Thought for the Day- Be Ready!

Reminder to all Prayer House People- This week we are praying in repentance for our nation in preparation for our evangelical band-shell service!
"So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Jesus- Matt 24:44 (NIV)

The lights suddenly flicked on at 5 am Saturday morning and a shout came down the bay. "Attention!" Fifty men scrambled out of their bunks and snapped to rigid attention as Lt. Colonel Adams strode down the floor followed by our lieutenant and Platoon Sergeant Monk.

"You men have five minutes to get dressed and prepare for a snap inspection", bellowed Sgt Monk.
We couldn't believe what we were hearing. You never have inspections on Saturday's once you leave basic training. Usually, passing inspection is a requirement Friday afternoon to earn a weekend pass. This weekend, we were told there would be no inspection on Friday and our passes were just given to us. We went out on the town and had the typical fun that soldiers have (this was pre-salvation for me), and didn't get back in the barracks until 3 am.

Through the fog of sleeplessness combined with the after-effects of a night on the town, we scrambled into our dress uniforms. None of us had gotten ready for this, and as the inspection began, the angry shouting from our Colonel and sergeant at the condition of our lockers, uniforms, and barracks made our stomachs fall through the floor.

Lt Col Adams suddenly appeared in front of me, and began to lay into me about the condition of my squad. Sgt Monk went over to my locker and found that nothing was were it was supposed to be and there was sand in the bottom. He angrily flipped my locker over, sending the contents across the bay. "Corporal Oscar, you call yourself a squad leader? You're the worst of them all!", he screamed in my ear.

As other lockers went flying, and more screaming was heard, the heads of our platoon hung in shame. It's bad enough to fail a platoon or company level inspection, but to fail in front of the colonel caused a deep dread to fall upon us. Not only did we look bad, but our sergeant, lieutenant, and captain also looked bad for having an entire platoon not ready.

At the end of the inspection, Colonel Adams asked us to come down to the day room. He explained to us the reason for the surprise inspection on a weekend. "Men, we are soldiers. We never know when the call will come for us to go to war. We have to maintain a state of readiness at all times, or that lack of readiness will cost us our lives in battle. This is a serious business we are in- and not being ready has serious, and permanent consquences."

That incident has been coming to mind recently as I survey the world we live in, and think about the soon return of Jesus for His bride. Jesus said He will come unexpectedly. He will then give us an inspection, and judge us according to what we have done with what He has given us.  Not only will it reflect on us personally, but on those who God has placed in our lives to shepherd us. (see Hebrews 13:17)

This life is a serious business. We are also soldiers of God, and have to maintain a constant state of readiness, because if we don't, the consequences for us and for those that God would have us to reach are serious and permanent.

Love and blessings

Find rest, oh my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.
Ps 62:5


Yesterday, I was studying my critical care textbook and reviewing how the heart works. The heart has its own circulatory system that is a wonder to behold. 

The body receives it’s nutrients through the heart actively pumping blood through the body. That little muscle in your chest beats, relaxes, and beats again thousands of times a day. During that process and with every heartbeat, dozens of electrolytes and other chemicals are constantly shifting around to charge, fire, and recharge its own electrical system that keeps it functioning normally. It is a wonder of God’s engineering that in most cases, it does this constantly and flawlessly for 80+ years of our existence. 

However, the heart itself has a slightly different way of receiving its life. While the rest of our bodies depend on the heart doing its job to actively pump blood around miles of piping, it receives its nourishment while it is resting in between beats. You see, once the heart pumps it's nutrient rich blood into the main vessel that carries the blood to the body, a valve slaps shut and the a backpressure is created within that vessel (from it stretching) that pushes blood backward into the vessels that supply the heart. While the heart is beating, the valve leafs cover the openings to those vessels, so if the heart never rested  it would starve and die. 

As I was worshipping this morning, I thought back to the lesson I reviewed the previous day and heard the Holy Spirit speaking to me. He brought to mind the way that the natural heart works, and said the same thing applies to our spirit. Our spirit only can gain nourishment when we are at rest. It is our flesh that is satisfied with always moving, always being active, always doing something. It is like our body- depending on the activity of the heart to survive. 

However, spiritually, our spirit and soul is like our heart- it is dependant upon a source outside its own work and activity in order to live. Our spirits need rest in order to grow, in order to mature, and simply to survive in an increasingly broken and messed up world.

Learn to take time to simply stop and rest. Turn off the TV, the computers, the cell phones, and just spend time with God. All the things in life that distract you are like the valve leaves of the heart- blocking the life sustaining power from getting to where it needs to go. 

Learn to rest in His presence. It will feel strange at first- all your Christian life you have been told to do something during your God time- pray, worship, read the bible. Those activities are vitally necessary for Christian growth and I am not trying to diminish them. 

However, we have lost the ability to simply sit and rest in His presence and allow Him the chance to refresh us, to speak to us, and to simply fellowship and love on us.

I am finding more and more that above all other “Christian” things we do, the key to growing
in Him is this simple thing- learning to rest in Him. 
Love and blessings,