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My Discovery? …Choosing My Weapons

Dec16
Ephesians 6:16

I mentioned in my previous post that I discovered in mid-life something transformational regarding prayer. This discovery involves connecting the point of our petition with something concerning that prayer from God’s word, the Bible.

Please allow me to give you a personal example. I’m 77 years of age. My husband and I have been empty nesters for some years. Our children now live in distance places. And as life progresses and the grans get older, coming home for Christmas isn’t as doable as it once was. Honestly readers, as a result, Christmas has lost some of its glitter for me. Not in the message, of course, but in accumulation of family memories.

As the scenes have changed, I have learned to draw upon God’s comforting words to dispel the fiery dart of loneliness. There’s a verse I learned as a child, This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 NKJV. This verse came to my mind as a weapon in combating the enemy’s attacks. I pondered this verse and it shaped my prayer. “Dear LORD, This day, this time, although not what I would choose for myself, is the day you have made for me. And since You have made it, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Framing my Christmas with this truth helped me maintain a more positive perspective. Therefore, EVERY TIME the sadness approaches I head it off with this verse. And the fiery dart is extinguished. The enemy’s weapon does not prevail. Instead, I defeat the temptation to think self-centered thoughts and began a nose dive into depression. I am at peace with what God planned for me. I am open to enjoying the Christmas God has prepared for me.

And the benefits or blessings by praying this prayer, is that my heart is open to the blessings available to me. Time not crowded with preparations for a big family gathering opens up new possibilities. Thus I am reading an Advent devotional which is powerful in fixing my focus on the true meaning of Christmas. As I focus more on the Christ child and less on myself, the sadness that stands in the wings is depleted.

So by lifting my shield of faith, God supplies me with just the right weapon to defeat the enemy’s attacks. Just when I need them, I’m reminded of Truths such as Psalm 118:24 & Ephesians 6:16. These words are the weapons that will undo and thwart the enemy’s plans. By spending time with God daily and His word, I am informed as to the particular weapon I need to choose.

Is giving God a portion of each day, by spending it with Him in prayer and His word, lacking? If so, imagine a warrior going into the battle without their weapons! Defeat is certain isn’t it! Which will be the outcome for anyone entering the battle fray without the proper weapons.

More about prayer…

Dec9

There have been volumes written about prayer. So, I really don’t have anything new to add to the subject. What I have to share will be a reminder to many. Yet for some it might just be a new discovery! I write that because it wasn’t until the middle half of my life that I made such a discovery regarding prayer.

I’l preface this by sharing that my prayer life has undergone various transformations over the years. As I grew spiritually that growth inspired alterations in how I prayed. For instance, as a young Christian, my prayers focused mostly on what I wanted from God. But as the years passed, and I learned more about God, my prayers focused more on what He wanted for me. Yet, it was an up and down journey which was directly impacted by my growth or lack thereof.

However, there was something missing. A failed connection. I use to remind my children and my students that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. That reason was that He wanted us to listen twice as much as we spoke. It took awhile for that to sink in and apply it to my spiritual life. For you see, I had failed to realize that while prayer was my talking to God, reading and meditating on His words was how God talked to me. What I discovered, well into my adult life, was that I was over focused on making sure God knew what I wanted. Yet, I wasn’t giving Him the opportunity to tell me what He wanted!

There’s a verse that showed me it was in recognizing God’s mighty weapons (His Word, His Truth) that resulted in my hearing God’s voice. It was what God said to me in Ephesians 6:16, “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one,” that I began to make the connection between lies and fiery darts. From that verse God referred other verses which led me to be able to recognize the fiery darts, reject them, and to replace them with His Truth. Truth thoughts that countered the lies from the enemy.

The key to communicating with God is to become familiar with His word. Leave the Bible reading out and we will only be talking to God. We won’t know what He has to say about our petitions, if we do all the talking.

Pray with an Attitude of Thanksgiving…

Nov25

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

Now in keeping with the subject of prayer and the season of Thanksgiving, let’s examine the above verse.

In today’s climate of problems, an attitude of thankfulness seems impossible. For many don’t even have a chance to enjoy the abundance of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. And with homes dealing with all varieties of trauma, celebrating Thanksgiving just isn’t desirable for many people.

So why would God tell us that in spite of all these problems we are not to worry? Then follows that up with the directive to take on an attitude of thankfulness. Whatever the situation! And we ask, “What?” Is this even possible? There is an answer to this question, and it is to be found in the Bible. For within the pages of Scripture, God reveals how to achieve this seemingly impossible feat.

In approaching God with our prayers and petitions, we need to focus on who it is we are presenting our prayers and petitions to. God, our Heavenly Father, Creator of the Universe, who knows everything about us and what is best for us. Who will never abandon us. Who is trustworthy. Meaning in light of all this, we can be thankful for who God is and thankful that He will work all this out for our good.

When we focus on all that we have to be thankful for, the things we are tempted to worry about begin to fade. Scripture also teaches us gratitude redirects our thoughts. The negatives are clouded out. The Light shines down upon us, highlighting endless possibilities of thankfulness. We will move from anxiety to thankfulness. And as the resulting peace permeates our thoughts we experience something beyond our understanding.

Therefore, when we are tempted to worry about the problems we are facing, personalize the verse in Philippines and turn it into a prayer:

Dear God, help me not to be anxious about my situation. In an attitude of thankfulness, I offer my petitions and requests to You. I come to You with thanksgiving, because You have always provided for my needs, You have always worked things out for my good and Your glory, You have never abandoned me. Knowing how much I have to be thankful for, I know a peace that is beyond my understanding. A peace that will put my heart and mind at ease.

Casual Christianity?

Nov5

Ever since World War II, there has been a steady decline in Christianity. In the 1960’s there was social upheaval, the sexual revolution, and a questioning of institutions. That fueled a greater withdrawal. And the steady decline continued.

In the meantime, our claim of being a Christian nation slowly faded. Sadly, it was accepted that we just weren’t what we use to be. We settled for a casual attitude in displaying our faith. It became much more acceptable to lower our aim. Living a committed Christian life wasn’t necessary anymore. Gradually, attending church or reading our Bibles grew less important. Life just got in the way and left little room to include a sincere faith walk with God. But have we stopped to consider the repercussions of such a choice?

A whole list of Pandora’s box lifestyles have emerged: same sex marriage, abortion, transgenderism, hyper individualism, rebellious and disrespectful behavior towards parents or any authority figure, cohabitation as opposed to marriage, and so much more.(btw, Ever read 2 Timothy 3:2-4?)

So I would ask, is the price we paid to have the freedom (or should I say license) to do what we wanted to do without the inconvenience of having someone speak against it given us the happiness we were seeking? Apparently not! For Psychology Today reports that Americans are not a very happy group of people.

But someone was happy about all of this. The enemy’s gloating laughter echoes throughout the country, in homes, in churches, in our schools, our places of business, the halls of government. Yet take heart my dear readers, for his seemingly incessant attacks can be thwarted. His glee can be diminished. How? By the power of God within us! Read on!

When we return to the realization that we need God. That we need to spend time with Him in prayer and His word. That’s the core weapon that we have access to. The mighty weapon that can tear down the strongholds of human reasoning and destroy false assumptions of the enemy’s fiery darts. And leaning into the Truth that God within us is greater than the enemy in the world. By remembering that God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a strong mind. And by fearlessly planting our feet of faith into whatever situation we find ourselves. By unashamedly proclaiming who we are in Christ. (Like I’m thrilled to be witnessing in the public arena these recent days.) By focusing on the mighty works of God in creation and in history, proving He can do anything. Starting by bringing individuals back to their senses.

Now is the time to draw upon the power of His might as is referred to in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might.” Only God’s strength can successfully stand against the spiritual forces that entice and manipulate us to be casual about our faith.

Follow His Lead…

Oct29

What is God’s will for my life?

That is a key question for Christian young adults. And a question that is often struggled over. As a young adult Christian, many moons ago, I needed to know the answer to that very question. So, I’m going to share my story of how God answered it.

After high school graduation, honestly I wasn’t asking God what He wanted to do with my life. There was a family member who had attended business college and it was suggested I look into that. Sounded plausible. I enjoyed my business classes in high school,, so why not. I enrolled and eventually secured a secretarial position.

The secretarial job gave me some independence but I still lived at home. I continued living at home and traveled to the city for my job. I figured I would eventually find some guy to marry and become a mom. When children came along, I would not work outside the home. That was my idea of what my future might look like. Now at this time, I still wasn’t consulting God about what His plan for my life might be. I continued moving forward into what I thought adulting entailed.

Then in my 21st year, due to the influence of a godly woman, my course changed. This lady had invited a college student, a former MK-missionary kid, to come speak at my church. After she spoke, she and I struck up a conversation. And as a result, she invited me to come visit her at her university, about one and a half hours drive from my home. So we made our plans.

At that time, my life was taking some ill advised detours. And slowly but surely, I began to feel the weight of guilt about some of the choices I had been making. Fortunately, by God’s grace my community of church friends began putting on the pressure to hold me accountable for those choices. Eventually, I began to listen.

From that point on, I began paying more attention to the people God brought into my life. I began to pay more attention to the situations that presented themselves. Eventually, I enrolled in the Christian college where my friend attended. I began reading my Bible more faithfully and spending time with God in prayer. And as I grew spiritually, God’s voice became louder. He asked me to do some hard things. And by doing those hard things, I proved, to myself anyway, that I was all in. Following God’s lead became my modus operandi.

Follow His Light!

So, you want to know what God’s will is? Start by just following His lead!

Charlie Kirk is now in heaven! Why is that?

Oct15

Yesterday, President Trump awarded posthumously the Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk. I turned to You Tube so I could listen to Erika and President Trump make their speeches. I remember thinking: I wish Erika and her children still had the physical presence of Charlie to hug them. I wish Turning Point still had Charlie’s physical presence to lead them. I wish America’s youth still had Charlie to lead them in finding truth or should I say TRUTH. I wish our country still had the presence of Charlie Kirk to help us in identifying evil. I wish we all still had the presence of Charlie Kirk to guide us toward faith and family and purpose.

But though he was taken from us by an assassin’s bullet, his influence and leadership remains. Satan and whoever was in cahoots with his plans, knowingly or unknowingly, have unleashed a force more powerful than they could have imagined. Satan never learns. He has tried the same tactic over and over to destroy God’s work. And turns out, he only upends his own evil plans.

Case in point: before Charlie’s death, there were about 900 college chapters and 1,200 high school chapters of the Turning Point organization. Since Charlie’s death, requests for new chapters has increased to 62,000. And that number continues to rise.

Additionally, at Charlie’s memorial service the seeds of revival that he had been sowing throughout his career, burst forth. As a result, many of our political leaders, newscasters, and people of influence are now boldly proclaiming Jesus Christ. As I heard Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, say in an interview the other day, “We aren’t the bad guys anymore!” speaking of the new found freedom to speak of Jesus Christ within the halls of our government.

May this momentum continue to build. And to answer the question in the title of this post. It wasn’t Charlie’s good works that took him to heaven when he died! As abundant as they were! No! It was his acceptance of Jesus Christ when Charlie was in the 5th grade that assured his place in heaven. And that is true of anyone and everyone who realizes who Jesus Christ is. God’s Son who came to earth and satisfied God’s wrath against sin by dying in our place. Thereby, assuring Believers of a permanent, everlasting, home in heaven!

Fighting against the unseen…

Oct6
God’s word reveals deception, if God’s word becomes your filter!

 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12 KJV

Let’s ask ourselves this question: ‘How much time do we spend in God’s word and in prayer.’ Unfortunately, there are some of us, though we call ourselves Christians, rarely open our Bibles. Additionally, we aren’t quite sure of even how to pray! Why is that?

If our vision is limited to only see the physical aspects of our social, political, or personal struggles, then we can fall prey to Satan’s manipulation and deception. Therefore, we won’t grasp that the real struggle or battle is on the supernatural level. And to wage war on that level, we need to be familiar with our Bibles.

For it is within the pages of Scripture where the enemy gets exposed. (Not surprising then is it that he would desire to keep us from opening such) Therefore, being able to identify the enemy and his tactics, we then search the Scriptures for the mighty weapons God has for us to use to defeat the enemy. Satan knows the 6th chapter of Ephesians, if applied, will upend his battle plan.

