"The Coffee Shop" #3

Good morning to one and all. God bless each one this day the Lord has made.

This morning's devotions continue with the flight of David in 1 Samuel 21: 10-15. An interesting twist here when a man of God is in fear of another earthly king. David flees....where? Into the hands of a Philistine king; a heathen. "And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. This is certainly to bring David into trouble in associating with a heathen.

David is in fear, and how does he react? He acts like a madman, frothing at the mouth and drooling down his face. He makes a spectacle of himself. What happens when we turn from the Lord as our only source of strength? Verse 13.."And he changed his behaviour. How often would we change our behaviour for whatever reason and destroy the former testimony built in the Lord? They spoke of David's accomplishments....verse 11 : "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands..." And yet when we fear man, we can bring to naught all that the Lord has done in us and through us. I didn't have the consumption of alcoholic beverages in mind, but here is an example of what one drink can do in the face of the heathen, and why I will not touch alcohol. It can singlehandedly undo great accomplishments done unto the Lord. They perceived that David was mad and was of little consequence to them. Again, David had to flee. When we are in fear of man and in the hands of the heathen we are always running. It is like a treadmill. We run a great distance, but reach nowhere.

Here I turn my attention to Psalm 56 which is the remedy for fear. It is David's song in retrospect. "Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me......mine enemies would daily swallow me up.....but here David shows his true heart, and this is the key verse of the day...."What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." (verse 3). What happens? Verse5..they wait to prey upon the believer; verse 6, "They mark my steps.." The enemy of the soul tracks you down and haunts you.

The turning point, verse 9.."When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back..full assurance...this I know; for God IS with me...."

Verse 11: "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid of what man can do to me. As Jim Elliot said at his validictorian address at Wheaton College, just a short time before he was killed in the service of the Lord; "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

God bless everyone and remember, it is the Lord who is our strength, and not we ourselves. We ought not to fear, but to be of a strong mind and heart, with courage in Him each step of the way.

God counts the sorrows of his saints,
Their groans affect His ears;
Thou hast a book for my complaints,
A bottle for my tears.

When to Thy throne I raise my cry,
The wicked fear and flee:
So swift is prayer to reach the sky;
So near is God to me.

In Thee, most holy, just and true,
I have reposed my trust;
Nor will I fear what man can do,
The offspring of the dust.

Have a great day, and blessings be yours, and mine, in the Lord Jesus,

Cheers,

Jim

[ April 30, 2003, 06:43 AM: Message edited by: Jim1999 ]

 

Sister! The D9 is goin' home! Granted, the operator is downtrodden but we can see where fellowship among the Saints is far more valuable than expansion into the unknown! BUUUUUUTT---before he loads the thing on the truck--can he show ya'll what it'll do to those fancy cars in the Dexter parkin' lot???

Your buddy,
Blackbird

PS--I still need my coffee strong!! Extra Strong!

 

My daughter is off. Everything went well. They left at 6:00 sharp. I even had a wonderful chance to share my faith with someone this morning. They were saying how hard it was to see their child leave on this trip. I shared with them that our faith in Jesus Christ assures me that my child is in the Lords hands, and that I have placed her in His hands while she is on this trip. She just looked at me and her eyes kind of lit up and she said, "Yes, your right. We do need to remember that." It's just the way she said it, like I was reminding her of something that she hadn't heard in a while. We talked for quite a while and she shared some other things with me and I told her that I would be lifting her and her family up in prayer. So praise God, this was a very blessed morning! Thank you Jesus!

 

From Gib:

That sound pretty interesting.

 

sooooo........ you are all up now. Best part of the day is gone, what kept you.

BTW could I ge an irn bru please

yours, Jon.

 

Hello everyone! It has been a busy morning, so I am just now getting a chance to post. In our discussion about river names yesterday I forgot our local river, the Illinois River begins in Arkansas and ends at lake Tenkiller near Tahlequah, OK. So it is nowhere near the state of Illinois.

 

Sherrie,
Yes, I did need a nap! (I know this is the sign for embarrassed, but it looks like someone yawning to me today!) I went and laid down about 9:00 this morning and slept until 11:30 when the phone woke me up. I could hardly sleep last night and was up every hour until I had to get up. I had a dream at 2:30 this morning that I slept in and my daughter was late getting to school and they left without her. So I really slept lightly until it was time to get up at 3:30. Hopefully, I'll sleep better tonight!

 

rsr,
Does this mean I can still smash the "smitherines" out of that Cadallac sittin' yonder??

Blackbird

 

And Sister--I ain't givin' up! I realize that the D9 was a little too large for the job I want to do--we can start off with a display rack of crank baits, spinners, and artifical worms over there by the doughnut shelves---the baits should draw more attention to the doughnuts you're tryin' to sell!!

Blackbird

 

Good afternoon all, I thought I would drop in for a cup of coffee and stay out of the other threads because I am going to get into trouble expressing my opinions. I have not sat on my hands very well today.

I am surprised that Ed hasn't called and told me to get off the computer. I have been working on the church web site. I have been to the grocery store and a few things I have accomplished are ok.

At least this is a better day for me than yesterday.

And in one thread they are talking about a woman's hair being her glory and I always feel sad, because there is no way my hair is my glory Now I know Blackbird or Jim will start preaching to me.

Blackbird, do you have to put in a bait shop?

Are you going to share the fish with us? What are those crawdads? Those are good eatin. Are you going to send us some or do they have them in Mississippi?

I feel better now that I have had my coffee and Ed just called and said that he agreed with me.

Thank goodness. Go to go.

Love to read your posts.

Keep posting my friends.

Oh, WonderingOne, thanks for the lovely compliment. You are a blessing to us here in the Coffee Shop.

BettyE

 

Just popped in for the irn bru

yours, Jon.

 

the place seems so empty just now.


I don't expect to post through tomorrow, but look forward to a good read.

yours, Jon.

 

Dont be too long now. remember I am up early in the morning

yours, Jon.

 

I'm here. Just waiting for Ed to get home.

 

Hi there.

You hanging on there for Sherrie? I cant stay much longer

yours, Jon.

 

Hi everyone,,I am here also for a few minutes. How is everything going with everyone? All is well here. Lovely day. I think maybe summer might happen this year.

Cheers,

Jim