DBRs | Monday, August 31, 2020, 10:09 am

The Daily Bible Reading (DBRs) I’ve chosen is from FA-21, Unit 2, Tuesday, Treasured People, Deuteronomy 7.6-11 (NLT Fresh Start Bible).[1]

1st Reading, Deut 7.1-11

I recognize the Passage.

Why am I always called to the smallest (verse 7)?

Do generational blessings and anointings get the attention they deserve (verse 9)?

Since this is a conditional prophecy, is there a door of new blessing I could cross through that others could refuse to open their eyes to?

2nd Reading, Deut 7.6-9.29; Mark 15

I understand that size doesn’t matter; that God loves; that God fulfills His oath or treaty, verses 8-9.

Aren’t there large movements of God doing wonderful things?

As Dr. Vaughn taught, there’s a difference between being a big duck in a little pond vs. being a duck in a big pond . . . one duck of many.

3rd Reading, Deuteronomy 7.6-11

There are too many factions within the Body of Christ vying for my attention.

There’s always the Southern Baptist faction, and the family does tend to circle the wagons, because we’re all like families within the greater family of God.[please see note 2, if you read anything]  There’s the PCG factions, as multifarious as the Bishops and General Board; once a General, always a General.  Then there’s IYM and the changing of the guard, both at HQ and at LLFC.  There’s the non-denominational camp, some at West Side, some at LLFC.  There are the catholics, and then there are the churches in town that know of each other.  There’s Spring Arbor, doctors/mentors[3], Asbury, Duke, Andrew and the Wesleyans, and Daniel who counts himself a good Wesleyan.  Then there are the VIPs who cross the lines between men of the cloth and politicians, men who seem to hold a lot of power.  Then there’s Regent Divinity School and the acadamie.

So.  Many.  Competing.  Voices.  Christ’s Body.  Splintered.

And does anyone see my wound, that I keep cleaning and dressing, but no medic from any camp will really risk-it to attend to?[4]  So, like the hole shot through “Sly’s” side, I’m cleaning it, making sure it hasn’t hit any vital organs, and putting gun powder in it to cauterize the wound from front to back or vice versa, for now.  It’s silly to think of Rambo III in a time like this, but hiding out in a cave for a brief moment to personally tend to myself in the heat of a weird war does NOT mean I have rejected Him (verse 10).

I’m tired of Christian brothers or sisters who play the part of the accuser of the brothers or sisters.

And in-line with today’s prophecy from Deuteronomy, I don’t mind playing small-ball as Joshua did to take Canaan, but divisive factions are small-minded.

---

notes:

[1] I’m actually blending two different devotional forms of curriculum at this time, the DBRs from one source and the Life Journal: Classic Reading Plan from another.
[2] It is truly unfair to say all of these voices are competing for my attention, because I really don’t know at times where to speak peace.  However, I am only reflecting the thoughts of the morning.

• In that respect, I see this article as fictional, or perhaps stranger than fiction.
• In effect, I’m praying that those who are higher up will line will pull together at some point, because when the Lord speaks, He is often referred to as a voice on many waters.
• PCG (Pentecostal Church of God), IYM (Indiana Yearly Meeting), HQ (headquarters), LLFC (Long Lake Friends Church), West Side (West Side Community Church), Spring Arbor (Spring Arbor University), Duke (Duke Divinity School), VIPs (very important people).
• Truly, people are trying to and have tried to, offer wisdom for our life and times from all of these groups.

There really is no liability, if I can say that.

[3] Some doctors attend to physiological and/or holistic aspects of life in general, and also offer wisdom and guidance.

• After all, I do run a nonprofit that requires a good amount of dialogue with professionals.
• One doctor calls some doctors “tofu-doctors,” because the tests that they ask for only track a level of something (i.e. like serotonin in the body) but some tests do not track where the chemical is being produced in the the body.
• I’m not sure about the undertone of such conversations.

[4] I do believe we carry wounds of warfare, even spiritual warfare, that are not anyone’s fault.  They’re not because of other Christians.  If they are, the wounds would be considered friendly fire.  There are wounds that are from the enemy of our souls.  Certainly he plays his hand at times.

• There are plenty of possibilities, but none that I hold to firmly today, because I don’t know.
• On the field, we can’t assess where every projectile has come from and to where it has gone.  Anyone who was a witness to the Joplin tornado of 2011 can tell you that.
• Nonetheless, on mornings like this I feel vulnerable, as do countless other pastors on Monday mornings.
• So, if nothing else, let my voice be a gentle reminder to pray for your pastors on Monday, because they may really need someone to stand in the gap for them.