“If You Fell Down, If You Failed, Get Back Up”

Congratulations, Mighty Warrior of God!  You have made it through your first month of making your goals and objectives a reality.  This word also goes out to those who may have had a good start but have also run into some snags or failures along the way.  If it was today, shake it off and get back to the program.  If it was last week, shake it off and get back with the program.  If you had one or two days of success out of the 31 in January, I still admonish you to get back on the program. 

I admonish every one of you to make a change in your vocabulary, you normal mode of speech in 2012, especially when you have had “one of those days/weeks.”  I promise you it will confuse the devil, keep you in a somewhat positive state of mind and give God praise and room to work in your life.  Instead of saying that you had a bad day, even if it just might be the truth, say that you had a good day although it had some unfavorable events to take place.  Is that a PC way to say the same thing?  I don’t think so.  Call it a way to keep yourself protected from the devil who is waiting to jump on someone at a vulnerable point in life (1 Peter 5:8).  No, this is not the power of positive thinking nor is this a way to psych yourself out.  Think about it for a second.  What does Philippians 4:8 talk about?  It is a good day when you can get up in the morning, have all your faculties about you and are able to go to work and come home again.  Isn’t that true?  Unfavorable things can happen in a given day, given month or given year, which is talking about things honestly but it’s still a good day.  If you leave home on time, you clock in on time.  If you leave late, you clock in late.  If you keep your cool with irate people, you just might make then calm down.  If you lose your cool, you could escalate the situation and make things get heated.  That sounds just, right?  What’s pure is God’s grace and mercy which is new every morning and He is right there to comfort you and get you “back in the game”.  Your life is lovely, YOU are lovely, God and His Word are lovely, praise and worship is lovely; the list goes on and on.  And finally, saying that you had a good day although it had some unfavorable events to take place is a good report because you can think about the day, see where you could’ve done things better.  See how it works?

The other thing I admonish you to do is to not be too hard on yourself if you don’t do things perfectly one day.  The day that I am composing this post, I spilled hot chocolate on the sweater I had put on to be with my mother and dad at a Sunday brunch to celebrate her birthday.  It was not a dark color so a spill like that is very obvious.  I was devastated at first, but I knew where I could work the stain out which was the foaming soup in a OCBF restroom and, miraculously, the stain was worked out and didn’t have any attention drawn to myself after that.  This could be a principle to live by when it comes to mistakes we can make along the way.  Go to the One who can get you back on track and back on course.  If you are trying to eat more nutritiously this year and know that you might have overindulged this weekend (which can also happen at a brunch), get back with it on the next meal.  Take what Job tells us and say to yourself that you are back on it (Job 4:3-4) and remember you have someone you can truly rely on to get things back right again (Psalm 37:33-35) and that a bump in the road is just for a moment (Proverbs 24:16).

February is a new month, folks.  Make it a new beginning.  Your failure or stumble was a lesson on what not to do next time.  It doesn’t define you, it propels you to get back up and do it over.  Give God praise, somebody!

Warrior Seeds For “If You Fell Down, If You Failed, Get Back Up”

1 Kings 8:56
Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

Job 4:3-4

³Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. ⁴Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

Psalm 37:23-25

²³The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

²⁴Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
²⁵I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Proverbs 24:16
For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Psalm 138

¹I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

²I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
³In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
⁴All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
⁵Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.
⁶Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
⁸The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

"Know Who You Are, Know What You Know"

If you haven't had a chance to see "The King's Speech" with Colin Firth and Geoffery Rush (2010) then I suggest you do so as soon as possible and prepare for this movie to "preach" to you.  For those of you who have seen it, I am sure you are wondering how a secular piece of cinema could possibly deliver a spiritual message, especially when there is profane language laced within it?  Well it's quite simple, actually.  This movie brings out two, maybe three major spiritual lessons all of us who profess to be Christians need to learn:  standing on the authority you've been given, what happens when fear takes ahold of you and what happens when you remember who you are. 

Firth played The Duke of York, Prince Albert, the 2nd son of King Henry V, who had an incredible stuttering problem, making it impossible to speak.  Queen Elizabeth I, played by Helena Bonham Carter, out of love for her husband, sent out to seek help for Prince Albert's speech impediment.  She found such help from a man whose name plate in a building directory simply said "Lionel Logue - Speech Defects".  Not knowing who she was, Lionel (Geoffery Rush) pretty much laid down the rules immediately if he was to be used in a therapeutic way:  everything happens in his office and he makes no house calls.  Queen Elizabeth decides to "pull rank" on Lionel and mentions it was for The Duke of York.  He considers this for a moment, respectfully addresses her as "Your Majesty"...and repeats the same rules that would apply if therapy is to be garnered.  He knew who he was, where he was, and what made what he does happen without any hesitancy or intimidation.  He had authority and stood on it with boldness, clarity and confidence.

