The Uniqueness of Jesus

all-about-jesusDuring this time of year, I often hear the phrase Jesus, the reason for the season,” but I would go further, Jesus is the reason for life. Without His birth, His life and His sacrificial death our lives are meaningless. His lineage, nature, place of birth, where He would be raised, His career, purpose, the specific manor and nature of His death, His resurrection, all were told in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before His birth. How could you not believe? His life changed the dateline and history forever. Every day of His life was a fulfillment of scripture and a reason to believe that He was truly, “God in flesh.” The following is a composition that beautifully describes the uniqueness of the life of Jesus, it’s called “One Solitary Life” and gives a fresh perspective of the simple, yet impactful life He lived.

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the Navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life.

As we prepare to celebrate our Saviors birth, be encouraged about your life and family. Those who lived and watched Jesus could have never predicted His impact and may I say that the impact that you are having on your kids and family is greater than you could ever imagine too. Often we look at what we’re not doing, what we lack and how inconsistent we are but I challenge you this Christmas season to talk about the possibilities, the dreams and the great benefits that are yours because of one simple solitary life. Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.

Hit the Pause Button

Thankful-Grateful-Blessed-Sign.jpgOver the past month I’ve taken notice that many retailers are returning to age old tradition of being closed on Thanksgiving. I’m glad to see this trend because over the past few years it has seemed that Thanksgiving was disappearing, being discarded by greed and materialism, the very opposite value that Thanksgiving is all about. In a time that is so filled with anger and hate I think it’s important that we take time to pause and re
flect on the many blessing we have as Americans and Christians; to say thank you, I’m grateful and I’m blessed.

If we are not careful we’ll miss the fact that we are surrounded by so many awesome people and cultures who call Life their home. If we don’t stop or pause, we’ll miss something very special that is right in front of us. One of the great pleasures we all get to share in is the many cultures that make Life their home, our kids get to interact with people from the nations of Pakistan, Indonesia, Congo, Mexico and Guatemala just to name a few. Though I am a simple hamburger and fries or pizza guy, Mary and I been afforded to have cultural dinners from Pakistan and Indonesia and participate in a Pakistani wedding and let me say, if you haven’t been to a Pakistani wedding, you have missed something unique. There are so many wonderful stories here at Life and if we don’t slow down, we’ll miss them. Stories like the one of Scott Gascho carrying extra clothes in his car for 14 years so that if Keri ever decided to be baptized, she would have fresh clothes to wear afterwards. Now that is faith! Stories about our wonderful heritage, like the one we heard from Phil Yadon earlier in the year about the faith and miracles that was a part of his early life. I was so inspired by his testimony, my faith for miracles went to a new level for this generation. Stories about the prayers of Jim Coffey’s mom while he was a kid. Imagine neighbors setting out on their porches listening to her prayers as they filled the valley, waiting to hear their name as she called out each family.

May I encourage you to stop this month, put the brakes on all the things of life that you feel have to get done and get to know some of the great people who worship with you, who are a part of your church family. If we don’t, we’ll miss stories about how people met and married, how they came to their walk with God and stories about how God did the miraculous in their life. We’ll miss stories that will encourage our faith, strengthen our resolve and we’ll miss the opportunity to be blessed with new friends and relationships. Make a plan in November to hit the pause button. If you will, you’ll be more thankful, grateful and blessed this Thanksgiving.

My Pastoral Appreciation

Ephesians 4:11
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets,
and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers

By definition the word pastor simply means, a spiritual overseer. It is important that throughout our lives we have men whose job is simply to oversee our spiritual life and wellbeing. They are to give us guidance, instruction and principles from the Word of God to help us in our journey. They are to pray over us and be concerned about our eternal destination. This month I wanted to take a moment to focus, reflect and thank the men of God who have shaped my life, family and ministry.

