Words for Parents!

Oct7

There are some youngsters near and dear to me that have recently embarked upon that vulnerable journey in life referred to as adolescents. And I am being reminded of the pitfalls that await our children during this section of their life’s journey as I learn of the struggles my loved ones are facing.

Therefore, I pass along the following in the hopes that if you or your adolescent is having a difficult time maneuvering through the challenges of this time, you may find these ‘words’ to be the lifesaver for you that they were for me.

* * * *

As my children came along, I knew, from my own experience, that I had to find a way to protect them from the damage negative words could inflict, especially negative teasing. Thus I believe God prompted me to establish a rule in our household of “no negative teasing”.

th-3

Negative teasing at some level inflicts pain. Sure on the surface we may be laughing but down deep we aren’t! It certainly doesn’t build up someone to teasingly call them ‘stupid’ now does it?

But the most revealing and powerful force to defeat the negative thinking that years of hurtful words had produced in my own life, regretfully didn’t come to me until I was in my 50’s. Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice is the compilation of lessons given to me in how to overcome and/or heal from the damage caused by hurtful words.

It is from this perspective of healing that I offer these words to parents, for we must pass on to our adolescents an awareness of the Truth thought found in Ephesians 4:29 (opening photo)! We should model the Truth of this verse in the words our children hear coming from our mouths before we try to impress upon them how to filter their words through this Truth.

We need to teach our children how to handle the hurtful words (whether teasing or otherwise) that is inflicted upon them. For without this guidance our children will be tempted to believe things about themselves that are nothing but lies.

We must teach our children that God’s Word is the most powerful of all weapons to destroy the enemy’s fiery dart attacks. However, we must first learn how to use that weapon for ourselves then we will be equipped to pass along successfully what we have learned to our children.

Within the Bible are counter attacks for every fiery dart Satan throws at us and our children. Therefore, it is imperative that we teach our children (after first learning for ourselves) how to recognize Satan’s fiery darts, then how to call upon God’s Word to defend themselves. (Ephesians 6:16)

the_sword_of_truth_2_by_eblackmore-d4zm1i9

A FINAL WORD

Please remember that the flesh is weak. If we do not arm ourselves with the Sword of Truth, our flesh will not be able to resist the temptations that will arise from the fiery dart attacks. But by wielding the Sword of Truth against every hurtful word, the tempter’s plans to weaken us will be demolished. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Blindness isn’t always obvious!

Sep19

She doesn’t event realize that fiery dart thinking has contributed to her blindness!

Oh how my heart breaks when I see yet another Christian fall victim to Satan’s manipulation via fiery darts. And what disturbs me even more is that these very same Christians, who have been so duped by fiery dart thinking, have unknowingly cooperated with the enemy in allowing him to steal the peace and joy that once existed within their hearts and minds.

I know how it happens though!

Again I must emphasize the necessity to persevere in prayer and Bible study! We must grasp the fact that there is no other substitute. As we fellowship and worship in these two disciplines, everything we experience in life will be filtered through what we learn there. p 76 FD

May I ask you some questions?

Has your desire to faithfully attend church weakened? Are you easily hurt or angered by fellow church members-especially when things don’t go the way you think they should?

Do you find yourself dishonoring those you love by your words and actions? And in that same context, are your needs more important to you than your loved one’s needs? Do you become easily angered by those you love? Do you focus more on their wrong doings than you do your own?

Do you find yourself justifying actions and attitudes that you use to reject as disobedience? Do you feel you are more enlighten now about such things and therefore they are no longer wrong for you?

Do you find pleasing yourself or others trumps pleasing God?

If you answered in the affirmative for any of the above questions, it’s pretty obvious that what you have been filtering your experiences through has not been the Word of God and prayer.

Those who drift away from prayer and Bible study become easy prey to Satan’s anti-Truth thinking. Slowly and subtly his victims become blinded to Truth and the world’s concept of truth begins to sway their thinking.

