Focusing on Our Blessings!

Nov23

Watching tv!

Our family experienced a unique Thanksgiving this year.  Since my husband and I plan to visit our missionary son soon, our daughters decided to celebrate Christmas and our family fall festival, plus Thanksgiving all in three days!  Therefore our schedule looked something like the following:

Day One – Hayride and Cookout

Day Two – Christmas

Day Three – Thanksgiving

We crammed a bunch of memories in those 3 too short days but the effort was well worth making.  God blessed us with comfortably cool days so, when we didn’t have them otherwise occupied, our young grandchildren were laughing, exploring, imagining; just cramming as much memory making as they could in the short time they were together.

Oh, it was a lovely, chaotic, noisy, busy, draining, and all together wonderful way to celebrate the holidays.  Two of my daughters even came up with two creative titles for the week: 1) Thankmas or 2) Christgiving!  A blend of Thanksgiving and Christmas!

And even our missionary son got to be a part of the celebration b/c today we video chatted with him so ALL the family got to share Thanksgiving together.  Now this is a pretty big deal, b/c one of our daughters traveled about 16 hours to get here, and our daughter-in-law had just given birth to our little grandson!  So there we were, all our daughters, their husbands, their children, my mom, my husband’s mom, our son, daughter-in-law, and newborn grandson, sharing the day together!  So-o-o much to be thankful for!

But now the house is quiet (stone cold quiet), and I have sat down to watch a little tv (trying not to focus on how quiet it is). And here come the fiery darts! ugh!  The sole purpose of these trouble making thoughts is to influence me to focus on my loses instead of my blessings so that I will become lonely and depressed!  And you know what?  That’s exactly what would happen if I gave in to such thinking!

BUT THAT WON’T HAPPEN!

Know how?

I WILL FOCUS ON MY BLESSINGS!

God showered His blessings on our family this week.  I mean He abundantly showered us! (He does that a lot for His kids).  Sure it’s hard for my family to do what it does that’s just the plain truth of it.  BUT our blessings far outnumber (above and beyond) any of the hard things!

So, if after your celebration, you get blasted by fiery darts–remember:

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS–AND LET THAT BE YOUR FOCUS!

That my friends will cause those fiery darts of loneliness and depression to fizzle in no time flat.  They won’t have enough force to rule your thoughts and thereby define your actions.  You’ll be free of their negative influence and peace will guard your heart and mind.  After all, that’s just what God promised in Philippians 4:67:

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.

Making Memories!

Oct20

So, to recap my last two posts on Negative Teasing, the fiery dart is:

It’s okay to make put down statements about someone as long as you are teasing!

 The verse to counter this lie is:

 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

 And remember, you can tease someone in a fun way without it being negative.  Just ask yourself this question, “Will what I want to say benefit or  build up the hearer?”  Remember now, just because what you are saying makes them laugh doesn’t mean it’s wholesome talk!

NOW, LET’S EXAMINE “MAKING MEMORIES!”

Memories happen with the living of life obviously, and if you are not careful you will live your whole life overlooking the importance of being deliberate about making memories. Consider this:  fiery darts are subtle lies that on the one hand contain common sense truths, that when examined from a Christian worldview, turn out to be nothing short of a lie.  Therefore, when you think about making memories the fiery darts you may have to deal with may go something like this:

Making memories means taking vacations; something our family just can’t afford!  Besides even if we could afford it we don’t have the time!

Yes, times are hard and vacations figure way down on the priority list when it comes to deciding how to manage our income.  The fiery dart here is that vacations are not a priority.  So we give up the opportunity to spend time together as a family, away from the demands of our daily routines.   Fiery dart thinking in this case is designed to keep hidden from us the value of drawing away from our daily grind to experience the healing and rejuvenation that this venue provides in making memories.

Therefore, time and money, are prime sources to spawn a fiery dart when you are contemplating taking your family on vacation.  It takes a great deal of strength to resist the fiery dart that you don’t have the time to go on vacation. Therefore, it’s vital to the well being of your family to recognize this temptation for the fiery dart that it is.

We have only to examine the life of Jesus to understand the value of drawing apart from the world in order to spend time with those you love.  He did this with his disciples and most importantly with His Father.  We should do no less with our own families.

But realistically, full-blown vacations for some of you are beyond your resources.  So what are you to do about spending time together to add to your store of  memories with the family?

If taking a full blown vacation is out of the question, then get creative and plan inexpensive events with the expressed purpose of spending time focused time together.  You don’t even have to spend money, or at least very little money.  There’s parks nearly everywhere and they are free.  Pack a picnic lunch and a blanket, maybe a ball and bat or frisbee, some good reading material, music cd’s, the kids favorite toys, or bikes  whatever suits your fancy and go enjoy some quality time with your family.  And, oh yeah, make it a practice to do this ever so often.  You’ll be so glad you did, especially when you get together in days to come and discover that you have a large store of memories to draw from.

The previous is just one idea, but I’m sure that if you put your mind to it, you’ll come up with an abundance of ways to spend some special times with your family and make those wonderful memories.  Remember, these events should be designed to not only give your family time to spend with each other, but that time should be focused time.

Hey, I just had a great idea!  Why don’t you send me your creative ideas for family outings.  I’ll post them so we can get ideas from each other! And, of course, share the fiery darts that interfered with your family outing plans.  We all need ideas on how to overcome those menacing temptations.  

Be prepared though for those fiery darts that will mess with your plans.

This isn’t the time to deal with “stuff”. (Stuff should be dealt with, just not  during your making memories time!)

Also, you’ll be tempted to include activities that having nothing to do with your little vacation-like time.  (Remember, your family should have your undivided attention during these times!)

Let’s review the fiery darts of making memories:

  • Making memories means taking vacations and we can’t afford them.  (If that’s how you define making memories then you’ve just been sacked by a fiery dart thought!)

  • We don’t have time to take a family outing. (But you do have time to deal with the issues, conflicts, and stresses that being too busy creates?)

  • I’m not sure my family would think that taking a family outing would be much fun.  (Sure, if this isn’t something you do very often.  But the more you do it and the more careful you are about planning them, then the more fun they’ll become!)

Undeniably, making memories can certainly be enriched by enjoying focused time together either during a vacation or a family outing.  But as we are always fashioning memories by just living life, next post I would like to address a more common aspect of memory making. 

Why the big deal about negative teasing?

Sep18

No matter how hard you may laugh, at some level negative teasing inflicts pain!

You may think, “Oh, that’s not enough pain to pay any attention to!”  Oh really!  So you are saying that it’s okay to inflict pain if it’s minuscule?  But is that the focus you should have?  May I remind you of the verse about coarse jesting?

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

Our homes should be the safest place on earth when it comes to the development of our personhood.  We should never have to fear being attacked by those who are suppose to love us the most.  So, with all the emphasis on feeling good about yourself, and maintaining a positive self-image why do we put up with negative teasing, I ask you?  I go back to the influence of media such as tv and/or movies.  If you allow yourself or your children to be overly exposed to the negative humor that saturates most of the shows, then you and your children will be spouting out negative phrases before you realize it!  To avoid this:

WE MUST FILL OUR MINDS AND THE MINDS OF OUR CHILDREN WITH WORDS THAT WILL BE HELPFUL WHEN THEY EXIT OUR MOUTHS! ! !

How is that done?  Consider the following:

1.  All you have to do is make wiser choices about what you watch and what you allow your children to watch.  Thankfully, there are options even on tv and the movies that have a more positive influence on the way we and our children can be influenced to interact with others.  

2.  Fill your minds with words from Scripture.  Like Ephesians 4:29 (to begin with)!  Make it a habit to memorize Scripture and model this habit for your children.  

3.  Post verses that you have written on cards and display them around the house.

4.  Make Scripture an integral part of your family’s daily experience.  Insert Scripture whenever you can to apply to a situation.  For instance, every child’s name means something and particular verses can be ascribed to enhance that meaning.  This might give a child an extra motivation to exhibit actions that live up to their name’s meaning.  

