Keep On Keeping On

I work in a tall building downtown on the 44^th floor, and in the lunchroom where I eat, they have floor to ceiling windows. The other day I was sitting by the window and I looked straight down and a certain foreboding fear came over me, as though death was close upon me and the only thing standing between me and a painful demise, was a thin glass pane.

The next day it happened again, and again after that. Suddenly, I looked up into the sky and I imagined I could fly. I saw myself soaring up into the heights of heaven, higher than the building I was sitting in. The fear of death disappeared and I felt the fearful foreboding leave me. I became like a woman of power. Yesterday, as I sat at that same table, I saw myself flying and soaring over the traffic below without any fear or trepidation of evil demise.

"Fly like an eagle into the future, I want to fly like an eagle, let the Spirit carry me. I want to fly."  (Song lyrics by the artist, Seal)

I think, sometimes the things that hold us back don't come upon us like a flood. It creeps in unnoticed like a snail. One defeating thought after another, and eventually we are convinced we can't do anything, and we are stuck.

I've been praying about a situation for several months now. I mean... persistent, all day, everyday, non-stop bombarding of the throne room kind of prayer. I was about to get the idea that it was pointless to continue. With every passing day, defeating thoughts have been creeping in that I am wasting my time, or that for some reason God must have an ought against me and that's why my prayers are on ignore.

Jesus, Himself, told a parable about a friend that came to his friend's home at midnight asking for food because another friend of his arrived at his home unexpectedly, and he had nothing to feed him. The friend in the house told him to go away, the door was shut and he and his family were all in bed. He did not want to be bothered. But the friend at the door continued to knock, and was persistent in his tenacity. He would not go away. He would not allow discouraging thoughts to convince him to give up. Jesus said at the end of the parable, "Though he would not rise and give him food out of friendship, he would open the door because of the friend's shameless persistence." So, I will not allow negative thoughts to defeat me, or cause me to walk away from my blessing, or cause me to think my Heavenly Father has shut His door on me, and don't want to be bothered.

I am reminded of David’s defeat over the giant Goliath and Samson’s defeat of a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. They did not win, thinking they would lose. They did not win, with a fearful foreboding lurking over their shoulders. The apostle Paul said we cast down foreboding thoughts and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Thump that devil off your shoulder, trying to convince you the cause is hopeless, and I'll do the same. The Lord hears our faintest cry, and He'll answer by and by.

David spoke to the Lord the words of this song,

"For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. God is my strength and my power, and He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places."

“Where the mind goes, the man will follow. It’s impossible to have a positive life and at the same time, have a negative mindset.” (Quote by Bible teacher, Joyce Meyer)

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5

I'm going to keep on praying, and keep on keeping on, until my change comes.

Click here to hear Yolanda Adams singing I Believe I Can Fly

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

Couldn't Triumph Over Me

I was at my wit’s end. I had just all I could stand to take of foolishness. Walking to my car, I was talking out loud to the Lord who had been strangely silent for quite some time. Seemingly, watching me suffer attack and doing nothing about it. I started my car and pulled out of the parking lot, still talking aloud to the Lord. I asked Him, “When are You going to get angry with the devil, because I am good and furious right now?” Early the next morning before sunrise, there came a storm with loud, scary, booming thunder. I said to myself, “Wow, it sounds like God is mad about something.”

Later that same day, I was reading my Bible and happened to run across the following passage, while looking for another verse of Scripture.

But in my distress (my outrage) I cried out to the Lord; yes, I cried to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry reached His ears. Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the heavens shook; they quaked because of His anger. Smoke poured from His nostrils; fierce flames leaped from His mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from Him. He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath His feet. Mounted on a mighty angelic being, He flew, soaring on the wings of the wind. He shrouded Himself in darkness, veiling His approach with dense rain clouds. A great brightness shone around Him, and burning coals blazed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot arrows and scattered His enemies; His lightning flashed, and they were confused. Then at the command of the Lord, at the blast of His breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare. He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me. He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me. The Lord rewarded me for doing right; He restored me because of my innocence. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil. I have followed all His regulations; I have never abandoned His decrees. I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin. The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. To the faithful You show Yourself faithful; to those with integrity You show integrity. To the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. You rescue the humble, but Your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them. O Lord, You are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. In Your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection. (2 Sam. 22:7-31 NLT)

This was a song of praise by David, who had been delivered from King Saul, who was always on the hunt to kill David. The Lord rescued David from King Saul, who ended up killing himself with his own sword. Also, the Israelites had come up against the Philistine giants once again, but God gave David and his warriors strength to kill them, again.

The author of Psalm 94 sounded as though he felt like I did, that day in my car. He said, "Lord, how long will You let the enemy triumph and gloat about it?" The Lord's response was to suggest that the psalmist (and me) were foolish in our summation that the Lord is not deeply moved by the actions of the wicked, who killed and afflicted the poor and helpless. It would be senseless to believe the God who made ears, cannot Himself also hear or understand the vain thoughts of mankind.

I wished I knew the answer to why the Lord sometimes does not come as quickly as we would like. I definitely believe that He can, and His word proves that He certainly does deliver, but His timing is to reason why. Nevertheless, He is our refuge at all times, whether we go through it, or whether we see our prayers answered directly. Through it all, He teaches us knowledge and instructs us in how to have faith in Him.

The apostle James encouraged us to let patience have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. This is how we profit from our trials and tribulations, allowing them to do their work in us. If God allows us to go through and endure the trial, He is doing something in us that cannot be gained otherwise. To whom much is given, much is also required.

Jesus Himself acknowledged in the second chapter of Revelation, that He is aware of our abhorrence to evil and that we cannot bear those who are evil. But to the overcomer, He has promised we will eat from the Tree of Life for eternity, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. As for the evil doer, they will be cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, to be tormented for eternity. That fate is a somber thought, even for the person the devil is using to afflict us.

The Lord wants to teach us to rest our faith squarely on His faithfulness and know that He loves us, even before we loved Him. This is a particularly difficult concept for me because I hate feeling ignored (with a passion), and that's what the waiting strategy is all about. After we have prayed and done the will of God, we have need of patience. God said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." I am thankful to know the Lord is always looking out for me. For sure, He does not appreciate anybody nor anything messing with His children.

“By this I know that You, O Lord, are well pleased with me, because my enemy does not triumph over me.” Hezekiah Walker sings a song that says, “I can’t help but give You glory, when I think about my story. And I know You favored me because my enemies did try, but couldn’t triumph over me, yes they did try, but couldn’t triumph over me.”

"God Favored Me" by Hezekiah Walker (YouTube Link)

The haters, the roadblocks, needless delays, the traps they set were unsuccessful, because no weapon formed against me shall prosper. Who can be against me when God is on my side? Surely, He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler, and from the perilous pestilence. Because the Lord is my refuge and my dwelling place, no evil can befall me, nor shall any plague come near my dwelling.

When plagues passed through Egypt, the children of Israel, in the land of Goshen, were untouched because they had the blood upon the doorposts of their homes. The Egyptians suffered, but the Israelites were safe. The blood of Jesus covers me, and I am saved by His power.

Now, thanks be to God who always leads us to triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. (2 Cor. 2:14 NKJV)

I feel secure. The enemy could not nor cannot triumph over me. My God is willing and able to keep that which I have committed to Him, till the day Christ Jesus comes to take me home to glory.