Archives

Martha vs Mary–Not Really!

Jul22

Martha and Mary

38 While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”

41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”  Luke 10:38-42 (HCSB)

So, what does this excerpt from Luke have to do with fiery darts?

First of all let’s take a look at Martha and Mary.  Martha busied herself with the many tasks of opening her home to a beloved friend (oh, and who just happened to be the Son of God–no pressure!) Mary, on the other hand, risked the criticism of a very frustrated sister, to sit at Jesus’ feet to listen to what He had to say. (Betcha, she was hanging on His every word!)

Women through the ages have read this biblical account and have related to it in a variety of ways.  Opinions have been expressed as to which sister Jesus approved of more, and often Mary comes out on top.  But everybody knows that we can’t have a world made up of just Mary’s.  Martha’s are a necessary ingredient to maintaining balance BUT we can’t have a world made up of just Martha’s either!  Each has their place; and each must be given the freedom to find it! (in their own Martha and Mary way, I might add!)

So, what’s my point here?

I believe that Jesus was pointing out the fact that both types of devotion to Him are necessary.  But in that moment (and so often in our lives) the Martha’s of this world needed to give the Mary’s in this world the space to go about their tasks in their own way without becoming critical.

Martha’s are good at what they do.  So good in fact, that they genuinely have a hard time believing that Mary’s can do a job better than they can.  So when they see a Mary falling short of perfection (doing it the way a Martha would) then it’s up to them to step in and get the job done right!

ENTER! The Fiery Darts!

Martha and Mary both are prime targets at this point for bookoodles of fiery darts.  Martha’s are convinced their way is best and become a bit insensitive to how they are coming across to their Mary’s.  After all, what is wrong with this Mary she is dealing with?  The job needs to be done, therefore, it needs to be done right.  Why can’t this Mary person be more appreciative of her help.  Can you see Martha’s frustration!  Oh yeah!

Then we have Mary.  Having a hard time trying to figure out where she went wrong!  

Listen, if Mary’s not careful she will begin to focus more on Martha’s criticisms than she should.  When that happens, the fiery darts of low self worth, find a prime target and she will become a fading flower if she focuses more on what Martha thinks of her than of what Jesus thinks of her.  But Mary’s of the world, take heart!   Martha’s are a powerful force but keep this in mind.  You are not in competition with them over Jesus’s favor.  Jesus loves you and accepts you just the way you are (even if the Martha you are dealing with appears not to). You will see that you are a beautiful flower in His garden (that’s a Mary thought if there ever was one), if you will but keep your focus on Him.

Martha’s are an uptight bunch of gals.  They excel at most everything they do.  As a result, they get lots of strokes from all of those who admire their excellence.  The expectations they have from their admirers plus the expectations they have for themselves must be met.  Oh really?  Pride is a deadly fiery dart and Martha’s are so susceptible to it.  Be on your guard, dear Martha’s.  You are not competing with Mary’s for Jesus’s favor, either.  Just take a deep breath and relax.  Give others the opportunity to get the job done in a way different from the way you would and don’t criticize them for being true to themselves!  Remember, you want to encourage them to please Jesus not You!

(Hey, and surprise, surprise, you’ll find there really is more than one way to skin a cat!)

Man opens his mouth and God speaks! Part 2

Jul8

What my son and his team were experiencing was peculiar to say the least.  But the detail that my mind couldn’t get away from was how God displayed His power by taking command of Jay’s voice and speaking through him to Moses.  In my world such evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power is rare.  I remember thinking, “LORD, what’s it like to experience such a display of Your power?”  I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Jay to be used of God in such a manner.

Here in America we are not accustomed to such behavior so the likelihood of experiencing what my son had encountered was hardly possible.  I mean we are too sophisticated, too civilized for such things to take place–right?

 (Sound like fiery dart reasoning to you?)

Then I opened my devotional readings and  I came across a verse that caused me to pause and reflect.  The particular verse is not important to this post but suffice it to say it was important to something I was going through at the time.  A questioning thought came to my mind:

“What if God was speaking to me though this verse?”

