls of men and women all over this planet.  Each one must tell one.  That is what the Lord told me.  He said alone it is an overwhelming job but together we can do it.

So what are you waiting on?  It really isn't that hard.  Just tell someone what Christ did for you.  There is power in your testimony.  There is a message that immersed from your mess.  Be real and honest.  This is all the Lord requires of us, to be faithful.

Revelation 12:11 (NIV) "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."

2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV) "For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

I am so excited for the day to call this little guy mine.  How much more will God rejoice over the adoption of those He gave the life of His only Son to possess?  It truly is the great exchange.

In years past I was a pretty good runner.  I did a lot of races and won a few trophies.  I enjoyed running and it kept me in pretty good shape.  However life got busy and running was pushed to the back burner.  Because I had run in my past, if I had to run I could make myself run.  Usually a 5K was doable.  However as more time passed running up the steps became taxing. What happened?  I was out of shape.  How did it happen?  It happened one day at a time.  How do I get back to where I once was?  The answer is one day at a time.  Muscles have memory.  It won't be easy but it is possible. Start by going for a walk.

It is much the same with being in shape spiritually.  Read your word daily and use the word on a daily basis and spiritually you can run a 5K.  Want to do a marathon it is going to take a lot more training.  You will need to put in some long runs weekly in order to finish that marathon.  You will not need to run 26 miles 2 days a week or even once a week but you will need to get close.  The rest of your body may need to be worked on as well.  Lifting weights to develop the arms will help a lot come marathon day.   So it is not sufficient to just read the word for 5 or 10 minutes and once in a while slip in a daily devotion.  Reading the word had to be a discipline and there have to be some long periods where you are in the word to the point you get this second wind that tells you, you could stay here all day.  This kind of study and time in the word comes over a period of time, but it begins with a walk through the word.

Start walking today.  Life is not a sprint it is a marathon.  It is not run in a day but over a lifetime.  In order to finish this race successfully you will need to be so immersed in the word of God that when you sweat the world will see you sweat the word.  There is no better time to start than today.  Today you begin the race of a lifetime one step at a time.

Hebrews 12:1-4 (KJV) 12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

I was kind of glad it rained this Independence Day.  I had my fill of picnic food. I had enough sun. I just wanted to rest but the schedule was full.  There would be no rest; or so I thought.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The rain cancelled most everything we had on our schedule. Although we found out too late too just stay home it worked out just fine. We went to the movies.  Can't remember doing that on the 4th of July. Maybe a new tradition.  On the spur of the minute I chose a movie and was surprised at how entertaining it was.  I never spoke a word.  That's the sign of a great movie. So what was so great about it? I thought you'd never ask.

We went to see the movie Tarzan. It followed the old Tarzan and Jane story line but unlike the cartoon it had an underlying honor and integrity theme.  Honor was woven throughout the movie in several characters and was a stark contrast to the other characters that obviously had no honor what so ever.  It got me thinking when one of the main characters asked Tarzan a question. "Where was your honor?"  Tarzan replied, "I had none."  When I heard that I realized he had been raised by animals so it was no surprise he would not have honor.  He only knew what the animals knew.  We have to be taught honor. Honor needs to be modeled.  When we do not see honor being modeled we do not reproduce honor in those that we lead. We humans are to have honor.  We are not mere animals.  However, honor is not something we see everyday. When we do see it, at least when I see it, I am awe struck.  It is rare to see a man hold the door for a lady. It is rare for one man to honor another man in public.  It is even more rare to see children honor their parents, grandparents, teachers and those in authority.  Parents don't honor children so that the children can model honor they have observed. We have lowered ourselves to the animal level in the area of honor.  So what do we do?

We return to the Bible.  The Bible tells us to give honor to whom honor is due. It commands us to honor our mothers and fathers.  The Bible even tells us we are to honor our fathers friends.(Proverbs 27:10)

​Romans 12:9-13 (ESV) "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

1 Peter 2:17-19 (ESV) "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV) "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

This week let's work to honor those to whom honor is due.  Then let's take it a step further and honor those in authority whether they deserve it or not. That will be a challenge.  That will take us dying to our self and allowing Christ to be formed in us.