Prince Albert comes in and begins to address Lionel as "Dr. Logue", something that he dismisses.  Lionel makes the declaration that they will address each other on a first-name basis.  He was Lionel, his patient would be referred to as "Bertie".  Prince Albert insisted on "Your Majesty" but Lionel laid down the rules of HIS house again without wavering:  we are equals up in my camp if this is going to work and everything happens here.  The first speaking exercise, after going over the mechanics of speech and speaking, was to record "Bertie" reading Hamlet's famous "To Be or Not To Be" while classical music played in his ears. Bertie reads just a few lines before ripping the headphones off his head, calling the exercise rediculous and storms out of Lionel's office, but not before accepting Lionel's grammaphone recording of his reading.  He listens to himself read without a stammer, stutter, or jerky hesitation.  Lionel had bet Bertie a shilling that he could get him to read flawlessly...and he did.  Why?  He was made to take his mind off of himself, his poor view of himself and his fears and read flawlessly.

As the movie goes on, Lionel make the discovery that Bertie didn't have a speech impediment so much as he had an "esteem impediment" and continually tried to put Bertie in situations that would boost or even challenge his esteem. Every time that was done, he spoke with confidence, accuracy and strength.  But then there came a time when Prince Albert checked up on Lionel Logue and his practice to discover that Lionel was not a licensed doctor or any type of doctor, speech therapist or otherwise.  Once again, Lionel did not waver from who he was, even in the face of being identified as a failed actor who happened to have a gift for speech elocution and diction.  He goes on to tell Prince Albert that Austrailian soldiers who were shell-shocked and could barely speak as a result of fighting in World War II sought his help, and he cured many a man who developed a speech impediment.  His experience and results that came from his faith in his abilities qualified him to do what he does and he stands grounded on that fact.  He didn't suppose he was good at speech therapy, he KNEW that he was good, and Prince Albert (who later became King George VI due to his older brother refusing to not marry a divorced American woman, something that would dethrone him anyway) was not going to move him from that confidence.  He knew who he was and he knew what he knew.

I laid out that "spoiler" to bring out this point: when it comes to us walking our spiritual walk in Christ Jesus, we have an enemy who wants us to forget who we are like we talked about in the posting “It’s Not Always About the Length of The Fight, but The Endurance of The Fighter” .  Bertie/Prince Albert/King George VI was gripped by a paralyzing fear and extreme low self-esteem which caused his terrible stuttering.  His strict father, the efforts to stop him from writing left-handed (which was considered sinister or evil in Europe) and painful therapy for knocked knees were the reason for the fear and low self-image.  Satan wants to always highlight and heighten our "deficiencies" and/or short-comings in our past, making our ability to speak the Word of God in our lives turn to "stuttering" due to a lack of confidence.  That is why it is IMPERATIVE to put your nose in that Holy Writ, and God promises that doing so will bring that confidence that we sometimes lack, what it says in

Proverbs 14:26-27.  In so doing, you give no room for the devil to attack us with guilt from not studying (Ephesians 4:27) and when you meditate on the things you read every day and night, that Word gets planted in your heart.  And when Satan tries to challenge that Word, you can stand on the  confidence that you are who you are and you know what you know.  You stand on the authority of God's Word (Hebrews 10:35).

When Lionel Logue witnessed King George VI deliver his first WWII speech to the nation of England, it was then that they were no longer equals, Bertie was now the king, and Lionel genuflected before him as his humble subject and servent, only because Lionel watched his king overcome his fear and lack of confidence as he spoke to his people.  Since Satan and his minoins must do that before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as it says in Romans 14:11, you need to realize that they will do the same to you when you have that strong, close relationship with Him.  Walking with Him in Hs Word, talking with Him through prayer, subjecting yourself to Him in surrendering you life and everything in it, and fasting, gives you the right to walk on the devil's head and make him subject unto you (Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 14:18-21, Luke 10:19)  You walk in the path of those with a bright future, a surety and confidence in yourself because of Christ and your relationship with Him.  So, when the devil tries to tell you how things arf and need to be done, especially when he steps into your house (in this case, your mind), do what Lionel Logue did in "The King's Speech":  stand on your authority in Christ, state the rules of the house boldly and refuse to waver or be moved.  Know who you are and know what you know!

