Scooter

Last month I heard a speaker tell some wonderful
stories and asked this author if she would mind
writing a story for my website. Within a very short
period of time I received the story of Scooter entitled
"Beautiful Brokenness." The video at the end of the
story was put together by Katy and Scooter.  It is well
worth your while. Enjoy!

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

A Fallen Father

David is King.
David is a leader.
David is a father.
Things are not going his way.

1. David has a son whose name is Absalom.
2. Absalom has a sister named Tamar, a half brother
     named Annon.
3. Annon is crazy in love with Tamar; he violates her.
4. Absalom murders Annon
5. Absalom flees from his father
6. "David's heart goes out to his son," but the father 
     does not call Abosalom back. Three years pass.
7. Finally, the son comes home, but, the father does not
      call for Absalom for two more years.
8. Absalom draws the people to himself; away from
     the king. He makes a move for the throne.
9. When David hears the message of the betrayal,
     he flees from Jerusalem, the city of peace,--weeping.
10 Absalom, the son, is stabbed and dies as he hangs
      from a branch by his hair.
11 David--
"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would
that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son,
my son."  (2 Samuel 13-18)

David chooses to ignore his son. He refuses to be
reconciled. The years of anger and guilt lead to
bitterness and betrayal, and, finally to death. David
is king; he is also a father. His choice of not letting
his son speak to him is like that of a ping pong ball
in a room full of mousetraps. If you read the whole
story you will find that so many people are affected.

The good news is that God calls David "a man
after my own heart." He does not withdraw this
term of endearment when David blows it. But,
oh, how David and others suffer because he did
not choose life!

Leadership Failure

"How the mighty have fallen." 2 Samuel 1:19
Fallen: dropped, descended, degraded, ruined

There he sits on the top of the pile and it is a long way down.
He hits bottom and it is like a ping pong ball hitting set
mousetraps in a closed room. They go off, set each other off,
and keep the ball bouncing. Gradually the room goes quiet
and the ball settles.

"How could this happen?"
"Pastor So and So is well nigh perfect."
"What is going to happen now?"
"If this has happened to him what hope is there for me?"
"What is going to happen to our wonderful church?"

Questions, so many questions, but there is only one
answer, only one, and it begins with a question:

To whom or to what do I look to for life?

Do I expect my pastor to be my source? That will
certainly suck him dry in a hurry. Is it my spouse
or my kids who are responsible for my happiness?
Circumstances then? Ouch! People and circumstances
change in a moment, and then what?

The misplaced focus is like the set mousetrap that goes
off when change hits. What if the mousetrap was not
set? What if the mousetrap was resting in God's love
and looking to God for provision. Such a mousetrap
would not be shaken when the ball drops.

"My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken."
Ps 62:1,2

Hey, mousetrap, don't reset on the wrong thing!

Stories: http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

A Triumphant Life

Samuel Lamb: 1925-2013

Who is Samuel Lamb some of you may ask? He
was a Chinese Pastor who kept a suitcase packed
during the early years of his ministry for the day
he would be picked up by the Chinese authorities
for his Christian activity. He was arrested in 1958
and subjected to hard labor for the next 20 years.
He had refused to register his church with the government
before his arrest and did not change his mind when he
was released from prison. Today 4,000 people attend
four services at the church.

Pastor Lamb was quoted as saying: "My dear wife died
while I was in prison. I was not allowed to attend her
funeral. It was like an arrow of the Almighty until I
understood that God allows the pain, the loss, the torture,
but we must grow through it."

When asked for a summary of his life and ministry in
one principle he said: "more persecution, more growth."

I am even now looking down at the joy filled face of
an old man, a man who understood what it means to be
intertwined with God and His purposes. You can google
his name and scroll down to pictures.

"Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Stories:

http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

Wait

I don't like this word!

(You) "Wait for the Lord.
Be strong, and let your heart take 
courage. Wait for the Lord." 
(Psalm 27:14)

To whom is David speaking? He might
be speaking to his own soul.

"Soul, wait, be strong, take courage,
wait. (This could take awhile.)"

Wait in Strongs 6960
"To expect, patiently tarry, wait for."
But the primary meaning is "to bind
together by twisting."

Does the twisting, the binding together with God
occur over years of waiting for God? Does
expectation grow or diminish with time? Is David
waiting for God or is he waiting on a change in
circumstances?

I have to confess that more often than not, I am
waiting, not for a greater revelation of God,
but for the circumstances to change. Time
does not necessarily increase my faith, and, I
am not aware that God and I are becoming
twisted together as one. There is a situation that
has plodded along for twenty years! David's
life did not shift for many years and even after
becoming king, he went from one crises to
another. I think he gave his soul the very best
advice that day: "Be strong, take courage, wait."

One of my favorite books is Waiting On God
by Andrew Murray. Maybe it is time for me to
open the book again....

A new story is up:

 http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

The Declaration

Yesterday we glimpsed the tumult of David's
heart. Today I read:

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living!"
(Psalm 27:13)

Surely David declares this with a shout! His
words resound into heaven and heaven cheers!
David speaks truth in the midst of darkness.

"I believe...goodness...the land of the living.

Is there something wrong with tears, anger,
frustration one moment and triumphant faith
the next? NO! I call it the normal Christian walk.
I call it becoming real. My tendency is to bury pain
so deep that I can't feel it. When I do this, I die a
little. God wants me to be fully alive!

A New Story is up!

 http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html

"I'm Here, O Lord"

David is all over the map in Psalm 27. He is
confident, he is seeking God, but in verse seven,
the tone changes. Up until this point David is
talking about his journey, but now a cry erupts
from his heart.

"I'm doing what you have asked, Lord.
I am seeking You.
Where are You?
Have You cast me off for some reason?
Have You forsaken me?"
(Paraphrase of Ps 27:8,9)

Here are the words of a desperate man, in a
desperate place, who feels alone--cast off--
separated--, just when he needs God. How
easy it is to base my relationship with God
on my surrounding circumstances. I tank.

"Does God seem far away?
Well, who do you think moved?"

A NEW STORY!

 http://www.hisvictoriousindwelling.com/stories.html