Success and Failure Blog

Running to the Keep

I’m truly fascinated by castles. In fact, I love everything medieval. I love stories of knights and maidens in distress. I enjoy learning about how things worked between lords of the land and the common people. It’s truly like learning about another world, and at the heart of it all are grand and glorious castles. One of my life’s goals is to one day be able to tour some of the castles scattered around the world, but especially those in Europe.

When I think of castles, I think of security, especially when I think of the keep. The keep was the innermost section of the castle that was heavily protected from all outside forces. In order for an enemy to breach the keep, they had to get past the moat, the outer walls, the inner walls and so on. It was, by far, the safest place within the castle.

Not only was the keep protected, but it was also provisioned. It contained a well and a large supply of food. The idea was that even in times of attack, the people within the keep could not only survive, but also thrive.

God’s promises are like a keep. They provide an area of protection from the attacks of the enemy. Not only that, but they also provide sustenance so that we may thrive during our time of shelter. With God’s promises, we can weather storms and face trials that would otherwise utterly defeat us. By claiming His promises, we can withstand Satan’s fiery attacks.

The key, however, is that we must first know God’s promises before we can claim them. To discover those promises, we must open up the Word of God. We must meditate on what God has said He will do for us. We must commit those promises to memory so that we can pull them out whenever we have need of them. But above all, we must believe that those promises are true. Claiming a promise without truly believing it is ludicrous.

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? – Numbers 23;19

God has proven to us time and again that His Word can be trusted. While others may let us down, God will not. Though commercials may make false claims, God doesn’t. While the promises of a friend may not hold true, we can have faith that God always keeps His promises. It may not be in the way we would like, but He will not go back on His Word. He is faithful. His Word is true. He can be trusted!

Need shelter today? Run to the keep of God’s promises. It is there you will find both protection and provision to carry on with the race you’re attempting to run.

The LORD says,

“ I will rescue those who love me.

I will protect those that trust in my name.

When they call on me,

I will answer;

I will be with them in trouble.

I will rescue and honor them.

                                           Psalm 91:14-15

Do you know what is so powerful about this verse?

That God says, “ I will!”

Not I might,

not if I have time,

not if I am able.

“ I will!”

Not once, but five times!

For those that love Him,

trust Him,

honor Him,

and call on Him.

He will!

Will I?

As I was reading this morning, Matthew 14:29-33 struck me.  Jesus was walking onto the water towards the disciples.   The disciples thought they saw a ghost.  Peter said “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you.”  The Lord did.  The first sign of a wind Peter lost all faith and confidence and started to fall in.  He cried out to the Lord to save him.

How many times do we cry out to the Lord in the middle of a faithful act because they just seem to blow a little south, not exactly as we had expected or not as smoothly as we would like?

This verse led me to rethink a discussion in our womans group.  We are studying the Holy Spirit and leading a Spirit filled life.  This past week we had a chart illustrating Heart attitudes of the flesh and heart attitudes of the Spirit.  I have put the chart at the end of this post in order for you to peruse it and see where your heart lies and what you need to ask the Lord to assist you in.

The last one on the chart a fleshly heart’s emotions are controlled by their circumstances and a Spirit-filled heart has joy for the Lord always.  I checked this one in my book.  As I can definitely see where I can be controlled by my circumstances but I also have such a joy for the Lord.  Hmm?

So reading the devotion from Dr. Charles Stanley (Intouch.org) this morning “Looking for Fruit.”  He says “Fruitful believers are not controlled by their environments.”  Yikes I am not fruitful:(  I do not like where this is going.

Fruitful believers will return harsh words with kindness.  They do experience pain and anger but in the end they always trust the Lord to protect them through these circumstances.

Now this part I like:  “Fruitful believers recover quickly.”  Fruitful believers are thankful for the trial and for God showing them their weaknesses.

Thank you, Lord!

