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Is God’s Heart or Your Hateful Heart Controlling Your Destiny?
Have you ever discovered, inside yourself, a prejudice you were unaware? As women, we see them all the time and most of us swear we would never have one BUT we do. They are a product of our surroundings and never see the light of day until we are questioned about it. A situation will arise to bring it into the light and it doesn’t like the light. It would prefer to remain in the dark where no one sees it (presumably) and we continue to deny its existence. We enjoy being fooled by our outgoing, warm and unbiased attitude. We know better as humans this should not be so and we hate that we hate and we want to put an end to it if we love Jesus. There are only two solutions to overcome a prejudice putting an end to it, admit the prejudice and turn from it.
Ignorance is not Bliss in the Eyes of the Lord!
Remaining ignorant about our feelings toward certain people is not what God wants from us. How will we be able to serve anyone from behind this veil. Admitting a prejudice is very difficult especially if we see ourselves justified in our hatred. The wall we built last week is not to keep our prejudices in but to keep trouble out. If I am to do what God has called me to do, all of my prejudices must be brought into the light so His heart can shine on others. If I do not admit them, the women I am serving will become prejudiced like me. I remember when God first called me out on my prejudice against abusive men. He brought it into the light and I was not happy to turn from it. It gave me comfort to see an abuser punished but ignorance is not Bliss in the Eyes of the Lord because we know as Christian,s we have all fallen short! As much as I believed women were more deserving of Elohim’s heart, men also need to see His heart to turn from their sin. Worse than dealing with my hatred, for me, was knowing I would be responsible for teaching women to hate men. Elohim continually makes me deal with my prejudices so I will have a pure heart when He sends me to serve a woman. Women need to see the pure love I have for them, along with every other person, so when they come out the other side of their affliction their prejudices are not in control of their destiny. Elohim shines a light on our prejudices so we will turn from them.
Allow Love to Control our Destiny!
Jesus gave us one commandment to follow in the Scriptures “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 If we look at the love Jesus showed, even during the times when His friends did not understand Him, we will fully understand what He has said in this verse. We know each disciple admitted in the end, they were prejudice against others because of their laws (not God’s but man’s added laws), they turned from it and preached the gospel to all mankind including those whom were forbidden by the law such as women and children, undesirables and the disabled. Yes, they failed in human relations and had to be corrected. Yes, they failed in loving everyone and had to be corrected but this shouldn’t discourage me or you it should encourage us to do the same. Turning from my hatred of anyone for one reason or another is what Jesus was talking about when He said to love one another. He was talking to His disciples about the love they have for each other, for others to see and desire. He was the most forward thinking person of His day because He consistently gave examples of loving those we are prejudiced against by saying turn the other cheek or walk the extra mile. In other words He was saying “turn from it!” We need to turn from our prejudices because that hatred will eat us alive one day. When we turn from hatred we allow love to control our destiny! That is God’s heart for us!
Let God’s Heart not our Hateful Heart Control our Destiny!
Admitting a prejudice is extremely hard because most times it is ingrained in us from even an early age. We use prejudices, as if they are truths, to deny people the mercy they need. Elohim said He desires mercy, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 Prejudices take many forms such as pet peeves, partiality, preconceived notions, cultural and hierarchy biases. Each one of us has experienced these, and unfortunately, been guilty of these. None of that concerns us more than doing what God has instructed us to do. If we are to improve our life skills we must understand God’s heart toward people and what He deems important with regards to our destiny. The salvation of man is more important than any agenda, any hatred or any sacrifice. We cannot serve the whole person if we teach them to be biased as we are biased. Our Lord wants us to rid ourselves of each and every prejudice and take on His heart for the salvation of His Children. Ask Him today to reveal each bias you have, so when you present yourself for service, you are only revealing God’s Heart for His Children.
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Write, A Person who has Self-control will Fortify his City Walls
I live in a city called Derbyshire. Its walls are fortified now but once upon a time they were not. They were broken through, then partially built again with children’s building blocks allowing them to be broken through again. Eventually there was not one stone on top of the other holding the walls in place. Everyone gained access! There were people coming in to plunder my possessions and raid my safe house. I even went out and gave away my possessions along with the contents of my safe house. Since I also wasn’t living up to my God given potential I was giving myself away. My walls were gone leaving my kingdom vulnerable. This was the beginning of my quest to improve my life skills to rebuild my walls.
I am not alone. I heard tell stories about bankruptcy and repossessions, credit card debt and homelessness. There are plenty of walls broken through today! It is the intent of this world to break through walls plundering your provision to build their walls. There are folks who want what you have and some will not be satisfied until they also have you. It does not have to be this way for anyone! Just as I told you, my walls are fortified now. I had to learn the hard way I cannot be all to everyone nor can I give everything away and build a fortified city for Elohim.
