Mulling it Over - Romans 8:14-17

We have been working our way through the 8th chapter of the book of Romans in the New Testament. Paul’s letter to the Jewish Christians at Rome is full of doctrine relevant to the Christian faith including the infamous “Roman Road”, a miniature gospel in just a few verses (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10, and 10:13). It also gives plenty of teaching on how to conduct ourselves with relation to others.

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Today we are looking at the following verses:

“14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified ”

— Romans 8:14-17 (NASB 1995)

These verses are essential to understanding our position in God’s kingdom. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are instantly received into God’s family. What does this really mean, especially in light of the dysfunction of so many families in the world around us. Today it seems we know more broken families than whole ones; blended families than original families; families filled with struggles and heartbreak. Why would I want to be part of that? As we dissect these verses we will gain a better understanding of the beauty of being part of the family of God.

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For all who are being led by the Spirit of God…

These verses are meant to describe those who are believers in Christ. Not just belief that He existed, and was a great teacher, but that His purpose was to live, die and rise again so that we might be able to be part of His family. If we are part of this family we are led by His Spirit. Yes, we can quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, but if we are growing in our relationship with Him and becoming more Christ like, we will respond to His leading.

…these are the sons of God.

Right away in this first verse we receive our positional attribute. We are “the sons (and daughters, of course), of God.” Paul will spend the next few verses putting an exclamation point on this position.

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For you have not receive a spirit of slavery, leading to fear again…

This is an important sentence, so read it again! If you are a child of God, a daughter of God, you are not enslaved, no matter how you might feel; no matter your struggles, fears, addictions, bad habits, failures, or worries. When you begin feeling enslaved, know right away, that spirit is not from God. God does not want us to be fearful. Everything He has done for us was to raise us out of the valley of fear, so that we might wander freely on the mountaintops of peace.

The reason Paul wrote these words, by the inspiration and leading of the Holy Spirit, was in part to confirm to the Christians in the church at Rome that they were not enslaved to anyone or anything. Rome may be the governing entity, a believer might even by a slave in their socioeconomic standing, but they were not to be enslaved to any teaching or doctrine that tried to add to the gospel. Christ, and Christ alone.

Any time we add to the gospel of Jesus Christ we bring ourselves under the enslavement of ideas, thoughts and teachings that are not accurate. In turn this thinking leads to enslavement and that leads to fear. We will never be good enough. We will never do enough. Our purpose, worth and standing is given to us by God through our relationship with Jesus. To do anything else will find us never able to be that person, or attain that level of “goodness”. We will be enslaved, and that will leave us always feeling fearful.

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…but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Again, Paul reminds us we have been received into the family of God. He makes it legal by using the term, adoption. God didn’t just invite us to come dwell with Him, eating His food, using His resources, and in turn benefiting from His limitless wealth and love. He went so far as to actually adopt us. That adoption is both a binding legal act, and a practice is interesting. Not only do we legally belong to the family of God, but we can take on the characteristic of children belonging to their biological parent by calling God in the familial and familiar sense, “Abba! Father!” Calling God Abba is an intimate term and acknowledges Him as the one who knows us best.

But how can we be sure of all of this?

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit, that we are children of God…

The Holy Spirit who dwells in you when you call upon the name of Jesus; when you believe in what He did on the cross and that He rose again; that Spirit testifies with our own spirit that we are children of God. There is a deep, solid confirmation within us when we turn off the noise and really allow God to speak to us that we are one with Him. We are His kin, His children, His daughters and sons.

…and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ…

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If the last few verses didn’t convince you, then this should. Adoption means we are not only children of God, but children of the King. We are fellow heirs with our brother, Christ. We will inherit, as He will inherit the glory and riches of His Father’s heavenly kingdom. This inheritance is not without cost.

…if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified.

Living life as a Christ follower in this fallen world means we suffer. But our suffering is not in vain. We suffer, as Christ suffered, for a great a mighty purpose, the glorification of our God and King, our Abba, Father. The beauty is found in the last phrase, “…that we may also be glorified.” You see, just as God the Father will glorify His Son, Jesus, He will also glorify us. What a glorious day that will be!

Wonderful Words of Life - Don't Lose Heart

We have all struggled at some point in our lives. If you are like me just getting out of bed on a regular basis is a struggle. It seems I always feel tired. Living in this post Covid world, I know many are struggling with just the day to day activities of life. Getting up, going to work, taking care of the kids and seeing to their needs, keeping a home, being involved in your church, or in other activities that your kids are involved in, helping with your grandkids…the list goes on. Life is different now than it used to be. With all the advances in technology, modern medicine, and science, people still hurt, get sick and suffer.

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Recently we have seen the suffering of many on the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. Wild fires have devastated that once beautiful paradise and left a path of destruction and death. Living in the aftermath is going to be an hour by hour struggle. Maybe that is how you are feeling today. You are asking yourself questions like: How can I keep getting up in the morning? Am I ever going to feel completely normal again? How will I ever survive this disease, divorce, loss…you can fill in the blank. It is during times like these, when I feel overwhelmed that I love to be reminded of God’s goodness and mercy.

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“16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

— 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB 1995)

We all know the reality. Our bodies will decay. In fact, everything that is physical will decay and fade away. No matter how strong we make buildings, how healthy our bodies are, or how much we clean up the ecosystems around us, they still will decay and return to the dust from which they came. This might leave you feeling like, what is the point? What is the point of trying to do better by exercising, eating right, taking care of our homes, or making better choices for the environment when in the end it makes no difference? The above verses give us a few answers to this question. Let’s look at each verse individually and see what encouragement we can glean from these Wonderful Words.

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Verse 16 - Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

We are instructed to not lose heart. Even though our physical bodies, and all the physical stuff around us is decaying and will fade away, we are reminded our inner man is being renewed all the time. Who or what is our inner man? Our inner man is the new creation Christ made us when we asked Him to be our Lord and Savior. This is the man that the Holy Spirit works with and on, as we die to the flesh and live to the Spirit. Renewal happens as we do away with those selfish, fleshly tendencies and learn to feed and grow the new man God is creating us to be. Renewal is dependent on our reading His word, praying, fellowshipping with other believers, and relying on Him more and more as we maneuver this life.

Verse 17 - For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

It may not seem that what you are going through is light affliction. There is nothing light about suffering the death of a loved one, loss of a home or job, or dealing with a devastating diagnosis from the doctor. However, when we begin to see things with eternity in mind our perspective begins to change. We know we are going to have hardship, but this verse assures us that it is not without purpose. We are reminded that these times of suffering are producing an eternal weight. A weight of glory.

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Can you even begin to comprehend what a weight of glory is? How exactly do you weigh glory? Is it measured in pounds, stones or kilograms? It is not like we can put it on a physical scale, as glory is not a physical, measurable thing. Ah, but God. You know His ways are not our ways. His scales are not our scales. If He says we are going to have an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, I am going to have to trust Him. All of our affliction is productive and has a purpose.

Verse 18 - While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Simply put, the things which we see on a day to day basis are temporary. Our homes, our jobs, even our relationships are temporal. The word temporal is defined by Webster’s Online Dictionary as things that are of or relating to time, or things that are of or relating to earthly life. Anything that is temporal is also temporary.

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When we begin to change our focus from that which is temporal to that which is eternal, the struggles we go through will not have the same bite as they once did. Only those things done for eternity’s sake will last.

Going back to the idea of what is the point if it’s all just going the way of the dust bin anyway? The point is eternity. As we live in this world ruled by the clock, deadlines, dates, calendars, and other forms of measurement we need to make sure our focus is on eternity. Instead of asking God, when will this difficulty end I need to ask myself, how can I endure with eternity in mind and glorify Him.

Don’t lose heart, dear one! There is a purpose to every affliction you are going through. Decide today to go through the difficulties with the timelessness of eternity in your heart, and the question of how you can glorify Him, always on your mind.

Faith Inspiration - Be Thou My Vision

This hymn has been inspiring Christ followers for over one thousand years. Originally an Old Irish hymn, the song was translated into English by Mary E. Byrne in 1905, and put into verses by Eleanor H. Hull. (Information take from Hymnary.org).

“1 Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art;
be Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.

2 Be Thou my Wisdom, be Thou my true Word;
be Thou ever with me and I with Thee, Lord;
be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son,
be Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

3 Be Thou my Breastplate, my Sword for the fight;
be Thou my whole Armor, be Thou my true Might;
be Thou my soul’s Shelter, be Thou my strong Tow’r,
O raise Thou me heav’nward, great Pow’r of my pow’r.

4 Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
be Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart,
O High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

5 High King of heaven, Thou heaven’s bright Sun,
O grant me its joys, after vict’ry is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be Thou my Vision, O Ruler of all.”

— Be Thou My Vision - Psalms and Hymns to the Living God (From Hymnary.org)

I think this is a beautiful hymn, and one that is rarely sung. Some may say it sounds like a dirge, but I like the lilting, Celtic style music. Let’s take a look at it verse by verse.

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Verse 1 - The writer of the hymn pleads with God to be his vision. He wants God to consume him. He recognizes his own struggle with the flesh and realizes that God’s thoughts are his best thoughts in the day and the night. He desires God be his light.

As we saw last week, our struggle with the flesh is ongoing, but if God is our vision, we can and will have victory, and we will continually be in His light.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

— Matthew 6:33 (NASB 1995)

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Verse 2 - The author not only wants God to be his Vision, but to be His true word and to dwell in him, and he in Him, always. He recognizes that God is his Father, and he is His son.

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

— John 14:3 (NASB 1995)

“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

— John 14:23 (NASB 1995)

“15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

— Romans 8:15-17 (NASB 1995)

God dwells with us if we love Him and keep His word. He is our heavenly Father, and we are His children. Being His children means we are heirs with Christ. We are children of the King!

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Verse 3 - He knows God is his breastplate, his sword, his FULL armor, his might, his shelter, his tower and his power. His desire is to be raised “heavenward”. This may have had two connotations. It may have referred to his mindset, his thoughts and desires, but it also may have been the longing for finally being home with his Savior.

“13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

— Ephesians 6:13-17 (NASB 1995)

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.”

— Psalm 18:10 (NASB 1995)

“4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ”

— Ephesians 2:4-6 (NASB 1995)

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Verse 4 - In this verse the author recognizes God is all he needs. He doesn’t run after riches. He doesn't seek the praise of men. He knows the “High King of Heaven” is the only treasure he needs.

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;”

— Matthew 6:20 (NASB 1995)

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Verse 5 - The last verse is a final stand on the foundation of all that is God:

High King of Heaven

Heaven’s bright Sun

Great Heart of my own heart

Ruler of all

God is all these things and more that we cannot comprehend with our finite minds. The author knows that all his joy and all his victory our found in Christ. He also desires that no matter what happens he would keep God as his Vision.

“O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.”

— Psalm 98:1 (NASB 1995)

“...but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

— I Corinthians 15:57 (NASB 1995)

On a personal note, I have always loved this hymn. When I gave my life to Jesus at the age of 12, I knew I wanted it to be for keeps. I wanted Him to be foremost and forever my vision. Unfortunately, ever since that age I have struggled in that desire. My vision is often clouded by doubts, fears, and failures. My eyes often wander to things that might satisfy my flesh such as food, clothes, or fictional worlds.

The counselor I am currently going to said it is absolutely normal to have set backs in life. The difference comes in how long I choose to stay in the setback mindset. The phrase “begin again”, is a mantra we all can put into play. As long as I have breathe I will begin again. I will place my eyes back on His face and know His amazing grace. I will say again, “Be Thou my Vision.”

Wonderful Words of Life - Partake of His Divine Nature

Today’s Wonderful Words of Life, take us back to the first chapter of second Peter. I did a series on verses 1-11. If you would like to see the introductory post on verses 1 and 2, you can see that here. I am focusing only on verses 3 and 4 today, for the specific purpose of sharing these wonderful words again.

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“3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

— 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NASB 1995)

I would like to look at these wonderful words in phrases.

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seeing that His divine power - The words “seeing that” as they are used here could be replaced with “since”. It is used in direct correlation to the phrase, “His divine power.” This phrase applies to what follows. I find it wonderful that it is His divine power. God’s power is limitless, and His, referring to Jesus Christ, was that same power that raised Him from the dead.

has granted to us - He didn’t use His divine power to give good gifts (Matt. 7:11) to the trees or grass or animals, He granted them to us. The word granted, according to Webster’s Online Dictionary has these definitions:

1 - a - to consent or carry out for a person

b - to permit as a right, privilege, or favor

2 - a - to bestow or transfer formally; specifically to give the possession or title of by a deed

What is it, exactly, that has been granted to us?

everything pertaining to life and godliness - This is so encouraging to me. God’s divine power has granted to us everything…EVERYTHING…pertaining to life and godliness. When I don’t think I have the ability to go on; when I can no longer stand; when I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow…His divine (heavenly) power gives me everything pertaining to living life and being godly. How is this accomplished, because obviously I still have to do things myself. I have to live life, go to work, take care of my family, survive the difficulties, so how does he do this?

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through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence - What does it mean, “true knowledge”? In a world with so much learning, so much knowledge, so many books, podcasts, how-to videos, and so many ideas, how do we know what true knowledge is?

The world will tell you true knowledge is only that which you learn through your own senses. Only the things you can taste, smell, hear, see or touch is true knowledge. However, our senses can be skewed. We might have a cold, or ongoing sinus issues that cause our taste and smell to be off. We may have poor vision or the day might be foggy or rainy causing us to not see clearly. Noises are not always perceived correctly either. What sounds like a baby crying, might actually be a tiny dog yapping, or a rabbit being attacked by a cat.

True knowledge can only be the truth which God has established. God has allowed us to share in that truth by giving us His word, the Bible. This is true knowledge. If you do not know Christ as your Lord and Savior, you cannot know true knowledge. Sure, you can read the Bible and you can have all sorts of PhD’s and certificates that give proof of your head knowledge, but true knowledge is only found in a heart that is walking humbly with the One True God.

We come to understand this true knowledge when He calls us by is own glory and excellence. He doesn’t call us to another glory…the glory of a professor, a priest or a preacher…He calls us by His glory, and His excellence.

For by these - This refers back to His glory and excellence.

He has granted to us - Once again, it is God Almighty who is doing the giving.

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His precious and magnificent promises - We could spend an entire year looking at God’s precious and magnificent promises. His promises include things like, He is always with us (Hebrews 13:5), He will give strength (Isaiah 40:31), He gives us rest (Matthew 11:28-30), He delivers us and forgives us (Colossians 1:13-14), and so very many more. If you want a good study that encourages you from top to bottom, find all the promises of God in Scripture. It will leave you feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and amazed at His goodness and mercy.

So that by them - refers back to those precious and magnificent promises.

You may become partakers of the divine nature - How cool is that? We actually can partake, like drinking deeply of God’s very nature. Wow!! I am on the floor, prostrate before him in my heart as I type this. Why would such a powerful, mighty being allow us, allow me, to partake of His divine nature? Refer back to John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world….”

God says we are to be holy for He is holy (I Peter 1:14-16). We cannot strive to be holy. Only He can make us that way. Remember it is by His precious and magnificent promises that we are able to become partakers of His holy divine nature. We are not made holy by a new church program, by showing up for every service, by witnessing, by passing out tracts or helping at the soup kitchen. While all those things are good, only God Himself through the blood of His Son Jesus can make us Holy.

Having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust - Let’s sit here a minute. There are several things being stated in this phrase. First, the world is corrupt. We know this because of what happened in the Garden, when Eve listened to that slippery snake, and convinced Adam to listen as well.

We engage in this corruption in its many forms when we lust for that which we do not have. Think about it. Just about every sin that we can engage in involves some sort of temptation. Temptation is the lure that whispers to us all that we do not have…money, power, fame, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a big house, the perfect marriage, and on it goes. Lust takes over when we recognize we are dissatisfied and so we strive for all that we do not have.

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I hate to break it to you, but we will always feel that emptiness and lust for what we do not have, unless we have Jesus in our hearts. Even when we do, we must claim those precious and magnificent promises to really begin to partake of His divine nature, and fully realize true peace and contentment.

I hope these words reminded you of several things:

You are not alone. God is with you and His is doing, moving, and working all the time.

You have His divine power, which can help you live this life.

You have all of His precious and magnificent promises.

You can partake of His divine nature.

You can escape the corruption of this world by delving deeper into the depths that are God.

You are loved!

Faith Inspiration - The Prayers of Paul

After the death of my father-in-law back in December, a good friend sent me a paper filled with handwritten paragraphs that a friend of hers, had given her when she was going through a difficult time. At the top of the page it says, Paul’s Prayers.

These are some of Paul’s prayers for the body of believers; those he had met on his journeys through out Syria, Asia, Macedonia and finally Italy, where he was imprisoned and later killed in Rome. All throughout his ministry, Paul was never concerned for himself. His concerns lay in lifting up of the name of Jesus, preaching the Gospel, and in the unity and building up of the Christ Ones.

I have read these prayers many times as I am typically reading and rereading the letters of Paul, but I don’t always focus on the prayers. More often I am focusing on the parts that show me what I should be doing. This is an unfortunate habit that most of us as Christians get into. We concentrate on the doing, rather than the Being - the person of the Lord Jesus Christ - and all that He has done and wants to do for us.

As you can see from the highlighting on the paper, I decided to really look and mull over these prayers of the Apostle Paul. We all know how important the words of Jesus are, and the high priestly prayer (John 17) that He prays for those who were following, and who would be following Him in the future. Paul’s prayers are important too, and are so adept at reminding us of who Christ is, and who we are in His sight.

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I want to share one of these prayers with you today as not only a source of encouragement, but a source of inspiration to remember whose we are.

“9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.”

— Colossians 1:9-12 (NASB 1995)

What I have been doing with each of these prayers of Paul is to write them out, but write them as though praying for myself. We need to pray for ourselves. Why do we think that is something that is selfish, or unreasonable? Yes, God commands us to pray for others, but He also commands us to pray without ceasing. I am sure some of that time can and should be used to pray for ourselves. This is my prayer:

I pray this according to Colossians 1:9-12 - I pray that you would fill me with the knowledge of Your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. I pray this in order that I may live a life that is worthy of You, and may please You in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of You; strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might so I might have GREAT endurance (all steadfastness) and patience; joyfully giving thanks to You who has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in (the Kingdom of ) Light. (This last phrase was handwritten including the Kingdom of - we can assume from other knowledge of the scriptures the saints are not just in the Light, but in the Kingdom of God also known as the Kingdom of Light).

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Using these four Scriptures to pray over myself had an incredible affect on me. It made something, that I might have otherwise glossed over, come alive. It reminded me of several key points:

1 - God gives us knowledge of His will through spiritual wisdom and understanding. One thing I often heard when I was a younger Christian was, how do I know God’s will for my life. Simply put, God reveals His will as we grow in our spiritual wisdom and understanding. We aren’t going to learn His will from reading novels or watching our favorite shows. We learn his will as we gain spiritual wisdom and understanding.

2 - In having this spiritual wisdom and understanding we A) Walk in a manner worthy of Him, B) Bear fruit in every good work, and C) Increase in our knowledge of God. This makes sense and hopefully doesn’t need to be explained.

3 - God strengthens us with all power according to His glorious might. He gives us strength with all power, not just a tiny bit of power, but all of it. God doesn’t do things half way! Not only does He strengthen us with all power, He does it according to His glorious might. This is the same might we see that raises Jesus from the dead. (Ephesians 1:18-23)

4 - God gives us this power so that we might be able to endure, and have patience. Wow! How cool is that? We have His power, all of His power, so we can keep going through the difficulties and do it with patience. This really speaks to me. With all the issues I have been having over the last two years, I can say it has only been His power that has given me the ability to patiently endure. Is it easy? No! Not at all, but it is truth, and His truth is all that matters.

5 - We can joyfully give thanks, because of what follows this phrase - He has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in (the Kingdom of) light. There is no denying this spiritual and scriptural truth: we are children of the King. Being a child of royalty means I have all the resources of the Kingdom at my fingertips. I partake of those resources as I clasp my hands together in humility and thank Him for them.

I hope you are inspired by Paul’s prayers as much as I am. Have a great week!

Rebooting My Faith, and My Faith Page

Have you ever felt like you needed a reboot. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans, I have always thought it would be nice to have a magical pensieve like the one Professor Dumbledore had in his office. The pensieve was a magical basin of sorts where the Master of Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry could siphon off some of his memories to be viewed at a later date. There are times my brain feels so cluttered up with day to day life, dealing with illness, and taking care of my family, that I don’t think about other things. As I have aged, I have also taken to making lists to remember all the things I need to do.

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The last two years have been difficult. I have had unexplained health issues since the spring of 2021. I am on my second antibiotic for the sinus infection I got in December. I had a CT scan on December 30th and when my ENT doctor contacted me, he said that there was still infection simmering. The amazing thing was for a whole month after finishing the first antibiotic I was feeling good. My taste and smell were back in full working order and I was not having anything more than my typical sinus drainage. When we got home after my father-in-law’s funeral I got a call from the doctor and he said, I want you on another antibiotic. I told him I was feeling good and would rather not do the antibiotic. He agreed since I have a follow up appointment with him this month. By the next day, my sinuses were all inflamed, my throat was scratchy and I was very fatigued; the exact symptoms of my first go round. I sent the office a message and I was on this new medicine by that afternoon.

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There are times we need to just process. With the death of my father-in-law, I could see that 2023 was not starting off any further ahead than the last two years. However, I feel as though I have a new purpose and drive. Over the last two years, I have felt the pull of God to dig into His word and to have fellowship with other women who are also desiring to move deeper into the layers that are God. He provided my Saturday morning Zoom Bible Study and I also meet once a week via Zoom with a young lady in California who teaches Bible in her spare time. These women have, and continue to inspire me to move closer to the Almighty. My desire is to do the same thing for you.

This year I would like to organize my blog a little better and have given a bit of an outline of what that will look like for Fashion on that page. I would like to do a similar thing on my Faith page. I want to bring you, not just my own thoughts on Faith, but the wisdom and insights of others as well. More than anything I want you to grow a drive to know and love God with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). A relationship with Christ, His Father and the Holy Spirit makes all the difference in maneuvering this mess we call life.

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

To mimic my Fashion page, I want to have a plan for more organized content for my Faith posts. The following are tentative. The reason I say that, is because I still want to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit for what each week holds. There may be times where I need to spend a whole month on a certain passage of Scripture, or on a topic. However, this is what I was thinking:

1st. Thursday - Mulling It Over - a look at a portion of Scripture, a brief background and then ruminating on what it says to us.

2nd. Thursday - Faith Inspiration - drawing inspiration from other sources from teachers or preachers, to books and even music.

3rd. Thursday - Words of Life - looking specifically at passages or verses in the Bible that give encouragement. This would include many of the promises of God, His character, and who we are in His eyes.

4th. Thursday - Creative Christianity - this will be a place for my own creative writing, whether it be from journals, allegories, prose or poetry.

5th. Thursday (once every few months) - Topics - this will be a space for discussing some of the hard bits of walking the Christian life with a look at loving when it is hard, agreeing to disagree, religion or relationship and other things that come to mind. (Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see discussed under these topics.)

If you have been following me for a while, you know my faith in Jesus is real and important. Part of my sharing this blog with you is to let you know you are not alone. Just because I speak a good message, or have on a cute outfit doesn’t mean I don’t struggle. Just as the sufferings of Christ are ours to partake of, I want my struggles and difficulties to be out there for you to partake of as well. Suffering in unity is very important to growing and to living a life without bitterness.

I am excited about where this year is going to take this little blog, so I want your prayers more than ever. The enemy is real and he doesn’t want us to share life with each other. He thrives on isolation, manipulation and deceit. Please know, you are important to me, so if you ever have a prayer request shoot me an email and I will pray for you.

I hope you have a fantastic rest of your week and weekend. Be sure to check back next week for new content.

Capturing Wild Horses

Have you ever had one of those nights where you lay in bed tossing and turning because you just can’t turn your mind off? Everything suddenly comes front and center as soon as you lay your head on that pillow. My husband has more of a regular problem with insomnia than I do, but every once in a while I struggle with it as well.

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For many they can’t get to sleep at all; for others they wake up at about 3AM and can’t go back to sleep; still others sleep in fits and spurts interrupted by dreams, worries and night time trips to use the bathroom. What kind of a sleeper are you?

What about during the day time? Do you have trouble with your mind wandering when you try to sit down to have a quiet time with God? How about when you are out driving around? Have you ever suddenly had to ask yourself, where am I, because your thoughts were a million miles away, or your brain was trying to remember all the things on your to do list?

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These types of mind games are pretty ordinary for most people. Our lives are full of activity, responsibility, lists, and a long line of worries. God knows how important our minds are. He is the Creator. He designed the brain to be a complex web of cells and tissue that all work together to send messages 24/7 to the rest of our body. Our brains keep our lungs breathing, our hearts beating and every other organ working properly. If there is a misfire in our brain, the rest of the body will know.

God also created us in His image. We are meant to purpose, ruminate and understand. We are meant to create, love and explore. Unfortunately, just like our brains can run amok, our minds can also get off track and suddenly become like a herd of wild mustangs running from watering hole to watering hole trying to satiate an incredible thirst.

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Last night I was struggling with those wild mustangs. My mind flitted from one worry to another; one thing I needed to do to another task that waited to be done. The image of those wild horses running along the ocean on a sandy beach came to my mind: think Misty of Chincoteague. I read this book as a girl who grew up loving horses and my oldest daughter read this book as a girl who grew up loving horses.

I started to pray for each of the things my mind focused on and as I prayed God brought the vision to my mind of capturing the wild horses. Each thought was like a prancing filly or a rearing colt. In my imagination I saw myself lasso each of those thoughts with the tools God gave me and bring it in to the corral.

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

— 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB 1995)

It becomes problematic when we do not take those wild horses into captivity. When they are left to run free, the dust they leave in their wake becomes a wall; a wall that rises to heaven choking out our light and our ability to hear the master.

Before we look more closely at the above verse we need to see it in context.

“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 divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

— 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NASB 1995)

Verses 3 and 4 remind us of several things:

1 - We walk in the flesh.

2 - We don’t fight according to the flesh.

3 - Our weapons are not of the flesh.

4 - Our weapons are divinely powerful.

5 - Our weapons are for the purpose of destroying fortresses.

Lest today’s post get too long, we will only look at the beginning of verse 5, then pick up the rest next time.

We are destroying speculations -

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In order to understand, why Paul is embedding this verse in a group of verses that talks about spiritual warfare, we must understand what the word speculate means. Webster’s Online Dictionary has multiple definitions for this word and I think they all apply.

Intransitive verb:

1 - a. To Meditate or ponder on a subject. b. to review something idly, or casually and often inconclusively.

2 - To assume a business risk in hope of gain. (Often in something risky like stocks that fluctuate hoping to make a large short term profit.)

Transitive verb:

1 - to take to be true on insufficient evidence.

2 - to be curious or doubtful about.

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Speculation is not just thinking about something the way we might think about whether we should order a pizza for dinner or make a pot roast. Speculating has the idea of sitting on a topic for a while. In addition, it seems to allow for doubt, misunderstanding, and risk. When we think about the things that worry us we need to ask ourselves, are these things causing me to doubt God? Are my worries the result of not understanding who God truly is and the truth He brings us in His Word? Are my anxious thoughts driving me to take risks, make decisions and participate in things that God would have never wanted for us?

Other synonyms for the word speculate include: assume, conjecture, guess, imagine, suppose, surmise and suspect. Do these terms bring you peace and comfort? Do they help calm your fears and bring your worries to rest? No!

Next time we will will look further at why it is so important to capture those wild horses and destroy those speculations.

Have a great week.

Becoming a Child to Tear Down a Wall

Writing a faith post is not always as easy as writing a fashion post. A fashion post is just a matter of choosing an outfit, taking a few pictures and then talking about it. The hardest part is probably deciding what to put on. That, and my photography skills are still a work in progress. However, a faith post requires more thought. Not only that, but when I talk about God, and His word, I want to make sure that what I am saying makes sense and is accurate according to His truth.

Today I was reading in my devotional book. I have a copy of Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest. I have been using this devotional for years. The copy I currently have is 15 years old. It is pock marked, highlighted and written all over, much like my oldest Bible. The thing I like about this devotional is that the truths he spoke about, back in the early years of the 19th century are still just as true today. That is the thing about God’s word and devotionals that stick to Biblical truth, it does not change. It is constant.

I know many people will say that is the problem. We need to change to keep current in this crazy world. The problem is I do not believe that. God’s word is living and active. It has, is and will continue to have the ability to move and change lives. The focus in today’s world is what will make me happy. After all, being happy is all that matters, right? If I am happy, and everyone else is doing what they want to be happy, then there will be no more wars, no more greed, no more racism, no more hatred and no more crime. Everything will be perfect. Not!

Oswald said something interesting this morning.

“It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time.”

— My Utmost for His Highest - Oswald Chambers

Have you ever noticed how set in our ways we become as we get older. Our brains stop making new pathways and we just do the same things over and over again. Now, researchers and scientists studying Alzheimer’s are saying we need to do things differently. We need to be learning and changing our routines to keep our brains active and get longevity. The same is true in our spiritual lives. We don’t need to change God’s word so that it fits our lives, we need to change our hearts and minds to get back to the basics of God’s word.

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When is the last time you had a deep, gut wrenching prayer time with God? How often do you spend really reading and understanding His written word? Is your worship just a Sunday morning thing, or do your regularly lift your voice and your heart heavenward?

When I think of simplicity I think of what Jesus said regarding children.

“16 But Jesus called for the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.””

— Luke 18:16-17 (NASB)

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As Oswald said, it is our own opinions or creeds that keep us from really hearing and understanding what Christ is saying to us. Jesus puts it straight forward in the above verses. It is only by becoming like children that we will be able to enter heaven. What qualities does a child have, that makes it easier for them to believe?

1 - An ability to believe without seeing.

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If you tell a child there is an ice cream truck outside, they will probably go running out the door to see it. Children take what we say at face value. They don’t try to rationalize, or come up with arguments for why they shouldn’t believe, they just do it. Children are the most likely to believe in magic, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, even though they have never seen the real deal. Jesus knows, in order for us to have eternal life, we have to believe without actually seeing Him with our physical eyes.

2 - An ability to trust.

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Children are very trusting, especially when they are little. Unfortunately, this is why predators target them. It is easy to coax a small child at a park to come see the box of puppies you have in your car trunk, because they will trust you. It is not until they have gone through bad experiences that children learn to not trust people. Jesus is absolutely trust worthy. He knows that without that complete, unreserved trust in Him we will not see the kingdom of Heaven.

3 - An imagination.

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What are we without the ability to imagine, whether it is to imagine a world in a fictional story, or the ability to imagine that English Cottage garden we’ve always wanted? God gave us an imagination. Being able to imagine God, in all His forms is harder for us to do as adults. A child, however, will create a God who is all at once super hero and amazing bearded giant all rolled into one. Using the imagination that God has given us is the very means for the camel to fit through the eye of the needle. (Matthew 19:24)

4 - Joy.

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Going back to my study of the word rejoice and eventually the word joy, I find it fitting that one of the simplest traits of children is that of joy. Think about how children view things like Christmas, animals at the zoo, rides at the park, picnics, puppies, kittens and flying kites. They most often do these things with a celebratory air of joy. This joy is that which gives us the ability to transcend this earthly shell and commune with the very being whose name is “I AM.”

Recently, in my Saturday morning Zoom group we were looking at 2 Corinthians 10. This section stood out.

“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 divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

— 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NASB - 1995)

I am not going to get into the whole idea of spiritual warfare as I have covered that previously on the blog, but there was something that stood out to us. In the above version we see the term “lofty thing”. In other versions we see, “high thing” (KJV), “lofty opinion” (ESV), “every pretension” (NIV), and “every proud obstacle” (RSV). Our facilitator, April, said that according to one thing she read these lofty things or lofty thoughts are like walls. These are barriers that have been built by us and keep the truth of God’s word from getting through.

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Think about this for a minute. What does pride, bitterness, hatred, and other strong emotions do to our minds when left untended? In addition, what does a regular diet of vain philosophies, manipulative ideologies and other false doctrines do in our minds? They begin to be the bricks in a wall that we build, separating us from the one who loves us most; the only one who is always looking out for our best interests and who always speaks truth to us.

What Oswald said nearly 100 years ago is still true today…we are dense! We are too thick headed to see that we are being manipulated by the enemy. We come up with these ideas and opinions, not because we are being so open minded, but because we are cutting ourselves off from His truth. We don’t like what the Bible says about this or that, so we rationalize, then we cauterize and burn it away. While the coals from that fire are still glowing we start adding bricks to our wall.

Dear ones, I recognize that not everything the Bible says is easy to hear. Not every command is easy to follow. We might even say that not every story or example is applicable to the lives we are now living. BUT, this same God who created the world with a word, set the heavenly bodies in their exact places and breathed life into dust, also provided a way…the Way, the Truth and the Life, (John 14:6)

The only way we are going to be able to tear down the walls that are making us dense is becoming like a child once again, with the ability to believe without seeing, trust without reserve, imagining the reality of the spiritual realm and experiencing joy in all that He has given and done for us.

Have you built a wall between yourself and God? Ask Him today to help you tear it down.

Rejoice Always: A Case Study - Part 4

Today I am going to finish up this particular case study of Hannah in the Old Testament. Hannah, who was Samuel’s mother, was a woman a great strength, deep desire and phenomenal trust in her God. A portion of the scripture we are going to look at is Hannah’s song of thanksgiving. This is what we are going to focus on and I want to do it just a few verses at a time, so we can slowly savor the thoughts and ideas.

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“Then Hannah prayed and said,

“My heart exults in the Lord;
My horn is exalted in the Lord,
My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.”

— I Samuel 2:1 (NASB)

Keep in mind, Hannah is singing this song of thanksgiving after she has given her only son, Samuel, to Eli the priest to serve in the House of the Lord.

Hannah exults in the Lord. The word horn as it is used in this passage refers to strength, so Hannah is saying her strength is exalted in the Lord. The word exalt is a verb that means to lift high, to elevate by praise, to raise in rank or to enhance the activity of. In other words we could say, “My heart lifts high because of the Lord.” “My strength is elevated in the Lord.”

I do not know if Hannah was thinking of Penninah, her husband’s other wife, when she sang these words, or if she was thinking of her status as an Israelite, but either way she speaks boldly, because she rejoices in God’s salvation.

“There is no one holy like the Lord,
Indeed, there is no one besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.”

— 1 Samuel 2:2 (NASB)

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Hannah states the truth she knows. As an Israelite she has been taught the scriptures, the laws and the commands. Her husband was a committed Jew, making sure he and his family got to the House of the Lord. But now, Hannah also has personal experience. She took her heart’s desire to have a child to God, and He remembered her and provided.

“Do not go on boasting so very proudly,
Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;
For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
And with Him actions are weighed”

— 1 Samuel 2:3 (NASB)

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I have a feeling Hannah was a pretty observant woman. She knew her scriptures, which probably also meant she knew the history of her people. This verse could have been a reference to Penninah, but for some reason I think Hannah was above that. I think this had more to do with the enemies of Israel.

The following verses are both declarative and somewhat prophetic for the state of Israel and the future of the nation as well.

“4 The bows of the mighty are broken to pieces,
But those who have stumbled strap on strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,
But those who were hungry cease to be hungry.
Even the infertile woman gives birth to seven,
But she who has many children languishes.
6 The Lord puts to death and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
7 The Lord makes poor and rich;
He humbles, He also exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust,
He lifts the needy from the garbage heap
To seat them with nobles,
And He gives them a seat of honor as an inheritance;
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He set the world on them.
9 He watches over the feet of His godly ones,
But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness;
For not by might shall a person prevail.
10 Those who contend with the Lord will be terrified;
Against them He will thunder in the heavens,
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength to His king,
And will exalt the horn of His anointed.””

— 1 Samuel 2:4-10 (NASB)

This ends Hannah’s song, but it certainly does not signify the end of her adventure with God. If we read further in this chapter we see God’s continued blessing on her.

“18 Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.
19 And his mother would make for him a little robe and bring it up to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children from this woman in place of the one she requested of the Lord.” And they went to their own home.

21 The Lord indeed visited Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up before the Lord.”

— 1 Samuel 2:18-21 (NASB)

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Hannah did not forget Samuel. She lovingly made him a robe and every year when they would go up to offer their yearly sacrifice they would bring the robe and she would give it to him. She kept her promise to the Lord and He gave her more children.

What can we learn from our study of Hannah on the word rejoice?

Our joy is not dependent on our circumstances.

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We all like to think that if we only had this or that, or if our circumstances changed then we would have joy. Joy, unlike happiness is eternal. It is a state of being that comes from God and is not dependent on what is going on in our lives.

Remember the definition of rejoice: to give joy to; to feel great joy or delight. We learned from the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament that rejoice was a command given by God to the people of Israel and it always coincided with a feast or celebration of remembrance of God’s faithfulness and provision.

Our ability to rejoice is a choice to remember how God has provided and been faithful throughout our lives. Even in our current difficult circumstances.

Our joy is directly linked to our choice to focus on God.

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I know this can be hard, but this is what makes the difference between living large and languishing. When I choose to remember God’s faithfulness, I take my eyes off my current difficulties and place them on Him. Even if life has been difficult for a while, I can still focus on His character and His promises. He is good. He is faithful. He is just. He is holy. He is pure. He is righteous.

Back in Chapter 1 we saw when Hannah prayed she lifted up the name of God. She exalted Him. She said, “Lord of armies.” It was a simple statement, but think about all that it encompasses. The word Lord, would signify power and authority. Lord of armies, shows that He is in charge of all those who can bring about justice and peace. That three word statement was one of worship and direct focus on the powerful and amazing God.

Focusing on God and who He is and His great faithfulness will make rejoicing as important as drinking water. It is essential for life.

Like C.S. Lewis, we might be Surprised By Joy.

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Hannah found joy even after she gave up her son. She gave him to God before he was even conceived. She had no regrets. She did not waver in her promise. When the boy was old enough, she took him to the House of the Lord and left him there. Yet, she had joy.

In the middle of our adversity, in the crushing weight of our darkness, we will be surprised by joy, because it is God who gives us the ability to rejoice. Just like hope, patience, goodness, kindness and all the other fruit we can bear, it comes from Him.

Rejoice always!

Rejoice Always: A Case Study - Part 3

The last few weeks we have been looking at the idea of rejoicing. To rejoice means to remember the good things, or in our walks as Christ believers to remember how God has blessed us and kept us. We have been looking at the life of Hannah in the Old Testament, the mother of Samuel, prophet of God during the reign of King Saul and King David.

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The last two lessons we looked at the difficult circumstances, Hannah found herself in. While she was dearly loved by her husband, Elkanah, she was unable to have children, and was severely mocked and ridiculed by Elkanah’s other wife, Penninah. Penninah already gave Elkanah children, but she must have noticed his favor for Hannah, thus her constant torment.

We are given insight into Hannah’s despair and her deep desire to have a child. She can’t eat and weeps and prays before the temple, petitioning God to grant her heart’s desire. The priest, Eli, saw her and thought that she had been drinking, to behave in such a distraught manner. He tells her to stop her drinking and get her act together, but Hannah assures him that she had not been drinking, but was distressed and crying out to God in prayer. Eli responds with compassion telling her to go her way and praying that God would grant her petition.

This is where we pick back up.

“19 Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
20 It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the Lord.”
21 Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow.
22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever.”
23 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the Lord confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.
24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the child was young.
25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli.
26 She said, “Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord.
27 For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
28 So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.”

— 1 Samuel 1:19-28 (NASB)

We can learn so much from really scrutinizing this portion of the first chapter of the first book of Samuel. Let’s take a closer look.

The family worshipped together. Verse 19 says they rose early and worshipped before the Lord, before they returned to their home. It is obvious, Elkanah felt being in the house of the Lord was an important part of his life and he saw to it that it was important for his family as well.

Elkanah loved Hannah. We see after they returned to their home in Ramah, Elkanah had relations with Hannah. It doesn’t specify that he had relations with both of his wives, but specifically points out that he had relations with Hannah.

And the Lord remembered her. God does not forget us. He knew us before we were just a tadpole in our mother’s womb. He knows where we are all the time, no matter where we go, or where we might try to hide. (Psalm 139) He also knows the number of the hairs on our heads. (Matthew 10:30) God will not forget us, and He did not forget Hannah.

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Hannah had a child and named him Samuel. (Verse 20) The name Samuel means, asked of God. Indeed, Hannah did ask God for a son and what did she promise God in return if he granted her request? The child would be His to serve Him.

Hannah keeps her commitment to God. Verses 21-28 relay how Hannah kept her promise to God. Once she had Samuel weaned she brought him up to the House of the Lord. Can you imagine, letting your child go? The only child you had, your only son? This is mind blowing to me. We all love our children dearly and I am sure, like me, the thought of losing any of your children for any reason is overwhelming. Now try to imagine, giving that child up willingly at a very young age. I am thinking Samuel might have been three, but maybe older or younger, depending on what age they were weaned at. Imagine taking your three year old to a place that was about a day’s journey away and leaving him in the care of some old guy. What is going on?

I have to wonder at this. Did God give Hannah some sort of knowledge that her son would be fine, in fact would be a very important player in the the Kingdom of Israel? I just think that Hannah had complete trust in the God she believed in. A few months ago I talked about this idea of trust in God. You can see that post here. I am sure it is a topic we will visit again, but for now let’s quickly look at how Hannah trusted God.

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1 - She went to God with her desire. We don’t see Hannah berating her spouse or fighting back with Penninah. Yes, she is emotional, but she takes her heart’s deepest desire to God. Most of us struggle in our relationships. Many times as Christians we think it is okay to talk about our spouses, or partners with our friends, because we have to talk to someone, right? I think this was especially the case when we were newly married and had no idea what we were doing, but I have noticed over the years the maturing process in Christ has led us all to the same place. We are taking our hurts and deepest desires to God first, or at least we should be. I want to keep trying to be like Hannah, because truly it is the best way. God is way better at solving problems and He is bigger too.

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2 - She acknowledged the authority of God. Hannah starts her prayer - “Oh, Lord of hosts…” She knew who God was. She knew what He was capable of. She knew that He was the one with supreme power. Maybe this is where we fall short. We look at Jesus as our friend, our savior, our redeemer, but we forget He is part of the God head that commands the very sun to stay where it is, or the tides to only come so far. He’s tied us to the earth with gravity and formulated the air we breathe using plants and trees. This is the God who is able to do above and beyond all we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

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3 - She petitioned God. Hannah didn’t demand anything from God. She simply asked. She also asked with great humility. My husband and I have different styles of prayer when it comes to asking God for something. Most often we are both praying for the same thing, but my spouse often does it in a berserker Viking way, “You said this, now why aren’t you doing it? Come on God, do the God thing.” I typically come to God more timidly, asking if He will do this or that. Now, I have matured in my praying as well. Now I understand the usefulness of praying the scriptures and bringing back to God the promises He gave us. I think God can handle our honesty, however we pray, but it all begins with humility.

4 - She chose to give her heart’s desire back to Him. How often do we pray this sort of prayer, “Lord, if you do this, then I will do that”? Typically, this type of praying is frowned upon, but I think that Hannah was not using it as a bargaining tool, to get God to do what she wanted. She was completely sincere. She really meant what she said, and I don’t know about you, but I am not there yet, but I want to be.

Next time we look at Hannah’s song of thanksgiving. I hope you will join me then for another look at this case study on rejoicing.

Rejoice Always: It's Imperative - Part 1

Earlier this month I was talking with the Lord about my purpose and what it is that I am supposed to be doing. Like many people it seems that I have always been looking for some elusive meaning in life, but as I Christian I am fully aware my purpose is to glorify God and live a life that is pleasing to Him. True purpose aside, I am still trying to figure out what that looks like for me.

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As a young person I knew my purpose was to go to school, try to get good grades and stay out of trouble. When I saw adulthood on the horizon, I tried to figure out what it was that God wanted me to do. I went from Christian Education to being a foreign missionary and finally ended up getting married and having a couple of kids.

Now as I approach my sixties I realize that each day my purpose might be different because over all is this idea of the sovereignty of God. Even if I plan and set about doing what I “think” He is calling me to do, He is the one in control and He has an ultimate goal, that of our salvation, and sanctification, which is basically the working out of our salvation in this life.

Still, I would like this working out to be doing that which best utilizes the talents and abilities He has given me. However, I am still presuming that what that will be is something my human mind can wrap around and that my human hands and feet can actually go and do. God is not confined to my human box. In fact, He is well outside those limiting boundaries.

A few years ago, I had a similar conversation with the Lord and He told me the same thing both times. I have to laugh at the way His voice gently chided me. “Amy, you haven’t started doing what I told you the last time. What were the three things I told you to do?”

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all things.”

While I have tried to do better at giving thanks, I definitely fall short in the rejoicing and praying areas. I decided to start off this year with a study of the word rejoice, as that seemed to be the first thing on the list. Right now I am doing a simple word search through scripture. I am only looking for instances of the word rejoice, not rejoicing, rejoiced or joy. What I have found so far is truly amazing.

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I knew, given the context of I Thessalonians 5:16, rejoice is a command. It is snuggled into a paragraph that talks about Christian conduct. Let’s take a look.

“12 But we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize those who diligently labor among you and are in leadership over you in the Lord, and give you instruction,
13 and that you regard them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.
14 We urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit,
20 do not utterly reject prophecies,
21 but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good,
22 abstain from every form of evil.”

— 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 (NASB)

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A command, or imperative is an order, putting it simply, but it is more than that. To be able to command an audience is the ability to hold their attention as well as gain their respect. The word imperative, also gives us the idea of importance. We could say the imperative is imperative! Ha, ha. When we look at these commands in Scripture we are not just looking at the straightforward order to do something, we are also embracing the importance that action has in the lives of the human throng around us.

My study of the word rejoice has led me to a book in the Bible I would have never thought to associate with this idea of rejoicing. Deuteronomy uses the word rejoice, 12 times. That might not seem like a lot, but it is a book that reiterates and goes into specifics regarding the laws Moses received at Mt. Sinai. It also deals in detail with celebrations and feasts days, all of which were planned out for the benefit of the people. Most of these events revolved around what God did for them: bringing them out of Egypt, providing for them in the wilderness and sparing them from destruction when they didn’t follow His commands.

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“5 But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there.
6 You shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your vowed offerings, your voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.
7 There you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you.”

— Deuteronomy 12:5-7 (NASB)

Rejoicing walked hand in hand with remembering God’s goodness and provision. Webster’s Online dictionary defines rejoice as: to give joy to; to feel joy or great delight. Synonyms include the words, exuberate, glory, exult and triumph. Most of the references in Deuteronomy also include eating and celebrating. It would seem that God’s command to rejoice is a sacrifice on our part where we are giving joy back to God. In turn, we are filled with joy as we remember His goodness toward us.

It is easy to remember bad stuff. We might remember in detail the car accident, the illness, the divorce or the wayward child, but do we remember in detail all the many times God’s goodness and mercy brought us out of the captivity of our choices into the land flowing with milk and honey? This is what it means to rejoice. Just as we are encouraged to let our minds dwell on things that are pure, excellent, lovely, commendable and worth of praise (Philippians 4:8), we are commanded to remember God’s goodness and provision to us.

Since I started doing this word study, I have also been doing some praying out loud as I walk around the house. In my prayers I say, “I will rejoice…” and then I say what I am going to rejoice in. For instance, “I will rejoice when the day is sunny. I will rejoice when the day is cloudy. I will rejoice when I am full of energy. I will rejoice when I feel exhausted. I can rejoice in any and every circumstance because I rejoice in the Lord.”

In one of the studies I did a while back with Beth Moore, she suggested making an altar in our homes. Not an altar to worship a false god, but an altar of remembering all the good things that God has done. I didn’t actually make one, but I do try to bring to mind, and am trying to more regularly, those times that God stepped in. Believe me, there have been many.

• Protection on me as a teenage girl.

• Protection in college.

• Guidance in where to go to school.

• Surviving a summer mission trip to Africa where I got malaria.

• Complete healing from malaria.

• Meeting and later marrying a Christian man.

• Staying married all these years. (If you don’t think that is God’s grace, think again. Marriage is hard!)

• Two safe baby deliveries.

• Homeschooling my girls all the way through high school.

• Two beautiful grandsons.

This list cold go on and on and that doesn’t go into all the tiny little details; those special moments when God reached into my life and heart revealing Himself to me personally. When I start dwelling on God’s amazing goodness, I can truly rejoice!

Next week we’ll take a look at a woman who chose to rejoice, even when it was hard. Until then, have a great week.

When Darkness Comes - Part 7: Revealing our True Hearts

I have been doing a series on the darkness as it pertains to times of struggle in our lives. The last two posts revolved around truth; the truth we know about God and the truth we know about ourselves as seen in the Word of God. We cannot, however, have truth and not acknowledge the feelings and emotions that God created us with. As we saw last time, we often put on False Faces, so that we can cope and pretend the truth has penetrated our hearts, but in reality it hasn’t. I have been sharing my own experience with you, because through my own walk in the dark, I have learned that truth must be wrestled with before it can become a part of our inner being.

Image by Herbert Aust from Pixabay

God knows our delicate frame and also knows He gave us a mind that can think, reason and question. However, we must remember our minds were meant to be in communion with Him. The longer we let our minds dwell on what is false, hopeless and destructive, the less we will be able to recognize His truth. When we are walking in the darkness, there is no doubt, the Unseen Enemy will try to manipulate that shadowed path to his advantage. That is precisely why it is so important to stand on the God’s truth, but not just stand, we have to wrestle with it and allow Him to pierce our souls with it.

He has done that with me. Even as I type this, tears come to my eyes, because I realize, as an Almighty being, He owes me nothing. He has no reason to gift me His time or attention. He does so, because He chooses to. The incredible, lavish fact is, He chooses to do this, even when I am at my lowest, ranting about how unfair life is or how hard things are, or questioning impatiently when will this darkness end.

In order to get to this point of allowing God to pierce us, we must acknowledge our feelings, as ugly as they can be. Feelings are often tied to experiences, both good and bad. In my heart I have a room. Inside, there are shelves full of experiences, mostly those with other people. Most of these are bad experiences. When I feel bad, I unlock that room and I go inside, closing the door behind me. It isn’t a comfortable room, filled with fairy lights and comfy, overstuffed furniture. It’s more like an old attic, full of cobwebs, dark corners and lots of junk. I find a place on the hard floor and I start reviewing all that junk…all those times I yelled at my kids; all the angry words between my husband and I; all those feelings of never measuring up…of not being enough…of being invisible.

Image by József Kincse from Pixabay

Most of us have something like my attic room, where we revisit things that happened or didn’t happen. These are part of emotional make up of who we are and God is patient with us. He allows us those moments, but He doesn’t want us to stay there. Eventually, it would be nice if I could hand that key over to Him and walk away. I haven’t done that yet, but I am getting closer.

I am going to share an except from my journal, when I was revealing my true heart to God. I share these things, not to make you feel sorry for me or to make you think how hard I have had it, but I hope by being vulnerable with you, you will choose to be vulnerable with God.

“I guess what it comes down to, Lord, is I am sad that I am invisible. I know there are lots of people struggling with far worse things than feeling invisible. There are wives whose husbands are unfaithful; there are children whose caretakers are abusive; there are elderly men and women fading like an old photograph with no one to visit or care about their needs, or desires. There are people who have felt the pain of divorce, the death of a child or spouse...and here I am feeling sad...that I feel invisible.

But I would not be a healthy person if I did not acknowledge I am sad, and it hurts. It hurts to be forgotten; to have a face that is unmemorable; to have no voice except one that is deemed naggy, bitchy or emotional. I am only acknowledged when I mess up. I am only texted or called when someone wants something...””

— Amy's journal from 5/23/21

Image by Vojtěch Kučera from Pixabay

There are several things I want you to notice. I am acknowledging my feelings. I am unloading. I have remembered God’s truth about Himself and about me, and now I am letting Him know how I feel. My intellect knows what is true…I am not invisible. I have a family who does love me. I have friends…but the acknowledgement of feelings is so important in healing and in allowing God to bring His word into the deep places of our hearts. I go on to make this very point in my journal.

“Lord, I am venting. I know what Your word says. I am not invisible. Your word says You knew me before I was born. You know my thoughts from afar. There is no place I can go to get away from You. I am not invisible to You. (Psalm 139)”

— Amy's journal from 5/23/21

The other thing I want you to notice is that I recognize I am not alone in suffering. There are many who are suffering; many who have it far worse than I do, but that does not diminish my feelings or my need to lay those feelings at His feet. This is a process.

The next step follows: I recognize that some of my struggle is a result of sin, and the work of the Unseen Enemy.

“Lord, I ask Your forgiveness that I struggle with these feelings over and over. I should be mature enough to be so over it, but right now I am not. I am weak.

I ask for Your protection. I know my enemy would like to devour me, my family, but he cannot. Renew my mind, because I cannot. I choose to lean in to You; in to your comfort, mercy and grace; into Your sufferings. I embrace it all and I call on Your name...the name of Jesus, knowing He is the Great Warrior Prince and He will rescue me.”

— Amy's Journal - 5/23/21

Finally, I acknowledge the power and supremacy of the Almighty One.

“Thank you for You hem me in behind and before; that You are my rear guard; that You hold my hand and walk with me through every single valley. You are the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. You alone are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

— Amy's Journal - 5/23/31

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Don’ be afraid to let God peer into the deepest places of your heart. Allowing Him access to those attic rooms will eventually bring about true renewal and cleansing. Wrestle with God’s truth. Tell Him how you really feel as you maneuver the darkness of your path. Let Him pierce you deep and He will bring you to new understanding and heights of His love.

Next time we will look at another piece of this refining process as we continue our journey in the darkness. I hope you are able to join me. Thank you for all your support and I pray God will become more real to you today than He ever has before.

When Darkness Comes - Part 2: The Dark

Last week I started a series on When Darkness Comes. I don’t know that I really need to define what I mean by that, but just in case, I will. When I talk about darkness, I am talking about those times in life when things are very difficult. I am not talking about simple inconveniences, although get enough of them all at once, and I certainly start wondering who is trying to beat me up. What I am referring to when I say darkness are those times when you feel alone, discouraged and overwhelmed. However, it is not just feelings, that make something dark. It is a blend of what is going on in life, either your own or in the lives of those you love, a weight that feels especially burdensome, and how much of it you are carrying alone.

Image by cocoparisienne from Pixabay

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.’”

— Exodus 10:21 (NIV)

There are times darkness can be felt. This type of darkness is thick, dank, visceral, like a fog that rolls in over our souls from which we feel we will never be free. Grief is one of these dark times. When my father passed away 15 years ago, I felt as though a fog had rolled into my life and it seemed that it would always be there. Obviously, over time, the fog lifted and the darkness finally pulled away, but it is inevitable that these dark times will come. Let’s take a look at what God’s word says about darkness.

We already know that darkness was at the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.

“ 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”

— Genesis 1:1 (NASB)

Image by Ronile from Pixabay

I really like how this is phrased in the New American Standard Bible, “…and the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness.” I know when I am going through an especially dark struggle, I feel as though I am like that formless and desolate emptiness. I think many people can relate to this feeling. If we started to look at statistics on how many people are on psych medications, I would say that this feeling of emptiness is becoming more and more prominent.

As we look at darkness there are several things we must understand.

1 - To God Darkness and Light are no Different.

Image by jplenio from Pixabay

We looked at this verse last week, but let’s look at it again.

“Even darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”

— Psalm 139:12 (NASB)

For our limited minds it is hard to think that light and darkness could possibly be the same thing, but to an Almighty Creator, they are. Obviously, God can see just as well in the darkness as He can in the light. The differentiation of light and darkness was for our benefit. Knowing that God doesn’t make this differentiation can help us to understand how we can be walking through darkness or at least things that appear dark to you and I, and still have the solid assurance that God is with us.

Many times when we are encountering difficulty we tend to think God has left us, or at the least, that He is not listening to us. This is where we need to go back to the truth of God’s word. Hasn’t His word told us He is with us, always?

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.”

— Deuteronomy 31:6 (NASB)

2 - Darkness was for our benefit.

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

God knew exactly what His creation would need, from the plants that grew, to the creatures that walked, flew and swam, to the people He made, God knew that darkness would be a time to refresh, rest and relax from the busyness of work. Just like so many things that God made that were good, it is our enemy that has taken them and twisted them for his benefit alone.

“14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall serve as signs and for seasons, and for days and years;
15 and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

— Genesis 1:14-19 (NASB)

When we look at this passage from Genesis 1, we see that God made the differentiation between day and night, and the lights that were to govern these time frames. There was even a reason given as to why He made the sun, moon, stars and planets; it was so we could use them as signs for days, seasons and years. If you know anything about how the earth is positioned on its axis, how far it is away from the sun and the way it rotates, and revolves around the sun, you understand the complexity of this Creator and that even in the darkness, He provided the light of the moon and stars. This was all done for our good!

3 - Darkness is not bad.

Image by Tim Hill from Pixabay

It is easy to be afraid of the dark. Darkness can be a scary thing, especially if you have watched a creepy movie, or read a horror story. When I was growing up I loved to watch scary movies. I am also a fan of books like Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. However, in this world of incredible evil, spending too much time immersing ourselves in scary things can easily cause us to forget that darkness was created for our good.

Darkness is the absence of light, however, as we saw in the first chapter of Genesis, darkness wasn’t meant to be something evil, oppressive or gloomy. Darkness was created by a loving God who cared for His creation. Next week, we will take a closer look at how our enemy, Satan, turned what was meant for our wellbeing into a tool for our destruction.

I hope you will continue to follow along. If you ever have any questions or concerns about things you see on my blog, feel free to shoot me a message via Facebook, Instagram, or if you are a subscriber, you may email me directly. Thanks for all your support.

Our Need for Rest - Part 1

As I was pondering what to talk about this week on my Faith page, it occurred to me, perhaps we need to talk about rest. I have heard many people throwing around the term Covid fatigue and have had conversations with multiple friends who say how tired they feel. I know both my husband and I are tired. We all are longing for those days when we don’t have to wear masks and we can go about life as usual, but what if that day never comes? How can we find rest during the “new normal?” I am even tired of hearing that phrase. Pooh on the new normal. I would, very much, like to go back to the normal, normal! Ha, ha.

Image by Мария Ткачук from Pixabay

The word rest is mentioned over five hundred times in the Bible. The word, as we know it, originated before the 12th century with the Old to Middle English word, rasta - rest, and reste - literally stoppage, short for areste, as well as Anglo-French - rester - to remain. God, from the beginning, designated a cessation from activity on the 7th day of creation, or what He termed the Sabbath.

“By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”

— Genesis 2:2 (NASB)

“but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you.”

— Exodus 20:10 (NASB)

I am often amazed that so many people fight against rest. This is very different from the inability to sleep. Insomnia is a widespread problem and is leaving hundreds of thousands of people sleep deprived. Stress, diet, lack of exercise and excessive screen time is contributing to the zombification of our world, but this is not the kind of rest that I am talking about today. The rest I want to look at has to do with an inner peace and calm.

I want to take a look at a few things that cause us to miss out on the internal rest that God has for us, and then I want to provide a few ideas for how to obtain His rest.

Anxiety

Image by María Prieto from Pixabay

Anxiety is an ever increasing problem in our world. More and more people are feeling the pull of worry, much like the pull of gravity that keeps us rooted to the earth. Anxiety has become a companion that we try to ignore, but are all too aware of. I am picturing a pirate with his trusty parrot constantly sitting atop his shoulder, muttering about crackers and dead men telling no tales. Our anxiety is like that companion. It is unwanted, yet we seem to be unable to shoo it away, settling instead for the weight of it on our shoulders, but also trying to completely ignore it.

Lack of Hope

Image by KLEITON Santos from Pixabay

Hope is a word we sprinkle in our everyday conversations without really thinking about what we are saying. “I hope I get a raise.” “I hope it snows today.” “ I hope I can take a vacation this summer.” “I hope I get to go to the concert.” We are a people who desire hope, yet we don’t know how to truly obtain it. It is not wrong to want a raise, enjoy a weather change or take a vacation, but deeper hopes become longings and all to often our longings go unmet. When we are longing for something we often become weary with the desire.

Misplaced Trust

Most of us have been guilty of putting our trust in someone or something and having it or them disappoint. Over the last year, I have heard people putting their trust in science, the CDC, WHO and their elected officials. Millions of us place our trust in our masks, the vaccine and social distancing, thinking that is the answer to all of our problems. The Right places its trust in conservatism and the will of the people and the Left places its trust in liberality and their elected officials. As we have seen, all of the things in which we place our trust, can let us down.

So what is the answer? How do we obtain much needed rest, when the world around us is still a chaotic frenzy of half truths, and unknown ramifications? How do we help ourselves to find rest, when we are unable to stop the influx of negative information? Let’s take a look at what Jesus says about rest.

“28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.””

— Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB)

We know in the Old Testament, the Sabbath was a day of literal rest. No one was supposed to do any sort of work on that day. While Jesus did away with the need for the law, I still believe God wants us to rest from labor. In addition to that I would add that God would want us to rest from the things that are causing us a lack of rest.

In the above verse we see that Jesus calls us to action. Even though we are weary and burdened, He tells us to do three things: come, take and learn. The result is palpable: we will find rest for our souls. Why do we find rest when we come to Him? Let’s take a closer look.

Action 1 - Come

Image by Pezibear from Pixabay

Webster’s Online Dictionary has a slew of meanings for the word come. It means to move towards something or someone; to arrive at a particular place or end result; to take on the aspect. Our coming to Jesus makes us more like Him. How will we ever be transformed if we are not spending time with our Savior? How will ever find rest, when we are not still at His feet? How will be ever overcome anxiety, or misplaced trust if we do not go to the source of truth and true trustworthiness?

Action 2 - Take

Image by kevindvt from Pixabay

What is it that we are to take from Jesus? He instructs us to take His yoke upon us. The meaning of the word yoke as Jesus uses it in this verse is the “wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals are joined at the heads or necks for working together.” (Webster’s Online Dictionary) Why, of all things, would Jesus want us to take on this type of yolk. The point of a yolk is equal distribution of weight. In a farming situation, the yolk joined two powerful animals, like oxen together, to plow a field or pull a heavy load. Oxen must be trained to wear the yoke. Often the farmer will use an older more experienced ox with a younger less experienced ox to train them.

It might seem counterintuitive to take on a yoke, when we are in need of rest, but Jesus knows best how we should live this life and obtain rest. The goal is to take on His yoke so we are working through life together; so we are not bearing the difficulties of life alone. This working together, enables us to find rest in Him.

Action 3 - Learn

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When we take on Jesus’ yoke he also wants us to learn from Him. Why does Jesus tell us to learn from Him? He says it is because He is gentle and humble in heart. We will not learn what is most important if our teachers are prideful, arrogant or filled with selfishness and hatred. Think about the teachers you had during your years of education. Which ones were the ones you learned the most from? I definitely remember several Sunday School, elementary, middle and high school teachers who had the greatest influence on me. Every single one was a person of character, humility and gentleness.

We can learn from Jesus, because of His humble and gentle heart. It is these characteristics that incline us to rest. Humility and gentleness enable us to find rest, because we are not trying to do everything in our own strength. Our reliance is on Christ.

Next week I’ll take a look at few practical ideas for finding rest. Until then, go to Jesus, take on His yoke and learn from Him.

A Walkabout with God

The term walkabout was first heard of in 1897 and was used to describe the Aboriginal period of wandering bush life. A young man between the ages of 10 and 16 would go on his walkabout to make the journey to manhood, spending anywhere from a few weeks to six months out in the Australian bush country fending for himself. In more recent times the term walkabout is used in Britain to describe a casual outing among other people, mingling and socializing.

Image by falco from Pixabay

The other day I was struggling. I am human and real life often weighs heavily on me, causing me to lose clarity about who I am and who I belong to. I was sitting at the small, bar height, table that is strategically placed in the corner of what used to be a dining room, right next to a window. I love to sit there, (see below) especially in the winter, as that is where the sun light streams in for a good portion of the morning and afternoon. I was trying to pray, pleading with God to clear the fog out of my brain and help me to get back to His center, because that is always where I am most content.

Picture from Pantone Spring 2018 photo shoot by Rebecca Trumbull.

As I am often inclined to do when I am alone in the house, I got up and started to pace around the kitchen table and pray out loud. At times, I will stray from my elliptical orbit around the table, and walk a lap or two around the living room. I told God how I was feeling. I confessed my struggles: those of the flesh and those of the spirit. Like a young Aboriginal boy on his quest for manhood in the open country of the Australian outback, I walked, searching for a way to survive. I needed to find my place, my purpose and His peace.

The journey to spiritual maturity, or what we as Christ followers often refer to as holiness, or Christ-likeness is not an easy one.

“10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.”

— Hebrews 12:10 (NASB)

Life is often harsh and unrelenting, much like the heat of an Australian day or the deep, bone chilling cold of that same country’s nights. Survival depends on a variety of factors, including food, water, and a way to keep cool during the day and warm at night. In the same way, the process of maturing in our life with Christ is dependent on several factors. Let’s look at these more closely.

1 - The Need for Food

Image by cattalin from Pixabay

Obviously, we are talking about spiritual food, but the analogies I am going to draw apply to both our physical and spiritual beings. What we put into our bodies directly affects how we feel, what we are able to do and our quality of life. Believe me, this is an area I struggle with, and I know for a fact when I am eating better, eating less and getting enough water and exercise, I feel like a new person.

The need for the right kind of food for our spiritual lives is just as important. If we are feeding our minds a steady diet of news, social media, music without a positive message, movies, books or other forms of entertainment that do not glorify God, we are going to feel it. I am sure most of you, like me, were caught up in watching the news nonstop when the pandemic began. I am also sure many of you followed the media storm leading up to the election and its ensuing aftermath. It is very easy to become discouraged and hopeless when things are out of control, thus the need to feed on the good food of God’s word.

We are living in different times, but our God has not changed. He has provided all the nutrients we need to endure in this harsh reality we now find ourselves living in.

“For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.””

— John 6:33 (NASB)

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

— John 6:35 (NASB)

Jesus said He is the bread. He also says that if we come to Him we will not be hungry. Are you feeling a bit peckish in your spiritual life? Come to Jesus. Is your heart longing for fulfillment and satisfaction? Come to Jesus. What spiritual food are you longing for? No matter what your heart is aching for, Jesus can fill it up and make it feel whole again.

2. The Need for Water

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

The human body is made up of approximately 60% water. Our cells, tissues and organs cannot operate effectively if we do not have enough water. I am constantly telling my family to drink more water. This life giving substance is even more important if you are in a survival situation like the Australian outback. The area is arid and there are very few trees. Having water with you, or finding a clean water source is essential to survival.

Once again, we see this need for water extends to our spiritual lives. Without true water, we will always be returning to the well to try to quench our thirst. That well may be food, alcohol, drugs or sex. It could also be buying more things, or immersing ourselves into romance novels and pornography. It seems to satisfy for a time, just like drinking a soda or a cup of coffee can give you a little hydration. The problem is, it does not last.

Jesus told us in John 6:35 that if we come to Him we will never be hungry. He also says we will never be thirsty. Many of you know the familiar Biblical event of the woman at the well, found in John 4. You can see two posts I did on that passage last fall: May the Source Be with You: A Woman, a Well and Some Water and May the Source Be with You: An Exclamation, an Explanation and an Effect. What did Jesus tell her?

“13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again;
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.””

— John 4:13-14 (NASB)

Imagine you are walking in that dry, arid bush country, or perhaps you are crossing a vast desert. How would you feel after days and days without so much as a drop of water, to come upon an oasis; a place of palm trees and a cool, bubbling, trickling spring of precious water? Wouldn’t your heart swell with relief and your throat constrict with tears of gratitude? My dear friends, Jesus is our oasis. He is the water we need when our lives have become a long journey through the arid regions of living. He is that cool, sweet, bubbling brook, when we no longer have the strength or the will to go on. He is the God who fills our hungry stomachs and soothes our parched throats. All this He does for us, and more!

3 - The Need for Comfort

Image by Katrina_S from Pixabay

We all want to feel comfortable. In the cold of winter we never give a thought to turning up the heat. In the heat of summer some of you switch from heat to air conditioning. Others of us, throw open the windows and get out the fans. When we have a headache we take medicine and when we are anxious or upset we find a friend to talk to who will listen and give us comfort. Is our God, not so much more than heaters, fans and pain medication? He is the God who comforts.

“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your comfort delights my soul.”

— Psalm 94:19 (NASB)

“Shout for joy, you heavens! And rejoice, you earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.”

— Isaiah 49:13 (NASB)

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. ”

— 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NASB)

These are just a few of the verses in the Bible that mention the word comfort, but there are so many more. In addition, if you look up the attributes of God and the characteristics of those attributes you begin to realize, God loves to comfort His people. Yes, He is a righteous, holy and just God and He cannot tolerate sin, but He has provided the way, through His son Jesus Christ, the Lord of all comfort.

When we are faced with difficulties, it is easy to run to things that are convenient and well, comfortable. I have gone shopping when I am stressed. I eat junk when I am discouraged. I veg out on Netflix shows when I want to escape, but none of those things are going to give me the comfort I really need. God, and God alone, truly knows how to comfort the deep layers of my soul.

4 - The Need to Change our Mindset

Image by John Hain from Pixabay

I have to believe that a young man who walks off into the Australian bush country alone, to survive for who knows how long, has to be going into it with a certain mindset. He knows what is expected of him, because it has always been expected of young men by his people. His mother may feel anxious about this step for her son, but she knows it is what he must do to become a man. She knows he will draw upon all he has learned up until this point to survive, including how to find food and water, and how to get through the harsh conditions.

I think that we have done a disservice to our children. We have coddled them. We have protected them. We have neglected to put the expectation on them, that one day they have to grow up and be men and women. We have also not taught them the truth, that life is harsh and hard; that people will hurt them and that they will need to understand forgiveness and love are choices, not feelings.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

— Romans 12:2 (NASB)

One of the most important things I have learned over the last decade as a Christ follower, is growing in Christ is a choice. I cannot just sit around thinking I’ve got the ticket to heaven so all is good. I want to know God. I want to enter in to His inner most layers, because that is where I will truly find His peace, His joy and His contentment. That only happens as we walk, run and fly with Him. That only happens in the dark places, when the clouds are relentless and the pain is an hourly companion.

If you are struggling, take a walkabout with God. He will bend you, stretch you and sharpen you. He will also encourage you, comfort you and remind you of His great, undying love!

“37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 8:37-39 (NASB)

Our Unseen Enemy - Part 7: Zoomorphism - The Dragon

This final post in Our Unseen Enemy series has been long in coming and I apologize. Life is just very busy and sometimes overwhelming, but then, isn’t that exactly like our enemy? He likes to distract us from the things that are really important.

Whether you believe in dragons as actual created beings or not, the imagery of a dragon has been around for a very long time. The Bible uses the word dragon according to the New American Standard translation 16 times. Three of these are in the Old Testament and 13 are in the New Testament, with all thirteen used in the book of Revelation. Why God chose to relay the image of the dragon to John on the Isle of Patmos when he received the vision of the revelation of God, we are not sure, except that the idea of a dragon has always been one that evokes the idea of strength, and power which is used for fiery destruction.

Being a writer and reader of fantasy, I have always liked the idea of dragons. Until shows like Merlin and movies like How to Train Your Dragon, dragons have typically had a nasty reputation. While I enjoyed the aforementioned shows, a dragon is not really a creature you want to cozy up with. They are scaly, stubborn and vengeful.

Image by KazuN from Pixabay

If we look at history, early dragons were serpent like in their form and it wasn’t until later that dragons acquired wings, armor and the ability to breath fire. The idea that there might have been something closer to the image of what we think of as a dragon, as being real comes from a few passages in the Old Testament, where a great beast, called the Leviathan, or sea monster is mentioned. Note in the following passage Leviathan is referred to both as a serpent and a dragon.

“On that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.”

— Isaiah 27:1 (NASB)

This next passage is the one that causes me to pause and think, that maybe, dragons were real. After all, why couldn’t a God who created the earth from nothing, and man from dust, make a dragon? Perhaps that serpent that came to Eve in the garden, was actually a dragon. He walked upright and was very beautiful. I am pretty sure a dragon would be a beautiful creature to behold.

““1 Can you drag out Leviathan with a fishhook,
And press down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a rope in his nose,
And pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you,
Or will he speak to you gentle words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
And tie him down for your young girls?
6 Will the traders bargain for him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hand on him.
Remember the battle; you will not do it again!
9 Behold, your expectation is false;
Will you be hurled down even at the sight of him?
10 No one is so reckless that he dares to stir him;
Who then is he who opposes Me?
11 Who has been first to give to Me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not be silent about his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can pierce his double armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
15 His strong scales are his pride,
Locked as with a tight seal.
16 One is so close to another
That no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eye of dawn.
19 From his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 From his nostrils smoke goes out
As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals aglow,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck dwells strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm and immovable on him.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone,
And as firm as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 The sword that reaches him cannot prevail,
Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.
31 He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 Behind him he illuminates a pathway;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.
34 He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.””

— Job 41 (NASB)

Presupposing Leviathan is a type of sea dragon, there are several characteristics I want to draw out here and then we will move over to Revelation to look at what those scriptures say about that dragon.

1 - He is strong and armored.

2 - He has sharp teeth.

3 - He has scales (that is part of his armor).

4 - He breathes fire, or is able to produce fire, in the same way a snake produces poison.

5 - He is stiff necked (part of his strength).

6 - His heart is as hard as a stone.

7 - He is able to raise himself up and crash around. (This might mean he could walk on land, perhaps even on his hind legs. It could also mean he could fly. I think this is less likely the case because God mentions so many other parts of his anatomy, but not wings.)

8 - Weapons of that time: spears, javelins, swords, were really not sufficient to kill him.

9 - His underparts were somehow armored or at least sharp.

10 - There was nothing on earth like him.

11 - He did not fear.

We might question, why God would even make such a fantastical beast, but God is God. As a writer, I can understand that desire to create. God could have made a dragon, if that is what pleased Him, just as easily as He could have made a unicorn, a griffin or a three headed dog.

The book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible has long been held as a book about end times, or a book of prophecy of things yet to come. The imagery and things talked about have been debated and discussed over and over and there are various interpretations of just what exactly the images are referring to. My best girlfriend, Stacey Kowalewski, who is a believer, became interested in end times prophecies, when we were in junior high and we used to discuss what that would look like. It wasn’t until a few years ago, that Stacey decided to research and do her own in depth study of Revelation. I asked her for some feedback on these specific dragon related passages in Revelation and she provided very interesting insights.

Image by Ray Shrewsberry from Pixabay

The following is a document Stacey wrote up that specifically addresses the dragon as mentioned in Revelation 12. I know this is long, but she explains it so well. I am going to type BEGIN where the document starts and END, where it ends, as well as put quotation marks.

BEGIN (The first section is from a Bible Study that Stacey wrote. After it says “end of excerpt” is the rest of her commentary.)

“Revelation 12:4
4 And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

This passage shows the tail of the dragon sweeping away a third of the stars and throwing them to earth, which stands in contrast to the passage in verse 9, where the dragon and his angels are thrown down to earth with his angels by Michael and his angels. It also implies that the 1/3 of stars being cast down by the tail of the dragon happens before the dragon stands before the woman to devour her child. There are some similarities to the following passage from Daniel, and most commentaries believe that the verses in Daniel 8 were fulfilled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes who serves as a type of the Antichrist to come.

Many scholars say that the stars and host here are speaking of the Israelites themselves, in light of the twelve stars of the woman’s crown, this is possible.

Daniel 8:9-12
9 Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.
10 It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.
11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.
12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.

The casting down of these stars by the dragon fits with the timing laid out in the scripture, under Antiochus (the tail of the dragon?) as Daniel shows, the Israelites were cast down. This happened roughly 170 years before the birth of Christ. Then the dragon stands before the woman about to give birth to devour her male child upon his delivery. This initially was Satan’s attempt to kill Jesus shortly after His birth, when Herod slew the male children (Matthew 2:13-23) , as well as His crucifixion, when the dragon thought he had gained victory in cutting off the life of the messiah, but he could not prevent His resurrection and His birth into the heavenly Kingdom. You see that it is the redemption of the child that Satan is trying to prevent. He could not stop the “Head” of the Child from being born into the heavenly kingdom, and He will not devour the “body” of the child, the body of Christ, also known as the Church from being born into the heavenly kingdom either. Just as Jesus was caught up, so will those who are part of the body of Christ be.

Revelation 12:5
5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

Following the rapture or catching up of the child we see the woman fleeing

Revelation 12:6
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Though the timeline seems to put the flight of the woman directly after the catching up of the child when moving on to the rest of the chapter we are given more clarity, that the woman flees “after” the dragon is cast down to earth (Revelation 12:13-17). So the timeline is as follows:

1.       The tail of the dragon sweeps away 1/3 of the hosts (Israel under the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes).

2.      Satan stands before the woman (Jerusalem/Israel) to devour her male child. Jesus the head plus the body of Christ. This encompasses the gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week.

3.      Jesus (the head) is caught up to His throne, followed by His body- the church, who is also caught up (the rapture).

4.     War breaks out in heaven between Michael and his angels and the Dragon and his angels.

5.      The dragon and his angels lose and are cast down to earth.

6.     The dragon persecutes the woman.

7.      The woman flees to a place of safety prepared for her by God.

8.     The dragon becomes enraged and makes war with the rest of the woman’s children.

Though parts of this passage had a past fulfillment under Antiochus, according to Jesus who lived after that happened, it will have a future one as well, when authority is given to the mouth of the beast or the “little horn” as Daniel calls him when the Antichrist is indwelled by the beast from the pit and commits the abomination of desolation as spoken of by the prophet Daniel (Matthew 24:15), he will then turn against the “host” or “saints” and trample them down.

_______________________________End of Excerpt________________________________________

The birth of the male child encompasses the church age; or the age of grace as we call it.  Jesus the head is caught up to His throne and then one day His body will also be caught up to His throne.  We know that in a normal childbirth the head is delivered first, followed by the body. The church age, is essentially the birthing process, hence the “birth pains”. It isn’t about the church being born onto the earth, but rather being delivered into heaven via the rapture/ resurrection.

What I would say this shows about the dragon, is that he is always standing before us, looking for an opportunity to devour us, which is consistent with:

1 Peter 5:8

8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

The dragon shows up in Chapter 13 standing on the seashore welcoming the rise of the “beast”, the chapter goes on to tell us that people will worship the dragon because he gives his authority, power and throne to the beast. This “beast” IMO is the kingdom of the antichrist. And the head that was “slain” and the mouth are the antichrist. The reason people are so enamored with the beast is because he basically comes back from the dead.

Revelation 13:3–4

3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;

4 and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”

How can you wage war with someone who defies death?! Think about it, Jesus rose from the dead and forever changed the world as many followed in His ways. This imposter will try to do the same!

We see another picture of the beast in chapter 17, shown with the “woman” sitting upon him. This “picture” is an analogy that looks very similar to the description of the dragon in chapter 12. We see the scarlet beast defined in the passage as representing various elements of the end times Kingdom of the 70th week. It is the geopolitical representation of Satan’s kingdom on earth, that kingdom reflects the attributes of Satan the dragon.  Just like Jesus came to establish a kingdom, Satan also sets out to establish a kingdom.

This tells me that the dragon is powerful and cunning and has a plan to deceive the nations into worshipping him as God. That has been his goal from the start; to be worshipped as god and for his protégé the antichrist also to be worshipped by the people of earth. The following passage in 2 Thessalonians speaks to this idea, the Thessalonians falsely believed that the Day of the Lord had come and IMO they thought they missed the rapture.

2 Thessalonians 2:3–12 (Parenthesis mine)

3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (The abomination of desolation)

5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed.

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. (The rapture)

8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

11 And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false,

12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

The “dragon” will be working fiercely during the 70th week to accomplish his goal while he is given the authority to act.

Isaiah 14:13–14

13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.

14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

I wonder if Satan actually believes he can succeed, or if he just wants to take as many down with him to the pit as he can.

Obviously, the dragon in this passage is referencing Satan.”

END

As we are have learned over the last few months of studying our unseen enemy, we know that Satan, the accuser wants to bring us down. His focus is on the individual, the family, the church and even on our government. A dragon knows, just like the snake to go for the prey when they are weak, when they are at odds, fighting among themselves. He knows to tear down truth and muddy the waters is the best way to shred our belief system.

By using the analogy of the dragon to compare Satan to, we see that he is a beast with a heart of stone whose only goal is our destruction. While he knows he cannot destroy God, he will do the next best thing and destroy His creation and try with fierceness to scratch out the name of Jesus, not only from our country, but from our hearts.

Now, what are you going to do about it?