Becoming informed through the Truths laid out in Scripture, we will become equipped to weather the storms life will most certainly hurl at us. As we grow in this wisdom and knowledge, the curtain of deception is pulled back. We will conform to God’s Truth and be set free. The enemy’s fiery darts, sent to steal, kill, and destroy us will not only be exposed but extinguished.

Pray for discernment to see what is unseen!

Jump on board….

Sep24

I believe there is a Spiritual Awakening taking place in America. That it is most revealed in our college age young people is not surprising. For a decade now, Charlie Kirk, has been visiting college campuses with a message of Truth as it applied to various aspects of their lives. Young people who are eagerly seeking purpose for their lives. Who are searching for something real and unchanging to believe in, recognized that in Charlie’s debates.

Over the years our young adults have been inundated with cleverly disguised lies within the liberal colleges they attended. Lies that the liberal segment have renamed and redefined to make them sound truthful. While at the same time, humiliated those who held to traditional faith beliefs. The faith our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote our Constitution.

But the tide is changing. And Charlie Kirk’s assassination has resulted in thousands, maybe even millions of college students to reexamine the lies they have embraced. Now throughout America young people are ditching those lies. Now they are rallying behind the Truth that has been revealed to them. Not only young people, but older people as well.

Did you listen to the speeches made at Charlie’s memorial service? Every speaker spoke boldly about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Savior. It had the flavor of a revival. Even our President said so.

I am 77 and I have never heard political leaders step up and confidently proclaim such faith in Jesus Christ! And the fact that I have seen this spark originate within our Generation Z community encourages me like never before. Their readiness to seek Truth and their genuine desire for what is real, is what God is using to spark this revival. It may be our last chance people, so jump onboard!

Church? Does God have your attention now?

Sep14

It wasn’t the gun that killed Charlie Kirk, it was the guy who pulled the trigger and planned the deed. He had a heart problem. For you see, the Church has compromised God’s truths. The Church has failed to stand for Truth. For generations now, the lies of the enemy have been subtly digested by our students in the public school system. It’s been a slow, methodical digestion. And the source of this deception has manipulated and deceived us.

We have arrived at a time in history where good has been redefined as evil. Our hearts have succumbed to the constant and repetitive lies of the enemy. So much so that now we are unable to discern what is really evil or good. These types of lies (fiery darts), dressed up to appear as truth, have been absorbed into our minds. And look at the aftermath of such deception!

Then along comes a man, Charlie Kirk, willing to boldly and publicly proclaim Jesus as God’s son! A proclamation that one rarely hears these days except in a church (and sometimes so watered down we don’t recognize it). And certainly not in the public square! And of all things, ties the truths of Scripture to the solutions we should be seeking for the problems we face in our society.

The Bible tells us that we reap what we sow. And 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NLV describes what it is that we will be reaping. Read it. Does it sound familiar?

This is the very thing Charlie Kirk was trying to warn us about. But we have been ignoring him, and others like him, and we are now reaping the whirlwind. So what needs to happen?

The Church, that’s you and me have been a sleeping giant for too long. Charlie’s death, a martyr’s death, I believe, will be our wake up call.

Remember:

2 Timothy 2:25, NIV, “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,..”

Alone but not alone…

Sep8
Ecclesiastes 3:4 – “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

We stood by your grave today in the context of a calm and comforting autumn day

It was the first time since your passing that the two of us stood there, together

We stood there gazing in unbelief (still) that your name was on that grave marker

We talked about the loneliness that hung over us since we have been separated

And intensified since you moved to heaven

We were forced to move forward, without you, and without the comfort of each other’s presence

We were each on our own, and loneliness has been our constant (but hidden) companion

But in time we were reunited for a short while

Enough time to recall the past memories we all 3 had shared

Memories that were fresh and made fresher in their recollection

I heard myself laughing like I always did when the 3 of us were together

But hadn’t since you passed away and our paths took different directions

Now our brief reunion has ended

But we have tasted the sweetness of our laughter once again and felt its healing comfort

Now we will move forward returning to our individual paths

While the echoes of our laughter lingers in our thoughts

and though on our singular paths, alone but not alone!


Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh. Luke 6:21 b