Remain Quiet???!!!

Jun20

Today’s post is going to be a bit personal.

   For quite sometime now, I’ve been threatened by an annoying dark cloud lurking on the periphery of my thoughts. For the most part, I’ve been able to avert its intrusion. I realize, because I wrote a book about it, that fiery darts are the culprit. Therefore, holding up my Shield of faith, sustains me. 

   But lately, while I’ve not lost my resolve to reject these fiery darts and to replace them with Truth thoughts, I’ve come too close to  the brink of despair and that bothers me. I’ve struggled to find the word that would label this battle, feeling that if I could know what I was fighting, I would be more savvy in choosing my weapons. And I did come up with the label, ‘bewildered!’ 

   Yes, that did help but not entirely. This negative storm, while never succeeding in hiding the Son, was wearing down my resistance. I pray unceasingly, read scriptures, and, yet, the  storm does not dissipate. 

   Today as I was reading from a book, In This Mountain, by Jan Karon (my favorite author), I came across an excerpt by Oswald Chambers:

At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him. . . . Watch where God puts you into the darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet. . . . When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.

   I think it’s pretty clear what God is saying to me. “My child, you are consumed with pouring your heart out to me with your continual pleadings, but you don’t let Me get in a word in edgewise. Why don’t you come to Me, and remain quiet? I know what all is going on with you, you’ve certainly shared that with me in excess. Now, all that is left is for you to remain quiet and just listen.”

  Remain quiet?!

   I’ve never been good at listening quietly  following my prayers, so it’s going to take some practice on my part. Therefore, I will resist the temptation to reiterate my problem (I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have anything new to add) and practice being quiet.

   This is pretty bold of me to post this. I can hear the fiery darts now: What if God remains silent? What if you don’t succeed in being quiet? What if you miss what God is saying? What if you don’t understand what He is saying. What if you fail?

   While I expect to be pelted with fiery darts (Satan doesn’t give up ground easily), I will lift up my shield of faith as I stand on the following verses:

Ephesians 3:20, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (It depends on Him, not me)

Psalm 17:6, I call on You my God, for you will answer me; turn Your ear to me and hear my prayer. (God will answer me)

Growing old certainly has it downers!

Jun7

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   For example, when I look in a mirror, or decide to move after sitting for a spell! Or my energy level gives out before I’m finished with a project. And I’m always on the lookout for a hairstyle  that doesn’t shout out to anyone who notices it that I am an old woman. 

Living in a world that is obsessed with outward appearances,

    I’m nagged with the fiery dart of over focusing on how I look on the outside. Just watch tv for a few minutes and you will see what I mean. So how do I resist such temptations? The Truth thought to undo this temptation is 2 Samuel 16:7, “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (Whew, that’s a comfort!)

   I want to see myself through God’s eyes, not man’s.

     I have the desire to travel to the 3rd world country where my son and his family will be living after stateside. I did get to go once–living in the bush, struggling at times, but I did it! And I was no spring chicken!

     Next year I will be visiting my son, daughter in law, and 2 grandsons while my son is studying overseas.  I am ecstatic about that! But realistically, as my age increases, my visits might diminish. 

So, I fight the fiery dart of fear

that my health might play out, preventing me from making such trips. 

Self-Awareness is good.  Self-centeredness, not so good.

    I do want to be more self aware so that I can be realistic about my limitations, but I know I must be careful to resist the temptation to overdo the self-focusing. I don’t want to forget that I live my life for Christ. I want to focus on the Truth that

“it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20  

     Besides, too much self-focusing narrow’s one’s vision! And that would make me more vulnerable to Satan’s fiery darts. Nope, don’t intend on cooperating with the enemy on that one. Instead, if I’m smart, I will make a mature (I’m old enough) decision to cooperate with God’s plans. 

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. Jeremiah 29:11

If I make that my focus, then I need not fear growing old! For I will make my plans as God leads, trusting Him to give me what is needed, when it’s needed to fulfill those plans. Like it says in 2 Corinthians 9:8. (Won’t miss out on anything that way!!!)

 

You can break free of strongholds

May19

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 Recently, in the midst of a joyous time of my life (externally), I have been plagued by an onslaught of negative thinking. Odd though it may be that I would be attacked like this when my days were filled with happy events, considering my bent I’m not surprised. For there was a time (starting in my mid twenties and intensifying as the years passed) when negative thinking and God’s Truths waged a battle royal and too often negative thinking won out.

   Over the years this negative thinking on my part forged a stronghold that continuously threatened the spiritual renewal that had taken place in the early years of my adulthood.  Afterwords as life began to happen, I struggled with maintaining a consistency in my bible study and prayer life. Predictably, the spiritual renewal that was burning within me instead of increasing in strength began to dwindle, leaving me vulnerable to negative thinking. Thus bit by bit, negative thoughts laid the groundwork for a stronghold that could have ruined my life had not I cried out to God for His rescue. Psalm 18:6  God indeed rescued me and enabled me to survive those dark days, but it was only since learning about the enemy’s tactics in the use of  fiery darts that I began to make sense out of the whole mess.

   This was the stronghold that God addressed when He began exposing the enemy’s tactics that had held me captive for too many years. As dominant as this stronghold was in my life, I now realize I must be diligent in my prayers and bible study (nothing else can substitute). I know my vulnerability and to the degree I stay diligent in these two disciplines, the power this stronghold has over me can be overthrown.

   So in the midst of this recent attempted attack by the enemy, God faithfully guided me towards the following words from Jesus Calling:

Although My Presence is a guaranteed promise, that does not necessarily change your feelings… It is through awareness of My Presence that Peace displaces negative feelings.

   As I read the above words, it clarified for me how it was that I could harbor such internal negative feelings while in the happy throws of a long awaited family celebration. As long as I was more focused on negative thoughts, my negative feelings would not be displaced, no matter what was going on externally.

    So when the enemy tempts me with fiery dart thinking, I have learned that to know Peace I must make a deliberate choice to turn my focus toward God and His presence. It’s been my experience that’s the only sure way to break free of the enemy’s stronghold. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

 

Blinded Minds

Apr22

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. (NLT) 2 Cor. 4:4

Wow, this explains a lot!

   When we take on the perspective of the above verse, it’s not so difficult to figure out why people are behaving contradictory to the principals upon which our nation was founded! Why courts are ruling in favor of a small minority to the neglect of the majority. Why music artists & major businesses, are protesting state’s actions to protect their women and children, and their citizen’s religious beliefs! Why selling fetal body parts is a lucrative, albeit illegal, business and why it is so difficult to defund these organizations! Why, it is that someone under a criminal investigation can run for president! Why it is that a president of the United States can continually get away with violating our constitution! Why it is that our Congress, uses nothing but spineless rhetoric in addressing any and/or all of these concerns! I could go on and on and on, but I need to keep this brief (so you will read it)!

     You see folks, Satan rules the darkness. Therefore, it is his plan to blind as many as he can to prevent them from seeing the Light, because he knows that any exposure to that Light threatens his rule. His success at manipulating and deceiving individuals is measured by his ability to preserve the darkness (this is where fiery darts comes into play).

     You know, I suspect that God didn’t raise up our beloved country, which is founded on Christian principals, just to see her throw them in His face as they are doing now! Nope, one way or another God will have His way. Like it or not:

For the kingdom is the LORD’S And He rules over the nations. Psalm 22:28

   The glorious light of the Gospel is our nation’s only hope, and for those individuals referred to in this post! But make no mistake, if we stand with the Light we will be judged. So, consider the following:

I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world and be judged by God. (God is Not Dead 2 quote)

Right focus vs Wrong Focus!

Apr8

“When you focus on situations that displease you, your mind becomes darkened… You look for what is wrong and refuse to enjoy life until (that wrong thing) is fixed.” (taken from Jesus Calling 4/6)

  The above statement was presented to me within my devotional reading this morning. Listen, this is my bent and how weary I grow of it.  But I couldn’t escape the obvious question that followed my reading of the above statement, “Is my focus causing me to not enjoy life?” 

   Recently, I reached a turning point in a particular displeasing situation which promised to put me on a path of enjoying life in spite of it. But as soon as my resolve was formed, fiery darts were aimed straight for it.  I’m sure designed to keep me from going any further in the direction my resolve was directing me. I was discouraged, disheartened, tempted to be weighed down by judgmental thinking. Certainly, I was not enjoying life!!!!

   But just in time, I heard a sermon which reminded me that God wanted to encourage me so I wouldn’t loose heart. Then a devotional reading reminded me that focusing on what was displeasing & troubling me would not only darken my mind but would eat away at my resolve. 

   So here I am still holding on to my resolve to focus on what is “right” in my life as He guides me through and above the displeasing situations! It’s a choice that propels me forward and prevent me wasting my time waiting for the things that are displeasing me to be fixed before I can start enjoying my life. 

 

 

 

 

 

Concerning Easter

Mar24

 

Easter!

If it had not been for Jesus’s resurrection, there would be no Christianity. Now note, I used the word resurrection and that’s significant.

BECAUSE

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Christ Lived
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Christ Died

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Christ Arose!

 

All of the world religions were led by someone who lived and died. But

ONLY Christianity

serves a savior who not only lived and died but

WAS RESURRECTED!

   Satan knows Christ’s resurrection sounded his defeat. But before he goes down, his plan is to take as many of us with him as he can. Therefore, he attacks Christians early on in our faith walk, by distracting us from prayer and learning from God’s Word.

   This is where he always starts.

For keeping Christians uninformed and by distracting us from prayer, he slowly (but most assuredly) leads us down a road inundated with distractions meant to set us on an alternate route. A route that will lead us away from God. Thus, Christians who open themselves up to these distractions find themselves being conformed to the ways of the world.

   Ever notice how with every Christian holiday, there has been offered by the secular world a substitute reason to celebrate? And as the world grows less tolerant of Christian reasons for celebrating these holidays, the idea of substitute reasons for celebrating increases.

   How do we avoid cooperating (albeit unintentional) with Satan’s plan? It’s starts with waking up to Satan’s attacks. We must realize we are engaged in a spiritual battle. God’s plan is for us to be victorious, and in the Bible He has put everything we need to know about how to defeat our enemy. By putting into practice what we learn from God’s Word, our ability to recognize and reject these attacks increases. As we become more familiar with His plan, He reveals the particular Truth thoughts with which we can replace the enemy’s darts.  

   Concerning Easter, focus on the resurrection, allow no distractions. By all means celebrate but with every aspect of your celebration make sure it points to Christ’s life, death, AND RESURRECTION!

 

Loosing the Civil War?

Mar19

Who tells the Truth?

   Recently, in my research about the battle that goes on between our old nature and our new nature as a Christian(1), I came across a reference that described this battle as a civil war. I think that is an apt description.

   You see, it’s like this. We have this old nature, by means of our physical birth, which is predisposed to sin. It is what rules us until we experience a new birth, that is salvation, which seeks to please God. After the new nature moves in, the old nature is no longer in charge and self gets dethroned. Now the battle royal begins!(2) And this is where our will (you know that part of us that makes choices) must be understood. Upon becoming a Christian, our will seeks to please God and willingly forsakes the throne to give it up to Christ. However, our old nature was quite attached to that throne and will make repeated attempts to persuade our will to again choose in its favor. So, what do you think? Are our wills making some bad choices? Why? Consider the following:

     Unsurprisingly, if you aren’t even aware of the existence of this civil war within yourself, or if you only know of it vaguely and aren’t consciously engaged in fighting it, then you will inevitably be defeated. You can’t possibly win this battle against your flesh unless you know what is going on and are determined to fight. Once you realise that you can then start to make decisions, with your will, so as to take the side of your new man in opposing and resisting the old man. – See more at: http://www.realchristianity.com/world-flesh-devil/introduction.html#sthash.1h2HgYZZ.dpuf

   How do we fight this battle and win?

   First, we must accept the fact that our winning is not just a one time event. Every day, for the rest of our lives, we must be ready to  go at it again refreshed by our time spent in God’s Word and in communication with Him. A little here and a little there won’t cut it for this battle. There is too much at stake.

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. FD p. 76

   A spirit weakened by too little nourishment cannot stand against the constant onslaught of the enemy’s fiery darts. And pay attention to the word ‘constant’. For constantly we must seek the nourishment available to us as we pray and seek God’s Truths. Thereby strengthening our will to choose for Christ and against our old nature (replacing those fiery dart thoughts with God’s Truth thoughts).  

(1) John 3:6
(2) Romans 8

Taking the easy road of condemnation!

Mar7

   A few days ago I came across a book entitled, God in My Unbelief by J. W. Stevenson. ( a book written by a Scottish minister that portrays what it is like to be a Christian in a community) Prior to this discovery, I had been struggling with over focusing on condemning thoughts towards myself and toward others.

   Lately, I have come to realize that condemnation whether it’s of ourselves or others, is a fiery dart that, if not brought under control, tends to eat away at our self esteem and our relationship with others. Condemnation tempts us to think thoughts that pull us down, that cause us to not think well of ourselves, that focus too much on our troubles. Condemnation creates thoughts of confusion about what we should do, thoughts that worry too much about our future well being. We become suspect that others are condemning us, and on and on it goes.

   Temptation to think condemning thoughts toward others seems to be a constant fiery dart to resist. Condemnation fed by our sinful nature prevents us from trying to  understand others. We don’t want to see their need and our need of God’s forgiveness as equal. It will tempt us to see those who we feel are condemning us as the enemy; instead of seeing Satan as the enemy. 

I have gleaned from this book such thoughts as:

It is easier to condemn than understand.

We draw the mercy of God when we had known our need to be the same as the need of him whom we condemn.

Over focusing on the condemning thoughts towards myself and others, keeps me from truly seeing the Cross. 

   The Truth thought that God would direct our attention to so that we could resist the fiery darts of condemnation is: Romans 8:1,”Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,…”  HCSB

   Concerning myself, I hear God asking me this question when the fiery darts of condemnation harass me,

“Why are you condemning yourself? I don’t condemn you!”

   And the same question is asked when the fiery darts of condemnation toward others assail me,

“Why are you condemning them? I don’t condemn them!”

   Can you imagine the bondage we place ourselves in when we allow the fiery darts of condemnation of ourselves and others rule our thinking?

   Can you imagine the freedom we would know if we would focus on Romans 8:1?

   What if we were to accept ourselves in Christ and believe that Christ makes us worthy?

   What if we were to understand that God brings conviction so that we can be restored and made more like Christ? 

What if we were to see other’s need to be rescued by God on the same plane as our need to be rescued by God?

What if we were to love others and accept them the way they are and leave it to God to convict them of their sin. (Even when we feel their sin is against us!)

Finally, let us understand the difference between condemnation and conviction.

Satan condemns with the intention of destroying us.

God convicts us of our sin with the intention of restoring us to Himself. 

God Alone is Enough!

Feb16

   Fiery darts can be defeated. If you have followed my blog, you know this to be True. Yet, some attacks take longer to defeat than others. And if you’ve noticed, the fiery darts that attack us within the realm of personal relationships, are the deadliest–especially if you have struggled with these attacks for years on end.

   Fiery dart attacks that we are still wrestling with after years of seeming defeat, push us to the brink of despair, frustration, and hopelessness. During such an ongoing battle we are tempted to loose our focus and like Peter we can feel ourselves sinking beneath the waves of the storm. But even as we feel ourselves sinking, like Peter, we must remember to cry out, “Lord, save me!”

And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”… Matthew 14:29-30

   These ongoing attacks require a strong & singular faith. A faith that is based on God and God alone; even when our prayers have proven fruitless. In these situations, when things don’t turn out  as we had planned and don’t look like they ever will, God has to be enough. Even in the midst of seeming defeat, God assures us that we can know victory!

Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! Habakkuk 3:17-19

   Just remember, the enemy’s plan is to control our focus and lock it onto the things we think we lack instead of the all consuming presence of God where we discover we lack nothing! For in this state we wake up to the Truth that when we have God in Christ we have everything we need! 

 

 

Facing the Future, whatever it brings!

Feb12

    Once again we are wrapped up in a presidential election. Once again the fiery darts of negativity are being aimed and far too often are reaching their mark. In the past, I have allowed these fiery darts to victimize my thinking, tempting me to hopelessness and despair as I endured yet another presidential election, but NOT THIS YEAR!

   How could I possibly face such a bleak future as seems likely for our country, considering the insecurity cast by the growing threat of terrorism, the rebellion reflected in the moral upheaval in our courts considering abortion and same-sex marriage, the rejection of our country’s foundational principles evident in congressional decision, etc?

   For I know that when society collectively rejects God, then we are set on a path of destruction. And as long as society collectively continues to reject God, there is no hope that things will improve–on the contrary, things will continue to deteriorate. 

   Again, I pose the question, “How could I possibly face such a bleak future and not feel overwhelmed by despair and hopelessness?”

Here’s how!

 Every time I am tempted with despair and/or hopelessness, or any other fiery dart thoughts of a similar nature, I put the following plan into action: 

First

I recognize those thoughts for the fiery darts they are. I know that focusing on them will eat away at my faith, weakening me with every attack. 

Second

 I reject such thoughts, so as to prevent them from taking root and influencing further attitudes and actions.

Third 

I replace such hopeless thinking with Truth thoughts and those thoughts become my focus from which my attitude and actions spring from. 

Truth thoughts such as:

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. 2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV

   I would like to quote Tony Evans’s comment from Decision magazine, February 2016, titled Prayer That Turns A Nation, p. 13

“If enough Christians in places of responsibility in the fields of medicine, law, government, education, the media, and even the church begin to humble themselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways, we could influence this culture and make the presence of Christ felt top to bottom and bottom to top.”

   But what if that doesn’t happen? What’s a Truth thought for that despairing question?

My dear readers, the day will come when:

. . .  that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth —and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Philippians 2:10-11

   And those of us who are Christians, what does the future hold for us in the midst of society’s rejection of God?

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.
Jeremiah 29:11, NIV

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 HCSB

   Therefore, I face my personal future and my country’s future with the confident assurance promoted in the above verses. On a daily basis, I commit to cooperating with God as He works out His plans for me making sure that my attitudes and actions are based on Truth thoughts not fiery dart thinking. And daily I pray 2 Chronicles 7:14 for myself, my family, my friends, and my country.