The next image that appeared in my mind was rather peculiar.  (Oh, I’ve heard that word before.)  It was an image of Jesus putting His arm around me and gently saying,

“My daughter, if you will accept this verse as a word from Me, then you will know what it feels like to hear Me speak!”

 My next thoughts can only be described as fiery darts.  

“Oh, that’s just a coincidence that you read that verse when you did.  Besides, how could you possibly know those words were from God?  Those are just words.  Anyway, they do not really apply to your situation!”

Sound like fiery darts to you?  Sure did to me!  So I put up my shield of faith, embraced those words and drew encouragement from them.  I accepted those words of comfort from God and acknowledged the power of the Holy Spirit in giving them to me.

You see, when you think about it, the same God that performed such a glorious rescue of the woman who attempted suicide is the same God who spoke to me in those verses.  He is not more powerful in Africa than He is here in America.  The same evil who convinced the woman that she had no choice other than suicide is the same evil who tried to plant those fiery darts in my mind to discount God speaking to me through those verses.  The same powerful God that spoke through my friend, Jay, is the same God who spoke to me through those verses I read during my devotion time. It is the same God and the same devil at work in both areas.

The distinction between good and evil may be more clearly defined in the situation which I described there in that small African village. But when you consider how long the darkness has prevailed there, it’s no wonder the Light comes in such power.  The people there aren’t use to the Light and when it comes it’s pretty hard not to recognize it.

Are we too use to the Light here in America?  Do we take it for granted?  Have we diminished its brilliance in our lives by the casual attitude we have towards the Light?  If this continues, expect our ability in distinguishing the difference between the darkness and the Light to be equally diminished.

(Oh, you’ve noticed that already!)

So, I’ve made a choice to value the Light that I’ve been given and stop taking it for granted.  I’ve decided to be more diligent in studying God’s Word so that I will less likely be deceived by the darkness.  When God speaks to me through His Word, I’m going to sit up and take notice.

(And surely avoid the temptation to think it’s nothing but a coincidence!)  

Who knows, someday I may open my mouth and hear God speak!

Some pretty amazing things have happened in that small African village since the Light has exposed the darkness there.  I’ll share that in my 3rd and last post on this subject!

A Way Out of the Darkness!

Jun24

In the past, long before I had learned about waging a successful war regarding fiery darts, I was in bondage to some pretty devastating thoughts.  One in particular was the idea that if I failed in a particular area of my life that would automatically spill over into all other areas of my life and inflict damage on them as well.  The unfortunate thing regarding these lessons on fiery darts that have now secured my freedom, is that way back then I was clueless about how the fiery darts were messing with my mind and ensuring my extended bondage.  That’s the bad news, but the good news is

In looking back on my journey, I have wondered at times why it took me so long to recognize the path out of the darkness of negative thinking that God had illuminated for me. . . . My hope then is that by my sharing what I have learned on my journey out of the darkness of negative thinking, you will be able to recognize much sooner than I did your own path out of the darkness that God has illuminated for you. (pg. 3, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice)

 Therefore, if you will permit me, I would like to encourage your heart with a Truth God has often sustained me with.

Isaiah 43:18  “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. 19  Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming.  Do you not see it?  Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

Just because you have experienced failure in the past, that doesn’t mean that because of that  particular failure, you are doomed to fail or at least not measure up in all areas of your life.  I carried that burden of a lie for more years than I care to remember.  Only by God’s grace and what He taught me concerning fiery darts have I been set free.

You have only to research some of the Greats of Scripture to see what God thinks of failure.  Look at David, in spite of  his  serious failures, the Bible calls him, “a man after God’s own heart”.  How is that possible after what he did–murder and adultery to name only two?  I think I’ve discovered something here.  The righteousness of David had it’s source in God.  Read what Paul said about that kind of righteousness:

And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Philippians 3:9

Ok, we confess our failure to God and ask His forgiveness, then we move on with our lives and by His grace break free of the bondage that the knowledge of our failure has the capability to place us in.  As a Christian we have a very unique course set for us as we deal with the failures in our lives.  First of all, we don’t allow one failure in our lives to convince us that we are a failure at life!  That’s a big huge ole fiery dart.  It’s nothing but a lie.  Aren’t you glad that the Bible greats didn’t fall for that?

Trials have the potential to highlight areas in our lives that when responded to appropriately can increase our faith and produce endurance.  Take a look at James 1:

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, 3 knowing that the testing o your faith produces endurance. 4 But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 

How you deal with your crisis, what you learn from your crisis will all work together to reestablish your credibility. (Rom. 8:28)  Others may come against you (these are instruments of fiery darts remember) but if in your own mind you have come to the successful and healing conclusion that God can still use you, then you’ll know how to put up your shield of faith and ward off those fiery dart minions!

So go ahead and rejoice with God in those areas where you don’t feel like a total failure.  Be thankful for them and praise God for them.  Don’t allow the fiery dart that says you’d be a hypocrite to think you could still be used of God when you have failed Him so miserably. There are some areas in your life that you have gotten right so know that you have a valid testimony in that area.

Look again at the phrase, ‘a way in the wilderness’.  You have two choices to make.  You can choose to focus on the wilderness or you can focus on ‘the way’. You could choose to focus on the negatives if you like, but be prepared a cloud of negativism will become your constant companion.  On the other hand, you could choose to focus on God’s faithfulness to lead you out of the wilderness. You can choose to focus on the good He brought out of that wilderness experiences, how He strengthened you.  And I’ve got a sweet thought for you, if you focus on how God brought you out of the wilderness.

The more you focus on the good, the more good you’ll notice AND the better you are going to feel.  The more hopeful you’ll become.  Goodbye, despair; for hope and despair don’t share the same space.

Gotta a verse for you:

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.


It’s Complicated…….NOT! or Three Simple Steps to Successfully Fight Fiery Darts!

May15

Recently, a young friend shared with me her experience in defeating an attack of fiery darts. I was so intrigued with the simple yet powerful process that led to her victory, that I thought I would share it with you here.

First, she had been praying (Major component of any encounter) about a job change.  It seemed to her that God had been leading in a particular direction which she pursued.  Then everything fell through and she didn’t get the job.  Of course, she was confused and upset, for this was the job she’d been hoping for.

Initially, her emotions were defined by her severe disappointment.  However, soon the Holy Spirit sent her the following verse b/c remember she had been praying:

“Trust in the LORD, with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.” Prov. 3:5-6

Therefore, she cried out to the LORD, “LORD, I don’t understand and I don’t know what to do, but I’m trusting in You.”  She just kept praying that prayer over and over.  Then she had the thought that she would email every organization she had been following and ask for their advice on how to get into the field without the benefit of experience in the area.  (I believe, that b/c her mind wasn’t awash with despair & confusion, her thoughts were free to be guided by the hope of God’s Word.)

The response was immediate from several organizations, offering advice.  But when a local organization contacted her and said they would be hiring soon and she should send them her resume, all my friend’s confusion vaporized.  For she had been following this particular organization for awhile and quietly yearned to be a part of it.

At this writing, the results are not in about whether my friend got this job, but I wanted to share this now b/c the main victory’s already been won.  In this life experience my friend has given us a clear example of how to fight successfully those fiery dart attacks. ( I’ll get back to you and the job thing)  In the meantime, allow me to review:

1.  Acknowledge the fiery dart

2.  Find a verse to focus on

3. Allow prayer and God’s Word to define your attitude and/or actions

I think it’s important to understand that the fiery dart my friend encountered was designed to create frustration, disappointment, and to dishearten her to the point that her attitudes and actions would have be set in a downward spiral.  Yet, she broke this destructive and predictable cycle by simply turning to God and saturating her mind with a word from Him then allowed that fresh hope to define her actions from that point on.

But watch out!  Satan will attempt to convince you that this process is not nearly as simple as all this.  You know, the all too familiar catch phrase used these days when people have succumbed to overwhelming attack of fiery darts and have no clear understanding of what God would have them do (largely b/c they are not familiar with this whole fiery dart thing):

“It’s complicated!”

