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Doing right in your own eyes – isn’t a new idea!

Jul10
God’s way is always lit up!

Prevalent in society today is a philosophy that some feel is a modern day idea. It’s referred to as Self-Autonomy or Self-Rule. Meaning that the control of an individual’s actions and decisions stems from within the individual. And is based on personal desires, feelings, or societal influences. When they feel it’s necessary, they will put up boundaries to protect those freedoms. Such as cutting off communication with those they are in conflict with.

But guess what, it isn’t new at all. It wasn’t referred to as self-autonomy though. In Judges:17, 18, and 21 , we have the description of the Jewish people during the time of the Judges. Before their first king was chosen, the Jewish people were ruled by several judges. It was a period of moral confusion and disharmony due to the fact that everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Sound familiar?

Anyone searching for words to describe society today would certainly admit that we are in a state of moral confusion and disharmony. For you see, the same source that fueled human reasoning and false assumptions in the day of the Judges, hasn’t changed his game plan. And as long as people look within themselves to determine right from wrong confusion and disharmony will continue to build.

I think that those who are most affected by this ancient philosophy are today’s emerging adults. Considered adults only by their age they lack the wisdom that comes with time and experience. Some don’t feel the necessity of being accountable to God, their parents, or older and wiser adults. What they fail to realize is that relying on human wisdom alone without divine revelation leads to no good end. We are warned of this in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is the way of death.”

Therefore, I encourage young adults to examine the end result of such self-rule decisions. What are the consequences of neglecting God’s rule over self-rule? Can you really define right and wrong apart from God? Research societies that have replaced God’s rule with self-rule. What happened to them? Why do they desire to rule themselves? Whose voice are they listening to? What are the end results of your present choices?

When you arrive at the age of an adult, don’t make assumptions that alone qualifies you as ‘being’ an adult. Recognize this for the lie, fiery dart, that it is. The enemy will beguile you with all sorts of lies. And he will dress them up to make them enticing and believable. He will convince you to achieve your freedom at any cost. Even if you have to lie to or dishonor the older adults in your life.

Those who avail themselves of God’s truth can avoid the enemy’s deception. Remember that and be forewarned.

Lie or Truth/Can we tell the difference?…

May5

Today I am getting back to the basics of Fiery Darts. We are awash these days in lies. I’ve heard it said, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” (that may be a quote from Lenin but I am confident the original source is Satan himself, the father of liars. We all have been lied to so many times, we can’t easily recognize the difference between a lie and the truth. And this has been going on ever since the Garden of Eden. We are in pretty deep, so what are we to do?

Truth exists and is never changing. As Christians we know that God is Truth. The Truth that He desires for us to know is contained within the pages of the Bible. Therefore, all we have to do in order to recognize a lie is to compare it with God’s Truth. Yet, confusion reigns, generally speaking. So what’s the problem?

The following quote from my book I believe answers my question:

During a Bible study a few years ago, it became apparent that I had a problem identifying Satan’s lies. The major reason for this was that I was not familiar enough with the Truth of God’s Word. I discovered that five-minute, intermittent devotions, for years the characteristic of my time spent with God, was equivalent to not moving beyond the infant stage and drinking only milk. I had become spiritually malnourished and did not possess the strength I needed to distinguish good from evil. pp 29-30,Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, 3rd edition

Here’s what it boils down to. A Christian meandering in and out of the Bible at will, won’t be familiar enough with the Truth Thoughts contained therein. Understandably, when we are confronted with a lie our lack of familiarity with God’s Truth contributes to our not being able to recognize the lie. We will fall back to what we are most familiar with to decipher the lie. And if we are more familiar with the World’s view on the subject then we will go with that.

