RUN devil RUN

Greetings Believers in the D.B.R. For those new to the Ramblings...the D.B.R. stands for DEATH...BURIAL...RESURRECTION...NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS. The GOSPEL...aka...the Good News...is the power of God... for salvation...to EVERYONE who believes...to the Jew first...and also to the Greeks. (Romans 1:16) That word POWER/DUNAMIS...means dynamic ABILITY.

This thing called salvation is NOT just our train ticket to glory. We don't just "get saved" and then wait at the railroad station of the glory train to come on down and pick us up. Between the point of salvation and the point of homecoming...there is a little thing called life...that we are still living. The difference is...we now live with a different perspective.

QUESTION: What does Paul McCartney and C.S. Lewis have in common?
ANSWER: (1) England (although C.S. was born in Ireland) (2) Words (songs, poems, literature) (3) The devil/demons.

In 1999...Sir Paul...fresh off of the Beatles Anthology series...had recorded Flaming Pie...and now releases an album by the name of RUN DEVIL RUN. It was a collection of obscure oldies that compliments another of his projects of oldies called CHOBA B CCCP.


Paul saw a herbal medicine shop in Atlanta Georgia that was selling various products including RUN DEVIL RUN products. These included various powders, potions, poultices designed to deal with (1) trouble makers
(2) meddling relatives (3) evil neighbors (3) the devil.

Paul was inspired to write a song based on that phrase...RUN DEVIL RUN. He wrote it...keeping with the theme of obscure oldies...in the style of Chuck Berry where he told a story. The story line is about a Holy Roller lady in the swamp of Alabama (with a mission on her mind)..who has got to spread to Word to "anybody she can find". She fights the devil for her brother and sister who are drinkin', fightin', and getting thrown into jail. The chorus that she fights with is:

Run devil Run...angels havin' fun
Makin' winners out of sinners...better leave before it's done
When he gets through...he'll be comin' after you
Listen what I'm saying...Ruuuuuun....RUN devil RUN.

Once we enter into this thing called salvation....we become an active participant in the WAR. There is an enemy...who is the devil (little d...never give him the respect of capitalization). The enemy...the devil was defeated at the CROSS. He thought that he had won...but if he only realized what was about to be unleashed on the gates of hell....he would never had incited the death of Jesus.

C.S. Lewis...a former atheist...who returned to his roots and proclaimed Jesus Christ...wrote many books including: The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, Surprised By Joy, The Space Trilogy (to many books to name here)...and THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS.

The Screwtape letters was released in 1942...as a series of letters from a senior demon (screwtape) to his nephew...a junior tempter (wormwood). He was giving wormwood advice on methods for damnation of an earthly man (the Patient). There were a series of 31 letters...and ended with the phrase...
"Your affectionate uncle, screwtape". Screwtape also refers to his superior as "the father below"...and refers to God as..."the enemy".

For our purposes in this Rambling...realize (1) that there is an enemy (2) the enemy has schemes against you (3) the enemy is an accuser, a liar, a thief, a manipulator, a destroyer, a prideful fallen angel who desires the worship that God receives (4) is like/as if a roaring lion seeking who he can destroy (5) tries to steal the seed of the Word of God out of your heart/soil whenever it is sown in you (see Mark 4).

QUESTION: How can we deal with the devil
ANSWER: He has already been DEALT from the cross to the empty tomb.
WHAT NOW: We begin to take authority.

CAUTION: The devil and his well orchestrated demons are not to be underestimated or taken lightly. We just can't resist the devil.

"You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with HUMILITY toward one another, for God is OPPOSED to the PROUD...but gives GRACE to the HUMBLE. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all of your anxiety/cares upon Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your ADVERSARY the devil...prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour/destroy. BUT RESIST HIM...firm in your faith...knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." (I Peter 5:5-10)

RESISTANCE FORCE PREPARATION

1. Learn authority chain of command. (be subject to your elders). There is wisdom with experience.
2. Let humility be directed towards each other. (internal fighting can pull a house down). We are not each others enemy...the devil is.
3. Don't oppose God (by your attitude toward one another). When you oppose God...you will be on the losing end of the deal.
4. Don't wait for God to force you down. (we have a choice). Placing yourself under the hand/authority of God will give you authority on
the battlefield
5. Get ready for the proper time (not your timetable). God's proper time is the perfect time.
6. Take control of anxiety instead of anxiety controlling you. (take what is pulling you in twenty different directions and cast it to Him...
the one who can actually cares about you...and can do something about it)
7. Sober up in your spirit (be clear in your communication system with the Spirit of God...so you can understand His directives)
8. Keep your eyes wide open all the time (ala Johnny Cash).
9. Realize that you have an adversary...and the adversary is not flesh and blood...but is the devil (Ephesians 6)
10 When you hear the roar of fear...realize it is your adversary...the devil...trying to strike fear in your heart and negate your faith.
11. Know that your enemy...adversary...the devil...is seeking someone to devour. (He ain't playing a game).
12. BUT RESIST HIM. Do not allow the devil to devour you. You have authority because of the D.B.R. over this lying devil.

