Psalm 10 - Don't Be Mrs. Potts

This is Mrs. Potts.

She got her name because she reminded me of this famous Mrs. Potts.

She is short and round and cute as can be.

But when it comes to being a chicken that can survive with the wildness of life, you have to be more than just round and cute. Mrs. Potts had lots and lots of feathers. You'll notice that even her feet and legs are covered with feathers.

But having a lot of feathers and not much else made her slow getting around. She was usually the last to arrive when the chickens would come running for a treat. She just couldn't maneuver well.

What does this have to do with Psalm 10? I'm so glad you asked.

Psalm 10 begins with the psalmist asking an age-old question that actually will show up in more Psalms as we work our way to day 150. Why do the wicked get away with what they do? They are arrogant and basically thumb their nose at God. So why doesn't God do something about them?

I don't know.... Neither did the psalmist. (Actually, I'll probably address this more with another Psalm.)

Here's what God showed me today - something I hadn't thought about before - and how Mrs. Potts ties in with Psalm 10.

As I was reading about the wicked God showed me how I (we) can defend ourselves against the wicked. Yes, ultimately our defense is found in the Lord. 12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.

But we should be spiritually and mentally prepared to face the enemy.

1 Peter 5:8 NIV

http://www.biblestudytools.com/1-peter/5-8.html

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Here's what I saw in Psalm 10

• v.7 "His mouth is full of lies and threats" - So we should "stand firm, putting on the belt of truth" Ephesians 6:14
• v.8 "He lies in wait near the villages, from ambush he murders the innocent - So we should stay away from places where it is easy to be overtaken by the wicked see Proverbs 1:8-19
• v.9 "He lies in wait to catch the helpless" - So we need to learn to not be helpless. How did Jesus fight Satan and his temptations? He quoted scripture. Paul worded it this way in Ephesians 6 :16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Mrs. Potts was a beautiful little chicken. I say "was" because last night after the sun went down a raccoon got in the chicken coop before I got home to close the door. She wasn't prepared to face the enemy (I know this is all a stretch - go with me) She was pretty with all of her feathers, but she was slow, she couldn't fight back. I'm sure the roosters fought. I know the bigger faster hens fought and ran fast. All that was left of Mrs. Potts when I looked in the coop was a lot of black feathers.

A sad night at the coop.

Bottom line:

• Don't be all fluff and no substance in your spiritual life.
• Read Ephesians 6 and see how you can be prepared by putting on the full armor of God
• Have scripture memorized - hidden in your heart - so you have a big sword ready to fight.
• Don't name your chickens. It makes it much sadder when a raccoon gets them. :-( 

Rio Mission - Day 6

Graffiti on the way to our work area.

This was our last day of door-to-door evangelism. We had a total of 60 people who prayed to receive Christ. At least that - we didn't always get cards filled out and sometimes several people in the family would pray but they would only list one or say "familia" and then we don't really know how many. It was very exciting to see God at work.

Favela near our favela. It looks nicer than it is.


We noticed something interesting. We had two families today and several on other days that mentioned to me and Cheryl that they have adopted children or grandchildren. (See http://www.papalyndel.blogspot.com/ if you haven't seen my adopted grandchildren) No one mentioned adoption to the other teams. Lisa had several mention to her that they had husbands or family members who had passed away this past year. We might have had one mention that to us.




Another picture of us at lunch. That's Ray in the white shirt.

All the groups had people mention that it was very odd that we found them at home that they just happened to be home from work that day for one reason or another. We happen to know God had them at home so we could talk to them.



Tomorrow we will relax for a little bit and see the sights of Rio, like Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) the giant statue of Christ on the tallest mountain overlooking Rio. (Cheryl's calls it the Christ of the Ozarks statue. We always laughed, but it ends up that the one in Arkansas is a smaller replica of this one.)




The view from the top of the church building.


Sunday we will see our new Brazilian friends one more time as we worship together at their church. I will play the violin with their associate pastor playing the keyboard. I'm going to preach too. I don't know if the associate pastor will also preach or not. Tulio, my interpreter for the week, will interpret. The pastor is on vacation. I don't know if he will be back Sunday. Then Sunday evening we fly out. I think our flight leaves around 11:00pm.




Click the picture to enlarge it if you need. Notice that behind the glass are today's chickens. In the cages are chickens having their last meals before they end up behind the glass.


Thank you for your prayers during the week. My stomach is happier now that I've had several doses of Imodium during the day. We have been safe and God has blessed our work. Pray not only for our services Sunday, but services at Hilldale and around the world. The fields are white for the harvest. God may not have called you to Brazil this week, but He has called you to Clarksville or Nashville or wherever it is that you live. The harvest is His and He has prepared it. What are you waiting for?