Entering Battle

If Adam and Eve had ruled the earth like God commissioned them to, we would be living a different life now.  Can you imagine if the serpent came to them and they stepped on his head and told him to stop talking and commanded him to leave?!  They had the power to do that and yet they were deceived…We are being deceived today and we have to stop and truly realize that God gave us power through Jesus to live powerfully in His Spirit!  We have to stop being afraid of what Satan can do and live the life that God says we can live!  It’s all about who you are going to believe, God or the greatest liar?

In the book I am reading he made mention of the armor that God gives us not including anything for our backs.  God didn’t design us for retreat!!  That shouldn’t frighten us.  So I looked up the suit of armor that God equips us with.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (AMP)

In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.  For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.  Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].  Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,  And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.  Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].  And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.  Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).

After reviewing these verses I came to the same conclusion, we are not called to flee from our enemy, we are given all the things necessary to face him head on, with power, and with victory.  Unfortunately, there are still some churches who choose not to teach what this really means.  Instead they are teaching Christians to judge the actions and outward appearance of those around them and therefor they are teaching to battle in the flesh.  I can’t imagine any of the churches I grew up in welcoming a witch into their service and praying for that person to have deliverance from the control of the evil one.  I can’t imagine most of the churches that I have attended as an adult doing that either.  The reason?  Because we as a body don’t realize that we have the power to do something for the people who have been deceived by Satan.  Until recently, I would never have believed that we have that power either, but I have heard many testimonies of it being done, of Christians caught up in a battle of unseen worlds that lay hidden to the natural eye.  I for one am seeking a greater, closer, relationship with Christ so that I too may be ready to enter that battle.  I’m by no means ready now, but I am preparing, getting closer to my Abba Father and I am getting ready for whatever He has prepared for me in my present future!!

For Such a Time as This

I’m not sure that it is always clear to Christians that God placed us in a very specific time and with very specific people to fulfill His purposes.  We are often scared of what He is asking us to do, where He is directing us, and we often rebel from the time, place, and people with who he has placed us.

This became very clear to me recently.  Our family was invaded by this young man a year and a half ago.  When I say invaded, I mean to say that I was not ready for a young man to enter our life via Bean and I definitely did not expect for him to stick around for this long.  I have searched for a nickname for him and finally we have worked one out, Aloha.  It’s fitting.  Aloha means so many things in Hawaiian culture, it means affection, love, peace, compassion, mercy, hello, and goodbye.  I think it is a fitting nickname for a very well-loved young man.

Recently Aloha made a decision to give his life to Christ.  Tonight he will be getting baptized.  Over the last week we have had a sort of battle over his desire to tell his family and his fear of their reception and reaction.  I have battled with how to approach and encourage, and he has had the battle of what to do.  This is because his dad who was raised Catholic, doesn’t want anything to do with religion and doesn’t really get the difference, or has closed himself off to the difference, between faith and religion.  His mom was raised in a Christian home but doesn’t really practice.  I am not sure about how his twin brother feels or really where his mom stands on faith.  I do know without a doubt that Aloha will play a crucial role in his family making a decision one way or another.

Sometimes we fear that our mistakes and sin as a Christian will make others think that faith is unreal because we still mess up.  Our journey of sanctification is a long one.  Sometimes we have seasons where we walk close to God, hand in hand.  We are growing in our faith and knowledge of God’s word.  Other times we feel alone, we step away from God to follow our own pursuits and we stop practicing our faith walk.

Dear Aloha,  God has placed you into a specific time in history to reach specific people and to be part of His very specific plan.    His ways are not your ways, you may never, this side of Heaven, understand His purpose for putting you where He placed you, but I can guarantee you that if He placed you somewhere, with people who you don’t understand, He will be there to guide you through the experience.  He will surround you with people to support and love you.  There will be hard times, but you will be able to enjoy the journey because He loves you and cares for you.

My Help Comes From the Lord

If you are a servant of God you will know just how amazing and funny He can be.  The Lord always knows ahead of time the challenges that we are going to face, the journey that we are going to traverse.  He tries to prepare us ahead of time, but we have to be aware and plugged in, we have to have our eyes on Him.  As I have looked back over the last few months, I can see what God was doing, things are making sense like they didn’t before.

This week has been a dark journey.  There have been a few days this week, moments where I took my eyes off of God and fell into the “Slough of Despair”.

This week, even amidst the chaos, we were reminded of God’s love and His concern.  As a distraction, Berry and I were determined to do school regardless of the circumstances.  On Wednesday we started “Little Pilgrims Progress“: from John Bunyan‘s Classic adapted by Helen Taylor.  I have read the original Pilgrim’s Progress and loved it.  This is the first time I have read “Little Pilgrim’s Progress”.

This morning’s reading really spoke to my heart.  God was reaching down and once again reminding me of His love.

This excerpt is from Chapter 5, Help Finds Little Christian:

But, just at that moment, a boy named Help, who was one of the King’s servants, came near to the Slough and saw poor little Christian struggling in the mire.  Help was a kindhearted boy, and he ran at once to see what he could do for the child.  “How did you fall in?” he asked, but little Christian could not tell him…”Didn’t you see the stepping-stones?” “No, I was talking to Pliable, and we were not looking at the ground.”…”Well, don’t be frightened.  I shall be able to reach you in a minute.  The King will always take care of you.  I wondered why He sent me over the plain today, but it was because He knew you would need me.  Take hold of my hand, and put your foot here.  There!  You are quite safe.”…”How long will it take me to there?”  “I can’t tell you that; for some people the journey is longer than for others.  But if you love and obey the King, He will be sure to guide you to the City at the right time.  Now I must go.  If you are frightened again, cry to the King, and He will hear you.”

The last portions are the words that spoke the loudest to me.  …if you love and obey the King, He will be sure to guide you…  When we cry out to our Abba Father, He is faithful to come to us, to send others to us, and lift us up out of our sorrow, our grief, our unbelief.  He loves us and He will use whatever circumstances or book, and maybe even a talking animal to get our attention!

Holes

My mother-in-love doesn’t like that word, holes.  She really despises the bicycle helmets in the Tour de France that have those Swiss Cheese like holes in them for air-flow.  She actually breaks out in a cold sweat when she see holes, or hears the word.

Image by thenoodleator via Flickr

I started listening to a book yesterday called, “{W}hole”, by Lisa Whittle.  This book is talking about spiritual holes and how God can fill them up to make you WHOLE.  She gives a very honest  look at her own life.  Her story, if you will.  I’m not far into it, only about 3 chapters so far, but this book speaking to me.

In the forward by George Barna or the introduction, I can’t remember which, there are some interesting facts given from a survey that was taken by women of faith.  They did some really exhaustive research for this book and she also did a lot of interviews.    Eighty-one percent of women who took this survey feel that they are very close or extremely close to God.  Seventy-four percent feel that they are mature in their relationship with God.  Seventy-eight percent are mostly satisfied with their spiritual development and sixty-five percent consider themselves deeply spiritual.

WOW!  Really?  The majority of women in the Christian faith really feel that way?  I really hope that I am not the only one in my circle of Christian friends who feels like they are in the thirty percent that are still struggling.  Apparently the surveyors also saw a disconnect, because further on in the study they discovered that only thirteen percent felt that being a follower of Christ was the most important thing in their lives, sixteen percent said that their highest priority was their faith, and only twenty-six percent said their top goal in life was related to their faith.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still dealing with envy, jealousy, lust, arrogance, fear, doubt, and confusion.  Thankfully not all the time and not all at the same time, but I still deal with each and every one of them.  My fruit isn’t always sweet and plump.  Sometimes it is plain bad.  There is always a reason.  Either my prayer life has drifted off to sleep, I’m not in the word like I should be daily, or I have unconfessed sin in my life.  Usually, it’s all three.

So, after these first chapters, I am left with some questions to ponder.

Am I more inspired by teachers, speakers, pastors, and friends, than I am by the word of God?

Do I compromise for just good, or do I seek God’s best?

Do I doubt that God is who He says He is?

Do I love the idea of God more than I love being in His presence?

Does my faith walk inspire/motivate others to seek God?

Am I confused by my religion and distracted from my faith by it?

Do I frequently experience discontent, lack of fulfillment, fear, pain, shame, pride, anger, doubt?

Do I hate the way my religion makes me feel?

Do I live out my faith as a formula, a performance, a written ritual?

Do I live in authentic faith?

Do I want others to relate to me, or view me as spiritual?

Am I addicted to Jesus or religion?

Am I a fraud?

That is a lot of questions for just a few chapters of a book.  My biggest question…Do I have the courage to really face these questions, allow God to heal and fill me, and move forward into the glorious things He has waiting for me?

If you are finding yourself in these questions, if you are seeing that you relate, I would suggest this book, your bible, prayer, and an approach with your eyes wide open.  There is something about taking an honest look at where you are in your faith walk and allowing God to work in you, that is freeing.  He wants to use us in a huge way to bring more and more people to His Son and salvation.  If we truly believe in Him, we should want that too.

 

Alarming, Isn’t It?

