Colgate, Wasp Guts, and Jonah

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This . . .
I remember this old toothpaste commercial. A little boy arrives home with his Dad after a visit to the denist and announces to his mother, "Look, Mom, only two cavities!" The idea being that if you brush with Colgate you could have a great check-up too with only TWO cavities. I have had only two cavities in 55 years and one of those was in a baby tooth. Which reminds me, I am almost due for my five year check-up.
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That . . .
I was printing t-shirts yesterday and suddenly noticed a "lump" between the screen and the shirt. Turns out that just as I lowered the screen, a wasp flew inbetween and then I squeegied him to death in gold ink. I intend to charge more for that shirt because it has wasp guts on it and I figure you should pay more for golden wasp inerds pressed into your shirt.
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This is That . . .
Jonah was a prophet. Here is the message God gave to Jonah to give to the city of Nineveh,
"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." Jonah 1:2
“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Jonah 3:4
Because we know the end of the story, we know that this decree would be reversed if the people of Nineveh would repent.
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Think of God sending forth his judgement via email. He types it up,
"I will destroy Nineveh in forty days." Then he tells a prophet to go tell the people what he has in his outbox. The prophet speaks and the people listen. They respond with fasting and repentance. No water, no food, even for the livestock. God is greatly pleased with this repsonse and goes back to the outbox on his computer. Instead of pushing send, he pushes delete.
". . . and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it." Jonah 3:10
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So here we are, living in the midst of great wickedness all around. And the voice of the Lord is shouting!
Joel 2
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand:
2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
11 . . . For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?
12 “ Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “ Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him—
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God has an email all typed up in his outbox, but He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. He is waiting for his desired response . . .
16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD,
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, . . .
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Positioning

This . . .
Here is the deal on our cat Jasper. He stays outside mostly because he is so obnoxious, but when he comes in he wants to be sure you know it. He gets and stays right under your feet, lays down right in your path, meows and makes a rukus by rubbing up against you, and if that doesn't work he will bounce off the wall til you pay attention.
Reminds me of the lady in the Bible who wouldn't be quiet until her neighbor got up to get her something to eat for a late night guest.
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That . . .
I played basketball in high school. Basketball is a game of positioning. If you want to score, you need to be in the right place to receive the ball where you can shoot and hopefully score.
You need to be in the right spot to pass the ball to a team mate so they can score.
You need to stay between an opposing player and their goal in order to play good defense.
You need to block out and get into position if you want to rebound.
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This is That . . .
An important part of our relationship with God has to do with being in the right position to receive whatever he has for us or to give whatever he wants from us. Here are a few thoughts on advantageous positioning with God.
A place of prayer is a good start. Having your eyes, ears and face turned towards God is a good thing. You don't want to have to turn around and say, "What was that, God? I wasn't looking, I wasn't listening, I was somewhere over yonder, hang on, I'll be there in a minute".
A place of sin with your back turned towards God would be the total wrong position. Duh! A place of repentance is a good position.
Fellowshiping with other believers is the right place. Fellowshiping with the world would obviously not be good, so don't do that.
I heard someone say this week, "Don't go anywhere you wouldn't take Jesus with you".
Circle under God's feet. Stay in his way. Pray and rub up against him with worship. God's eyes are searching the earth for wholehearted believers with their faces turned towards him ready to receive wisdom and revelation, ready to be and do all that he desires.
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Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.
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Here I am God. My face is turned towards you. Send me.
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Sounding the Trumpet . . . Again

