Psalm 18

"1 I love you, O LORD, my strength."
God, I love you, you are my energy.

"2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. "
God is my ground I stand on, my home, and the one who rescued me. He is my protection.

"3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies."
I call to God, who is the only one I call to, and I survive my enemies.

"4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me."
My life was caving in on itself, and there was no visible way out

"5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me."
I felt it going nowhere, and envisioned my end, with no future.

"6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears."
In depression I prayed and my soul yelled to Him; I cried out to Him by myself. He heard me from heaven and somehow listened to my heart.

" 7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry."
My life was shook, a lot of things came to a head. The sin in my life angered God.

"8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it."
Just His thought of action was powerful, He showed himself Lord of my life.

"9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet."
He came into different situations and made His presence felt.

"10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind."
He made a way in the messes in my life and gave me opportunities when I didn't think they were possible.

"11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky."
He is so powerful, His ways are massive and can reach the entire world.

"12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning."
He began to change things and He was clearly in control. He confronted disasters around me.

"13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded."
His word proved true and stood every test.

"14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies , great bolts of lightning and routed them."
His ways amazed me when the opposition began to flee my life.

"15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils."
I could see it all- God's ways were the truth and the only way.

"16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters."
He took my pitiful life and grabbed hold of my ugly self.

"17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me."
He rescued me from things that owned me, that I could not defend myself against.

"18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support."
They put my faith and life to the test, but God took care of all the work.

"19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me."
He brought me peace in life, He actually cared about my path.

"20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me."
He has provided for my life according to following His ways.

"21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God."
I follow Him only, there are certain things I just don't do.

" 22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees."
His word is my doctrine, I have not given up on it.

"23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin."
I have been as pure as possible, and denied many evil desires.

"24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight."
God has blessed me living according to His word.

"25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,"
To believers you are believable, to the innocent you seem innocent.

"26 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd."
To the pure you are pure, but to the worldly, you are fake.

"27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty."
You rescue the humble, but humble the braggers.

"28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light."
God, you keep me pushing, you take the ugly and give it hope.

"29 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."
There is no challenge I can't do with your power; with you I can carry the world on my shoulders.

"30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him."
The Lord's teaching is immaculate; His word is flawless. He is safety for anyone that needs it.

"31 For who is God besides the LORD ? And who is the Rock except our God?"
What else would I call you? Who else can be like you, except you yourself?

"32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect."
It is the Lord who runs through the veins in my arms and allows for success in my life.

"33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights."
He makes my feet ready for anything; he makes it possible to do great things.

"34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze."
He conditions my body for battle; my arms are strong enough for any situation.

"35 You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great."
Your safety is my victory, your hand holds me still; you go out of your way to make my life a success.

"36 You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn."
You make decisions in life clear, so I don't get lost.

"37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed."
I battled demons and went after them; I did not reflect until they were demolished.

"38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet."
I killed them where they stood, they left my presence.

"39 You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet."
You gave me this energy, you made my demons die.

"40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes."
You forced my enemies to turn around, and I killed them.

"41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but he did not answer. "
They tried to plea to you, but you did not even listen.

"42 I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; I poured them out like mud in the streets."
I beat them as small as dirt, I dumped them out like the garbage.

" 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me. "
You have brought me to this point in life and given me all authority I have.

"44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me."
Enemies hear, they know, and are discouraged.

"45 They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds."
They all lose energy; they approach scared from their evil ways.

"46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! "
God is living and active! Praise my Rock! I give you the glory!

"47 He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me,"
You are the one who redeems my ways and gives out authority.

" 48 who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me."
You save me from life. You give me victory against my enemies; from evil men you guard me.

"49 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name."
For all this, I will always proclaim your power, God; I will sing to praises to your name.

"50 He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever."
God gives his chosen victory; He demonstrates his never ending love to all disciples forever.

Heat

"A guy told me one time, 'Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner." -Robert Deniro, Heat

I've learned that dreams are good things and anything is possible through Christ. I have also learned that sometimes our dreams are not what God dreams for us.

I'm set. Down wife, big Church, signed contract, basketball. The dream for me that at one point I did not think would ever happen. Prayed on this hard, have been advised on this thoroughly, truly feel like God has been there every step of the way trying to make things as clear as possible for me. In about one month we leave. I feel like a bomb ready to explode on the court, like training, thinking, hoping, but nothing is guaranteed and I won't explode until I am there with jersey on and my feet on the court.

This week there have been red flags all over the place. The business is shady. As bad as I want this- I will not hesitate for second if God makes it clear to squash things. All I need is the answer to be clear.

I pray that in the next 30 days the BEST route would be crystal clear and that either way I would get after Your plans like never before. Even now, to go all out in hope and in faith of what I am committed to. Amen.

PURE

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the god's your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
- Joshua 4:15
"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl."
- Job 31:1
"But I tell you that anyone looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
- Matthew 5:28
"She caught him by his cloak and said 'Come to bed with me!' But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house."
- Genesis 39:12
"...Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity."
- 1 Timothy 5:1-2
We must hold eachother accountable to ABSOLUTE PURITY. If we don't......who will??????

Six Years

"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." - Psalm 84:10

Six years from yesterday I took a dip in Lake Washington and decided that for the rest of my life I would follow Christ. I had people from Church- some I knew, some I didn't, Bill/Lee, and my boys Blake and Duriell. It was a Sunday, I was sporting my blue BCC shooting shirt and the water was cold as heck. I proclaimed "Jesus is Lord" and that was it, the old me was murdered in the murky Lake Wash. I came up out of the water and hugged everybody. I will never forget the day I entered the Lord's courts.
Man, it has been a wild ride too. My sinful ways were deeply engrained in my soul and I tore myself from sexual impurity, drunkeness, cursing, but mainly selfishness and trying to control my life. There was so much I did not know about God's word, and there still is, so many convictions I lacked (clubs, worldly women, radical repentance).... but for 6 years God has taught me. I praise Him that even during the sickest, nastiest, thickest dirt, I've committed before and after becoming a Disciple, He died for my sins. I read a medical account that said after the flogging Jesus' back was in "ribbons". I thank Jesus for those ribbons.
The scripture in Psalm 84 is so true, my best days without following Jesus don't compare to the worst days with Him. The worst day with Jesus I have ever had was after coming forward about my sin with Katie and feeling like I was on my way to Hell if I didn't repent. Calling her to break up and hearing her tell me "I was like every guy she ever met", which was true with how I treated her. That day was the lowest when I looked myself in the mirror and saw that I wasn't worth crap, but Jesus was and He was all I had, and He was enough, and He was my only Hope.
Wife, Bible Talk, Job, Hoopin, true Church family, friends, etc. all day. That day was needed for everything that I needed. I praise you for all things.