On Guard ~ The Word (part 3 of 3)

 

 

It is one of the things that Satan puts a lot of effort into: destroying the Word of God and its credibility... or trying to. I hear it first hand from people. They bought into the lie. “The Bible can’t be accurate after all of that time and all of those different translations.” This is one of the largest lies that many of the younger generation believes. They are taught this.

Some years ago the Dead Sea Scrolls made their way to an exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum. These scrolls were discovered in Qumran not all that long ago when you comprehend the scope of time; 1946. They had been kept in clay jars and preserved; hidden in dry desert caves for approximately 2000 years. The discovery is incredible. Shortly after they were found and taken out of those perfect conditions of preservation, there was some deterioration. Still, many scrolls and parts were well in tack.

Standing before these precious pieces of written words at the museum were passages from Isaiah. The parts I saw were written perfectly concise to the Hebrew. There was no change. The book of Isaiah had been originally written another 600 years before this collection of scrolls were written and tucked into the cave for another 2000 years. I can open Bible sites and find Isaiah written in Hebrew and the various English words translating that unchanged Hebrew word which was written over and over again for thousands of years.

 The word was precious; guarded with their lives. Scribes took on lives of monks, giving their life to do nothing but transcribe it perfectly and beautifully because there were no printing presses to duplicate it. Whole lives were dedicated to transcribing it exactly as written. The holiness was worth a life commitment of deepest reverence and care for a message worthy of producing more.  The same is with the New Testament books in care and duplication of the text.

Here is a chart depicting major Greek writings including the New Testament and the number of copies transcribed. Notice, we do not dispute the works of Aristotle or Homer, yet the New Testament work has been painstakingly copied a multitude of times with greater accuracy by comparison to the other texts duplicated and written by other authors. The very nature of the historic documentation, the consistencies between authors of the gospels, and the occurrences of Christ’s life that are nothing short of miraculous prophetic fulfillments of that amazing book of Isaiah, are knee-bending and head-bowing!

Author	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Approximate Time Span between original & copy	Number of Copies	Accuracy of Copies
Lucretius	died 55 or 53 B.C.		1,100 yrs	2	----
Pliny	A.D. 61-113	A.D. 850	750 yrs	7	----
Plato	427-347 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,200 yrs	7	----
Demosthenes	4th Cent. B.C.	A.D. 1100	800 yrs	8	----
Herodotus	480-425 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,300 yrs	8	----
Suetonius	A.D. 75-160	A.D. 950	800 yrs	8	----
Thucydides	460-400 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,300 yrs	8	----
Euripides	480-406 B.C.	A.D. 1100	1,300 yrs	9	----
Aristophanes	450-385 B.C.	A.D. 900	1200	10	----
Caesar	100-44 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,000	10	----
Livy	59 BC-AD 17	----	???	20	----
Tacitus	circa A.D. 100	A.D. 1100	1,000 yrs	20	----
Aristotle	384-322 B.C.	A.D. 1100	1,400	49	----
Sophocles	496-406 B.C.	A.D. 1000	1,400 yrs	193	----
Homer (Iliad)	900 B.C.	400 B.C.	500 yrs	643	95%
New Testament	1st Cent. A.D. (A.D. 50-100)	2nd Cent. A.D. (c. A.D. 130 f.)	less than 100 years	5600	99.5%

(Source: CARM)

Matthew 5:17-18  "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19"Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven…”

It’s serious. The Word is of vital importance and it stands. From the beginning, the Enemy was after discrediting the Word of God. Slyly insinuating doubt to Eve from God's words about not eating the fruit, “Did God really say that?” Then the Enemy said that the reason God told her she shouldn’t eat from the tree is because He didn’t want them to become like God. But what has God always sought out? He sought out for us to do the things He is doing.

John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."

 We potentially have years more than His three of ministry on this earth. He calls us into relationship and a life that never ends in Paradise and then a new and perfect earth. It isn’t fantasy. One only needs to read Isaiah to see how Jesus fulfilled what was said would be. There is more said that will be. The Promises. God’s Word is Promise as all Promises are words. Fulfilling them is the character of God.

