Seize your opportunities!

Deut. 20:4 For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.

An organization in Montana offered a bounty of five thou10sand dollars for every wolf captured alive. Two hunters decided to head for the hills and make some money capturing wolves. Day and night, they scoured the mountains and forests, searching for their valuable prey. Exhausted after three days of hunting without success, they both fell asleep.

During the night, one of the hunters suddenly woke up to find that the two were surrounded by a pack of fifty wolves, their eyes flaming and teeth bared. At once, he called to his friend, "Hey, wake up! We're gonna be rich!"

Sometimes we feel in over our heads in difficulties. They surround us like that pack of wolves preparing to pounce. But perhaps these difficulties are actually opportunities?? Recently, we've had some interesting trials. But through these tribulations, we see that God is taking each situation, one by one, and turning it for His Glory -- just more opportunities for us to testify of His goodness.

Today, we have the opportunity to learn and grow and experience the grace and power of God through these trials which surround us. The devil is not as smart or powerful as he appears -- and we have a great and All-Mighty God who has a way of using our enemy's silly tactics for the building up of His Great Kingdom!

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The testing of Abraham’s faith was repeated by YHVH throughout the patriarch’s entire life. The tests grew greater as his life advanced, and through every one, whether Abraham passed or not, YHVH proved Himself to be his friend over and over again. Every test or “trial” involved a serious challenge or threat in which Abraham had to trust that the LORD knew what He was doing, asking, or requiring, and that His goodness and faithfulness were unquestionably reliable.

While I was in the States, I read several stories about Ronald Reagan that made me appreciate him as a person and as a leader. But one amusing story really caught my attention and made me smile. When he was a young man, Reagan worked at a radio station and sometimes played records of sermons. His shift at the station was a one-man operation and so, on occasion, Ron would set the record playing and then sneak out for a cup of coffee. One day he got a call while he was at the coffee shop from the station’s owner, ordering him back to the station, and then … he received his termination notice. He’d returned to the station finding the record skipping at a particular point in the sermon…

Having spent over 20 years living in Israel’s Negev Desert, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of salt in maintaining proper hydration. “What in the world does salt have to do with grace and truth?”, you ask. Well, I’ll tell you.

During the first great awakening, revivalist George Whitfield was preaching to coal miners in England. He asked one man, “What do you believe?” “Well, I believe the same as the church.” “And what does the church believe?” “Well, they believe the same as me.” Seeing he was getting nowhere, Whitfield said, “And what is it that you both believe?” “Well, I suppose the same thing.”

The Great Wall of China is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It stretches over 4,000 miles (6,400 KM) and was built to protect China from the barbaric hordes to the north. The designers of the wall made it so high that it could not be scaled, so thick that it could not be penetrated, and so long that no one could go around it.

In today’s news, Bloomberg reported that according to a recent study, Americans can add as many as two years to the nation’s life expectancy if they stand up more often and watch fewer hours of television. What a concept — move around and you’ll live longer!

The word verily, in this verse, is the Hebrew word “emunah” (em-oo-nah). It also means faith or faithfully. When we trust in the Lord, He declares that He will faithfully feed us. How will we be fed?