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How to spoil the enemy’s plan!

Mar8
   Recently, I encountered a major fiery dart attack. It was the type of attack that previously had defeated me (before I became schooled in how to successfully fight fiery darts). The attack tempted me to become angry. I was tempted with feelings of worthlessness  and feeling another did not think well of me. In the past this kind of attack sent me spiraling into depression.

BUT THIS TIME

I refused to open the door and allow the poison to infiltrate my thinking.

“Above all, we must be especially alert against the beginnings of temptation, for the enemy is more easily conquered if he is refused admittance to the mind and is met beyond the threshold when he knocks.” p. 46 FD

I brought the 3 R’s of fighting fiery darts into play.

First, I recognized the negative thoughts for the fiery darts they were.

Second, I resisted the fiery darts

Third, I replaced the fiery darts with God’s Truth thoughts:

Thoughts of anger were replaced with:

1 Corinthians 13:5, Love. . .is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong.

Thoughts of worthlessness were replaced with:

Philippines 3:9, . . . not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (My worth is defined by my relationship with Christ. No earthly relationship was designed to give me that)

Thoughts that another did not think well of me:

Zephaniah 3:17 – The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Knowing God loves me and rejoices over me, trumps and destroys any negative thought that another does not think well of me. And, please understand that the thought that another did not think well of me was a fiery dart itself. One that in the past nailed me, but not now!)

   God’s Truth spoiled the plans Satan’s fiery darts had for me. God protected me from being victimized by the lies the fiery darts would have poisoned my mind with by opening my understanding to the enemies tactics and how I could fight successfully against them. 

   This can happen for you. My book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, will show you how!

*Click on the image of my book in the sidebar to order

Tempted to fear? Then read on!

Sep14

These are perilous days in which we are living!

      Over the weekend another beheading took place and an attack on an US embassy by a terrorist group was foiled in a major African country. U.S. citizens there are being asked to be watchful and careful!

      Fighting in Israel has disrupted daily life now for months. In my own country, a Jewish friend fears for her safety when attending the synagogue to celebrate upcoming holy days. I understand that it’s typical to have armed guards surrounding the synagogue during these events.

        All over the world, persecution of Christians is on the rise. Much of it originating within terrorists cells, not only targeting Christians but Jews as well.

        I have friends in the city where the US embassy was put on guard. They are okay at present but have been warned to be careful and alert. I also have family members living in a not too distant area from there.

Am I tempted to fear? You bet, I am!

Do I give into fear? Not as long as I do the following:

First, as soon as the temptation to fear enters my mind, I RECOGNIZE it as a fiery dart.

Second, I put up my shield of faith and RESIST it.

Third, I REPLACE the fearful thought with a Truth thought, and in this case it’s 2 Timothy 1:7,For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Every single time a fearful thought seeks to embed itself into my thinking, I shift into Recognize, Resist, and Replace mode of behavior.

What is the effect of this behavior?

God tells me that fear is not something from Him. So on that fact alone, I reject it! ! ! ! ! 

   God tells me He has given me the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, instead. Therefore, any action I take, any words I speak, or thoughts I think, having to do with the evil running rampant in this world today should be defined by what God has given me–

NOT FEAR! ! ! ! ! ! 

Based on the following blog post:  https://fierydarts.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/the-3-rs-of-fighting-fiery-darts-revised-plan/

What is our calling in this era of persecution? What are the fiery darts that will distract us from that calling?

Aug12

     Slowly but surely the Sleeping Church is being awakened to the horrific persecution against Christians in Iraq. Those who react with disbelief cannot deny the pictorial reports of innocent children lying dead in the arms of ISIS soldiers. Suffering and persecution seems rampant from Africa, to China, to the Middle East, and even America (remember 911?)

AND STILL THE CHURCH SLEEPS?

MAYBE NOT!

WAKE UP TO SATAN’S TACTICS TO KEEP US DISTRACTED WITH FIERY DARTS.

RECOGNIZE that Fiery Dart thinking will insure the Church remains dormant!

-Of course, the initial response for many is to pray.  But the fiery darts will attempt to convince us that praying is a hopeless effort. 

-The fiery darts will have us focus on the horrendous images in the news, on the internet to the extent that we will be overwhelmed. We will begin to despair that the evil cannot be overcome and will continue to spread, no matter what we do.

-Guilt, is one of the most effective of fiery darts. It’s poison will have us feeling guilty for every blessing that is ours, feeling guilty because we aren’t over there trying to help, feeling guilty because the fiery darts have tricked us into believing there is nothing we can do. The guilt will increasingly weigh us down with every passing day.

