July 19, 2013 … Holding to the Vertical

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 200

Devotional Song: Go to this link   … Today, as well as meditating on the Scriptures below which God led me to reflect upon today and most certainly before reading on in my blog, I implore you to use this link to hear Kathy Troccoli, singing, “I Will Choose Christ”, encouraging all Christians to use our choices to serve the Lord in the vertical when we are always tempted to live in the horizontal.

 Highlight Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 5: 17-19 [David staying vertical in a horizontal world.] …  
17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him. But David was told they were coming and went into the stronghold. 18The Philistines arrived and spread out across the valley of Rephaim. 19 So David asked the LORD, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?” 
The LORD replied, “Yes, go ahead. I will certainly give you the victory.”
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 Contextual Study involving today’s passage found in 2nd Samuel, Chapter 5 … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage of the Day #1: Proverbs 3: 5-6 [God’s direction is where we all should be seeking, … no matter what the demands of the world may be.] …
  5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.

Reference Passage of the Day #2: Luke 9: 23 [But Jesus will always demand the vertical !! ] …  
23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. 

Reference Passage of the Day #3: Philippians 3: 13-14 [Paul knew where the action was!! ] …  
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. 

My Journal for Today: In his workplace devotional today, Os Hillman invokes the image of the “entrepreneur” in the work world, … i.e., the one who sees an opening or an opportunity and lunges forward to grab the brass ring, … often moving ahead impulsively and horizontally without taking the vertical into account. And very often in our enterprise-oriented, western world such entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged. However, that kind of thinking, though assertive, and occasionally productive in the world, can go against God’s way of doing business and ultimately will fail in His eyes.

The young, Goliath-killing David most certainly had an entrepreneurial spirit. However, once David became the anointed and actual King of God’s people, he never lost a battle in war because he always sought God’s vertical direction and blessing before forging ahead into the horizontal battles of life.

Some of the lyrics of Kathy Troccoli’s song, linked for you above, reflect this truth as well …
Some days are hard
And I fight to see the truth
But I'm gonna take a stand
In all I say and do.

I will choose Christ …
I will choose love …
I choose to serve.
I give my heart;
I give my life;
I give all to You. 

How often in this horizontally-oriented world, established and ruled over by Satan, do we see opportunities to move ahead and claim what we perceive to be THE PRIZE. However, is it God’s prize? David was always successful in battle because he ALWAYS sought God’s way, God’s direction, and God’s vertical blessing in his desire to serve God in the world of the horizontal and the battles placed before him in his time.

The question for us, meditating on the truths of the Scriptures above, is: … ”Are we moving ahead horizontally in life by staying in tune with and seeking our direction from a vertical confirmation from God?” That is my prayer today. And I pray you join me in staying vertically oriented in a horizontally focused world.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, do what You must to keep me looking UP … first … before I move ahead in my world and life. … Amen