Eventually, they will become blind to God’s Truth and they won’t even realize it!

By tempting us to spend little time in God’s Word, our ability to recognize the lies of fiery darts is equally diminished if we give in to that temptation. In the place of God’s Truth, the world’s concept of truth begins to define our thinking. p. 23-24, FD

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32

The Force of God in overcoming downward spirals!

Sep9

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A downward spiral is an concise visual of what can happen to a Christian who becomes more focused on their problems than God!

Okay, now with that visual in mind let’s examine how a downward spiral can occur. Do you ever experience times in your life when the work you have to do seems overwhelming? There’s too much to do and too little time to do it! The stress builds and builds and you feel ill equipped to do much about it. You want to run away to some place calm and peaceful so you can be free of the stress–but you are stuck where you are and there seems to be no way of escape.

And on top of all this, there are problems troubling your mind. Some of them have lingered around, unresolved, for quite some time. And always new problems, with no regard for the unresolved problems you already face, weasel their way into your already overburdened mind.

If the above is what you find yourself dealing with, trust me you are either in a downward spiral or on the very edge of it. You are being plummeted with fiery darts (perhaps you didn’t realize that!)

HOWEVER, there is very good news: you can be rescued from a downward spiral! There is a force powerful enough to prevent you from falling into one or pulling you out of one.

THAT FORCE IS GOD!

I would like to give you an assignment. I want you to set aside (daily) a time to read your Bible (I am going to suggest some verses) and crawl up in God’s lap to share your heart with Him and to listen to what He wants to say to you. And, by the way, keep a journal of your time with God. (There are journal assignments after chapters 3, 4, 5, & 6 of my book. A good place to start!)

You MUST make this a priority. And believe me, at this point you have no idea of the pressure and distractions that will come to keep you from doing this. (Just keep in mind your enemy, Satan, knows that you will break free of the bondage of negative thinking by doing this!)

Scriptures are obvious in describing Satan’s plan in John 10:10a, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;…” (NIV) So what is it that the Enemy desires to steal, kill, and destroy? The answer is obvious – anything God has planned for us! p. 1, FD

Even if it is only 2 or 3 minutes to begin with, JUST DO IT! The fiery dart thoughts will tempt you to wait until you have more time to spend with God. But you know and I know that is a cleverly disguised fiery dart. DON’T GIVE IN TO IT!

Now, here are some verses to get you started:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, NIV

Turn to me and be gracious to me,for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Psalm 25:16-17 NIV

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10 NIV

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me,for you are God my Savior,and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5

All right then, now you’ve got a place to start! Again, I recommend the journal assignments as you read my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice.

Our Nation’s Peril and Our Nation’s Hope

Aug2

First of all, may I ask you a few questions?

Do you condemn yourself or put yourself down?

Do you think others, especially close to you, don’t think well of you?

Do you over focus on your fears?

Do you find yourself doubting God?

Do you struggle with inconsistency in reading your Bible and praying?

Have you recognized questions such as these as the fiery darts Ephesians 6:16 identifies? Satan knows quite well, that these fiery darts will never permeate the Shield of Faith. Therefore, what do you think his first plan of action will be with individuals? Of course, tempt an individual to search everywhere but God’s Word for the answers to questions like the ones above. And if he can manipulate enough individuals to reject God and/or His Word, then his plan to destroy a nation falls easily into place.

Our country’s leaders, some even calling themselves Christians, speak and act in ways that contradict God’s ways. For example, the Bible makes it quite clear how God feels about abortion. Yet, some of our most powerful leaders stand firm in their support of organizations that promote abortion! I just don’t get it. Why would anyone, claiming to be a Christian, support something God is against? But wait, I think I do!