The Warriors Table Warrior Seeds - "Know Who You Are, Know What You Know"

Deuteronomy 28:1-44

¹And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
²And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
³Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
⁴Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
⁵Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
⁶Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
⁷The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
⁸The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
⁹The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
¹⁰And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
¹¹And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
¹²The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
¹³And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
¹⁴And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
¹⁵But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
¹⁶Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
¹⁷Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
¹⁸Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
¹⁹Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
²⁰The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
²¹The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
²²The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
²³And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
²⁴The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
²⁵The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
²⁶And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
²⁷The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
²⁸The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
²⁹And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
³⁰Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
³¹Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
³²Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.
³³The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
³⁴So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
³⁵The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
³⁶The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
³⁷And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
³⁸Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
³⁹Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
⁴⁰Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
⁴¹Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
⁴²All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
⁴³The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.
⁴⁴He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail

Joshua 1:6-9

⁶Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
⁷Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.
⁸This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
⁹Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Exodus 19:4-5

⁴Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
⁵Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

Job 36:5-15

⁵Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom.
⁶He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor.
⁷He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted.
⁸And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction;
⁹Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded.
¹⁰He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.
¹¹If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
¹²But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.
¹³But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them.
¹⁴They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.
¹⁵He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression.

Jeremiah 7:23

²³But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

Acts 5:26-42

²⁶Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.
²⁷And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
²⁸Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
²⁹Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
³¹Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
³²And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
³³When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
³⁴Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
³⁵And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
³⁶For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
³⁷After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
³⁸And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
³⁹But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
⁴⁰And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
⁴¹And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
⁴²And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ

Proverbs 14:26-27

²⁶In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

“Are you The Just that live by Faith or a Man that lives by his faith?”

 Alright, folks.  We are now 3 weeks into the New Year, and it is my hope that the thing you said was going to happen in 2012 is truly in full swing.  This is usually when it’s at its easiest stage of progression.  But what happens when you start to see results 3 months down the line?  You are either encouraged and want to keep on keeping on or you start to doubt that you can keep up the momentum and decide it’s too much to continue.  Now that I think about it, that doubt thing is an attitude that isn’t just contained within the New Year’s Resolution realm.  Sometimes, in our walk with God, we adopt that same kind of “stinkin’ thinkin’.  Why is that, you ask?  2 things:  “For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16) and “Why do ye not understand my speech even because ye cannot hear my word Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:43-44). 

Now, please make no mistake concerning the last Scripture reference.  No one is being accused of being a demon child by any stretch, but I am sure you know what I am referring to with the quoting of that Scripture.  In fact, both of them talk about the 2 greatest enemies of long-lasting success:  our flesh and the old sleuth foot, the devil.  Take a look at the first thing Jesus said:  “Why do ye not understand my speech even because ye cannot hear my word.”  And that is the goal of Satan, to make it impossible to hear His word.  I am sure you know the good reason why the devil NEEDS to do that, right? “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).  As long as we are unable to hear the truth of God’s Word, we won’t be able to hear the encouragement that comes from him through it.  When it comes to the 2012 goals we have set, The Word says to come up with the plan to achieve those goals (Habakkuk 2:2), set the course and stay on it (Ecclesiastes 9:11), remember you have a coach (Zech. 4:6) a partner who is with you all the way  (Deuteronomy 31:6-8), who knows that the going can get tough (Isaiah 40:29-31) and that you just might want to give up and quit because of the journey being “too hard” (Galatians 6:8-10; 2 Thessalonians 3:1) and reminds you that your follow-through and persistence will bring about the reward (Ruth 2:12, 1 Corinthians 3:8).

