Peace of mind

Bronc riding: not a source of peace of mind!

Notice the Philippians chapter four freedom, wholeness, mental health sequence so far: 1.Build relational harmony. 2.Rejoice. 3. Pray. 4. Be grateful. Results? Peace of mind. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

“Peace of Mind" is defined by Wikipedia as, “The absence of mental stress or anxiety, and the presence of serenity, calm, quiet, comfort of mind, an inner peace. This shows the importance of peace of mind for overcoming and preventing stress and anxiety. It is actually the antidote for stress and anxiety. Making the mind quiet and calm prevents anxieties, worries, stress and fears and awaken inner strength and confidence.

"Peace of mind is an inner condition, and is independent of external conditions and circumstances. Someone well trained in it, and it is a skill that can be learned, can remain calm and in control of himself and of his mind, even in the midst of problems or difficult and unpleasant situations.”

I’d like to take Wikipedia’s comments and expand them with just one Bible passage. Jesus speaking in John 14:27 says, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” I believe that a level of peace of mind is attainable through training. However,Christ gives a depth of peace that the world can’t give – a peace with the Father, who is the source of “all we need.”

That is our challenge. Grow deeply in our awareness of how God provides for His children. Obey and act accordingly, praying with a grateful spirit. PEACE

Instead of getting anxious and fearful, instead of thinking negative thoughts and expecting the worst, instead of getting tense, unsatisfied and unhappy, you can choose to stay emotionally and mentally poised and unshaken. You can experience inner peace and happiness, as well as inner strength and confidence as focus is on our Source for life!

Some of the benefits of peace of mind:
# Deeper concentration to handle efficiently the daily affairs of life.

# It enables you to be less affected by what people think or say about you.

# It makes you feel relaxed and free, eliminating anxiety and worry.

Praying with a grateful spirit brings a peace of mind that is deeper than anything the world can provide for us. Our next post in the Philippians series will cover verse 8: focus.

Be grateful

The bulls provided for the Caldwell Rodeo had provided 300 showings with only 17 completed rides. I'd be grateful to get out of the ride with my life.

We are examining Philippians chapter four and its theme of ingredients for inner freedom, wholeness, and mental health. The sequence so far: 1.Build relational harmony. 2.Rejoice. 3. Pray. 4. Be grateful. which is today's focus.

And not just at Thanksgiving time! I’m reminded of the story of the elderly man in Phoenix who called his son a few days before Thanksgiving in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."

Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "Like heck
they’re getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of this." She called
Phoenix immediately, and said to her father. "You are NOT getting
divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother
back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their flights." Now, that is a little twisted manipulation to garner a thankful spirit.

Philippians four says, don’t worry. Pray, telling God your needs and concerns with a grateful spirit. I believe that an attitude of gratitude is the hallmark signal describing one with well-functioning mental health. If you believe the adage, “Everything is needful that God sends. Nothing is needful that God withholds”, it will be much easier to develop a grateful spirit.

Benefits of a thankful spirit:
1. Increases your sense of happiness. Happiness is really determined by our perspective in life not by circumstances. If we learn to be grateful people despite circumstances that will greatly improve our happiness.
2. Being a grateful, joyful, upbeat person person improves your countenance and your overall lookout on life, thus enhancing relationhips. Having a good friend is no problem for the grateful person.

The apostle Paul began most of his letters in the Bible with gratitude. To the church in Rome he wrote. “First, I thank my God for all of you.” (Romans 1:8) To the church in Corinth. “I always thank God for you (1 Corinthians 1:4).To the church in Ephesus, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you; remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:16). To the church in Philippi, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3). To the church in Colossi, “I always thank God when I pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3).

Paul made sure that he let people in the churches know that he was thankful for them. Imagine how much better our church and our personal relationships would be if we expressed our thanks for each other.

3. It will SOLIDFY YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. Which is the top benefit. Someone once said that God lives in two places. He lives in heaven and in a humble, grateful heart. Hebrews 12:25 says, “Let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts.”

How is a thankful spirit birthed and matured? Simple. Look at all the blessings of life you have. If need be, compare your lot in life with those living in refugee camps to give you a more realistic picture of how much you have. As Christians, the blessings are innumerable, now and for the hereafter.
Second, perform a fast. Fasting “complaining” for a month. Vowing you’ll not complain for 30 days. You may appreciate the results so much you’ll make it a permanent fast.

Pray, with gratitude, results in peace of mind which we'll examine next.

