Iron Man Oikodome - "catcher"

Dear Bros in Christ, Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Brothers in Christ, this monthly devotional is sent and meant to be an encouragement to all and to build up and edify in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oikodome means "Builder". The Lord has put this on my heart to send out a monthly Iron Man Oikodome {oy-kod-om-ay'} to build up and encourage the men who love and follow Jesus Christ in their walk with Him. Hebrews 3:13 "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." AUGUST 2008 “CATCHER” Luke 17:18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" Who always catches us if we stumble and fall from grace? Who always catches us when we think no else will or Who always catches us when we start scheming and conniving. Who can know when we will fall and if we will fall and how far we will fall and Who can convict our hearts even before we ever fall or when we fall from Him who loves us or Who can convict us by using some thing or situation that may seem so small and trivial and insignificant and Who knows the exact thing it will take to bring about that change to catch us before we fall completely… Who is always there for us no matter what we are doing or where we are going or where we are at in our relationship with Him who loves us most. Who can bless you when you think you never ever should be blessed again because of where you are at in your walk with the Lord. Who can love you more than you could ever imagine or dream possible when you have fallen so deep back into the slimy miry pit that you feel like a filthy wretch that has let Him Who loves you down and feel like you cannot stop sinking or couldn’t sink any lower. The Lord Jesus Christ is the catcher of man whether you fall spiritually or physically, He will always be there if you fall or stumble. His heart is that you wouldn’t stumble or fall but if you do, He will always help you back to your feet, He won’t push you back or release His hold on you or leave you. He is waiting to catch you in His loving arms and grasp all your cares right now. And when He does catch us and save us so many times we do not give the Lord credit or the glory for how truly awesome and mighty He is, we down play miracles as ordinary things attributed to luck or circumstances, I think if we truly knew of all the calamities the Lord delivered us from and how He averted the affects from those stumbles and falls we took we would be astounded to say the least but the Lord is always there waiting to catch us and most times we don’t see Him but He never leaves us… Let’s thank the Lord that He says that in His word for us and He will never ever release His hold on us. God will always be our catcher hopefully we will always remember and acknowledge that fact of love that He has for us. I just read a story last week of an 18 month old baby that fell from a third floor window of an apartment in Brazil. The baby climbed up onto the couch that was in front of a window and somehow he managed to pull himself to the top part of the couch and then fell right off the top and went out the window behind the couch. This building had steel security spikes sticking out from it… The baby survived the fall, the police officer that was on the scene said first the diaper the baby was wearing saved him, he said it was a miracle because as the baby fell to the ground somehow his diaper got hooked onto one of these spikes sticking out from the building and broke his fall. The baby hung for a few seconds on the spike then the diaper gave way and he continued to fall the rest of the way to the ground. Miraculously the baby just got banged up a little. A newspaper reporter that wrote about this falling baby said that the spikes and diaper are what saved his life. The spikes stopped the baby and lessened his speed of hitting the ground so the reporter attributed that with saving the baby’s life. The reporter also said that it was a miracle because the baby could have been killed by one of the spikes. The baby was treated for minor fractures and was in stable condition. Notice how the police officer and the reporter gave the miracles credit to the diaper and the steel security spike, at the end of the article the father of the baby was

quoted as saying “It wasn’t the diaper that saved him,” “It was God.” Bros consider it totally weird when folks see a miracle but do not see the catcher and only one acknowledges Who the catcher is and gives the glory to Him the Lord God. How easily we forget who is always catching us and ready when we fall to be there to catch us in his ever loving arms. Whether we fall, trip, or stumble because we look away instead of staying focused and aren’t keeping our gaze fixed on Him in our walk daily with the Lord Jesus Christ or we fall out a window you can be sure He is always there to catch us- Amen! Glory to God Jude 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. Caught always by Him, Daniel Wright Iron Man Oikodome Proverbs 27:17