Dear Readers,
Could we just ponder this post for another week? In light of all that’s going on in our country just now, perhaps it would do us well to pause here to rearm ourselves.
Reclaiming Your Self-Worth–God’s Way!
My Dramatic Transformation
As God exposed the weapons of fiery darts that for years Satan had skillfully used against me, my spiritual walk underwent a dramatic transformation. By teaching me what fiery darts were and how to counter their attack, my walk along the path God had set before me so many years before was illuminated to such an extent that my skill in recognizing Satan’s tactics dramatically improved along with my ability to successfully fight against the fiery darts. FD p. 6
A Pivotal Question!
For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people?. . . Galatians 1:10 (HCSB)
No Christian ever wants to admit that they are more concerned about pleasing people than they are pleasing God. But that is exactly what I, the people pleaser, was doing! God revealed this to me several years ago in the midst of a tumultuous episode when a particular decision I had made resulted in creating discord among many.
For the first time in my adult life, people were severely displeased with me and I couldn’t handle that! At first! But after much counsel and doing some honest soul searching about the Galations verse, my course was redirected. My downward spiral was interrupted as God reached down and rescued me from the plans that Satan had concocted.
Pleasing God now trumped pleasing people! It was quite liberating to live life that way! And on top of that I had the reassurance that,
When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7 (HCSB)
Another powerful lesson learned during those days was how something that Satan meant for bad was turned into something good by God. Therefore, I saw all those involved as instruments of God’s will in helping me understand how important it was to please Him above all others. As a result there was no anger or bitterness on my part towards anyone.
As I look back on events such as the one I just described through the lens of fighting fiery darts, I gain clarity about the work of Satan’s manipulation. Of how he can take my weaknesses and victimize me with my own thoughts. Now when those fiery darts try to infiltrate my thinking, by God’s design, I have a plan in place to reject them thus averting the devastation those weapons formerly imposed.
No more downward spirals; depression has been defeated!
Who’s Messing With Your Self Worth?
The Cognitive Triangle
First we entertain a thought. That thought will cause certain related feelings. Thus, behavior is based on our thoughts and feelings. p.16, FD
Several years ago and over a two year period of time, I suffered from a serious bout of depression. I remember battling suicidal thoughts and deep sadness to the point that my prayers became a desperate cry for God to hold on to me because I had no strength left to hold on to Him. I survived that dark time in my life but that’s about it. It wouldn’t be until several years later as God initiated my training in fiery dart recognition that I would be able to recognize the bondage that defined my existence during those two years.
Here’s what happened to me and I see this same overused but deadly effective tactic of Satan’s still being used today!
Refer to the diagram above. In my case I was a people pleaser. If I felt significant people in my life approved of me, then life was good and I felt good about myself. On the other hand, if there was strife or conflict in these relationships life was not good and I became convinced I had little reason to feel good about myself. Self approval you see was strongly connected to what others thought of me. (Or what I thought they thought!)
Do you see the pattern?
First this negative thought (fiery dart remember) would plant itself into my head producing some very negative feelings or emotions. Never mind that these negative thoughts had no basis in Truth! The poison of these fiery darts seeped into my thinking producing destructive attitudes and behavior.
The purpose of these fiery darts, you see, was to diminish any sense of self worth that I might still possess. I was an easy target because it was way too important for me to have the good opinion of those significant people in my life. As relationships with these people deteriorated, so did my self worth.
I wonder if I have touched a nerve?
Are you sad seemingly all the time? Are you convinced you don’t measure up and that significant persons in your life don’t approve of you? Does the dangerous thought that your family would be better off without you ever sneak into your mind? Please hold on, for I have glorious news for you in my next post. In the meantime hold on to the following verse,
For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. To give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Refusing Admittance!
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
Breaking Free!
I read of so much pain, depression, struggles with peace of mind, unhappiness, misplaced priorities, lack of purpose, following after the world, and the list goes on. But it all comes down to being in bondage to negative thinking.
There is a way to break free, my dear readers. The key to unlock this bondage is found through prayer and in God’s Word. My book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, reveals the plan.
Tempted to fear? Then read on!
These are perilous days in which we are living!
Over the weekend another beheading took place and an attack on an US embassy by a terrorist group was foiled in a major African country. U.S. citizens there are being asked to be watchful and careful!
Fighting in Israel has disrupted daily life now for months. In my own country, a Jewish friend fears for her safety when attending the synagogue to celebrate upcoming holy days. I understand that it’s typical to have armed guards surrounding the synagogue during these events.
All over the world, persecution of Christians is on the rise. Much of it originating within terrorists cells, not only targeting Christians but Jews as well.
I have friends in the city where the US embassy was put on guard. They are okay at present but have been warned to be careful and alert. I also have family members living in a not too distant area from there.
Am I tempted to fear? You bet, I am!
Do I give into fear? Not as long as I do the following:
First, as soon as the temptation to fear enters my mind, I RECOGNIZE it as a fiery dart.
Second, I put up my shield of faith and RESIST it.
Third, I REPLACE the fearful thought with a Truth thought, and in this case it’s 2 Timothy 1:7,For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Every single time a fearful thought seeks to embed itself into my thinking, I shift into Recognize, Resist, and Replace mode of behavior.
What is the effect of this behavior?
God tells me that fear is not something from Him. So on that fact alone, I reject it! ! ! ! !
God tells me He has given me the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, instead. Therefore, any action I take, any words I speak, or thoughts I think, having to do with the evil running rampant in this world today should be defined by what God has given me–
NOT FEAR! ! ! ! ! !
Based on the following blog post: https://fierydarts.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/the-3-rs-of-fighting-fiery-darts-revised-plan/
Just read the Book!
Recently, I came across a Facebook post of a young woman that troubled my heart. Her words revealed that fiery darts had completely obliterated her understanding of genuine love. Her words spoke of a relationship that was deceptive, inflicted pain, played games, desired what was not theirs! A relationship much like her divorced parents. What troubles me? Both the young woman and her divorced parents are products of the Christian church.
Sadly, too many Christians have succumbed to the fiery dart (the temptation) to spend less and less time in prayer and Bible study. Much of the pain and trouble we have come to know in our marriages can be traced back to this fiery dart. The more time we spend away from God the more disconnected we become and the more cloudy becomes our understanding of how to live life!
. . .Again I must emphasize the necessity to persevere in prayer and Bible study!. . .What we teach our children, how we define true love, how we view our marriage, how we deal with difficulties, etc., will all be influenced by what we learn from God’s Word and prayer. FD, p. 76
Is it any wonder that when we push the map (God’s Word) aside, we loose sight of how to get to where we need to go? The Bible, for instance, gives us precise instruction as to the purpose of marriage in Ephesians 5:25-26. But if we don’t avail ourselves to this wisdom, then we have the bloody mess (sorry, but I’m feeling this pretty strongly) we find ourselves in today!
. . .They don’t see how fiery darts have so dulled their sensitivity toward the things of God, that they honestly think they have no alternative other than divorce. Because, you see, that marriage was all about them; they just couldn’t see that it was an instrument of God’s to conform them into the image of His Son and draw an unbelieving world to Himself! FD, p. 75
Did you realize that most people are clueless about why God designed marriage. Though we are without excuse, many of us in the church are as well! Please consider reading my book and in particular chapters 7 & 8, for more insight into love and marriage and God’s design for both.
Hope or Despair? You get to choose!
He will return!
With the alarming rise of Christian persecution, many are looking up–searching the skies?
Why?
Revelation 1:7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The purpose of my blog is not to discuss the 2nd coming of Christ. (The scriptures are pretty clear about that event!) I just want to highlight a few of the fiery darts related to Jesus’s return and expose the schemes behind them. Scriptures highlight one of the most common of these fiery darts:
2 Peter 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is the ‘coming’ he promised?
Ah, the fiery dart of doubt. Just add a little of that into the thinking processes and like yeast it will expand and increase. Leaving those who have succumbed to it, weakened and vulnerable!
And in the light of the horrors broadcast over the internet and news stations of the persecutions and beheadings of Christians in Iraq and around the world, without the assurances of God’s Word, we become fearful. Now we are dealing with doubt AND fear.
And good Christian knows that trials and troubles when dealt with according to God’s guidance will produce increased faith and trust in Him. Therefore, our ability to resist fiery darts such as doubt and fear will be strengthened and they will not succeed in victimizing us and holding us captive.
John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Therefore, dear reader. Resist the temptation (fiery dart) to not spend time in God’s Word. Things may get a lot worse before Jesus finally returns, so protect your mind and your faith with the Truths from God’s Word.
Knowing the words that proceed from the mouth of God, in other words The Bible, then we have those TRUTHS with which to contrast the fiery darts from Satan. During times of weakness our vision is not always clear and we find ourselves vulnerable to fiery darts. It is in such times that we need to be able to call upon the strength available to us. FD, p. 36
IT’S YOUR CHOICE!
THIS MAY NOT BE MUCH!
Recent news about the persecution of Christian in Iraq has pierced my heart and my mind. I awake each morning thinking of the mothers and grandmothers who along with their children and grandchildren have been murdered by ISIS in Iraq! As I go about my day, I think about those families that have escaped and are hiding in the mountains hoping to be rescued and desperate for water and food! I go to bed heartbroken because families have been murdered for no other reason than that they are Christian (just like me)!
Fiery dart thinking attempts to persuade me that there is nothing I can do. Fiery dart thinking lulls me into a false sense of security because I am so far removed from the horrors going on in Iraq to women like me. Fiery dart thinking turns my focus onto a president and his cohorts who look the other way and do little to intervene to eradicate the ISIS and their abhorrent deeds. These thoughts, if I allow them to, will grab my focus and entrap me into thinking that because my own country is hiding in the bushes, there is little I can do to help.
BUT I REJECT SUCH FIERY DART THINKING AND INSTEAD,
I am going to pray like I have never prayed before!