He is a truth-keeper and a truth maker.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The graying of the Word is smoke and mirrors. It’s sly deceit to try and take away what it really says. Satan tempted Jesus in the desert by distorting God’s word or trying to feed him and fill him with something else. Jesus’ response:  But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

Destroying the Word is Satan’s attempt at destroying God Himself. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

Being on guard with eyes opened in clarity to seeing the attempts of the many who are trying to discredit the Word, is a way to remain armed. The Word is your great weapon against evil, because this is a spiritual battle, not a flesh and blood one. Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I have seen when the Word of God is spoken or read or prayed that demons are cast out, that healings happen, victories are won and that peace comes and joy returns even when turmoil may be stirred around them. The Word is the breath of God and it is His living power. It is the weapon against evil when you speak it in fullness of faith in Christ Jesus’ Holy Spirit. Because,…this is a spiritual battle.

I recently met a young man who had just been in a very real spiritual battle. He was invited in to party and hang out with people through a cousin of his. He quickly discovered they were practicing witchcraft. He had slipped back into taking some drugs and he was taking them with those who were proclaimed witches. He was traumatized and still visibly shaken as he spilled his experience out to me, but he was exuberant at how real the Holy Spirit was too. He said he saw the pills in his hand take on the form of demons. He knew the drugs and those around him were steeped with evil.

 He had his small Bible with him that he kept in his backpack. Drugged, weakened and scared, he heard God speak to him and tell him to take it out and start reading from it. He read from where He was hearing God telling him to read and that he was to read it out loud. As he read, the drugs started losing their power, he was able to run out of there. His eyes were bright with excitement and revelation as he told me about it. He said he put his backpack back on and he felt a burning like he was on fire. He heard God say that he had a curse placed on him and they used an object to do it that was in his backpack. He found a CD inside of it and God gave him the words to speak against it and break the curse. He said he immediately said those words and then ran and threw his entire backpack into a public trash can. He said the burning stopped. He was exuberant over the Word of God, the power of God and the power of His Spirit.

He got up later and shared with the group with eyes bright and clear and a smile as wide as I have seen as someone meets with the power of God, he exclaimed, “God is REAL!!! The HOLY SPIRIT IS REAL!”  This young man has a call to go into those dark places now and bring others out. He knows how to do battle and he has seen the enemy. As these words for him were being spoken, another man, not hearing any of the previous conversation said those exact same words for his calling. He’s to go back and bring others out. This is what God does. He confirms His Word.

His story is up there on the intensity level, but these stories are out there and the people are sharing them directly to me, not secondhand. I hear other stories and lived some too, where the demons are so subtle that we have given them other names like bad habits or character flaws, etc.  The deliverance ministry is one drastically lacking in our country and churches. Other countries are familiar with them, especially in Africa.

A man from the Congo that I heard last week said that a lot of the demons have left Africa for America because we don’t recognize them as such. The Word of God is the power against these things. Jesus cast them out with a Word. He was tossing demons out all over the place. He did it peacefully and powerfully and by His words. Jesus never shamed any of the people, but brought them back to a life of freedom and healing. Mary Magdalene was brought to a place of Jesus’ inner circle.  People here tend to fear them more than they should or not acknowledge it. If one has faith in the goodness of Christ, we also need to know that on the spiritual flipside is the evil of Satan and that he is destroyed by the weapon of the Word of the Spirit of God. Unarmed, without our swords, he runs amuck. Of course he is going to try and discredit the Word.

Let’s step up our time in His Word and sharpening our ears to hear the LORD speak directly to us. Watch those who are moving in the power of His Spirit and learn from them. But more so, start having conversations with God yourself. Let Him talk too. He can take years worth of frustration, confusion or mishandled behaviors and change them in an instant by guiding you with His truths and love and in that comes incredible freedom, power and strength through His grace.