Consider calling upon Scripture to meet the need of the moment such as when your child is afraid, like the following: Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”

5.  Instill in your children the importance of personal devotions.  And remember, the most effective method of teaching our children to have a time of personal devotion is to model this behavior for them!

6.  Be wise in choosing the music you listen to and what you allow your children to listen to. Never underestimate the influence of music. And listen to the lyrics.  (Google the lyrics to the songs, if you can’t understand them!)  If you find something troubling, then Parent’s do something about it.  BTW, if your child is making good choices about the music they are listening to, then by all means, praise them for it!

7.  Encourage your children to hide God’s Word in their hearts.  Get them involved in Bible study and Bible drills.  Do you want your child to be wise and strong of mind?  The absolute best source for that is The Bible, parent!

I think this is a good enough start.  So take it from here and run with it.  I’m confident I have not exhausted all the possibilities of ways to fill your minds and your children’s minds with positive thinking so that the overflow will  also be positive.

And a final word here.  

Always remember, as life happens in your family, memories are being made. Verbal interaction should always be laced with grace.  So be deliberate about making positive memories and minimizing the negative.  The reward for your diligence will provide your family with sweet reminiscing during those family get togethers in the days to come.

The Fiery Darts of Parenting Series – Negative Teasing!

Sep8

Because my book only contains two areas of application (marriage and adolescence) where fiery darts are concerned, I am being impressed to include a series of posts having to do with the application of how to fight the fiery darts encountered in parenting!  Up until now, the theme of my blogs have been a bit random.  Well, maybe not a bit but a whole lot random.  It was suggested to me way back when I began blogging to do something like I am now attempting, but it just never happened.  So, here goes people.  As always, I welcome and appreciate your feedback.

NEGATIVE TEASING!

Oh, mom, I was only teasing!  You know I don’t really mean that!  Lighten up, we were only having fun.  

Are you kidding me? !  Since when has it been okay to put someone down or say all manner of false things about them as long as you say it in a kidding way?  Since our day, that’s when.  And may I be more specific here–since our kids (and us adults) have been exposed to a steady diet of negative teasing disguised as humor on almost any sitcom you care to watch.  TV and movies are masters (and I emphasize the word, ‘masters’) at this type of negative humor and the power of their influence can be seen and felt whenever a group of people are hanging out together. (It makes me sad to write that!) 

Given the fallen nature of man, we shouldn’t be surprised that we have succumbed to thinking that humor is a lot more funny if the words we use are negative!  And while I’m not surprised that people who reject Christ and His teachings have embraced this type of humor, it bothers me DEEPLY that Christians have bought into this LIE! (I’m just calling it like I see it folks)  Actually, it’s one of the most popular and successful fiery darts in use today! Um!

I was disturbed about this when my own children were small.  So much so that I became very selective about what they watched on tv and videos (no dvd’s back then) and I limited their amount of exposure to both.  That’s when the family rule, NO NEGATIVE TEASING, came to be established.

Here’s an example of it’s early beginnings.  When anger is being expressed, it’s only natural to verbally express that anger.  Right?  And you can’t use just any words!  It has to be words that pack a punch!  So, whenever my children expressed anger in the midst of some conflict they were having with each other, out would come those words that had been sitting there in their minds just waiting for the opportunity to be released!  It would be at times such as these that they would hear me say something like the following:

  “Your sister (or brother) has a perfectly good name.  You will use that name when addressing each other.”

My children figured out that they could get away with using hurtful or negative words as long as they cloaked it in humor.  (Do you suppose the idea originated with Mary Poppins?  You know, “A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down! There goes that fallen nature again, taking a good idea and perverting it!)

Well, just like Barney Fife, I nipped that negative teasing in the bud!  Whenever, I heard negative teasing disrupting the peace of our home, I countered with what became a very familiar phrase around our house,

“That’s negative teasing!”

It worked pretty good, I’m pleased to say.  And you can be sure that as my children grew older and wiser, they wouldn’t hesitate to call their father or I down when they heard either one of us violate the family rule!  (Parent’s struggle with that ole fallen nature too, you know! Not an excuse; just stating a fact:(  My children held my feet to the fire on that WHENEVER they had the opportunity.  (Don’t you just love the accountability factor that can prevail in a family!)

Actually, it’s all about making memories (which I’ll cover in another post).  I was keenly aware that my children would be making all sorts of memories as they grew up in our home.  I was determined and deliberate that most of those memories would be positive.  Therefore, negative teasing had no place in our home.  And apparently, God agreed!  Note the following verse:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

Taking this verse to heart then we will examine the words that are coming out of our mouths either in anger or in jest and if those words don’t build up those who are listening to us according to their needs, then we need to zip it! And keep it zipped until we have determined what our hearers need to hear and thereafter, fashion our words accordingly.  Good idea?

 

The Darkness of Fiery Darts vs the Light of God’s Truth!

Aug7

Some days are worse than others when it comes to fiery darts.  It’s amazing to me how powerful some fiery darts are.  I think those that come through people who are closest to us has the greatest potential for destructiveness.  The person through whom the fiery dart comes is often totally clueless that they have become the vehicle of such a force.  Nevertheless, their encounter with you leaves you wounded and likely they are oblivious to the onslaught of fiery darts with which you now must deal.

Okay, you’ve been attacked, wounded, and are now struggling with the fiery darts of the minions of destructiveness.  How do you respond?  It’s important, I think, to not react but to respond.  Reacting predisposes that you are acting without thinking.  Reacting to fiery darts, which is our natural bent, is not the best way to deal with fiery darts.  Nope! We must respond, which implies thoughtful actions.  And for those of us who are Christian, prayer is a vital component of those thoughtful actions.

Fiery darts bring darkness and it seems to me that the more fiery darts you encounter the darker it gets.  I suppose that’s why it’s important to follow the advice of Thomas a’ Kempis, author of The Imitation of Christ whom I quoted in my book, if you don’t want to be overcome by the accumulated darkness of fiery darts.

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.


You need light, the light of Truth, and lots of it at these moments.  Pull out your Bible (or whatever means you have to the Scriptures) and focus on gleaning as much light as is possible on your present situation.  Remember, to fight the darkness of the fiery darts you need to absorb as much light as you can.  So immerse yourself in the Light of God’s Word from the git go. (You are just trying to dispel the darkness at this point.)  Eventually, you will begin to receive direction concerning the specifics of your situation.  Then it will be the light of God’s Truth that will define your attitudes and actions as you deal with the attack of fiery darts that you have encountered.

I would like to share with you the following about a man named Steve Saint who has become a beacon of light for God as is evidenced by the manner in which he has responded  to a recent tragic accident in his life.   At one point early on in this video, Steve shares how he dealt with a menacing fiery dart thought of how much easier it would have been if the accident had cost him his life.  Listen carefully for the light of Truth he has come to know that exposes the darkness of such thinking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP3q_b4zKxQ

To find out who Steve Saint is go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Saint

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 & God Speaks–Final note!

Jul12

What I would like to share with you next should come straight from Echelon’s blog.  Therefore, I will give you the link for you to go to so you can read for yourself how the event played out.

http://echelon-africablog.blogspot.com/2012/07/life-death-ransom-part-3-4.html

Then after you get all updated, I’d like for you to read Jay’s commentary titled:  The Lion AND the Lamb!  Very insightful!

http://echelon-africablog.blogspot.com/2012/07/lion-and-lamb.html

*    *    *    *

As I reflect upon the darkness that seems to prevail in America at present and ponder the extraordinary events my son and his fellow team members are experiencing in Africa, I leave you with this thought.  The spiritual warfare you have just read about is not limited to that small African village on the other side of the world. We cannot pretend that such events occur only in a land where witchdoctors reside and hold sway over the thoughts of those driven by fear.

Unlike our African brethren who knew mostly darkness, we here in America have the Light all around us. Hundreds of Christian churches exist in every state of the Union.  We can hear the Good News broadcast as often as we care to turn on a tv, listen to a radio, or go online.  If we want to know about Jesus, there is an abundance of ways to secure that information.

So how is it that being in possession of such a great Light, we do not notice more evidence of it’s effectiveness?  It is my strong opinion that we have through fiery dart thinking, among other things, hidden our light under a basket as is illustrated by Matthew 5:15.

When we allow Hollywood’s agenda to have more sway over our thinking than we allow the Bible, when we allow our religious beliefs to be muzzled in the public arena, and when we allow evidence of our rich religious heritage to be erased from our children’s textbooks why should we be surprised that darkness and light is so indistinguishable in our land?  And while the government can’t take our God given rights away from us (unalienable you know), I suppose we (the people) in effect could give those rights away by continuing to hide our Light under that proverbial basket!

In that small African village, the Light is shining brightly, is dispelling the darkness and is expanding God’s kingdom.  A people who have walked in darkness are breaking free to walk in the Light.

If we desire to walk in the Light as our African brethren, then first we must acknowledge the darkness in our own lives and allow the Light of the Gospel  to lead us to repent of that darkness.  Then we must forsake the destructive course our past choices have determined for us and walk the path that will be illuminated for us as we study God’s Word.  I close with an excerpt from Echelon’s blog:

http://echelon-africablog.blogspot.com/2012/07/swallow-your-missiology.html

Everyday new people came to us and told us they wanted to follow him.(Jesus) Then after following him they began proclaiming the Good news to those who have not heard! . . . We simply told them that if they are ready to repent of their old ways and begin to FOLLOW Jesus every day. Then please come to us and we will show you his path. 

I ask you, how can you light the path for others when you don’t have enough light to walk your own path? 

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!

Man opens his mouth and God speaks!

Jul2

Recently I have had the most incredible experience.

 It started actually in a land far away–in Africa!

PART ONE

It was to be a routine drive into the nearby town to run a few errands for my son and a couple of volunteers from the US.  Along the way, they were flagged down by man who urged them to call the police for a lady of the village had hung herself.

When my son and the two volunteers arrived on the scene they found the woman still hanging from the tree with a makeshift rope about her neck.  She was still clinging to life, albeit ever so weakly.  The 3 rescuerers gently removed the rope and carried the woman to their truck.  Next stop–the clinic in the nearby town where my son was to be running those errands.

The woman was treated and survived!  My son and his friends then carried the woman to the base camp so she could properly be cared for.  Eventually, she was able to fill them in on what had led to her desperate act.

A few years earlier the woman had borrowed some money from a wealthy man in her village so that she could care for a sick relative.  Sadly, the relative died and the woman had been unable to repay the debt.  The man told the woman that she could use her land to repay some of the debt.  He then began farming her land a little every year.  Yet, this year he began plowing under the woman’s subsistence garden and claimed the land as his own.  Knowing that without this garden she would starve to death, she figured it would be better to die quickly than to slowly starve.

My son and his fellow team member, Jay, then traveled to the man’s home in an attempt to pay the woman’s debt with interest.  The greedy man wanted nothing to do with that solution.  His plan was to get the land (for it would mean more money for him).  Jay reminded the man that the woman would die if this man took her land.  His response was cold and calloused for he cared not what happened to the woman.

Finally, when nothing was resolved, the man said it would be handled in the traditional way.  Which entailed calling the witch doctor, making a sacrifice and calling down a curse that would cause the woman, her two sons, and Jay to die.

Witch Doctor

At that point, Jay told the man of greed, “I don’t think you want to go that route because you would surely lose!   You could call all of the witch doctors in the land and if Gods people were praying they could not hurt a hair on our heads!”

Following this bold statement, Jay became God’s mouth and these words were spoken, “Everything you see here in your presence will be gone within 6 months and you will be destitute having nothing to your name.  You will acknowledge that God is the only true god  as everything that you touch will fail until you repent and acknowledge your evil ways.”

*   *   *

What does this story have to do with fiery darts?

Plenty!

My next blog post will reveal the specifics!

Just something from my heart!

Jun27

  “And it came about when all our enemies heard of it, (that the wall was completed in 52 days) and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”  Nehemiah 6:16

Ever read the account from Nehemiah about the rebuilding of the wall?