I am going to urge others to pray!
I am going to research and publish on my Fiery Dart Facebook page and in this blog facts about the persecution towards Christians in Iraq!
I am going to remind my fellow believers right here in my world that our brothers and sisters in Christ in Iraq are being murdered because they believe in Christ (just like us). Fathers, mothers, children, grandparents, etc. are dying because (just like us) they are Christians!
I am going to contact the IMB and give towards helping the refugees and am going to urge my friends and fellow believers to do the same!
“Help respond to Iraq’s refugee crisis by donating to the International Mission Board’s general relief fund or by texting imbrelief to 80888, which will donate $10 to that fund. To give through Baptist Global Response, visit gobgr.org/donate or text bgr to 80888.”
I AM GOING TO REMEMBER,
that greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world!
I am going to remember that God and God alone is our refuge and strength in times of trouble!
I am going to remember that through the prayers and acts of many these persecuted Christians will be helped and delivered!
And finally, I am going to remember that Jesus is returning (maybe sooner than we think) and will set all things right! He will once and for all rid this world of its darkness, shinning His brilliant light of peace and truth healing our land!
TRUE, THIS MAY NOT BE MUCH AND I AM ONLY ONE PERSON BUT I HAVE TO BEGIN SOMEWHERE, SOMETIME!
What is our calling in this era of persecution? What are the fiery darts that will distract us from that calling?
Slowly but surely the Sleeping Church is being awakened to the horrific persecution against Christians in Iraq. Those who react with disbelief cannot deny the pictorial reports of innocent children lying dead in the arms of ISIS soldiers. Suffering and persecution seems rampant from Africa, to China, to the Middle East, and even America (remember 911?)
AND STILL THE CHURCH SLEEPS?
MAYBE NOT!
WAKE UP TO SATAN’S TACTICS TO KEEP US DISTRACTED WITH FIERY DARTS.
RECOGNIZE that Fiery Dart thinking will insure the Church remains dormant!
-Of course, the initial response for many is to pray. But the fiery darts will attempt to convince us that praying is a hopeless effort.
-The fiery darts will have us focus on the horrendous images in the news, on the internet to the extent that we will be overwhelmed. We will begin to despair that the evil cannot be overcome and will continue to spread, no matter what we do.
-Guilt, is one of the most effective of fiery darts. It’s poison will have us feeling guilty for every blessing that is ours, feeling guilty because we aren’t over there trying to help, feeling guilty because the fiery darts have tricked us into believing there is nothing we can do. The guilt will increasingly weigh us down with every passing day.
-We turn our eyes and thoughts away from the genocide because the fiery darts induce us to think it’s too horrible to bear. So we coil up within ourselves and hide from the evil. Besides it’s far far away from us. Perhaps, it will eventually die down and just go away!
BUT HERE IS WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY IN RESPONSE!
-First and foremost Pray!
Especially, Christians all over the world, but especially those of us in the USA. Can you imagine anything more horrible than children being beheaded and entire Christian communities being assaulted by rape and death? I can’t. Then what would only add to this gruesome image would be for Christians to think that praying was a feeble act.
(REJECT THIS THOUGHT)
(REPLACE THE FIERY DART THOUGHT WITH THIS TRUTH THOUGHT)
But here’s how Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 felt about prayers:
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,2 of mthe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us nrely not on ourselves bout on God pwho raises the dead. 10 qHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. rOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 sYou also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf tfor the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.-
I would like to share with you a commentary made by a fellow blogger about the above verse as it relates to the heinous events taking place in Iraq and around the world.
The grievous trial that made them despair of even living was given so that they would not trust in themselves, but in the God who raises even the dead (He became their ONLY hope) AND the PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS HELPED HIM! Can I just shout it again? THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS DELIVERED A GIFT TO HIM THAT EVEN THEIR PRESENCE COULD NOT
http://robertsfamilyhope.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/awake-oh-sleeper/
Don’t know how to word your prayers? Here’s some help!
http://www.radical.net/blog/2014/08/take-action-looming-humanitarian-catastrophe/
-
Ask the Lord to awaken the world to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Iraq and to provide pathways for Christians and others to respond.
-
Ask God to miraculously protect the Yazidis and other Kurds who fled into the mountains; ask Him to provide a means of rescue and temporary homes for the refugees.
-
Pray that ISIS leaders and soldiers would experience the love of Jesus Christ and that their lives would be transformed.
-
Ask God to preserve and embolden the small remnant of believers in Mosul and Kurdistan, so that one day through their witness, every Iraqi might have the opportunity to hear the Gospel.
AND MIGHT I ADD TO FERVENTLY PRAY 2 CHRONICLES 7:14.
You can also GIVE and here’s how!
BP: “Help respond to Iraq’s refugee crisis by donating to the International Mission Board’s general relief fund or by texting imbrelief to 80888, which will donate $10 to that fund. To give through Baptist Global Response, visit gobgr.org/donate or text bgr to 80888.” (More info here)
Fiery Darts: Satan's Weapon of Choice 