Gizmo

This morning's events left me saddened all day, and deep in thought with survivor's guilt. My pet squirrel, Gizmo, died this morning, not due to negligence, or lack of trying, or lack of love, but due to ignorance, pure and simple. I just didn't know how to properly care for an unweaned baby squirrel.

While he was alive, he filled a void in my heart that needed to be needed. He came to depend on me and to see me as the loving nurturer I wanted to be. He would show his love by not wanting me out of his sight, and by trying to be as close to me as possible, even when I was holding him.

Now that he's gone, all day, I wondered, what's the point? Why would God put him in my life to take him away? What reason did He have for that? But, I know. I learned from Gizmo things that I didn't know before I met him. I learned what I did wrong. I learned much of what I did for him too late for him, but the next time a baby squirrel needs me, I'll be better prepared to care for him.

Gizmo, you did not die in vain. Because you lived, the next squirrel that comes into my life will have an even better fighting chance than you had. And, you had one. Because of you, the next squirrel may survive. I thank you for being a part of my life the brief time you were.

What to do now? What we are supposed to do when we fall down. Get back up, dust off my knees and try again. That's what God wants. That's what I intend to do. Otherwise, I let my Gizmo and my God down.

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 9

Elisha called one of the other prophets under him, and he said, "Take this box of oil to Ramoth-Gilead, and annoint Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, as king. Then run away as fast as you can."

So, he did as he was told. When he got there, the Captains of the host of Jehoshaphat's army were sitting outside. He said, "Captain, I have to do something for you."

Jehu said, "For who?"

The prophet said, "For you." He took him into the house and he told him, "God says, 'I have annointed you as king over my people. You shall rid Israel of the House of Ahab and avenge the blood of the prophets that were killed at the hand of Jezebel; and you will leave none of them, and Jezebel will be eaten by the dogs and no one will bury her." Then he ran.

When Jehu came out of the house, the other Captains said, "What was that all about? That man was crazy! What did he say to you?"

Jehu just shrugged and said, "Like you said, he's crazy." Then he told him what the prophet said. They all stood up and put on their garments and blew the trumpet and announced him King over Israel. And Jehu began to conspire against Joram.

Joram had gone to heal his wounds from the Syrians in Jezreel. So Jehu went to see him. Ahaziah, the king of Judah was also there to see Joram. A watchman saw Jehu coming in his chariot driving furiously and told Joram, who sent out a messenger asking, "Do you come in peace?"

Jehu told him, "What do you know about peace?" and kept driving. So they sent another, who got the same answer.

So Joram and Ahaziah went out to meet Jehu on the way and Joram said, "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" And Jehu answered and said, "As long as your mother continues to reak havoc on Israel, there is no peace!" Joram turned and fled away, yelling for Ahaziah to run. "It is treachery, Ahaziah!" he yelled. Jehu grabbed a bow and shot him between the shoulders.

Jehu told them to cast Joram in the field of Naboth. Then as Ahaziah was running away, they shot him, too. He went to Megiddo, where he died.

Jezebel heard of what happened and she painted her face. When Jehu got to Jezreel, she asked, "Did you have peace in your heart when you came to Joram?" as she leaned out of an upstair window. Jehu yelled to the servants in the house, "Who is on my side? Anybody?" Three Eunuchs came out and he said, "Throw her down!" So they went upstairs and threw Jezebel out the window. Then he ran over her with his horse and went into the house to eat.

When he had done eating, he told them, "You know, she was a king's daughter and we ought to bury her properly. Go get her." So they went out to get her, but the dogs had eaten all but her skull, the palms of her hands and her feet.

Jehu knew that it was the Lord, for he had been told by the prophet this would happen.

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When God annoints you to do something, it is what you should consistently work toward until it is finished. If you do, all that God promises for you will happen.


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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 8

After Samaria was restored, Elisha told the woman, who's son he had brought back to life, to travel away from Israel because a famine was about to occur.

In the meanwhile, the king had spoken to Gehazi, who told the king about all he had witnessed that Elisha had done.

After seven years of living in the land of the Philistines, the woman came back, and she went before the king to petition that he give her her land and her home back. Gehazi informed the king that this was the woman he had spoke to him about.

The king asked her to tell her side of the story, and she did. So, he restored her property to her.

Elisha went to Damascus. The king of Syria was sick, and when he was told of Elisha's arrival, he sent a messenger to enquire as to whether or not he would recover.

