THE LORD... LIGHT...AND SALVATION (Who's Da Boss?)

Hello Friends.

Are you in the dark...or are you in the light? Well...in a world that appears to be overwhelmed by darkness, there is a light dawning...and within the dawning light...there is salvation.

"The Lord is my light...and my salvation." (Psalm 27:1)

LORD: 'adon (ah-done)= owner, master, lord, sir, the one in control. The primary meaning is master. Adonai (ah-do-ni) is used of the glorious Lord in all His powers and attributes.


The bottom line is that Lord means BOSS. Now...to some...Bruce Springsteen is THE BOSS...Jimmy Reed the old blues man would sing about BIG BOSS MAN...later covered by the King of Rock and Roll...Elvis... and in Hazzard County...the Big Boss... is literally BIG...as a Hogg... BOSS HOGG.

But the true BOSS...is THE LORD... JESUS IS BOSS. Jesus is...the one in control...LORD.

This is the one you want in control when darkness overwhelms you.


In Psalm 27...the word LORD (Boss) appears a total of 12 times. The words He/His/You/Your that appears as a reference to the LORD...appears 12 more times...so you have at least a total of 24 times where the LORD is directly or indirectly spoken of within 14 verses. Ya kinda get the idea that THE LORD is the focus of our SALVATION.

We have a need for SALVATION... because we are surrounded by ENEMIES. There are (1) evildoers
(2) adversaries (3) enemies. (Psalms 27:2) They attempt to bring dread, devour my flesh, war against us, bring fear, have a desire against us, give a false witness against us, and breath out violence against us...bringing us to despair. (Psalm 27:1-13)

This thing called SALVATION is more than our understanding of "FIRE INSURANCE"...avoiding a place called Hell...that we fear. Salvation is a very real thing that can be applied to every area of our lives. I don't know about you...but I need SALVATION to avoid hell...and get into heaven...BUT until the glory train comes...I need SALVATION to get me through my everyday nitty gritty life. Once you get SAVED...the enemy does NOT just throw up his hands and think..."well...I lost another one." NO...he will intensify the attacks on us.

Remember 24 times...the LORD is the focus of our salvation.

SALVATION: Hebrew: yesha=liberty, deliverance, prosperity, safety. In the Greek=soteria/soterion=soundness, prosperity, rescuing, releasing, deliverance, liberation, freedom.

LIGHT: ore=illumination, luminary, bright, clean, glorious, set on fire, shine.

IF the Lord is your LIGHT and your SALVATION...here is the big question. WHOM SHALL I FEAR?

The answer is NO...BODY...NO THANG...NUTTIN' HONEY...ZIP, ZILCH, NADA, ZERO!!!!! We can't deny the reality of the ENEMY...because they are REAL....but our LORD...is "REALER". Now I know that "REALER"... may not be a REAL word...BUT...it is NOW...REALLY!!

What we MUST do...is when the (1) evildoers (2) adversaries (3) enemies (a host) begins to encamp and war against us (Psalm 27:2-3)...we MUST begin to see things through the OPEN EYES OF FAITH.

The perfect picture of this look into the invisible...is found in II Kings 6:1-33. The King of Syria was warring against Israel. Elisha warned the king of Israel that the Syrians are coming and to avoid going to a certain place. The King of Syria's heart was enraged...and plotted to get Elisha. The King of Syria sent (1) horses (2) chariots (3) and a great army AT NIGHT...and surrounded the city. (II Kings 6:8-14)

NOTE: We are in a war...the devil is out to get us...and at times...it appears that we are surrounded...and fear begins to creep in because of the enemy.

The servant of Elisha...rose up early in the morning...and SAW with his physical eyes...the army, horse, and chariots...CIRCLING THE CITY. He cried out to his MASTER (lord and boss)...WHAT SHALL WE DO? (II Kings 6:15)

NOTE: Elisha's answer to the question...DO...NOT...FEAR.

Elisha told his servant to NOT FEAR. Why? Why not fear? In the natural...there was reason for fear. Here is Elisha's answer for not fearing. "FOR THOSE WHO ARE WITH US...ARE MORE THAN THOSE WHO ARE WITH THEM." (II Kings 6: Say what??????? The servant could not SEE IT. All he could see is surrounding enemies, adversaries, evildoers.

QUESTION: What are you seeing...in your situations, circumstances...nitty gritty life? QUESTION #2 Are you afraid?
ANSWER: FEAR NOT.

Elisha then prayed...that the eyes of his servant would be OPENED. The cause and effect of Elisha's prayer...the Lord OPENED the servant's eyes and he SAW. What He saw was TRUTH... and truth...trumped reality. The truth was...the mountain was full of HORSES and CHARIOTS OF FIRES...all around Elisha.

You can check out the rest of this reality in II Kings 6...but suffice to say...PSALM 27 becomes real...when the eyes of our faith are open to why we should NOT fear...because...

"THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION...WHOM SHALL I FEAR? THE LORD IS THE DEFENSE OF MY LIFE...WHOM SHALL I DREAD? (Psalm 27:1)

Love and Enlightened Kisses
Rodney "Waiting For The Lord" Boyd

HASHBROWN THEOLOGY

Greetings and Salutations all of you hashbrown lovers...and you know who you are.



