Eagles and Buzzards

Do you soar with the eagles or hover with the buzzards?

Eagles spend their time soaring and when they’re not, they’re solitary, off some where in a high place waiting. This reminds me of Psalm 91: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty!"

Buzzards spend more time on the ground than they do in the heavens. In fact, buzzards like to live in places like garbage dumps. They hang around the side of the road waiting for an accident. A buzzard’s discernment is not that accurate but it is trained to smell death. And that is the only thing a buzzard is interested in. It is interested in death. It is interested in rotten flesh and it likes to feed on it. It thinks it’s found a prize when it finds something that’s dead. Buzzards rejoice when they find death and gossip and slander.

An eagle on the other hand will not eat anything dead. They focus on life. They see past the problem and see the potential that the Lord has hidden in people. We have to make a commitment to look for the good, to soar high with the eagles, and to stay away from the garbage dump where the buzzard lives.

The only thing it takes to see what’s wrong with someone is a critical mind and one working eye. Let's strive to look at each other through the loving eyes of God. Each person is more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows. Let's soar with the eagles!

Warfare Worship

Spiritual Weapons
(2 Corinthians 10:4) Let's remember some of the weapons that pertain to warfare worship:

Playing an instrument like David did (1 Samuel 16:23).

Psalms 144:1 says, "God has trained our hands for war and our fingers for battle." Singing praises silences the enemy (Psalms 8:2).

Shouting scatters the enemy (Joshua 6:20) and brings down the walls of strongholds like Jericho.

Clapping strikes the enemy (Psalms 47:1).

Dancing places the enemy under our feet (Malachi 4:3) and rhythm creates the tempo for God to beat the enemy through our praise (Isaiah 30:32).

Prophecy is the voice of the Lord that shatters the enemy (Isaiah 30:31).

The ultimate weapon is the presence of God which causes the enemy to melt like wax (Psalm 68:2).

Today's prayer: "God, I will sing praises to you and my enemies shall be silenced; I will shout loud praises to you, yes, and they shall scatter; I will clap my hands and dance before my God, placing the enemy under my feet; and I shall seek your presence, which will cause them to melt like wax. For you alone are God and you are the one I praise."

Weapons of War

As long as we're doing what God wants us to do we're going to continue being attacked, but "when the enemy comes in like a flood the Lord will raise a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19)

John Wesley's Explanatory Note on this scripture: "When" - At what time soever the devil, or his instruments shall make violent irruptions upon the church. "A standard" - God shall make known himself to take their part and defend them, by his spirit alone.

Today's prayer: God, it seems like the enemy is coming in like a flood. Therefore, I KNOW that you will raise a standard against him. Thank you for the promises in your WORD. I cling to them; I cling to You; I will not be defeated. Amen.

Surprises

God, thank you for surprises from loving people, but thank you more for the surprises you grant to me each and every day. Surprises like pennies on the sidewalk, beautiful pink and orange sunrises, your voice at unexpected moments, the blooming of a flower, the beauty in a child's eyes, a hug from someone special, a door held open by a stranger, kind words from friends and colleagues, the feeling of your presence that makes my heart want to burst wide open, laughing with friends until I cry, having your voice leap off the pages of your WORD, wild leaps of faith where I think I just might fly, the taste of chocolate, the feel of swimming in water, and a million other secrets and surprises just between us. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Breathing

"Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD." -- Psalm 150:6

If you're breathing then you are qualified to praise and worship the Lord. How many times have I used my words carelessly? How many times have I prophesied my own trouble? How many times have I eaten the fruit of my own mouth? Oh, to let my words be few; let them be choice words; selected just for you!

Today's prayer: "God, I praise you today for everything you are and everything you've done. I praise you today because I'm breathing in oxygen you created with lungs so wonderfully made. I purpose this day to be selective and choosy when spending my words. I shall value them as gold coins. Help me not to waste a single one. Today, I choose PRAISE!"