People who have rejected God and His word, are easily manipulated into seeing lies as truth and truth as lies. You recall those questions I started out with? Well, Satan’s plan is to get us so self absorbed that we loose sight of who God is and the good plans He has for us.(Jeremiah 29:11) We can’t believe that He can take the bad things we are experiencing in life and turn them into something good and thereby enrich our lives by them. (Romans 8:28)

We look for solutions to the problems we encounter in our lives and Satan makes sure that our search for answers takes us no where near the Scriptures. Every idea we get from him may feel like an answer at the beginning but only serves to intensify our problems and complicate our lives even more. (Proverbs 14:12)

As Christians, we must seek God’s will and wisdom and apply them to the problems we face. As we hold up our Shield of Faith, then we are protected from being manipulated and distracted by the fiery darts aimed at us by Satan.

Here’s how it works!

God’s light will shine forth for all to see and as God helps us, then we can help others. (2 Corinthians 1:4) As His light is experienced and shared then that light grows and the darkness is dispelled. (John 1:5) Eventually, as individuals turn back to God, then a nation has hope. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Life or Death–You Choose

Jul22

When I think about all that God offers those who would believe in Him and compare that to what is in store for those who don’t, my mind is overwhelmed as to why anyone would not choose God. Yet, far too many not only reject God but set out to destroy those who do. I read in the Bible of the blessings and curses that come with choosing God or not choosing God. Deuteronomy 30:11-20 gives us the following:

Choosing God

Life

Prosperity

Increase

Be blessed by God

Will live an abundance of years in the land you possess

Rejecting God

Death

Destruction

Curses

Will not live long in the land you possess

Who in their right mind would deliberately choose from the Rejecting God list? Yet, many do. They don’t realize what they are doing actually. Because, you see, if they have rejected God, then they have rejected God’s Word. And if they have rejected God’s Word then everything in this world, every experience they encountered will be defined by a context that excludes God. They live in darkness, while Satan is promising them the world!

Satan would give Christ the world if He would only worship him! After all, 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,” (NIV) p.39, FD

In America, today, it seems our country is being taken over by those who have rejected God. Satan has released one fiery dart after another successfully blinding those who discount and reject God into believing they have been enlightened and they have finally broken free of all the restrictions of Christianity.

They are bent on changing wrong into right, just so they can live anyway they want to without guilt. They refuse to acknowledge sin and it’s consequences. Satan ‘s fiery darts have hit their mark once again in manipulating them into believing they are seeking freedom. Because they have been taken over by fiery dart thinking, they don’t see that it is license they are pushing for; not freedom.

Daily I pray for my country, 2 Chronicles 7:14: (NIV)

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

And while in the meantime we as believers may have to suffer, we always have the following hope:

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV

Refusing Admittance!

Jul16

July 16, 2015 – Reposting this blog. Truths contained here need to be repeated.

In observing the effect fiery dart thinking has on people, I am drawing some disturbing conclusions. I have listened and observed as people (whose lives exhibit some semblance of Christianity) describe a lifestyle that is in direct contradiction to the one given to us by God. They attend church ( perhaps not regularly) and know all the familiar Christian lingo. But they live as if there is no contradiction in their lifestyle.

How can this be?

Could it be that they have lost their sensitivity to sin? They seemingly are not bothered with conviction about their lifestyle. Even though their lives are marked with pain and unfulfilled dreams, the realization that their disobedience could be the source of their disillusionment never kicks in.

I know that when we are first convicted about sin in our lives, the temptation is to ignore it, deny it, or to begin justifying it. And though this is where the Enemy is most easily conquered, this is where for many Satan gains full entry.

“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. . . .Thus, because he is not resisted in the beginning, Satan gains full entry. And the longer a man delays in resisting, so much the weaker does he become each day, while the strength of the enemy grows against him.” p. 46 FD (Thomas Kempis)

This, I conclude, is how an individual can live contrary to God and in alliance with the world without apparent guilt! The fiery darts that justifies their sin, if not resisted, will eventually release so much poison into their thinking that they become blinded to God’s Truth. Therefore, they may be convinced they are something they are not! You know, right becomes wrong!

