Tag Archive | 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

More about prayer…

There have been volumes written about prayer. So, I really don’t have anything new to add to the subject. What I have to share will be a reminder to many. Yet for some it might just be a new discovery! I write that because it wasn’t until the middle half of my life that I made such a discovery regarding prayer.

I’l preface this by sharing that my prayer life has undergone various transformations over the years. As I grew spiritually that growth inspired alterations in how I prayed. For instance, as a young Christian, my prayers focused mostly on what I wanted from God. But as the years passed, and I learned more about God, my prayers focused more on what He wanted for me. Yet, it was an up and down journey which was directly impacted by my growth or lack thereof.

However, there was something missing. A failed connection. I use to remind my children and my students that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. That reason was that He wanted us to listen twice as much as we spoke. It took awhile for that to sink in and apply it to my spiritual life. For you see, I had failed to realize that while prayer was my talking to God, reading and meditating on His words was how God talked to me. What I discovered, well into my adult life, was that I was over focused on making sure God knew what I wanted. Yet, I wasn’t giving Him the opportunity to tell me what He wanted!

There’s a verse that showed me it was in recognizing God’s mighty weapons (His Word, His Truth) that resulted in my hearing God’s voice. It was what God said to me in Ephesians 6:16, “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one,” that I began to make the connection between lies and fiery darts. From that verse God referred other verses which led me to be able to recognize the fiery darts, reject them, and to replace them with His Truth. Truth thoughts that countered the lies from the enemy.

The key to communicating with God is to become familiar with His word. Leave the Bible reading out and we will only be talking to God. We won’t know what He has to say about our petitions, if we do all the talking.

Fighting against the unseen…

Oct6

God’s word reveals deception, if God’s word becomes your filter!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12 KJV

Let’s ask ourselves this question: ‘How much time do we spend in God’s word and in prayer.’ Unfortunately, there are some of us, though we call ourselves Christians, rarely open our Bibles. Additionally, we aren’t quite sure of even how to pray! Why is that?

If our vision is limited to only see the physical aspects of our social, political, or personal struggles, then we can fall prey to Satan’s manipulation and deception. Therefore, we won’t grasp that the real struggle or battle is on the supernatural level. And to wage war on that level, we need to be familiar with our Bibles.

For it is within the pages of Scripture where the enemy gets exposed. (Not surprising then is it that he would desire to keep us from opening such) Therefore, being able to identify the enemy and his tactics, we then search the Scriptures for the mighty weapons God has for us to use to defeat the enemy. Satan knows the 6th chapter of Ephesians, if applied, will upend his battle plan.

Becoming informed through the Truths laid out in Scripture, we will become equipped to weather the storms life will most certainly hurl at us. As we grow in this wisdom and knowledge, the curtain of deception is pulled back. We will conform to God’s Truth and be set free. The enemy’s fiery darts, sent to steal, kill, and destroy us will not only be exposed but extinguished.

Pray for discernment to see what is unseen!

How to keep from being devoured! Or how to not give up when you have lost hope.

Feb22

There are seasons in our lives when in spite of what we read in the Bible, we feel abandoned by God. (and if we aren’t reading our Bible then we, for sure, feel abandoned and even hopeless) We walk around in a cloud where hope is vague and happiness is something we grow more unfamiliar with by the day.

So what should we do? How do we survive such desolate days?

Keep a proper perspective

We all have a singular enemy! He is called Satan! He has plans to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10). He influences false assumptions, prideful thinking, and deceptive human reasoning. (2 Cor 10:3-5)

Then how is it that we are so easily devoured by Satan’s plans?

I’ve been told that the lion stalks those who are distracted and weak. Therefore, Satan is on a constant vigil to detect the weak among us. Those who rarely feed on God’s word, are most vulnerable to his manipulation and deception. Those who have become more familiar with the lies of the world than the principles declared in the Bible are easily led astray and distracted.

Without a healthy understanding of how much we are loved by God, of His good plans for us, of how His plan is for all things to work together for our good, we can easily be consumed by the burdens of life. Therefore, Satan’s foremost attack is to make us ignorant of such understanding. By doing so, he can easily convince us that God has forgotten and abandoned us. He feeds our thoughts with negativity and lies. Our hope soon gives way to hopelessness and despair.

How do we counter Satan’s attack?

Satan attacks us first in our thoughts. A weapon referred to as fiery darts. If we don’t know how to recognize those fiery darts, then we are doomed to falling prey to their poison. How we feel will be filtered by the fiery darts we have allowed to take root in our thinking. Consider the following excerpt from my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice:

First we entertain a thought. That thought will cause certain related feelings. Thus, our behavior is influenced by our thoughts and feelings. Psychologists say that if behavior is to be changed, then the flow must be interrupted, either at the initial thought or at the feeling point. p. 28 3rd ed FD’s

Satan must be defeated at the first thought level. When we accomplish this, then the darkness will diminish. We won’t succumb to the deception of the enemy. We may have to deal with unhappiness but our joy remains. And instead of becoming overwhelmed we will discover that

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-16 NLT

Memories, thoughts, and weapons

Jun24

Nammy's Camp 2018

Recently I was thrilled to entertain 8 of my 10 grandchildren at what our family has termed, Nammy Camp. It’s a kid-driven camp. The grans provide the fun ideas. I plan the menus, and provide the venue. There is only one restriction–no electronics!!

Instead, my grandchildren spend time outside: swimming in my above ground pool, taking walks on trails in the woods, exploring, trying their hand at cooking, taking rides on a 4-wheeler, eating most of our meals outside on the picnic table, interacting with extended family members at a cookout, using their imaginations to build a brick fort, getting wet in a high spirited game of water balloons, learning a new game called ‘ladder ball toss’; playing chess, organizing a spa day for facials, manicures, and hair do’s; enjoying movie night with popcorn, rising early to watch a sunrise, and chasing fireflies at twilight!

kathy & kids leaving 2018

The time they were running around, laughing, and playing proved all too short. Fortunately, I didn’t have to say goodbye all at once. They left in 3 stages. Inevitably though, the final send off arrived. After waving goodbye from the front porch, as our last grandchildren drove off, I could sense the beginnings of a struggle.

What struggle?

The struggle to reject the fiery dart thoughts of overwhelming sadness! For now my house was silent and empty. I walked around the yard picking up pool toys and trash left behind by my campers. Storing lawn chairs and pool inflatables in the shed kept my mind from dwelling on the obvious.

As each moment passed, the temptation to give in to the sadness grew stronger. But before I could be overwhelmed, God offered me a two-fold weapon. One aspect of this weapon was to reject the sad thoughts so that they would not rule my thinking. Thoughts of this nature would influence negative attitudes and actions (p. 93, FD’s 3rd ed). The second aspect was to choose thoughts that would lift my spirits.

Indeed, I had a hefty supply of memories from the previous days to draw upon. Truth thoughts from Scripture provided a rich source of strength and resolve.

As the hours passed, the force of the enemy’s attacks lessened. By filling my mind with hopeful words from Scripture and happy memories, there was little room for the sad thoughts to plant themselves. By wielding God’s weapons, we can overcome the enemy when he attacks.

Remember, the enemy cannot defeat us, if we use the weapons of God’s design.

What Will We Believe?

Mar31

I read in my devotion time recently the following:

“Evidence of Christ’s resurrection has been examined more carefully than evidence of any other fact in history. (The Word for you Today, March p. 19)” Yet, people continue to question this pivotal historical event.

More than once, authors have set out to write books that disprove Christ’s deity, existence, death, and His resurrection. Only to end up embracing and defending the very Christ they set out to disprove.

Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ

Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict

Dr. Frank Morison, Who Moved the Stone

Lew Wallace, Ben Hur

So I ask you, why in the face of such evidence, men & women continue to reject or deny Christ’s deity, existence, death, and resurrection?

Scripture is clear in describing Satan’s plan in John 10:10a (HCSB), “A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.” So what is it that the Enemy desires to steal, kill, and destroy? The answer is obvious—anything God has planned for us! p. 13, FD’s 3rd edition

You see, Satan’s knows there is a God, he knows God sent Christ to redeem mankind, he knows Christ’ resurrection really happened!

He also knows that if we believe in God, confess our sins and accept Christ as our Savior, then when we die we will go to heaven for eternity–(see page 2 of this blog)

But Satan is jealous of God. He will do any and everything he can to keep mankind from discovering the Truth.

Satan takes full advantage of the struggle between the old nature (the flesh) and the new nature (God’s Spirit). His first attempt will be to weaken our new nature by tempting our old nature with distractions meant to diminish our desire to study the Bible or spend time with God in prayer. p. 46, FD’s 3rd edition

I see people, playing right into Satan’s hands! Human reasoning, false arguments, and rebellious thoughts, are fiery darts Satan uses to destroy and deceive mankind. But choosing God’s weapons can set mankind on a different course, if we will only learn how to use them.

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Fiery Darts: Satan's Weapon of Choice