Tag Archive | fiery darts

Sin is greater than Grace?

Apr22

Yesterday, a young lady sang a song (who has by the way a voice gifted by God. a natural innocently beautiful voice) during our morning worship service entitled:

Grace will always be greater than sin!

This special music performed by this young lady (who was masterfully accompanied by our choir) reminded us that grace always wins out over sin.  So does Romans 5:20,

 Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

But I’m sure you have noticed a discrepancy in the title of my post and the title of the song! Well, this is a blog that deals with fiery darts so hang in there with me while I elucidate! (Okay, I could have said ‘explain’ but where’s the fun in that!)

As my young friend sang her heart out, my mind began pondering the duel between grace and sin in my own life.  My mind turns against me often in self-condemning thoughts (or should I say fiery darts!) And even though I believe that Grace is always greater than sin, sometimes my mind’s thoughts reveal the opposite–that sin is greater than grace!  That’s the fault of my focus.

Now let me clarify something here.

Yes, I wrestle with self-condemning thoughts BUT they do not rule me because I do not focus on them.  A deliberate effort has to be made to focus on Christ instead. Since my Heavenly Father unveiled the Enemy’s plan of attack in the use of fiery darts, I’ve grown in my skill to focus on Christ.

Once Satan’s intentions were exposed and the tactics he was so skillfully using to produce such defeat in my life were revealed, then my instruction on how to counter these attacks began in earnest.  p.3, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice.

You see, my dear readers, those negative thoughts, fiery darts, or self-condemning thoughts use to send me spiraling downward.  And excerpt from p. 15 of my book illustrates this.

What we think determines how we feel and what we feel influences our actions.  A negative action is often the result of negative thinking.  Understandably, if Satan can negatively influence our thinking then temptations to act negatively will be harder for us to resist. 

My plan is to apply what I have recently learned (yep, you keep learning as long as you are alive, right?) from the verse Philippines 4:8:

Finally, brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such thing.

Since negative thoughts pop into my mind so speedily (I mean they are usually the first to arrive), I have learned that the most practical means of slamming the door in their faces is to create an uncomfortable greeting for them the moment they arrive.  That’s where Philippines 4:8 comes in.  For I am learning that if I fill my head with the kind of thoughts this verse refers to, then the self-condemning thoughts don’t really want to hang around.

Philippines 4:8 leads to the next step in fighting fiery darts which is taken from p. 79 in my book.

Afterword

Here are five simple steps to keep in mind when you are faced with a fiery dart:

 1.   Examine the negative thought.

 2.   Ask yourself this question:  What is the purpose of this thought?

 3.  Acknowledge it as a fiery dart, if the purpose is to pull you down in any way.  Then, personalize this prayer based on Isaiah 54:17, “May this weapon formed against me not prevail.” (Keep in mind that conviction brings restoration, a fiery dart brings condemnation.)

 4.  Search your concordance for a Scripture that addresses that issue, after determining the TRUTH you need to combat the lie of the fiery dart.

 5.  Call upon the TRUTH of the Scripture from Step 4, every time you are tempted with the fiery dart.  

Now I’ve come full circle.

Focusing on the fiery darts, (self-condemning or negative thoughts) more than you do on on the TRUTHS that contradict those thoughts is a sin and will result in stealing your joy. (We are thinking thoughts that attribute more power to sin than grace; so be careful here.)

Focusing on God’s TRUTHS instead will fill your mind with hopeful thoughts.  Knowing that His grace is always sufficient and is always greater than our sins, pulls us out of the mire those fiery darts have condemned us to, and the light of God’s grace fills us with hope.

Here’s the wrap up!

Some happy thoughts that I’m focusing on at present  (Philip. 4:8, remember) is that God does not ignore my needs,

Philip. 4:19, He supplies ALL of them

and that He doesn’t condemn me

Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Romans 8:28, AND that all things work together for my good, 

AND (drum roll…….)

His Grace is ALWAYS greater than sin!

Suffering? Nope that’s not for me!

Apr14

It’s only been a month since I returned from my 2 1/2 month stay in Africa where my son, daughter-in-law, and newborn grandson serve as missionaries.  And I am still processing the numerous lessons I was introduced to while there.  But there’s been one on my mind that continues to surface on a regular basis.

One of the conversations I had with my son as he was helping me get through a difficult time was the conflicting attitude many Christians here in the U.S. seem to portray.  It has to do with our attitude towards suffering.

SUFFERING?  Nope that’s not for me!

If I have lived my life as a good Christian should, then God will bless me.  And if something bad happens to me, I am going to pray and get as many  as I can to join with me, asking God to deliver me from this bad thing.

Please notice the following excerpt from my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice, p. 38

Ever noticed how reluctant we are to suffer for Christ?  When someone gets sick, we automatically ask God to heal.  Take the suffering away and we deprive ourselves from learning how to handle suffering and as a result grow more like Christ.  Does anyone think that this life can be lived without suffering?  Not really, so why do we recoil from it when it comes our way?

Life can’t be lived without experiencing difficulty.  Yet the fiery darts persist in trying to convince us that if we live our lives as a good Christian should then our lives will be blessed and that should result in an easier life.  I don’t really think any Christian would say they believe such nonsense, but by the way we ‘recoil’ from suffering and automatically begin praying to be delivered or be healed, I think we are acting as if we do.  You think?

We want an easy life, or at least that’s what the fiery darts will try to convince us of.  But we experience salvation, the hope of eternal life, abundant life in the here and now–and the list goes on and on–JUST BECAUSE someone was willing to suffer on our behalf.

Be ever so careful my dear ones when hard times come your way.  There’s a sweetness in that trial that will only be tasted as we submit our wills to God and trust Him to work it all out for our good.  (Just like Romans 8:28 says)

James 1 encourages us to count it all joy when we suffer from trials and tribulations.  Why? Because there is something lacking in our lives and if we will only cooperate with God as we go through these trials, then whatever is lacking will be supplied by that trial.

Oh, I can just hear that fiery dart being whispered in your head about now.

“Are you kidding me? Whatever it is that’s lacking, I’m sure is something you would rather live without, right?”

You see, the fiery darts want to cloudy up your thinking so that you won’t remember verses like Jeremiah 29:11, where God reminds us that His plans for us are good plans that will give us a hopeful future.  The Holy Spirit reminds us, we have to cooperate with God as He works out those plans.

Are you going through a hard time right now?  As God to help you identify the fiery dart thinking that is keeping you from identifying the power God supplies you with to be victorious.  As a matter of fact, refer to p. 79 in my book and learn how to attack the fiery darts that are designed to pull you down so you will know NOTHING of the victory God has planned for you in that trial!

Fiery Darts? Oh I know what that is!

Mar27

FYI I have recently returned from a 2 1/2 months stay in the land of Uganda in order to visit with my son, daughter-in-law, and brand-new grandson.  And while I went there on a grandmother’s mission, God added an aspect to my mission that was quite unexpected.

I won’t go into any details here about the alterations God made in my trip but I invite you to read about that in my other blog:

http://missionarysmom.wordpress.com

I mention my trip because of the insight God gave me due to my experiences there into what He continues to teach me about fiery darts.

* * * *

First of all, I’d like to address something that became apparent to me during my stay in Uganda.  I am concerned that the term ‘fiery darts’ is a term perhaps overly familiar to Christians.  Why would that cause me concern?

If you are overly familiar with something, you tend to take it for granted.  Right?  So in applying this thought to the term fiery darts, it is becoming apparent to me that when I bring up fiery darts in a conversation most people (esp. Christians) assume that they know  what I’m talking about.  And I believe they do too; just not as much as they think they do.

It took an in-depth study and lots of years of personal experience for me to be able to identify the fiery darts that were plaguing my mind.  Then after God introduced me to what fiery darts were (and who was responsible for wielding this weapon against me), He began teaching me as to how I could counter their attacks.

From all of that came the book:

Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice

Once you start reading the book or even just glancing over the table of contents, you’ll discover that there’s so much more to know about fiery darts than just being able to define them.