 

 

Dark day, New day

Intentionality. We were being taught about the power of God’s love and at this time at the conference we were going to break-out and go into the community intentionally loving those that many others have not been. While driving to a part of town with another woman from the conference, we headed to a neighborhood that is being reclaimed for God by a small group of missionaries who are living in the neighborhood as He breaks down strongholds of oppression and darkness.  While driving I was praying silently. I asked God who He was going to have me connect with.  He said, “A broken-hearted woman.” I followed up by asking Him how I would know it was her.  He didn’t answer me.

Soon, we pulled up on the block where our group would meet with the neighborhood missionaries. Instantly, I saw along side of us as I was pulling up, a man who was carrying his belongings and I saw more belongings being flung out at him. I told the woman I drove with that he was being thrown out. The woman throwing all she could get her hands on came outside screaming, throwing and shouting every obscenity you could imagine and some new curse words I think she made up. I knew instantly, “That’s my girl.”

We got out of the car and placed our belongings in the trunk of my car while praying together over the situation. I wasn’t scared. I knew this was my appointment. I didn’t look behind me, but heard smashing as if she were beating a car.  Then more obscenities and a metal rod or pipe came flying at us and slid to a stop along side our feet. Again, I knew we were not going to be hurt. I think I may have even had a small grin on my face. “That’s my girl.”

The remainder of the small group of people who were already there stood on the other side of the street and had great concern on their faces for us as they called us over. The screaming was still going and I said out in a regular voice as I got ready to cross the street towards my group, the powerful name, “Yahweh.”  Three times I said, “Yahweh,” and began to cross the street. The noise and activity quieted and the man left. 

Once entering the building where everyone was seated, the leaders began to say where they were going to go and serve. One of them said, speaking of the scene that was witnessed, “Can you imagine how broken-hearted she is?” I knew without a doubt that was God’s appointment for love. One of the young women who lives and serves in that neighborhood said she was going to the house. I told her I would too, because God had said He was sending me to a “broken-hearted woman.”

We got up and went with another young woman who missions there, too and a gentleman who waited outside and would pray.  Knocking on the door, one of the neighborhood missionaries spoke first when it opened. “Are you okay, hon’? Can I give you a hug?”  Shirt soaked in tears and still streaming down her face, she opened the door to us wider and nodded, “Yes” and let the three of us inside.  Each of us held her and hugged her and told her how beautiful she is and how much God loves her.

The LORD began to guide me on what to say to her. “God loves you. He thinks you’re beautiful. He loves you so much that today He sent us here to tell you He loves you. He told me ahead of time that there would be a woman with a broken heart and that God knows her heart, your heart, and He loves you and is here and has been here.  Today isn’t the end, but a beginning for you and for your daughter.” Her almost one year old baby girl had just learned to walk that week.

As God spoke His love to her and allowed me to share in the parts of compassion where God had restored my own broken-heart, she nodded and listened and received His words to her. The other woman asked if she knew Jesus and had God in her life.  She said she didn’t and said she had never been to church.  She then asked her if she wanted Him in her life today. She nodded yes and we shared the gospel with her of God’s love and Jesus’ forgiveness, cross and resurrection and how He has taken every sin away. The young woman prayed out loud asking Him into her life and added, “I want to go to church.” We prayed for her and asked God to heal the broken pieces of her heart. Joy filled her. The Holy Spirit filled her and the only sign of tears was on her still soaked shirt, but the joy on her face was radiant.

God had a Destiny for her and desired them both as mother and daughter. Because of His love, what had earlier been a woman like a flaming, fiery marshmallow held in a fire; was warm and gooey inside. One of the women who prayed took her to lunch and the other picked her up that night for church. God had answered her desire to go to church that very day.

Intentional love is powerful. And, when God doesn’t answer you, He is definitely up to something. If God had answered me when I asked how I would know the broken-hearted woman and He had said, “She will be the one throwing the metal pipe at you,” I may have turned around. God’s way is always best and often not how we expect it to look.

Perfect love casts out all fear.

Perfect love can penetrate into every scene and make it the perfect place for His love and healing.

