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Strengthen Yourself in the LORD

David faced many difficult and stressful situations in his life, and some of these were the direct result of decisions he made without seeking the LORD.  When he fled from his house to save his life, he went the the priests at Nob and obtained the sword of Goliath--and then went to Achish, king of Gath!  Gath was the hometown of Goliath, and it wasn't until David was in the city and being brought before the king he realised the serious trouble he was in!  On another occasion David, weary of avoiding king Saul's relentless pursuits to kill him, feigned allegience to king Achish and was given permission to live in Ziklag.  David and his men had left Ziklag to go to battle, yet when they returned they found the town burnt with fire and all their wives and children taken captive.  A band of Amalekites had swept through and plundered the region, and David and his men had lost everything. 1 Samuel 30:4-6 reads, " Then David and the people who were with him lifted up...
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Credit the Creator

A few nights back my wife Laura was alerted to sounds in the attic.  It is not uncommon to hear birds or critters of some kind scamper over roof tiles in the morning, but this was different.  After night fell, sounds of scratching, gnawing and squeaking could be easily heard just beyond the ceiling.  This was a most unpleasant intrusion and discovery for me.  Spring is mating season for rats and mice that forage for food and seek out nesting areas, and my attic is not a place I want them to be.  So I called an exterminator to inspect the attic and property, begin treatment, and see if there were any concerns or red flags I ought to address.  Everything looked in order, so it appears there isn't an infestation or serious problem. Over the days between hearing the noise of unknown rodent(s) and the pest control guy inspecting the property, I had time to think and pray about the situation.  I realise the way houses and roofing are constructed in Sydney it...
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Discovering Delusions

Years ago I worked for a company that had a softball team I played on.  After a big win, we had dinner afterward and reflected on the twists and turns of the game.  One infielder voiced the opinion his defence had been particularly stellar, and as he did so we all looked at one another with amazement:  was this guy serious?  Indeed, his defence had been such a liability it was a factor why the game was close at all!  It turned out he seriously thought his play should have been highlighted on ESPN SportsCenter--so great were his delusions.  He overlooked all the errors he made on the field (as if they had not happened) and viewed his routine plays as requiring the utmost athleticism and skill. While some people may be overly critical of themselves for making errors, my teammate illustrated how self-delusion can blind us from seeing ourselves in truth.  Had my teammate kept his thoughts to himself, he would have remained comfortable in his very positive ...
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Baseball and Character

When it came to baseball, my dad was a fan of "small ball."  He didn't coach players to swing for the fences and slug home runs:  he taught kids to be disciplined at the plate by laying off balls, to swing at strikes, and hit the ball where it was pitched.  Take that outside pitch to the opposite field!  Dad enjoyed a sacrifice bunt that resulted in a batter being thrown out because the runner had been moved from second base to third more than a booming double off the fence.  In his view, making good contact with the baseball ("Down and hard!" he would shout) and hitting line drives was better than fly balls that could be easily caught.  Baseball has changed a lot since I played as a kid, but the principle of learning the fundamentals and doing the small things well is valuable to this day. As a member of a team, each player has a limited amount of control.  The most important thing is to focus on doing your part.  This could be throwing the ball ...
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Weariness and Doing Good

We do not need to exert ourselves to grow weary, for we can become weary simply due to existing!  We can become weary of eating the same foods, habitual activities, due to an illness or repeated failures.  Feelings of weariness can lead to frustration, annoyance, anger or giving up.  Jesus did not begrudge the weary, for He bid those who were weary and heavy laden to come to Him and find rest for their souls in  Matthew 11:28 . While physical weariness is a fact of life, our perspective and priorities can provide fortitude to resist aspects of mental weariness.  Solomon said in  Ecclesiastes 12:12 , " And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh ."  Reading and study can be wearisome to our eyes, bodies and minds, yet we need not be resigned to weariness in doing good when our God provides rest and strength.  In 2 Thessalonians 3:13 Paul urged Christians not to be wea...
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Insidious Pride

While pride is championed according to the wisdom of this world, God exposes it as sin that always leads to more sin--and ultimately severe judgment.  Concerning Sodom and the surrounding cities He destroyed, God identified pride as the first sin on the list through the prophet in  Ezekiel 16:48-50 :  " Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  50  And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit."    One could easily make a case (from a biblical perspective) that pride was a sinful root from which other sins sprang. Pride is insidious, and Webster defined it this way:  "p roperly, lying in wait; hence, watching an opportunity to insnare or entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; 2) intended to entrap ."  Pride is a skilled shape-shifter, able to be ...
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Belief Without Faith

Scripture shows belief is not a straightforward binary, that you either believe or you do not.  It would be convenient if this were the case, but at the same time any our unbelief would surely doom us!  The truth is, people who believe in God's existence, the truth of God's promises and His power to fulfil them do not always walk by faith in God.  A man who brought his demon-possessed son to the disciples of Jesus exclaimed after they were unable to help him in  Mark 9:24 :  " Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief !"  While all things are possible to him who believes in God, this man recognised nagging doubts and fears within himself he could not shake.  Without God's help, we cannot even believe--for without Him we can do nothing ( John 15:5 ). I read a passage in John 4 today that also illustrates how people can have degrees of belief that fall short of saving faith.  The smallest...
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