I encounter Christians who are unknowingly being victimized by fiery darts. While they might  even acknowledge a negative thought as a fiery dart, they are unskilled when it comes to preventing these fiery darts from defining attitudes and/or actions. Or worse yet, they aren’t able to recognize the fiery darts that’s victimizing them!

So what am I trying to say here?

What these Christians need to do is to educate themselves about this term they are so-o-o familiar with, because defining the term ‘fiery darts’ is just the tip of the iceberg.  Obviously, getting your hands on my book (or even rereading with the intent of studying it if you already have one) is something I strongly suggest.  The benefit of studying my book is that I have gone through the trials that taught me how to recognize and fight fiery darts.  You can benefit from the lessons I learned in those trials by making my book an object of your personal study. (You can’t imagine how much better that will be for you!)

Or do an in-depth study of your own on this subject.  Whatever you do find out all that you can to thwart the attacks of fiery darts.

In my next post, I’d like to share with my readers a little jewel God gave me while in Africa which added to my own arsenal to counter the attack of fiery darts.

How to get my book

All you have to do is to google the title of my book:  Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice  to locate my book online.  And for you e-readers it’s available on Kindle!

Or type in the following website:  http://newbookpublishing.com     to order a book from them. (they have it on Kindle as well)

And for those of you who live in my area, you can get a book from me personally.  Contact me at     janetwarrenlane@gmail.com   for details as to cost.

More on saying goodbye!

Nov23

Here’s another thought God gave me in my time with Him this morning!

Why is it that we as parents of grown children struggle so with the fiery darts of loneliness and depression when our children and grandchildren (especially those who live a long ways from us) depart after a visit?  I have some thoughts regarding that!

For me, my struggles with these two fiery darts are dramatically diminished as long as I bring the power of Scripture to bear upon them.  Yesterday, God helped me to understand the impact of focusing on His blessings in keeping the temptations of loneliness and depression at bay.  And I am here to tell you, “It works!”

In addition, God gave me another thought this morning that I feel I must share with you.

Part of our problem is that we struggle to accept reality.  The reality is that children grow up and often move away from their parent’s home, town, (and sometimes even country)!  That’s normal, that’s as it should be.  But we think we would be happier if they lived closer and mourn the fact that they don’t!  As long as we think on these little ‘t’ truths, we open the door of our minds to an onslaught of fiery darts.  The results of that?  Read on!

We will become more and more self absorbed!

Our notice of families who live close to each other will be intensified and we will begin to envy them and feel sorry for ourselves.

The distance between ourselves and God will continue to expand.

Our time with God will diminish and become less fruitful.

Mentally and emotionally we will be bummed out, and that will begin to take a toll on us physically!

IT’S A DOWNWARD SPIRAL!

I know that the fiery darts will always nag at my mind!  Such as: I’m getting too old to become adventurous.  How do I know my health won’t play out?  Physically I just can’t manage as much as I use to.  I’m running out of time; it’s just too late to attempt new things.

If I allow myself to think like that then that abundant and prosperous life God has for me in John 10:10b and Jeremiah 29:11 will indeed pass me by.

So perhaps now you understand why it is vital to be deliberate about our thinking!  God has given us some excellent advice in Philippians 4:8 about how we should be directing our thoughts:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. (NIV)

And the results of this kind of thinking?

We will begin to realize we have more time to spend with God! (The benefits of that cannot be measured!)

We will become less self absorbed! (Our world won’t be so centered on us!)

Our health will improve b/c we are in a healthier mental and emotional state!

We will begin to enjoy the freedom to pursue things we wouldn’t consider or afford as long as we had the responsibility of caring for our children. (I took a flying lesson recently!)

We begin to respond normally to those difficult goodbye’s.  Sad, of course, b/c we miss them and b/c we enjoy having them around, and we love making those memories with them, but we soon get back on our feet and move on to enjoy the life and benefits of the empty nest God has ordained for us.  Because as God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11,

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)

and John 10:10b,

 I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.(NIV)

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. 

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!