In the Shelter of the Almighty

I was reading some scripture tonight about Security in the Lord.  This brought to mind the following passage from Psalms 91.  King David (from the Old Testament) is somewhat of a role model for me.  God, Himself, said of David "He is a man after my own heart."  I cannot think of a higher honor than that.  

Anyways, King David went through all sorts of hell in his life.  He was betrayed by family. He committed murder and adultery.  How can God call a person who committed such acts as these "a man after my own heart"?  I truly believe it is because of David's faith, and repentance..  The following passage was written during some of the darkest times in David's life.  The faith of David is legendary, and is clearly shown in the following verses of Psalms 91

1 He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.
4He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings shall you trust: his truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day;
6Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.
8Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation;
10There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
11For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
12They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the serpent shall you trample under feet.
14Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.
16With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

I do not believe that there is a clearer passage in scripture where God's mercy and grace are spelled out for those that abide and trust in Him.  Does this mean that we won't go through trials and dark times?  No.  It just tells us what will happen when we go through those times.  We are not alone, and never will be.  

I thank God every day that he was with me during my darkest hours. 

TAD, PAD, and Devotions

TAD and PAD, both are "afflictions" that those of us who smoke pipes suffer from.  TAD is Tobacco Acquisition Disorder, and PAD is Pipe Acquisition Disorder.  Neither are bad things, but just like other things in life, they can take over your wallet and web time in a heartbeat.  There are other types of disorders that some pipers suffer from.... LAD (Lighter Acquisition Disorder) RAD (Rack Acquisition Disorder) and tAD (Tamper Acquisition Disorder).

I primarily suffer from TAD.  The reasons for this are as follows:
1) tobacco doesn't get any cheaper.  Having a cellar stored up allows one to go through tough times without suffering with the lack of baccy to smoke.
2) I like to try different blends.  There are hundreds, if not thousands of different blends to try.  I may love some and hate others.  You can't try them if you don't have them
3) Sales.  Sometimes there are excellent sales or deals that one just can't pass up.  www.4noggins.com is notorious for selling  different blends at a heavily discounted rate every month.  I try to take advantage of this as it allows my cellar to grow by leaps and bounds.  (I now have close to 16 lbs of cellared tobacco) This should last me several years if I suddenly couldn't buy anymore.
4) Ageing tobacco.  A lot of blends really benefit from ageing in the tins or jars.  They loose their sharpness and gain sweetness, or the flavors just blend better over time.  Sometimes I can find aged tins for cheap.  ie.  I just scored some 4 yr old tins of Esoterica Penzance and Butera Pelican for a very cheap price (traded some tobacco I had).  I snagged it up as both are very difficult to find, or not in production anymore (pelican).  The aged baccys are worth much more than I paid, and can, in the future be used as an income source, or as a barter item for baccy that I prefer.

Today, I just got in an order of tobaccos that I truly enjoy, PS Luxury Bulls-Eye Flake, PS Luxury Twist Flake, and Newminster Superior Round Slices (smells and tastes of wild honey)  These weren't on sale, but I was running low on these blends that I smoke regularly.  I got 4 oz of each.  They will last me a few months.

I just recently suffered a major attack of PAD.  I scored 6 handmade Briar Spirit Pipes in a trade and 3 estate pipes.  I have kept 4 of the BSP pipes and 1 of the estates. I traded off 1 of the BSP and one of the estate pipes. And, 1 BSP is to be a gift for someone who needs a good dose of encouragement.  There is nothing quite like receiving a new pipe and breaking it in with your favorite baccy.  It truly does lift the spirits.  It truly is better to give than to receive. It is always fun to see someone excited about something that you sent them with no strings attached.  I haven't decided whether to keep the last estate (a canadian) as I am not a huge fan of straight pipes.  However, I hear that they smoke extremely well.  I have listed it for sale on a couple of the forums I frequent.

Anyways, on to my devotions.  I have struggled a little bit lately to be in the right mindset for prayer and devotions.  My mind seems to wander way too much.  Pipe smoking gives me time to relax and to pray and read the Bible.  I make sure that I take the time to do both.  However, there seems to me, that my mind cant seem to slow down lately.  I will be in the middle of prayer, reading, and then I remember something I need to do, or a situation at work that I am dealing with.  Next thing I know, it is 15 minutes later and I have gotten sidetracked.   I know that this is just the evil one trying to keep me from growing spiritually.  So, I bring back my focus until the next time the rabbit trail crosses my path.  It is a constant struggle lately.

