Spiritual Attacks

If you are anything like me... your shoulders sink a little at the subject matter of spiritual warfare.   You are tired of the dreaded topic that seems to never go away.   We don't just see and hear the evidence of spiritual warfare on television and radio but we see it in our lives and people's lives around us.  It is prevalent or common everywhere... even in the church.   So you can imagine my hesitation in addressing this topic... but after I posted I heard Dr. David Jeremiah and Dr. Charles Stanley) speak of spiritual warfare as well.   This not only confirmed but encouraged my soul.  
 
In my experience and reading the bible, Christians will experience spiritual attacks from the enemy who will use just about anyone or any situation to discourage and hurt us.  We must not only realize the source of these attacks but where our life needs to be securely fastened to so that we may stand as children of God against the wiles of the Devil. 

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Ephesians 6:11

"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers  and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirit in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

The Very Real Unseen Enemy to Humanity
I once shared with you a time when I asked God if the devil was indeed real and that very night the spiritual veil was taken down to reveal our adversary.  Like a figure of a human- he has no horns, tail, or pitch fork.  He is no longer the once beautiful angel he once was.  He had no wings.  He had no armor. His outer appearance is scared and blotchy and it is reasonable to imagine this was caused when he was thrown from heaven.

 "He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven." Luke 10:18

Satan's penetrating evil eyes seemed to look straight into my soul.  He was in this dark vertical channel of a chamber that had an orange flickering glow below him.  When I could not stand to look at him anymore (which wasn't long) I turned my head away and that is when I heard a blood curdling scream that startled me awake.  The scream seemed like it was right by my bed side.  I sat straight up in bed and listened but no other scream came.  The tortured scream no doubt came from one of his deceived victims.

Needless to say I told God, " I know the devil is real now."  I didn't need any other further proof then what I saw and witnessed.  Don't make the mistake of thinking the devil is some folktale, myth, joke or some poetic symbolic illustration of evil.  He is very real.  His deception is making people think he doesn't exist or he is some friend of the rebellious.  

Satan has been deceiving many since the very beginning.  His warfare seems to be increasing, probably because he senses his time is short.  Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy but Christ came to give life and life more abundantly.  Satan wants to persuade humanity to put their hopes in material possessions and riches, power and popularity or even health -that way when he takes those things away they see no value or hope in what they perceive as life.  But LIFE isn't what the world believes is life.  Life is GOD who gives of himself.   God gives ensuring love, sustaining hope, lasting peace, abounding joy, undeserved mercy and grace. Things the Devil doesn't want us to know or understand.  In fact he rather deceive in order to steal the reality of those things in our life and he works hard at it.
      

 "Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and declared war against the rest of her children- all who keep God's commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus." Revelation 12:17                 

 
We find out a lot about ourselves in spiritual attacks.  We find out how far from God we are or how close we are to God.  We also find out a lot about God and his ability to keep us calm as we allow him his rightful place on the throne of our heart. 

Dream of a Spiritual Attack

In the dream a man brought a white horse into the front of sanctuary of our church building.  The horse got spooked and ran to the back of the sanctuary where I was sitting.  I calmly put out my right hand knowing somehow it would come to me.  When it came to my hand it transformed into furious white hound and took my right hand into its mouth to bite it.  I was not afraid or even surprised by this sight.    I might have been had the bite actually been a bite but the hound couldn’t harm me.  When the master retrieved the dog, I could see into the animal's mouth.  Around the inside of hound’s teeth was a blue substance that prohibited the hound’s teeth from biting down onto my hand. 

I admit the subject matter somewhat troubled me ... but instead of letting it get the best of me I sought God and after a few weeks these images were revealed one by one. 

Spiritual Attacks

 "Dear Friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.   Instead, be very glad- for these trials make you partners with Christ in his sufferings, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world." 1 Peter 4:12-13

"God blesses those are persecuted because they live for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs."  Matthew 5:10

We will all experience as Christians spiritual attacks in one form or another but thank God he has warned us of these attacks in His word and by His Holy Spirit.

Keep These Things in Mind.

1.      Be thankful for the warning from God.  Thank Him for his protection. Psalm91:10-11

2.      Don’t become preoccupied with potential attacks. John10:10

3.      Seek discernment from God concerning those individuals and situations that come across your path. James 1:5

4.     Stay Alert. 1 Peter 5:8

5.     Draw close to God. Humble yourself before God. Stay submitted and reliant on God for understanding especially in the midst of an attack.  God will keep you calm.  James4:7-8

6.     Remember God is on sentinel duty in your life. Psalm27:1-5

7.     Thank Him again knowing you have put your life in His hands. He is your peace. John 14:27
Remember our brothers and sisters who are suffering much more-even at the cost of their own life. 1 Peter 5:9-10 

Capricious

Three words awoke me a recent morning.  It was 4:24AM.  I wrote them down on the palm of my hand in the dark.  Capricious, Rebellious... and one other I couldn't read or remember so I have since given up on the third word.

Capricious isn't a word I use in either my verbal or written vocabulary.  Those who know me and have read this blog know this. 

To be completely honestly, I didn't even know what capricious meant exactly until I looked it up.  

I wasn't even sure if "capricious" was even in the bible but to my surprise it is.  

"And I will make mere lads their princes, and capricious children will rule over them." ISAIAH 3:4 

Children: The English translation is "children" but what does it say in the Hebrew?  This word "children" means servant or a young man or women in their twenties.  This is someone much older then a what we would think of as a child.  Then we must also think in terms of how God looks at human race...  we are but children to Him.   
  
Capricious: So what does "capricious" mean when translated? One who acts childish...  one who is ill-tempered, unreasonably ill-tempered, presumptuous, arrogant, insulting in manners, insolent, rude, disrespectful, impertinent or improper as to question God, a grown-up or one with more experience.

Princes:  In the Hebrew the root word prince means: leader, commander (especially over soldiers, or a royal body guard, a cup bearer, of a city, a prison, or cattle.  They are representative leaders of the people.  And in the book of Daniel 10:13,20 ) the term is used a "princes of angels"- the archangels that interceding with God. Then I was reminded of a dream I was given that had "princes" in it. 

When I referred to my notes, the dream was at the end January. In the dream, a friend (unknown to me as of right now) and I,  were given a large round box to deliver....  My friend and I went to deliver the box and when these group to earthly kings/princes came out and saw what we had to deliver they told tell us, "We don't want it because it is covenant."  So what were we to do... it was cold so we crossed the street with the unwanted box where it began to burn a fire inside of it...  Oddly stuck my hand into the box and did not get burned as a rummaged through it's contents.   Inside was a wood medallion as big as a dinner plate and underneath it some rings.  The rings don't seem to be anything of value to the human eye.  They look to be made of aluminum with strips of thin paper attached to on the top as if reminders.   At the bottom of the box was a cashiers check written to the United States of America but the amount of the check was left blank.  A blank check from God? And they didn't want it because they didn't want a covenant with God which meant they would have to obey the very statutes of God that bring life not destroy it.

These princes/kings looked at God's gifts as cheap and religious.  God was giving the princes and kings of the United States a blank check but they didn't want it... they would rather govern and dictate in capricious ways then submit and obey God.

The means of capriciousness..... 

A capricious person is one who casts off restraint.  

• They do what is right in their own sight. 
• They do not seek godly truth, godly reason or godly direction.
• They chase and follow and fall into every whim.  
• They stay away from, obscure and diffuse the light or what is right. 
• They are double minded and unstable... James 1:8  because their allegiance isn't solely on God.    

"Arbitrary" is another close description of capricious.... which describes a course of action or a decision that is not based on reason or judgment but on personal will or discretion without regard to rules or standards.  

I am reminded of our last ballot.... "Should those in government abide by the same laws as their they they govern?"

Is this type of capricious thinking preached and taught in television shows?  Revenge and lawlessness is okay as long as it gets what you want.  Sex is okay if it gets you what you want.  Lies are okay if it gets you what you want.  The list goes on and on.   It is without regard that all will have to stand before God.   Without saying it implements bad faith and erroneous thinking.   There is no godly logic or understanding.... and yet how many times have we seen this in history?  And how this has become the framework of oppressive rulers who do hideous things.   Think about when the anti-Christ comes to rule the world.  How difficult will it be for him to take reign when godly reason and logic are not even whispers in the streets?   And even though there is a God their minds and hearts will blind to Him like dark clouds that put a veil in front of the sun.     

Are we not living more and more in a capricious society? 

A society with complete disregard of the things of God.   A society that is estranged from God.  A society that believes "Whatever goes except God."  And it seems the more we try to better ourselves in our own understanding the more unrecognizable and undefined morality becomes.

Again... "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding." says the bible. Proverbs 3:5

It is as if everything on this world (that isn't anchored to God) is on a slippery slope and it has nothing to grab hold of to stop it from slippery further.  It is helpless to stop itself.  

Is any government not submitted to God not becoming more indifferent, arbitrary and capricious?  

Are they not deciding what is best based on their own reasoning and whims?

Yet why does God put such people over our lives?   Read Isaiah 3.  What will God take away from an unfaithful nation? Those with wisdom have been let go of... and in their place are put individuals who do not have the experience or know how.    People makes decisions based on what they think is right but they aren't anchored to God's statutes. 

Now lets look the log in our eye?   Let us humble ourselves before God seeing our erroneous thinking and knowing God has no favorites. 

Have churches in the past and are some churches today capricious in not abiding in what is written clearly in the bible?

Leaders! Ask yourself, are you estranging people from God and the things of God to make yourself comfortable and others comfortable?   Is your reasoning conducive to God or just to people?

I am reminded of Moses who chased of the shepherds away who wouldn't allow the woman to come and drink and water their animals at the well.  Is the bride of Christ not being allowed to drink from the well? Are they only given what you dictate?  If Moses only chased them away, what will Christ do to such shepherds when he comes?   

Church, those who claim Jesus is Lord and Savior, examine if you have become capricious in anyway? Examine if you in your ideals of "comfort" have favored people over God? Examine if you have become ashamed of God in anyway? Is the bible true from cover to cover?         

God is not capricious.... He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Clearly man left to only his own "tactic" is capricious.   A capricious man doesn't say, "Lord willing" but he goes right ahead and does it anyway suffering the consequences of his godless ways.

Faith..... is submission to God is it not?

For in the measure of faith given and grown and tended to by the Spirit of God- capriciousness is limited and put in restraint.  The lungs that breath such godly understanding do well and gracefully grow in the unlimited resources of God- not the limited understanding of man or the whims of the man.  

When the Spirit is allowed freedom in one's life it becomes evident of the anchor one has in the love and wisdom of God.    

Capriciousness is born and bred from our own selfish understanding which limits us.  For our own "fickle" understanding is like a barrier stopping us from entering the will of God.  For this we already know through experience but in capricious thinking we make a fatal error- thinking God is capricious as well in all he decides and orchestrates. 

AND in capriciousness that is where the bad type of fear has it's place towards God.  Where can a man stand in his faith if God is capricious?  No where!  No man can stand on what is unsettle.  Praise God! He is called our ROCK!  He does not change.

God maybe unorthodox but he is not capricious in his ways and all he has set up from the beginning.

AND God hasn't given us the spirit of fear - but gives us the ability to have a sound mind.  For the Spirit goes to work taking the selfish rebellious sword in all it's capriciousness and turns it into a godly plowshare.  He, the Spirit, tills up the hard ground of erroneous capricious thinking so new godly growth can flourish in what was veiled before by our own selfish understanding.  For mere human might or power does nothing but by the Spirit of God accomplishes what God has purposed and ordained.   

For who can find the well of life in the desert when one can only see sand?  And who can bring life to a desert?



  

 

Saved From All Things Mortal Part 2

Did Eve and Adam disobey God? Of course they did!  But did Eve and Adam eat the forbidden fruit in “the understanding of evil”?  Most likely, the answer is “no”.   It was more a sin of omission or oversight.  In God’s eyes however a sin is a sin and God gave them consequences for their act of disobedience.

Let’s look at Genesis 3 more closely.  Imagine having a “conscience” with no scruples or awareness of good or evil or who is Holy and who is Evil.  

Here is naked Eve without a care in the Garden of Eden and here comes Satan in a disguise.  He is in a disguise that would make most people want to grab a shovel or run the opposite direction but not Eve.  Satan doesn’t come as some cuddly, fluffy animal but a cold slithery snake.  Eve, unafraid, gives the “Serpent” a grand tour around the garden and before she knows it, Satan leads her into his trap to have her and Adam eat the forbidden fruit of good and evil. 

Considering Adam and Eve’s mindset, Satan might as well been a hungry fox in a chicken coop with two fat blind chickens. 

We know Eve eats the fruit from the forbidden tree, gives some to her husband, and before they know it they are stringing fig leaves together to cover what they deem the more “private” areas of the their body, hiding from God and pointing accusing fingers.  Adam sulks.  Eve... now fearful is staying as far as she can away from the snake she just had lunch with a few moments before.

No wonder why God says, “From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Talk about the mind job… Talk about saying bye bye to Kansas. Talk about tumbling down the rabbit hole.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil 
Satan accomplished these things that day.