But then we go back to the other kind of man, the man who believes his own self-defeating thoughts and the lies and deceit of Satan.  I have always believed that the “flesh” (the carnal nature) tries to wrap you up in a “blanket” so that you do its bidding (Romans 8:5-6a).  Your carnal nature does not want to get up right at the time it needs to in the morning, it doesn’t want to go to bed on time, it wants to continually eat and drink the fattening stuff, it doesn’t want to exercise or drink water, it doesn’t want to get to that project you said you were going to begin this year, it doesn’t want to be nice to the person “you can’t stand”, the list goes on and on.  Guess what?    We just described the “man of faith”.  This is the kind of man who doesn’t believe he or she will never lose weight, never get that six-pack, never get promoted, or will never find that “perfect” person to spend the rest of their life with (Proverbs 23:7).  They are the kind of people who are negative, always give advice laced with bitterness, and don’t take care of themselves.  They walk around with a “doomed” expression and have nothing better to do than to spout “doom and gloom” (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45)  Believe it or not, that IS a person of faith who is the embodiment of the first part of Romans 10:17, that faith cometh by hearing.  If they had a lot of non-nurturing people in their lives who had nothing encouraging or uplifting to say to or about them, that might be the solidifier of many a pessimistic, fatalistic mind set.  But then here comes the rest of the Scripture, “…and hearing by THE WORD OF GOD”.  When you get into the Word, all those negative things said about you in the past should start to lose their grip.  The only problem is that many of us haven’t come to realize that we can break the bad habit of berating ourselves or downing other people (1Peter 3:10).  The devil would have us to believe that there is no other way to live but the lifeless, aimless, defeatist way of thinking.  What he doesn’t want you to know is the truth of the Word that says your mind can be changed (Romans 12:2), your heart can be changed (Ezekiel 11:19), your life can be changed (Job 33:28; Psalm 16:11; John 5:24).  Hey, even your health can be changed through God (Proverbs 3:7-9, 16:24; Jeremiah 30:16-18, 3 John 1:2) because Jesus DID SAY in John 10:10 that he came so we could have life and have it more abundantly, right?  Can you have abundant life in bad health with a bad attitude to boot?  But I digress.

Decide today and for the rest of 2012 that you are not going to fink out on yourself.  You are going to stay the course and make happen what you said you wanted to make happen, knowing it is going to take hard work to make it so.  Keep the end game in mind just like your LORD God already has (Isaiah 46:10).

THE WARRIOR’S TABLE - WARRIOR SEEDS - “Are you The Just that live by Faith or a Man that lives by his faith?”

I John 2:15-17

Love not the world neither the things that are in the world If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him. 

For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. 

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

John 8:43-44 

“Why do ye not understand my speech even because ye cannot hear my word

Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.

2 Corinthians 5:6-9

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

“It’s Not Always About the Length of The Fight, but The Endurance of The Fighter”

As we continue into 2012, there are a few 21^st Century trends that come along with us like the iPad 2, the latest iPhone or 4G Android/Smart phone and that beloved, wonderful mobile video game known as “Angry Birds” in all its various forms.  The designers of this game really should call it “Angry Players” because if you don’t have the right bird or give it a trajectory that doesn’t make the objects in the structure fall correctly, that tends to make you, well, angry, doesn’t it?  But no matter how aggravated or frustrated it makes you, faithful players will spend HOURS just to try to send that Red Ramming Bird, that 3-split Blue Bird or Boomerang Toucan into flight at just the right angle to cause the most destruction that will free the captive birds (if you are playing the RIO version) or destroy those annoying green pigs.  Why would someone want to spend so much valuable time to achieve such an objective?  It’s called persistence.

            Lately, at work, my iPod Touch has been having a problem holding on to the WiFi signal that makes it possible to stream YouTube and Netflix videos.  Lately, I’ve been streaming my dad’s favorite NBC program from back in the day called “The Rockford Files” that I came to enjoy on my lunch breaks.  I would keep getting the message that there was no connectivity, that I wasn’t connected to a Network.  This would make me go back to my settings and, to my dismay, discover that I was not connected to a WiFi Network.  Sometimes when I would try to re-connect, it kept saying that my iPod was not able to connect with it.  But I knew that the server has been recognized by my iPod before so it has to work.  When I finally got the connection back and would go to Netflix, it would continue to tell me it was not available but the rotating scroll would be seen which made me continue to hit OK but would wait until the connection was made to stream my new-found favorite TV program.  Why was it so important to get Netflix to work and stream my shows?  It’s called persistence.

                  So, what am I getting at, you ask?  I’m glad you want to know.  In our Christian walk, we may come across many challenges, especially things that would cause us to have to stop in our tracks and deal with directly.  The only defense and weapons in our arsenal is The Word of God.  When life and/or Satan throws up a structure to get in our way (like the past), we need to know if we need to throw that Ramming Bird (Matthew 24:13), the 3-split Blue Bird (St. Luke 10:19), the Black Bomb Bird (St. Matthew 11:12), the Egg Drop Bird (II Corinthians 10: 4-5), the 2 Blue Birds shackled together by their feet (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Deuteronomy 32:30), the Super-Ram Yellow Bird ((Hebrews 10:36) or the Big Papa Ramming Bird (2 Peter 2:9, II Chronicles 20:15, Zephaniah 3:8-13:17-20)  But the best weapon we have above all else is persistence.  No matter what gets thrown at us, no matter what setbacks we suffer, we are going on and we are going to make it.  God already knew we needed encouragement in the race, so he gives us Scriptures like “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Gal. 6:9)” or “For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise (Heb.10:36)” or “The race is not given to the swift nor to the strong but to the one that endureth to the end (Ecc. 9:11)”.  And then here comes our main man Apostle Paul with his, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14)”. 

So, I said all this to say what?  Simply that if you set goals for 2012, realize that there is a struggle ahead, a battle, a debacle waiting at the ready to derail you.  The last thing Satan wants you to do is succeed in anything, especially if it means being set free of your painful event from yesterday, turning your failures into stepping stones, making your bad decisions points of wisdom, and making the hard work you know things will take something that drives you instead of discourages you.  Everything he can throw at you, he will; no matter if it’s people, TV shows, movies, exes, church folk, family, etc.  Stay true to your goals, warrior of God.  What is it called that’ll help you make it to your victory?  It’s called persistence.

Warrior Seeds for Week of January 8, 2012

Matthew 24:13 - ¹³But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

St. Luke 10:16-20:

¹⁶He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
¹⁷And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
¹⁸And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
¹⁹Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
²⁰Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

St. Matthew 11:12 - ¹And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

II Corinthians 10: 3-6:
³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
⁴(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
⁵Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
⁶And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 -
⁹Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
¹⁰For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
¹¹Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
¹²And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Do Not Resolve, Just Submit

Happy New Year!  It's 2012!  I have been married to my new bride for almost 3 years, grandchild number 10 was born in 2010 and number 11 will be here toward the end of the Spring.  Truly, 2012 is already been an exciting time.  When the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2012, the first thing that came to mind is that a lot of New Year's Resolutions are going to be put into full swing from a lot of people all over the world.  Of course, it's no small wonder that out of all of them, only 17-19% of them are successful.  So, then, it hit me.  Why do they fail at such a substatrial rate, usually after January 31?  Experts say that it's because the plans people make are way too lofty for anyone to achieve and once they get overwhelmed or come to the realization that the commitment is too big, they quit and are back to where they were this time last year.

After reading God's Word, it's obvious He already knew what kind of people we would become.  That's why He told us to lay our cares and burdens on Him (1 Peter 5:6-8, Matthew 11:28-30).  No matter if we try to use the Power of Positive Thinking, write it all down, go to Academy or Home Depot and get everything we say we need, we still have to deal with this:

You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? (Romans 6:16-19, The Message)  So, now, let us decide that, in 2012 we will not be bound by any grandiose New Year's Resolution, but will just DO what we know we need to do to make things happen this year.

As with everything, the flesh is our biggest enemy to succeed (There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin, Psalm 38:3, KJV).  That's probably why The Lord had Paul tell us in Ephesians 2:3 about "the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind..."  Your flesh is NOT going to want to exercise, quit smoking, modefy eating habits, or make you be less unhappy or cranky.  Your flesh is NOT going to want to resist that piece of cake, drinking too much, yeasty bread, or ice cream.  It isn't going to want to be faithful to Bible Study, church attendence, writing that book or keeping a budget.  So, are we doomed?  Not at all.  We just need to do one thing:  James 4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God..."

Does that seem too simple or even the opposite of simple?  I guess it depends on what you want to serve.  Think about this:  God wants to give us our heart's desire, but what He desires more is your submission, just like in Matthew 6:32-34.  The problem with New Year's Resolutions is that they take in and on the whole year and not one day at a time, one obstacle at a time, one challenge at a time.  Once something goes wrong or gets in the way of things, people quit, whine and dive into self-pity.  All God wants to do is to help you though so you can be true to what you want to do.  Spending time with Him will help you "die to yourself" (Ezekiel 36:26-28, Galatians 5:16) and make sure to always bring to Him what you want to accomplish in your life (1 Peter 5:6-8).  So what do you say?  Shall we go into 2012 submitting ourselves to God so we can look back on December 31, 2012 and say, Wow!  Did I really do that?

Do Not Resolve, Just Submit "Warrior Seeds"

Isaiah 43:17-19

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹⁸Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
¹⁹Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

John 15:3-5

King James Version (KJV)

³Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto