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!

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!

Probably by now your ability to recognize fiery darts is on the rise.  And with that quickened awareness you are beginning to see what heretofore was hidden from you. A case in point is the fiery darts of Christmas, in particular the fiery dart of keeping Christ in the manger!

Even in today’s culture which favors a diversified Christmas, while shying away from emphasizing the birth of the Savior, we will allow for a babe in the manger.  After all, how intimidating can a baby be? And that is the fiery dart that I want to dissect here.

Think about it.  If we keep Jesus in the manger, then we don’t have to come to terms with the message given by Him as our Savior.  We don’t have to worry about having to change our ways to accommodate such a message, either!  We are free to live the way we want and never have to bother with asking the question, “What would Jesus do?”  Keep Jesus a baby and we get to live life on our terms!

But living life on our terms carries some conditions.  When self becomes our focus instead of Christ, then we don’t possess the capability to see Jesus for who He really is. For example, as He is described in Isaiah 9:6,

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

All that Jesus is, what He has to offer, and what He has done to secure our abundant life here on earth and in heaven will be hidden from us.

So, want to know what this fiery dart of Christmas is hiding from you? Here’s just a few:  true love, true peace, true joy, a growing faith, comfort, security, and freedom from fear, doubt, and worry.  AND that’s just a few off the top of my head!

Now I ask you, where has living life on your terms taken you?  After meditating on that question for a while then I’d like to ask you to consider the verse in Jeremiah 29:11,

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.”

Are you experiencing the abundant life promised by God in John 10:10 living on your terms?  Probably not!

Therefore, if we are going to experience the abundant life God has planned for us then obviously we are going to have to accept His terms.  AND one of the first things we might have to do will be to check and see if we still have Christ lying in that manger. If we find that we have succumbed to this troublesome fiery dart, then we must pray that this weapon will not prevail and wield the power of God’s Word in raising our Shield to deflect it.

So, let’s acknowledge that fiery dart.  When we do then we will be able to grasp His message to us as our Savior.   We will have the vision to see how He lived and the sacrifice He made for us.   The promise in John 3:16 will then be ours,

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

To have the correct focus on Christmas remember–as the Christ child lay sleeping,  there was the shadow of a cross cast over that manger!

Be wise intercept those fiery darts with God’s Word before they hit their targets! If you do, then your gonna have a GREAT CHRISTMAS!

What I share with you today weighs heavy on my heart.  While I feel frustrated to some degree because I can only cover this subject briefly (And the fiery dart tells me, ” So what’s the point? You won’t be able to make much of a difference in the few words allotted to you in this post.”)  I say to myself, “May this weapon formed against me not prevail,” and move forward with what’s on my heart.

DIVORCE!

Volumes, of course, could be written about divorce, but in this post I want to cover an often overlooked aspect of divorce from my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice.

Couples tempted with divorce don’t see their marriage as the choice means of God whereby they could be fashioned to become more like Christ. They aren’t aware of the glorious opportunity marriage gives them to forgive and be forgiven.  They fail to understand how this element of forgiveness in marriage testifies of God’s redemptive plan.  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! p.75-76

I wonder how many Christian married couples see the problems they are encountering with their spouse as an instrument of God’s in conforming them into His Son’s image?  And that the purpose of being conformed into the image of Christ is to draw an unbelieving world to Himself.

The sad truth is not many!  I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that Satan has a greater understanding of the purpose of marriage than your typical Christian does.  I cover in detail the purpose of marriage in chapter 8 of my book which is entitled, “The Fiery Darts of Marriage,” but in a few words the purpose of marriage is to make us holy!  This idea came from a book entitled Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. If you only read one book about marriage, it aught to be this one!

Fiery darts have so desensitized us to what the Bible has to say about the purpose of marriage that most of us are clueless.  And why are we clueless?  Because we aren’t spending enough time in God’s Word to find out what He has to say on the subject!

Christian couples who are having marital problems too many times handle their problems just like those who are not Christians!  They have been so manipulated by fiery darts that they embrace the counsel of a secular world over the counsel of God.

Are we choosing pain, misery, and failure over joy, love, and victory?  Yes, that’s exactly what we are doing!  Do you have any idea of what is accomplished when a couple who is struggling in their marriage chooses to stay in that marriage for the sake of their children (that reminds me of a bold face lie I’ve heard before–get a divorce for the sake of the children) and for the sake of Christ?  Those children get a chance to grow up without the disillusionment and all the debilitating problems that would have been heaped upon them when their parent’s divorced!  Their testimony of not giving up adds validity to living the Christian life and draws unbelievers to Christ!

And what about couples whose problems are so severe that the world and even some Christians would counsel them that divorce is the best solution, but instead they choose by the grace and strength of God to repent and forgive?  And by doing so, send a resounding message of repentance and forgiveness to a world that is in desperate need of such redemption?  Wow! Now that’s what I’m talking about people!

If you are contemplating divorce, realize that you are being victimized by fiery darts.  There are things that you are believing that simply just are not true.  You are making choices and thinking thoughts that are designed to destroy you and inflict pain upon you and all involved.

God has an abundance of peace, joy and happiness just waiting for you. He won’t force it upon you though.  You have to choose to cooperate with Him!  Then my dear friend, “You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free!”  Then and only then will Satan’s plans be foiled concerning you.  You have to make a choice!  And it is pretty simple really.

Here it is–Death or Freedom!

Oh yeah, the fiery darts whisper to you that it’s not that simple because your situation is much more complicated than that, right?  HA!  WRONG!  That’s a stinking fiery dart my friend. Resist it for all you’re worth.  Stand on the Word of God and choose the plan God has for you! Break free from the chains that bind you! (And, oh yeah, you may not notice those chains until you’re free of them. Part of the effect of fiery darts, you know!)

Praying,

In my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, I expose Satan’s plan of attack using negative thinking/fiery darts.  But that’s not all!  In addition, I provide strategy details on how to deflect those fiery darts and defeat the Enemy!

In this post, I would like to highlight a particular detail of that strategy.  On page 41-42 of my book I have included a 3 column chart with the following headings: (words in parenthesis explain the purpose of the headings)

1 -Fiery Darts            

(The plan is to first identify the fiery dart)

2-God’s Truth  

 (Then apply God’s Truth to that fiery dart)

3-References

(Finally, the References that contain those Truths)

Now, remember the chart in my book is generalized. Your personal encounter with fiery darts will be much more specific.

Here’s what I suggest!

Get out a sheet of paper, a pen, (nothing electronic-will explain the why of that as I go.)  Then along with that obtain a Bible Concordance. (Now, this can be electronic. I would recommend it actually!)  But just a single book will suffice. (Personally, I started with a book Concordance then in recent years I was given a Bible study program for my computer and I have to say, I LOVE IT!)

Now, find a quiet place with no distractions. Sit down with your Concordance, paper and pen.  OK, bring your computer along but be prepared to print out the list you will be making.  The reason is you’ll need to have this list as a handy reference.

On that sheet of paper in column one identify all the fiery darts that you are currently struggling with.  For example, let’s say you are dealing with fear.  Then write something like, “I am afraid of________________.” You fill in the detail of what it is you are afraid of.

Next, find the word “fear” in your Concordance and look up all the references that contain that word.  Choose references that apply to your situation and in the 2nd column write down the Truth that speaks to that fear.

Finally, in column 3, record that reference/s.

FEELING BETTER?

Yes, just this simple exercise will have the effect of restoring your confidence in yourself because you are doing something constructive in dealing with those menacing fiery darts.  You are throwing off the victim mentality and putting on the victor mentality! Yahoo, go get um!

NOW, BE ON YOUR GUARD!

Now print out this list (after you save it on your computer, of course) and tuck it in your purse or pocket.  WHY?  Because Satan will not relent (just yet) on hurling these very fiery darts at you again and again.  BUT each time he does, you are going to pull out that list and nail that fiery dart to the wall (so to speak)! Eventually, it will loose it’s power to rule you.

 HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING!

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh 4 (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), 5 casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; 
2 Cor 10:3-5(ASV)

AND EVENTUALLY AFTER YOU HAVE RESISTED;

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:7-8 (ASV) 

YOUR JOY AND HOPE WILL BE RESTORED!

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (NKJV)

REMEMBER!

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, 

Go into battle without your Number One Weapon – GOD’S WORD!

You simply will be defeated by the Enemy, if you do!

 Stand fast and know victory!

I know many of us have days when we feel ALL of our joy is depleted.

 We have fought certain battles for so long that we are drained of our resources to continue fighting and our joy has been depleted.

Or so, this fiery dart would have us believe.

In my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, I write about the element of truth contained within certain fiery darts which will seem to validate the thought and cause us to embrace it. For you see after fighting certain battles in our lives for a lengthy amount of time, we simply wear out.  Now, if we aren’t knowledgeable about fiery darts we will start to believe that we can go no further.  And on a certain level that may be true, for our emotions play a BIG part in defining how we feel. Joy is an emotion that is virtually nonexistent at times like these!

How do you think you would feel if you were the writer of the following?

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,…Habakkuk 3:17 (ESV)

Pretty sad, I’m sure.  It would be no small task for any of us to have  joy in the midst of such discouraging circumstances.  For these stark realities would certainly trump any hint of joy that might try to find lodging in our brain.

Yet read the follow-up to these verses:

 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
 I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
 God, the Lord, is my strength;
Hab 3:18-19 (ESV)

How do you suppose the writer of these verses could face such lean times and still rejoice?  If you read the verses closely, you’ll notice that the source of the writer’s joy was in the Lord and the God of his salvation.  God, the Lord, was his strength.  Is that source ever depleted?  Of course not.  That’s why Philippines 4:4 says to

“Rejoice in the Lord always…”

THAT SOURCE OF JOY IS NEVER DEPLETED!

Now, let me show you what’s behind the fiery dart mentioned earlier.

Keep the thinker focused on the fd.

The more negative their thoughts, the more negative their emotions.

The more negative they become the less motivation they will have to read God’s Word.

The less they are influenced by God’s Word, the more they are influenced by the world’s way of thinking.

The more they are influenced by the world’s way of thinking, the more hopeless they will become.

Until soon they will reach a point where they will begin to believe a lie!

 AND HERE’S THE TRUTH THE FIERY DART IS HIDING FROM THEM:

The joy we have in the Lord is always abundant.

Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and again called to it. It more than outweighs all causes for sorrow.                      —Matthew Henry Concise Commentary

If everything else changes, yet the Lord does not change;                                                       if the sources of all other joy are dried up, yet this (source of joy) is not. http://biblecommenter.com/philippians/4-4.htm

So, even though the source of joy in a particular aspect of our lives may be all dried up, our source of joy in our Lord outweighs all that. We have joy in the Lord, we NEED no other joy to live a joyful life!

(Therefore, we don’t need to allow ourselves to face life from the dried up area where there is no joy.  However, the fiery dart will attempt to pull our focus to that area every time.)

This then is what we should pray:

Help me Lord, to cooperate with you to keep my focus on the abundance

of joy I have in You, and face my problems from that perspective of abundance.

Stand fast, my friends

So, according to these verses, who does our body belong to?  Answer – God!  Oh yeah, right answer, this time! That’s pretty clear. Not much to misunderstand, right?