But there’s good news!

These poisonous thoughts (fiery darts) CAN BE conquered dear reader! Not overnight, but by attacking one thought at a time, as directed by the prayer and Bible study I refer to in Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice! It will take some longer than others depending on the amount of poison that has infected their thinking, but there is a future for them that is free of this bondage! It’s God’s plan:

“‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’” (NIV) Jeremiah 29:11

Fiery Darts: Satan's Weapon of Choice

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In observing the effect fiery dart thinking has on people, I am drawing some disturbing conclusions. I have listened and observed as people (whose lives exhibit some semblance of Christianity) describe a lifestyle that is in direct contradiction to the one given to us by God. They attend church ( perhaps not regularly) and know all the familiar Christian lingo. But they live as if there is no contradiction in their lifestyle.

How can this be?

Could it be that they have lost their sensitivity to sin? They seemingly are not bothered with conviction about their lifestyle. Even though their lives are marked with pain and unfulfilled dreams, the realization that their disobedience could be the source of their disillusionment never kicks in.

I know that when we are first convicted about sin in our lives, the temptation is to ignore it, deny it…

View original post 280 more words

Defeating disappointment with a thankful heart

Jul8

Disappointment is a notorious fiery dart! Some disappointments can easily be shaken off (for we don’t have strong feelings attached to them) and we are able to move on. Those aren’t the disappointments I want to highlight in this post however. The type of disappointments I want to address are those that are suffered repeatedly over a long period of time.

Disappointments of this nature can cause serious damage. Not only to the person feeling the disappointment but to the relationship that is the source of the disappointments. Over time repeated disappointments can result in leaving thoughts exposed to a steady stream of fiery darts, each more hurtful than the one before. Eventually, depression will set in and the downward spiral begins, pulling the relationship and everything else down with it.

At this point,

something extraordinary must happen if the fiery dart of disappointment and all its minions are to be conquered and healing is to be experienced.

For me, it was God’s revelation

that my negative thoughts, Satan’s fiery darts, were being used against me. Satan knew my vulnerability. He knew my tendency to judge myself too harshly. He knew my tendency to assume I was inferior to others. Taking advantage of those tendencies, and knowing that I was neglecting to spend time with God in prayer and bible study, I was an easy prey and target for the volley of fiery darts Satan hurled at me.

God not only exposed the weapon of fiery darts but He lovingly revealed to me how to fight back so that I would no longer be victimized by Satan’s tactics.

Teachings about Truth thoughts– my saving grace!

Here’s one of the most efficient Truth thoughts I have called upon to defeat repeated disappointments. (Yes, it is also a great one for the fiery dart of worry:)

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Allow me to share how this works.

The key word in this Truth thought is ‘thanksgiving’. When I began to apply the lessons God had been teaching me in how to recognize and defeat fiery darts, I began to heal from the damage Satan’s fiery dart of disappointment had inflicted upon me. No longer, was I demeaned and defeated by this fiery dart’s attack. As my heart began to heal, thankfulness began to swell up within me. God’s peace saturated my thoughts, replacing the evil intention of the fiery dart of disappointment.

Though repeated disappointments (and their minions) continue their attacks, they do not succeed in overwhelming me as before. In quoting Truth thoughts, by God’s grace, I am able to resist its force. For I am reminded that God is able to guard my heart and give me peace even in the face of these repeated disappointments.

Marriage? Why does it exist?

Jul3

Marriage exists to. .

This may be news to you!

. . .Because of the Adamic Curse everything in this world serves our flesh. Therefore, relationships will exist to serve our wants and needs. This is why the fiery dart that “marriage exists to make us happy” is so powerful.

. . .Yet, when we become a child of God’s and the growth process begins, we will come to understand that this attitude is the consequence of sin. We will also learn if we avail ourselves to the teaching of it, that marriage is designed for something far more beautiful and loftier than society is equipped to understand.p.67, FD

And maybe this is too!

