Good morning

            Today, I begin this writing by boasting about a man and his wife with whom I have known for the better part of 40 years, and their names are Pastor Dr. Rex Allen and his wife Dianne, and they are ministry partners. I met these two wonderful people almost 40 years ago at a church in Lexington Park, MD. I watched how they have dealt with the good, bad, and the “Boy Oh Boy” times. The same people who were Dr. Allen’s parishioners were also the same people who charged them with evil practices yet, they never surrendered to anger, vengeance, nor the desire to run away. When our child passed away 15 years ago, the first person I called after notifying our family, was Dr. Allen because I knew he was no stranger to death. Rex and Dianne are now in their seventies, and the ravages of age have notched holes in their health; I noticed that through all they had been through, they never surrendered to fear nor doubted the Lord.

When Job’s health deteriorated due to skin cancer, his angry wife told him, “Why don’t you curse God and die.” The three friends who came to encourage Job turned on him because they were convinced that Job had sinned against the Lord and refused to agree with Job’s case for innocence. After hearing about his sons’ sudden death, the destruction of his crops, and the loss of individual property, Job uttered, “The Lord has given and has taken away, Blessed be the name of the Lord.” The writer of the book of Job observed, “In all of this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:16-22, Job 2:7-10). You see, we only have one thing that we have absolute control and absolute ownership over and that is, our soul. If we surrender our soul to the Devil because we are convinced that the God we serve is vicious and takes immense pleasure in our demise, we will find out how wrong we are and we will cry bitter tears just as David did (Psalms 51:10-17).

My encouragement for you today is, when you go through the deep valleys of pain, sorrow, fear, and/or frustration, never lose sight of the God of Heaven and Earth and His commands and precepts (Proverbs 3:1-8). The Devil will always overstate the problems you are enduring and get you to commit sin. Always begin the day by putting on your Biblical armor, sharpen your sword, make sure there are no chinks in your armor that will trip you up. May your day of rest and the Word of the Lord uplift you today. If you need prayer, please do not hesitate to send an email to me at krierm89@gmail.com and I will pray for you.

Yours in Christ’s service

MK