How is a wall built and fortified? It is done with self-control. Every stone laid is a stone laid with each temptation denied, each urge repressed, each commandment obeyed and each sin repented. I take seriously every verse in the Scriptures advising me to get control especially Proverbs 25:28. Self-control is listed last in the fruits of the Spirit because it takes every single previous fruit before it to gain control and fortify our walls. I have created an acrostic using WALLS to help us build our walls and over time fortify them with our unwavering control. Whenever you are asked to be invaded put up your WALLS to protect yourself.
Wait before you Part ways with your Current Stone!
Our stone could be anything from our money to our time. We already have this stone in our possession so let us appreciate its current value. It is ours to give or to keep. If we learn how to say ‘wait’ it will not kill us or anyone else to actually wait. People don’t like to wait so they will want us to hurry but we are going to wait. Rash decisions break down stones more than it builds them. The wisdom gained while waiting will bring us closer to God and a fortified city. Waiting allows us the time to analyze the stone.
Analyze the Purchase of this Stone!
The reason for waiting is to analyze your stone options. This step should never be foregone or our walls will never become fortified. Asking questions of our decision gets us closer to wisdom about decision-making. Why do I want this stone? Will this stone build my wall or tear it down? Will the wall remain fortified with this stone in place or will an undesirable person be given access? If we do not know the answers to these questions we are best to pass on this stone until we are wiser. Analysis needs answers to make a decision either to love it or leave it.
Love the Stone or Leave the Stone!
Waiting to do an Analysis results in a decision based on credible information. We have asked the hard questions and can come to a wise decision. We are either going to love the stone and purchase it or we are going to lose the stone and move on. Crucial to this decision is knowing this verse Matthew 5:37 because anything other than yes or no is from the evil one and will send us right back to where we started with all the same heartache and then some. Us women come by this hard but we still need to stand by this. The consequence of wavering on our decisions is what tore down our walls in the first place. Do not let this happen again! Analyze correctly then decide erecting a wall around that decision. Wait while analyzing for a wise decision will help us learn from our previous mistakes.
Learn the Lesson for Future Stones!
We are not perfect and will make bad decisions even after we analyze it and find it to be sound. The one important lesson we will learn is reasoning skills. Elohim tells us to come and reason with Him so we will begin to see His ways are the best ways. The lesson we learn is the Spirit will guide us into all righteousness. He is guiding us to make right decisions based on the future and today. Each of our decisions will either tear down the stones or build up the stones. Our walls depend on us learning the lessons built into our mistakes and our successes. Learning lessons from these will bring us into a state of control.
Self-Control Constructs our Stones into a Fortified Wall!
Building a fortified wall takes self-control and the result can only come from walking in the Spirit. Prior to the Fruits of the Spirit Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Self-control is the very essence of walking in the Spirit because it is the opposite of fulfilling the flesh. Our walls are built by the knowledge of our exact person in Christ and what He wants us to do to fulfill our predestined life for Him. Self-control in our daily living fortifies us.
The Derbyshire fortified wall has taken me many years to construct and I am fully aware it will take no time at all to tear it all down unless I protect it. I do not want you to be ignorant about the work it takes to build your own wall and the diligence it takes to protect it. There will be many years, many failures to overcome, many decision that seemingly break your heart, many kicks at the wall and many stones tumbling down but it can be done. You can write on your wall, a person who has self-control will fortify his city walls, rather than, Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.
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Consider the work of God; For who can…
I have just returned from Israel considering the work of God. I went there to consider the work God has ordained for me and now I am home considering the work God has for me as a woman of God! Jesus did not walk on the stones here but His followers do. Jesus did not leave His touch DNA here but his followers do. What I came home with is another teaching to be who Elohim has ordained me to be for His sake and for yours!
I am reading in the book of Ecclesiastes written by a man who considered the work of God and then some but 7:29 tells us exactly what he found. Solomon teaches me, like no time before, I am a follower of Jesus Christ and it is only my DNA I leave behind. He has ordained me to be me and no one else! How often do I need to be taught this – as often as it takes for me to overcome my insecurities about who I am. Truth be told I am an insecure person who is constantly questioning God and His provision. I can see why the Israelites questioned God constantly too. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes it is useless to know everything and be everything because it all comes to vanity if you do not fear God. I cannot be you and you cannot be me. Our schemes pull us away from God ultimately not being who He ordained us to be. The result of us not being who He ordained us to be is two fold: we cover ground not intended for us to cover and we don’t cover ground intended for us to cover.