. . .The purpose for which we exist is to be conformed into the image of Christ. Colossians 3:9-10: “Do not lie to one another, for you have taken off the old self with its habits and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in his own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself.” (Good News Bible)

That means that everything and every relationship in our experience exists to serve the purpose of conforming us into God’s image in order to bring us into a full knowledge of Himself. As we become more like Christ, we are going to grow into a fuller knowledge of God.p.67-68, FD

Hum! What’s the connection to marriage!

So, how does the purpose for which we are to exist relate to the purpose of marriage? In the book entitled, Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas, an intriguing question is asked, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” p. 68, FD

In my research, I came across this statement from an excerpt entitled, Help for the Struggling Marriage by Reb Bradley, “To evaluate our personal success in a marriage we must not then look to see if our needs are being met, but we must ask ourselves, ‘Am I demonstrating the image and character of Jesus Christ?’ God knows that as we grow into the image of Jesus our greatest needs are met.”p. 70, FD

How can you redefine something you don’t understand?

Because many don’t have a clue as to the purpose of marriage (even within our churches), our nation’s leadership is floundering around trying to redefine everything they don’t understand in order to fit it to the chosen lifestyle of a growing number of individuals.

In essence, we are attempting to remove (but only in our minds) the absolutes established by our Creator. Yet, those absolutes remain in place,and no fiery dart formed against them will ever prevail! from Is. 54:17

Strongholds and Fiery Darts

Jun15

“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. Someone has said very aptly: ‘Resist the beginnings; remedies come too late, when by long delay the evil has gained strength.’ First, a mere thought comes to mind, then strong imagination, followed by pleasure, evil delight, and consent. Thus, because he is not resisted in the beginning, Satan gains full entry. And the longer a man delays in resisting, so much the weaker does he become each day, while the strength of the enemy grows against him.” p. 46, FD

Fiery darts can be more easily defeated when identified early on and not allowed access into our minds. But what if those fiery darts were allowed uninhibited access for whatever reason? Likely, a stronghold has been created in our thinking. That stronghold now manipulates the formation of attitudes and actions that are set against the knowledge of God!

People in this state of mind can easily be persuaded that right is wrong and wrong and is right. Our news media is rampant with those whose attitudes and actions are set against the knowledge of God. This type of malady, in epidemic proportions, is spreading across our land.

But there is good news. There is a remedy for strongholds. But first we must understand these strongholds exist because we failed to resist the temptations early on. Therefore, we must begin now refusing to allow fiery darts access into our minds. (Refer to the 3 steps process in fighting fiery darts page on this blog)

If there is a stronghold in our lives, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 gives us God’s plan in how we can break free.

4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5(NIV)

Here’s how it works:

When a thought comes to mind which reinforces the stronghold, take it captive by quoting a Truth thought that contradicts it or proves it false. Eventually,the stronghold will begin weakening as you call upon God’s divine power to demolishes it. Be prepared, this may take time! Remember, that stronghold wasn’t established in a day!

For those who are ruled by stronghold thinking, they must first acknowledge God, accepting His plan in Christ to release them. Their darkness is great and only the light of God’s Truth can dispel such darkness.

Do not quench the Spirit. 1Thessalonians 5:19 NIV

Cedar trees and fiery darts!

Jun7

Recently, I came across an article written by “the pioneer woman’s husband” (wow, the cool thing is that with this little bit of info most of my readers will know who I am talking about) God bless ’em!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2012/03/why-we-chop-down-cedar-trees/

. . . cedars look like harmless little trees. But left unchecked, those little trees will eventually produce thousands of seeds and spread across the property like wildfire. As they get bigger and more populous, they will eventually shade out the grassland and crowd out the better varieties of trees. I’ve seen many pastures where cedars have completely taken over an area, reducing the grazing capacity by seventy to eighty percent.