I have witnessed an alarming, to me anyway, trend lately.  I may only be noticing because I have a 15-year-old daughter with friends who range from 13 to early 20′s.  It may be that I have an almost 11-year-old that hangs out with some girls who are a little older and attend public school.  I think the thing that really stands out to me is a lot of these girls are being brought up in Christian homes, they are regular attenders of small group, youth group, and church.  They should know better.

A lot of my daughter’s friends and acquaintances have added me as a friend on Facebook.  There are a few that I have hidden.  There is so much drama that I don’t enjoy keeping up with them.  There are a precious few that I follow with delight, and then there are those that alarm me with the things that they write, particularly the things they write about how they relate themselves in the view of boys.

As a teen, who was not following Christ like I should have been, I allowed everyone else to set my value.  I was always concerned about what so and so thought of what I wearing, the acne on my face, the things that I said.  It wasn’t only the boys views that concerned me, it was everyone.  I learned to be a different person for the entire circle of people I counted as “friends”.  I allowed boys to set my value.  They may have found me to be fat, ugly, just right, pretty, annoying, personable, friendly.  I believed whatever, whoever, thought or told me.

Girls, your value does not come from what joeshmo thinks of you.  The opinion that you have of yourself should not be wrapped up in what a boy of flesh and blood thinks of you.  Your value is God-given.  God tells us in the book of Isaiah 49:16 that, “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”  God values us so much that He has our image, our names, His love for us, engraved on the very palms of His hands.  Only the One who created you has the right to give you a value.

Our value isn’t give to us by our parents, friends, boys, men, NO ONE, except God.

When you read in the book of Psalms that God knit you together in your mom’s womb, how does it make you feel?  Well it should make you feel special.  Crazy special!  He was involved in making you, creating you, your value only comes from God.

There is a song by Superchick that I really think every girl from the age of 8 to 80 should learn.  Princes and Frogs  !  This song says it all.  We should be more like the Duggard girls, waiting until the right man of God comes along for us.  As moms and dads, we should be praying for our child’s future spouse.  It doesn’t guarantee that our children will make the right choices, but man, it sure does improve the odds!!  Today a friend posted the follow image on Facebook and I really think that it speaks a truth, loud and clear, from a strong biblical perspective.

From the time I was in 1st grade I was boy crazy.  There was this little blonde boy who sat in my class.  I can’t remember his name for the life of me, but I thought he was the best. There were many more to follow in his footsteps.  I even married a boy in second grade, it lasted until Jr. High when he broke it off.  I just found out two years ago that he’s gay…There were boys who claimed to love God, boys who even said they didn’t like God.  My value was being dictated by these boys.  These boys who didn’t even know who they were or what their own value was.  So, I’m not coming at this from an angle of not knowing, I’m speaking from knowing all too well how fragile our hearts are, especially when we aren’t following the path that God has put before us.

So here are a few things to ask yourself:

•  Do you like who you are?  If you were stranded on a deserted island with yourself, would you like being in your company?

~If you answered no to that question I want you to make a list of the things that you don’t like.  This is not about tearing yourself down about your looks, your appearance, this is about listing personality “flaws” that don’t line up with God’s view of you.  Then I want you to evaluate the opinion of yourself against what you know to be true about yourself from the word of God.  There are specific things that He tells us about who He has created to be.  We were made in His image.  If you chose things that don’t line up with who He is, then you need to pray about those things, each and everyone and ask God to mold you and shape you to be more like Him.

•  Do you measure yourself against other girls that are around you?

~If you answered yes to that question then I want you to make a list of the things that you feel don’t measure up to your friends.  Maybe your list will be about how you look physically, or maybe it will be about your personality differences.  HEAR me loud and clear on this one.  God made you, designed you, to be a part of His body.  The way He made you is to fill a very specific role that He has waiting for you.  Instead of  being critical of being hippy, or too tall, or too short, or too busty, or not busty enough, celebrate the way that God has fashioned you and then begin to pray about the future of what God has in store for you.  The things that you list as flaws could be the very things that God will bless you with in your future position.

•  Do you focus more on what you wear, your hair, your beauty, than you do on your heart?

~If you answered yes, then you need to begin to pray that your focus would begin to be narrowed down to how you react to situations, negative people, and your own negative thoughts.  Pray that your heart will be strong to follow God and His desires, rather than following after what will wither and fade away.

Don’t ever think that the adult women who has been in the company of God for a long time, has it all together.  These are lessons just as much for me as they are for young women.   It’s a process, not a road to perfection!  Look for your value in God, not the world, and definitely not in the way that a boy sees you!