Homework - Praise the Lord!!!

So…last night officially started Discipleship Training homework. Can I tell you it was one of the happiest moments of the last weeks?!? I just have to laugh when I say out loud “I can’t wait to do my homework!”…for a few reasons…1) I hated homework in school 2) I never, ever dreamed in a gazillion years I would enjoy Bible reading and study 3) and The Old Testament at that!!! If you had told me 10 years ago that I would become a Bible toting, scripture quoting, Jesus seeking, people loving, women leading, woman after God’s Heart…I would have laughed out loud in your face with a smirk. I am living breathing proof that God can do amazing things in you…if you let Him! Let Him ladies…let Him!!!

Anyway, it was about Saul and Jonathon, father and son. How differently they both turned out to truly be. Isn’t that just like God? I was spending time with some family recently and wondered if something was wrong because I did not “fit” the family mold. And then God shows me…neither did Jonathon and he chose the better path…to follow God. And God blessed him and kept him for it! The ending focus was on Jonathon and his armor bearer. That is the part that was intriguing. I never thought about his armor bearer in 1 Sam 14. And how Christians MUST be God’s armor bearer (Eph 6:11)…putting on the WHOLE armor of God…not the armor we buy or the armor we make or the armor Pastor Billie has…but God’s armor…that He gives to every single one of us as believers! And how if we put on that armor that is God’s…we have His power to stand firm against the devil’s schemes…not our power, not Pastor Billie’s power, but God’s power! It was a unique and vivid example of trusting in the leader (Jonathon in this case, God in our case) and following in obedience and respectfulness. I loved it!!! If anyone thinks the OT is dead…come see me!!!!!

And then…one of my new favorite scriptures…I had overlooked these powerful words too many times…”…Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving whether by many or by few.” 1 Sam 14:6b.

How powerful is that????? Not “if the Lord can save” but “if the Lord wants to save”… the Lord is able…the question resides with whether it is His will. She referenced my favorite all time story…Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you have never read it…I will include a portion because it is my absolute favorite…Daniel 3:13-27
“Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. “
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Sorry I know this was long…but I couldn’t stop until the best line ever…” and there was no smell of fire on them”! Lord, bring me through my trials without a hint of the smell of smoke on me! Amen

Bless someone today ladies…and get in a Discipleship training class if you have not…it is NEVER too late…I will gladly take you in our study of King David.
Love ya!
Kristy =)