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.

Romans 14:19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may
edify another.
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."

OCTOBER 2007

STANDING STILL

Luke 18:35-43 Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road
begging. 36 And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. 37 So they told him that Jesus of
Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 39 Then those
who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on
me!" 40 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked
him, 41 saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."42 Then Jesus
said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." 43 And immediately he received his sight, and
followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Bros, when you travel in your car are you like always in a big hurry like me? You know when you stop at a gas
station and while you are pumping gas you are telling the youngin’s to go use the restroom and whoever is
copiloting is running next door to grab some lunch to go. Mean while you have a stop watch clicking off the
seconds and when the last one gets back into the car ready to go you click the stop watch off and tell everyone the
next stop we need to shave off 68 seconds… Isn’t it amazing how we don’t have time for anything anymore, where
did all the time go?
Looking to the Word now, Jesus had left Perea by crossing the Jordan and is coming into or coming near Jericho.
Matthew and Mark say this happened when He was leaving Jericho; in any event there was a blind man who was
sitting there. I can only imagine he heard quite a bit of talking and excitement in the voices and probably it was
pretty loud and maybe getting more intense as Jesus approached the area where he was sitting. You know that blind
man had to know something awesome was coming with all the sounds he heard, I mean I am sure he would have
been able to tell the difference if it had the sound of a lynch mob or another kind of angry mob sound to it. I am
sure he would have tried to get away from that area if he heard that kind of crowd. But today it was a great crowd,
a really excited bunch and maybe that is why he recognized Jesus was coming and addressed Him as “Jesus, Son
of David, and cried out, have mercy on me.”
They tried to quiet the blind man down but he got louder and again cried out even louder “Son of David, have
mercy on me.” This verse really caught my attention where it says “So Jesus stood still.” Think of that He stopped,
He had time, He heard his cry, He had compassion on him and froze and stopped from His busy traveling, imagine
that, stopping to tend to someone or listen to them or help them or care for them or share a scripture, or witness, or
confront or to comfort them or to pray for them. Here the King of kings stops and lends an ear to his plea and then
commanded him to be brought to Him so when he had come near He asked him “What do you want Me to do for
you?”
This reminds me of a story, I remember praying for a bro out at Uturn for Christ Men’s ranch a while back, as I
began to pray for this new believer, I asked him if I could pray specifically for a special need or touch from the
Lord or area he needed to hear from the Lord. He told me he was going to court next week and was looking at
going to prison for at least two years and had previously lost his drivers license from his last court appearance. He
asked if we could pray for the Lord to have the court have mercy on Him and that He wouldn’t have to serve time
and he could get his drivers license back in case he found a job he would be able to drive himself to work, also that
he could stay at the ranch and finish going through the ministry of restoration. So we prayed and asked the Lord to
sway the heart of the judge. Next week He comes running over to me and says you won’t believe what happened,
so I said what happened? He told me when he went to court and as soon as his case was called the first thing the
judge said to him was this "What do you want me to do for you today?" I said no way! He said, yes way! I said
what did you tell the judge. He said I asked the judge if he could let me stay at the ranch and not go to prison and if
he would give me my driver’s license back. The judge slammed his gavel down and said it is done as you say. I
was like Lord you are awesome; you talk about a faith builder this new bro was on fire for the Lord. He saw the
hand of God move with compassion and mercy and love towards him.

You see sometimes we are moving so fast and going to and fro we might miss out on how God would want to use
us if he puts a blind man in front of us. You know one that can’t see the things of God or refuses to see God or
needs to hear about God or from Gods Word or just plain hear God, spiritually blind so to speak…
This is when we need to be like Jesus and stand still and listen even though Jesus was only passing by, and then ask
what do you want Jesus to do for you, what would you like for me to do? How many times do we stand still, do we
realize we have the anecdote, the RX, the cure that this spiritually blind person needs so desperately, they need to
hear from Jesus. Fact is their hearts and mind may be poisoned by the lies and deceit and bondage of the enemy.
They might be locked in their own flesh constructed prison cell and we are holding the key if we would just stand
still and let Jesus use us. There is a lot of spiritual blindness in this dark world. Jesus would want us to shine His
light so they can see Him and follow Him. Remember those who are screaming the loudest are the most desperate
for Jesus’ touch in their lives, so just stand still & minister to them. Those in line at the bank or Starbucks, grocery
store, the guy you talk to at the local Home depot or it might be a food server or one of your neighbors, friends or
family. We all get opportunities to minister, share and witness in Jesus name everyday if we would stop- STAND
STILL & LISTEN. Whoever God puts in your path today ask them what they want Jesus to do for them- then pray
for them. Give God all the glory and praise!

Agape,

Daniel Wright
Iron Man Oikodome
Proverbs 27:17

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