The War of the Lions....

I'm reading a book for a group I am leading called In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. It is based on an obscure little Scripture in 2 Samuel 23 about a man named Benaiah, a warrior who "once went down into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day" (verse 20). The following verse goes on to say that he also killed an Egyptian giant who had a spear in his hand by grabbing the spear and killing the giant with it. David then placed him in command of his own bodyguards. That's all we know about him. But the story got me to thinking about lions.

Benaiah's enemy was a lion. Peter tells us to "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). However, Revelation 5:5 calls Jesus the "Lion of the tribe of Judah".

So how can Jesus and the devil both be lions?

The other night I made mention to my seventeen year old daughter that I had never seen the movie The Lion King from start to finish; I had seen little pieces of it, but not the entire movie. She was appalled and insistent that we have a movie night and watch it together. Well, that didn't happen due to our schedules. But the next night as I was reading this book and pondering this question about Jesus and the devil being lions, my mind went to the movie. I knew there was a good lion and a bad one, but I couldn't remember their names.. It was about 11 pm and everyone had gone to bed. Rebecca had my laptop in her room, so I couldn't just Google it.. I sent her a text message (yes, even though she was just down the hall) and asked her who the lions were. Instead of returning my text, she came down the hall all excited that I wanted to know something about it and insisting I watch the movie. So, today I did...

(Please do not think I am creating a "theology" from this movie...just a few thoughts).

Mufasa  is the King of the Jungle; the Pride of the lions. He has a brother named Scar who is extremely jealous of Mufasa and his new son, Simba.

Mufasa is strong, confident, wise, proud and bold; yet cares deeply for his family and the rest of the pride of lions.

Scar is selfish, jealous, bitter, and power-hungry; he will do whatever is necessary to get what he wants....the throne.

Mufasa is teaching his son to be brave. One scene shows Simba standing in the footprint of his father, at which point he realizes just how much bigger and stronger his father is than he. Simba has just done something foolish and his father has rescued him from some hyenas.

"Those hyenas were scared!" says Simba.
Mufasa grins and says, "Cause no one messes with your Dad!"

As I listened to this dialogue, I thought how we as Christians were created in the image of God to  be like Him. And yet, how often do we do something foolish and end up needing to be rescued? And the enemy, the devil, who is Satan (Revelation 12:9) runs scared when God shows up, because "No one messes with your Dad!" One of the hyenas is later heard saying, "I just shudder when I hear that name!"

Scar soon causes a stampede of all the animals and then tells Mufasa that his son, Simba, is in danger of being trampled to death. In the end, Mufasa is killed by his brother, Simba leaves the pride having been convinced by Scar that it is his fault, and Scar has achieved his purpose... he is now the king. As time passes, he has destroyed the lands and let the hyenas take over.

In the meantime, Simba is growing into a strong and mighty lion. Rafiki is a monkey who was adviser to Mufasa. He finds Simba, who wishes he could see his father again. Rafiki tells him to look into a pool of water; Simba sees only a reflection of himself, but Rafiki says, "Look deeper; your Father is in  you." (James 1:23-25). In the end, Simba returns to the pride, and overcomes Scar; after falling from the same rock Mufasa fell from, Scar is attacked and killed by the hyenas.  (Cue the "Circle of Life".)

I told this long story to paint a picture of two lions...

Jesus, the Son of God, the Lion of Judah... 

strong, mighty, brave, wise, teacher, protector, guide, 

Victorious!

Satan.... 

the jealous one, selfish, liar, deceiver, manipulator, destroyer, 

Defeated!

Let's return to Benaiah... as he is chasing this lion through the snow, the lion falls into a pit. Now it seems to me, that would be enough; the lion is trapped, Benaiah is safe. But no... he is determined to finish the fight. He jumps into the pit, slays the lion and conquers the enemy.

Paul told the elders of the church in Ephesus, 

"My only aim is to finish the race and 

complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me." 

(Acts 20:24)

Later, he wrote to Timothy, 

"I have fought the good fight, 

I have finished the race,

I have kept the faith." 

(2 Timothy 4:7)

We have an enemy, a roaring lion who would seek to destroy us; however, our Father is the King of the Lions, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and no one messes with His kids! Take up your armor, stand on His promises and don't just face your enemy, but chase him down with all the Authority given unto us. If you doubt your own abilities, look deeper...for the Father is in you! And just like Benaiah, let's not just trap the enemy, but slay him and finish the task set before us.

Fight the fight...
Finish the race...
Keep the faith!

'Lena
©Be Still and Know

Angels Watching Over You...

"For God will command His angels

to protect you wherever you go."

Psalm 91:11 (CEV)

I have been taught all of my life that God watches over us and protects us. I have prayed for my children all of their lives that He would watch over them and protect them. Even now that my older ones are grown, some married, and living on their own, not a day goes by that I don't ask God to watch over them and protect them.

I am so grateful that He is a prayer answering God!

This past Wednesday, my second oldest son was in a car accident that involved high speed (he was on the freeway), hitting a concrete barrier and rolling several times down an embankment. Receiving a phone call early in the morning from his wife asking for a ride to the local trauma hospital is not something one is really prepared to receive.

