THE Lord is my Shepard, I shall NOT want

Beloved.

The Lord is My Shepard, I lack nothing.

The last month, with this pandemic, has caused some interesting things to happen in the world as we know it. At first, we all listened to the news as they talked about China having a new strain of an old virus. Flu like in nature but affecting older people and those with low immunities quite devastatingly. And then those traveling brought it to their home countries. Just like the flu, a simple cough or sneeze uncovered allowed this to spread in to the communities. China, South Korea and Italy are now in epidemic levels. Yesterday, in a 24 hour period Italy's death toll jumped from 189 to 1,016. It is a bit shocking. Italy has a full country quarantine. Grocery store or pharmacy trips only. After 12 days all schools were shut down. TWELVE days.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He lead me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul.

We here in America have cases through out the country. Big concentrations in the Washington and New York. And the rest of us watch and wait. This week, all sports have cancelled, concerts have cancelled, the rodeo, schools have cancelled for 1-2 weeks AND the Church. The Church? I took the kids on a grocery trip, thanks to Spring Break, and it was like we had a hurricane brewing. Water is gone. Toilet paper (which perplexes me) gone. Eggs. Hot dogs. Meat. Tuna. Soup. All cleared from the shelves. PANIC has set in. Things that were not cleared, that you would think would be MORE important, over the counter medicine. Pain relief or cough medication. Even humidifiers were still packed on the shelves.

Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

 The entire time, as I was looking at the shelves and the people hurrying around me, I could not stop saying "WOW". WOW, is this really THAT serious? WOW, why is everyone so panicked? WOW, what about keeping calm? WOW, we are really hoarders in our cores. Selfish. Anxious. Worriers instead of Warriors.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

These thoughts made me sad.   I started thinking about Jesus. Our home is on a big smoothie kick and we use a lot of fruit these days. As I went through the frozen fruit isle there was 1 bag of strawberries left. As I took the bag from the freezer a woman ran up and looked so upset and disappointed. And quickly her words came from her mouth, "OH NO". I looked at the bag and back at her, gave her a smile and handed it to her. Told her I could get some later.
Love. Jesus said Love. Jesus showed Love. He is our example. He did not panic. He did not hoard. He gave it all away. He spoke of loving your neighbor MORE than yourself. In this 'crisis' our world is facing we must NOT forget Jesus is still Lord. He is our Strength. Savior. Reminding us we are Warriors NOT Worriers.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, AND I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Do your part child of the Most High. Pray for others. Love others. And remember our Hope rests in something greater than this world. Greater than Panic. Greater than illness. Greater are YOU, Lord. We must let our breath in our lungs pour our praises and thanksgiving to Him.

Choose Kingdom!  

"Do NOT be anxious about your life, what will you eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet Your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? "

"Seek First the Kingdom Of God and His Righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." 

- Jesus Our Christ (Matthew 6: 25-27 & 33)

Be Warriors

A Touch can Change Everything!

I've been thinking over the past few weeks about how a simple touch from the Lord can completely change your life.  From a seed planted in fertile soil, we spun into existence by the command of our creator in the universe of our mothers womb. Before the first follicle of hair breached our skin, His plan came to pass leaving a cowlick in the back of our head.  Free will was birthed as the spinning seed began the development of our thinking. Soon after our tiny hand pressed into our mother's womb creasing and creating our divine fingerprint.  This is a work of art that has never been and never will be duplicated producing evidence of our uniqueness.  By design, we're unable to choose our race, geographical location, family dynamic, economical status, traits, genes or talents.  That's the proverbial hand that we're dealt.  On the contrary, we all have the opportunity of adoption from the Most High if we simply choose to accept the free gift in Christ.

Babies aren't born racist with political affiliations, ulterior motives or hidden agendas as they're unaware of their nakedness.  Much like Adam and Eve in the garden, it wasn't until the serpent enlightened them with the pathway to good and evil knowledge that they lost their intentional eternity with the Lord.  Many of the filters, lenses and labels we place on people have all been by design or default.  Adam and Eve were covered with fig leaves to remove their shame of being naked when God asked, "Who told you that you were naked?"  That's a great question..... Who taught you to think that way that you think?  What are we teaching our kids by our words, actions or examples concerning discipleship?  Do we realize that our greatest disciples are sitting at our tables?  Furthermore, WHY has the Lord put us on this earth for such a time as this?  Let's dive into this a little deeper.

If a touch from God can change everything and the Holy Spirit is a fire that burns the dross from within us to make us the true living sacrifice, how impactful is our touch?  If numerous people touch something, won't the most recent fingerprint override the ones that came before?  More over, If people have spoke their opinions over your life, am I incorrect by saying, what God has to say about you supersedes them all?   Has your fingerprint been used to identify the evidence of your presence?  If we are all made in the image of the Almighty does He leave evidence when He touches something or someone?  That's a good thought but how could we actually compare our touch with a touch from the Father?

This lesson of Man School will be focused on touch and how a man evolves in significance with his touch.  Children for example can develop a textile learning behavior trait which means they learn better from touching things.  Later in life there should be a maturation transition in the child's thinking concerning the responsibility and impact of their touch.  You can easily see the discipline a man has received or has not received in his life based on the way that he touches things.  This information is very important and can actually save your life.  Let's look at a few examples of how you can unintentionally disrespect someone with your touch.

1.  Imagine walking through a parking lot and touching all of your favorite cars.  Just a careless stroll through parked vehicles while you casually brush up against them leaving a scratch or mark.  Be very careful touching things that do not belong to you, this action could potentially get you killed.  Please understand that there may be a little grace for a child but a man will endure consequences outside the rule of law.  This message should be common sense but "learning the hard way" is not advised on this issue.

2.  Did you know that underground caverns have stalactites and stalagmites growing inside of them?  One touch of the oily human hand can prevent them from growing due to
Walk though the house and touch the walls, TV screens, windows, mirrors and whatever else you can get your hands on.  Since you're already touching everything with your grimmy, greasy and oily hands, leave a mark that will last forever.

3.  Putting your hands on someone in the wrong way can have devastating consequences.  Push someone out of the way, shake them to wake up or put your hand in their face.  If you don't discipline yourself, the world will discipline you, that's a fact! Experts say that relationships between a man and woman are healthier when you have at least 10 non-sexual touches a day.

4.  Being heavy handed rather than displaying gentleness when situations call for it.  Slamming doors, drumming tables and walls.  It's common to hear someone say that money is the rout of all evil.  I personally do not believe that to be true.  Money is a tool much like a hammer.  It can be used to build a great house or can also be used as a weapon to destroy someone.