WARNING: Do not try to RESIST the devil...if you are not walking in steps 1-11. If you are rebellious over the authorities that God has placed over you...if you are arrogant against each other...if God is opposing you because of your pride...if you are still standing in your pride and not humbling yourself under the hand of God...if you are walking in anxiety and holding onto every fearful thing instead of letting God handle things....THEN...you have NO AUTHORITY...other than yourself...and the devil will TEAR YOU UP!!!!

13. Be firm in the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not revealed to the senses. (that would be faith in the D.B.R.)
14. Realize that you are not the only one under attack by the devil. You have brothers and sisters all over the world that are going
through the same things you are dealing with in the warfare.

NOTE: That this SUFFERING...is not God making you SUFFER...but is the result of an attack by the devourer...aka the devil.

15. Instead of focusing on the current suffering...focus on the outcome of being IN CHRIST (with that yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing, healing power of the Holy Ghost)....which will be done by God Himself as He (1) perfects (2) confirms (3) strengthens
(4) and establishes you.

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY!!!!!!

Now...with this mindset in place....

RUN devil RUN...angels havin' fun
Makin' winners out of sinners...better leave before he's done
When he gets through...he'll be comin' after you
Listen what I'm saying to you...ruuuuuuuun.....RUN devil RUN (in the name/authority of JESUS...and not in the name of Rodney)

Love and Devil Bustin' Kisses
Rodney "Under The Mighty Hand of God" Boyd

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

Hello fellow Pilgrims...fellow Travellers...fellow sojourners. How's your DAY?

Monday...Tuesday...Wednesday...Thursday...Friday...Saturday...Sunday... go to bed...and get up AGAIN...on another day...and start it all over again with Monday...Tuesday...etc, etc, etc.

The Beatles did not start off as the most popular group in the world...and as John Lennon pointed out that they were more popular than Jesus Christ. Well.. at the time...in some sectors...they were. Before super stardom...they were just some lads in Liverpool...playing in clubs, basements, schools...anywhere that would let them pay. Every once in a while...they would actually get paid. In the beginning...it was for fun. Somewhere along the way...the fun ended...and it became drudgery. As Larry Norman observed in his song READERS DIGEST... "...the Beatles said all you need is love...and then they broke up."

Depending on who you listen to...the villain in the Beatles breakup was Yoko Ono. Maybe a contributing factor...but not necessarily THE cause. Some say the villain was the cute Beatle...Paul McCartney...who wanted to be the leader of the group after their manager Brian Epstein died (some say by suicide). Paul sued the lads when the Rolling Stones manager Allen Klien appeared to be taking over and draining the boys financially. Paul was either a saviour or a backstabber. The nasty feud between John and Paul overflowed into their music in their solo careers post Beatles.

McCartney released an album called MCCARTNEY (totally Paul) and John released IMAGINE. Paul released an album with his Yoko (aka Linda) called RAM. During the RAM sessions in New York City...Paul recorded a song in 1970 called ANOTHER DAY. It was a song about the mundane, sad life of a woman's life...as she plodded along at work and at home...as she lived ANOTHER DAY. It was a pleasant, pop infused song full of sunshine about a dark topic.

John Lennon...responded to the song ANOTHER DAY...and Paul's release of RAM with a song called HOW DO YOU SLEEP? George Harrison played a wonderful slide guitar on this song...as John stated..."The only ting you done was YESTERDAY...since you've gone...you're just ANOTHER DAY."

You may be asking yourself...Self...why is Ruminatin' Rod...Rambling? Let me tear a page from my journal...

Another day...they just keep on coming. They plod along like footsteps in a dark, foggy night...not seeing where you are going...hoping you are going somewhere. We are called to walk by faith...NOT by SIGHT (II Corinthians 5:7). My problem is that I walk by SIGHT...and NOT by FAITH. (I Rodney 8:15). I live by feelings not faith. I please my self and not God. My faith feels dead with no corresponding actions. My thoughts are unrestrained. My thoughts have produced unrestrained words with the results being unrestrained actions....just ANOTHER DAY. In Proverbs it says the fool has said in his heart that there is no God. I may not say it...but I act like there is no God...by what I think, say, and do. It is JUST ANOTHER DAY...running on automatic pilot...going through the MOTIONS of my EMOTIONS.

"This is the DAY...which the Lord has made...let us REJOICE...and be GLAD in IT." (Psalm 118:24)

"Blessed--happy, fortunate [to be envied]--is the man whose strength is in You; in whose heart are the highways/roads to Zion. PASSING THROUGH the valley of WEEPING/TEARS...they make it a PLACE OF SPRINGS; the early rain also fills [the pools] with BLESSINGS. They go from STRENGTH to STRENGTH---increasing in VICTORIOUS POWER; each of them appears before God in Zion."
(Psalm 84:5-7)

Hey...the days keep on coming...just another day...after another day...after another day. But if you KEEP ON WALKING...you will PASS THROUGH THE VALLEY OF WEEPING/TEARS...and make it a PLACE OF SPRINGS. Just as we go from one ANOTHER DAY to another ANOTHER DAY...so we can go from STRENGTH to STRENGTH...increasing in VICTORIOUS POWER.

QUESTION: Is there anyone else going through ANOTHER DAY? Write me and let me know.

Love and Emotional Kisses
Rodney " " Boyd