Prayer to thwart lies:

Dearest Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I need your wisdom to prevent anyone from taking me captive through philosophy and empty deceit (teachings that sound impressive but contain very little substance and are not grounded in Christ’s teachings) but based on the elemental forces of the world (that would be any godless idea raised up against the knowledge of God, 2 Corinthians 10:5) and not based on Christ. (based on Colossians 2:8)

Failure to read…

Jan22

When we fail to read our bibles, what are the consequences? What happens when we fail to read a map? We lose our way. What happens when we fail to read an instruction manual? We become confused. It’s no different with the Bible, we lose our way and become confused. In this state of lostness and confusion we will search for someone or something that will remedy our lost and confused state. And the dumbest thing we can do is to check out everything but the Scriptures for a remedy. Now I ask you. Why would we do such a thing?

Okay readers, the answer is simple. We live in a world predisposed to sin. With Satan prowling around seeking whom he can devour, those of us ignorant of the instructions from God’s word about sin are easy pickings. This ignorance on our part, sets us up for the enemy’s deception and manipulation. We become victimized by human reasoning and false assumptions. Therefore, not surprisingly, his primary weapon will be to distract us from reading God’s word.

Satan’s point in his deception is to desensitize us regarding God’s instructions. Therefore, in order that our faith will not be reinforced or strengthened by reading and learning from the Bible, Satan creates distractions. (Just give a thought to the recent distractions that kept you from opening your Bibles lately.) Subtle weren’t they. The enemy knows that the less we know about what’s in the Bible, the greater is his advantage.

Consider the things we watch on tv, the movies we attend, the books we read, or the people we hang out with. Let’s ask ourselves this question. Do we find ourselves less sensitive to the difference between right and wrong after watching these shows, reading these books, or spending time with these people?

If we desire to thrive as a Christian, which by the way is God’s desire, then we must seek His instructions secured for us within the pages of the Bible.

Worldly weapons vs God’s mighty weapons; Light vs Darkness

Nov3

2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

I have said this before but it bears repeating. When it comes to voting, in particular for our next President, we should be courageous enough to vote our values. And as far as Christians are concerned there should be no doubt as to what those values are.

Human reasoning and false arguments have been allowed to poison a portion of the Church’s thinking. It’s time to for the Light of God’s Truth to shine down upon our darkness and expose the lies we have embraced. And may God grant us repentance that we may come to a knowledge of the Truth, come to our senses, and escape the devil’s snare (fiery darts) having been captured by him to do his will. (based on 2 Timothy 2:24-26)

Building an arsenal…

Feb2

An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition (weapons) are stored.

You might be wondering where I am going with this but as Christians the sooner we make the connection that we are at war the better. I fear that far too many of us have become so distracted by the enemy that we aren’t even aware of the battle that is waging all around us. We are hanging out on the periphery of the battlefield with blinders on. Our attention is drawn only to our immediate surroundings. We have little awareness of the area of combat just beyond our vision.

First and foremost, we must understand the weapons of our arsenal are of a spiritual nature. Allow me to illustrate. Last year, my best friend of over three decades, passed away after a bout with cancer. In spite of the fact that I KNEW she was in the presence of God, I was devastated. We were kindred spirits. Our friendship was of an iron sharpening iron type. Without her presence and counsel, I sort of lost my direction. A dark cloud settled over me and followed me wherever I wandered. Which as it turned out, was often no further than my front porch.

Now, imagine with me the fiery darts of the enemy during these dark days. The voice in my head persisted in focusing on my loss. My only relief came when I was able to communicate and/or spend time with my children or grandchildren. Since they live quite a distance from me, our communication was minimal. And while my husband was sympathetic, it was beyond him to truly understand my heartache. No one was able to counsel me with the depth of understanding that could enable me to move on, to pick up my life again, and to find my new normal. Except for God!

As I cried out to God, here are some of the weapons He taught me to use:

Take one day at a time, don’t borrow from the past or tomorrow.

I will not leave you. I will be with you 24/7, helping you handle your pain

Turn to Me in this trial. My plan is not to allow this to defeat you but only to make you stron,ger.

Keep your thoughts turned towards me. Nothing in this world can compare to what I have for you.

I know what you truly need and it is My plan to abundantly supply those needs.

The above is just a sampling of the weapons with which God supplied me to ward off the enemy’s assault. They were the weapons of my arsenal. These were the truths on which God desired for me to focus. I knew about them due to a consistent search of God’s word. So when the fiery darts were hurled towards me, it was these truths and many more from the Scriptures that extinguished them. My weapons were of a spiritual nature. The world’s advice offered no lasting solutions.