The Unintended Ground
My Jesus is quick to knock me off my man made pedestal for which I am eternally grateful. I tread on ground not meant for me all the time with my feet and my soul. God does not ordain us to walk where others are intended to walk. Consider the work of God; for who can be successful at work not meant for others. We might think we are successful at accomplishing what we are not ordained for but we are not! Consider this: When we walk down a path meant for someone else we cause great amounts of heartache to those we are trying to serve but the greatest heartache will be ours when we discover what we have done. We have taken the place of someone who has been ordained to do those works for God who will have a greater impact on those being served. You may have helped thousands but they are ordained to help millions. The 990,000 people who were never reached are on your hands. I cannot tell you enough times how important it is to stay out of God’s way and let Him put you in place with your ten rather than someone else’s thousands. This is something we all need to learn over and over again because we are keeping Jesus from those who need Him most. I walked where Jesus walked but that was unintended ground for me to perform my works. Those works were intended for Him alone so they could have the most impact on the plans the Father has for all of us. Stay off of the ground unintended for you so you can cover ground intended specifically for you! The impact you will have can be had by no one else but you!
The Intended Ground
As I walked where Jesus walked (except on the Sea of Galilee for surely I would have sunk like a millstone for lack of faith) I was struck by how each one of His intended steps effected Israel and the world. When Jesus knocks me off my pedestal He is effectively knocking me onto His so I will have an impact on those I am ordained to affect. Consider the work of God; for who can be successful at doing the works meant for them. We will be successful doing the works God has ordained for us even though we do not see it right away. Consider this: When we walk down a path created for us we cause great amounts of joy for those we serve and for ourselves. What ever we do will lead them to Jesus which is the plan of the Father. The world was created for Jesus and all of it’s splendor is also for Him. Walking down the path He has created for us we walk right into His arms and those whom we serve will walk right into His arms as well. We have lead them into His arms and they will in turn lead others into His arms and the 990,000 missed souls will find their place in His arms. Our reward will be the knowledge those have found their place and all the ones we have personally lead into His arms are in place too. Can you now see how important it is to get out of God’s way and let Him place you where you will have the greatest impact for your success is already His success. The impact you will have can be had by no one else but you!
He Allows us to Walk Where He Walks
He continues to remind us of our ordination until we are single minded about it! I don’t know why God allows some to walk someone else’s walk while others He straightens out right away but I do know this – no matter where we walk He has already been there and done that! He knows how our walk will impact others! The ground we walk on is His ground. His plan for this world is already done we are walking toward fulfillment of THE plan which we already know from the Book of Revelation. None of His Words come back to Him empty so walking in His plan is not for Him it is for us. What we need to consider is how much of the works of God we want to be involved in. We can be involved in all of His plans for us or we can be involved in some of them or none of them. The choice is ours. Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked? (Ecclesiastes 7:13) Become who He has ordained you to be so you stay off ground intended for someone else and you get onto ground intended for you for His sake and the sake of the souls you will impact! Consider the work of Elohim; for who can be YOU better than YOU?
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Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles!
I love the book of Proverbs because it is so clear sometimes it takes my breath away yet so vague it makes my brain numb! I read Proverbs 21:23 and was struck by the double meaning in this verse. I hit myself on the forehead in awe of how God teaches me about my errors. Let me tell you my story.
The Unguarded Story
I host a women’s retreat bi-monthly, I bought them some yummy chocolates knowing I have been watching my girlish figure and so has my mom, who was on her way to visit! We have had food issues for as long as I can remember! I put those yummy chocolates out at the retreat then when I got home, because my mood was such that I was weak, I put them out again. After teaching all day I was exhausted and vulnerable. Previously on my way home I had a chat with myself regarding my tongue so I would not say something in my weakness to offend BUT I should also have had a chat with myself about my mouth too. I guarded my tongue but not my mouth! Not only did I fail to protect myself but I also failed to protect my mother by putting her into the same temptation! Oh, how I long to get the drive to my house back to speak to myself again for my soul now has trouble! When my soul has trouble I have only two choices, I can harden my heart to the trouble or I can relieve it by righting the situation!
Hardened heart cold soul!
Hardening our heart means we are turning off our feeling of love for others and turning in to self! Maintaining our pure feelings for others is not easy and the Words of God never say it is! There are lists of what the result of a hard heart looks like in man. These scenarios happen from time to time in the Scriptures. When I harden my heart I don’t care about putting people into temptation nor do I care whether people have hope. My feelings are more important than you therefore your feelings don’t matter! This is not a permanent choice I will make as a follower of Jesus! I may make it initially because I am human filled with sin but the skills I have learned from Elohim will not allow me to put my own selfish soul in front of my mothers or anyone else’s. If we profess to love Jesus this is the only stance we should take therefore the only thing left to do is right the situation!
Guarding my mouth and tongue!
I didn’t guard my mouth so well but I will make amends with my tongue because my soul has trouble! I know my soul has trouble because the Spirit is pinching it. If your soul never has trouble than I can say with all honesty Satan controls your soul but if it even has the slightest trouble the Spirit is taking control. When the Spirit has control He leads us with a soft heart for people and ourselves. He not only helps us to see what we have done but He provides us with a way out! The way out includes the vision for a future hope of this not happening again affectively avoiding future soul troubles. These plans are called ‘setting up boundaries.’ This is a life skill many fail to establish and if they do they fail to protect them! The Spirit pinches us about the offence then He draws our attention to a verse we have read before then with our remembrance of said verse we become aware of the gravity of our offence. Our soul becomes so troubled we begin to cry out for relief. This is when we know for certain we have chosen them over us!