For those of you have read my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, perhaps you thought, like I did when I read Mr. Drummond’s article, “umm, that sounds rather familiar.” I knew immediately where to look for that familiar thought and found it on page 25 of my book.

Perhaps we have taken more seriously the larger weapons of temptation: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.” (Matthew 15:19, HCSB) What’s going on in our heads, the thoughts we have though not necessarily evil, aren’t taken as seriously as these larger temptations. For example, the confusion that keeps us from taking a step of faith would not be thought of as a serious temptation when compared to something like the temptation of sexual immorality. So it’s pretty clear why the subtlety of a fiery dart is such an effective weapon. For those initial thoughts, while not as alarming as something like sexual immorality, if left unchecked can lead to gross sin. p. 25, FD

I am a visual learner and in reading Mr. Drummond’s description of the destructive power of seemingly harmless looking cedar tree seedlings, I got a high definition picture of why we should take negative thinking (fiery darts) more seriously.

I have discovered in living life and in writing my book, that seemingly harmless negative thoughts (fiery darts), if left unchecked, will eventually produce an ever growing crop of lies. As they become more populous those fiery darts will begin to crowd out God’s Truths, and our ability to distinguish between the lies of fiery darts and God’s Truths will be severely diminished.

Therefore, I pass along the following in the hopes that if you or your adolescent is having a difficult time maneuvering through the challenges of this time, you may find these ‘words’ to be the lifesaver for you that they were for me.

* * * *

As my children came along, I knew, from my own experience, that I had to find a way to protect them from the damage negative words could inflict, especially negative teasing. Thus I believe God prompted me to establish a rule in our household of “no negative teasing”.

Negative teasing at some level inflicts pain. Sure on the surface we may be laughing but down deep we aren’t! It certainly doesn’t build up someone to teasingly call them ‘stupid’ now does it?

NEXT

We need to teach our children how to handle the hurtful words (whether teasing or otherwise) that is inflicted upon them. For without this guidance our children will be tempted to believe things about themselves that are nothing but lies.

We must teach our children that God’s Word is the most powerful of all weapons to destroy the enemy’s fiery dart attacks. However, we must first learn how to use that weapon for ourselves then we will be equipped to pass along successfully what we have learned to our children.

A FINAL WORD

Share this:

I know how it happens though!

Again I must emphasize the necessity to persevere in prayer and Bible study! We must grasp the fact that there is no other substitute. As we fellowship and worship in these two disciplines, everything we experience in life will be filtered through what we learn there. p 76 FD

May I ask you some questions?

Has your desire to faithfully attend church weakened? Are you easily hurt or angered by fellow church members-especially when things don’t go the way you think they should?

Do you find yourself dishonoring those you love by your words and actions? And in that same context, are your needs more important to you than your loved one’s needs? Do you become easily angered by those you love? Do you focus more on their wrong doings than you do your own?

Do you find yourself justifying actions and attitudes that you use to reject as disobedience? Do you feel you are more enlighten now about such things and therefore they are no longer wrong for you?

Do you find pleasing yourself or others trumps pleasing God?

If you answered in the affirmative for any of the above questions, it’s pretty obvious that what you have been filtering your experiences through has not been the Word of God and prayer.

Those who drift away from prayer and Bible study become easy prey to Satan’s anti-Truth thinking. Slowly and subtly his victims become blinded to Truth and the world’s concept of truth begins to sway their thinking.

Eventually, they will become blind to God’s Truth and they won’t even realize it!

By tempting us to spend little time in God’s Word, our ability to recognize the lies of fiery darts is equally diminished if we give in to that temptation. In the place of God’s Truth, the world’s concept of truth begins to define our thinking. p. 23-24, FD

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32

Share this:

A downward spiral is an concise visual of what can happen to a Christian who becomes more focused on their problems than God!