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.  (2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT)

Never forget the world’s weaponry creates strongholds by manipulating our ability to reason. By not being familiar with God’s mighty weapons we won’t recognize destructive falsehoods. Lies morph into truth and Truth morphs into lies. It is only by being cognizant of God’s Truth will we be able to counter the enemy’s assaults.

What are the consequences of failing to recognize the weapons of our arsenal? Read the following:

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

If we never grow past the stage of infant food, we simply won’t have the strength or wisdom to understand or follow the path God has set for us. That means we won’t know the joy that passes all understanding even in the midst of trials. We will be fooled into thinking thoughts that deny the power of God’s word. All because we failed to build up the arsenal God provided us, when we became His own.

She’s gone on ahead…

May16

My best friend has gone on before me.

And I’m left behind

What do I do now when

I need her to pray for me

Or I just need to talk!

She helped keep my emotional balance

When life shifted & became upended

It worked both ways for us

For I lifted her up in my turn

Iron sharpening iron

We had that in each other

And in her final moments, I was prevented from sharing them with her

An event she look most forward to never happened

So we both were denied at the end

We shared similar dreams

We constantly found ourselves experiencing similar problems

As we helped guide each other through them

Our 20 plus years of friendship has been abruptly halted

Focusing on what I’ve lost is the tempter’s plan

I’ll not give in to that darkness

The things I don’t understand will just have to be filed away

To wait for a future revelation

In the meantime, I will grasp hold of God’s promises

He will never leave me or forsake me

He will work all things together for my good

He will be my strength at my weakest of times

He will give me reasons to continue moving forward

One day or moment at a time

What does it mean to think like a Christian, or not?

Sep28
Who should I listen to?

Before becoming a Christian, our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors were ruled by our personal desires. The aim of such desires is to fulfill thoughts centered on self, not God. Such thoughts and desires are heavily influenced by society. And if we allow today’s society to define what is good (instead of God’s word) then we enter a world darkened by the absence of God’s truth. As a result, our self-centered thinking sets the course of our lives, not God’s truth. So, if God’s truth is not our ‘go to’ authority on what is good for us, then what is?

The authority of inner feelings is now hailed as the authority of the day.(Back in the 60’s when the ideology of the day was “if it feels good do it” is nothing more than an update but with a wider following today on that same ideology) Better yet, if society endorses our feelings then we can feel free to express those feelings. And guess what, those thoughts will reinforce the idea that this is truly who we are! Back in the day, we called it rebellion. Today we call it expressive individualism.

The problem with this is that if an unchanging absolute authority does not define truth for us, then truth becomes something that is in a state of flux. What we determine as truth and what we reject as not being truth today, cannot be counted on to be the same tomorrow!

In contrast, upon becoming a Christian, our desire to please only ourselves, is put aside for the desire to please God. That voice inside our head telling us what is right and what is wrong, finds its source in the word of God. A Word that is absolute and unchanging.

Yet, as Christian we know that as long as we are alive, we now have two voices that compete for control of our thoughts. (Keep in mind that thoughts determines attitudes, and attitudes forms behavior.). Additionally, we know that the voice that speaks the loudest is the one we focus upon. Therefore, in order for God’s truths to speak the loudest we must be able to readily recognize it. If we do not consistently absorbs His truths, by spending time daily in God’s word and with God in prayer, then the voice of our flesh will take advantage of this lack of knowledge and drown out the Voice of truth.

Remember, to think like a Christian we need to have a sense of how God would want us to think. We aren’t going to know that unless we become familiar with what God thinks, right? And, the main place to find that out is in His Word. Otherwise, we will be allowing what we think to be determined by our self-centered nature.

What does it mean to show Christlike love to others who have rejected God and/or His ways?