 

Isaiah 41:9-10  You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. 10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

On Guard Part 2 ~ Gifts

 

 

Bravery is a gift. Some come by it naturally. As children, you see them climb things, jump from things and are willing to try things.  When they hear how they could get hurt and are made to stop, it can be done with loving intention, but it can also be over-done. It can be instilling fear and taking away confidence from the one born brave. The brave go where most won’t and as adults they often save lives, change lives and build lives: fearlessly.

Sensitivity is another gift. A sensitive child may cry over others’ pains and are easily upset. “Don’t be such a cry-baby,” or “You’re being too sensitive,” are frequently said with intentions to toughen the sensitive one up so that they suffer fewer tears. But, the sensitive ones are to grow up to be the compassionate ones. They are the ones that give mercy, comfort and grace. They often have the vision to see more and go deeper. They are the ones that offer hope to others, encourage and call out injustice because they sense the depth of it enough to do something about it.

The “Thief’s” trademark is to try to steal the very gifting that God created in you. Not only can the stealing and destroying attempts happen during childhood, but it can also happen in adulthood.

Christ says in John 10:10 NLT The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

When we live out our gifting we are living a rich and satisfying life. Your gifts are to bless others. It could be teaching, or writing or care-giving. It could be some sort of rescue or restoration work. Planters bring about harvesting. Maybe it’s organizational gifts that are helpful for all kinds of matters or giftings in making things, fixing things or creating beautiful things. Your gifts are most satisfying when they are appreciated by someone else.

Becoming aware of how things can be misinterpreted in childhood can now encourage you to guard your words carefully with children. It can open your eyes to see potential traits in children as gifts and not see them as negatives to be squelched, but nurtured in positive ways. Or, it can help you move past the things that you were told as a child, that were contrary to who you are.

Think of yourself. Are there gifts that have been kept from you using them in any form because of discouragement, distraction or disappointments? Set time aside to allow yourself to do some things in the area of your gifting.  God has an incredible way of restoring these in you again and can bring about an even greater intensity, drawing out a pent up passion in you for the gifting. From there, that passion and gift can be something that impacts others’ lives.

A great way to start to dabble in some gifting areas again may come by joining a club or doing volunteer work in the areas that interest you. If music is something you are good at, there are many senior residences that would welcome a bit of music as well as children’s organizations. There is a world out there that could use more of what you are able to give.

 Get your creative thoughts going on this by making a simple prayer asking God to restore the fullness of the gifts. Ask Him to open up ways to use them.  He loves the conversation and the desire you have to use what He gave you. Our gifts are given to us to share and are meant to impact the world around us in our lives. It is part of God’s plan when He instilled those in you.

In as much as there is a Giver, there is the “taker.” Keep your eyes sharp and know where the opposition comes from. When you recognize the tactics of the taker you can achieve an even greater determination to continue toward the goals of using your gifts and push past discouragement, distraction and disappointment.

Shame has kept many people from moving into a relationship with God. Shame, to the point of weariness makes people feel that their worth is less and they could not possibly do anything to better another person. This is where Christ came in to set us free from the weight of sin and shame and offered you His gift of salvation. We can live in peace and comfort knowing that we are right with God, because we can’t do it on our own. It is His gift of love for a rich and satisfying life. He conquered the enemy of our spirit.

There were gift taking attempts in the Bible. Delilah cut the hair of Samson and stole his gift of strength for a time. Later, his hair would grow back and he would collapse the columns upon his enemies. John the Baptist had the gift of leading people to turn from sin and live for the LORD. When John said to Herod that it was not right for Herod to take his brother’s wife, that wife wanted the voice of John the Baptist and his convictions stopped. She had him beheaded. But later Jesus would say that there had never been anyone up until that time as great as John the Baptist. The records of John’s words have been written for over two thousand years and are still known today.  His death did not stop the power of his gift. Both Samson and John lived their gifts to the end. David was a brave leader as a boy and Goliath tried to rob his confidence with intimidation. Solomon was given the gift of wisdom when he asked for it. Mary Magdalene knew the gift of how to rest and be in peace from the past demons she had delivered from her and move forward in relationship with Christ, freed and unashamed.

