Victory=Deliverance!/Sequence Failed Continuity...

Victory for My Soul = Deliverance

Anita Onarecker Wood

The word victory suggest conquest or battle; a winner or loser. It is not defined by the participants. Few of us seek conquest or battles, rather most women avoid conflict yet sometimes it seems to find us.

Today's theme is personal;

victory for my soul.

You know the conflict you face deep within, that issue or fear, or difficulty never too far from conscious thought. It may be poorly defined, just some looming cloud that introduces threat. So, when our personal battle arises, what do you do? Where do you go? As women in ministry, we know the most proper response is, "We go to the Lord in prayer, of course!" But do you, really? It helps me when I dig deeper into God's word, and squeeze out the nuances of meaning about victory: success in a contest against an enemy; overcoming a difficult situation or obstacle.

Review some verses with me.

2 Sam. 22:2 - He IS my ...deliverer=the place of safety, security and escape. God our Father is there, for us. He makes himself available for our safety and security. This verse says He is our stronghold, in three different ways.

GOD is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, and my rescuing knight. My God--the high crag[that steep rough mass of rock, part of a cliff or peak] where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout. MSG, Ps. 18:2. Do we run to the steep peak for safety?

Our challenge is to appropriate this security, to acknowledge deep within our soul that He loves us, and is always, always there for us. People disappoint us. It seems especially disillusioning when other Christians fail us, those Christian leaders and our contemporaries in ministry.

My na�vet� was great in the early ministry years. My expectations and idealism loomed large as I sought to live in the world of Christian ministry. People disappointed. Women failed to befriend each other. Fear and insecurity separated those who sought to serve God in a common goal. Today's confession: I still don't understand it.

There comes a point when we resolve to go to the Rock, establish our feet on His solid foundation, and place our life, needs, and fears squarely in His granite hideout.

It takes too much time and energy to entertain ongoing insecurity and fears. Anger toward others, or pointed inwardly zaps our effectiveness. Allow others through CJ4H to be your friend and walk alongside you toward victory!

Our Father God is trustworthy. He will not abandon us when we turn to Him. His hands are strong to save and His refuge is uniquely designed to meet our needs.

Meet me in the Devotionals or for a private chat in our Forums. I Love to hear your comments.

Failed Sequence Continuity

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.....Read the rest of the Psalm 51

Psalm 51 begins with a repentant King David, singing a remorseful melody to God and to an understandably, very upset prophet, named Nathan.

Kristianne Stewart

King David the shepherd boy, mighty warrior,wandering minstrel, poet laureate, inspiring leader. Only one spring, when it is time to head to out to war, as all kings do, King David takes a little furlough. Kind of a vacation or rather
a "staycation". One night he is lounging around the palace rooftop,
perhaps playing his harp, looking for inspiration for his next psalm, when suddenly he spies Bathsheba. And in short order goes from the scintillating heights of glory-seeking after God's own heart to the murky depths of sin - an adulterer and murderer.

"Sequence failed continuity" is an aviation code word for a flight that does not make it to its destination; whether due to mechanical failure or worse yet, highjacked, it simply never arrives. In my own life, I've have had sequence failed continuity. Where the internal combustion of my sin imploded, and I didn't quite make it to where God had called me and there were always consequences to my sin. When asked which biblical character I most identify with, I find at times when I want to glamorize my walk and be who I know God calls me to be, it is always a more prominent figure like David. King David who for his sin had a life flight that should have been labeled a "sequence failed continuity" but

instead was redeemed by God's grace and mercy. I have come to know when I see the weight of my past and present sin, I realize what Jesus did for me.

My sin didn't deserve his grace.
My life wasn't deserving of his mercy.

It hit me one day, that had I lived in Jesus' time that me andmy sin, would have spent a lot of lonely time outside my tent, and on the fringe of polite society. Perhaps I would have been like the woman in Luke 7:36-50, who simply sat weeping, and washed Jesus' feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Saying nothing, pinned to the floor by the weight of sin, speechless and perhaps crying for the first time in years? Maybe never allowing herself to cry, because she didn't know when she would stop?Will a person ever be free from their sin if they are just "episodically
repentant"?
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Strengthened By Grace

Life Well Lived
Week 4

Frame It Up:Healthy Heart
Today your heart, the key organ in your circulatory system, will beat more than 100,000 times, propelling blood throughout your body. An average heart beats from 60 to100 times per minute, accelerating and decelerating when needed.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women, responsible for more deaths each year than all other causes combined. Maintaining a healthy weight and not "weight cycling" (repeated weight loss and weight gain), decreases the risk of death by coronary heart disease. Aerobic exercise three times a week along with weight bearing exercise routines helps to maintain a healthy heart.

Proverbs 15:13

A happy heart makes the face cheerful,

but heartache crushes the spirit.

Kristianne Stewat

Light It Up:

LOL W YR BFF
An Internet source stated that more text messages are sent per phone than phone calls. The average text messages used per month is 357 compared to 204 cell phone calls. Whereas the phone replaced face-to-face contact, the rise of texting has now replaced the human voice. The texter relies on emoticons and initialisms to convey the range of human emotions. Along with the rise in texting, instant messaging, email, video conferencing, and cell phones so has depression. For with all these technological tools, we can never replace the subtle nuances of God's grand design in us. We crave human intimacy. Next time you want to LOL with your BFF, do it over a cup of coffee (preferably decaf).

Proverbs 15:13

A happy heart makes the face cheerful,

but heartache crushes the spirit.