 “The book of Nehemiah is an account of the returning exiles from Babylonia–the third and last, and the one in which the wall was rebuilt.  Nehemiah, the governor, had the responsibility of coordinating the rebuilding of the wall surrounding Jerusalem.  The work was going well in spite of much opposition through slander and treachery.  Though the enemies were relentless, they did not take into account Nehemiah’s strong reliance upon God, and each of the schemes was met with failure.  Nehemiah set a dramatic example for all to follow in successfully fighting against the onslaught of fiery darts.” Excerpt from Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, p. 7

Has God ever called you to a task that seemed beyond your strength to accomplish?  Nevertheless, you armed yourself with God’s promise and you accepted the equipment He furnished you with to get the job done.  Armed with the confidence of God’s promises and faith in God’s Word you then set about climbing this seemingly insurmountable mountain!

Then a ways into the work, your strength began to wane.  Your helpers who so enthusiastically supported your leadership in the beginning became disgruntled.  The work wasn’t going fast enough.  It was taking too long.  The ranks became disunited and began to question the wisdom of continuing along the path that had been laid out before them.  It didn’t seem to be working anymore.

Read the following, if the above has ever happened to you.

Thus in Judah it was said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing. Yet there is much rubbish; And we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall.”  And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.”  Nehemiah 4:10-11

The fiery darts are obvious aren’t they.  The enemy is subtle and deceptive.  He sneaks in among God’s people and sows discontent, disunity, causes them to loose their focus, creates doubt, disheartens the people involved;  oh you name it and the enemy does it.  He’ll do anything and everything to stop God’s work!

But you know what, Nehemiah was wise to the enemy’s tactics!  And because Nehemiah didn’t loose his focus, listened ONLY to God, and feared no man, he could not easily be deceived.  Nehemiah was obedient to what God called him to do and shut out the fiery darts (which I might add, were often coming from his own people; the people he was leading) and after more fiery darts than any of us could imagine,

THAT WALL GOT BUILT AND EVERYONE RECOGNIZED THAT THE WORK HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE HELP OF GOD!

 Hallelujah, for God’s team.  Now that’s the team I want to be on when the chips are down, when plans are crumbling all around me.  Sure, that’s not very comfortable or desirable BUT if you hang on during those tough times and determine to be an instrument for God to accomplish His plan, your faith will spark other’s faith and you can lead the fray back to the path they wandered from.  You want to know how?

Then read another excerpt from my book:

Giving into such a temptation is all the more likely if we are not grounded in God Word and if we aren’t strong enough in our trust of God’s provision and protection.  We become susceptible to the lies used against us, thus increasing the possibility of succumbing to the temptation of giving up on what God has called us to do. (p. 10)

The Enemy’s plan had not changed–to stop the work.  Nehemiah’s assignment had not changed either–to rebuild the wall.  He had his mandate and he would be faithful to follow through.  (p. 10)

Because Nehemiah was so close to God, he recognized anything that did not appear to be of God.  Therefore, the lesson we must grasp is that closeness to God is vital to our understanding in what the Enemy is up to and how to respond.  Satan will not only use our own thinking to deceive us, but will attempt to use others to foster that deception.  Therefore, our closeness to God will be our greatest protection.  By delving into Scripture for a word from God, the Enemy’s plan will be exposed and we will have the ammunition to counter attack. (p. 11-12)

So that’s how you do it my dear readers.  That’s how you shoot down the fiery darts.  Just following Nehemiah’s example.  Now I suggest you get out your Bible and start absorbing Nehemiah chapters 1-6.  There’s a lot of good stuff in there about how to defeat the enemy and avoid allowing yourself to be manipulated by him.

BUT REMEMBER:

Satan wants to keep you from reading this account in Nehemiah, so don’t be surprised when those fiery darts tell you, “Oh you’re familiar enough with those chapters so you don’t really need to read them.”

Satan desires to keep you from praying and seeking God’s will. So again, don’t be surprised when those fiery darts try to convince you that any discord you are sowing is justified and your ways seem right to you.

 Prov. 14:12, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

(Just saying’)

 Oh, here’s a final word to remember:

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:16-17