Dancing With God

Dancing With God

I absolutely love watching Dancing with the Stars with my daughter Gabby.  We love to watch and re-watch  certain dancers (which drives my husband crazy)and of course critique all the wrong moves, etc.  We do this because we are such great dancers ourselves...NOT!  One season in particular featured NFL football star Hines Ward.  In the finale he made a dramatic statement, he said "Kim (his dancing pro) was so patient with me, she took an ex-football player, who never danced a step and guided me to be a winner."  This reminded me of a passage of scripture...Psalm 23.  I love this chapter of Psalms.  I love the comparison of us to sheep, being cared for and directed by our Shepherd, the Lord Almighty.

I am reading a book called "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller.  His book is so incredible that I am now reading it for the 3rd time (sometimes it takes that many times to sink in). Mr. Keller writes from an incredible viewpoint, he was an actual sheep ranch owner in Africa for many, many years until God called him into full time ministry.  So as he, verse by verse, breaks down the passage, he speaks from first hand knowledge.

One jewel he pointed out in his book was that God guides us with His rod and His staff. He said that God aptly compared us to sheep as they are stupid, stubborn, hard to work with, etc so the shepherd must carry a rod and staff (Psalm 23:4).  This is to keep the sheep in line, to guide them and teach them for instance where the good grass is and where the poisonous grass is. The shepherd often has to prod the sheep to the place where they can get the best water or even safety. It is because of his rod and staff that they feel safe with him.

Christ calls us his sheep and that gives me so much comfort. I know that God is with me to guide me and prod me to live a life that is His will. He wants us to have a life of abundance, a life of peace and a life of harmony and so much more, but that means we need to submit to Him and stay close to Him and His word so that we can be guided and prodded.  It is almost impossible to guide and direct a sheep from a distance.  The shepherd must walk beside his sheep in order to take care of them.  Left on their own will surely lead to their demise.

Soooo...are you staying in the word daily, what are your priorities in life in terms of spiritual growth. Don't stray from the shepherd, stay close to Him. Maybe you need a few good wackes...wait a minute...that's the devil. Our Shepherd is a loving shepherd who gently takes care of us with love, compassion, sympathy, etc.

Also, just like Hines had to submit everyday to his teacher Kim so that she could guide him toward weekly success and ultimately to win the mirror ball trophy, we have to submit to God daily. God wants us to dance with him, let him be your guide, your teacher.  Each of us is promised in essence our own "mirror ball trophy" and it is waiting in heaven for you. So get busy, open that Bible and stay close to your heavenly Shepherd.

War Strategies

The other night as I was battling another night of insomnia, I turned on the TV. Searching through the channels a movie caught my eye, "We Were Soldiers". I am an old war movie buff as I spent many a Saturday as a young girl watching these with my dad. So, I spent the next hour and half learning about this Vietnam battle that was the beginning of one of America's greatest tragedies. The interesting point that caught my attention in this movie was the fact that this was a true story, and that the colonel Hal Moore (played by Mel Gibson) was a solid leader. When they arrived in Vietnam, he and his battalion, a mere 395 American soldiers were given an impossible task...to take a mountain that had an unknown number

of Vietnamese soldiers on it, within it and around it. As they were dropped at the landing zone, they learned that a whole battalion of Vietnamese soldiers were waiting for the Americans to arrive...a battalion of 4,000 soldiers. After 3 days of intense battle, the Vietnamese soldiers were defeated and sadly the Colonel Hal Moore lost 80 of his men, but he and his battalion were the victors.

When one thinks about this battle, one has to wonder at the incredible odds that faced the American battalion. It reminds me of David and Goliath. The little shepherd boy facing the huge Philistine with only a sling and a smooth stone. And yet victory was David's.

Lately I have been studying about shepherds and their role as owners/managers of their sheep. A good shepherd has to defend his sheep and therefore has to become an expert at using things like a club, staff and sling shot. He has to know his enemies, the ways of the lions, coyotes, and dogs that want to come in the night and steal his sheep. And in the same way, Colonel Hal Moore not only knew his enemy but was a deep study of wars and battles of the past. He studied the battle plans, and maneuvers that led to victories and defeats. And it was because of his diligence to be an avid student, that he was able to lead his men to victory.

In watching this movie, I was inspired to see the similarities in terms of my spiritual life. If I am to go out into battle everyday fighting the evil one, I must be prepared.

1 Peter 5:8

⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Dear ones, every day we must get up, no matter what the day holds, and prepare for battle. We must cover ourselves in God's Word and shoring ourselves up in prayer. Each day as we go out into the world, Satan is just waiting and watching for opportunities to attack us. As the above verse states, he is on the prowl. Satan's hope is that as he waits and watches God's sheep, that a weaker one, a rebellious one who wanders off or a wounded one will become his next meal. We must keep our relationship with Christ fresh and ever-growing so that we will never fall and become Satan's next victim.

It was interesting to me that the night before Colonel Hal Moore was to be deployed, he could not sleep so he used this time to once again open his textbooks on battles in history and study the techniques that worked and those that didn't. Instead of losing himself in TV, medicating himself with alcohol, or whatever, he chose to use this time to prepare for battle even more. In the same way, we must never let ourselves go into everyday life without preparing ourselves for battle, especially if we know that we have got to take a huge mountain that day. This is especially true as we have so many time wasters in terms of social media, streaming shows and movies, etc.

So, remember, the devil is always on the prowl. Just as you get up and put on your makeup, put on your clothes, shave, brush your teeth, etc. Remember to take time to put on your armor of God. Never let it be said that you were a casualty of the devil's war. Let it be known that you are a fierce warrior, ready at all times to take on whatever the devil throws your way.

Ephesians 6:10-12

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Beloved, don't underestimate the power of knowledge, strategy and especially the power of God, His Word and His Holy Spirit. Tap into this fail-safe victory over the evil one.

Blessings to all,

LaDonna