It's late night...and you have been out and about doing your thang... and as you are on the way home...you look over to the love of your life in the passenger seat...and tenderly say to her..."Are you hungry?"

She responds back..."Not really but I could eat something." Then she tacks on..."I'll just take a couple of bites of yours...we can share."

Well...you look for something that is open...and can't find anyplace open at whatever ungodly hour it is...until you see in the distance that familiar icon...glowing in the darkened sky...WAFFLE HOUSE.


You pull into the crowed parking lot... and realize that your inner craving is having an argument with you. On one shoulder is the good craving who implores you to go home and drink some water and go to bed. On the other shoulder...wearing the black trunks...is your evil craving telling you that you deserve it.

Ladies and gentlemen...welcome to the match of the century...Rodney "The Heavyweight" Boyd versus The Waffle House menu....Let's get ready to Ruuuuuummmmbbbbblllle!!!!!



I love to at at the WAFFLE HOUSE (in moderation)...especially the HASHBROWNS. There are at least...according to the menu...

1,572,864 ways to order the hashbrowns. I don't know if that is true...but some of the ways you can order them are:
1. Smothered=onions
2. Covered=cheese
3. Chunked=hickory smoked ham
4. Topped=chili
5. Diced=tomatoes
6. Peppered=jalapeno
7. Capped=mushrooms
8. Scattered=All The Way

What go me thinking about Waffle House Hashbrowns? I was reading Psalm 32 a while back and saw ho David was asking God to deal with his transgression, sin, iniquity and deceit. David wanted God to deal with his SIN...his SCATTERED (All The Way) LIFE. David needed JOY and Psalm 32 was a Psalm of Contemplation. David's sin was heavy upon him with his vitality drained. Combine this Psalm with Psalm 51 (A Prayer Of Repentance) and you have a man poised for repentance.

In these two Psalms...David needed his HASHBROWNS OF SIN...to be dealt with. Unlike the HASHBROWNS combinations a the W.H., there are not 1,572,864 ways to deal with your sins... there is only ONE WAY...by the BLOOD OF JESUS. With that said...here is what David desired:

1. Transgression=forgiven and blotted out
2. Sin=covered and cleansed and hide Your face from my sins
3. Iniquity=not impute/taken into account and washed thoroughly and blot out all my
iniquities
4. Purge and cleanse
5. Wash whiter than snow
6. Make me hear joy and gladness
7. Broken bones rejoice
8. God's face hidden from sins
9. Iniquities blotted out
10. A clean heart created
11. A steadfast spirit renewed within
12. Not cast away from His presence
13. Holy Spirit not taken away
14. Restoration of the joy of salvation
15. Upheld by His generous Spirit
16. Delivered from guilt of bloodshed
17. Praise coming forth from open lips and mouth


God does NOT desire sacrifice (what we can do)...or delight in burnt offerings (what we can do) but the sacrifices that God does desire and delight in...are (1) a broken spirit (2) a broken and contrite heart. God does not despise these things.


Now at the Waffle House...you sit down at the counter or one of their ultra small booths...and the waitress comes over...and says..."What'll ya have...honey?" You then place your order. Now before someone writes me and lets me know that God is not a waitress at Waffle House...please understand that my analogies always break down somewhere along the line....BUT here is the way that he ordered (respectfully requested) for God to deal with his sin, transgression, iniquity.


1. Acknowledge the sin to God
2. Don't hide your iniquity from Him (as if you could)
3. Confess (come into agreement with God...say the same thing God says) transgression to
the Lord)
4. Acknowledge the transgressions
5. Realize that against God and God alone have you sinned


Here is what is delivered to you when you REPENT (change of heart, mind, attitude, direction) and are not just SORRY that you got caught and/or are reaping what you sowed.

1. Purged and cleansed
2. Washed whiter than snow
3. Hearing joy and gladness so broken bones rejoice
4. God's face his from his sins
5. Clean heart created
6. Steadfast spirit renewed within
7. Not cast away from His presence
8. Holy Spirit not taken from him
9. Restored joy of salvation
10.Upheld by His generous Spirit
11.Deliverance from the guilt of bloodshed
12.Tongue singing aloud of His righteousness
13.Lips and Mouth showing forth His praise

In all of this...God does not desire or delight in:

1. Sacrifice (my efforts)
2. Burnt offerings (my efforts)

The sacrifices that God DOES desire and does not despise:

1. A broken spirit (heart of repentance)
2. A broken and contrite heart (repentance)

Well...there ya go. HASHBROWN THEOLOGY is an earthly way to ineffectively describe the wonderful power, love, forgiveness, grace, peace and mercy of God towards us as sinners. The bottom line is...when God does it...He does it right. He SCATTERS ALL THE WAY WITH HIS PROVISION FOR OUR LIVES...but that's for another time.

"Therefore if ANY man...wo-man...hu-man is IN CHRIST...they are NEW CREATIONS...the OLD THINGS passed away...behold NEW THINGS are constantly coming."
(II Corinthians 5:17)

Love and SCATTERED ALL THE WAY Kisses
Rodney "I luvs me some Waffle House Hashbrowns" Boyd