So Hazael, the messenger, went to Elisha and asked. Elisha told him, "Yes," but he began to cry, trying to keep his composure, but failing to do so.

When Hazael asked, "What's wrong?" Elisha told him, "I see what you are going to do to Israel. You will slay all the men, all the children and all the women who are with-child brutally."

"Am I a dog that I would do such a thing?" Hazael protested. Elisha insisted that he would be king.

When Hazael returned to the king, the king asked, "Will I recover?" Hazael told him, "Yes." The next day, he took a cloth, dipped it in water, and put it over the king's face, smothering him to death. Hazael became king.

After Joram was king over Israel for five years, Jehoram became king of Judah. Jehoram was married to Joram's sister, and he reigned for eight years, doing evil in the site of the Lord, who would not destroy Judah for David's sake. God had promised that Israel would always have a light.

While Joram reigned, Edom and Libnah revolted. Joram defeated Edom in battle, and Ahaziah ruled in his stead. Ahaziah was Joram's son-in-law. Before Joram died, he was wounded in battle, so he went to Jezreel to recuperate, and Ahaziah went to see him.

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Shakespeare, one of the most notorius playwrites history has to give us, once wrote, "Oh what a wicked web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive!" One sin leads to another. It causes others to stumble and sin. Soon everyone is corrupt and the whole land is covered in sin. Sin is hard to purge. The stains are thick and heavy, and Israel is in despair in 2 Kings 8 because of it.

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 7

Then Elisha told the king, "This time tomorrow, food will be sold cheap here in Samaria."

Then, a close friend and servant of the king said, mocking, "Yeah, right, just like there are windows in heaven."

Elisha turned to him and said, "Oh, it will happen, but you won't be around to enjoy it when it does."

There were four leprous men at the gate of the city. They were irritable and hungry and said to each other, "What is the point in us just sitting here? Even if we went into the city we'd starve. If we go out to the Syrians who have us surrounded, they may kill us. Either way, we'll die. It's worth taking a chance." So the next morning, they went into the Syrian camp, but there was no one there.

The night before, God had made a great noise that sounded like armies approaching, and the Syrians thought that Israel had contacted their allies somehow and that the allies were coming to save them, so the Syrians took off running, leaving everything behind.

The lepers went in one tent and ate, then took all the valuables they could find and hid them, then went into another tent and did the same. Then, they stopped and thought about what they were doing.

"Anything could happen to us out here. We need to go tell the king." So, they went to the gate of Samaria and called to the porter, and told him what they had found. The porter sent a messenger to the king.

The King found it hard to believe. He said, "They are probably hiding out in the fields, waiting for us to come out so they can get in and take over the city."

One of the king's servants then said, "But, isn't it worth checking out?"

So the king sent two chariots out to check things out. He also sent his friend that had mocked Elisha to guard the city gates. When they came back with a good report, the people were so ecstatic about getting out and spoiling the tents of the Syrians for food and valuables that they trampled the guard to death.

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When you are surrounded by enemies, you may have to endure hard times and go through some nasty things; but, with patience, you will see that God will take care of the problem. It is times like these when you need to have the most faith; for if you doubt, you may see the light at the end of the tunnel but never reach it.

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 6

The prophets Elisha worked with did not like where they were living, so they told Elisha that they'd like to go and live in Jordan, where there was easier access to the place. Elisha told them to go ahead. They asked Elisha to come with them and he agreed.

When they got there, they had to construct their new homes. One man had borrowed an iron ax and was chopping when it flew off the handle and landed in the Jordan river. He was very dismayed because it wasn't his ax. Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water, and the iron ax-head floated so the man could retrieve it.

The king of Syria warred with Israel. He told his men where he'd be staying. Elisha, in Israel, told his king where not to go in order to stay safe. The Syrian king accused his men of playing the spy, until one of his servants told him about Elisha. He wanted to know where Elisha was, and the servant told him, "Dothan". So, the king of Syria surrounded Dothan.

Elisha's servant began to panic, "What are we gonna do?"

Elisha told him, "Don't worry about it. There are more of us than there are of him." Then he prayed that the servant would see, and he opened his eyes and saw that the whole mountain around Elisha was packed with men on horses and chariots of fire everywhere.