“3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh,
4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

— 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NASB)

Image by Mark Frost from Pixabay

“10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against [f]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,”

— Ephesians 6:10-18 (NASB)

Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

“10 Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will spring up quickly;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’”

— Isaiah 58:10-9a (NASB)

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

“15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “This is hopeless, my master! What are we to do?”
16 And he said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are greater than those who are with them.”
17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

— 2 Kings 6:15-17 (NASB)

Thinking About Christmas - A Closer Look at Scripture: Part 2

Last week I started looking at an Old Testament passage that is considered part of the Messianic prophecy. Scripture passages in the Old Testament that point to the coming Messiah are not unusual and Isaiah 9;6-7 is one of the more famous pieces.

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

— Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV)

Last week I focused on the first three lines of verse 6 talking about the Child of Mary and the Son of God. I also mentioned how the phrase, “…and the government shall be upon His shoulder…” referred to the authority Jesus was given by the Father and how, when at last, all others have come under that authority, Christ Himself will then subject Himself to the Father, so that God can be all in all.

This week i want to continue by looking at the rest of verse 6. When it comes to the names of God, we could easily spend a long time, looking at what each one means and how those names apply to us as His created beings. For today, I just want to look at two of the four mentioned in this verse.

“…and His name shall be called…”

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The thing that struck me about this phrase is that it has a forward look to it. Isn’t Christ already called these names? Since Christ has been with the Father from the beginning of our time and most likely from times time before that, wouldn’t all of these names already apply to Him? I think the answer lies in understanding what becoming human did to Christ.

Taking on human form, was a choice to limit Christ’s Godly abilities. Think about his very birth. This God-Man, became embryonic cells inside His mother’s womb. He spent nine months in the darkness of that womb and at the end of His life He spend three days in the darkness of a tomb. During His earthly life He knew hunger, fatigue, sadness and pain. He felt the hurt of betrayal and the stab of thorns and nails. When He was with His Father in the Heavenly realm He was perfect, powerful and a present part of the triune God. When he became a man he suddenly felt dirty and distant from His holy family.

This dichotomy of being fully God and fully man leads us right into the list of names given in the passage. I want to look at two of these this week and two next week.

“…Wonderful Counselor…”

Image by Tiyo Prasetyo from Pixabay

The word wonderful is an adjective. It describes something, such as when I say, “That was a wonderful performance.” According to Webster’s dictionary wonderful means, “…marvelous, astonishing, staggering, stunning, unusually good..” How perfect are these words to describe our God. There is no one as marvelous or good as the Creator. There is no beauty on this earth that can compare to the staggering and stunning beauty of a Holy, Perfect being like Jehovah.

When we use the word counselor, it brings two ideas to mind. The first, is that of a mental health professional who helps people work through their emotional and relational issues. The second image is a lawyer, or a person who gives legal advice and aid. These both convey human professions, yet they fully apply to the God-Man.

Jesus is one we can turn to when life is beating on us. He always listens with an attentive ear and sound advice. He truly understands the human condition and knows that all things are meant to bring us back to center…His center. He is the marvelous counselor.

Jesus is also the perfect lawyer. He knows exactly what our sentence is and He also knows how to totally abolish our punishment. He knows when we are standing before that jury of demonic beings, he need only say, “She is washed in my blood,” and the judgment is done. There is no prosecutor who will be able to argue against us, when we have Jesus in our corner. He is the astonishing counselor.

The summary then is this; Jesus is wonderful, because He is fully God. He is a counselor, because He is fully man.

“…Mighty God…”

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

Here again we have two words. One is a descriptor and the other is the object being described, or in this case the who. Mighty, according to Webster’s means, “…possessing might, powerful, accomplished or characterized by might, imposing in extent or extraordinary.” While it is true that men and women can be described as mighty, it is more likely the word would be used in tandem with a being beyond our infinite human understanding.

The word God is described in the dictionary as, “…a Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe.”

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.”

— Isaiah 45:22 (NASB)

We can see how the name, Mighty God, fully reveals Christ’s Godliness, but how does it describe His humanity? I believe the revelation lies in the contrast. Only a being who is mighty, could transform Himself into that which is not. It is only a Mighty God, who could change into a fully human man and still be fully God.

This may seem a bit confusing, but it is in the mystery of those things we do not understand, that the beauty of faith and belief truly reveals itself.

Next week we will look at the names, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Until then, I hope that this will help to remind you of our blessed Savior’s birth and why it is so important to keep that focus not just at Christmas, but all year long.

Have a great weekend!

Our Unseen Enemy - Part 5 - Zoomorphism - The Lion

The idea of comparing a human to an animal, more specifically, comparing the human’s behavior to animal behavior is called zoomorphism. I only know that because I looked it up. Ha, ha. While our unseen enemy is not technically human, he does have human characteristics. The scripture uses three different animals to describe Satan: the lion, the serpent and the dragon. Over the next few weeks we will look at each of these more closely.

Many of you may remember C.S. Lewis’ fictional series, The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe. It is an amazing fantasy series, geared especially to young people, but equally appropriate for fantasy lovers of all ages. In C.S. Lewis’ story, Aslan, the Lion was the good and kind King of Narnia. At one point in the series, Aslan dies and then comes back to life. Obviously, there is a direct correlation to the death and resurrection of Christ. As much as we would like the ideal of the Aslan type lion representing God and God alone, there is a verse in scripture that compares our enemy with the king of beasts. Let’s take a look.

The Lion

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

— 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)

I want to point out that the most important word in this verse with regard to Satan, is the word “prowls”. God the Father and Jesus are both referred to as the Lion of Judah, so the idea that both God and Satan are compared to a lion is a little unsettling. I had to think about this for a while before I decided what to write. My belief is the lion is used in this verse to better exhibit the actions of our unseen enemy; the action of prowling about.

Remember when Satan came to God at the beginning of Job. God asked him where he had come from and what did Satan respond?

““From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.””

— Job 1:7 (ESV)

There is a distinct predatory vibe in Satan’s response. He didn’t say, “Oh, I was going for a walk and I stopped by the ocean and watched the waves.” No! He was going to and fro. He was walking up and down. I get the definite impression that Satan was pacing. He was looking for something to do; for someone to pounce on.

When a lion prowls, he/she is typically looking for prey. The action of roaring when in tandem with prowling shows the lion’s attitude of dominance. The lion is saying, “Hey! This is my territory. If you are in my territory, I am either going to have you for dinner, or I am going to give you such a butt whipping that you will have to crawl back to your pitiful cave!”

Read 1 Peter again. Satan isn’t just prowling, he is roaring and he is seeking someone to devour. Let’s take just a few moments to talk about that idea. Typically, it is the female lions that stalk and kill prey. The male then comes, often chasing the females and cubs away, so he can have the first morsels of the dead.

“The canines of a lion, which are long, sharp and slightly recurved, are excellent tools for grasping and wounding prey, while the sharp premolars are effective in tearing away chunks of flesh. The molars are rudimentary because their food is swallowed in chunks, unchewed. The skull has large surfaces for the insertion of the powerful jaw muscles.

Male lions usually leave almost all of the hunting to the females, but once a kill is made, they will sometimes drive off the females and cubs in order to be the first to feed upon the prey.

Usually, several lionesses, working as a team, spread out and approach a herd from different directions. They stalk up as close as possible, using every bit of available cover before making a final charge, going for the closest individual. There is a rush and a leap as the lion comes in range of its victim. But, although lions can reach a top speed of 60km/hr for short distances, their prey usually escapes (only about one stalk in six is successful).

Typically, a lion kills a large animal by strangulation, biting down on its throat or, sometimes, on its nose and mouth. Small animals are killed with a bat of the paw or a quick bite to the head.”

— What do lions eat? - Online Biology Dictionary - article by EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD

The above description deserves a little bit of our time. I want to look at three of the lion’s attributes and show how our enemy is very much the same.

The desire to stalk.

Image by Corinna Stoeffl from Pixabay

When I looked up this word in Webster’s online dictionary it lists several definitions, but the one I want to focus on is the verb meaning: “to pursue obsessively and to the point of harassment.” I also found it interesting when I looked at the word origins.

“Middle English, from Old English bestealcian; akin to Old English stelan to steal ”

— Webster's Online Dictionary

A lion is looking to steal a life. He or she searches until they find their prey. Once they find it, they begin to stalk. They follow. They pursue. They obsess. They harass, then they attack and they kill.

Our enemy and his pride of demons behave very much the same way. They search for their prey. Usually, they will look for prey that has wandered from the herd, or attack one that is very young or very old. They follow. They pursue. They obsess. (Can’t you just see the drool hanging off of their sharp fangs?) Then they begin to harass. I think harassment is one of the enemy’s defining characteristics.

Have you ever had those thoughts that you just can’t get rid of; thoughts that keep coming back either dragging you down to the pit of despair, or leading you down the steps of temptation. This is a tactic of our enemy, the roaring lion. The more he harasses, the more discouraged we become.

Often, when a lion is harassing its prey it will run after them trying to catch them and get their sharp teeth or claws in. However, as the above article states this is only effective about 1/6th of the time. The tactic that seems to work best is to gang up on a victim that is young, elderly, injured or ill. Isn’t that just like our enemy to come after us when we are already down? That is part of the dilemma with this long term pandemic. It grates on us, harasses us and just when we are feeling discouraged, it kicks us in the teeth.

The desire to bite.

Image by Cayenne8 from Pixabay

God obviously created many creatures with teeth and the lion is no exception. Look at those fangs! As the above article states the sharp canines of the lion are meant for grabbing hold and tearing flesh. These large incisors enable the large cat to eat the muscular flesh of a zebra or other animal without having to tenderize or cook it first.

Just as with the tactic of stalking, the devil wants to grab hold of us and sink his teeth in. Obviously, we are not talking about real teeth, but let’s go back to the idea of lies. If Satan can get us to hear a lie, and then start listening to a lie, and then slowly start believing the lie, isn’t that very similar to the physical beast sinking its teeth into its victim? Just as every bite the lion or lions can get on their intended prey starts to drain it of blood, sending its body into shock, and eventual collapse, so too our enemy intends that every lie drains us of truth and sends our minds, hearts and souls collapsing into darkness.

The desire to kill.

Whitby England

The final desired outcome for both the lion and the devil is death. They want to end their desired prey’s ability to breath. I found it very interesting that a lion kills a large animal by strangulation or asphyxiation. That is a very disturbing image, especially when we know this current virus is killing many people by literally taking their breath away.

This analogy goes all the way back to the beginning. When God created man, He formed him from the dust of the earth and then breathed life into him. Satan has been trying to remove that life giving breath, both physically in the form of physical death and spiritually in the form of deceit, since the Garden of Eden. If he could he would burn the very image of God from our literal souls…that is how much our enemy hates us and the One who created him.

I know that all of this may seem overwhelming and it can be, but we need to remember we worship an Almighty God who is much more powerful than our enemy. The enemy’s time will come, but until then, we need to stay in the protection and care of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We need to remember truth and dwell on it. We need to remember and claim those precious and magnificent promises.

Sending each one of you hugs and prayers. Have a good weekend!



When I looked up this word in Webster’s online dictionary it lists several definitions, but the one I want to focus on is the verb meaning: “to pursue obsessively and to the point of harassment.” I also found it interesting when I looked at the word origins. The verb came from an

Our Unseen Enemy - Part 4: The Liar - Lies About Others

We are studying our unseen enemy, the devil. We have looked at his ability to manipulate, scheme and the last few weeks have been studying his lies. His greatest work is in the lies he convinces people to believe. Our beliefs about certain things affect our choices, our relationships and many other aspects of our lives. Take, for example, two children who are raised in completely different environments. One is raised in a home that offers stability, love, protection and kindness. The other is raised in a home that showed neglect, verbal and/or physical abuse and possibly abandonment. It will most likely be easier for the child who is raised in the nurturing home, to feel good about themselves, and be able to see good in other people. The child who comes out of the abusive home may struggle with self-acceptance issues, trust and may think that abuse and neglect is the norm, or that they did something wrong to deserve it. Standing on the outside we can see the erroneous thinking on the latter child’s part, but without counsel and without love and consistent examples in their life, he/she will probably always struggle.

Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

Satan targets our beliefs and understanding about God, ourselves and others, because he knows that if he can wear away at the foundation, the house will eventually fall. This same analogy is true in our relationships with other people. Satan knows that relationships built on trust, love, self-sacrifice and the desire to truly care for others will stand firm, but relationships that use manipulation, criticism, harshness or deceit will likely fall apart.

Let’s take a look at lies, Satan tempts us to believe in our relationship with others.

You Owe Me

Image by Mediamodifier from Pixabay

This is probably one of the biggest deceits that Satan uses to undermine relationships between people. In a marriage this is especially concerning due to the fact that both partners come into the relationship with their own sets of emotional baggage. If a man is raised in an environment where his dad talked down to his mother and treated her in a derogatory manner, then he will most likely take that into the marriage. He will believe the lie, that because this woman is his wife, she is obligated to be at his beck and call and to be his doormat if he so chooses.

Women can also have this attitude. How many times have you had the thought run through your mind, “Well, I cooked him a good meal, cleaned the house and took care of the kids, now it is his turn. He owes me.” Since when did the marriage relationship become a bargaining table? Unfortunately, this is the society we live in.

Once again, Satan’s tactic is to get us to focus on what we are not getting, rather than focusing on our Heavenly Father and every single thing we have to be thankful for. I am not condoning violence, abuse or any sort of degradation in a marriage. If you are in a relationship of this nature, please contact someone who can help you. Many cities have domestic abuse hotlines.

We see this same attitude among many people in our society today. They believe that they deserve something. Whether it be government aid, freedom of speech (especially with regard to things that are unnecessary or vulgar), or the ability to do whatever they want, whenever they want, people, especially in our country, have forgotten that things like hard work, commitment, investment, education and other factors are what make a difference in the world, not freebies that they think are owed to them.

