Psalm of the Week - 63:7-8 - Week of September 1, 2014

7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. 
8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

In the Shadow of Your Wings
I grew up on a farm and watched many a momma hen sit on a nest full of baby chicks. Each hen would fluff her feathers, extend her wings outward slightly, and watch her surroundings alertly. Occasionally, a fluffy little head would peek out from under the warm feathers and slightly extended wing. Momma hen would quickly tuck the downy head back into the safety of her feathers. Up popped her head and she would scan the area for any intruders that may have appeared during the brief interval it took her to tuck the chick back into her feathery sanctuary. 

Can you see our Father tucking us in close and keeping us safe? I want to remain in the shadow of his wings, rejoicing to be his child.

Personal Application
Father, I will rejoice because you have been my help. In the shadow of your wings I will rejoice. I will follow close behind You and I know Your right hand uphold me. Thank you Father for keeping watch on me, tucking me in close, and protecting me. Amen.

FAITH - An Unseen Relationship

Full of love and adoration for the Lord

Adore Jesus Christ and his sacrifice

In a relationship with a living God

Testify about the Good News

Honor the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Author Sallee Bonham

April 14, 2014

copyrighted material by Sallee Bonham

Psalm of the Week- 63:1-5 -Week of 25 August, 2014

Today, the world is a desert for Christians. Bombarded by a media storm of negative values, it is difficult to keep the focus on living a godly life. King David's prayer is as applicable today as it was the day he touched quill to parchment. 







A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

"Praising lips must be joyful lips."
Matthew Henry  1662-1714

Personal Application
What a personal praise prayer! Written in first person, this psalm does not need to be paraphrased, or rewritten into a personal application. Glorifying God with my lips gives me a feeling of wholeness and closeness with my creator. If you are feeling far from the Lord, read these five verses out loud to yourself -hear the scripture with your ears and feel the scripture in your heart. Seek, thirst, and long for Lord. Meditate on his power and glory.

TONGUE : Praise Not Rage

Tame my tongue Lord. Help me to keep a tight rein on my tongue. James 1:26
Only praise for you will come from my mouth. Psalm 66:17
No longer will praise and cursing both issue from my mouth. James 1:10
Gentle and healing words will come out of my mouth.  Proverbs 16:24
Uphold me Lord. Help me keep my tongue from evil and my lips from deceit. 1 Peter 3:10
Every day my tongue will say that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father. Php 2:11


TONGUE:Praise Not Rage  is an acrostic scripture prayer to assist you in changing how you speak through prayer. Feel angry? Read this prayer. Over and over. 

Psalm of the Week - 39:1 - Week of 18 August, 2014

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David. I said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked."

NIV

This verse reminds me of my mom. My mom always says, " If you cannot say anything nice, then do not say anything at all." I imagine King David's mother always said,"David, if you cannot say anything nice, then do not say anything at all." Anyway, King David knew he had to watch his ways and keep his tongue from saying the wrong thing. (sin) 

As a coheir of the kingdom of God, it is my job to watch my ways and keep my tongue from saying the wrong thing. (sin) 

Now I have some questions for you. 

How many times have you been in the presence of an unpleasant person - your boss, project manager, police officer, cashier..? Did you keep quiet because you knew anything you said would just make the situation worse? Then you "put a muzzle on your mouth in the while in the presence of the wicked."

The word wicked applies to more than evil, vicious, unscrupulous, and criminal people. Nasty, harsh, unpleasant, bad, disagreeable, irksome, troublesome, irritating, hateful, and annoying are also synonyms for wicked. Reading through this list was an eye opening experience for me. Truly, most of us find ourselves in the "presence of the wicked" every day.

Psalm 39:1 is as applicable to me when I am at the grocery store, at work, and at church as it was to King David's life. The word "wicked" has a much wider range of meaning than I believed it did. 

Personal Application in Prayer

Help me Lord. I want to live in a way that reflects your presence in my life. Help me to keep my tongue from sin. Help me to muzzle my mouth when I am in the presence of annoying, irritating, hateful, nasty people. If I unmuzzle my mouth, let calm, healing words issue from my tongue. Amen.

Stop, Drop and Pray on August 16, 2014

I cannot wait to sit at Jesus' feet tomorrow morning and pray. Snuggle time with the Savior of Us All. I do not know about you, but I need some comforting, healing, and quiet time to pray for this world we live in.

Praying for my persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. Bill and I have been praying daily for the persecuted in Iraq and the persecuters.

So sad to see massive rioting in my home state. Lord please pour your calming and healing presence over Ferguson, MO.

I know, I am starting early, but feel so much upheaval in and around me that I keep reaching out in prayer.

Suggested Prayer Points 

1. Pray for persecuted Christians around the world.
2. Pray for God's people to seek Him by reading the Bible.
3. God's leaders and his people to be strengthened for spiritual battle through the Bible.
4. Pray that Satan is defeated in the lives of all Christians.
5. Pray about anything you feel led to pray about.