• First, he managed to have Adam and Eve to become instruments of evil by having them disobey God.
•  Second, like a pregnant woman whom is a drug addict passes her addiction to her baby, the forbidden fruit did not just poison Eve and Adam’s conscious’ but every generation since.
• Third, the fruit set up a “logic or reasoning” dictated by the severely ill equipped understanding of flesh.  Man and women took the knowledge of good and evil and started defining it by the instincts of the flesh. 
•  Fourth, Satan unknowingly destined a greater system of prudence in the Spirit-filled believer, knowing the predisposition/bias of the flesh. (What the enemy intended for evil God turned to good.)   

This knowledge of good and evil that pulses through our weak and ill-equipped helms of the human understanding - ultimately causes all men and women to sin and violate what they know as good and right.  One might say, the make-up of our “system” was unable to digest or process the knowledge (of good and evil) in a constructive means and the output came out corrupted. 
  

The body made a corrupt law of it’s own.  This law continues until this day, where we see people and culture deliberately disregarding and violating and putting down what God put in place for stability and prosperity of the soul.  The law of sin has become a cancer to society… a cancer- society is willing to let spread allowing it to destroy itself.  It’s as if society- by accepted one evil has caused-welcomed “six” more evils- more hideous then the first. 

The book of Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"   

The human heart also has to do with the understanding of the heart.  That is why the bible tells us to not depend on our own understanding for even though the heart has been changed in the Christian the "human" understanding is still corrupt. 
 We know from our unchristian past, the sinful ways of the flesh that echo and resonate in the world became the counsel over our lives until Christ came into our life- changing our heart and giving us His Spirit.  WE, humanity, were appointed by the Father God to care for and populate the earth but we became slaves to the ways of the corrupt/wicked understanding of the flesh until we sincerely surrendered our lives before God and accepted Christ.

Galatians 4:1-7

 “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.  But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

  

Hope

 The Spirit of God has been speaking to us about the importance of  “Knowing God”.   Knowing and growing in God is to have hope, to grow in hope, and to be empowered by hope. A man without hope has forgotten or made himself a stranger to his Creator. 

“Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him,” Psalms 43:5

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5

A man without hope has made and let the things of this world convince and persuade him to be his hope.  For what happens when those things fail him?
 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17

“And He (Jesus) told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was very productive.  And he began to reason to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’  Then he said ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.  And he said to His disciples, ‘For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ” Luke 12:16-23

A man without hope does not know “who” Jesus is.
A man without hope does not know the Father who is hope.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  John 14:6

 

The Affects of Hopelessness
For a king without hope is of tired coals. Even though the breeze livens it, it doesn’t produce flame.  Even though it glows temporary red it quickly forgets.  He is adorned with a royal breastplate but inside he is poisoned by thoughts of cowardest.   Prodded and poked like a cage lion, his rage if any is brief for he sees no point.  Hope to him is like the morning steam ghostly rising off the waters into the skies.  Life has all but become meaningless. Words of wisdom on a page do not help him.  He might as well be blind and as dumb as a stump that produces nothing.  He might as well be a poor blind man who sits in a pitch-black room as the roaches eat his sandwich.   He might as well have no mouth to eat for he can no longer taste what is good.   The spite of hopelessness makes him brash as a careless drunk.  Those who surround him are poisoned and stung by his tongue. They have tried to pour goodness into his life but there is a giant hole in his cistern that is never satisfied. He is deaf to the bells that signal his walls being breached and he has no strength to reach for his sword. He was a beautiful dogwood tree in spring that now has turned to a weedy cedar that steals all the water around him until nothing grows. He is a man without a lasting legacy.  He is a continual patched ceiling with no fixed roof.  He is a man who puts on clean clothes but never takes a bath.  Seeing no hope in the rules and worlds of men, He has given up the pursuit to the catch the elusive word “peace”.  He looks only to himself and says,  “It is hopeless I will act accordingly to the understanding of my hardened heart.”

“But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.” Jeremiah 18:12

Maybe they saw it as hopeless because God wasn’t their source of hope? But I am reminded with God even a stump has hope.

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot- yes, a new branch bearing fruit from the old root.” Isaiah 11:1

This shoot is Jesus.   Some of us know what it means to be a stump and know when our stomp was awakened to new life in Jesus Christ.   This hope ushers into a life in the Spirit of God and in the Spirit of God brings forth the fruits of the Spirit.
 

“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control….” Galatians 5:22-23

Look at those gems that so well characterize hope.

