Many many years ago I was travelling with a good friend in the faith as we were presenting the ministry of Blue Mountain Christian School to various churches in our area. Often it was during the routine of their normal services when they would give us a few minutes to share about this new ministry. As it were, it was a Sunday night service at the First Baptist Church of Lebanon PA when after presenting our information that we sat under the preaching of their pastor.

His message was entitled “No Bible, No Breakfast” and he preached a Spirit filled message that convicted and convinced me to make the second vow of my life. The first vow was the one I made to be faithful in marriage to my first love and now wife of 46 plus years, and the second was made that Sunday night back in the late 70’s which was, “I would not take any daily nourishment into my body before I first fed my soul with the Word of God”. Simply put “No Bible, No Breakfast!”

God takes vows very seriously as we read in Numbers 30:2 “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Also in Psalm 56:12 “Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God. I will render praises to You..” As a result of that vow God has reminded me EVERY morning without fail these many decades to first take in the Word of God before a morsel of food touches my lips! For me, the best time to be in the Word of God is in the morning before I start my day as I believe these Scriptures illustrate.

Psalm 5:3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.

Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble.

Psalm 88:13 But to You I have cried out, O Lord, And in the morning my prayer comes before You.

Psalm 143:8 Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.

As was Jesus custom as well: Mark 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

As we approach the Lord in the morning with an open Bible on our lap praying, “O Lord open Thou mine eyes to behold wonderful things from Your Word” He answers and speaks to us from the miraculous pages of the Scriptures. He fills us with Himself for a day in which we need His strength to serve Him, to do His will, to endure the temptations facing us, to face the trials of life and ultimately to glorify His Son Jesus. The light of the world shines from our lives and all will see and glorify our Father in Heaven! No Bible, No Breakfast!

For a Scripture reading plan to start your day see The “Plus 30” Plan

 

Today I share my Evangelist brother Larry E. Wolfe’s devotional sent to his band of Big Rig Truckers to whom he ministers on Rt I-85 in South Carolina. This devo is similar to my  Feed the White Dog! devotional posted some months ago with a few interesting twists.

FROM BROTHER LARRY:

While reading an article on ‘Mental Illness’ I was surprised to learn that it was considered an asset?? The article gave an examination of world leaders in history including Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill, stating that each of these men suffered from bouts of depression to their advantage during times of conflict/war or other taxing experiences. The study also showed that in peace time their success waned.

Churchill called his depression ‘My Black Dog” which is part of the reason for the title of today’s message for I too had a number of extended fierce attacks of the Devil bringing on severe times of his D’s to the point of mental collapse/breakdown. Notice, it was the Devil and his horde of demons that were responsible. Now, that doesn’t make me a world leader but it does prove to show that the Devil has been busy attacking men regardless of their position.

Before I left the Truckstop this morning the Lord told me to write about “The Black Dog vs. The White Dog”  from an illustration a Preacher used not too many years after the Lord saved me. And, when I arrived at home, I read the above article and decided to write ‘While the iron was hot’ and the Lord gave me directions, for, ‘The Black Dog” of Churchill’s experience can also represent “The Black Dog” of the Preacher’s illustration, but in a somewhat different form.

Now, “The Black Dog” represents the Devil or dark side and ‘The White Dog” the Lord and the right or light side. So, Drivers, it all depends on which dog we feed as to who wins and controls our mind, will and emotions. Churchill’s Black Dog, while he didn’t say it was the Devil’s doing, attempting to bring him down with the Devil’s D’s: Darkness, Discouragement, Distress, Despondency, Destruction or Death it surely was the Devil’s doing. Churchill responded to  his Depression with self-will, fortitude and physical strength, battling his way out with success being the clear result.

A similar experience was repeated in kind for these other men. But for me, it took not only counseling and drug therapy, but electro-shock treatments to literally change my mind from the obsessive compulsive thought patterns in order to bring me out of the depths of the Devil’s D’s. But, this gave no real solution. How did I get into this condition? By feeding the wrong ‘dog’.The Devil’s Black Dog literally consumed my mind, will and emotions. That describes what the world calls ‘Mental Illness’, but, in reality, it is the result of a full frontal assault by man’s Adversary, the Devil himself!

So, Drivers, which ‘dog’ are you feeding? “The flesh lust against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to another so that ye cannot do the things that you would” (Galatians 5:17). It is evident which ‘dog’ is winning by your walk with the Lord. Are you living a life of rejoicing regardless? (Hebrews 13:15) Are you on the hunt for souls? (Proverb 11:30) Are the words of your mouth and the meditation of your heart acceptable in God’s sight? (Psalm 27:14). It all depends on which ‘dog’ rules your mind, which ‘dog’ is winning the battle for your mind.  We have a choice as to where our minds spend time. So, Let us be wise and redeem the time because the days are evil!

Chaplain L.E.Wolfe www.btmi.org I-85 Exit 35 SC ‘McPilot’ Stop in, and please pray for REVIVAL!

More faith building messages here: New Blog Index

I’m writing to update you on my brother Pooch’s progress in his battle with melanoma cancer. As the title of this blog and the above pictures indicate the miracles continue! Pooch’s recovery is just miraculous! My cousin who is an RN who treats melanoma patients in another major Pennsylvania hospital told me it was amazing that his doctors put Pooch in the immunotherapy program in the first place, as they normally don’t treat patients of his advanced age with this new treatment. But the Lord had other plans and through the prayers of thousands of God’s people he began this arduous treatment regimen just four months ago, which included FOUR infusions of two different drugs and it wasn’t likely that he would be able to withstand the serious side effects and make it all the way to treatment number four. But Pooch plugged away through all four treatments.

He had some deep and dark valleys to cross but with superhuman effort, a showering of God’s grace, plus continued prayers he made it all the way through. What you see in the above picture is his set of Pet-Scans. On the left is the scan from April showing all of the black dots and blotches indicating all of the tumors he had in his body at that time. The right side picture, which was taken in July shows NO tumors! Praise God! He called me last night and said his doctor told him he couldn’t find any tumors!

His treatment continues which will be just one drug at a time and he still has some side effects to deal with from time to time and so he needs our continued support and prayers but he is back to being active, driving his backhoe pulling logs out of the mountain and working again on his 37 Ford Truck restoration project!

On his and Thelma’s behalf, thank you So much for your hundreds of cards and notes, phone calls and prayers during this faith stretching time. Please keep it up!

O God who hears our prayers to You all flesh will come. (Psalm 65:2)

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. (Psalm 57:1,2)

O God, we praise and thank you for your great love for us. We know we dwell in a sin cursed world and even the saints are not exempt from the ravages of disease which beset all of mankind. And yet O Lord You tell us to pray, You tell us to ask, You tell us to seek and to knock so that You may show Yourself strong on our behalf and reward us with answered prayers. That we have done on behalf of our beloved brother Pooch, and Your grace and the prayers of the Saints have availed much on his behalf! Please accept a chorus of praises and thanksgiving for Your work of healing in our brother’s body and life. We know he wants to continue to serve you, to witness for our Lord Jesus to those he meets and so accept our continued prayers that Your work and will be done. We give YOU all the glory. In Jesus Name, Amen!

For previous updates on Pooch click here: Pray! & I Believe I Got a Miracle!

For other faith building blogs go here: New Blog Index