A Permanent Guard!
It makes complete sense we should get to this place if we are a child of Elohim but our goal should be to never get to this place again by setting up a boundary/rule about this situation or others. Perfecting the life skill of setting boundaries will serve you well in the future. Adhering to boundaries takes practice and determination but the clear speaking of it is the very first step. If we look at my situation clearly we can determine I was vulnerable from a whole day of teaching plus the days before from prep work! My mind was exhausted, but not dead, therefore I was able to make positive decisions such as talking to myself about my tongue but my mouth was left unguarded therefore I made a bad decision in regard to what was going into it. I still snapped at my husband but I was quick to apologize never to do it again on that night because I had talked to myself. I had the wherewithal to guard the output but not the input.
A way out and a way never!
I have the way out of this situation (make it right) but I must come up with way for it never to happen again (put a guard up for my mouth). I will not fool myself into thinking I can cure this particular soul trouble over night, as I told you food has been a problem for my mom and I for as long as I can remember. Reality has to remain a factor in setting boundaries and maintaining them effectively. Since, I am effected by this exhaustion for days before and the night of, I must hold to a mouth and tongue boundary for several days before as well as on the very day. I bought the said junk food the day before the retreat without the prior plan to buy it, my first mistake. It was a quick decision based on a lack of a plan for this mindset, no plan was my second mistake. To overcome the soul trouble resulting from brain exhaustion I will set a food boundary during this time – the buying of it and the eating of it! I will set this boundary while I am free from exhaustion and thinking clearly about what I should eat and what I should buy. Since my next retreat isn’t for two months I will have plenty of time to practice this boundary before the actual time arrives.
You know your weakness…
Since boundaries are about the yes’s and the no’s we have to discover our weaknesses and also discover what will work for us to overcome it. It takes practice to know what will work but you too can plan in advance what you will say or do during a weak moment. You alone (and the Spirit) know when it will occur and what it will take to overcome the event that will cause soul trouble. This is the very thing Jesus is talking about when He says, “To him who overcomes!” He knows we need reward but He also knows when the stakes are high we will come through. It is not about the deed it is about taking the way out and planning a way to stay out. To do this we must know who we are and what our weakness are and plan to tap into our strengths as our way out. This is something we are fully capable of doing when we use what God gives us plus making the choice to be an overcomer in the Kingdom of God!
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Perform My Good Word Toward You!
Recently Elohim has blessed me with reading two very different but similar areas of the Bible one right after the other. Take a few minutes and read Psalm 73 then Jeremiah 29:4-23.
Reprimanded by God
My Christian life thus far has not been filled with blessing as most people describe blessings. I have been stripped of every ounce of financial security, every reliance to my profession, every reliance to people, a church body to hang with, and most of my friends. I was in Babylon (a place of punishment and growth). I felt as if I was being punished for becoming righteous while others were prospering in their wickedness. Elohim kept reminding me it is not about them, it is about me! Just as Asaph is reminded in the Sanctuary of God, I am reminded in my deep place with Elohim, all men are reprimanded by God (Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19) but some do not listen and harden their hearts to His Words. We are all to heed the call to be holy just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) individually and corporately. We become holy by allowing Elohim to reprimand us into holiness.
The Sin in and of the Body of Christ
In both Psalm and Jeremiah we will read of the progression of sin in Israel until Elohim removed the right for His people to live in the Holy Land. These are God’s chosen people who were becoming wicked rather than holy but, not only were they becoming wicked, they were condoning it too! I have to say, I did not go through all of these “70 years” of trial to condone wickedness from someone who professes to be Christian. Asaph learned the wicked would get there payment individually and Jeremiah learned corporately the wicked would be punished as well. There is sin in the Body of Christ that will be dealt with individually and there is corporate sin to be dealt with as well and God will do both but we a not to condone it from anyone in the Body of Christ.
Wickedness doesn’t just wake up one day and engulf the Body of Christ. It is brought in by an apostate or an imposter. They are allowed within the Body because the leaders/followers are afraid to stand strong for the Body of Christ. Our righteous anger doesn’t exist. We do not hate what God hates. The world has creeped into our holiness and we have redefined holy. We say it is acceptance rather than salvation. We say it is love rather than discipline. We have defined it as tolerance not hope. We have restated God’s good Words toward us and they sound nothing like the Words in the Scriptures because they are empty. They do nothing for the human race except condone sin. We know sin leads to death (James 1:15) but that seems fine to us rather than doling out correction causing them to go to God for guidance.
His Good Words will not Come Back Empty
Today, due to Elohim’s guidance, I am on the turn from the discipline of God because I have endured and overcome the trials set before me to make me holy. Romans 8:28 is a reminder for us of God’s Words working out for the good to THOSE WHO LOVE GOD AND ARE THE CALLED! Proverbs 16:4 tells us Elohim has made everything for Himself and He also makes those who are wicked, yes, He even makes the wicked for doom! Everything we see happening today is predestined to happen. Every person on this earth at this moment is predestined to be here, whether holy or wicked. The sins of the person and the sins of the corporate will get worse and it is up to us individually and corporately to make sure we learn the skills from Elohim to overcome during this time. His Words are what helps us overcome. His Words are what gives us the skills to endure and overcome and plan for the future. His good Words will never come back empty!
Know What His Good Word Is!
These skills for overcoming are all about knowing what Elohim’s good Words are unfortunately the world has redefined good but as Christians we need to know God has defined good as being and doing righteous. His good Words are His righteous Words. His righteous Words sometimes hurt our soul but they are meant to bring our soul in line with His Spirit. His good Word is like a sword to the wicked but His good Word is as a warm cozy blanket to the righteous. His good Word leads us to Salvation. His good Words teach us to love! His good Words give us hope for eternity. His Words are not empty. They are not subject to mood, time, situation or people. They are what they are and they are not changing just because we do not understand them. What God has said will happen WILL happen. He will perform His Word toward you! Are you listening?
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Diligence is a Man’s Possession
Do you work hard for everything? Nothing comes to me easily as I am sure the same is for most women. I have worked hard and long for the possessions I have. Nothing has been handed to me on a silver platter. I was not born to a rich family nor did I marry into one. Today, some folks may think they are entitled to riches and deserving of poverty because of who they are or where they live. Neither one of them are important because each one of them can change at the drop of a hat. The only possession we should treasure is diligence but some of us tend to use it only when we feel like it as if it is a book to be pulled off the shelf.
Whoever thinks life is easy is a lazy man!
If diligence is a book we leave on the shelf collecting dust we have deliberately given someone else a part of our life. Think of it this way. Knowledge and understanding are not things we can rely on other people for. We must learn for ourselves and get understanding on our own to improve our own life skills. Each act or discipline we learn contributes to knowledge and understanding therefore the less we do the less we know. Proverbs 12:27a says the lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting. This Scripture refers to more than just hunting meat. Elohim is saying the lazy man is the one who does just what is expected of him and even less. Those of us who think life is hard and complicated and convoluted are the ones who work hard to overcome each and every obstacle but those who think life is easy are the ones who start a job and never finish it because it got too hard. It is easy to hunt and walk away from the kill while others pick up the kill, haul it to the butcher then go pick up the prepared packages and cook it for you. A lazy man makes life easy for himself at the expense of his life skills but a diligent man takes possession of his diligence to gain knowledge and understanding.
Take Possession of Diligence
What causes us to be lazy? Think hard because it could be many things, or a combination: pride, jealousy, co-dependence, fear or habit. The list is endless for reasons and boundless in excuses. When we take possession of our diligence we are agreeing to work for what we want and improve our life. Proverbs 12:27b tells us diligence is a man PRECIOUS POSSESSION! Acting with all diligence does not always mean instant success each time but it does supply instant knowledge. Diligence doesn’t always continue in the direction started since correction IS heeded. Diligence sometimes resigns due to an understanding gained. Diligence may never results in physical possessions but always results in knowledge, understanding and wisdom that will ultimately result in knowing what we possess does not possess us. Diligence does not protect us from life it simply protects us from losing everything!
To Diligence Everything is Untouchable
When we take possession of diligence we see physical possessions as something corruptible. It’s the skills we’ve learned that are incorruptible therefore they become everything to us. We use those life skills to gain more life skills. When we get lazy and stop learning we forgo the skills to care for ourselves therefore we cannot take care of our loved ones. When calamity happens we blame others and never take responsibility for the calamity or even our own laziness. It is the fool who says, “I am lazy!” but never changes it. The only control we have in life is the ability to let our family know we care about them by using all diligence to meet the needs they have whether it is money, food, or love and encouragement.
Pay the Price for Diligence
Nothing in life comes without a cost; either we pay cold hard cash for it or calories. When we are diligent to make our family matter we do what is right for them to keep them safe from harm. The price for diligence is our own wants. The price for diligence is our won bad habits and the price for diligence is our own lame excuses for our lack of success in caring for our loved ones. When we pay the price there will always be a reward. The price is doing what Scripture so thoroughly teaches us to do. There is no other Book that can completely teach us how to live. As we get into the will of God we improve our skills to diligently overcome the issues of life. Each time we overcome a reward is credited to us toward life on the New Earth (Revelation 1, 2, 3). Heaven is not our permanent home, the new earth is (Revelation 21 & 22). Acting with all diligence teaches us to overcome knowing we will have rewards given to us when Jesus comes.
The proof of this is just a few verses away. Proverbs 13:4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. Take possession of diligence on earth to gain your rewards for eternity!
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Stand in the Spirit by His Women!
Has the Spirit ever impressed something on you so much you cannot but do it! What about if it is information that is needed to drive you forward in your mission? What if it is something big? What if it makes your heart explode for people? I tell you I cannot but warn woman about what the Spirit is telling me. The Scripture we will discuss together is about perilous times. It is about the state of all mankind but what is important is what is going to happen to women during this perilous time. Let’s read together 2 Timothy 3.
A Warning of Perilous Times for Women
I cannot warn you enough about these perilous times. They are happening now. From verse 1-9 we are told of the kind of people who will fill the churches. Paul lists all the characteristics of mankind in this perilous time and we read it thinking surely these people are heathens, the people who do not know God. Then we read verse 5 and are stunned to find out these people profess to be Christians. They have a form of Godliness but deny it’s power – these heathens are Christians! Are you warned yet? That’s not all! These heathen Christians (HC) are creeping into our homes and leading silly or gullible women away captive. I hate to say this but I am seeing this today! Women are being held captive by HC’s all the time. One of the main characteristics of these silly women is that they learn and learn and learn but can never come to the truth. Why? They are laden down with sin and led away by various lusts. I am sick to death to know the women I know and the ones I don’t know yet will be led away by these HC’s. How do I know this? I’m already seeing it! There is good news though – their folly will be manifested to all unfortunately it will be too late for some because they will have already been deceived and hurt beyond measure. Now that you know this information, I implore you to take steps to make sure none of this happens to our women. Paul (as does God) gives us a way out, an escape, if you are already caught, or a preventative measure so as to never get caught.
Heathen Christians Persecute Christians
Paul uses himself as an example of being delivered by the Lord from persecution (10-13). He tells us we will suffer persecution from our fellow HC’s. These evil men and imposters will get worse and continue deceiving and being deceived. As a result the persecution will get worse for those who love God and want to mature in the things of God. The escape begins in verse 14. Continue learning and be assured of the things you have already learned (and believed) because you have learned them from a reliable source, if indeed you have learned from the Scriptures and Godly teachers. From your immature Christianity until now you have been learning the Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for Salvation through your faith in Jesus the Christ. Paul is saying we aught to be going from milk to meat using the Scriptures as our number one learning source to gain wisdom, and because we have faith in Jesus we know the Scriptures to be true. He again tells us how important Scripture is to those of us who belong in the Kingdom of God. Verse 16-17 are the way out, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The way through persecution is the Words of God (see Our Weapons for War). The escape from silliness or gullibility is the Words of God (See Who Will Teach Me to be Mature).
Be Spirit Minded for Your own Safety
Can Paul be any clearer? Can I be any clearer? Can God be any clearer? Perilous times are coming for those who love Elohim and the way to be equipped to deal with those times is the knowledge of Scripture. Scripture teaches us skills the human race wants to divest us of. Our skills for life in this world will come from someone, wouldn’t you rather they come from Elohim than man. How will we stand by our faith if we do not know the Man we have our faith in? How will we sing Psalms of worship if we don’t know the God we are worshipping? How will we feel the Spirit in us if we quench Him with our ignorance? Perilous times do not have to be perilous for those who believe! Please women, be proactive, be vigilant, be wise, be Spirit minded for your own safety and those who already are proactive, vigilant, wise and walking in the Spirit pray for those who are not. It is time for women to stand together because this will happen to us and we will have no one to turn to but each other. Knowing this get yourself ready to stand in the Spirit with power alongside His women!
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How to Get off the Ground when a Foot is on Your Back
I have fallen on my face again! It seems that position is almost permanent. I know there are things I can do to stop this from happening but I cannot see them I only feel the weight of the ones throwing me down. It’s a mystery to me why this keeps happening; I am doing my best. This time I am down longer before I am able to get up again and I know the longer I am down the harder it will be to get back up but that knowledge is useless. As I make another attempt to get up I swear I feel something holding me there this time!
Have you felt this way? You are not alone. Every Christian who attempts to do the will of Elohim has been in this position. We cannot see what is holding us down but can certainly feel it! We use both our hands to push ourselves up but it is of no use! We are stuck there because we just cannot muster the strength we need to change the situation. Every ounce of our strength is required to breathe. Soon enough, breathing dirt is the only thing we know. We are accustomed to lying down so we don’t try to get up anymore. My lovelies, you are exactly where the Devil wants you to be. With no effort on his part at all we just get on our face! We have developed some industrious skills while down on the ground, to breathe and to maintain this position comfortably. He has effectively taught us how to throw ourselves on the ground with the blink of an eye. How was he able to teach us this trick and how can we break the cycle?
Dogs aren’t the Only Animals who Learn Tricks!