Sep21

Even as we lived a life of disobedience, even as we rebelled against God’s standards of living, even as we rejected the existence of God, even as we refused to take God and Christ’s death seriously, God allowed Christ to be sacrificed for us. He didn’t wait for His ways to make sense to us before He offered us a solution.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7-8

Admittedly, it’s hard to have loving feelings toward those who boldly reject God and His ways. Our world is upside down these days. Right is wrong and wrong is right! And what is more alarming is this deception has seeped into some of our churches! We Christians struggle to figure out how to stand strong in our faith without alienating those who have rejected God’s ways.

This is a prime dilemma that Satan eagerly takes advantage of. Ever hear the silent voice that says, “If you are kind and accepting of this person who lives in a way that mocks God and His ways, then that’s the same as condoning their sin.” You see, Satan has us focus on this fiery dart in order to deter us from verses like Romans 5:7-8.

What we fail to understand is that we can be kind and forgiving towards those who have fallen prey to the enemy’s deception, without compromising our faith values. How can we be kind and forgiving? By understanding the complex truth of separating the person we have issues with from the sins they have embraced!

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,… Matthew 5:43-44

It’s a slippery path to find ways to separate the sinner from the sin, of course. And our upside down world has made it even harder. But acknowledging that God loved us while we were still living in our sin, should empower us to do the same for others living outside of God’s will. This will provide us with the motivation to care enough about that person to deliver God’s truth to them with kindness and compassion. (Perhaps, we have been guilty of delivering the truth without the compassion?)

While we may be rejected and even persecuted by those we have attempted, with loving kindness, to be honest with, we must be prepared for this. Courageous love demands that we be truthful, whether they reject us or not or whether they reject God’s truth or not.

Personally, I don’t think there’s ever been a time when God’s truth has been so distasteful to so many. And these days we must count the cost before delivering His truth, for we could be made to suffer for it. We must keep in mind this world is not permanent; eternity is. And where we spend eternity is determined by what we do about God’s truths while we live here on earth.

Unmasking our Idols

Jun7

Please fill in the blanks below:

_______________ comes first in my life.

_______________ influences the choices I make

______________ forms my perspective, attitudes, & beliefs

______________determines how I spend my time.

Whatever we write in the above blanks, is the force that rules our lives. It is what we worship, bow down to. It is our idol!

Next give the following some deep thought.

Can whatever we wrote in those blanks offer us eternal life? Can they offer peace in the midst of a storm? Can they offer solutions that just seemed beyond our understanding? Can they offer forgiveness. Can they offer guidance or light in our darkness? Can they put the broken pieces of our lives back together? Can they faithfully fulfill our needs?

Yet they do offer something. They can offer us eternal death. And existence forever separated from God.

Have we stopped to think that we have made other people, our jobs, seeking after money or pleasure, or even just pursuing our own will, the things we bow down to instead of God? If we give more consideration to these than we do to God, we have made them idols.

That may be shocking to us. Yet, hopefully this realization will shock us into making God first in our lives. That God’s word will influence the choices we make. That His Truths will form our perspectives and attitudes. That we will seek to follow God’s in how we spend our time.

These are not what they seem!

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry, 1 Corinthians 10:14,ESV

God’s Way vs Man’s Way

May31

In light of the trauma cast throughout our country in recent days, we grasp at words wherever we can find them to help us find sanity in this insane crises. And it seems to me it comes down to finding Truth. For without Truth, we will search in vain for words to bring peace in the midst of our chaos.

But how can our country expect to find Truth, when we reject the one true source of Truth? Nevertheless, we continue plunging forward under the false impression that we are doing so in the name of personal freedom. We have thrown off the restraints that have restricted what we became convinced would make us happy.

Here is a brief sampling of the restraints we have discarded:

Wisdom to discern what is good and what is not.

“Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” Proverbs 28:26 ESV

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”Psalm 111:10 ESV

Peace in the midst of life’s storms.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Soundness of mind/freedom from fear.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

So, when we throw off the ability to recognize what is good and what is not, where does that lead?

So, when we reject God’s peace, what’s the outcome when the storms of life face plant us to the ground?

So, when we cast off God’s offer of soundness of mind and to be free of fear, how will we know what to do when we are threatened?