Elisha prayed that God would strike the Syrians with blindness, and He did. Elisha then led them to Samaria, to the King of Israel, where they were given their sight back. The king of Israel wanted to kill the men, but Elisha talked him out of it by saying, "You don't kill prisoners of war!" So, the king fed them and sent them to their masters, and the Syrians left Israel alone after that until Benhadad besieged Samaria.

During the siege, there was famine. It was so bad that the price of food skyrocketed. One day the king of Israel passed by a wall and a lady cried out in despair, telling the king, "I had a son, and my neighbor had a son. We agreed that I would kill and eat my son one day, and that they would do so the next. It is her turn, but she has hidden her son!" The king was very distraught at the state of Israel because of this, and he wore sackcloth and mourned.

He was also angry. He sent someone to fetch Elisha, who locked himself in his quarters. The king cried out, "Why should I serve a God who allows this!"

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The king did not understand that Israel was paying for their sins. God told Israel that if they refuse to follow His laws, this would happen over time. God does not give punishment without warning first!

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 5

Naaman was captain of Syria's army. He was very good at his job, and a very valient soldier, who had earned a lot of notoriety. But, he had leprosy.

Naaman had a wife, too. His wife had a servant who was an Israelite. One day, the servant/handmaid said, "If Naaman were in Israel, he could see a man of God who would get rid of his leprosy."

Well, someone overheard her tell Naaman's wife that, and went and told Naaman. So Naamen went to Israel with a translater and went to see the King of Israel. When the King of Israel got the letter from his servant, telling him why he was there, the King rent his clothes and angrily said, "Yeah, right. Like I can heal leprosy! He is trying to start a war with me!"

Elisha heard what was going on, and told the king to send Naaman to him. So, Naaman went to see Elisha. Elisha then told Naaman to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan river and the leprosy would be healed. This made Naaman mad. "I could have washed in any of the rivers at home! Why is he telling me to do this? This is stupid!" And he started to travel home.

But, Naaman's servant stopped him and said, "If he asked you to do something harder, would you do it? All you gotta do is do what he says. It's worth a try!" So, Naaman calmed himself down and went and did it, and was healed.

Naaman was so happy he offered to pay Elisha with silver or cattle. Elisha refused, saying he would not take credit for what God had done. So, Naaman started toward home, still happy.

Gehaza, Elisha's servant, thought to himself, "If Elisha doesn't want the money, I do." So, he caught up with Naaman, and told him, "Over there are two prophets that are just coming. Elisha said maybe you should give the money to them. Give it to me, and I'll make sure they get it." Naaman did, happily.

When Gehaza got back, Elisha asked, "Where have you been?"

"No where," was Gehaza's answer. But Elisha said, "Gehaza, I know what you did and it was WRONG. And, because it was wrong, you and your family will be cursed and you will carry the leprosy that Naaman lost."

So, Gehaza became a leper.

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You might think you are being sneaky about sinning, but you should never forget that God sees everything. Whatever you try to hide, God will bring out in the open, and you will have to suffer the consequences.

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 4

A woman who was the wife of the sons of the prophets came to Elisha and told him, "My husband is a good man who fears the Lord, and you know it! But, we are so broke, that the creditors are wanting to take my sons as bondservants to pay the debts!"

Elisha then told her, "What do you expect me to do about it? Do you have anything in your possessions?"

"The only thing I have is a pot of cooking oil."

Elisha told her to go and borrow some bowls and dishes from all of her neighbors. She did. Then he told her to fill the bowls with the oil. She did. As she poured the oil from her dish, it filled all the bowls she had borrowed until there were no more bowls to be filled.

Elisha told her to go and sell the oil and pay her debts.

When Elisha would travel through Shunem, a great woman would stop him and pressure him to eat dinner with her. So, this day he went to eat with her. She told her husband that she understood Elisha to be a man of God, and since he passed by so often, they should offer him a room of his own to rest in when he comes. So he went to his room at her house. As he lay there, he had his servant, Gehazi translate for him as he spoke to her.

"What shall I do to repay you for your kindness, ma'am?" She said she had no child and her husband was old, so Elisha told her, in due time next year she would have a son.

"Don't tease me!" she said. But, she conceieved and had a son.

The boy grew and one day he went out with his father to the reapers as they reaped the harvest and he suddenly fell down. His father went to him and he was complaining about the pain in his head. So his father sent him to his mother, where she held him on her lap until about noon, when he died.

