CHRISTMAS LINKING

Monday, December 16, 2013

(Originally 12/23/09)

 

Psalm 103:1-2 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. … Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

2Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. … All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 

  In Overcomers In Christ group discussion, the question “When is the best time of the day for devotions?” (i.e. thoughtful Bible reading w/prayer)

  “In the morning. At the start of my day.” was not unexpected answers as we’ve been asking the question for many years.

  Indeed we should have special regular daily set aside uninterrupted undistracted time for this. (A discipline not always the easiest to accomplish, especially for moms with several young children.) But there should be more than an appointed time if we desire to mature to our assigned utmost.

  After 10 days of repeated delays with UPS, my new dandy printer finally arrived at 9:20pm. As has been my experience 90% of my PC history, there was rejection; though not unrecognized hardware or software this time. “It”, after running install process for 16 minutes concluded that the USB cable was not plugged in. It was. Following the manufacturers suggestions, I plugged the cable into a different port, reran the installation procedures, only to be informed again that it was not plugged in. “Try another available port.” I did, with the same results.

  Ann, absolute non-techie that she is, though having considerable experience with sewing machines and large yellow buses, suggested “Maybe it’s not the connection, but the connector.” (Confession: In a fleeting moment I did at first think she was referring to me as problem “connector”.)

  I was about to reply “How could it be the connector … it’s the same one that worked on the old printers?”   

  But, remembering the time decades ago when I complained “I just finished the major tuneup on the blue van and it still runs rough.”

  Ann replying “Sounds like the distributor cap is bad to me.”

  My responding, “It couldn’t be that. It was a cracked distributor cap that is the reason I did the tuneup. Along with all the wiring, plugs and other parts, I replaced it with a new one.”

  Insistent man that I was, I checked all connections and the timing again, to no avail . . . the big V8 continuing to act like a Maytag spin drying bathroom carpets.

  Ann, mature confident (i.e. hard headed) female that she is, stuck to her analysis.

  Grudgingly, off to the parts store I went. Returning, with smirking countenance I replaced the new distributor cap with a new distributor cap. It worked. (Under fluxing with magnification the old new cap showed a hairline crack that allowed electricity to run amok. Rather than return the faulty cap, I had it made into a trophy for Ann, including appropriate inscription on brass plate.)

  Back to the new printer: Visualizing Ann’s trophy I went to my Cords Box and found a new, still in the wrapper, USB cable. I then plugged in the new cable. It worked.

  What does all this have to do with devotion? Everything – Christmas is not to be a season. Christ-celebration connection is to be constant in blessing Him, every day, all day, in every situation.

  Insist on practicing independent attitude non-connected life and we are without power to overcome. (Lk.11:20-23; Jn.16:33; Rom.12:21; Eph.6:10-18)

  Lord, oh how I love your teachings! They are in my thoughts all day long (Ps.119:97), for only in empowering connection am I pleasing to You. You alone truly free, mature us unto deliverance from pride’s smirking.  EBB4