This . . .
There has been a sweet potato on our counter for a couple of weeks. Yesterday, it turned into a creature from the "vegetable lagoon". Very scary things growing out in every direction. I am thankful it is right next to the knives.
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That . . .
So what is with all the flies? I think I know now why they're called house flies - because they are all in the house. Just how long does a fly live and do they come from sweet potatoes?
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This is That . . . .
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
Most believers have a pretty good idea of who God has been, but the question is . . .
Who is He? (What is He doing?) and what about the "is to come" part? (What are His plans?)
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When I first started blogging, I wanted to "Sound The Alarm and Blow The Trumpet In Zion"
Nothing much has changed except we are closer to Jesus' return now than we were then.
I want to get back to it.
Here are five important things that I believe need to be trumpeted.
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1. Great revival is coming. God is going to pour out his power on "The Bride of Christ" as he brings us into unity and perfects us in love. We are on a mission from God and he is going to empower us to be victorious. This will be the churches finest hour.
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2. Great trouble and tribulation are coming as sin in the world comes into fullness. The trouble will come from a variety of sources, but it will all be orchestrated by God. He will use the least possible amount of trouble, to bring the greatest number of people into the deepest level of love without violating anyones free will. This will be really terrible trouble, but also a really great harvest.
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3. Wholeheartedness is required. This is no time to continue in sin. Repent and turn your heart completely towards the Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Luke warm is going away and only the hot and cold will remain. Trust me, you want to be hot.
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4. God is good, even when trouble comes, do not be decieved . . . God is GOOD. He is full of love, mercy, and kindness in the great outpouring and in the trouble. When trouble comes, people generally turn away from God, or run to Him. Make a decision now to ALWAYS run to Him for He is good.
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5. Pray. God is raising up a mighty army of worship and intercession. Join the army. Call a sacred assembly. Fast. Pray. Cry out between the porch and the altar. Worship the Lord your God. Seperate yourself from the "things of the world". Don't be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Meditate on God's word and pray over it.
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These five points are all covered in the book of Joel - Only three chapters. Make that nine if you read it three times.

The Words In Red

I have been spending time reading just the red part in my red letter Bible.
I can only conclude, my thoughts are not His thoughts and my ways are not His ways.
I continuely find my self asking, "Jesus, what does that mean?"
Everything He says is so profound, completely right and true, but at the same time so mysterious. Just when I think I am following along pretty well and getting it, he says something that I just don't get at all.
I can only pray out of Ephesians 1, that God would give me the gift of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
Oh to have the mind of Christ and think what he thinks, say what he says, and pray what he prays.

Tarah's Blog Proclaiming Truth

Be sure to read Tarah's post, "Laying Down My Life".
http://www.proclaimingtruth.blogspot.com/

You Are Always Good

You're faithful. You're faithful. You're faithful.
You're always good.
You're kindness leads me. You're gentleness it moves me.
Yea tho I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death,
I have no doubt you've already gone ahead.
You're my fire by night and you're my cloud by day.
And tho ten thousand may fall to my right and my left
Under the shadow of the most high I find rest
You're my fire by night and my cloud by day.
You're faithful. You never change. You're always good.