(Don’t be bamboozled! Remember! that’s a fiery dart!)

Misunderstanding Freedom!

Mar10

As I listen to people who proclaim they have thrown off the shackles that have kept them in bondage, and are delirious with the joy their new found freedom has afforded them, because of what I’m learning about fiery darts, I see people who have succumbed to a dangerous deception.  The sad thing is they don’t even realize it.  Why is this?  Because their resources for defining Truth are anything BUT the Scriptures, the Holy Word of God, the Bible!

How can anyone misunderstand freedom, you might ask?  Well, in order to misunderstand freedom, freedom has to be redefined. But before freedom can be redefined you must first redefine wrong. For example, if you are doing something wrong and you desire the freedom to keep doing that wrong but you don’t want to have to feel guilty about doing it then you must redefine wrong!  Obviously, the first thing that must be done is to be selective about the sources  that are chosen in selecting the definition desired.  So, throw out the Bible!  You won’t have to go far to find people who are willing to choose any philosophy available that will condone behavior that the Bible condemns.  Once that is accomplished then you can easily redefine freedom.  And guess what?  This definition has always been around!   I’ll leave out the word and you see if you can fill in the blank!

_________ –  sometimes denotes deliberate deviation from normally applicable rules or practices to achieve a desired effect.

Did you guess it?  I bet you did.  Yep it’s license!  You see people who want to “achieve the desired effect” of doing wrong without having to feel guilty about it are in reality desiring license.  But no one would be foolish enough to demand license because they wouldn’t be taken seriously.  Therefore, call it freedom and when you start demanding your freedom then you’ll be taken seriously!

But unless you have a formidable number of people in agreement with you, you still might not succeed.  So then what do you do?  Simple! You begin a campaign where people are influenced to reject the source of truth that opposes you.  That’s right, the Bible.  Bombard the airwaves, via television, movies, radio with cleverly written scenarios of people who live their lives in direct opposition to God’s Truth without suffering any adverse effects long enough and soon people will be as easily deceived as you have been.  Then you’ll have the freedom to live anyway you want and no one will mind.  Well, maybe not everyone but enough to where you will achieve the desired effect.

And don’t be naive and lay all the blame for this at the feet of those who have rejected God’s Truth so they can have the “freedom to live without guilt“.  Yes, some of the blame should be laid at their feet but not all.  The culprit is threefold:

Satan (James 4:7)

the World (John 16:33)

and the Flesh (Ephesians 2:3)

These individuals, in not seeking genuine Truth, have sucuumbed to the flesh and are unwittingly cooperating and being influenced, by Satan and the World.  As a result they are being deceived and manipulated into thinking they have finally achieved freedom.  That sentence in a nutshell defines the work of fiery darts.

1 Tim 4:2 (GW)2 These people will speak lies disguised as truth. Their consciences have been scarred as if branded by a red-hot iron.

“What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.  Isaiah 5:20, New Living Translation

How do you spell love?

Feb4

Because Valentine’s Day is coming up, I think it is the appropriate time to address a relevant issue covered in my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, concerning the definition of love.

      When a marriage lacks “love” as defined by society, that is romantic feelings, it becomes inconceivable to those subscribing to society’s definition to remain in the relationship.  When it is romance that fuels our relationship then our focus is on the performance or lack thereof of our spouse.  (p.72)

         In defining love, could it be that we have succumbed to another fiery dart?  When we define love according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, we find that, “Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs;love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.” (NIV)  This is the kind of love Jesus has for us.  It is a God-centered view of love.  This kind of love will preserve marriage because it brings glory to God and points a sinful world to the reconciling love of its Creator.9  Do we think that we could love like this if we never encountered the situations that had the potential to teach us how to love in this manner?  This love is not performance based; it does not require that our earthly comforts, desires, and expectations must be met; it is not self-seeking, which unfortunately defines, for too many us, the basis of our love for others.  This type of love can only be found by sitting at the feet of Jesus and allowing Him to teach us how to love as He loves. (pp.72-73)

