Thursday, October 8, 2009

A rock, a ripple and.......


David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die." 15 Then Nathan went to his house. ESV 2 Samuel 12: 13-15

While speaking with someone recently I was told about a situation within a study group they had once attended. There was an individual that dominated the group setting, bringing the study itself to a halt and terminally damaging the group so that it finally fizzled out. No one wanted to attend and listen to the ranting and ill will expressed by the individual. Even after the individual left the group, the damage was done, the typical human desire to avoid bad memories meant that the group decreased in size until there was only the group leader left. The sin of that one person, affected many lives.

It is like throwing a rock into a still pool and watching as the ripples move outward. Those ripples will continue until they meet the immovable force of the shore.

Look at the story of King David and Bathsheba. David, a "man after God's own heart", known to be a good king and protector, saw the beautiful Bathsheba and was immediately guilty of the sin of covetousness. That one sin led to many others and finally resulted in the death of an innocent man and child. How many soldiers died so that David could execute his scheme to get rid of Uriah so that David could have his wife for his own? We'll never know. Rock....ripple....tsunami.

I've heard, and yes in my own ignorance said, "It's my body, life, whatever, it's not hurting anyone but me". What a foolish statement that. There is no action that does not have a reaction. Forgive me if I combine science and theology here, but seems as if I've heard somewhere that, "for every action there is an equal opposite reaction". Some guy named Newton I think it was.


So my question for you Beloved is: How are you affecting others in the pool called life? Is a good introspective meditation called for? Rethinking, remembering, and righting wrongs? Suggested reading here would be Psalm 51. Read it, claim it, allow God to forgive and heal you.

I did and I thank God everyday for it.

God Speed ~
Kat

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Be Ready to Roll.......Ephesians 6:10-11


10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.



I keep Ms. Minnie ready to ride at a moments notice. Why, you ask? Well, last night, just like every Tuesday night, we have Bible Study at our home. There is a new Biker Church starting up, one of our former chapter members began it, and we had all talked about trying to be there. Doug and I wanted to go but well, the Bible Study and all. So, at 4:00 we get a call, 2 of the members of the study are not going to be able to come and the balance of our group is in our chapter, so when they got here, Doug said, Hey, let's do a rode trip and go to the new Biker Church! Well, since they were already on their bikes, they were all for it.

Down the stairs I ran, helmet, night glasses and gloves on, fired Ms. Minnie up and away! In 5 minutes! Gotta love it!

Doug always, and I mean always, wipes down his bike, unloads and resets everything for the next ride, the minute he gets home. I thought that was sort of OCD, but hey, seemed to work for him, I'll give it a go. Well, had I not done that, I'd have been no less than 45 minutes getting ready to roll and would have missed a wonderful blessing!

If you keep your ride shiny, ready and waiting to roll, when the urge hits ya, your iron horse is ready too. It's like the speaker at the Biker Church last night said. Put on the full armor of God, be prepared. It isn't hard, it isn't time consuming. I promise you won't become enslaved to the "process" of armoring up. You just pray to the Father, ask for His protection, His love, His comfort, ask for His assistance and you are ready. Trust in Him to keep His word. Just like wearing leather for a biker, you trust that leather to protect you in a fall, to keep you warm and dry. With God's Armor,you're protected from the dangers of the fall that may or may not occur, and from the elements.

God doesn't promise His children an easy ride, to the contary, He promises that we won't have an easy ride. But know this Beloved, without that protection, you are like the bikers we've all seen riding with sleeveless t-shirts, shorts and flip flops on. You are wide open for the fall, so very vurnerable to the injuries that will happen, or elements from the road and weather.



God Speed!