After reading these words, I needed to meditate and speak with God.  He comforted me.  You see this past weekend I had harsh words said to me.  Although I walked away at first, when it reoccurred I know I did some ungodly actions and words before walking away again.  God said, Mary, you have come a long way.  Still a long way to go, but you have come a long way.  Let us think about what the old Mary would have done.  Well, Lord, she would have screamed and yelled.  She would not have walked away.  She would have stayed there crying and insulting with insult.  She would have become severely depressed and angered for days.  Forgetting of your love and graciousness.

Why did I walk away?  I wanted to be with God.  The second time I walked away my 7-year-old was getting ready to play a football game.  But I  needed to choose the 5-mile walk back home vs. staying there and being more fleshly.  It was a great walk with the Lord.  He let me get out my frustrations with Him and He relieved my hurt, pain, and anger.  He showed me to be more forgiving in the light of not wanting to be.  Thank you for that walk, Lord.  You have made me stronger.

Thank you for this revelation, Lord.  You are always so good to me!  You never repay us as our sins deserve.  (Psalm 103) You are an awesome God!  May all glory and honor be Yours, Almighty Father!

Heart Attitudes of the Flesh                                 Heart Attitudes of the Spirit

Gruff, abrasive, anxious                                          Sweet-spirited, pleasant

Stern, irritable, unmoved                                       Tenderhearted

Focused on self, impatient                                     Kind

Bitter, easily hurt, scornful                                    Gentle

Jealous, demanding                                                   Lowly in heart

Proud, selfish                                                                 Sacrificial

Lazy, irresponsible, wants credit                          Servant’s heart

Enduring religion, critical                                        Enjoying Christ

Self-righteous                                                                Faith is a delight, not a duty

Loose-tongued, judgmental                                    Mourns with godly sorrow

Unfriendly, wants own way                                     Meek, yields rights

Seeks own pleasure and comfort                           Hungers and thirsts for righteousness

Unforgiving                                                                     Merciful

Loves self and world;y pleasure                              Pure in heart

Gossip, stirs up strife                                                    Peace maker

Emotions controlled by circumstances               Full of joy in the Lord

from “The Spirit Filled Life God’s Power in You” pg 22

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Boy, do I over complicate things. Keep It Simple Servant! Faith and obedience, it’s really that simple.

Obedience is an action – Moses, strike the Nile with your rod. Raise your rod Moses. Strike the rock with your rod Moses. March around Jericho 7 times and shout. Lepers, go show the priest you are healed. Pick up your mat and walk. Keep it simple servant – Have faith and choose God, hear His word, then take an action in obedience. Simple enough, right? It only gets complicated after my ideas start to get involved. I end up trying to figure things out myself (Proverbs 3:5-8). When I do this, I have walked right into the war zone, Spirit vs Flesh -

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All throughout the bible, from the beginning, of creation, and in creation itself, we are told of many great miracles.  Man made from the dust and clay and given life by the breath of God.  There were miracles in the burning bush, parting of the Red Sea, and Manna from heaven.  There were great miraculous healings of the blind, sick, lame, demon possessed.  Women of old age conceived and birthed healthy children.  These are just a few examples of the many miracles in the bible.

I also find wonder and awe in how God heard Joshua and caused the sun to stand still once in the sky. (Joshua 10:13)(NIV version) says: So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.  The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.  Joshua 10:12-14  How incredible! How wonderful are the miracles of God! But do these types of miracles still happen? Do miracles so great still occur in this day and age?

Many people claim that miracles like that just do not happen anymore.  People are beginning to lose hope for miracles.  Some people believe miracles are simply a thing of that past. So what do you believe?  Do you believe in modern day miracles? I think it is up to us to look closer, take a longer, deeper look around us.  If we do, we will find that miracles do still happen.  God still rescues His people.  God still supplies us with surprise and wonder.  God still moves in mysterious ways to bring us joy and show us that He is still there, and very much a part of us.  For example, the women that are medically unable to conceive or unable to carry a child that pray and cry out to God and our given the gift of a beautiful, precious, child.  The doctors can’t explain it any other way.  When the impossible happens-it is more than just a medical mystery it is a demonstration of God’s awesome power.  Gods hand is at work there.