         A clear understanding of the love we should have, as described in the Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13), expands our definition of love.  As Christians we were taught to define love by Christ’s example.  I suspect the only way we can love like this is to become more like Christ as we handle the problems we face in our marriages. (p. 73)

         So why do I insert this section from my book?  Because I believe that Society is out of balance in defining love.  We have put way too much emphasis on the romantic aspect of love.  It might even be said of Society’s definition of love that if you’re not experiencing romance, then you’re not experiencing love!  And to that, I say, “Society! You are way off on your definition!”  If we go by Society’s definition then all those married couples who for one reason or another have stayed together in spite of the fact that the romance has gone out of their relationship are fools.   Well, maybe that’s a bit strong!  How about ‘crazy’?

I would like to encourage all those ‘crazy’ married couples out there who are hanging in there without the benefit of the glue of romantic feelings!  First of all, God bless you!  Thank you for showing by your example that ‘love’ is spelled ‘c-o-m-m-i-t-m-e-n-t’.  By your example, you are redefining ‘love’ and getting closer to its truer meaning. So keep on keeping on! God has some pretty awesome plans for you. Remember Jeremiah 29:11?

“‘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,’

To be sure, romance is desirable in a marriage.  For those of you who are blessed to still have that, how wonderful!  But do not despair if your marriage doesn’t.  Learn how to fight the fiery darts that have disheartened and discouraged your marriage.  Hold on to the hope that once you have acknowledged and learned how to wage war on the fiery darts attacking your marriage, then the healing of your marriage can begin.

Remember:  Romance is a by-product of love but it does not define love!  Yep, if you’ve got commitment, then you’ve got a lot of love in your marriage–you are just learning to spell it differently!

Fiery Darts that would prevent surrender!

Jan7

This morning I sent off my only son and his sweet wife to work and make their home in a foreign land.  Today they loosed the ties that bound them to the land of their birth to plant their lives in an unfamiliar land in order to be obedient to the call of God upon their lives.

The thought that it would be 4 years before they would be home again was overwhelming.  To make it worse, my grandchildren would likely be born during that time.  This thought and the thought of such a great distance separating me from my son tore at my heart.

The fiery darts were volatile.  Thoughts such as:  

You won’t ever have a relationship with your son’s children like you do with your daughter’s children. You need time to make memories with them and you simply won’t have that opportunity.

Your grandchildren won’t even know their American relatives or that they are Americans.

You’d better snap out of your grief soon or you’ll blow your testimony.

 Your son has never been this far away before. This is more than you can bear.

Your grief will drive others away from wanting to totally surrender their children to God.

That’s the bad news.  The good news is that I KNOW the nature of these thoughts.  They are prime examples of fiery dart thinking.  You know, just being able to label those thoughts as fiery darts spared me the misery of the affect they would have had on me.  Because my lessons on fiery darts have spared me from the bondage of such thinking, I am free to process the pain of being separated by a mighty big ocean from my son and am able to work through my grief in a healthy and healing manner.

Am I free of the pain of my grief?  No, not yet!  But as you will read in my new blog, I am dealing with it in an honest dialog with God.  God is being faithful as is always the case with Him and day by day I am growing stronger.

I would invite my readers to check out my new blog:

http://missionarysmom.wordpress.com

Merry Christmas from Bob & Janet

Dec25

Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, worldwide!  That boggles my mind!  Christ is the greatest of gifts ever given to mankind; the greatest gift that ever will be given to mankind.  There is nor will there ever be a greater gift than Him.

While Christmas is a holiday celebrated all over the world, the Christian faith it reflects is not.  The plan to conceal the truth regarding God’s plan to save the world by sending Christ to die for us competes with numerous man-centered and/or created ideologies all over this globe.  The reason there is even a competition is because fiery darts have played their part in penetrating the minds of people blinding them to God’s plan.  When this happens, then they are vulnerable and become gullible to accept all sorts of contrary thinking.

If you are not a Christian, then consider John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Enough said, “Merry Christmas” and may 2012 be the year the world comes to Christ!

But I don’t feel like celebrating Christmas!

