The Importance of Bible Reading and Prayer

Not long ago I was helping my wife with a project that required using a pipe cutter.  As I was cutting the pipe my hand slipped off the handle and scraped against something on the tool.  When I looked at my wrist, I noticed a gash that was bleeding. I immediately applied pressure and cleaned it up.  When I looked closer, it looked like I had cut a major artery.  I held it closed while my wife grabbed the first aid kit and found some butterfly bandages and applied them to hold the cut together.  She then applied a dressing on top of it.  After the initial shock, I started feeling nauseous, broke out in a cold sweat, and was dizzy.  I thought I was going to faint.  While all this was happening, I suddenly remembered my military First Aid training on shock and recognized the symptoms immediately.  I didn't have to go look them up, I just remembered them and knew that's what I was experiencing. 

As I reflected back later, I thought of that verse in Luke 12:11-12: ""And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don't worry about what to say in your defense, for the Holy Spirit will teach you what needs to be said even as you are standing there."
I also thought about WHY and HOW the Holy Spirit teaches us at that moment.  Could it be that the more we study God's Word and do as Psalm 119:11 say ("I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you"), and the more we pray and learn to hear His voice that gives the Holy Spirit something to start with? The more we study, and are in His presence, the more we will have the confidence that what is in our spirit and mind will be there when we need it.  Just like I knew the symptoms of shock after hearing and studying First Aid over and over many times, the more we give the Holy Spirit to start with to continue teaching us what to say and what we should know. 

There will be times in our lives when we will not have the opportunity or time to find what the Scriptures says on a certain topic, but when it is stored in memory through study and repeated reading, we will know what God's Word says and we have a place to start and a place from which the Holy Spirit can work with.  This can give us confidence in what we are saying when it starts with what we have hidden away.  Will we have to remember it before a court of law?  Hopefully not, but you never know when you will need it and need to be able to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit and you will know it is the right thing to say for the circumstance you are in.  If you have not made it a habit if reading God's Word and talking to and listening to Him, I urge you to do so.  The sooner you start, the more you will have tucked away in your heart when it is needed.  It doesn't need to be large chunks of scripture at a time or long times of prayer at first.  Start slow and allow the Holy Spirit to grow in you a hunger and thirst for more.  Don't wait till you wished you knew it, start now.

By the way, after closer inspection of my wrist, I realized I had missed the major artery by a millimeter or two.  It was all because of my years of going over and over the First Aid and symptoms of shock that allowed me to keep calm in order to be able to focus and do what needed to be done in order to stop the bleeding.  In the same way, even when it seems 'boring' or 'tedious', continue in His Word and in prayer.  There will come a time when you will be glad you did.

Lessons from an Ant Invasion

This spring started out like a normal spring, hot and dry.  When you live in the desert it's to be expected.  But soon we noticed a few ants here and there.  That grew to seeing them almost everywhere.  We tried a few home remedies and they just kept multiplying to the point of sitting on the sofa got you covered in ants along with multiple bites.  Nothing was slowing them down. 

We got desperate.  We had no clue what to do since we tried everything at our disposal and even tried things that seemed ridicules.  Finally a friend gave us some strong insecticide and told us how to use it.  Guess what?  It worked ... for a few days.  The reason it only worked for a few days, the ants found a crack and corner that I had not sprayed.  When I discovered those spots, they ants where pouring in unhindered.  I sprayed again.  I was intent on not giving up.  That cut them back to a trickle, but they were still coming in.  Finally, I found the main nest and dosed it with the insecticide.  I used the tools that had been given me and used them to fight them once again.  To this day, we have seen maybe a dozen ants total since then and those rode in on shows, or the dogs, or some other way.

After the ant fight was over, I was reminded of how this can relate to our daily lives.  The ants are the sins or situations that are making our lives miserable and keeping us from experience the joy God wants us to have.  We begin to allow them to distract us from everything we that matters.  We try everything we know of to get rid of the sin or the problems or situations and yet they are still there.  But by going to the Word of God and discovering the truth of the situation, we can more easily combat them, and sometimes going to a trusted friend, mentor, or fellow believer, can give us even more tools to combat the sin and the issues that have invaded our lives.  But, once we use those tools to get rid of the "ants" they find other ways to invade, but we have to use those same tools we learned from the first invasion to fight again, this time with more confidence faith that it will work.

Then we have to look for the root of the problem because until we kill the root and get it out of our life, we will always have to fight the same fight over and over.  Will the sin and situations continue to try and invade?  Just like the ants, yes they will, but the more you are successful the more confidence and praise to God you can create an atmosphere where those things cannot survive in the current atmosphere. 

When your 'ants' come, don't give up, look to God and other Godly influences in your life to fight them and maintain the atmosphere needed.  The more we keep our eyes on the solution (God our Father), the less we will be influenced by the 'ants' and the more confidence we will have in the One who brought the solution.

So, if you have 'ants' in your life, focus on The Solution (Jesus Christ) and not the problem (sin, bondages, and circumstances).  Focus on what you need to do to rise above, look for the source of the 'ants' and you will be amazed at how your attitude changes and how your atmosphere will be more conducive to living a life of freedom from sin and bondage.  Find a trusted person you can ask for help and that will give you the RIGHT advise and direction.  Don't wait until you are stressed out so much that all you see is the problem.  Look to "The Solution" and you will find freedom and life abundantly.