Francis Frangipane

Rule In The Midst Of Your Enemies!
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True peace does not come from extreme indifference, nor does it originate from becoming so "spiritual" that you fail to notice the world around you. Peace is the fruit of being confident in God's love; it is born of the revelation that, regardless of the battle, "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). You are not self-assured, you are God-assured.
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The God Of Peace Will Crush Satan. To wage effective spiritual warfare, we must understand and use spiritual authority. Spiritual authority, however, is not forcing your will upon another person. When you have spiritual authority, you have established God's peace in an area that once was full of conflict and oppression. Therefore, to truly be able to move in authority, we must first have peace.
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The apostle Paul taught, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Rom. 16:20). When we maintain peace during warfare, it is a crushing deathblow to satanic oppression and fear. Our victory never comes from our emotions or our intellect. Our victory comes by refusing to judge by what our eyes see or our ears hear and by trusting that what God has promised will come to pass.
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We will never know Christ's victory in its fullness until we stop reacting humanly to our circumstances. When you truly have authority over something you can look at that thing without worry, fear or intimidation. Your peace is the proof of your victory. Jesus' authority over the violent storm (see Matthew 8:23-27) was the exercise and expansion of His peace over the elements. He did not fight against the storm, nor did He fear it. He faced its fury and subdued it with His authority in perfect peace. In Pilate's court, in a world stirred to an emotional frenzy by the powers of hell, a holy tranquility surrounded Christ---peace that was born out of His resolve to do God's will no matter what the cost. His Spirit emanated a calm that perfectly represented the peace at God's throne. In a matter of moments it was no longer Jesus who was on trial, but Satan, Pilate and the religious establishment in Israel.
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Satan's arsenal consists of such things as fear, worry, doubt and self-pity. Every one of these weapons robs us of peace and leaves us troubled inside. Do you want to discern where the enemy is coming against you? In the network of your relationships, wherever you do not have peace, you have war. Conversely, wherever you have peace, you have victory. When Satan hurls his darts against you, the more peace you have during adversity, the more truly you are walking in Christ's victory.
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Paul tells us to be "in no way alarmed by your opponents---which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you" (Phil. 1:28). Your peace, your immovable stand upon the Word of God is a sign that you are positioned correctly in focused submission to the will of God. The very fact that you are "in no way alarmed" by your adversary is a sign that you have authority over him.
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Peacemakers Are Sons Of God. Peace is spirit power. Peace is an attribute of the Holy Spirit, and when you are walking in peace, you are walking in power. A peacemaker is not merely someone who protests against war; he is one who is inwardly so yielded to Christ in spirit and purpose that he can be called a son of God (see Matthew 5:9). Where he goes, God goes and where God goes, he goes. He is fearless, calm and bold. Peace emanates from him the way light and heat radiate from fire.
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In the battles of life, your peace is actually a weapon. Indeed, your confidence declares that you are not falling for the lies of the devil. You see, the first step toward having spiritual authority over the adversary is having peace in spite of our circumstances. When Jesus confronted the devil, He did not confront Satan with His emotions or in fear. Knowing that the devil was a liar, He simply refused to be influenced by any other voice than God's. His peace overwhelmed Satan. His authority then shattered the lie, which sent demons fleeing.
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Rest Before Rule. In the 23rd Psalm, David declared, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me" (v. 4). There is a place of walking with God where you simply "fear no evil." During his lifetime, David faced many enemies including a lion, a bear and a giant. In this psalm he stood in the "shadow of death" itself, yet he feared no evil. David's trust was in the Lord. He said, "You are with me." Because God is with you, every adversity you face will unfold in victory as you maintain your faith in God. David continued, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies" (v. 5). The battle you are in will soon become a meal to you, an experience that will nourish and build you up spiritually.
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Only God's peace will quell your fleshly reactions in battle. The source of God's peace is God Himself. Indeed, "before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal" (Rev. 4:6). The glass sea is a symbol: there are no ripples, no waves, no anxieties troubling God. The Lord is never worried, never in a hurry nor without an answer. The sea around Him is perfectly still and totally calm. All our victories flow out from being seated here with Him.
God is our Father. The heavenly Jerusalem is our mother, the birthplace of our new nature (see Galatians 4:26). And you, you are a beloved child of God, part of the Father's family and a member of His household (see Ephesians 2:19). You must know by revelation that you are not struggling to get into heaven; rather, you were born there in spiritual rebirth (see John 3:1-8 AMP). Let your heart be settled and positioned correctly in your relationship with the Almighty. .
To those who have been born again from above, He says, "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet" (Ps. 110:1). Before you go into warfare, recognize that it is not you that the devil is afraid of; it is Christ in you! We have been raised up and seated with Christ in heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:6). This is why the Holy Spirit continues to speak to us that worship of God is our first response in battle. Position yourself in the presence of God. Sit, at rest, in the knowledge that Christ has already made your enemies the footstool for your feet. From a position of rest, the Word of the Lord continues, "The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies' " (Ps. 110:2).
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Rest precedes rule. Peace precedes power. Do not seek to rule over the devil until you are submitting to God's rule over you. The focal point of all victory comes from seeking God until you find Him, and having found Him, allowing His presence to fill your spirit with His peace. From full assurance at His right hand, as you rest in His victory, so will you rule in the midst of your enemies.