Opening or not you are going to receive fire from enemy cannons.  The initial question of course, is possessing this foreknowledge what then have you done to determine what will be your reaction to these expected and determined assaults?  If you have any measure of dedication or gumption to deliver against the tasks which God has determined for you before the beginning of time, then you must be thoroughly convinced that you will not only make the enemy’s radar but will receive concerted attacks in attempt to dissuade, divide or destroy your will to proceed.

Now after that exhausting run on sentence we are forced to advance to what may be done.  First, have you studied to show yourself approved rightly dividing the Word of God? If not then you ill prepared and ought venture no further for the Word is the Spirit of God that is sharper than a two-edged sword and frankly one of the two offensive/defensive weapons in your spiritual arsenal.  The other is prayer.  Have you established a regular, meaning perpetual line of prayer to the throne room of God? Are you petitioning him in the spirit in humility and faith? You will need to and if you haven’t yet established this relationship, then go back two squares and get talking to God.

Next you must understand that in a spiritual battle the only thing that matters is the Spirit that indwells each of us.  Your flesh will do nothing in this battle, in fact using your flesh to fight a spiritual battle indicates that you do not understand the Word of God. for it tells you that these are powers and principalities of the heavenly realm and may not be ventured, controlled or defeated by worldly means.  Only Christ has defeated these enemies and it is only Christ that they fear.  So if your showing them your muscles, your brains or your guns you are sadly outnumbered and hopelessly doomed.  They will only succumb and surrender to the Holy Spirit that restrains them and seals you as belonging to God.  That they fear, me they don’t.

Additionally, the attacks will come from all sides so don’t run, surround yourself with other believers to watch your back and your flanks.  In fact, if you have family, ,friends, colleagues or others close who have not yet surrendered all to God through Christ then they will be susceptible to use as bludgeons to reach your back side.  The enemy seeks all avenues of approach and anyone not protected by the Holy Spirit or perhaps those who have back slidden in their faith present footholds in to your ministry.  Avoid them, pray against them and protect yourself by cleaning out or closing these open avenues.

The attacks will come.  Yes, God allows them, that is the wonderment of His Glory and Grace that the enemy is used to grow and challenge our faith.  Otherwise the Lord would have placed a hedge of protection around each of us that the enemy may not penetrate.  So be assured if the enemy is getting to you with salvo’s then the Lord is allowing it, the question of that day, is Why Lord, what have you sent this one to provoke me to learn? May you prepare for the attacks that are going to come if not already pouring over your battlements.  May the Lord bless you with like minded Christians of strong faith, in prayer, priesthood and armoring to watch out for you and you for them.  May the Lord Jesus Christ be seen clearly in the armor that you wear as you dawn the characteristics of His Holy and Righteously Powerful Spirit.  May you have great courage and endurance to run this race to the end, through all things in joy, peace and love with Christ.  In Jesus’ Name.

What do I own if it must all be left behind in this life. Rather borrowed, rented, utilized for what, the purpose of catering to comfort or self image?  Must I really be that simple to determine my worth by those material and fiat things to which I lay claim? What about reason, experience, friendship or family? How might any of these components rise to the level of importance as to be compared equally with those things of self worth or wealth? There is not enough material in the world to measure up to the love given from one simple child who respects, cares for and adores her Father, Grandpa or Uncle. The frail in this life seek comfort, for in that comfort they meet complacency and complicity, the twin succubi, perpetually drafting all capacity for human fulfillment or preparedness to defend righteousness.

A friend held for even a moment is great success. That another human being would find comfort, belief or support in a relationship with any of us is a priceless gift. Even when let go the memory of friendship is a prize worth defending and something that truly may never be stolen except by the cruelest of masters.  Praise God that this life is short for if it were longer many would lose their faculties and memories or be left in difficult circumstance for far too long. Joy is found in the trials shared and the moments carried around by two, in memory of life lived together. Nothing compares.

Then the dream or reality of having produced the next generation to carry on to places not yet reachable by our own hand. And in that moment, realizing the possibility of extended life in this dimension when gone.  For somehow in the DNA is found the method by which each of us partially steals from death in the moment that we’ve left behind someone to carry forward. Yet, all of it leads to the next life where death and hell have been made bereft of power over the living and the dead. Now the prize is to prepare those who are to go beyond us in this life to be ready for the next. For when it comes we all shall once again share the true joy of being together and this time for good. I am grateful for what I have been given, but it really doesn’t matter because soon it will all be gone and only those people and experiences I have found will carry on past the point from whence none return.  In Jesus’ Name.  Memories of time spent with you is all that I will ever truly own.