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

— Romans 13:8 (ESV)

We have all felt the need to receive compensation for our hard work at times, whether it be a mom who just wants to hear, thank you, a wife who wants to hear, I love you, or an employee who wants to be commended for his efforts. It is not wrong to want these things. The lie of the enemy is when the desire becomes an obsession and drives our thoughts and attitudes.

You Offended Me

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

Would I be snarky if I started this off by saying, “I hope I don’t offend anyone?” I believe that offense is a result of the fall. If there were no sin, there would be no offense. What does the Bible say about offense?

“A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.”

— Proverbs 18:19 (ESV)

“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.”

— Proverbs 17:9 (ESV)

“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”

— Proverbs 19:11 (ESV)

“as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.””

— Romans 9:33 (ESV)

Taking offense seems to be a natural part of who we are, but that does not make it right. It is even more disturbing that in our current circumstances people are taking offense over things that never should have been part of our society. The Bible is clear though, that we will do better if we seek to overlook an offense.

I have noticed in the last ten years the excessive use of foul language in books, movies and in social settings. It used to be, the use of such language was offensive. Now you can see the F-bomb on tee shirts, book covers and music titles. I personally find that offensive. However, I do not control what publishers publish, movie makers produce or what the fashion industry finds trendy. I do control me, or at least I try to. Ha, ha.

The problem is, the above example is just a symptom of an internal darkening; a belief that everything is allowable. God never said that, Satan did. Today, what people are finding offensive is the expression of truth, God’s truth. The Bible is clear in its stance on many behaviors that people engage in. It does not mince words. The message is clear, certain things are sins and sin is wrong. That offends people.

In the Romans 9:33 passage Jesus is the “stone of stumbling and a rock of offense…” and the passage does not end there, it says that if we believe in Him we will not be put to shame. Satan is manipulating the world and lying to them. He is wooing them to sleep with his song of freedom and equality, which really is a song of enslavement and imprisonment.

It’s All Your Fault

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

As we have seen in the first few chapters of Genesis, the blame game has been around since the beginning of time. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the Serpent. What Satan started in the Garden of Eden has carried through to the current age. Children, tweens, teens, young adults, middle agers and the elderly have all been guilty of ascribing blame.

The idea of individual responsibility is pertinent to ending the blame cycle. Every individual is responsible for their own attitudes, actions and beliefs. No matter what the Father of lies is whispering in your ear, you are responsible for you.

I had to talk to my grandson about this a week or so ago. He had gotten several answers wrong on an assignment. The words he was supposed to use to fill in the blanks were at the top of the page in a bolded box. I told him the answers were right there. He started telling me he didn’t see that box, the instructions weren’t clear, the teacher isn’t a good teacher and so on. Once again, I explained that he is responsible for making sure he reads the whole paper. He is responsible for him self. The sad and funny thing was, when his mom got home and I told her about it, she looked at the paper and began to make excuses for him saying she wouldn’t have seen the box either, there weren’t clear instructions on the sheet and a few not so impressive remarks about his teacher.

I am not saying this to put my grandson or my daughter down. She is doing a great job as a single mom and he is doing pretty well in school, so I can’t really complain. However, I do think it shows a tiny sample of what is going on in our society nationwide. No one wants to be responsible.

- Can’t do your job? Blame your boss.

- Burn your dinner? Blame your kids.

- Have an affair? Blame your spouse.

- Get pregnant? Blame the sperm donor.

Satan has pretty much convinced hundreds of thousands of people they are not to blame; they are not responsible; they do not have to deal with the consequences.

“1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
5 For each will have to bear his own load.”

— Galatians 6:1-5 (ESV)

Our unseen enemy doesn’t care who you are, what color your skin is, how much power you have, nor how much money you earn, he is only interested in your failure and one of the ways he can get you there is to convince you, you are not to blame and you are not responsible.

Satan is the Father of Lies. What greater deceit could an enemy have than to convince the world he is not real? Take out the enemy factor and we are left with a world full of suffering, death, violence and hatred, all brought about by people. So much for the idea of ongoing evolution. We are not evolving into smarter, better human beings. We are devolving back into the primordial goop that we came from.

Image by jaymethunt from Pixabay

I would much rather believe we are on a battleground, fighting for our lives and the lives of those around us from an enemy that is beautifully deceptive and seeking whom he may devour!

There are many other lies our unseen enemy temps us to believe. The best way to know a lie is to know the truth and make a stand on it. Believing even one small lie, opens our hearts and our minds to believing others. Knowing God’s words as they are written in the Bible helps us separate the truth from the lies. I challenge you to be in His word and to regularly ask yourself, “What do I believe to be true, and does it coincide with the Scripture.”

Have a great weekend everyone!

Our Unseen Enemy - Part 4: The Liar - Lies About Ourselves

Last week we saw how Satan uses lies about God to manipulate our feelings and beliefs towards Him. I showed you specifically lies about the earth’s origin, God’s goodness, God’s authority and God’s desire to have an intimate relationship with us. There are many more lies that Satan weaves about our sovereign God, but I only want to spend one week on each of these areas.

Today we are going to look at lies Satan tells us about ourselves. Have you ever noticed that voice that whispers in your ear, telling you, you aren’t pretty enough, smart enough, good enough and so on. Have you ever felt that your rights are being infringed upon, that you deserve better or that you are not being treated fairly? I believe most of us could say yes to at least a few of those questions, if not all.

Let’s look at a few of the lies Satan tells us. Be prepared for a multiplicity of opposing messages.

I am Not That Bad

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

Aside from our struggles with self-worth I think many of us like to think, we really aren’t that bad. But, what does God’s word say about us?

“23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

— Romans 3:23 (ESV)

“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

— Romans 5:6 (ESV)

“ 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

— Romans 5:8 (ESV)

“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23 (ESV)

We really are a hot mess aren’t we? We are sinners. This is a word we rarely see in our society and one that is preached on less and less in the church. We are sinful. We have missed the mark of perfection that God ordained from the first day of creation, because Adam and Eve chose to listen to that beautiful, beguiling serpent.

No matter how good you are, you are not good enough. That doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of doing good things, of serving others, of donating money, of helping those who are not able to help themselves, but that does not make us good enough for heaven.

“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

— Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)

This is an important tenant of the Christian faith. Look at that verse again. What was Satan’s biggest sin? Pride. If he had never been prideful, consumed with his beauty and desirous of God’s position, he probably would still be in heaven. Pride, is an insidious sin. It reaches its tendrils deep into our hearts. Why is salvation a gift of God? Because he knew our capacity for pride. Humility is key to entering the Kingdom of God. Remember the Rich Young Ruler? (See Matthew 19:16-26 for the full story) How many will be kept away from the streets of gold, by Satan’s lie, that they really aren’t that bad?

I am Not Enough

Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

Is it any wonder we feel confused all of the time? When we listen to Satan’s lies, we hear messages like the first, telling us we aren’t that bad, we are all going to get into heaven in the end. On the other hand he is constantly telling us, “You are a loser, a failure and you are never going to measure up.”

Our enemy is quite proficient at making us feel like we don’t quite hit the mark. We are constantly being bombarded by these messages through social media, movies, books, advertising and so on. Believe me, even in the blogosphere there is a great temptation to compare ourselves to each other. I fall easily into the message that I am not as pretty as, as thin as, or as productive as. When we hear these voices (or more specifically, our enemy’s voice) in our head we need to go to scripture and see what God says about us.

Yes, we have already established that we are sinners and nothing we can do will measure up to God’s perfection, yet, there is something we can do. We can acknowledge Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is by His perfect sacrifice and His spilt blood that we come to realize our worth in God’s eyes.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

— Romans 8:1 (ESV)

If we are Christ followers, then Satan’s words are useless against us, as long as we claim truth. I have done a study on Romans 8 and if you remember verse 1 is one of my favorites. Every time, I hear those thoughts in my head that say, “You are an idiot; What a failure; You’ll never amount to anything,” I take that verse and I wield it like a sword. No one can condemn me, because I AM HIS! His blood made me enough, no matter what anyone else says or thinks.

I Deserve This

Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

Being a wife and mother, as you have no doubt heard, is a thankless job. One of the lies that Satan loves to taunt us with is the idea that I deserve something. How many times have you felt let down because your husband didn’t notice your new hair cut, or remember your birthday or anniversary? How often did your kids neglect to say thank you or acknowledge all that you have done to make their lives easier? How did it make you feel when that friend who said they’d meet you for lunch, never showed up? It definitely makes a person feel invisible. I know, because I have been there.

During these times, it is easy to listen to Satan’s voice telling us we deserve to be angry, feel slighted or discouraged because of the way others have treated us. In addition, we often feel, that because we have been wounded we deserve to treat ourselves whether it be to a shopping trip or a pint of ice cream. Unfortunately, the only thing that listening to Satan’s lies gets us is a bad attitude, bills and extra pounds.

Our best defense is to be on the offense. Recognize that your spouse, kids, friends and others who have let you down are human, just like you. We will look more at that when we look at Satan’s lies about others. The best thing to do when we are feeling like we deserve something is to take those feelings to our Lord and let Him examine them. Are they feelings brought about by a success or an accomplishment? By all means treat yourself, but if they are feelings brought about by pain and discouragement there is only one place to feel fulfilled and at peace. At the nail pierced feet of our Lord, Jesus.

Read the whole of Psalm 139 for a reminder, that God knows you inside and out and He is always attentive to your feelings.

“23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!”

— Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)

I Have a Right

Image by skeeze from Pixabay

The desire for rights is innate in us. We want things to be fair. We want to be treated with respect and dignity and want that all people are treated that way; at least we say we do, until our rights are infringed upon.

I do believe there is a place for rights in our world, but I also believe that what God intended as a preservation for those who were and are afflicted and needy has become the war cry of anyone who wants to get their way. Look at all the law suits that have gone to court over attempts at misplaced rights. How much money did McDonalds have to pay to compensate the customer who spilled coffee on themselves and sued the retailer because she got burned? I’m sorry, but if I am buying a cup of coffee at McDonalds, I want it to be hot. If I spilled scalding coffee on myself, I would automatically think, “What a klutz I am,” and then go home and nurse my wounds. I would have never thought that my rights had been infringed because the retailer gave me exactly what I asked for.

The problem with a rights based mentality is that everything that does not measure up to your standard suddenly becomes about your rights. How many of the riots that happened over the last few months were truly about rights? How much of the violence that ensued at many of them were instigated by people who had nothing at all invested in the protest? Please don’t get me wrong. I believe racial, and economic disparities need to be investigated and changed, but in a true rights oriented society rights are for the good of the whole society, not just one particular person or group.

Satan will use whatever means it takes to create division, hatred, lust and covetousness among us all. He knows that these things will be our undoing and undoing is exactly what he wants.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is probably one of the first people we think of when we think of human rights in our country. He was a man of spiritual depth and wisdom. Read the following quotes.

“Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are many more tidbits of wisdom from this man. Being a black man at the time, he completely understood the gaping crevice caused by the disparity between blacks and whites, but he also understood that the way to bring about change was not through hatred. Demanding our rights through anger, violence and force is a plot of the enemy, to be sure, both for those who are angry and for those who are fearful.

I Shouldn’t have to Feel Pain

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

Perhaps one of the most detrimental lies the enemy dangles in front of our faces is that we shouldn’t have to feel pain, have things go wrong or live without pleasure. I am lumping this all together, because so often pain and pleasure go hand in hand.

God created a perfect world; a world without pain or suffering, but Adam and Eve’s choice to eat from the tree God had told them not too, ushered in a lifetime of generations of pain, sorrow and hardship, most of which are directly related back to sin. Childbirth, as most women who have had children naturally know, is painful. Kidney stones are painful. Surgery, cuts, headaches, achy joints and aging can all be painful. The amount of money, time and effort that our world spends trying to deal with pain is overwhelming and the ramifications of the desire to live without pain is evident in the catastrophic use of pain meds, psych meds and related therapies that cost millions of dollars every year. Many of these drugs lead to permanent addictions, that are extremely hard to pull out of and cost millions more to pay for different drugs, counseling and therapies.

In addition our society is consumed with pleasure. The desire to feel good all the time has become a way of life that eats away at our time, our pocketbooks and our very souls. Pleasure seeking and its related pursuits also results in many forms of addiction and bondage from eating disorders and drug use, to pornography and human trafficking.

Satan would like us to think that we shouldn’t have to deal with pain or that gnawing sense of emptiness. His lies tempt us to believe that people, or things, drugs or drink, sex or perversion will assuage the numbness that becomes our death companion when we are alone. People do not want to be alone and they don’t want it to be silent, or they will remember they are not fulfilled or happy.

“Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones,”

— Job 33:19 (ESV)

“For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me.”

— Psalm 38:17 (ESV)

“But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!”

— Psalm 69:29 (ESV)

“Why do you cry out over your hurt? Your pain is incurable. Because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant, I have done these things to you.”

— Jeremiah 30:15 (ESV)

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

— Revelation 21:4 (ESV)

Pain is a reality and the yearning we feel that often goes unfulfilled is the imprint of God on our hearts. He was, is and always will be the One who was meant to fill all of your longings.

Satan is lying to us about God and he is lying to us about ourselves. He uses our desire to be “somebody”, our desire to get what we think we deserve, our demand to have our rights fulfilled, and our desire to not feel pain, but only pleasure, to control us. The freedoms we as people are yelling about have become the shackles binding our hearts and our minds. He has us bound and has thrown away the key.

But, there is good news. Someone has a copy of the key and He can release us from these binds.

I hope you are encouraged in your walk with Jesus through this study we have been doing on our