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Help is never noticed until I need it, NOW! It is usually a word cried out in desperation. The word escapes my lips with a helpless and often hopeless feeling. It is a cry never sure unless it is spoken to my God. Help comes in various forms but it is always welcomed. It brings relief, respit, comfort, hope. God is my help. Am I reflecting Him to others? The word Shield pictures protection in battle. A shield is a part of the believer's armor mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 6:16. The "Shield of Faith" is for extinguishing all the fiery darts that Satan can fling; faith in God my shield. In the word "shield" is tied together two vitally important truths. My faith in God will protect me from Satan's wicked darts. God is my shield! My faith in Him protects me and even when my faith is weak God protects me. I'm never not protected. What comforting truths!

Psalm 104 God reigns in creation from the smallest detail to the greatest; He reigns! Food for billions on a daily basis is enough to prove His goodness but, we so often forget His perfect temperatures and lovely spring and summer breezes. The fragrance and beautiful colors of flowers, the taste of food, salt, sugar, are all signs that our creative Father has made this world to be experienced and enjoyed by all of our senses. I'll never forget the words of pastor George Stiekes, uttered years ago while visiting Camp CoBeAc in northern Michigan one Fall day. The colors were spectacular and the air crisp. He said, "...and this world is under the curse!" Imagine (impossible to do) what it will be like under the blessed rule of our sovereign Creator Lord Jesus Christ. I can't wait! Can you?

In the last three verses of Psalm 91, a lovely psalm of Godly protection and comfort, there are six "I will(s)" spoken by Jehovah to me. He begins, "Because he ( Mike ) hath set his love upon me (I love Him because He first loved me [1 John 4:19]) therefore will I: Deliever Mike (rescue) Set Mike on high (protect) Answer Mike Be with Mike in trouble Deliver Mike , and Honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show Mike my salvation. (the Mikes are added to personalize the promises, you can substitute your own name too!) I need ask no more than these precious promises as I rest peacefully in His arms and will. The only requirements on my part are prayer , obedience , and confident trust .

I often think of Biblical characters as being on a much higher plane than I am. Men and women like Moses, Paul, Deborah, Mary were real people with real triumphs and tragedies. They weren't even always willing to be used by God. Though I'm not exactly sure what a "normal" person looks like, they were normal people that God prepared and used in an above normal way. In my reading of the Psalms this morning I discovered a very dismal one. Psalm 88. It was written by, of all people, Heman . His first phrase is the solitary positive note in this very sad song. "O LORD God of my salvation...". When in situations like Heman's, is God enough? It depends on your up-look. Saul, king of Israel, when in depression sought the advice of a witch. God had abandoned him. King Saul never thought of repentance. He looked to the underworld for hope. Saul of Tarsus (Paul), when he was being afflicted by his thorn in the flesh, sought God. His answer was not, I'm sure, wh...

Israel had it all. God was theirs, the scriptures were theirs, the Promised Land was theirs. Their future was bright beyond belief. But they had a problem, they were stubborn and wouldn't listen to God (11). Because of this mutiny God let them have their own way, which led to their destruction. We usually don't meditate on Israel's devestation and what tremendous suffering took place in their children's and their children's children's lives because of it; innumerable tragedies which could have been avoided (13-16) "if only" they would have listened to and obeyed God. How often do I forget God's blessing and best because of my stubborn and hard heart? Help me Father to look to, and listen to, and learn to, obey You.

Meditating on Psalm 73's phrase "...thou hast holden me by my right hand." "I never felt secure when I took Jesus by the hand." An older gentleman at church approached me with these words Sunday night. This gentleman is always giving out mystical "theological" riddles to which he wants some type of reaction or response. When he threw this one at me I almost tried to avoid him, but this time what he said made more sense than normal. He proceeded to give the following illustration: "A child never takes a mothers hand without being asked to do so. The mother has to take the child's hand when trouble comes. "If we are holding Jesus' hand", he continued, "...we will let go when approaching difficulties. But, if He is holding our hand we can be sure that He is walking with us through the trials! We can face anyone and anything with our hand securely in His." I think that Asaph had this in mind when he penned the words of Psa...

... or Dia dos Namorados as we call it here in Brazil. We have twice the fun being Americans in Brazil because we can celebrate on February 14 and June 12. My wife reminds me that both are legitimate holidays and should be commemorated in proper fashion. I agreed this year and bought flowers (a dozen pink roses) for both days. We also celebrated at a local Mineiro (food typical of the state of Minas Gerais, or the state just north of Sao Paulo) restaurant. Yum yum! Our Teen banquet Saturday night was also a lot of fun. We commemorated the Love holiday with good food, fun, fellowship, and a challenge from 1 Corinthians 13.