So, tonight, I got distracted by some website hosting and then some forums.  Fortunately, I remembered that I needed to do my reading and prayer.  I opened up my Bible app on my laptop, and proceeded to read.  I am glad that I did, as I was able to receive an encouraging word.  A lot of times I feel that I struggle with my relationship with God by myself.  That I am the only person I know that is really trying.  Well, I am not alone.  And I am not alone in pursuing a deeper relationship with God.  Tonight's reading was Isaiah 41:9-10.  It reads,

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,
‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
10 Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

It is encouraging to see that no matter how distracted, tired, or worn out we are, that God is by our side.  He doesn't ask us to be perfect, just to trust in Him.  

Well, it is now bedtime, and I need to get some sleep before my long day tomorrow.  My prayers are with you, whoever you might be.  

May God Bless you and Keep You.  May He make His face to shine upon You.  May you feel His love and presence surround you.

Faith and Patience

I have been reading a lot lately, and it seems the theme for this week is faith and patience. Patience is one of the hardest things for me to learn. I ran across this passage tonight.

James 1:2-8
Bretheren, Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But, let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like the wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

I find that when I pray and ask God for wisdom, or for Him to do a specific work in my life, or in the lives of others, that I have to vocalize my faith. Vocalizing my faith helps to drive out the doubt. The way I vocalize my faith is to first ask. Even though God knows what we need, or will be asking of Him, the first step of faith is to ask. Once I am done asking and praying about whatever it is, I then thank Him. I thank Him that he will do as I have asked, and that He will honor my prayers in His time. This is the vocalization of faith. The bible says to "pray with thanksgiving" How can we do that, if we never thank Him for His work (even before He has done that work) Faith is believing that what we ask will be done, even before we see it done.
One more thought on this too. When we are falling into various trials, recognize that as the Hand of God working. He is allowing our faith to be tested so that when He does answer our prayers, that we will see his mighty power and have even a stronger faith at the end of the trial.

A promise

I missed updating yesterday as I was highly distracted and had a lot of thoughts running through my mind.  Even my usual quiet time with my pipe was cut short.  I did read the scripure, but felt like I was in a dry spot.  To be honest, I was not mentally prepared to receive any insight or knowledge from them.  It wasn't a wasted time, as reading the scriptures never is.  But I just couldn't concentrate.

I did get several new pipes from my good friend, Kirk (Briar Spirit) in the UK.  Beautiful pipes, each and every one of them.  I fired up a bowl in the one that called my name the loudest, and enjoyed a truly smooth smoke.  I was smoking some Carter Hall (not one of my favorites) but it was a good baccy for breaking in a pipe.  I think I will try using some CH as a burley base for blending some tobaccos. I had an aromatic baccy in it today and is smoked it perfectly down to a fine grey ash.  This is probably the best smoking pipe I have had of his to date. 

I had a good, busy day today, and finally got to sit down and read the Bible a little bit this evening. I was in a much better frame of mind to receive from the Lord.  The following passage caught my eye, and it was if the Lord told me to stop and really understand what He was saying.

Jeremiah 33:1-3 NKJV

Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, “Thus says the Lord  who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord  is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

To me, this is an encouraging passage.  First notice where Jeremiah is... in prison.  He was in a trying time in his life.  No way out of the current situation was immediately available.  Now, during this time, what was Jeremiah doing?  Was he moaning about his circumstances?   Not according to this verse.  It instead implies that Jeremiah was listening for God to speak.  For when God spoke, Jeremiah heard.  As we know from other Scriptures,  the voice of the Lord is heard in quiet.  It is a "still small voice"  it requires active listening and focus to hear.  So, in the midst of trials and discomfort,  God spoke to Jeremiah.

He says, "call to me, and I will answer you."  Wow, what a promise!   There is no prerequisites other than to call unto God.  But even more interesting than the promise of an answer is thevsecond part of the promise.  "And, I will show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."  Notice what is not promised.... Deliverence from the situation.  God didn't tell Jeremiah that He would get him out of prison, or even make his time in prison easier.  He said He would show Jeremiah new things.  

Sometimes,  we have to be in a rough spot in order to be receptive to the Word of God.  God is not wanting bad things for us.  Jeremiah wasn't being tortured or beaten that we can tell, just in a situation that he couldn't escape from.  God, instead of delivering Jeremiah,  took his mind off the circumstances and showed Jeremiah new things, interesting things, visions and prophecies.   This captivity turned out to be a good thing in the long run as Jeremiah listened to God and learned what God was trying to teach him.

I have heard it said that God always answers prayer with one of three answers, yes, no, and wait.  In this case, it was "wait and learn"  What situation are you in that you can't escape?  Open your mind and heart to God.  Listen to what He wants to show you.  It may just surprise you and help you down the road.  Jeremiah eventually was granted freedom once he learned what God wanted to show him.