Another example: I heard a story of a soldier that was at war and needed to get across the battlefield to the other side.  In reality, with all that gun fire and the bombs exploding, it would impossible to do that.  So this soldier closed his eyes and prayed that somehow and someway God would help get to safety on the other side of that hill.  When he opened his eyes he was no longer in the same spot where he had knelt and prayed. God had done exactly what he had prayed for.  God had somehow, someway, got him to safety on the other side of that hill.  That was a miracle, indeed!

I personally have seen and experienced many miracles in my family, church, and in my own life.  It is amazing to see the work of God unfold in the lives of people all around us.  Recently while watching the coverage of the earthquake in Chile, and the following tsunami, I witnessed one such miracle.  It was not only the power of God but also by the mercy and grace of God that the tsunami passed over Hawaii with no real damage and no lives taken by terrible waves.  In fact, the waves that were expected to be devastating were described as small.  To many people it was a question of science and reason, but to my surprise, while discussing the current conditions of Hawaii shores, one man from Hawaii described it as a miracle that no one was hurt and that the tsunami basically passed right by Hawaii without causing any real damages.  He then gave thanks to God right there on the air.  With all the coverage that I seen and heard this stood out in my memory and forever will.  Glory to God for His miraculous mercy and saving grace!

In my own life I have seen a great miracle that I want to give God glory for.  In April two years ago, while at work, the people in our office learned of a tornado that had touched down in a near by neighborhood.  The electricity went out and the only light was that of gloom coming in from the windows in the front of the building.  We all gathered up near the front of the office in a hallway where we could see what was going on outside.  Trees were bent over as the winds came through and the sky was nearly black.  It was frightening.  It all came up so fast.  Then a strange noise growled threateningly at us and a change in the atmospheric pressure occurred causing our ears to pop.  I began to pray aloud.  The doctor I worked for said, “its okay, we will be alright,” but still I prayed aloud, “LORD, please help us and keep us safe.”  Then just as quickly as it happened upon us, the winds died down, the pressure lifted, and our ears popped again.  The tornado had passed by our office.  I went with another doctor to the back door and we watched as the dark swirling mass of rubble and the evidence of its destructive nature went by low in the sky.  It had hit another office near ours and then proceeded on a path that hit another office further down on our street.  It continued on down on a path that went through an elementary school and then several neighborhoods, other medical buildings, a strip mall and the local hospital. It was later classified as an F-3 tornado.

Many of the other people that experienced this considered us merely lucky or fortunate, but there were others like me that knew, without a doubt, it was a miracle of God that not one person was killed or terribly injured from the tornado.  I knew that the tornado had passed by my work and my home and my sister’s home because God had heard my prayer and all the prayers of others, and he had done a great miracle in keeping us safe that day!

Do you need a miracle?  Are you face a terrible situation or circumstances and see no way out except by way of a miracle?  Maybe there are people reading this that are facing life threatening illness and disease and are need of healing?  There are many in need of financial miracles and the miracle of having a safe home to live in.  There are people here in the United States that fall asleep and wake up hungry every day.  Perhaps you think that the miracle you need is too great or too small.  The truth is there is nothing too great or too small for God.  The miracles of God are not reserved for only for a select few or for specific people, they are meant to be for everyone.  Anyone can experience a life changing and totally transforming miracle of God.

Would you like to learn how?  The foundation of all miracles is found in accepting and believing in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the greatest miracle of all and He was sent by the Father for all people.  According to Hebrews 13:8 (New King James Version)  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  This means that all the miracles of the past are possible today and in the future to all those who accept and believe in Jesus Christ.

Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and Confessed that He is your personal savior?   The beginning of all miracles begins with this act of faith.   Asking Jesus to come into your heart and wash away your sins is that foundation of miracles I speak of.  When Jesus was on the cross He took all of our sins and the consequences of sin upon Himself, in our place.  When we have faith in Jesus and place our trust in Him, we discover freedom from sin and we are given the gift of everlasting life through Jesus. 