-We turn our eyes and thoughts away from the genocide because the fiery darts induce us to think it’s too horrible to bear. So we coil up within ourselves and hide from the evil. Besides it’s far far away from us. Perhaps, it will eventually die down and just go away!

BUT HERE IS WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY IN RESPONSE!

-First and foremost Pray!

     Especially, Christians all over the world, but especially those of us in the USA. Can you imagine anything more horrible than children being beheaded and entire Christian communities being assaulted by rape and death? I can’t. Then what would only add to this gruesome image would be for Christians to think that praying was a feeble act.

(REJECT THIS THOUGHT)

(REPLACE  THE FIERY DART THOUGHT WITH THIS TRUTH THOUGHT)

But here’s how Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 felt about prayers: 

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,2 of mthe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us nrely not on ourselves bout on God pwho raises the dead. 10 qHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. rOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 sYou also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf tfor the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.-

I would like to share with you a commentary made by a fellow blogger about the above verse as it relates to the heinous events taking place in Iraq and around the world.

The grievous trial that made them despair of even living was given so that they would not trust in themselves, but in the God who raises even the dead (He became their ONLY hope) AND the PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS HELPED HIM!  Can I just shout it again?  THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS DELIVERED A GIFT TO HIM THAT EVEN THEIR PRESENCE COULD NOT

http://robertsfamilyhope.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/awake-oh-sleeper/

Don’t know how to word your prayers? Here’s some help!

http://www.radical.net/blog/2014/08/take-action-looming-humanitarian-catastrophe/

  • Ask the Lord to awaken the world to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Iraq and to provide pathways for Christians and others to respond.

  • Ask God to miraculously protect the Yazidis and other Kurds who fled into the mountains; ask Him to provide a means of rescue and temporary homes for the refugees.

  • Pray that ISIS leaders and soldiers would experience the love of Jesus Christ and that their lives would be transformed.

  • Ask God to preserve and embolden the small remnant of believers in Mosul and Kurdistan, so that one day through their witness, every Iraqi might have the opportunity to hear the Gospel.

AND MIGHT I ADD TO FERVENTLY PRAY 2 CHRONICLES 7:14. 

You can also GIVE and here’s how!

BP: “Help respond to Iraq’s refugee crisis by donating to the International Mission Board’s general relief fund or by texting imbrelief to 80888, which will donate $10 to that fund. To give through Baptist Global Response, visit gobgr.org/donate or text bgr to 80888.” (More info here)

Just Resist!

Jul16

     As some of you may know, I write another blog about being a parent of a foreign missionary, giving a transparent view of what that’s like. This post gives some insight as to what I’ve learned about fiery darts as it applies to being the mom of a missionary. 

All 9 of my treasures!

All 9 of my treasures!

 

     Every time I see a picture of my 20 month old grandson or hear his voice when his daddy calls me, I get blasted with a huge onslaught of fiery darts such as:

-my grandson doesn’t know me

-the memories I am making with my grandchildren here always exclude him

-he has no memory of our time together (when he was 3 & 4 months)

-I miss out on the milestones of his development; first steps, crawling, first words, first tooth

-I can’t hug him, or hold him, or play with him, or rock him to sleep

-etc.

 

How on earth do I find a way to get through my days burdened with these thoughts?

The main thing I do is to RESIST these thoughts. Yes, they are true but what good does it do to dwell on them? I don’t particularly enjoy being miserable but if I allow these fiery dart thoughts to rule my thinking then miserable I would be.

What do I do instead?

I recognize them for the fiery darts they are.

I reject them. (I don’t allow myself to dwell on such thoughts)

I replace these thoughts with truth thoughts.

Such as:

-Thanking God for the time I got to visit him where I held him, sang to him, and lavished as much attention on him as I could.

-Looking forward to future visits with him for he will be 2+ and might even be able to remember me some.

-Resting in the peace that God will give us a special attachment for each other.

-Being content to share in his life though packages from home, and whatever media source God provides.

-Thanking God for the relationship I have with his parents knowing they will be deliberate about making sure my grandson will know me.

     But the main thing is to accept and be at peace with the call of God on his parent’s life, and giving them all the love and support they deserve. Philippines 4:6-7 is my stabilizing force in all of this:

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.-

What does a fiery dart attack look like? (Refresher course!)

Jul2
Negative thoughts produce negative behavior!

Negative thoughts came first; from that came this!