And on top of all this, there are problems troubling your mind. Some of them have lingered around, unresolved, for quite some time. And always new problems, with no regard for the unresolved problems you already face, weasel their way into your already overburdened mind.

If the above is what you find yourself dealing with, trust me you are either in a downward spiral or on the very edge of it. You are being plummeted with fiery darts (perhaps you didn’t realize that!)

HOWEVER, there is very good news: you can be rescued from a downward spiral! There is a force powerful enough to prevent you from falling into one or pulling you out of one.

THAT FORCE IS GOD!

You MUST make this a priority. And believe me, at this point you have no idea of the pressure and distractions that will come to keep you from doing this. (Just keep in mind your enemy, Satan, knows that you will break free of the bondage of negative thinking by doing this!)

Scriptures are obvious in describing Satan’s plan in John 10:10a, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;…” (NIV) So what is it that the Enemy desires to steal, kill, and destroy? The answer is obvious – anything God has planned for us! p. 1, FD

Even if it is only 2 or 3 minutes to begin with, JUST DO IT! The fiery dart thoughts will tempt you to wait until you have more time to spend with God. But you know and I know that is a cleverly disguised fiery dart. DON’T GIVE IN TO IT!

Now, here are some verses to get you started:

Turn to me and be gracious to me,for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Psalm 25:16-17 NIV

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10 NIV

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me,for you are God my Savior,and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5

All right then, now you’ve got a place to start! Again, I recommend the journal assignments as you read my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice.

Share this:

First of all, may I ask you a few questions?

Do you condemn yourself or put yourself down?

Do you think others, especially close to you, don’t think well of you?

Do you over focus on your fears?

Do you find yourself doubting God?

Do you struggle with inconsistency in reading your Bible and praying?

As Christians, we must seek God’s will and wisdom and apply them to the problems we face. As we hold up our Shield of Faith, then we are protected from being manipulated and distracted by the fiery darts aimed at us by Satan.

Here’s how it works!

Share this:

Choosing God

Life

Prosperity

Increase

Be blessed by God

Will live an abundance of years in the land you possess

Rejecting God

Death

Destruction

Curses

Will not live long in the land you possess

Daily I pray for my country, 2 Chronicles 7:14: (NIV)

And while in the meantime we as believers may have to suffer, we always have the following hope:

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July 16, 2015 – Reposting this blog. Truths contained here need to be repeated.

How can this be?

Could it be that they have lost their sensitivity to sin? They seemingly are not bothered with conviction about their lifestyle. Even though their lives are marked with pain and unfulfilled dreams, the realization that their disobedience could be the source of their disillusionment never kicks in.

I know that when we are first convicted about sin in our lives, the temptation is to ignore it, deny it, or to begin justifying it. And though this is where the Enemy is most easily conquered, this is where for many Satan gains full entry.

But there’s good news!

How can this be?

Could it be that they have lost their sensitivity to sin? They seemingly are not bothered with conviction about their lifestyle. Even though their lives are marked with pain and unfulfilled dreams, the realization that their disobedience could be the source of their disillusionment never kicks in.

I know that when we are first convicted about sin in our lives, the temptation is to ignore it, deny it…

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At this point,

something extraordinary must happen if the fiery dart of disappointment and all its minions are to be conquered and healing is to be experienced.

For me, it was God’s revelation

God not only exposed the weapon of fiery darts but He lovingly revealed to me how to fight back so that I would no longer be victimized by Satan’s tactics.

Teachings about Truth thoughts– my saving grace!

Here’s one of the most efficient Truth thoughts I have called upon to defeat repeated disappointments. (Yes, it is also a great one for the fiery dart of worry:)

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Allow me to share how this works.

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Marriage exists to. .

This may be news to you!

. . .Because of the Adamic Curse everything in this world serves our flesh. Therefore, relationships will exist to serve our wants and needs. This is why the fiery dart that “marriage exists to make us happy” is so powerful.