Transformed into Vessels of Hope “with”  and “in” God

“There are three things that will endure- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

As I have allowed God to speak to me about hope, I saw hope not as just something that helps the Christian endure in this life but how hope is tighten woven together with faith and love in God.   Faith, hope, love… they change and transform us.  They become our spiritual make-up.  Faith hope and love are like bands of light that form our eternal structure. I don’t know how this is completely I just saw a vision of this as I was writing… a figure being transformed - their person was being covered over with tiny bands of light.

The Spirit then reminded me of this verse about Jesus.   “Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.  The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”  John 1:4-5

No wonder why 1 John 4:4 says, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

No wonder why Jesus said to us believers, “You are the light of the world- like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see.  Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.”  Matthew 5:14-15

If we are a Christian, our life should bear witness to the light now living and growing in us.

It is that hope, faith and love that God is pouring into us that comes out.

These things may seem elementary but examine them more closely.  Through your relationship with Jesus Christ, God is building you up in the inside by His Spirit.

Look at these carefully with me.
Faith: Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus/God is the author and finisher of our faith.  He not only created us but also completes us.  He makes what was once worldly – Heaven bound.

Love:  1 John 4:16-17 says “We know how much God loves us, we have put our trust in him.  God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect….”

Trust in just another way to say hope and not just that but look at what it is saying here. What is doing the work and completing the work of our spiritual being?  It’s God’s love in us.  It is God’s love transforming us.  God is pouring in his goodness and “building” us up in faith, love and hope in Him.

Hope:  Psalm 62:5-7 “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor come from God alone.   He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.”

We have to position ourselves before God- mostly often quieting what is going on inside ourselves so we can hear Him.   I find reading and meditating on His word or a scripture is helpful.  Some position themselves with a song. The fact is it is difficult and impossible to receive anything from God if we ignore Him, don’t let God speak to us or do some in vain religious routine.  Just as David says, “God is our hope. He is our salvation and he “clothes” us in his honor -that is not made in the things or attitudes of this world.

Caught up in Hope or the busyness of this life?
The floods of life come and do they ever leave a mess of mud and muck behind. I was talking to a friend who neglected to clean out his drainage ditch and when the rushing storm waters came down off the hill from his neighbor's house, they quickly overtook the neglected drainage ditch... They flooded his garage and lapped up against the front door of his house. They then went around the side to the backyard where muddy watery muck spilled over into his swimming pool- transforming the clear blue water into a brown mess.  My friend said, "This all could have been avoided if I hadn't neglected to clean out the drainage ditch.”

The busyness of life can cause us to neglect a lot of things in life including our relationship with God.
God promises his foundation is high enough so when the floodwaters come that they won't bring down the house sitting on it but what if we allow and neglect the maintenance around that foundation.  What if we allow life to cover the foundation with its busyness until the foundation is unrecognizable? Can you build on something that you can’t see?

Usually our words and actions will show there has been a lack of “maintenance” in our relationship with God.  We lose sight of what we have been given and in so doing… we never take the time to discover fully and build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, which God the Father has graciously given.

Other times we can be diligent in our devotional time but still feel this sense anxiety, nagging, and since of oppression.   I think being thankful for the little things is a great start.  Thankful for who God is and how he thinks about you.  "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you," saith the Lord, "Thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."  John 14:27
 
Hope in God is like a romance.
In all marriages sometimes we fail to connect.   With God we can do this.  Sometimes we as the bride of Christ fail to see who we are really "married" to? 

Sometimes we don't put much effort into our marriage and we all know what happens when we don't put much into the romance department.

What if your spouse suddenly got tired of you?  What if they stopped trusting in you?  Only wanted you to be around a small-allotted amount of time or were too busy for you.  What if they only wanted you when they needed something?

What if they no longer sought you out for love, physical attention and companionship? What if they decided they knew all there was to learn about you?  And they never asked you what your interests and wants were?  They just took you for granted? 

Now think…  If you say God is your God and you are to love your God but you take Him for granted, is He really a God you love? 

How can anyone be encouraged, captured and caught up in the God of Hope if we don’t spend time with Him?

I know God/ Jesus knows when we take him for granted because he says, 
 

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen from your first love. Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.  If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the church.”  Revelation 2:5

Then sometimes we haven't done anything to be distant from God.  We just feel like he is distant from us.  Life seems to be taking it's toll.  We seem to be in the crowded train station of life pushing our way through the crowd that is going the opposite direction but we can't seem to see God so we panic or become uneasy.   That is when we just need to sit down and be quiet.  We need to ask God show to us a refresher of who we really are to Him?  Show me Lord what you really think of me? Remind me.  
   
God tells us to love Him and that is good.   And... I find He isn't hesitant when we just need to hear He loves us and is with us.
 

Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38

"I command you- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

"So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God then a whole flock of sparrows." Matthew 10:31

When we allow the mess of life to clutter the foundation on which we are to stand, how will we really see the clear foundation of our hope in Jesus Christ?  How will that affect our mindset and actions?

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,” Hebrews 6:19

Illustrations of Hope
Hope in God is like people caught up in the goodness of Christmas season.  There is a wonder and joy in the air as many good things fill the days between now and December 25th.  Good things such as goodwill and charity towards others that have less, the smells of the seasonal goodies being cooked and shared, the sparkling Christmas lights, the music that fills the air, the family/ friend gatherings, the exchange of gifts (that probably originated in Jewish celebrations where people exchanged gifts to remember what God had done), the Christmas parades, concerts, shows, candle light services, - the wonder and joy of the Savior’s birth seems to sprinkle and season the days leading to the Savior’s birth.  People are caught up in the Christmas season.   In God we are caught up in hope, which brings out goodness in our lives.

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

Hope is like a rope tow on a snow slope. You grab on to it and it pulls you up the slippery snowy slope of life.  Hope is like a ski lift where you “position” yourself in front of the chair and it comes- you sit and it carries you up the mountain. Hope is like a kite with its arms spread out wide in surrender, catching the wind that takes it higher and higher.
 

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 

 

Hope is to live by.

"... he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope." 1 Corinthians 9:10 NKJV

Hope is not far from us.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  For in him we live and move and have our being.’[ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”  Acts 17:24-28

We are His offspring of hope.

The God of Hope Leaves His mark.
I find God is not even far from those dictated by human understanding, for when one cries out in situations they consider direr, Hope Himself answers…. but because they are dictated by human understanding Hope is often lost on them.  I have found however something…. every time our God of hope answers in both Christians and Non-Christians, God leaves or deposits a marker, a stepping stone, a monument in the human soul to refer back to.  God leaves them in the deserts of peoples lives to the mountains tops of people’s lives.  Why does God, do this?

So man has no excuse that they didn’t have a choice to know Him.  So man has no excuse and says God never extended His hand.   God is not responsible if a person continues to dig a hole.  It’s a person’s choice not to surrender his/her shovel and not to ask for help out of that hole. Some go right back into that hole like water finding the lowest spot.  They have a choice to embrace the God who reveals the life saving and changing hope through Jesus Christ or not.

Hope and Heaven and Hell
This thrusts us into a deeper topic of heaven and hell based on our acceptance or not acceptance of Jesus as Savior of our life.  This statement may not be politically or religiously correct but it wasn’t God who came up with political or religious correctness.  God is not politically or religiously correct He’s just CORRECT.

Hell is the exact opposite of hope. Think about it…. What is birthed, nurtured, and matured in hope? If you don’t know- they are things such as joy, peace, love, goodness, faithfulness, and a sound mind?

Hope is reachable now but these good and wonderful and amazing things will be ripped and stripped away in hell.  These good things will be absent in hell because hell is absent of God who is hope.
 

For the Battle is Not Yours, But God's Pt. 9

 THE LOVE that SETS US FREE                  

 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Let all of Israel repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”

Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.” Let all who fear the Lord repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”

In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. Psalm 118:1-5 (NIV)

We often hear and see stories about freedom.   We are inspired by such stories are we not?  But freedom is more then being physically free; freedom is about being spiritually free.   If we are not spiritually free then physical freedom is of little comfort.  God is all about setting us spiritually free in the understanding of his love and wisdom of his love.

“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his son and forgave our sins.   He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” Ephesians 1:7-8

God showered his kindness on us.  That means God’s kindness is passionate.  It is pure.  It is full of Him; it is not half-heartedly given but given in the fullness of HIS LOVE.
 
Through humble submission and trust in God’s love we gain a greater strengthening understanding and wisdom that expels the things that aims to tear down and undermine the love of God in our lives.  The love we desperately need at all times in our lives.   The love we especially need in those times -where the situations of life seem to be waging war against our soul.

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.  So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.  Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear.   If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us.” 1 John 4:16-18

Think about what happens inside of us when we put an emphasis on the world, circumstances, others, and ourselves…  don’t we all succumb to the pressures of life?

I have never found putting emphasis and favor in the world, circumstances, others or myself a good thing.  These things can all change at a moments notice.  They are insecure and unstable but I find when our attention, focus and trust is on God and HIS love - worries and anxieties, comparisons, trying and difficult circumstances, what if’s, worldly enticements and persuasions, debilitating thoughts, are subdued and put to rest.