The victories of overcoming and the power of God’s given gifts being resurrected in these cases are hope for you to reach into your areas of gifting and allow God to use them.  What could be resurrected in you again?

As an oak can be cut down, its roots go deep and it can sprout new life again. The Bible says in Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. This verse was prophesying about Jesus coming from the family line of Jesse, King David’s father.

Let the life of God, in His repeated examples of bringing back to life the things that are good and given, be an encouragement to you. Your gifts are within you and can be used to bring enjoyment to you in your life and be appreciated by others to fulfill the very things you were born to live out.

 

 



You Could Be a Visionary

Have you ever wondered what makes a visionary? Maybe you are one and never really defined it. I was in prayer for a friend who desired vision for his work/ministry. Vision is something that helps us in all parts of our lives. The visionary has the ability of seeing something not very many others do. After hearing one brief sentence from the LORD in prayer for my friend’s vision, I learned that we can be a visionary.

“A visionary is one who has vision for today.”

This wasn’t what I had ever thought. I thought it was futuristic, kind of way out there at the horizon. I started to unpack this.

“Vision for today”

God has said in the Word not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough worries of its own. God calls Himself, “I Am.” That is present. That is today.

When I contacted my friend with these words in prayer for him, he said that when he was on the plane to his destination for the week he was reading in his Bible. He was reading about the manna and was being impressed with the “now-ness of it.”

I went back to some notable figures in the Bible. Moses was my first stop. Who would ever think to lift a staff over the water when all of Pharaoh’s army was bearing down to attack? God told him to and he was obedient. He believed God at His Word. The other point was that Moses didn’t react. He didn’t get defensive and think how he was going to possibly stop what was coming after him.

Moses didn’t react negatively, he responded positively.

He responded moving forward. He responded facing where he was headed and doing what was necessary to move that way. He knew God said He was going to deliver them out of Egypt. When they needed food, Moses wasn’t hunting all over the place for it, he asked God and God delivered the manna. He provided it every day as they continued to move forward following God’s cloud. It was always just enough food for that day and would not last if it was stored. It was vision of God being there right then, that day, every day as they continued on their journey.

Next, I considered David. David was not reactive and cowered or feared when the threats were coming from Goliath. He responded. He knew His God and how He made him able to kill the lion and the bear while keeping his sheep safe. He declared the same God who did that would do this. He would defeat Goliath. David responded moving forward.

1 Samuel 17:33-37a  NIV 

And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

He saw who God is in him and not who he is by himself. By removing Goliath, the Philistines were out of their way. David looked at today and who God is today and moved forward.

He doesn’t react by retreat, he responds and trusts in God.

Abraham was told he would be the Father of many nations and then God asked him to leave his father’s house and move on. Abraham packed up and went. He moved forward believing God. Sarah was more reactive. She believed to an extent. She believed God would cause Abraham to be a Father in their old age, she just didn’t believe the power of God in her. Her reaction to God’s promise for her was laughter.

Joshua and Caleb, when seeing the Promised Land, did not react negatively to the size of the enemy, but responded to the size of the promise. They saw enormous grapes and food and the goodness of the land. They moved forward believing God’s promise that it was theirs and saw themselves in it through God in them.

Our daughter saw the choir at church. It was filled with adults much older than she was. She was in high school. She loved the music and wanted to be a part of it. She didn’t react that she did not see anyone else there like herself, she envisioned herself as part of it and moved forward. After she joined the choir many other younger people joined. They followed. Visionaries aren’t thinking about how they can be a leader. A visionary moves forward and often people follow them.

A visionary of God’s believes He will respond in good through them.

 A visionary doesn’t fear. 

A visionary moves forward, trusting in God and what He does through them. Failure that happens to a visionary is viewed as an opportunity for gaining knowledge of what doesn’t work. It moves them further forward to what does work and is better. They let go of the failure and continue forward momentum.