Bad Hair Day

"What are you looking at? You've heard, "If you hang out at the Barber Shop long enough you are going to get a haircut." If you allow your eyes to see things they shouldn't, you will eventually wind up doing it. Satan gives a very bad haircut, and in the long run it will turn out to be an expensive one (see Proverbs 13:15; Judges 2:13-15). Don't have a bad hair day." (from the Elijah List, 12/7/08)


Today,'s prayer: "Abba, keep my eyes on you. Don't let them stray for a moment. Keep my eyes in the WORD and away from advertisements and commercialism; two things that run rampant this time of year. I purpose this day to give honor to you and not to the god of mammon. Forgive me in the areas where I've already blown it and set my path aright. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Brokenness

John 12:24-25: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

Most of us would rather live without any seasons of pain. I know I would. Brokenness hurts! Yet during such times, the Lord often does His greatest work in our lives, reshaping and realigning us for His divine purposes. Jesus beautifully explains the principle of brokenness in John 12:24-25, where He compares our life to a single grain of wheat. If we hold a kernel in our hands, nothing will happen. If we carefully place it in a jar or on a shelf for safekeeping, it will just sit there indefinitely. In its safety, the grain will essentially be useless. However, if that kernel is placed in the soil where its protective layer is stripped away, something amazing happens. Before long, a little sprout will emerge from the earth and start to grow into something different, useful, and beautiful. Moreover, that new stalk will produce more grains that can be planted, and the stalks they produce will do the same. It's an amazing cycle of life, wherein a single kernel can lead to countless stalks of wheat. But it has to start with the brokenness of one grain.

Today's prayer: "God, I don't want to sit on a shelf in a jar being "safe." I want to be put in the ground and have my protective layer stripped away so that I can sprout wings and soar like an eagle for you! So, I say, plant me in your soil, water me with your rain, and shine your SON on me. Go ahead. This single grain of wheat cries out for multiplication."

Comfort Zone

Genesis 12:1-2 "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing."

I love the KJV rendering of God's command to Abram, "Get thee out of thy country." God tells Abram to leave his country and his family and his father's household and go to a land that He will show him. God calls us to obedience in the same way, and often times He will say "Get thee out of thy comfort zone." Some of God's biggest blessings (and challenges!) come when we step out into the unknown, leaving behind everything familiar to us, to walk in faith. Abraham must have felt like an alien. I've known that feeling. God calls us to something new and we're "out there" all alone saying, "Wait, surely this is not what God said." Feeling like an alien is usually the first indication that we're in the right place with God. I've learned that stepping out into the unknown is where God does some of His best work. It's a place where blessing (and testing) flow hand in hand.

Today's prayer: "God, I'm out here. Yes, it's a strange land -- not much familiar in sight. Must be the right place, and though I don't see any road signs I sense your presence; your confirmation; your urging. If I strain my eyes I can still see "my comfort zone" -- way back there where I left it. Just a few more steps and it will disappear completely, dropping below the horizon."

Fear

Joshua 1:9 "I command you – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

If God has "commanded" -- called and commissioned us to do something, then He is sure to go with us. Where does our fear come from? I think Beth Moore hit on this. To some degree, we are all afraid of failing. We're afraid of letting God, ourselves, and others down. We somehow want to hide our "humanness." We may not speak our fears out loud, but Satan watches our actions. He can read us like a book. Satan sets the trap -- the very thing we're afraid of doing; the very thing we're afraid of becoming, and the very area in which we're afraid we might fall -- he sets up the circumstances to try and trip us up. But praise GOD -- He tells us to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid. We scream, "I can't. I won't. God, what if I fail you?" And, He lovingly echoes back, "I am the potter and you are the clay and I WILL NEVER FAIL YOU!"

Today's prayer: "God, in what areas am I most afraid of failing? Help me submit to the potter's hand. Help me press through the fear of man and the fear of failure. You've already accounted for my failure in your plan. You've even accounted for my stupidity. And yet, you still say, I will never fail you. This lump of clay can only respond with thank you, thank you, thank you."

Embedded Impurities

One of my favorite Bible teachers, Beth Moore, says that we all have embedded impurities, things from our past, areas of sin, temptation, or weakness, that even though we may not have "acted" on them in years, they're still there. Part of God's sifting or purification is to shake those things loose, to bring them to the surface one by one so that they can be purged. At any one point in our life, something can happen to shake one of them loose and it rears it's ugly head. Woe be unto us if we're not prepared to deal with it. You can just bet that the timing won't be the ideal time for us -- e.g. we may be at the "height" of our ministry and bam, out of nowhere we get hit. It is to our benefit to work with God to get those things out in private time with HIM before they are exposed in public time, all because we didn't deal with them. God will often allow private time for correction first and if we don't take heed, public correction is sure to follow.

Today's prayer: "Oh God, it scares me sometimes to think what hidden things are still embedded within me. And yet, I want them out! When someone "bumps" me I want only YOU to spill out. I submit to your purging -- go after those things that are embedded; show them to me; and help rid me of them once and for all."