“I smell Satan!”

Oh I used to love Dana Carvey as the ‘Church Lady.‘

Recently I started B90X.  It’s an intense cover to cover reading of the Bible.  I have been challenged to read the Bible multiple times all the way through.  The last time that I ‘tried’ I got about two months into the reading and well…got lazy.

Twitter has become a fascinating thing.  It has connected me with people from around the country that I otherwise would have never known about or even cared to read about.  But I find myself being challenged by their thoughts, their experiences.  Through a former staff member I worked with, I have become interested in following a group from North Carolina called Elevation Church.  Pastor Steven Furtick challenged his people to read the Bible in 90 days.  After seeing their comments on Twitter…I made the commitment.  I am 5 days in and already am seeing so much more than I did the last time that I read.

Why the Church Lady you ask?  Evey guest that would sit with her would mention something and she would say, “…that smells like Satan!!”  At almost every turn, I see Satan trying to ruin God’s plan.  From the outset in the Garden to (where I am at now) the Exodus, Satan has woven himself in to almost every situation, even though it was man’s choice to make certain decisions.  Such the situation with Joseph and his brothers.  They allowed sin to creep into their lives and it caused them to make a bad choice.  But at the end of this incredible journey, I love what Joseph said to his brothers…“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.“ (Genesis 50:20).

What I love about my reading of the Bible so far…if Satan invades my life…I don’t have to go back to the start…I just have to start moving again.  Adam…failed…redeemed by grace..life on earth goes on.  Noah…sinner…listened to God’s instruction…helped God start the world over again.  Abraham…liar…risk taker…became the father of all mankind.  Jacob…betrayed his brother…wrestled with God…blessed to start a nation.  Moses…murderer…picked to lead over a million people out of bondage.

All of these men are consider saints, patriarchs, pillars of faith.  But at their core, they were men that built a relationship with God.  I don’t think in my lifetime I will ever lead a million people out of slavery, but I can help a million being a slave to sin!  Who knows what all I will be able to accomplish in my lifetime, but I am convinced, unless I make this book a MAJOR part of my life (more than it is now), I will not succeed!

And in case you are wondering…I don’t say that because I am a pastor…I say that because I am a man that needs God to become more in me!