The Two Lions

(1 Peter 5:8 NCV) “Control yourselves and be careful! The devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat.”

(Revelation 5:5 NCV) “But one of the elders said to me, “Do not cry! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, David’s descendant, has won the victory….”"

Two lions with two drastically different goals in mind. One of protection, One of destruction. One of victory and one of defeat. Both are being followed in our world today, yet only one will lead to life.  In fact, one of the lions knows that he has lost.  Satan knows of his own demise and is trying to influence all that he can to go his way.

The world looks like a place that is headed to hell on a joy bus.  What I mean by that is that there are so many people that seemingly don’t care about godly things.  Romans puts it this way, (Romans 1:32 NCV)  “They know God’s law says that those who live like this should die. But they themselves not only continue to do these evil things, they applaud others who do them.” Knowing that death is in the end, they still applaud evil.  How sad!

Jesus is the answer.  The Lion of the tribe off Judah HAS WON!  Follow Him and receive the victory.  We may lose a few battles along the way, butt the war is a done deal because of Jesus!  Amen to that!!

Leszek Blanik

I haven’t gotten to watch much of the summer Olympics, but tonight I saw just a glimpse into the heart of a real winner.  Lezsek Blanik was the first man in history to win a gold medal in gymnastics from Poland.  When they took pictures of him, instead of holding a flag or a “thumbs up,” he held up a picture of his son.  I just thought that was awesome.  What a heart! What priorities!  You know that that little boy will one day talk about that very moment.  There have been lots of great stories, and this one won’t make lots of headlines, but it’s one that touched my heart.

New Territory

Ellen, Tabitha, and I are beginning a new phase in our new healthier lifestyle.  We have stuck with the plan now for eight weeks, which means we are starting phase three this week.  This is extremely new territory for us in this process.  This is the phase where we really get much stricter on our eating.  We will be restricting ourselves to 1500 calories or less a day for four weeks.  That’s strict compared to where we’ve been.

Phase 1 began the exercise portion of the process.  We have continued that through phase two which was to give up the one thing that is our greatest downfall in eating.  Ours was sugar.  We’ve been without sweets now for our weeks.  Along with the exercise and simply giving up sugar, we’ve all lost weight.  Ellen’s lost  7 lbs, Tabitha 8lbs, and I’ve lost 11lbs.  When we start this next phase, the weight will really start coming off.

Some of the benefits of this so far has been much more energy, better ability to endure exercise, I can walk up my steps at home without feeling winded.  I’ve been able to play tennis again.  And just having gone through the process with success has given us all the feeling of accomplishment that we haven’t felt in a long time.

One of the purposes we are to accomplish in the next phase is to “make food boring.”  It is a phase that teaches us that food is simply fuel for the body.  We eat for energy not for pleasure.  In our culture we tend to eat for entertainment instead of  nourishment.  In making food not so interesting, we hope to accomplish a brain change as much as a body change.  In changing how we think about food, we will tend to want to eat for the right reasons.

Thanks for your prayers and comments of encouragement.

Precious Rain

It’s been a long time since we’ve experienced rain like we’re getting today.  It started as a big wind with some thunder and lightning.  Then came the rain–so hard it was difficult to drive in it.  The weather radar indicates that there’s more to come.  We really need it.  I heard a guy say a few days ago that it’s been so dry that the last time he went fishing he caught a catfish and it had a tick on it!

Usually rain is referred to as a discouraging thing.  “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down” was a line from a famous Carpenters’ song.  Rain is far from discouraging in our area.  It’s refreshing.  It brings down the humidity.  The temperature drops drastically and it really feels good.  Things will grow again and for a time the pests like ants and mosquitoes are not a bother.

It’s a lot like we are when the pressures of life are on us and we feel the heat of life bearing down.  We tend to get discouraged.  We think negatively instead of positively.  Things that normally don’t get on our nerves do so in a much shorter time.  We lose focus on the important things.

Then comes the showers of the Holy Spirit.  A friend calls and prays with you.  You find time for a break and spend it with God.  Your children tell you how much you mean to them.  A special scripture comes to mind.  The refreshment flows.  And you are blessed with precious rain!