Go forward one entry to see how today went.
God�s spiritual protection over the West Wing, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and all the offices from which White House business is done
you are a shield around me, O LORD; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.
�Psalm 3:3-4(NIV)
Lord of Hosts, I praise You today for Your righteous rule over both the earthy and the heavenly realms. You command an army of angels, cherubim and seraphim, all who exist to do Your bidding as You summon them to action. I praise You, Lord, for Your holiness and might in the heavenly places, acknowledging that You are more powerful than any force in all creation.
I ask today that You send Your heavenly host to protect and safeguard all who do serve the Executive branch of our nation�s government. Protect from evil those who serve in the White House, the West Wing and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Lord God. Keep safe those who serve in our nation�s cabinet level departments, Lord, that evil may be defeated and You may be exalted today and forever! In Your powerful name, amen.
I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
"...so there is no sacrifice which he values more than when we are bound fast to him by the claim of a free and spontaneous love."
And then David basically says that "if he has God for his protector and defender, he is effectually fortified against all peril and assault."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
Hebrews 12:7-11
This passage is all about how God is training us. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that whatever "trouble" we might be in is not punishment, it's training! Then he goes on to compare our relationship to God to our relationship with our parents. Now...this does not always work. Kind of like trying to explain the "fatherly" aspects of God to someone whose father beat them up or raped them when they were children. This tends to make them not like God very much. But he asks the question...would you want God to be an irresponsible parent, like those who let their children fend for themselves? Have you run across people in our society that think it's ok to let their children make all their own choices? Let me tell you, that road leads right down the path to disaster! Because children will choose selfishly. It's in their nature. We, as parents, have a job to train those children to make wise choices. I don't know what kind of job we've done at that...I don't really want to be graded on that right now.
But here's the difference. "While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best." We, as human parents, only know what seems best. God knows what is best.
Now, how might God use the "trouble you're in" to train you. I'll use my own "trouble" as an illustration. There have been times that I have erroneously thought that Stephanie's whole life was punishment for my sins. Frankly, that's just silly. And every time I start to head down that path, God throws a tree across it, slaps me up side the head and says, "Shut up." Ok, maybe not, but you get my point.
But I believe, more accurately, that there have been times that God has pointed at Stephanie, right after one of our huge meltdown experiences, and said, "You know...you act that way with Me sometimes." At which point, I simply hang my head in shame, because he's right. THIS is training.
Some would argue that God wouldn't use a situation like this with an "innocent" to give us life lessons. I would answer that there are no "innocents," and "Our God is in the heavens, he does whatever he pleases," and "Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?"
So, how might I cooperate better in this training? First of all, I could, you know, PAY ATTENTION!! I really believe that if we were seeing with our "spiritual eyes" a little more, we would see lessons like this all the time. And we might heed them, and be better for it. For myself, I think I'm gradually getting it, but I'm pretty hard-headed (or "stiff-necked" as the O.T. would say of Israel). Second of all, I could not take it personally when Stephanie has her little meltdowns. It's not really about me/us, anyway. She never means those horrible, hurtful things she says to us in the fit of rage. Sometimes, I think she doesn't even remember them. And finally, I think, as I already said, that I need to always be on the lookout for those kinds of lessons, instead of thinking that everything that happens is punishment, either because of something I did or didn't do, or because I have a lack of faith. Incidentally, I've never, ever, ever subscribed to that camp that says if you get sick and don't get healed or if God didn't answer your prayer, you just must not have enough faith. Don't get me started on that stuff.
I also pray for you to help me do what I need to do to get this whole Lectio Divina thing down. If that means turning off the computer and handwriting these journal entries first, then so be it. I need to remove the distractions from my environment while I'm supposed to be focusing on your Word.
Grace and peace, friends!