I first want to recognize my dad as my first spiritual overseer. I’ve watched as my dad has led our family; navigating us through turbulent times. He taught me that church was not an option, it was a privilege. We made every service, every week. If there was a revival or a prayer meeting, we were there. If there was a call to fast, we fasted. When he saw that his son was struggling with church and God, he made the change to get me and his family to a better place. He never questioned or compromised doctrine, always stood for truth and when he was called to serve, he did. He sang, worked with youth, taught Sunday School, ushered and has served on church boards for over 30 years. An indelible mark he left on my life was one of the few times I saw him cry. I had just walked in for prayer before a Sunday night service. When I walked into the prayer room, he along with other board members were wailing and sobbing, I thought someone had died, but in reality it was that his pastor was leaving. This is the kind of love my dad showed me for God, church and his pastor.

hqdefault.jpg
N.A. Urshan

The second man of influence is Pastor N.A. Urshan. He was a man of vision, he understood that the church must remain relevant, a man ahead of his time and a man who wasn’t afraid to go against the religious norm. He wasn’t aware of the influence that he was having on a 13-year-old life, he didn’t realize that one day I too would pastor and had no idea that his beliefs and ideals would become mine. We came to his church in a time where my interest in God was waning. It was a time where it seemed churches preached against everything that was “fun.” Pastor Urshan went against the grain. He understood who he was, he understood his time and he understood what it took to reach the next generation and the world; he preached more about a relationship than rules. It wasn’t too long after we arrived that our family got a TV, I went on my first gym bowling day and high school football game…I thought that I had arrived! He had young people in the orchestra who played basketball on the high school teams and young people who didn’t have it all together in the choir. My parents approached him about his methods at one point and paraphrasing him he said, “as long as they are here I have a chance for the gospel to change them.” It wasn’t but a few years later that I was filled with the Spirit and felt my call to the ministry. Now forty years later, I find myself pastoring much the same way as Pastor Urshan. I pastor as I do because I watched how Pastor Urshan never wavered off the doctrine yet had understanding for the need to stay relevant. I learned what he understood, that methods may change, but the message never will. Today, I try to mimic his methods in my generation and teach the next generation the same.

20150215-untitled-10-of-28.jpg
James Larson

The third man of influence is Pastor James Larson. He came into my life at a critical time and tattooed my heart with a love for prayer and worship. He was 25 years old, was 6’8” and loved basketball and God. I was 15 and when I saw his passion for the things of God I decided that was what I wanted too. He had more faith than common sense, but his faith built what is still one of the largest church auditoriums in Indianapolis and tried whatever to get people to Jesus including billboards, commercial radio spots, bumper stickers and even an egg hunt in a park.  But it was his passion for prayer that forever changed my life. Every Sunday night an hour before church he would be in the prayer room crying out for God to pour out his Spirit. He would circle and every once in a while you would feel his shadow as it stopped over you and you knew it was coming, his hands would go on your head or back and he would pray over you like Jesus was coming that night. He had all night prayer meetings and weeks of prayer and fasting and I saw how it changed the church and reached a community. He attacked the platform the same way, tambourine in hand and the spirit of worship in his heart. I know there were times when he had more stress and more problems than we could ever imagine, but when it was time to worship, he came to worship. He’s been away from my life for over 30 years now, but the influence of prayer he put in my life has shaped my beliefs and my ministry in a way like no other. If you wonder why I’m so driven for prayer, it was because of my pastor and his love for prayer. James Larson gave me the passion and understanding of the power of prayer and I if I can pass anything on to another person or generation, it would be the same. Pray.

dad_bible
James Kilgore

Time prohibits others who mentored me from a distance but I must mention men like Pastor James Kilgore who taught me how to live and preach with humility and Pastor Anthony Mangun who gave me a passion for the world and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Then there are those men who influenced Mary, thereby influencing me. I recently heard a message by her dad, Pastor Wayne Odum, preaching on the power of the Holy Spirit. She speaks so fondly of Pastor Kenneth Haney, his incredible faith and joining him and others at the church at 5 a.m. for prayer and it was Pastor Stephen Drury and his love for kids at the Tupelo Children’s Mansion that has created such a love for kid’s ministry in her.  These, along with Paul Mooney, and so many others, God put in our lives to shape us, our family and me as a pastor. It is because of them that Mary and I are together, have the type of home and family we have, and love God and His church the way we do. We are a product of the wonderful men who have poured into us, prayed for us and shepherded us. We have been blessed by so many so that we could bless others, we’re thankful for our pastor’s, our heritage and what they have put in us so we could serve others.