Pray

If I were riding that bull at the Caldwell Night Rodeo or was one of the bull-fighters, there would be a whole lot of prayin' goin' on.

Pray
More from the Philippians four chapter on health and freedom, the writer to the Philippians goes on to say, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Denial or ignorance is sometimes a causal factor for peace. But when we are plummeted into life’s challenges without an escape, true peace of mind is possible only through Jesus. We gaze into the face of the One who said, “peace I leave you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled.” The more we understand Him, His love and grace, the deeper the peace. No worry!

Less than 10% of what we worry about actually happens. Worry is a waste of time and energy and also indicates a lack of trusting God and possibly lack of communication with God. The Scripture is replete with passages declaring how God will provide for His children. He wants us communicating with Him about our needs. Pray about everything with a grateful heart.

We'll look next at "a grateful heart."

Rejoice

This bronc rider isn't rejoicing. A second after this picture was taken, he flew over the head of the horse, landed on the ground and amazingly you could tell that the horse deliberately avoided stepping on him, Caldwell Night Rodeo.
Continuing in the Philippians chapter four road map to freedom and wholeness, look at verse four as the next ingredient. “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” Happiness is circumstancial – determined by pleasant conditions. Contrasted with “joy” which is a choice of attitude.
According to Psalm 16:11 joy is found in the presence of God. So no matter the situation, if one’s focus is on the Lord, there can be a deep seated joy even in the midst of suffering.

2 Corinthians 6:10 addresses this issue. “Our hearts ache, yet we have the joy of the Lord.” A human response to a challenging time may be one of sorrow, but there is a realization that “Underneath are the everlasting arms of God.” (Deuteronomy 33:27) Nothing can come my way without His permission.

This applies to my stuttering and Parkinson’s. I’m not joyful about S and P. But most of the time, I can handle the stress of S and P, realizing God loves me and can use it to build character and a dependency on Him that can produce a much greater life than what I can do in my own strength. When I don’t have that mindset, the result is frustration, anger and self pity. Ugly, but my choice. The healthy alternative to the ugliness is the decision to rejoice.

Prescription for Positive Mental Health

This picture has nothing to do with the article. But it is rodeo time and just wanted to share some photos with you that I took at the Caldwell Night Rodeo.

How many times have you read a passage in the Bible and the umpteenth time you see something you've never seen before? That happened to me this past week. Philippians chapter 4 spoke to me in a new way. I'd like to share it with you these next few posts.

A desire remains in me to see people become free and whole, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Big bucks are spent yearly on health gurus, counselors and physicians to accomplish this task, to achieve wholeness and freedom. It won’t cost you a penny to learn from the health-producing pattern found in Philippians chapter four.

Relational harmony
The first ingredient in this passage pertaining to positive mental health is verse two: Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.



Relational disharmony is a fertile field for anxiety. Fear, worry, anger, guilt and resentment can so easily snare one’s peace and joy. God thinks this is so significant that in Matthew 5:22-23 He says, “Don’t worship. Leave the house of worship. Go reconcile with the person, then come back to worship."



The challenge described here is conflict resolution and that is simple. Simple, but not easy, because it involves both parties to swallow pride, admit their fault in the conflict and desire to change. Simple, not easy.

Tomorrow's post will feature verse 4.

Prayer

Calvin Miller has an interesting thought on prayer. “It seems that the greatest obstacle to prayer is the simple matter of beginning, the simple exertion of the will, the starting, the acting, the doing.

Starting to pray, we undoubtedly confess the noise and haste that prevent prayer. Where we volunteer for silence, and put our personal agendas to sleep, God comes to us, and His coming instructs our lives. Indeed, His coming becomes our life.”

Value of Praise

Some thoughts on “PRAISE,” adapted from Calvin Miller’s book Into The Depths Of God.”

Stand before the majesty of God. Let its splendor silence you. But when that hush passes, so must your silence. Then it us tume for anthems and glad hallelujahs.

There is no question of the greatness of Jesus. But our best praise springs from something else. Thanksgiving is the magnificent motive behind it. Vitality for living comes from a vital faith and a vital faith results in celebration. Praise grows from gratitude.

Those who will not praise Him may bypass the Christ of the inner altar and know only the Christ of theologians.

Praise is our gift to the Almighty. For all He has given us, gratitude is the only gift we can give back. His sacrifice was the cross, our sacrifice is the sacrifice of praise.