Unfortunately it’s supposed to heart that way.  I know they told you just a sting but the that is the unfortunate thing about lying.  Falsely adding your own spin, when it means someone else has to absorb the responsibility for your wicked craft, it’s the same sin, doesn’t matter if a good hearted person does it.  Injuries from the back or within the group always hurt worse and penetrate deeper than those coming from the enemy.  But that is okay, they mean well and they will come around, besides what they meant to hurt will be used for the good of God’s Plan.  The idea is to be calm, saunter on and enjoy victory, clean and bandage any wounds and take the pain to the Lord for tempering.

I am not your savior, your rescuer, your Priest or Padre.  I am a man who has been telling you what the Bible says we are supposed to do.  Please do not internalize that to mean that I am telling You, what to do by recounting what the Bible says we all should do.  Yes, I must acknowledge that if God told all of us to do something and you are not doing that something then you will naturally feel a tug of the Holy Spirit’s conviction upon your heart, but that may not, cannot and is not coming from me. You do what God is telling you to do and mention that I have directed otherwise is an unfortunate prevarication or projection designed to cast your guilt, blame, excuse or reasoning upon me as messenger.  I love you but don’t make me the scapegoat because they are not necessary in the era of Grace.  Any judgment of any of us is the Lord’s Prerogative and I will leave all that to him.  If you don’t do what he has been telling you to do then you will deal with him on that.  If you are doing exactly what he is telling you to do then good for you but it is also not my job to judge your efficacy or compliance, only to love and encourage you.

These are the days when these things really matter, because as the Bible indicates we may be in the days of dwindling minutes left upon the opportunity clock.  The Bible says we must work in the day because the night is coming when the work may not be done.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon me and every disciple to get about the work and encourage others to get about the work that the Lord has directed for each of us.  What that work is, how you do it or how completely or incompletely you perform his tasking is your affair.  I love you and will encourage, support and hold you accountable for getting to the work in a timely manner, beyond that I have no nor want no further authority.  Thank God that I am not God, but simply a servant of the same. In Jesus’ Name

Simple heart supporting your strength and encouragement.  Mine is not the doctrine of direction.  I am in charge of no one, even struggling with my own voice and obedience. It is unlikely that the Lord has sent me into your life to be the boss of you. That being said, sometimes loving you comes with it the difficult reality that I must at times speak up about the things in either of our lives that are inconsistent with God’s Word or perhaps are self defeating or potentially dangerous.  I will not surpass that responsibility nor will I ignore it, for to do so would make me an enabler or a people pleaser, two positions for which there are dire and unpleasant circumstances for your Brother, a man before God.

What is it that God is leading you to do?  Let’s pray about it and once you’ve heard from Him, let me know or perhaps He will let me know the appropriate way to motivate, support and encourage you to its completion.  But do not expect, knowing me especially, that I will just sit back and allow you to ignore God’s calling, ministry or direction.  That would not be the Brother that I sent to be, for we are made for accountability, to each other and to Almighty God.  How could I answer Him back when He asked me why I didn’t request of you an answer to His Will? We are not meant to do this journey alone and that means that we have to learn a consistent, respectful and responsive manner in through which to support, defend and motivate each other.  Sharpening, I believe was the term used in the Word.

I am your greatest fan, your last critic, because you must remember that I adore you.  This is not a game show or talent competition where we struggle with various envies to out do one another.  This is a team in the family sense.  Neither must you be alone in your trials, burdens or tests, nor rejoice alone in your victories or stand there having done the impossible with no one to thank you for your love for God.  But I want what you are determined and guided to give me for that is the Will of God, the God who sent me to get some work done and rejoice in abundance while doing it.  Know this, I love you and thank the Lord for having saved me not just from my sin but from the one thing He called, “not good”, for man to be alone.  Do your thing and if I can help please tell me where and when to apply pressure, support or a comforting word.  In Jesus’ Name.

In the distance the daylight whispered of tomorrow becoming today.  Shimmering with bright green, luminescent yellow and resounding red, Earth’s floor reflected its pathways to greatness, sadness and joy.  Wasn’t it just yesterday that promised this moment, where possibility and reason collide to produce instant’s becoming?  A hopeful thing this belief in perpetually rising suns, freeing from the binding thoughts of an unimpressive present, delivered anew to a refreshed set of variables and possibility.  A left-nostril breath, lungs filled with scents and pollen of dawn cracked wide open, breaking in the shadows of midnight.

Mysteries only appetizing to the few with passion’s figuring.  Deduction, articulation, triggers and evidences left for each to ponder.  This is the time where question and answer become acquainted leaving that pestering moment of completion, found within package deconstruction.  Peering expectantly the contents, agitated, reflexed, persuaded by toppling dominoes when theory applied became reason leading to law.  What then of men absent wonder, with manifest understanding of simplicity’s relief?  Shall they be faced with joy aplenty at the occasion of king’s reminder, treasures found, secrets unearthed, blessings realized?  Or is splendor lost without residence?