This blog is a part of a series called the Tribute Series, My Influencers.

As For Me and My House

Joshua 24:15
“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Your home and family are as individual as a snowflake; no two are alike. Drive down the street and you might see two houses that are identical as far as model, but even the outside will be different. Paint colors and trim will likely set them a part, landscaping will be different; some will have more shrubs and flowers while other will have more trees and plants.  Once you walk inside a home that’s when you will really notice the difference. Rooms will be painted to match the family personality, furniture will take on a certain style and I would even suggest you can feel the tone of the family when you walk into a home, it’s atmosphere takes on your personality.
Just as we design, paint, and fill our physical homes, I suggest that we design and set the tone for Gods place and presence in our homes and lives. The Month of the Family is designed specifically to bring us to a time when we look at our families and focus on how we can improve God’s presence in our homes. Each day of our life, we decide what the “spiritual temperature” is going to be. God has given us the options to what spiritual homes and lives should look like by saying, “choose today who you will serve.” Notice he says, “today” because it is an every day decision, not just a one moment in time choice. By our daily choices we fill our lives, families and/or homes with chaos, disfunction, calmness, peace, prayer or His presence; while this list is just a sampling, My House.jpgit makes us aware of the assets, options and features available to us daily. Although a church or pastor can help guide and influence someone’s decision, its leaders of homes that ultimately make the decisions as to what their spiritual values will look like and the atmosphere of their homes. Want a carnal home? Feed the flesh, make worldly events a priority over God’s house and pursue pleasure at all cost. Desire a home with God’s presence? Start every day with sincere and passionate prayer, fill it with songs of praise and worship and look to the Bible for instruction and wisdom to guide your choices.

Joshua set the tone for the Month of the Family early in the Bible. He took time out of his hectic life and gave the people he led instructions for success. While he couldn’t force others to make the right choices, he gave them a choice and then modeled it in his own life. Some 5000 years later the words to the people he led still ring true, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” As for me and my house we have decided to follow Joshua’s advice, what will you choose?

Let it Overflow!

John 7:37-3
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said,
‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

Drought, pretty simple to define, it is the absence of rainfall. It hits us in the dog days of summer. It seems we experience it every year here in central Indiana. Yards and gardens that looked like the Garden of Eden in May suddenly are desperate for rain. Yards turn brown, flowers wither and plants wilt under the heat, but then a summer soaker; rain, a deluge, buckets, cats and dogs, whatever you want to call it, but suddenly flowers and plants that looked dead spring back to life. If they could talk I imagine we would hear, “ahhh, finally, rain, I was so parched.”

How about you. How long has it been since the rain of the Spirit has fell on your heart? Hope fading? Joy withered? Faith famished? Prayer life lifeless? A few months ago you felt so alive but now you’re in the midst of a spiritual drought. What your soul is in need of is a good refreshing of God’s Spirit…a deluge, just a straight down, hard pouring rain of
God’s Spirit on your heart, life and family. There is nothing like it! Refreshing. Invigorating. Joy that cannot be contained. These are just a few of the Overflowwords you will use when the fresh rain of God’s Spirit falls fresh on you and your home. Will you join with me as we hit the dog days of summer and pray that God will send a storm of His Spirit on you and the Life Community? Let’s pray, not for a passing shower, but a Holy gully washer! Jesus, open up the windows of heave and pour out your Spirit here Sunday after Sunday, in us individually and in our own homes. Give us times of refreshing, saturate us until we overflow!

