Status Updates From The Clay Pot Conspiracy: Go...

Stanza Five - David shifts from reason to heart. God has watched our tossing and turning and he has recorded it in his book. God knows that, in this fallen world, bad will happen and then, wait for it, he flips it for GOOD! When the bad happens, stand in solidarity with Christ. Embrace the wonder while you embrace the suck!

Stanza Six - Perspective, if God be for us, who can be against us?

Truth bomb -- betrayal is probably one of the worst injuries. Sometimes our self-inflicted injuries are blown way out of proportion. Sometimes the injury sideswipes us! Every time we are stabbed in the back, just remember what happened to Jesus. Our stabbing is just a flesh-wound in comparison. Look what God did: he resurrected his son who ascended to heaven where he sits on God’s right hand.

The last two weeks have been overwhelming but then God sent grace to us from a nonbeliever. He blessed us and we blessed him. You never know when grace reminds us that God is good and faithful. God allowed us to feel overwhelmed so that the delivery of grace was CRYSTAL CLEAR.

Stanza Four - Leadership means injury because this is spiritual warfare! Satan will do anything he can to do evil it us!

Stanza Two - Fear of God offers wisdom BUT nameless fears offer lies. They can be a reasonable assessment of danger and a credible threat. God trusted God when Saul threatened his life. Grace offers truth: he can harm David’s flesh but he can’t touch his soul. Nameless fear has no authority. Grace stops nameless fear but waives through God’s promises. The situation may or may not change, but his promises are true.

Psalm 56 shares the idea of trampling. Hardly anyone anticipates being trampled on at the start of ministry. It’s a merciless campaign of trampling that goes ALL DAY LONG! I’ve had days in which I felt like my hair was on fire all day long!!! The psalms show us that, when this happened to David, he was straight up with God about his perceptions. For me, it’s exhausting to see heartbreaking situations on the daily.

If we fail through no fault of our own, enemies go after us. Turn to God as the source of answers, however long it takes. God can bring beauty out of loss like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Sometimes, we fail through own our sin or disobedience. We deserve a thunk on the head. God wants us to turn to him so he can lead us out of the mire. He is the greatest of poets (the psalms) and he writes a song in our lives.

He states that it uncovers idols. Pride in great health. Pride in good looks and vibrancy. Pride in not being like others (depressed and anxious). Everything going well can be seen as proof of God’s love. However, he may be seeking to enlarge our souls. He says this chapter is open-heart surgery on ourselves. OUCH! “God hears. God helps. God heals.” God doesn’t tells us everything immediately. He wants us to follow.

If it is your parent, spouse, or kid, disease can consume your attention and energy as a caregiver. If it is you, All of the above plus the debilitating effects saps a person. HOWEVER, some people are resilient when God puts them in a place in which serving him is their happy place, especially when it puts their focus on something else. Research shows that finding meaning improves depression.

Enemies can be human but can also be disease, depression, and death. I think the latter doesn’t count unless the fear of death cripples. Of course, ministries stall when people die unless God has a plan or people carry on the legacy. Fear of death or facing death can do the same as people turn toward self-preservation or getting affairs in order. In the end, hope in Christ leads us to the best outcome in the end.