     Our little cartoon girl certainly would have been drawn quite differently if someone was trying to illustrate the result of positive thinking, don’t you think? !

 

REMEMBER,

What we think determines how we feel and what we feel influences out actions. A negative action is often the result of negative thinking!  p. 15 Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice.

     As I watch the destructive force being poured out upon people (Christian and nonChristian alike) via fiery darts, I am almost tempted to despair. (But I don’t give into that because I RECOGNIZE it is a fiery dart.) 

     For those of you who have a copy of my book and who read this blog, fiery darts have been exposed and you now possess the knowledge of how you have been (hopefully, it’s a past tense thing with you) manipulated.

     Of course, this doesn’t mean that you aren’t bothered with fiery darts anymore, does it? Nope, not at all, if anything the attacks come more frequently now! Well, that has certainly been the case with me.

A real life example of a fiery dart attack!

     There I stood in confrontation with a person whom I love and cherish. I had made a mistake and because of the stress that laid heavily upon this person their reaction to my mistake was blown totally out of proportion and negative thoughts (fiery darts, you see) fueled some very negative words as a result.

     At first, my response was to sincerely apologize (I was trying hard to respond, not react for I was keenly aware of the stress involved). But as the tension escalated, I soon realized that a sincere apology wasn’t going to suffice. After repeated attempts to apologize failed, I soon found myself bombarded mentally with fiery darts and I was struggling to stay afloat.  After all, I wrote a book about this very thing, I should know how to handle the onslaught (the fiery darts within my own mind), right? !

      Then, at a critical moment during our negative discourse, my confrontation partner spoke a “truth thought” that served to overpower the fiery darts swirling through my mind. Therefore, the tension slowly subsided and clarity with understanding prevailed. This confrontation ended on a positive note and the relationship between us was strengthened. 

Why?

1) Because we RECOGNIZED the fiery darts with which both of us were being attacked.  

2)We struggled to REJECT them, (not an easy task I can assure you, but we did it. Power of God’s grace, you know)  

3)Finally by REPLACING the fiery darts with truth thoughts we overpowered their negativity and peace prevailed.

Refer to my blog post on The 3 R’s of Fighting Fiery Darts from which the above was derived: http://wp.me/p1ZA1r-9p 

God, Our Logistics Coordinator wrap up!

Jun23
This my friend, is how you conquer the fiery dart of worry!

This my friend, is how you conquer the fiery dart of worry!

I am just a worrier. It’s the way I was made.  I can’t help it!

     The next time you make that statement or hear someone else make that statement, I hope you will refer to my blog posts. You see, worry is a major fiery dart! Worry will create all sorts of turmoil within your mind. That turmoil will make you vulnerable and a prime target for fiery darts that will undermine your trust and faith in God.  

     If you ever have any thoughts like the ones I opened with in this post, then plant your feet firmly in God’s Word and

1 – Recognize those thoughts for the fiery darts that they are

2 – Reject them outright for dear readers they are nothing but lies

3 – Replace them with Truth thoughts (go to your computer and type in the phrase “verses about worry” for there you will find a bunch of them. God has a lot to say about worrying) but I highly recommend,

 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 4:67 (NIV)

     Now that you have had the opportunity to read my last two posts illustrating, through personal testimony, why I see God as my logistics coordinator, I hope I have given you food for thought that will deflect all those fiery darts that tempt you to worry. He will prove to you, as He does for me over and over again, that He can be trusted to work all things out for my good (ooh, sounds like Romans 8:28 doesn’t it!)  That, my dear readers is a liberated way to live!

God – Our Logistics Coordinator! or How to Fight Worry! Part One

May27

 

This is me; not trusting!

This is me; in worry mode!

 

     Awhile back, two of my friends and I took a road trip to attend a ladies’ retreat in the mountains; about an 8 hour drive from our homes. (Of course, that’s just the drive time; we stopped at Cracker Barrel going and coming. The two in one experience–eating and shopping, you know. Well then, let’s say 8+ hours.)  We learned a lot about each other, made a heap of memories, and discovered a rather unique character trait possessed by God.  It has taken numerous experiences for God to teach me that He can work things out without me fretting and worrying over how He’s going to do it.  So while I have been blessed by this trait of God’s, it wasn’t until this trip that I found a name for it.  And here it is:

Logistics Coordinator!

     A logistics coordinator, by definition, is someone who plans, implements, and coordinates the details for someone else.  After reading the illustration below, followed by the 2nd illustration in my next blog post, I hope it will become clear to you that acknowledging God’s ability to work things out for our good (Romans 8:28), is a powerful weapon in defeating worry.  So, let’s begin!