Choose Your Battles

Did you know that Jesus had 39 accusations flung at Him while He was on earth? Talk about learning how to pick your battles! Why so many accusations? To teach us how to deal with conflict. What did He want us to learn? First, realize that as long as there are people there will be conflict. There will always be someone who will disagree with our choices and because our choices don’t align with their belief, those people often bring conflict into our lives. Second, how we react is more important than the conflict. Third, we have to pick our battles and decide which hill is worth dying on. Among the 39 accusations were charges that He healed someone on the Sabbath, was eating with sinners and that he was breaking, not the Law, but the sacred Jewish traditions. Jesus’s reaction? He continued to heal, continued to eat and He continued to do what was right. He understood that none of the accusations would stick and that His life and time would reveal the truth. Jesus knew which hill He was going to die on and none of those issues were worth the fight. He knew His hill was Calvary, that He was going to going to be accused of being God and that He was going to die for the sins of all the world. That was His hill; the battle He chose.

battleWe too must decide what battles are important. As a Spirit filled Christian I have simplified my battles down to four dynamics. First, I believe the Word of God is infallible and that it needs to be read regularly and with a desire to know Jesus, not theology, not religious tradition or facts. Paul said it well in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him…” Second, I believe that Jesus is God, that He spoke the world into existence, robed Himself in flesh and through Calvary, offers us the opportunity to have His Spirit live in us. I believe He wants us to humble ourselves and repent, identify and acknowledge His work on Calvary through baptism in His name and He wants us to know we have overcoming power by having His Spirit inside of us by initially speaking in a language we do not know. Third, I believe that prayer is the most powerful tool a person has. We never completely defeat sin. Prayer is the tool that must be used every day, it is the power that keeps our flesh under control and gives the Spirit influence and the power it should have in our lives. Finally, I believe that we must live Godly and Holy. While our righteousness is as a filthy rag, God calls us to live distinctively and modest. This is reflected in our desire to please Him, reflect Him in every part of our lives including our attitude, appearance, actions, spirit and motives. There will always be hypocritical religious accusers just as there were in Jesus’ day. There will always be those making accusations about the latest issue, trying to bring chaos and conflict into your life. Settle who you are, choose your battle wisely and decide what accusations are worth your time and energy and let God be God in your life.

Created to Soar

Isaiah 40:31
“but those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and
renew their power; they will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles…”

Thesoarre was a traffic jam in our backyard, too many birds and not enough perches at the bird feeder. Observing the traffic jam I noticed that birds can’t hover, they can flap for a few seconds but then they have to fly to a branch or land. My observation taught me that birds, well at least most, are created to soar, to fly, not hover. If you’re a bird and you want to hover then find a brisk wind and fly into it and let it lift you…otherwise move on, you were created to fly.

What is true of birds is true of Christians, we were not created to hover, to stall out but to soar. We were created to experience the wild side of life, to test the limits of God’s creativity, to dream, dreams to see visions. In the short time the disciples had with Jesus they saw something new every day; water turned into wine, mud turned to eyeballs, dead men called back to life just to recall a few…a day with Jesus was anything but dull and boring. Jesus didn’t hover! Unfortunately, in today society too many Christians want to hover, stay in the same place, stall around the same issue and park at their problem. Sure brisk winds of difficulty will blow into our lives from time to time but when they do all we have to do is turn and face the wind and wait upon the Lord. Isaiah said, “but those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; they will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles…” Even in difficulty you were created to soar!

My challenge to you today, live your life with expectancy! Take the training wheels off the bike, the plastic off the seats, kick up some dirt and live life in the zest and zeal God created for you to experience as a Christian. Dr. Seuss said, “Oh the places you can go…” if only you soar. Stop living at street level, get above the mundane of a surface level life. Live in the fullness of the faith God intended for you to experience. Soar!

How Big is Your God?

Isaiah 66:1a
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool…

How big is your God? A big question. In a sense, we control the size of God. Yes, you heard
me, we control the size of God. Sure, He sits in Heaven and the earth is His foot stool, but that does not determine how big your God is. Your God is as big as your prayer and your faith. Expect little, get little. Expect a lot and we will get a lot. Ask for nothing and get the same, ask big things and see God make big things happen; not outside of His will, but ask anything in His name and it shall be done (John 14:14).