Dec23

It makes me sad to think about how Christmas for some is a sad and/or lonely time.  And it makes me mad to think how those very people are being victimized by fiery darts!!!!  The Christmas message that holds the promise of deliverance from such sadness and loneliness gets blocked by fiery darts and is kept from bringing the hope and healing its victims sorely need.

How about you my dear reader?  Are you dreading Christmas?  Have you reached a point in your pain where you are numb to every emotion?  Does the future look so bleak that you see no reason to rejoice or make merry?  Have you recently suffered the devastating loss of a loved one?  Are you dealing with problems that seem hopeless? Have you finally relented and given up on that troubled relationship? Because if you are caught up in all the suffering that accompanies these heart breaking moments of life, be assured almost every thought that pops into your head will be to foster your misery.  For some of you, your thoughts grow more hopeless, thus more dangerous by the hour.

PLEASE, PLEASE KNOW THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP THINKING THOSE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS.  YOU REALLY DON’T!

BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU, YOU CAN FEEL BETTER!

First of all, I want to give you a little writing assignment. On page 21-22 in my book you will find what I call a “journal assignment.”  Here’s how it reads:

1.  Record some of the negative emotions you have dealt with this past week or ones that plague you often.

2.  Now, make a list of some of the negative thoughts that quickened those negative emotions.

3.  In describing the negative emotion(s) produced by the negative thought(s) you mentioned, identify the attitude and/or actions that resulted.

Please be open to the idea that the negative thoughts in your head are designed for your destruction.  If you continue to allow them free reign, they will destroy you.  Unless you bring them under control, they will prevent you from hearing or knowing how God plans to rescue you.  AND NEVER DOUBT FOR A MOMENT, GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR RESCUE!  His rescue plan starts very simply:

IF YOU WANT TO FEEL DIFFERENTLY, THEN YOU MUST THINK DIFFERENTLY!

Trust me dear reader, this writing assignment will help you take on a different perspective with all that you are dealing with and result in your being able to feel better!  How do I know that?  Something crazy happens when you put those negative thoughts, emotions, attitudes and/or actions in black and white on a piece of paper.  They become identifiable, less intimidating, less powerful to rule you and you begin to see them as the fiery darts they really are.  I guess until you put them where you can identify them you can’t feel you have any control over them.  This exercise enables us to stand back and get a different perspective on those manipulating thoughts. Being able to read them in black and white, you will finally can see them for what they are–tools for our destruction.

The next thing I offer to you is to read the following. This is the part where your thinking will be influenced to take a different course.

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”Luke 2:10-14 (NKJV)

Now, after reading the above account of the birth of Christ, pay close attention to the words that are in bold type and underlined.  Jesus’s birth heralds great joy, peace, and goodwill to ALL men.  That good news isn’t something to be afraid of either.  Would you like to feel joy, peace, and goodwill during this Christmas season, instead of all the negative feelings with which  you are wrestling?

You know, you can!  And added to joy, peace, and goodwill you’ll get a bonus–hope!  Because if you are a Christian you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior and you can take all your cares and burdens and lay them at His feet.  He will not only help you deal with these hopeless situations, but He will make your life richer because of them.  For you see, as you follow His plan in dealing with your struggles, you’ll find yourself becoming stronger in your faith,and developing a greater trust in God.  And all because you had been tried by these trials!  Hey, and if you’re not a Christian, then it just could be that these very trials will be what will bring you to Christ and turn your heartache into rejoicing. Now that will give you cause to celebrate!

Well, I think I’ve said what I wanted to say!  I pray you were able to read the whole wordy post and follow through with the writing assignment AND that you are able to break free of the bondage of fiery dart thinking.  I’m praying the Christmas message will bring healing and restoration for all of you who are going through difficulty and pain. You have to make a choice though: To reject the destructiveness of your fiery dart thinking and seek instead the  joy, peace, and hope of Christmas–just like the Wisemen!  Then,

YOU CAN HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dealing with problems that won’t go away!