Hugs,
SalleeB

#StopDropandPray 

Don't Get Hung by Your Tongue

My pastor has been preaching from the book of James the last two Sundays. Yes, from the third chapter of James: Taming the Tongue. On the same day as the last sermon, I went to an online group for Christian women and the following was posted:

"Watch your words diligently. Words have such great power to bless or to wound. When you speak carelessly or negatively, you damage others as well as yourself. This ability to verbalize is an awesome privilege, granted only to those I created in My image. You need help in wielding this mighty power responsibly.

Though the world applauds quick-witted retorts, 
My instructions about communication are quite different: Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Ask My Spirit to help you whenever you speak. I have trained you to pray—“Help me, Holy Spirit”—before answering the phone, and you have seen the benefits of this discipline. Simply apply the same discipline to communicating with people around you. If they are silent, pray before speaking to them. If they are talking, pray before responding. These are split-second prayers, but they put you in touch with My Presence. In this way, your speaking comes under the control of My Spirit. As positive speech patterns replace your negative ones, the increase in your Joy will amaze you.

• Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18

• My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. James 1:19

• Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

Time to Tame My Tongue?

Are you laughing with me? Brother Jimmie's sermon included this marvelous sentence," Be sure your heart is in gear before you let out the clutch on your tongue." 

Being a Christian biker chick, I understand that sentence perfectly. Do you think the Holy Spirit was pointing this out to me? (laughing) Yes, the tongue is such a small part of the body, but it has more power to hurt or encourage than any other part of our body. The Lord wants to help me tame my tongue. 

My friend Pam always said, "Lord, sit on my tongue and help me be quiet." Pam maybe home with the Lord, but her words still live on in my heart and help me every day.

My Husband's Phrase

The title of my article is actually something my husband said at one of our CMA chapter meetings. Because it rhymes, I never forgot it; or maybe I didn't forget it because it was so applicable to myself. I hate sticking the proverbial foot into my mouth, but it happens fairly regularly. After listening and reading about the tongue, I think I am going to keep the clutch on my tongue disengaged until I do a heart check!  Amen?

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 18:21

Grains of Truth-Number 9

Quote

"Promiscuity is like never reading past the first page. Monogamy is like reading the same book over and over."
  Mason Cooley

My Response

I am in a monogamous relationship with my husband. I never get tired of reading this action-adventure book because every reading reveals new details.
Sallee Bonham

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 109:1-5 - Week of 11 August, 2014

Pray for the persecuted.

1 My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent,

2 for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me;

they have spoken against me with lying tongues.

3 With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.

4 In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.

5 They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.

• "It is the unspeakable comfort of all believers, that whoever is against them, God is for them; and to him they may apply as to one pleased to concern himself for them. David's enemies laughed at him for his devotion, but they could not laugh him out of it."                                               Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary Psalm 109:1-5

•  "Do not neglect me, but take notice of my extreme danger and misery, and let my sentence come forth from thy presence, Delay not to give judgment upon the appeal made to thee. O God of my praise — The author and matter of all my praises: in whom I glory, and not in any wisdom or strength of my own: who hast given me continual occasion to praise thee; whom I have praised, and will praise while I live, and hope to praise to all eternity."                                           Benson Commentary Psalm 109:1

• Today many Christians around the world are being persecuted for their faith. King David appealed to God in Psalm 109. I feel that it is appropriate as a prayer for the persecuted around the world exactly as the psalmist penned it.        Sallee Bonham

Immediate Prayer for the Yazidid Kurds

Please pray for the Yazidi Kurds:

• Beg the Lord to awaken the world to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Iraq and provide pathways for Christians and others to respond. 
• Ask God to miraculously protect the Yazidis and other Kurds who fled into the mountains; ask Him to provide a means of rescue and temporary homes for the refugees.
• Pray that ISIS leaders and soldiers would experience the love of Jesus Christ and that their lives would be transformed. 
• Ask the Lord to preserve and embolden the small remnant of believers in Kurdistan, so that one day through their witness, every Iraqi might have the opportunity to hear the Gospel.

Read complete article at IMB website.

Vacation Bible School - D3 Agency

Welcome to The D3 Agency

The Vacation Bible School theme was great! Two secret agencies, Carnivore and D3, were in a battle. Carnivore was trying to infect the world wide web with the Bablylon virus and destroy the electronic bibles of the world.

Our Agency D3 agents in training watched a short video and learned how Truett, Carl, Rocket Pack Jack, The Carnivore Agency, and the D3 Agency were doing in the fight to stop the Babylon Virus from changing the world's electronic bibles forever.

D3 Meaning
D3 was taken from the motto: Discover, Decide, Defend. D3 Agents in Training (AIT's) were discovering evidence in the Bible to determine if: Jesus was a good man, did Jesus really die?, and Is Jesus alive? Evidence was given through scripture and witnesses in scripture. Our agents then decided if the scripture was true and were they ready to defend the truth by knowing scripture.

Entering the Agency required passing through security.
White rope lights added to the realism!The Agents
in Training (AIT's) loved walking through security

My Favorite Vacation Bible School Moment.
Agent Green Tiger could not find his scripture. He carefully examined the page in his bible, looked at me, and exclaimed," Agent Gold Seal, the Babylon Virus deleted my scripture!" Sure enough, there was a misprint in his Bible and that particular scripture had not been printed. In my opinion, this is evidence that shows God has a sense of humor. Agent Green Tiger will not forget that moment the rest of his life.

Agency HQ

Our Code Names
Myself - Gold Seal I felt that my randomly drawn name was appropriate for the senior training agent.
AIT Crimson Bear
AIT Maroon Snake
AIT Green Tiger

Salvations
Three children decided to ask Jesus into their lives and be baptized. Amen!

A D3 Agent escaping Carnivore pursuit!

Where is the evidence?

DIY High Tech Command Console 1
Switches:Egg cartons painted black, green and red glass stones
glued to bottom of carton cups, and hot glued wire connectors.

Console: small black table wrapped with a silver painted table skirt.

DIY High Tech Command Console 2

A reworked small podium. 

The base was wrapped with black cardboard

The top was covered with gray fabric. 

An old keyboard, game controller, red board game pieces, black 

door handle, and egg carton controller were attached with double 

stick tape.

#vbs  #DIY

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 98:1-3 - Week of 4 August, 2014

1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

2 The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

God does not work in secret. 
His acts have always been in full view of all nations. He is not separate from us. He loves us and wants to save us through salvation. He is faithful to his promises.

Personal Application
Lord, I will sing a new song because you have done marvelous things in my life. Thank-you for making your salvation known and revealing your righteousness to all. I know you have remembered your love and faithfulness to me, as you have remembered your love and faithfulness to Israel. As all the ends of the earth have seen your salvation; let those around me see my salvation and your righteousness.
Amen.

#Israel  #salvation

Destination: 2014 Kentucky Bike Rally, Sturgis, KY

Head Out on the Highway
On July 16, Bill and I packed up our camping gear, loaded up the motorcycles, and rode to the Union County Fairgrounds in Sturgis, Kentucky. The Kentucky Bike Rally attendees include bikers from Wisconsin, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.  The Kentucky Christian Motorcyclists Association's (CMA) State Coordinator and his wife, James and Linda Collins, work with the event sponsor closely. CMA members work at the gates of the event, set up a hospitality tent within the rally, and provide prayer.

God is amazing.
James shared with us that he did not have enough workers to cover the gates this year. Then, he received the email from Bill and I telling him we had bought our armbands and would be arriving on Wednesday, July 16. Another, unexpected, CMA couple arrived and worked two gate shifts. Problem solved. Pray and give God room to work. He will provide.

8 A.M. at the Cemetery Gate

Salvation and Prayer
Three salvations occurred during the rally! Love it when the Lord works in the hearts of his children and leads them  back to Him. We, Bill and I, were able to provide prayer, a listening ear, and information about motorcycle ministry to several folks. Throughout the rally we kept hearing CMA members say, "Man, hearts are receptive to hear the Word this weekend." Made me smile to hear this because I knew our church family prayer warriors were providing prayer coverage. Other church family prayer warriors were too. Prayer is Powerful!

Foreground: Our tent
Background: our neighbors

The Spiritual Battle
Those of us serving the Lord at the rally were praying continually for the participants and ourselves. We needed our Lord to shield us, his servants, from the flaming darts of  The Enemy. It saddens me to see God's children following the prince of this world. The Enemy takes such delight in leading them downward on a gently sloping path that will eventually end in a pit of misery, emotional bankruptcy, and loss of hope. Been there.

The Pit Bottom
I know what lies at the bottom of the pit. Emotional pain and a spiritual vacuum inside your body where Jesus is supposed to be. A hole in your soul. Nothing you feed your spirit with will kill the pain anymore. Not drugs, not alcohol, not shopping, not food, not your partner, not gambling, not...not...not. I know. I was there.

My Past is My Strength
The Lord called me into rally ministry because of my past; the Before Jesus Sallee. My past is now my greatest strength in working for the Lord.  My outreach tool is my past. How I escaped the pit with Jesus Christ. How the Lord heals me, helps me, and makes me whole. All of this enables me to help my sisters climb out of their own pits. Today, my greatest joy is in serving Jesus Christ.

Bill and Sallee - Kentucky Bound

#Godisamazing  #ministry  #powerofprayer

Sallee B to New York City?

Exciting news! My I'm in the top 50 of a recipe contest I entered in June! Thank you Lord for letting me see the contest. I am praising Jesus daily for this opportunity. 

Brothers and sisters I need your help. Visit http://contest.awayfromhomecooking.com/  and vote daily for my recipe, Chocolate Extreme Mug Cake. Also, pray that the Lord be in, around, and through this opportunity.

Thank you for your votes and prayers. #voteyes #top50  #SalleeBtoNYC