Illustration No. 1

     My friends and I were driving to a quaint little restaurant in the mountains for lunch. We had driven to this little lakeside restaurant the day before but had arrived too late to eat.  This time we left early enough to arrive in time for lunch and to enjoy a spectacular view in the process.  But while time was on our side as we made our way towards the restaurant on that picture perfect spring day, my gas gauge was not!  I notified my friends that we were getting rather low on gas and it might be a good idea to pray.  None of us could remember exactly how much further the restaurant was or even IF we had enough gas to get us there.  So, we prayed for a gas station!

    Now, here’s where the connection to Worry comes into play.  Under the circumstances, I am sure you can understand why we were sorely tempted to fret and worry.  You name the fiery darts that would be apparent on such an occasion and believe me Satan shot them at us.  And as I watched that gas gauge move closer and closer to the empty mark, and no gas station or restaurant yet appeared on the near horizon, I felt it was necessary that I come up with a plan just in case God’s plan was NOT to get us to a gas station in time.  I knew that my friends at the camp would come to our rescue, if needed.  But then we were in the mountains and cell reception was ‘iffy’ at best.  (Okay, sometimes you can over think a situation!)

     I resisted the fiery darts with all the strength I could muster from my lessons on how to fight (and win) against  such negative thinking.  I called on the 3 R’s of fighting fiery darts: 1)recognize the fiery darts  2) resist the fiery darts  3) replace the fiery darts (you remember, with truth thoughts.

https://fierydarts.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/the-3-rs-of-fighting-fiery-darts-revised-plan

     It was an effort on my part but by the grace of God, I maintained a controlled calm.  My friends were doing the same, but I knew it was a struggle.  The reason I knew that was because of all the wise cracks they were making.  When you are faced with a dilemma such as ours, sometimes laughter is a beneficial distraction.

     And as so often happens, a few minutes after the ‘need to fill the gas tank asap’ light came on (causing the oxygen level to be seriously depleted as we all gasped for air) there appeared the gas pumps (not station, just a couple of dated pumps outside a run down little  mom and pop type grocery).  And next door to them was the restaurant; still open!  We were rescued!

     Wow, I came away from that adventure convinced I had the best logistics coordinator in the universe (and of course, I did. We all do, actually). There is one more experience that I want to share with you that will illustrate the benefit of seeing God as our very own and personal Logistics Coordinator!  However, this is enough for now, so I will wait till next post and bring all this to a conclusion then.  

The 3 R’s of Fighting Fiery Darts – Revised Plan!

Feb17

On January 6, 2014, I wrote this post and titled it, The 4 R’s of Fighting Fiery Darts!  Since then I have revised it and following is that revision.  I do hope you are reading my blogs on fiery darts along with my book.  Someday maybe I will expand that book, to include some of these thoughts that have come to me as I have written these posts. It’s something I’m praying about!

As I have been using this format to pray against fiery darts, I have felt impressed to eliminate one of the steps.  The one titled, “repeat”!  Actually I began to see it wasn’t necessary, sort of redundant.  I really do believe this new 3 step plan is more concise.  

1. RECOGNIZE!

So how do we recognize fiery darts? Examine the effect the “suspicious thought” has on you.  Does it produce confusion, fear, doubt, anger, inferiority, indecisiveness, jealously, or selfishness, for example?  quote from p.33 FD

In other words does it produce condemnation? Do those thoughts leave you feeling worthless, uncertain or burdened with unconsolable grief? That’s the work of condemnation, my dear friend.  How do I know that? Read this verse: Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (NIV)

Conviction brings restoration.  Jesus has come to bring forgiveness and restoration.  Condemnation will not produce abundant life; conviction certainly does. John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (KJV)

2. REJECT

As soon as you determine that the suspicious thought is a fiery dart, then reject it.  Remember, by allowing it to remain, the poison of the fiery dart begins seeping into your mind influencing the formation of negative attitudes and actions.

As Barney Fife puts it so eloquently, “Nip it, Nip it, Nip it!” (In the bud, before it takes root!)

3. REPLACE

Wield the power found in initially repeating Isaiah 54:17 immediately, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper…” (NASB), so as to prevent the fiery dart thought from imbedding itself into your mind.

Finally, replace the fiery dart thought with a verse or thought of the type mentioned in the following verse. Philippines 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (NIV)

I hope this revision serves you well.  And may the fiery darts formed against you not prevail!

God bless!