How resourceful are you

     David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord,

'I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg You, take away the guilt of Your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.'" - 2 Samuel 24:10

It just seems to be human nature. As we grow in wealth and ability, our confidence moves from complete trust in the Lord to trust in our resources.

    King David decided one day that he needed to know how many fighting men he had in his army. This was a grievous sin in the nation of Israel. God always made it clear to the nation that He, not their army, was their source. It was against the law of God to number the troops. David's general, Joab, knew the serious nature of such an action.

But Joab replied to the king,

"May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?" (2 Samuel 24:3)

Joab knew that David was treading in dangerous waters when he brought up the idea to him. But David had it in his mind that this is what he was going to do. And he did. The result: God judged David for this sin by smiting the nation with a plague that resulted in the loss of 70,000 lives.

Recently, I was having lunch with a former stockbroker who lost everything in the 1987 stock crash in the United States. He made an interesting comment.

"You cannot know how to fully trust the Lord in the financial area until you really have to. When I lost everything, I was forced to trust Him when I knew I could not pay my next bill unless God provided. This was the time I learned to trust God. I never had to trust God before I lost my money because I had plenty. We don't willingly enter this level of trust with God."

I, myself, have experienced this very same teaching moment with God. I went from a beachfront condo, BMW, more money than I could need, custom tailored suits every week.....monogrammed custom shirts...complete home recording studio....to being car-less, homeless, friend-less, jobless and hopeless. I lost everything including my fiancée 2 months before the wedding all back to back to back. All while serving in the church and heading the music ministry.

   I wouldn't trade those very recent 2-3 years for anything in the world. I survived an attempted suicide and severe depression. I had no where to turn but God. Nowhere.  After years of knowing about God....we really became family. He was no longer a deity, alpha and omega....the point of thousands of sermons I've heard.....not just my Savior who died for me.....He became MY DAD. The birthing of that relationship (not religion) destroyed all fear of anything, anyone, anywhere and anytime in my life. It's an incredibly liberating way of life that is beyond all description.

Ask God today to keep you from trusting in your own resources. Ask Him how to balance trust and blessing

Wise words from wisest woman I know. By grandmother

A Prepared Place for a Prepared People by Susan Spann http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CLWV6JE/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_R82ctb1VJ3C9P

Happy singles awareness day

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Today I'm not going be deep and socially relevent. Not going to be empowering and informative.&nbsp; Today is going to be unedited and raw....

How I really feel about February 14th....Valentine's day. (Buckle up, I've got a new soapbox!)

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First I'll address those who continue to believe that my broken engagement years ago left me bitter against women. Actually I'm far from that. All I have is daughters. Wouldn't be a good stance for a father of girls to be bitter against women. I'm honest with the fact that I trust men far more easily than I do women. 

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That is due to my experience that the men I've encountered are far more likely to admit and own their failures than women.

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By in large, IN MY EXPERIENCE, men are more honest ABOUT THEMSELVES than women are. They just aren't likely to share that honest picture with women....but that's another post.

Along with christmas, thanksgiving and all of the rest of holidays...I really REALLY detest the feeling of being taken advantage of.

No holiday "pimps" the wallets of Americans like Valentine's day. I won't go through the disgusting origins of Valentine's Day and the church's sickening canonization of the celebration (I'll post the YouTube video below if you care to know the true origins). But the modern western treatment of the day boils down to this: 

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we (corporate america) need a way to recover quicker from the slow 1st quarter profits of the year. So let's create a holiday; condition the gullible western female who is starved for validation to believe that her value to her mate is solely dependant on the expression of "love" he displays on that holiday...and then let's give him all sorts of choices/opportunities to fork over their hard earned money we want and give him a way to avoid putting forth any effort and purchase her adoration.

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Yup, the correct terminology is "pimped".

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 Western women are whored out by the florists, card companies, restaurants, hotels, clubs, chocolatiers, Victoria ' s secret, spas, salons, limo companies.....

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And the western men pay corporate america for permission to romance the women they already have as wives and significant others.

Yup women.....Hallmark, godiva, whitmans, proflowers, victorias secret, and FTD are YOUR PIMPS! 

And for one day, you husbands and boyfirends are just a "trick".

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And February 15th, they kick you out of the corporate brothel to go home to your "john". 

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(Oops, is that Olivia pope on the curb again pulling up her panties?)

I, personally vow, if I ever marry...I will never let corporate America treat my beloved as a whore and a hooker once a year. We will never buy into paying 110% above retail for flowers, hotels, and the rest of that bologna. We will stick it to corporate America by celebrating our love the other 364 days a year.....at sale price....and pimp the corrupt system.

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Now being single, I am celebrating the beautiful magnificent bliss of doing everything I want all day today! The TV is permanently stuck on ESPN....no oprah, no Gilmore girls, no lifetime....Spike tv and EPSN! No chocolate covered strawberries.....Just Pizza and Beer. Nachos. Steak and cheese subs. And I'll be taking that pedicure and manicure.....by a female...please and thank you! Hot stone massage....for me....oh wait, I just lay here, feel magnificent and it's never your turn?! Yippeee! And cap it all off with a lazy QUIET soak in a bubble filled jacuzzi! With Bach and Chopin playing in the background....no love songs...no trey songz....Keith sweat...Celine dion....actually beautiful music. 

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Now that's happy singles awareness day!

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Now we will return you to your regularly scheduled frantic Valentine's Day malarky!

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Here's the link to the truth about valentines day origin:

<a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy4KweX4CjY&amp;feature=youtube_gdata_player</a>