Frozen to the Sword

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Frozen to the Sword! Today begins a series on David’s Mighty Men. I will highlight one each day and tell you their story of bravery and heroism; against all odds! I hope you will join me and see what we can glean from these Mighty Men and apply to our own lives.

David Livingstone was a missionary in Africa when some friends wrote him and asked: “We would like to send other men to help you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?”

Livingstone wrote back: “If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.”

Brave.

Fearless.

Courageous.

Heroes. 

We have all heard of heroic acts and examples of extreme bravery. We have read about them, seen them on television and social media and maybe even have a real-live hero in our family.

They were in the Bible too. David, a man after God’s own heart, didn’t defeat every enemy that came his way all alone. Yes, he killed a lion, a bear and even Goliath with his own hands but he found out quickly that he needed to surround himself with those that were fearless if he was going to win the entire battle, not just a fight.

Enter David’s Mighty Men. There were The Thirty and also The Three. In the group of thirty, there were actually 37 that we can count which could mean that they weren’t all on the team at the same time. (For instance, Uriah was killed in battle and he was one of The Thirty.) These were David’s toughest warriors, his trusted companions and faithful few. There were three men listed separately as The Three, even more set apart possibly because of their bravery or accomplishments. Josheb-basshebeth, Shammah and Eleazar made up The Three.

We are going to learn about some of them over the next several days and find out why a Mighty Man such as King David chose these fearless leaders to stand by his side in battle.

The son of Dodai the Ahohite, Eleazar was one of David’s Three Mighty Men. Eleazar means the Lord is my helper in Hebrew. The Lord did not disappoint Eleazar! David was engaged in battle with the Philistines at Pas Dammim but the men of Israel pulled back; they actually retreated and abandoned David to fight alone!

Here I come to save the day! Mighty Man is on his way! (or Mighty Mouse as the ancient cartoon was noted for…most of you are way too young to remember Mighty Mouse.)

Back to scripture:

“Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.” 2 Samuel 23:9–10 NIV

So they were surrounded, defeat seemed imminent, yet there was no way Eleazar was going to leave David. He stood his ground, struck down every single one that came at him and refused to retreat.

The 3 and the 30 Til his hand grew tired and froze to the sword

Have you ever stayed with something so long that your hand was in a locked position and you had to pry it off? Probably not, but Eleazar did. The Bible says his hand was frozen to the sword. I don’t think it meant it was below zero outside, I believe it was describing the death grip he had on his weapon. No way was he going to quit, no way was he backing down and no way was he letting go of the sword.

The Bible tells us that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, according to Ephesians 6:17. It is our ultimate weapon! This powerful sword is all we need to defeat whatever the enemy wants to bring against us.

Just as the Philistines were taunting David and Eleazar, Satan came and taunted Jesus in the wilderness. What did Jesus do? He used the sword, his weapon of choice, to counter-attack! “It is written…”

If we are going to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, against the evil forces that are coming upon this world (and are already here), we must speak the Word, claim the Word and USE the Word to fight our battles.

Do you know that the more time you spend immersed in the Word of God the more you will be able to defend your faith? You will become “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might…” when you actually take the time to learn the Word and hide it in your heart. Then, when you need it, the Word will come alive to you and God will bring to your memory passages of scripture that you might not even remember reading, or memorizing. It will BE THERE because God is faithful to His Word.

As the quote at the beginning expresses:

Are we of the few that will GO, will STAND, will ACT even if there is no ROAD ahead of us?

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Even if no one else will stand, no one else steps forward?

Are you spending time in prayer and reading of the Word every day? It is vital to your Christian health. Persecution of The Church of the Living God comes in many forms and our weapon of choice should be the same one that Jesus our Lord chose as His own: the Word of God! Immerse yourself in it, love it, consume it, let it take over your thoughts and actions as you become more like Christ. Stay tuned as we discover another one of The Mighty Men tomorrow.
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Fasting? Protect Your Heart!

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You can read the first three posts in our fasting series here, here and here. We are still talking about the Armor of God. Suiting up with that armor EVERY DAY means we are always prepared for spiritual warfare. Fasting, coupled with prayer is an integral part of that armor! Today, we are putting on the Breastplate of Righteousness.

Have you heard the story about King Ahab? Yes, the same one who had Naboth killed so he could have his vineyard, but that’s not the story I am talking about.

In the 16th chapter of 1 Kings,  Ahab “…did what was evil in the LORD’s sight more than all who were before him.”

Jumping over a few chapters, we are told that prophecy revealed to King Ahab that he would surely die in an upcoming battle.  Ahab thought he could take control of that situation by disguising himself, yet he instructed his ally, King Jehoshaphat, to go ahead and wear his royal robes.

The catch was that the enemy had been told to “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate…And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.”

Ahab’s  plan didn’t quite work out, first of all because God’s Word never returns void and secondly, his demise was due to a small opening in his armor, his breastplate.

This breastplate could save a soldier’s life! It protected the vital organs, especially the heart.

Putting on the Breastplate of Righteousness is an intentional act, as are all of the pieces of armor. We make the choice to seek His righteousness and acknowledge we can do nothing apart from Him.

We can also have a “small opening” in our armor and not be fully protected! Could it be said that our breastplate isn’t as effective when we aren’t praying, haven’t fasted in forever, we are not reading the Word or following it, when we have obvious sin, or even when we think we can get by on our own merit? 

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 ESV.

We can’t afford to be without this breastplate of righteousness! The enemy is watching and waiting for us to be careless and when we aren’t maintaining our relationship with the Savior, we are “taking off” pieces of our armor and leaving ourselves exposed to an attack from the enemy of our souls.

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12.

Fasting, with prayer, makes us stronger, our armor more secure because we have determined to be closer to our God. We don’t let a day go by where we aren’t putting on the whole armor of God…that we may be able to stand, not in our own righteousness but in His! 

See you tomorrow!

Do you have your copy of my easy-to-read Fasting Devotional? Don’t let the title fool you! It is a 21 day devotion for ANY FAST. Each day is an example of someone in the Bible who fasted, some for the wrong reason as well, and what we can glean from them. There are also Daniel Fast recipes and instructions for following that fast as well. Available at Amazon.com

 

because-of-sandy-jo

Because of Sandy Jo

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because-of-sandy-jo“If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do well matters very much.” ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

You would find them in the soda shops and movie houses any time of the day or night. Sitting on the bar stool or stuffed into a booth. Sipping on a milkshake or devouring a greasy cheeseburger with all the trimmings. They all looked the same; they wanted to fit in just like kids today.  Decked out in saddle shoes and penny loafers, cuffed blue jeans, Shetland sweaters, poodle skirts, and I.D. bracelets. Elvis and Patsy Cline swooned on the juke box and the Korean War and McCarthyism were all but forgotten for the 1950’s teenager.

Sandy Jo McCammon might be considered your typical teenager except that she was an only child. And she was probably spoiled. Her mother had lost her first child when she was just three weeks old and never really recovered from the loss so both parents especially doted on Sandy. With hard-working, middle class parents, she never really wanted for anything.

But what she dreamed of was to be a dancer! Her cousin Jennifer had the same aspirations. They surely went to the movies every Saturday matinee and dreamed of being the next Ann Miller or Ginger Rogers. They took lessons together and learned to tap dance.  They never made it to Broadway but they sure looked great in their costumes.

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Sandy met Buddy in high school and set up housekeeping at the close of the 50’s and welcomed the 60’s, not realizing the impact those next ten years would forever have on their lives. For from 1959 to 1970 they would not only have four adorable children (yep, one of them was me!), but would even see the youngest off to kindergarten by the time the seventies rolled around. You better believe they were busy!because-of-sandy-jo

Sandy had several occupations besides Mother, and I have no idea how she had time for any of them. She cleaned houses and even worked in a factory for a very short time, but I don’t think she was fond of that one; she never liked to sit still for very long.

One of her favorite jobs though, I believe, was her beloved school bus. Her father-in-law had driven for many years and encouraged her to get her license. It was just perfect for her and the hours were great.

In between all of these occupations, Sandy had time to be called Grandma, or Mamaw Sandy. She became a grandmother at a very young age with my very own Kyle Douglas more than 40 years ago and eight more have joined him since then. Now she is welcoming great grands and added three to the crew this summer bringing that total to ten.

grandkids

One of the greatest privileges of my life was being with my mother when she gave her heart to the Lord. I was twelve years old and I have no idea why I decided to tag along with Mom and her friend Jackie. My Dad was brought up in the church, but my mother was not, and they had not served God since they had been married. Mom was a fairly heavy smoker of unfiltered Winstons.

It was a cold January night when we arrived at the revival meeting. Although it has been 50 years ago now, I can still remember my mother standing there with tears streaming down her face gripping the back of the pew at the close of the preacher’s sermon. She didn’t wait for an invitation; she was already heading down that aisle to give her heart to God.

My Dad was surely surprised when she came home with the news but the next week we were all in church as a family and they have served God together the last 50+ years.

The most wonderful miracle was when Mom came home that night from that revival meeting. She went straight to the drawer in the kitchen where she kept those Winston cigarettes and threw them all in the wastebasket. She never had another cigarette again and she never had withdrawal symptoms! She was instantly delivered when she was filled with the Holy Spirit; God still performs miracles today!

It is fun to reminisce about your mother’s life but I honor her today for taking that step of faith so long ago for ALL of our family. I often wonder how different our lives would have been had she not answered that call that night. Would any of us be serving God? Would our marriages be in shambles? How about our children? What direction would their lives have taken? None of them have ever been in trouble with the law. Neither have my brothers or sisters children. It could have been so different.

But because of my mother, all of her children and all of her grandchildren are serving God today; what a testimony and what a blessing! No, she is not a celebrity, but she will leave a legacy that far surpasses what the rich and famous will ever experience.

Thank you, Mom. We have much to be thankful for today because of you.

And Happy 80th birthday today! You deserve all the happiness in the world and good health to go with it.

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