The Devil knows the world better than we do because he has been in it longer than we have. He knows the Bible better than we do because he was in the world when the Bible was written. His tricks are ancient and his wiles are common. He roars around like a lion after each and every one of us who profess Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Hell was made for him and he is intent on bringing some earthly souls with him. He has developed some very good tricks to train us and he will not stop coming after us until Jesus comes to fulfill His Words.
Every action we take is from a learned behavior. Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us there is nothing new under the sun meaning nothing from today, yesterday or tomorrow has failed to happen before and if it has not happened it has been spoken by Elohim. The tricks the Devil teaches us have been taught before and he will teach them again. We need to know, there is no temptation that has seized us except what is common to man but Elohim is faithful to not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). Temptation is what the Devil uses to trip us until we fall on the ground from the weight of our sin. James tells us our evil desires, conceived through temptation, gives birth to our sin (James 1:14-15). This sin is what knocks us to the ground because we have not developed the skills we need to see the path Elohim has provided for our escape (1 Corinthians 10:14). The skill we need the most is discernment in this case. We need to discern the tricks of the Devil faster so we can get up faster when we fall.
An Eye for the Tricks
To see the tricks of the Devil we need to know the character of God. The more we know God the faster we will recognize the Devil. When we develop eyes to see God’s character we will see the devil at work against Elohim. To know the difference we need to know the truth! God’s truth can only be found in His Words. Keeping His Words in our mind is the only way we will be able to get up faster when we are down and avoid being thrown down again.
Our Muscle to Get Up Faster
We need to develop endurance muscles to be able to get up when we are weighted down by our sin. The only sustainable muscle capable of lifting us up and keeping us up is our brain. We can develop our arm muscles, have large pectoral muscles and sizable glutes but none of those will lift us onto our feet with more sustainability than our brain. The way to get this power into our brain and build this muscle is to know God’s Word line for line, precept by precept. Memorizing God’s Words not only gives us the power to lift ourselves up it has the power to keep us up. Planting Scriptures in our brain and using the power now in our mouth to push us off the ground is the most effective way to get up and stay up. It takes effort to memorize Scripture but it is the only way to sustain the power to walk away from temptation and make the devil flee. Start small by memorizing the smallest verse, “Jesus wept!” then move onto something bigger. One day you will be able to memorize full Psalms. When we affectively start using God’s Words to fight the Devil we will spend more and more time on our feet and less time on the ground breaking in the Devils dust.
Our Work does not go Unrewarded
Fear not because Elohim is faithful to reward us with the crown of life for those who love Him and endure the testing through trials (James 1:12). Knowing God’s character and memorizing His Words will never go unrewarded. The reward for this lifetime is going more and more times without breathing dirt but in the next life the crown of life. That crown is your ticket into the New Jerusalem where God is our light, the road is made of gold and we will be with Jesus every day for eternity. This is my prayer for you and for me so let us be overcomers that we may be found in the Lambs Book of Life and go into the City.
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I’ve Gone into Shafts for the Gold Mine!
I do not know how many times I have picked up a self-help book completely excited about what I would learn only to find out it was what I learned in the last book. If that is the case why do I read so many of them? Why bother to read any at all if they say the same thing? It’s for the nuggets! Did you know there are nuggets of gold in every book that we read but the Bible has a big advantage over all those books; it is the gold mine! All the other books are in the shafts leading to the Gold Mine! I willingly go into the shafts mining for nuggets knowing they will all lead me to the ultimate gold mine.
At this moment around my desk I count five books with bookmarks in them. Each one of them is meant to help improve my life because that is what I am all about! My focus, in reading these books, is about improving my life by changing the way I approach decision-making and problem solving. We can be sure of those two very things; each day we make decisions and each day we solve problems. Those are the two things that also hang us up and get us into more trouble than we bargained for.
At first I was gleaning huge nuggets from the self-help books and my life was improving significantly. I was mining every piece of gold I could get from those books and applying them to my life. These authors are geniuses. I became debt free because of Dave Ramsey and Mary Hunt. I made significant strides in my thinking patterns thanks to many women authors especially Beth Moore. Even though the authors I listed are Christians I don’t shy away from non-Christian books and authors such as Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and the like. Seems I had a fondness for self-help books Christian or otherwise. I had heard the Bible was the book of Life but to be honest I thought they were talking about the verse that tells us that Jesus is the Life (John 14:6). How could a book about Jesus show me how to improve my life?
What I didn’t take into account is our awesome God who knows all and sees all. He continually impressed me with the Words in His Book. I told you in a previous post (blog post) that I write life skills workshops to teach women using the Bible. I decided I would research the Bible, before I actually read the whole Book, to see if each of the topics I was going to teach about was somehow, miraculously, talked about by Elohim. I called the workshop Leading Yourself to Success (2005) having criteria I wanted to follow. First, I wanted them to see themselves as a success right where they were, then begin to change their thinking from negative to positive (James Lehman teachings), discover who they are, set boundaries and goals and finally commit to the change. I knew this to be a task but I started writing and every time I made a point I looked for proof in the Bible that my point was valid. I could not believe my own eyes; the Bible already spoke of every point I made. The workshop became a secular representation of how God wants us to live.