FAITH in God has a peculiar influence on our life, as we trust Him.  What normally would cause us unrest and anxiety- feelings of insecurity and alarm are reduced dramatically.   What would be considered as a daunting task before would be deprived of it definition of “daunting” by the reality of God’s love for us.

God wants to be our source of strength and spiritual supply.  God is our Heavenly Father but as our Heavenly Father he is also our Comforter, Encourager, and Advocate as well.

Ever think about why we suffer so badly internally at times?

I know when I have thrown a pity party for myself and am down right miserable, it has taken me sometime to get my focus where it is suppose, where my true source of joy, peace, hope, and happiness is meant to be kept in.  I know it’s only by Holy Spirit that I recognize where I have gone wrong in my thinking and by God’s grace he continues to perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish me in his awesome love.

God wants us to know the stronghold we have in Him.  Through faith, the Lord becomes the stronghold of our life.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

 THE PEELING of LAYERS
I have found that in the midst of battles combined with faith in God, battles do a lot for us to strengthen our faith in God’s love then if we had no battles at all.

Battles peel away the worthless layers of ourselves, the layers that get in-between God and us.  And as these layers are peeled away, they reveal another deeper aspect, confidence and assurance in our Heavenly Father.  And in this grace filled realization of our Heavenly Father’s faithfulness and love for us, a deeper faith is tunneled, channeled and solidified within us.   It is a faith, one cannot find if they don’t see a need for God’s freeing love.

Not to sound hokey but the deeper the need of God’s marvelous love, the greater assurance and confidence we have and the warm glow of God’s love lives in us.

Jesus said, “God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.” Matthew 5:3

Do you see your need?  Do you see a need for God’s spiritual blessings and love in your life?

I think how amazing this growing realization is -considering this would not be possible and known to us without Jesus Christ.

Think about it: Through Jesus we could call out to God to be saved.  Through faith in Jesus Christ, God has given us the Holy Spirit.  And He, the Holy Spirit, will not only raise our lives to eternal life in heaven but is now at work within us, raising us from our own understandings to building and maturing us in the “deep knowing” of God’s glowing and marvelous love.
 
God is working from what we were and understood to the core, which is HIM.  Where the soul was created and where it will end up.

“In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word [Jesus] was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
 
I would venture a guess -none of us really have it together in ourselves but when we trust in God - we are put together.  Our soul is built up, protected, put on the unshakable foundation of ROCK. We are armored up in God’s love.

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NASB)

BEYOND OUR MEANS
Ever felt, “THIS IS BEYOND MY MEANS”?   When we face something that is beyond our means we should expect in faith God will intervene in that situation.  We should remind ourselves and ask God to remind us of ALL He is. We should refresh our mind in all the things he has done.   We should humbly relinquish our burdens and concerns to Him admitting our weakness for such a task.  Then we should see how he abundantly answers.

David wrote “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” Psalm 5:3

In 2 Chronicles 20 King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah and Jerusalem found themselves in precisely in that type of situation - a situation beyond their means.

The king prayed along with all the people and this is how the LORD answered.

 “As the men of Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, wives and children, the Spirit of the LORD came upon one of the men standing there.  His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.  He said, ‘Listen, King Jehoshaphat! Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem!  This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  Tomorrow, march out against them.  You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel.  But you will not even need to fight.  Take your positions, then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory.  He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem.  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  Go out there tomorrow, for the LORD is with you! Then King Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground.  And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD.  Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shot.”

Wow! He tells them don’t be afraid or discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not theirs but His.   Then knowing precisely what is happening and going to happen he tells them to march out against them but they won’t even need to fight them.  He says pretty much, “Watch what I will do for you!”  Then he again tells them to not be afraid or discouraged for He is with them.

I think, “That is great!" and then God tells me, “Isn’t that what I do for you as well, not just in situations that are beyond your control but in every aspect of your life?”

We all have “mighty armies” in which we face in our lives but God says go march out in faith and see what I will do for you.  See that battles are already won.   See that I am with you.  See there is no reason to be afraid or discouraged.  God loves and takes care of us more then we could possibly know!

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope for?  Ephesians 3:18-20

For the Battle is Not Yours, But God's Pt. 5

FOCUS, TRUST & STAND

^“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” Ephesians 6:13

In my Christian faith I have found that 99 percent of the battle is keeping our focus and trust in God, the other 1 percent is standing.