Jesus is an ultimate visionary. He shows us how He sees us. He saw people whole in Him. He saw the good and the worth and offered for them to see it too. He showed them the way of moving forward in that good and toward that good. When someone saw the good Jesus revealed that was different than the way they saw it, they chose it as an obstacle to their beliefs and reacted against it. They stayed where they were. If they responded toward the good, they moved forward in His vision of His love and grew in that love.

It’s simpler than I had ever thought. But isn’t that Jesus? A visionary responds and moves forward in who God is.  God is good. He is able to do amazing things through you. Move forward in Him today and you could find yourself with a far greater vision for life.

 

Show and Tell

 

 

 

A child may proclaim, “I can tie my shoes!” Our response, “Show me!” The assurance of seeing those little fingers deliberately and correctly make that bow is a celebration and a certainty that indeed, that little one can tie their own shoes. Their confidence becomes your confidence.

How many Bible verses might you know or recognize? There are countless times where I think I know a verse and when it comes down to it, if I were to try and say it out loud, I’d likely get it jumbled up. I may know key words or the idea in it, but I may not get it down solid enough to recite it. I rarely know where it’s found. I depend a lot on the internet to help me with that.

When put on the spot it’s hard for me to pick a verse out from my mind. If I’m hearing a lot of verses, I can easily get them mixed up with one another. If someone tells me where the verse is found and I go and look it up and read it, I think, “Oh, yeah, that’s it!” Then I’m certain.

Struggles in faith come in various ways. We can be one hundred percent certain on our belief in God and know what He says. We can know the Word. I know in His Word, it says how He is faithful. God says He is good and He tells us to be bold and courageous. He says we can have confidence in Him and that He provides.

These last few years I feel like I have had many waves of trials. You may have too. This last bout all but hung me out to dry. I had no strength to find hope anymore. I was heartsick. There was a sadness like I had not known before. I was asking for prayer and spending time in prayer, but I had hit the wall and only kept in prayer out of knowing that even in hopelessness, I was not going to let go of my relationship with God.

Battle worn and having raised the white flag of surrender months ago, a friend just came to town for the weekend. She dropped by to see me for a couple of hours while she was here for some family functions. Her time was more precious than she could have known. She came into my home full of her faith, smiling, strong and speaking of God’s great goodness, abundance and blessing of His faithfulness to her. She was confident in who He is and was bold in that confidence. I knew her through some serious hardships and I told her how incredible she is in the fullness of her faith. She laughed and said, “I’m in between trials.”

Her joy and confidence in God’s faithfulness shifted me. My heart began to hope again. He had fulfilled much in her life and was continuing to do so.  She was showing me the confidence that God is faithful, He is good, and we can live in courage and boldness for all that He provides. She showed me those things through her presence and life. She was living in that and shared how He had, one by one, provided the desires of her heart.

Proverbs 13:12  Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

God tells us what to do and not to do through the Ten Commandments. We saw people failing all over the place in their inability to fulfill them in the Old Testament. People were always in need of correction and would fall into slavery because they were weak and not steadfast on Who God is to them. God told them how to be and what to do, but they messed it up over and over again.

Then, He came as Christ. He came to show us and demonstrate love. He came to free us from the sin we fell slave to. We got to see Him and how He lived. He showed us.  After He died and rose, He gave us His Spirit to give us the power in Him to live as He did. He showed us. He showed us Who He is and that He is that; faithful, powerful, providing in mercy and grace and full of love.

He showed us how to die to self. Sometimes those trials are the very thing that He uses to show us how to be like Him in enduring them and not giving up our relationship with God. As He suffered, He still cried out and lastly said, "Into your hands I commit my spirit." And then, new life! 

John 15:19-21  19Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.

Jesus showed us. And when we are at our limits, He will show us Himself again and we will marvel.

This time He showed Himself through my friend and her testimony of Him.