Upon entering the emergency room, I'm not sure what I was expecting:

Tubes
Respirators
Oxygen Masks
Beeping Monitors

What greeted me was my son sitting up in bed; yes, he had an oxygen tube in his nose, but aside from a few cuts and bruises and a lump on the side of his neck... he didn't look too bad! Scary? Yes. But so much better than we could have imagined.

After multiple cat scans, they reported no brain damage, no internal injuries and no broken bones. A little brain swelling, but nothing to be overly concerned about. After seven hours in the emergency room, we took him home. He is in a lot of pain; every bone and muscle in his body hurts. But we are so thankful that he basically walked away from what could have been a life threatening experience.

God has promised to give His angels charge over each and every one of us. It's because of His great love for us that He does this. I wonder if we every truly realize how much He loves us and just what He protects us from. Paul tells us in Romans that nothing can separate us from that love:

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, 

nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, 

nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God."

Romans 8:38-39 (NRSV)

He went on to pray for each of us that we might...

"... grasp how wide and long 

and high and deep 

is the love of Christ."

Ephesians 3:18 (NIV)

Our children are never too old for us to cover them in prayer. God proved to this Momma His faithfulness to answer our prayers, even when our children are adults. As Ryan and I stood looking at that car, I put my arm around him and said,

"There is no way you can doubt God's love for you!

...His angels are still watching over you!"

The Lord Has Promised Good…

When my children were small, we memorized one scripture verse a week. I wrote them on poster board with bright colors and we posted them around the walls of their bedroom. I had a little box with “Precious Promises” in them and I would pull out a scripture that I thought was simple enough for them to memorize at five and three years of age. We started with the easy ones: Romans 3:23, Romans 8:28, John 3:16, 1 John 1:9. One day I came across Jeremiah 29:11; it was a longer verse and harder to memorize, but it was so appropriate for our lives at the time, that I taught it to them anyway.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

I'm not sure if at that young age they understood what they were saying, but I did. And every day as we repeated it over and over, it brought peace and hope to my heart. It wasn't until many years later that I "found" a couple of verses in Jeremiah 32, and it was just this week that I connected them to Jeremiah 29...

"I will make an everlasting covenant with them:

I will never stop doing good to them...

I will rejoice in doing them good."

Jeremiah 32:40, 41

This is a promise from God that, in my mind, not only clears and forges the pathway to our future and our hopes, but is built on a foundation of solid rock.

This morning as I was getting ready for the day, I heard this song playing:

The Lord has promised good to me

His word my hope secures

He will my Shield and Portion be

As long as life endures.¹

Where is your hope today? Place it securely in the knowledge that God has promised to never stop doing good for you?

'Lena

^{1 My Chains Are Gone, Chris Tomlin}

Water Buffalo vs. Lions. . .

"Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion

looking for someone to devour."

1 Peter 5:8

Someone sent my husband, Mark a video today that was shot at Kruger National Park in South Africa. In the beginning it is focused on two water buffalo and a young calf walking across the plain heading for the river bank. Slowly, the camera pans to the right and we see a pride of lions lurking in the grass. As the camera moves between the two scenes, there is a moment when the watcher realizes the cats have seen their prey. They begin to hunker down and prepare to pounce. As the three buffalo approach, the cats go on the attack; naturally, it's the young calf that gets their attention. The three cats attack him and push him into the water.

They sink their teeth into his flesh and grip him with their sharp claws, holding him down until the two other cats arrive. Slowly, they begin to pull him from the water onto the bank. So intensely focused are they on their task that they are unaware another enemy has approached. Suddenly from the water a crocodile swoops up the bank and clasps the hind quarter of the buffalo with his mighty jaws. Now the struggle really begins, with the cats on the front and the croc on the back and this poor buffalo being pulled in two directions. Finally, the cats get their prey away from the crocodile and pull him completely onto the bank.

The camera pans back again and in the distance is an army… the two water buffalo that had run away have returned with a hundred more! They boldly approach the cats and surround them. One buffalo charges right and chases a cat away, as the others continue to hold onto the young calf. Another buffalo goes to the left and flips a cat up into the air with his horns. As that one races off another ones follows. Now there are only two cats still clinging to the calf.

The buffalo continue to approach, closing the gap between the herd and the cats. Now, with only the two cats still gripping his flesh, and their attention being divided between his death and their own survival, the calf manages to slip from their grasp and disappear into the herd. They surround him, protecting him all the while still advancing on the enemy. Finally, the remaining cats give up and race away with a brave buffalo chasing them.
What an amazing sight! As I watched, it brought tears to my eyes as I realized that is exactly what we as the Body of Christ are supposed to do.

Our enemy is lurking in the tall grasses just waiting for us  to walk by, unaware of his schemes. When he attacks, we sometimes feel as though we are fighting this battle alone. And many times we are hit from the front and from behind, just as this poor water buffalo was attacked by the cats and then the crocodile, pulling us in two directions at once.

But, we have an army! We ARE an army! Just as those two buffalo left and came back with a hundred more, when we see one of our own being attacked by the enemy, we need to call in the troops and go on the offensive ourselves.

Leviticus 26:8 says,

“Five of you shall chase a hundred,

and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight

Who do you know that is battling the enemy? This is the time to do battle with them; pray for them, encourage them, defend them. And when the enemy releases them from his grasp, surround and envelope them in the love and grace of Jesus Christ. This is where the healing begins…. (sounds like a song!).

‘Lena

(Watch the video here...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM)