He sees the heart

S: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.'" 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

O: God made all of us exactly the way we are. A big nose or a small chin. A round belly or very thin arms. He weighs us not by these things because He understands that they do not matter. He weighs us by what we carry in our hearts. God is not deceived by appearances.

A: There are two separate applications I can derive from this. First, I must not judge by appearances. Am I better able to tell a person's worth than God? If He doesn't judge by appearances, what right do I think I have to do so? Second, I need to be sure that my heart is in the right place. I can attend all the church services I want. I can praise God loudly for all to hear, but unless my heart is right I'm like the Pharisees in Matthew 23. All the people around me might think I'm Godly but in God's sight I am worse than a non-believer.

P: Father, open my eyes so that I may see others as you see them. Open my eyes so that I may see myself as You see me. When I praise you, don't allow me to keep the praise from my heart. Create in me a clean heart, Oh God.

We Must Listen

S: "The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel, Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'" 1 Samuel 3:10 NIV

O: We must actively listen for God's voice. Three times before this verse, He called to Samuel but until Samuel acknowledged that he was listening for God's words, God did not speak further to him.

A: I need to stop, wait and listen for God's voice. I need to let Him know that I am ready and listening for His direction.

P: Father, help me to understand when to stop and listen for You. Help me to accurately understand what You are telling me to do and give me the strength, courage and perseverance to complete it.

God hurts along with us

S: "So they put away the foreign gods and served the Lord; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer." Judges 10:16 NAS

O: When Gods people were hurting (from their own doing) it bothered God to the point that "He could bear" it no longer. How amazing that even when His perfect justice is being applied to us, He still hurts along with us.

A: I need to understand that when I am going through tough times, God is right there with me. He does not want me to have to deal with the strife of this life, but He also knows that sometimes that strife is what's best for me.

P: Thank you Lord for loving me so much that my hurts become Yours. Thank you Father for always seeing me through; always loving me in spite of me.

Praise is not a feeling

S: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." Psalm 42:11 NIV

O: Giving praise to God should not be dependent on how I feel or what is currently happening in my life. God is worthy of praise because of who He is whether or not I feel like it.

A: I should strive to maintain an attitude of praise and gratefulness regardless of my feelings.

P: Father, help me to always see you as you are. Don't allow my earthly circumstances to influence my praise and worship of You. Thank you for being who You are. Thank you for loving me in spite of who I am.

Cling to God

S: "But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day." Joshua 23: 8 NAS

O: Regardless of circumstance, we are to cling to God. Regardless of how we feel, we are to cling to God. Regardless of anything, we are to cling to God. Only He can bring us through.

A: Whenever I encounter strife or hardship, I cannot conquer it on my own. God has the strength and power to carry us through anything this world brings. I need to trust in Him alone as I struggle.

P: Father, help me to run to you first. Remove my desire to fix things myself; my need to be self-reliant. Help me to truly understand that You are the ONLY one who can do all things and that through you, I will be saved!

The Law has expired

S: "Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people."
Gal 3:19 NLT

O: God's old testament law was not created for those of us who live after Christ. By living on earth and keeping all the commandments of the law and then by dying, Jesus fulfilled the law for us. Because of his great sacrifice, we are not held to these impossibly high standards. Through Christ we have forgiveness of sins; not because we deserve it but because He loved us.

A: I need to live without fear of failing. Christ has already answered for all of the sins I commit. Although I should not continue to live in a life of sin (even though God has and will forgive me, sin still carries consequences) I can walk confidently knowing that my debt has been paid.

P: Lord Jesus, thank you for paying my costs. Thank you for taking on my transgressions and my iniquities so that I can one day worship at your very feet. Thank you for the assurance I have that I cannot be removed from your love.

Everyone needs a little help sometimes

S: "But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong." Gal. 2-11 NLT

O: Paul knew that God had called him to bring others sin to their attention. Even if the person he was rebuking walked with Jesus and was to be "the rock upon which I will build my church."

A: I need to feel confident about ensuring that those I have an influence over know when they are making choices against God's word. Whether they are my children or my pastor, it is my responsibility to speak out for Christ.

P: Father, give me the boldness and clarity needed to be able to clearly speak with others when they need encouragement to move past a sinful action. Help me to be able to discern these moments and act appropriately for you.

Boldy Go

S: "Obviously I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant." Galatians 1:10 NLT

O: Following Christ does not mean that our actions will be pleasing to others. In fact, our actions (speaking the truth in love) will most likely garner hard feelings at the very least. However, God has not called us to be people pleasers. God wants us to please Him and not worry about what ANYBODY else thinks.

A: I need to have the courage to stand up for Jesus regardless of the circumstance or possible earthly consequences. It's very likely that I will never have to face the persecutions of Paul, Peter, Stephen and Jesus. How then can I justify not speaking out when the worst I have to face is someone disagreeing with what I am saying?

P: Father, give me the courage to go boldly for out for you. Open my eyes to the opportunities that I have to be your hands and your feet each day and, if necessary, give me a push towards that opportunity so that Your kingdom will grow and members will be added to Your family.

Help my unbelief

Scripture - "But for all of this, you did not trust the Lord your God." Deut. 1:32 NAS

Observation - Even after all that God had done for the Israelites, (removing them from bondage in Egypt, parting the Red Sea, giving them manna from heaven to eat, leading them by pillars of clouds and fire) they still did not trust Him to give them the land He had promised. How often do I fail to trust that God will continue to care for me in spite of all He has already done? If after everything that God accomplished for the Israelites, they still doubted is there any hope for the rest of us?

Application - I need to ask God to be patient with my doubts. "Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'" Mark 9:24 I am human and will suffer though bouts of doubt and unbelief. Only God through His Holy Spirit can help me through these moments. God is faithful. Period.

Prayer - Father, as the boy's father said to Jesus, "I do believe, help my unbelief". I want to trust in you completely. Help me to let go of myself and grasp onto you with all I am.

Love God with everything

Scripture: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30 NIV

Observation: We are called to love God completely without holding anything back. He doesn't want our half-hearted efforts. He wants it all.

Application: I need to be sure that I am striving each day to more completely love God. I need to ensure that my mind is focused on Him, my strength is pushing for Him, my soul is longing for Him and my heart is earnestly seeking to love Him.

Prayer: Father, help me to give you my all everyday. Show me where I am holding back and give me wisdom on when and where I need to be for You.

New use for Blog

I'm going to try something here. During my scripture reading, I often have particular verses stick in my mind and I try and follow the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) described by Cordeiro in "The Divine Mentor". I've felt lead for some time to put these down on the internet so that others could either be inspired to write their own or could offer their own thoughts on my interpretations of the passages. So, today I'm going to start putting them out here and see where God leads us.

God bless you all.

Horrible, horrible blogger

Yes...that's me. I am probably the world's worst blogger. I also think that I've only had two people ever visit my blog and I'm pretty sure that they will never come back! ;)

I am now safe and sound back home and I'm happy as a clam...not sure what that means. How do we know that clams are happy? And if they are, I bet when someone opens their shell to check, they aren't happy anymore! Strange saying...

Anyway, I just suddenly felt like throwing some words out here in cyber land. The family is good. We're going on a big family cruise in a little over three weeks. Julie earned the cruise through her jewelry company (Just Jewelry) again so we decided that it would be a great family vacation to take with me just getting back from Afghanistan. Her mom also earned the cruise and bought her dad on as well. Since we were all going, Julie's sister and her family decided to come along as well so it'll be a big family good time for all of us. We're heading to the Western Caribbean on Carnival. It should be a blast. I may even post some pictures when I get back...but don't count on it!! As you well now, if you look at the dates between my posts, it may be 2010 before another paragraph appears.

Well, that's all for now...see you soon...maybe.

Hailey is a Green Belt

I just realized that I had posted that Hailey was going to take the Green Belt test for Karate and never updated the blog on her results. An email that I received from Skylar said it best so I'm going to steal her words and stick them right in here.

"Hailey is a green belt now--you should have seen her--she really passed the test! I am so excited!"

That is all...Keeping it real in the AFG

Strange Things are afoot at the Circle K

Okay, so maybe not strange but very cool.

First, the biggest news is that our new house is ready and we will be closing on it on the 9th. Of course, Julie is handling this all on her own since I'm deployed so the excitement of the purchase of our first house is tempered somewhat, but it's still way cool. We've been married just under 11 years, but this is the first time we've a. Felt in a decent place financially to purchase a house and b. Liked someplace enough to possibly settle there after I retire from the AF in four years. I'll post a picture when I get a chance, but if you want to have a looksie ahead of time you can go to http://www.pulte.com/ and search for the Isadora model in the Loma Colorado section of Rio Rancho, NM.

The second big news is that Skylar is now swallowing her pills whole. For those of you who don't know, Skylar has both autism and epilepsy. Due to this, she has to take a boat-load of pills and medicines each day. Up until now, any pills that she's had to take had to either be crushed or the capsule had to be opened and the medicine poured out onto a spoonful (or two or three) of applesauce for her to take each morning and evening. Needless to say our household is no longer fond of applesauce as a snack! You eat it (or watch someone eat it) twice a day for five years and then see how you like it! ;) However, yesterday Skylar swallowed her first pills whole and the Coryell household rejoiced!

Anyway, I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks so I wanted to throw something out there. What better than a couple of the many blessings that God has heaped on my life. Not too much new in Afghanistan. I can't say I'm liking it any better but I also can't say I'm liking it any worse so there's something to be said about that. Only 81 days until my estimated return home and yes I am counting!

Have a great day!

Hailey's Going for Green

Very exciting news for our youngest...she's been selected to test for her Green Belt in Karate. She's very proud. I'm more than a little disappointed that I won't be able to be there in person, but I'm so excited and proud of her. She's been taking the lessons for almost a year now and she's so into it that it just makes you smile. Before I left, her dojo had a demonstration where all of the students came and did different exercises for their friends and family. Hailey, being a white belt, was one of the first to present. She did great and when she was through everyone wanted to head out to a restaurant. The only problem was that Hailey wanted to stay and watch the entire program...so the rest of the family headed to get us a table and the Hayster and I stayed and watched the Green and Black belts strut their stuff. I don't know if she'll remember that as she grows up, but I'm pretty sure that I'll always remember that special time; just she and I. She was so intent on watching every little move the older students made. I'll make the prediction now...one day there will be a black belt in the family!!

A second (at least to Skylar) exciting event in the lives of the Coryell's happened this week as well. Skylar now has her own email address. In the two days that she's had it she's sent me multiple emails. She's very sweet in her excitement when I let her know that she should check her inbox for a message.

That's it for today. Have a blessed Monday!

New World Record

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe I have set a new world record for fewest posts in the longest amount of time.

I actually have to thank my good friend Micah Tapp for bringing me back. He has his own blog and when I went in to comment on his new deck (very nice) I had to log in...

and this reminded me that I actually had/have a blog (sort of)...

and hey, what a good idea to try and blog while I'm in Afghanistan so here we go.

For those of you who don't know me (and how in the world did you find your way here if you don't) I am in the US Air Force and am currently deployed in Kabul, Afghanistan. I've been here for just under three months and I have just over three months to go on this deployment. It does stink being away from my family...I'm not going to gloss over that fact; it really stinks!

However, it has been very interesting. Now I don't like having to carry a gun around everywhere I go and I don't like having to wear body armor and a helmet when I leave the camp, but I've met people from 37 different countries (I work as part of a NATO force). I've played cricket (in the same way that someone who has played wiffleball can say they've played baseball) and have even tried waffles with goat cheese. It's a Norwegian thing and actually not bad.

I've also met some great men and women of God and the chaplain here got me started on a new way of bible study that forces me to examine the scriptures, think about how to apply them in my life and then create a way to pray specifically for God to help me to do exactly that. It's amazing to me how God turns situations that we don't want (spending six months away from your family, just for an example) into a time when He can really mold and change you.

Anyway, I think that I've probably rambled on for long enough. If you made it this far, kudos to you. Have a great day and may God richly bless you and your family.

Long time, no see

Well, as you can see it's been months since my first posting...good thing this is free! ;)

I am currently in Ventura, CA at a conference and Julie is home with the girls. She's feeling pretty under the weather so it's a bad time to be away.

On the plus side, she's doing FANTASTIC on her new eating plan. She's been on the plan just over 40 days and she's already lost 40 lbs.

I'm not sure what else to post so this is it for now...who knows when I'll post again???

Checking this out

Well, Julie's interested in starting her own blog over on typepad, so I figured I'd try out another spot and see what I see. I don't know how often I'll post here; just when the mood strikes.

For those who don't know I'm currently finishing up my Master's Degree and I just wanted to say, "School Sucks!" ;)