Torches called and carried, leaning out just enough for a glimpse into pitch.  With daydreams, piper’s call held in the breast of siren’s lure, we danced a bit too close to fire and felt the tickling fingers of flame’s inspection.  What then?  Is a dream the waking piece of introspection or the sleeping memory of passion’s plan?  For we are left lonely in those moments few, where tonight becomes tomorrow and memories, yesterday.  Onward toward something barely understood yet seemingly impossible a day defined by implication of passions rendered, conquered ideas and realms remaining untouched by consciousness and rhyme.

Do I value the unexpected or am I the man who wants everything in order, no deviation from plan, nothing spontaneous?  That is not a question dropped lightly for within it resides the answer to my alignment to God’s Will.  How can I ever receive the blessings that God has for me if I must have predictive control of the world before me?

Father, thank you for the difficulties I’ve experienced, especially this week, because as I gave way to your direction I realized each episode that I had originally viewed in negative light, was actually steering me into the Divine Opportunity you had prepared.  Let me reiterate this for my own consumption.  The things that were bothersome, troublesome, disjointed, calamitous or seemingly in my own judgment dysfunctional were designed as jersey barriers to place me at a precise time and place according to your will for my life.  Now I must naturally ask that you take away the heartburn typically associated with my frustration at let’s say losing my keys for that five minutes or being stuck in traffic or having some tech fail in order to lead me into meeting the person who needed prayer, love or counsel.  Thank you for the unexpected event because it is the treasure of my life.

Considering this wisdom, is it now possible for me to release the reins of expectation, allowing the unknown, the mystery of your gifts to instead guide the circumstances of this life?  And for that matter why does a natural conflict reside at the center of this determination?  Am I that pre-programmed to self-determinism that there must be an actual battle for the space within my head of these competing wills?  Why can’t I simply surrender to your Righteous Will for my life instead of fighting this battle each day?  Is there some maturation guaranteed through this repeated scenario?  Why must I force myself to let go every day?

You know best for my life.  You made me and are the only one who knows my true purpose.  Therefore through your guidance is the only path to reaching the pinnacle of my existence.  How on Earth could a logical man, a faithful man kick against that transparent wisdom?  Give me the blessing of letting go of this life that your purposes are served perfectly in my surrender as a tool for your good will.  In Jesus’ Name

How much is too much?  Isn’t that determined by my own internal clock, just as with happiness it is a limitation mechanism defined, maintained and protected by me?  It is just as with the determination of what is a good or bad day that is within my control yet I somehow have been trained to externalize, diminish or victimize every discipline in which I have some manner of control.  Too much is when I fall on the ground and have frankly given all that I can give and got’s no more.  Or too much is when I have surpassed my allotted or experiential capacity to deal with the circumstances and therefore I throw my hands up and shut down.  Or too much is that glorious point at which I reach the end of my time, faculties, talents, treasures, imagination or ideals and finally, albeit finally cry out to God to engage the filling of His Holy Spirit.

Paul was very clear in his teachings through the Holy Spirit that we ought be thankful for that moment when we are at our weakest for that is the point where God is all we got and also the point where God is strongest.  The proverbial point where we are forced to surrender and acknowledge that the thing we are expected to overcome is beyond our capability.  Wouldn’t it be grand if since we have established that too much is a self-determined, self-defined limitation that we adjusted that understanding to allow God to step in and do the impossible from the outset, without having to reach that personal point of exhaustion before surrendering to His Spirit?

God is going to always ask more of me then I was ever capable of giving, for that is the nature of being an ambassador filled with the Holy Spirit of God through which we can do the impossible?  If I knew that I couldn’t do the impossible before I started the impossible but I fully understood that within me resided the Creator of all things the Doer of the Impossible, wouldn’t it make let’s say marginal sense to get out of the way and let him do the impossible before I needed to demonstrate my inability to do the impossible over and over again?  I mean Christianity is quite logical, even if we don’t want to employ the logic or think it simply spiritual.

So how much is too much?  I don’t know, since the Sovereign God lives within each of us and He invented the plans to overcome the impossible, then is there ever going to be something that is “too much” for any Christian?  I know that hurts your brain and I am a horrible beast for causing your contemplation upon realms of the universe outside our own dimension, Too much?  I think not.  In Jesus’ Name I pray for you to ride the road past impossibility to the probability and possibility dictated by a Holy, Righteous and Limitless God living within you.