Isaiah 53:5 (New King James Version)  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

It is through our heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God that the awe and wonder of all miracles is made possible.  Job 5:9 (New International Version)  He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.  If you have not yet done so, on faith please accept Jesus today.  As you put your faith and trust in Him, believe that through Him all things are possible!

1 Corinthians 9:22 (New International Version)  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  Matthew 19:26 (Amplified Bible)  But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.  Notice this scripture does not say that some things are possible.  It says that with God, all things are possible!   

Know that God loves you.  John 3:16 (New International Version)  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  All you need to do is ask and believe and claim the promises of God, in Jesus’ wonderful name, and you too shall see the miracles and wonders of God in your own life.

May your life be blessed and a blessing in Christ Jesus.

The recent apology from Tiger Woods had been debated by many. While he has convessed what he has done, he still has quite a few sponsors who are leery at best and ignoring him at worst.

Can he recover his legacy? And, will (or can) he be forgiven?

the answer to both lies in the public. Forgiveness is something people seem rather willing to give if it is sincere. One thing that is important to remember is this: Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying something was right. In fact, in saying it needs forgiven, it’s flat out saying it was wrong.

There are, of course, different levels of wrongdoing. What Tiger Woods did was to sin – committing adultery – on a mass scale. There were no crimes involved. However, it was still an incredible breech of trust. While very few have committed crimes, a much larger percentage of people have at least looked on other adults with lust in their hearts, committing adultery in their hearts, as our Lord Jesus Christ says. Indeed, all of us need forgiven – if not for that, for some other sin.

We can do nothing to earn that forgiveness ourselves, just as Tiger Woods can do nothing to earn our forgiveness. Forgiveness is something that must be given freely. It is not earned or deserved. It is always a free gift. For by grace ar eye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. One must receive what Christ did for them by simple faith – trust that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, lived a perfect life and died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins, as your substitute, and that He rose from the dead the third day. He did all that was needed to get you to Heaven.

A person can work to regain trust, of course, and that will be important. it’s a hard thing to do – which is why the Apostle Paul warns of the need to finish well in the Christian life. It looks as though Tiger Woods wants to do that. But, the Bible doesn’t tell us to trust others. It says to forgive one another, as God for Christ sake hath forgiven us.

Trust must be earned by showing oneself trustworthy in small things first, so they can be trusted in larger things. A young teen I know is mature enough to watch her siblings. She would like to babysit outside the family, for anyone. But, she is just now working to earn her parents’ trust with those younger siblings. Once she does that, she will have the privilege of watching other peoples’ children. As she gets a larger resume and more references, more people will trust her, if she does a good job.

But, if she were to mess up – let’s say she takes her eye off a younger child and he gets hurt – she will be forgiven right away. that is, her parents will still love her. They might decide she’s not ready yet to be trusted with certain responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean they will love her any less.

This is an important concept when it comes to rebuilding his legacy, and Tiger being forgiven. Whenever he plays again, he is going to have to earn that trust. It’s up to the public to decide to put their trust in him again. In the cynical world we live in, it’s easy to wonder what people we can trust, but we can’t just refuse to trust anyone. it will take time for Tiger Woods to rebuild his legacy, but it seems quite possible for him to do so. The public, though cynical at times, does seem ready to let him build that trust up with them again. It’s just like in the Bible, when the Apostle Paul started out, just after his conversion. It took him a while to be trusted by those in Jerusalem, till Barnabas was willing to take a chance. However, that doesn’t mean the early apostles didn’t forgive the former Saul of Tarsus. It just means that they understood only God could be trusted completely.

However, forgiveness – which is also up to the public – is something that isn’t earned or deserved. In fact, true forgiveness means forgiving Tiger Woods before he ever made his apology; just as Jesus called out ont he cross, “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.” He certainly can be forgiven; because all of us have sinned and need forgivness, which was given to us through the wonderful cross, and the shed blood of Jesus, as the remission for our sins.