She got up, laid the boy on Elisha's bed, and told a servant to grab an ass and saddle it. Her husband asked what she was doing and she said she was going to see the man of God. He said, "You can't do that, there is no special occasion for you to see him!" She just patted his cheek and said, "He will see me." She told the servant to drive fast and not slow down unless she told him to.

She met up with Elisha at Mt Carmel. He sent Gehazi back with her, with his staff. He told Gehazi to lay his staff on the child's face. Gehazi did as he was told, but nothing happened. He went back and told Elisha, "The child is, indeed, dead."

Elisha then went to the woman's home himself. He prayed, stretching himself over the child. The child awoke, sneezed seven times, and then he was okay. Elisha told the woman to take her child and she came and got him.

Then Elisha went to Gilgal to the sons of the prophets during some sort of plague. He told them to cook up some soup. One of the guys went out to gather stuff to put in the soup and got some stuff from a wild vine. When it came time to eat, the men complained that the soup would kill them if they ate it, so Elisha told them to pour some meal in it, and after that it was alright to eat.

A man from Baalshalisha came to give his firstfruit offering to Elisha. It was twenty loaves of barley bread and corn. Elisha told him to give it to the hundred men who were with him to eat. The man said, "This won't be enough!" Elisha said, "God said it will, and there will be left-overs." So he did, and there was.

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When you believe in God, the Great I AM, your motto should be "I CAN". There was nothing impossible for Elisha because he believed in God and served Him diligently.

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The Republic

This nation was not intended to be a Democracy. We are NOT a democracy. We are a REPUBLIC. When the guy asked Ben Franklin, "What have you done for us today," as he left the statehouse after signing the Declaration, Ben said,"We have given you a REPUBLIC, IF you can keep it."

The difference between a Democracy and a Republic is one is ruled by majority, or mob rule (Democracy) and the other is ruled by law (Republic). So get it through your thick skulls that if you don't like the way things are done, you can elect people to change the laws! Let them know that is what you want! If you don't pick up your lazy pen and write your congressmen, they are going to assume you like the way things are going!

I don't pledge allegience to the flag of the Democracy of the United States. I am tired of spreading our DEMOCRACY to other countries!

If you, like many others, are dishearted by your choices in the upcoming election, then make a statement with your vote. Vote, but don't vote for either of them. Write someone in. If you choose to vote for "the lesser of two evils" you are still voting for EVIL.

Show Washington that you are tired of "politics as usual." We want action taken, not money spent. We want jobs, not welfare that costs us more of our tax dollars. We want our soldiers home, not overseas fighting in a war that should have ended the day it was started.

WE THE PEOPLE run this country, but if WE THE PEOPLE give it to someone else to run, they will, and it will be ruined. It pretty much already has.

So, WE THE PEOPLE, are you gonna just sit there and complain, or are you going to stand up with your Freedoms, while you still have them, and do something to change the way things are?

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September Prayer Requests

I'm in here with 7 broken ribs, had a mishap at work, send me some of them good ol' prayers — at Christus St Micheals. -- Ricky E. Hill

Everyone keep James in your prayers.... he has been having alot of problems with migraines these past few months, been to the hospital several times for them.... also he has to make an appointment with an orthopedic specialist for his back, due to him having alot of pain in his back, side and legs along with numbness in his legs. They think it has to do with his previous back surgery. We are really worried about it as he was told if he was not careful he could paralyze himself.... so we are really concerned.... prayers are much appreciated! Thank you!!! -- Kerri Beth Martin Fedd

plz remember my mom today as she has cataract surgery...I also have an uncle in TX that is recuping from a recent motorcycle wreck...thank you and thank the good Lord above:) -- Melissa McRae Hughes

Please pray for Mary, the email list/group owner for Hope4America as she gets knee surgery today.

Normally I wouldn't ask this but after two days of Urgent care and ER visits I'm needing some prayer... Apparently I am having an allergic reaction to penicillin and it's excruciating and hasn't gotten much better. I'm fighting not having to go back to the ER tonight & im covered head to toe in hives ... please pray I have some relief soon... I worked today and Im not sure how... Tomorrows another day.. Hopefully a better day ...--Crista Glover Ponder

After thowing up most of the last 2 days i will be calling in sick & trying to see me dr i have not had alot of sleep these last 2 days & need something for the nausea. hope he has time to see me today. please pray he can do something to make me better soon! thanks :) hope yall have a great day -- Carla Campbell Kirkham

Please pray for my finances as I try to keep my head above the debt ocean water. -- Shonda Ponder