ARMoR of GOD

Before we tune out, thinking we have heard about the Armor of God all before, let’s take a fresh look at these scriptures.  Their purposes are to edify and encourage our focus so we don’t lose heart, become weary, anxious.   They are written for us so we don’t become overcome by what we see, experience, or get entrapped in a destructive or paralyzing thought.  And they are recorded to remind us how important it is to have a relationship with God  

We know the armor of God is NOT worn in pride and arrogance but grace and humility and all godly conviction and sincerity.   

 For the word of God says:

  “Pride goes before destruction,
    and haughtiness before a fall.”  Proverbs 16:18 (NLT)

It also says:

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Romans 13:14 NKJV

No provision for doubt, fear, dread and no provision for pride and self-conceit.  Two very different faces but just as caustic.  Sometimes one even comes right after the other.   

The armor of God scriptures, as all scriptures in the bible, are to enable us to STAND in battle. 

The Armor of God is all about GOD the man/woman believes in.  IT is NOT about a level of trust one has in his or herself. 

We read: Jesus: “On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. ‘But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s law.’” Matthew 7:22

We read about the seven sons of Sceva trying to cast out a demon from a man and the evil spirit residing in the man says to them, “I know Jesus and I know Paul but who are you?”  Then they are overpowered and brutally attacked by the man with the evil spirit and flee the house naked.  (Note Acts 19:13-16)

What was the state of their mind and heart?  Was it in themselves or God?

^“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”  Zechariah 4:6

The Armor of God is the Holy Spirit in control not us.  It is God in control.

“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Here there is no conflict with the law.” Galatians 5:22-23

What causes a person who is persecuted, disowned, beaten, raped, tortured, and facing death to continue in the faith of Jesus Christ?  It is certainly not the will of the flesh but the Armor of God protecting the soul.

 

In the movie called “For Greater Glory” which depicts the Cristero War in Mexico in the 1920’s, were thousands were brutally killed for their faith - causing many to take up arms against their own government, a boy named Jose Sanchez Del Rio is captured, tortured and killed for his faith in Jesus Christ.  Jose could had saved his life several times by just renouncing his faith in Jesus Christ but he did not instead he is quoted as saying, “I will never give in.  Viva Cristo Rey!”  Which means “Long live Christ the King!”  To this day, in Mexico, Jose Sanchez Del Rio is known as one of the martyred in Christ.

 

Even when severely beaten and forced to walk on bleeding tortured cut open feet through the streets to his own grave, Jose did not renounce Christ but found strength in Christ instead.

 

 Strength comes when we realize we are not our own.  We are not keepers of our life.  The body is temporary the soul is forever.  God’s armor protects the soul while as it abides here on earth.  These pieces of armor that cloth the Christian soul; speak not of us, but of our God. (We are not our own.)

“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.”  Ephesians 6:14

God wants us to remember the certainty of Himself.  What are MY ATTRIBUTES God asks? God is our Father, He is our Savior, and He is our Comforter and Counselor.  He is our friend.  He is abounding in faithfulness and love for us.  He is merciful and gracious.  He is goodness without measure.  He is life, truth, and righteousness.   He saves those who cry out to Him.  He carries out justice to those who trust in him.  He is trustworthy.   He is unchanging.   He cannot lie.  These truths allow us to grow and flourish in our God.

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. Ephesians 6:15

God wants to remind us that he has given us his peace.  Jesus said he gives us his peace so our heart will not be troubled nor will it be afraid. (John 14:27)  Jesus’ peace is a lasting peace because we know to whom we belong and where our citizenship resides.   When people ask where do we get such peace we can tell them it through God and our LORD Jesus Christ.

In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Ephesians 6:16

Faith is the confidence we have in God even when we cannot see what is going to happen.  Satan and his army shoot their fiery arrows of lies and deceit hoping to burn and destroy our confidence we have in God.   A shield that stops such arrows of lies and deceit is the knowing God has made provision.  He is with us.  He already knows our needs and what is going to happen.  He is all-powerful; nothing stops the will of God and his promises in our life.

Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17

God always want us to be mindful of our salvation.  He is the one who saved us and continues to save us.  He is with us continually.  He does not retreat nor does he leave anyone in the battlefields of life behind.  (2 Corinthians 4:9) He does not forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:8).  As we turn to God, He gives us and reminds us of his words to counter the enemy’s strikes and discern truth from fiction.  None of this armor will work for us unless we have a relationship and trust in God.

Remember the Armor of God is not about us but all about HIM.  Knowing this we are able to focus, trust and stand.