I had found my way into the gold mine through the many shafts. My nose went straight into this Gold Mine every time I needed information about life. Each and every year I live I read other books only to find my way back to the Bible for where the information actually originated. I have discovered every self-help book on the market is published because God ordained it therefore in each one of those books we will find the nuggets we need to bring us right back to the Gold Mine – the Bible.
Don’t stop going into the shafts because they all lead to the Gold Mine! Every written work published is meant to bring us back to God! When you look at these books, meant to help us, we can always compared them to the Book of Life and find multiple similarities. Make sure you set your mind to read the Gold Mine to test this theory for yourself. You will be amazed how our ELOHIM has used secular writers to bring us back to Him. Go to Proverbs first to see wisdom in her full display then find the Gospels (Matthew; Mark; Luke; John) to meet Jesus. Not one day will go by with regret for spending time learning from God Himself, I can guarantee it! If other folks can do it and live a better life as a result so can you!
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Who Will Teach Me to be Mature?
When I first started improving my life skills my biggest question was who will teach me? I didn’t have many quality life skills because I didn’t pay much attention to having them. I wanted to pay attention because I was at my wits end. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to learn how to manage my life better without a mentor. I looked around and it was clear that a lot of people my age where in the same boat with me without a paddle.
When I started seeking answers God was available to answer my questions. I had so many questions that I couldn’t even sort them out myself. My difficulty was I asked the wrong persons and I was asked the wrong questions. I sought people to answer my question to no avail and all the while God was teaching me two very important commandments from Him to me! The first one is I am His child and He will raise me up and the second is like it, He will teach me!
The Father is My Father
When I was walking in the world I was lost and alone without mentors or real friends who could guide me through all of the mazes of my life. My body was in control so I was going to and fro looking for something to fill it. When I started to ask the questions I started getting better at asking and better at listening. The Words of God were starting to penetrate my soul and I was becoming more sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He relayed information to me from the Father. One of my biggest problems I discovered is I felt like a nobody – invisible. This is still an issue for me but God has planted in me a piece of information that I cannot forget. I am His child! John 1:12 tells me that when I accept Jesus Christ I am adopted as a child of God. Me, an orphan, a branch with no fruit, a harlot, an adulteress, a poor person, a tax collector, is a child of the Father! The Father is my Father! You can certainly understand how hard it was to believe but the Father kept enforcing it until I believed it deep in my soul. With that knowledge came the understanding He would raise me up as a child of God into whatever it is that He wanted me to be and I would get there by no other means. I finally asked, “Who is going to teach me because I need someone to teach me?”
He had made me recognize who He was to me
By the time I asked that question I was already being taught by the Father. I was going to church and listening to preachers more than I was actually reading through the Bible. I was tackling the Bible but not understanding. I was writing and teaching life skills workshops for the world; learning and using the Bible for answers but still not getting the Father was teaching me everything I knew. Each one of the workshops I wrote was Biblically based but secular in nature because I was still in the world. He continued to teach me without my full understanding. I was lonely and felt invisible. I was writing newsletters about what He was teaching me and losing friends. I was switching churches because the truth was compromised and losing more friends. In all this excitement it was becoming clear to me He had become my teacher. I would ask Him a question and He would send me to His Words for answers. I would read what He instructed me to read and be able to discern the times. He had made me recognize who He was to me – My Teacher!
He is My Father and He is My Teacher
It has been a long time since I knew that He was my Father and me His daughter but only a couple of years since I understood fully that He alone would teach me. I have learned from others but I become weary from listening to them and have to continue the study on my own in the Words of God. As a child of God we are to learn from God! (Psalm 119) There are jobs in the Body of Christ that we can learn from others but the Body of Christ belongs to God created in His image to take on His mind. We have only one Father and Teacher and that is Elohim. This puts us in a place of loneliness but that will pass because when we are in the secret place with Him our loneliness disappears and we cannot wait to be alone with Him again.
Be Presented Mature!
If you read these Words 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 you shall too understand revelation belongs to the Lord and everyone who teaches should be teaching in such a way that their students leave their tutelage and continue learning with the Lord. We are teaching to mature our students to present themselves mature to the Father (Colossians 1:28). I will present myself mature to the Father when the time comes because I have set my mind to it! Will you be able too present yourself mature? Have you become dependent on human teachers and not depended on the Father’ teachings? Do you know that the Father is your Father and you are His Child? Are you allowing the Father to teach you? Let us get into the secret place with the Father and learn from Him until we know who exactly is teaching us to be mature!