Dec17

Note:  If this post helps, would you please leave me a comment to that effect?  God bless, 

For the past year now I’ve been reading a devotional book called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. This devotional book is all about enjoying peace in the presence of God.  If you don’t have this book, then I highly recommend you get it. It will enrich your devotion time and your life!

In the devotion for tomorrow actually, Ms. Young writes about problems that we encounter in our lives that are ongoing!  You know, those problems that don’t ever seem to have a solution. Problems that just won’t go away so we try to find a way to live with them.  Have any of those?

Because these ongoing problems are ongoing, we seem to over-focus on them and that only adds to the problem. As Christians, we know that we should focus on Christ during times like these.  After all, look what happened to Peter when he took his focus off Jesus and began focusing on the storm.  You know the account:

29 “Come,” said Jesus. Then Peter got down from the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus.30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and as he began to sink, he cried out, “Master, save me!” 31 At once Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of him, saying to him. “O little faith! What made you doubt?”  Matt 14:29-31 (MontgomeryNT)

It’s pretty obvious what went wrong with Peter–He took his eyes off Jesus!  Now the application we are to make here is pretty obvious as well–when we encounter those ongoing problems we need to keep our focus on Jesus.  AND I’m sure that most of us have every intention to follow such helpful and scriptural advice.  Why wouldn’t we! We know exactly what’s going to happen if we don’t. (Some of us know this through painful experience.) Yep, we start sinking; just like Peter did!

This is where fiery darts come in.  FD number one:  We will be tempted to take our eyes off Jesus and place them where?  You guessed it–right smack dab on that problem.  As soon as that happens then we will become vulnerable to an onslaught of fd’s with doubt at the top of the list.  Then it’s a downward spiral after that.  As we spiral downwards so goes our faith, joy, peace, hope (that’s a big one) etc.  We become absorbed with the problem which results in our spiritual senses being deadened.  Those fd’s have done their deadly work!

NOW, that’s the bad news!  Want to hear some good news?

Of course you do! That’s why your still reading, right?  The following is beautiful and I have Ms. Young’s obedience to the Holy Spirit’s promptings in writing her devotional book to thank for the following advice.  I’ll just quote from her book:

When you are plagued by a persistent problem–one that goes on and on–view it as a rich opportunity. An ongoing problem is like a tutor who is always by your side. The learning possibilities are limited only by your willingness to be teachable. In faith, thank Me for your problem. Ask Me to open your eyes and your heart to all that I am accomplishing through this difficulty. Once you have become grateful for a problem, it loses its power to drag you down. On the contrary, your thankful attitude will lift you up into heavenly places with Me.

Ah, doesn’t that just lift your spirits and encourage your heart?  So how do we accomplish this spiritual feat?  We must acknowledge the fiery darts that are messing with our minds.  Understand the primary fiery dart will be to take your focus off Jesus.  The Enemy can’t throw the accompanying fd’s with success until we loose sight of Jesus. By being alert to the Enemy’s plan then we’ll be able to recognize the fd’s that are being sent against us.

Ok, we are resisting the temptation to take our focus off Jesus (quoting Isaiah 54:17 works well here), so be prepared for the following to happen. As we fix our gaze upon Jesus then He will give us the ability to see things hidden from us by the fd’s.  Things like Ms. Young shared with us: seeing our ongoing problem as a tutor, having our eyes and heart opened to all that God is accomplishing in our lives via this problem, developing an attitude of gratefulness which will cause the problem to loose its power in dragging us down.

How about trying this the next time that ongoing problem rears it’s ugly head.  Thank God that because of Jesus this ongoing problem has lost its power to drag us down.  Focusing on the thought that this ongoing problem is like a tutor will be liberating, because we will realize that our relationship with our LORD has been strengthened and has grown out of the adversity that we have encountered.

Feel better? I thought you would.  That’s God’s plan!  Allow me to leave you with this thought, “The learning possibilities are limited only by your willingness to be teachable.”  The more willing you are to be teachable the less downward pull you will feel from that ongoing problem and the greater will be your freedom from it!  You will be lifted up into heavenly places, and that is a SWEET place to be!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!