This will be short today. I tried to stop my table saw with my pointer finger, so typing is a challenge. Needless to say, most of us are not naturally praising people – to each other or to God. I find that to praise God, my most effective means is to quote praise passages of Scripture. Psalm 34:1-10, 1 Chronicles 29:10-13, Psalm 16:7-11 and others. Praise is a great decentralizer of self. Praising God refocuses from problems and challenges to God, the Source of solutions.

God, Where Are You?

“I believe in God. I’m a Christian. But where is God in my situation? Does He really care? It doesn’t feel like it.”

I often hear words of this sort in the counseling office, usually declared during the pain of divorce, a child’s rebellion, loss of job or some other peace-threatening situation.

Words that are as old as those found in Isaiah 40:27. O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

With the current economic and political upheaval, the threat of hyper-inflation and the Taliban, and my (insert your own challenge here), “God, where are you? Do you care?” Someone has said, “God, if you treat your children this way, it’s no wonder you don’t have more friends.”

First of all, Christ acknowledged there would be “trouble in River City.” John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Thus, we shouldn’t be surprised when “all hell is breaking loose.” In the world you shall have suffering, but notice the contrast of “in the world” with “in Me.” We are definitely in the world. However, if we are a follower of Jesus Christ, then we are also “IN HIM.” Galatians 2:20 tells us, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Yes, we are in the world with its distress, but the “I” that lives in this world is Christ in me and I in Him and He says, “Trust me.”

It’s interesting to note that the original passage we began this article with, Isaiah 40:27 is sandwiched between two powerful passages that encourage our trust in Him
Isaiah 40:25-6 “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.

Then the “where are you, God” verse. Followed by verses 28-31
28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

God, through the prophet Isaiah, reiterates His care for us in Isaiah 43:2
When you go through deep waters,I will be with you.When you go through rivers of difficulty,you will not drown.When you walk through the fire of oppression,you will not be burned up;the flames will not consume you.

My friend, whatever deep waters you are or will be experiencing, God is there with you (us), working it for our good if we are cooperating with Him.

My stuttering is worse. My Parkinson’s symptoms are worse. What does the future hold? I don’t know. But I know who holds the future and I know Who holds me in His hand. And that’s enough!

Holy Spirit

In my “formal” morning time with God today (some call it quiet time, others “discipline of solitude”), I was impressed with the Scriptures that spoke of quenching, grieving or as the NLT renders it “stifle” the Holy Spirit.

The questions arose: who is the Holy Spiritr; what does He do; how is He quenched and what does quench or grieve mean.

Who is He? Jesus introduces Him in John 14 and 16 as the parakletos, the advocate. John 14:15-17a “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, (Jesus was the first) who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth….

Parakletos refers to counselor, comforter in modern day application. The old English meaning may be more accurate: “someone who strengthens – an encourager.” He is the third person of the Trinity whose operation is encouraging, instructing, strengthening, convicting, guiding – all according to John 16, to bring glory to Christ

It doesn’t seem very productive to quench or grieve Someone who is doing such significant work in my life. So, I better learn what those words mean and how they function.
Vine’s Dictionary describes “grieve – to cause pain or grief, to distress.” Quench is rendered “to hinder an operation.” How do I hinder or cause pain to the Holy Spirit? Allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves.

The command: 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.

Scriptural contexts are Isaiah 63:10 – rebellion. Psalm 51:11 – David’s adultry and murder.

Possibly the most descriptive passage for grieving the Holy Spirit is found in Ephesians 4:20-32 20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”[d] Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

I appreciate the Holy Spirit’s guidance, comfort, instruction and encouragement. I’d prefer not quenching His work in my life. How about you? I hope that this brief study is helpful to you.

Yellowstone lessons - 2

“Spirituality is most mature when we arrive at a sense of abundance that is not related to the material. The great sin against God is to live in such a way that others don’t see us as wealthy in the spiritual sense. To live a shabby spiritual life makes others see our God as a poor Father. I don’t have to have material things to have contentment.” More pregnant thoughts from Calvin Miller’s book, Into the Depths of God.

“Contentment does not come from what is grabbed or nabbed. Contentment is not from what you grasp, but from what grasps you.”

I’m noticing that the more of my life I surrender to Him, the more of me He can grasp. The more of me He grasps, the more peace and joy I experience. As you saw in yesterday’s post, He didn’t have much of a grasp of my attitude at rainy, chilly Yellowstone Park. Peace and joy were not descriptors for me. My attitude made my Father look shabby. More lessons from Yellowstone!

Yellowstone Park lessons

Returned from Yellowstone Park last night (2 days early). Lessons learned:

1. Heed the weather forcast! Setting up the tent in cold rain, followed by 3 days of rain, sleet and temperature in the 30's was not conducive for a non-camper to be initiated into the ranks of naturalistic pundits! Consequently, the early departure. We'll try it again - someday - not soon!

2. I'm not as spiritually mature as a 70-year-old who has walked with God for 63 years should be. When recounting the event to some friends before we got home, my verbage was very negative: "You can't believe what my first camping experience was like..." That was my focus instead of the great connection with Theresa's children and nine grandchildren; and, the beauty of the surroundings, though viewed through a soggy lense, was amazing.

My opinion of spiritual maturity is this: to walk through a trying time, small or huge, (mine was comparably small), experience and process the normal feelings of the adversity, then focus on what God wants to do in your life through the event - resulting in an attitude of gratitude and praise to the all-powerful, sovereign Creator of the Universe (and me).

I believe one of the results of the experience was not only indicating to me the need for continued growth In Him, but also a preventative to spiritual pride, for which I have a tendency.

Got a long way to go! How about you?

Strain to Strength

Diverting from Calvin Miller, Oswald Chamber’s words were so powerful recently. He said, “The typical view of the Christian life is that it means being delivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in adversity. God does not give us overcoming life – He gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength.”

My kids were telling me of a message they had heard lately. The speaker had a car battery on the pulpit. He said, “This battery has two poles, the positive and the negative. If all this battery had was a positive charge, its power would fade and die. The same with the negative pole. Death is the result. However, if you want a battery to be of good use, it needs both postive and negative. We tend to run from the negative. "GOD, get me out of here."

These are two examples of the need for adverisity – call it strain to produce strength (like weight lifters), or the negatives of life that enhance the positive. Our natural bent is to pray that God would get us out of the adversity, when He really wants to use it in our lives to build character qualities that we wouldn’t have without the adversity.

. “Give thanks for all things. Give thanks in all things. For God wants to use all experiences we have to develop our character and to use for His glory.

Will check back with you in about a week. Going to Yellowstone

Prayer / Love Relationship

Continuing in Calvin Miller’s Into The Depths of God, breaking the tyranny of the urgent involves the disciplined life, part of which is developing a prayer relationship with the Father.

Miller quotes Fenelon, “Our conversation with God resembles that with a friend. At first there are a thousand things to be told, and just as many to be asked. After a time, however, these diminish , which the pleasure of being together does not.”

In discovering the pleasure of His presence, we learn that prayer is just being with God.The basis of really praying is longing after relationship.
IN conquering the tyranny of the urgent, finding pleasure in just being with God, leads us to fall in love with God. Then we fall in love with the wonder of our togetherness with Him propelling us into praise which is the language of spiritual lovers.

Miller closes the chapter with, “To be a godly disciple means that we transcend the clock, because to be with God mandates that we give our life to become one who waits on God for the sheer pleasure of his company

Tyranny of the Urgent

I love getting email from Montana Gary. His response to the last cobbler post is challenging and inspiring. I want to share it with you.

Quite the contrast between the tyranny of the urgent and the simplicity of the cobbler, the difference between being caught up and living in the moment versus living in God today.

One of the apparent difficulties of the current age is that Christians tend to judge the value of their relationship with God by the moment and not the long duration. In the age of the instant, long continuance is displaced for the satisfaction of the momentary. Yes, it is valuable to have moments with God but feel-good moments cannot be the expression of a life devoted to the Lord; we cannot measure the value of preaching, worship, devotions or even prayer by whether it was a feel-good moment. First, none of these have value to be measured by us rather than God; second, feelings are ill-equipped to assess the value of commitment. While it may feel good to have a moment with God, our enduring perspective is in an ongoing relationship with the Eternal One, to be developed into His image by His Spirit working within. This is a continuing process which may have moments but is not measured by their frequency or emotions.

This is an age where attention spans have drastically been reduced, where preaching must become shorter to match the attention span of the audience, where devotions become “on-the-run” remembrances, where we do not set aside time because we are already committed to filling all of our time with moments, of bursts of attention to whatever hold our fancy.

Instantacy has taken away the desire to take time to slow down, meditate, study, know, learn and relate; we have become a people of momentary gratification in which we grab bursts of experience but have little lasting change before we move on to the next moment. Commitment and satisfaction in the momentary does not promote the enduring and eternal in our minds and souls.

Thanks, Gary.

A Cobbler's Simple Faith

Calvin Miller uses William White’s lengthy story to illustrate a man who has broken through the tyranny of the urgent.

There once was a king who led his small country with justice and love. Unknown to his subjects, the king would put on a disguise in the evenings and roam the streets of the towns in order to understand life from the perspective of the people.

One night as he walked in disguise, the king was drawn to a simple cottage. The doors and windows of the house were thrown wide open and inside a rather robust man was eating and singing with great volume. Knocking on the door, the king inquired, “Is a guest welcome here?” “A guest is from God!” the man shouted. “please enter and eat wth me.

The king sat down and began to eat the very simple but substantial food that rested on the table. The two men talked freely, immediately feeling a bond between them. Finally the king asked, “What is your trade, my friend?” “I am a cobbler, “ came the enthusiastic reply. “Each day I take my tool kit and wander about town fixing people’s shoes. They give me some pennies, and I put them in my pocket. When the day is over, I spend it all to buy my evening meal.”

“You spend all of your money each day?” the kind asked incredulously. “Don’t you save for the future? What about tomorrow? “Tomorrow is in the hands of God, my friend,” laughed the cobbler. “He will provide and I will praise him day by day.” Before the king left that evening he asked if he might return the next night. “You are always welcome, my friend,” the cobbler replied warmly.

On the way home the king developed a plan to test the simple cobbler. The next morning he issued a proclamation prohibiting the repair of shoes without a permit. When he returned the next evening he found the cobbler eating and drinking and making merry. “What have you done today, dear friend?” the king asked, hiding his surprise.

“When I heard that our gracious king had issued a proclamation prohibiting the repair of shoes without a permit. I went to the well, drew water, and carried it to the homes of people. They gave me some pennies, I put them in my pocket and went out and spent it all on this food,” the cobbler sang. “Come eat there is plenty for all.”

“You spent it all?” the king asked. “What if you cannot draw water tomorrow? Then what will you do?” “Tomorrow is in the hands of God,” the cobbler shouted. “He will provide, and I, his simple servant, will praise him day by day.”

The next morning the king decided to test his new friend again. He sent his heralds throughout the land anouncing that it was illegal for one person to draw water for another. That evening when he returned to visit the cobbler, he found him eating and drinking and enjoing life as before. “I worried about you this morning when I head the king’s proclamation. What did you do?” “When I heard our good king’s new edict, I went out to chop wood. When I had a bundle, I brought it to town and sold it. People gave me some pennies, I put them in my pocket, and when the workday was over, I spent it all on this food. Let us eat.” “You worry me,” said the king. “What if you cannot chop wood tomorrow? “Tomorrow, good friend. is in the hands of God. He will provide.”

Early the next morning the king’s heralds announed that all wood choppers should report immediately to the palace for service in the king’s army. The cobbler-turned woodcutter obediently reported and was trained all day. When evening came, he was given no wages but he was allowed to take his sword home. On the way home, he stopped at a pawnshp where he sold the blade. Then he bought his food, as usual. Returning to his house, he took a piece of wood and carved a wooden blade, attached it to the sword’s hilt and placed it in his sheath.

When the king arrived that evening, the cobbler told him the entire sory “What happens tomorrow if there is a sword inspecion? “ the king asked.” “Tommorrow is in the hands of God, “anwered the cobbler calmly. “He will provide.”

In the morning the officer in charge of the palace guard took the cobbler by the arm. “You are to act as executioner today. This man has been sentenced to death. Cut off his head.”
“I am a gentle man,” the cobbler protested. “I have never hurt another man in my life.”
“You will do as you are commanded.” The office shouted.

As they walked to the place of execution, the cobbler’s mind was exploding. As the prisoner knelt before him, the cobbler took the hilt of hs sword in one hand raised his other palm to the heavens and prayed in a loud voice. “Almighty God, you alone can judge the innocent and the guilty. If this prisoner is guilty let my sword be sharp and my arms be strong. If, however, he is inocent, let his sword be made of wood.”

Dramatically, the cobbler pulled his sword from the sheath. The people were amazed to see that the sword was made of wood. The king, who had watched the events from a distance, ran to his friend and revealed his true identity. “From this day forward you will come and live with me. You will eat from my table. I will be the host and you will be the guest. What do you say about that?”
The cobbler smiled from ear to ear. “What I say is the Lord has provided and you and I together will praise him day by day.”