Picture1.pngMy God is big! Nothing is to difficult for Him, nothing surprises Him and there is no situation that stumps Him. My God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above what I could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). A blind man asked for sight, no problem, God makes a little mud and suddenly blinded eyes see. A petition by a parent of a grievously ill girl, no problem, “I’ll come and heal her.” A cripple on a stretcher is dropped down on a cot from a roof, no problem, “He forgives his sins and then, oh yes, says “take up your bed and walk,” and he does!

So how do you answer the question how big is your God? May I submit that He is no bigger than your request, faith and hope. It’s not a question of whether He can, but if we believe He can. Got something big going on in your life. Take it to Jesus! Don’t ask, “can God” turn it around and say, “God can!”

The Spirit of Matthias

We never see him in the gospels Picture1.pngand our first introduction to him is when he suggested as a potential candidate for the position of an Apostle. It is noted that Matthias had one notable quality for Apostleship, he was faithful. Up to the point when he was chosen to be a part of the twelve we don’t know one thing about him other than he had been with Jesus. The Bible says that from the time that Jesus baptized John until the time that Jesus ascended, Matthias had been there. He was there, in the shadows, listening, watching and observing. He had one necessary and required quality, he was faithful.  We don’t know of one message he preached, one miracle he preformed, we only know that he was faithfulness and loyalty, he was consistent. As far as we know, Matthias was not chosen based on his skill, knowledge, ability. The highest calling in the New Testament was to be called an Apostle and when it came time to choose the twelfth Apostle, the quality that got Matthias noticed was that he could say was, “I was there.”

May I encourage you to do something today? Make a decision to have the spirit of Matthias. Pray for the ability to have the ability to keep being faithful. Get an “I’ll be here” mentality. Regardless of what tries to get in your way, stop you from being faithful, keep coming to church, keep praying and coming to prayer meeting and praising when you don’t feel like it and it doesn’t make sense. There is power in just being there, in being faithful. The word success is only seen once in the bible but the word faithful is mentioned 105 times. If the you want one phrase said when you finish this life and enter into eternity it is, “well done you good and faithful servant, enter in.”

Five Trees

trees.pngWe have an area where five trees are grouped together. Two were planted five years ago when we moved into the house. Today one of those trees, a maple, is the tallest in the yard. The other is a spruce, its growth has been slow and steady, but regardless of the season, it never loses it beautiful green color. Between those two trees sets another tree we just added a couple of years ago, a birch. When it was planted it was half the size of the maple but in just two years it has nearly caught it in height. To the left of those three trees sets yet another. It’s the newest of the trees, an ash, not nearly as impressive as the others right now but some day if it survives the seasons it will be the tallest tree in the yard. In front of it says the fifth and final tree. It is one of the oldest but the shortest of all the trees, a cherry tree. Today none of the trees look very impressive, four of them appear to be dead and the spruce has lost its shine, but don’t be deceived, they are very much alive, its just all the growth is happening under ground. In a few weeks they will explode with life! Colors will explode, new branches will appear and some will even have flowers blooming and produce. Though they differ in variety, mature differently, have varying shapes, size and color we call them all trees.Saints.png

In the Epistles, Paul refers to those who have been baptized in the water and with His
Spirit as saints. We sometimes expect every saint to look the same, mature at the same rate and act the same way. How foolish, we don’t expect that of a tree or even our children, but somehow we’ve come to expect it out of people in a church. Paul simply called us saints, people in the process of becoming what God has called them. What makes our yard beautiful in the spring and fall is the variety of colors, leaves and varying sizes of each tree. What makes a church beautiful is when we come to an understanding that we are all saints, some growing faster than others, mixed together old and new, some that look better than others at times but when we are all together and appreciate one another it makes for a great place group to be a part of. Turn off the judgment and critical assessments of one another and appreciate how God has created each of us. And if I’ve got it figured out at all, God plans on adding more variety to Life Connections! So be who you are and enjoy those he put around you.

The Life Source

John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows.

In the Old Testament the simplest way to defeat an adversary or to remove someone from land you wanted was to get rid of their water supply. Many towns and cities throughout the Middle East where the stories of the bible played out had no natural water supplies, meaning the only way to get water was to dig wells.  The digging of wells was a painstaking process involving surveying the land, digging out the soil, building barriers around the well and finally securing the area from those who would want to steal the well. Once a well was built and secu
red it meant there could be life, your family, livestock and crops could survive. Many battles took place over wells, those who built fought fiercely to keep them and those who wanted the land would either try to capture or destroy the well by filling it in or poisoning them. The well of meant everything in life. One of the most famous wells was Jacob’s well. It must have been surveyed well, dug deep and protected like no other. It was built by Jacob in the book of Genesis and as Jesus comes to the woman at a well in the New Testament, she proclaims, this is our father Jacob’s w260218_145_logo-image.pngell. Wow! The well had been preserved for over 2000 years. What an accomplishment. Today, 2000 years later if you would go to Israel, you could still go to Jacob’s well. It’s small, well protected and there is very little water, but it is still there.

As we move into 2016 I want to encourage all of us to protect the source of Life, our relationship with God above everything else in our lives. We must remember above all our relationship with God and our eternal destination is the most important issue of our life. God has given us instruction on how we can have a vibrant life and we must protect those life sources. Like the adversaries of old, we have an adversary that would like to steal, kill, destroy and or corrupt our life sources (John 10:10). Though we have many success and earthly blessings, the life sources are vital and critical to securing your eternal life with him. So what are our life sources?

The Word of God. Jesus calls it the bread of life. We must change our view of the Word of God, it is not just another book, its not crusty and dusty and out of date, but if we slow down our life and become intentional about reading it with hunger and desire, it will enhance our life beyond our imagination.

Prayer. It must become part of the fabric of our life, because it is the essence of life. Without prayer there is no life source. Prayer is done corporately, it done individually but most of all it must be done continually. Prayer is being available for God to talk to you at any time. When it becomes a part of the fabric of our lives it brings humility and it will give us wisdom, protect us, guide us and bring us more joy and happiness than we can any pleasure of this life.

The Spirit. The infilling of God’s Spirit and the continual filling of His Spirit is God in us and is the most powerful life source a person can have. It is literally having God inside of us. Before His Spirit is inside of us we have no power of our bodies, sin or adversary, after the His Spirit fills, we have unlimited potential! With God in us and us humbling and submitting ourselves to the Spirit, it will lead us to dimensions beyond our wildest dreams, we will walk in places beyond our comprehension and He can let His Gifts of the Spirit work in our life to impact others.

Live repentantly and humbly. Paul said we must die out to ourselves daily, live humbly and under submission to God and His Word. This can be done by having a regular time of fasting and commitment with God. John’s entire life could be summed up in one phrase, “I must decrease and He must increase.” He understood that Jesus was his life source and source of power.

Be faithful to His house. Make it a priority above all else, there is no greater invitation. Some people look at it as having to come to church but a true view is, “I have been invited to God’s house!” Wow! What a privilege. Unfortunately, we don’t look at it that way and we give importance to other things and events over God’s invitation. What greater invitation is there that we can be given than to come to God’s house? Be inspired on Sunday’s, be educated on Wednesday and be empowered on Saturday. Let’s realign our perspective!

In closing I ask, how’s your life sources doing? Are they being filled in with the cares of this life, poisoned by carnality? Has your life source become your education? Your job? Your successes? Your social status? Your material possessions? How do you answer that question? Begin to look at what you give priority too, what you give your time to. If those priorities don’t align with God’s life sources then it may be that the adversary has been creeping into your life, filling in your wells, stealing the very life you fought and worked for, for so long. Protect your well.