You could be carrying the hope of Him within you for someone else. Let your life shine for Him and not just tell of Him. Show Him in your confidence and in His peace and love. And if you are feeling like you are at your last, He knows.  He is faithful and He will show Himself. One day you may be saying, “I’m in between trials.”  And He will still be faithful.





A Day In the Neighborhood and the World





Sunday morning my alarm clock went off. It was my prayer team’s day to do prayer ministry. I hadn’t felt well in the night and was still feeling sick. I hit the sleep button on the clock and wrestled with the idea of getting up and going or staying home and resting. The alarm went again. I hit the sleep button again.

I thought about how a couple that is on my prayer team said they may not be there because they are hosting a family from Ethiopia at their home for the weekend. They host a lot of families that are traveling from Africa. The wife, a quiet, gentle, God-loving woman who has been given a mission door into the heart of Africa and her husband, a retired pediatrician, reach out in ways no one would assume if you saw them. My Mom is on the prayer team too, and she was vacationing in Florida so she wouldn’t be there, but she had made efforts for a substitute in her place. I lay there thinking there may not be anyone to pray. Substitutes don’t always make it in. The alarm went off again. I hit sleep. This time I thought, “I can pray from bed.” So, I did.

As I lay there praying, the guilt of not being at church and the possibility of no one being there to do prayer ministry, gnawed at me. This time, when the alarm sounded I got up. I walked down the hall at church to the prayer room, having already missed one of the services, and I saw my doctor friend. He was standing in the door and razzed me for coming in half-way through. I jokingly told him, “I needed a doctor!” I was surprised to see him and thought he must have chosen to hold to the commitment of prayer while his wife cared for their visitors elsewhere.

He assured me that they had enough people that came to do prayer ministry and that I would not have to stay. But, he said, his wife was at the church and she told him that she wanted me to meet the family and that if he saw me, to have me look for them. I was about to go and look and one of the other prayer people came in. She asked where I had been and I shared I hadn’t felt well, but that I felt worse for not coming. She instantly prayed for me to be well and so too, came the Doctor friend praying for me and the health of my family. I did begin to feel a bit better. He told me to hurry and find his wife and there was only five minutes left for me to do so before the next service started.

I did find them. They were here from Ethiopia. Their little girls were dressed in bright, colorful dresses with puffed out ruffled skirts and beautifully braided hair. Their shoes looked like new and were bright white running shoes with neon colored stripes on them. Their ankle socks were just as white against their beautiful brown skin. They were like a bouquet of flowers. The tiniest one held up a leaf on a popsicle stick that she had colored in Sunday school. Her leaf was the perfect accompaniment to her floral self. They were darling. Their Mom was beautiful and she greeted me with a kind and polite smile as she looked to her host for direction in the meeting. There was a bit of nervousness in her manner, too. Her husband greeted me also with politeness and my friend insisted I continue to walk with them and meet their sons. They were tall, young men that appeared years older than their actual age. Teenagers leaning against the wall like any other teenager.

My friend began to tell me quickly in just a few sentences that the wife’s brother had just been placed in prison the day before. He and 51 other people were imprisoned by another tribe because some of them had been translating the Bible. I then recognized the look on her face. What I had thought was nervousness in meeting me was the underlying concern for her brother and the others. This was foremost on her heart. She had politely brought a smile up to her face when she met me, but her heart was carrying a far greater concern. Then my friend told me that her husband, who is a pastor in Ethiopia, had been working under a church denomination and had some protection under that, but in his time in America, he learned that the denomination was not holding to the Word of God as they do in Africa. He had just made the decision to hold to God’s Word and left the protection of a people who did not believe as he did. I saw in him the grief he carried for the falling away that he had been witness to. He was mourning over this loss. And he stood out as one who would not bow down as all the others would and had. His height emphasized that sense to my heart and I also saw the reality of his concern for now being unprotected by people and title and what he was about to return to with so many now in prison. He was standing in the righteousness of Christ and His Word at whatever cost it may be to him.

In the brief moments of the information given to me and the sudden light into their heartache, I began to pray out loud for them. It was all I could do. I was helpless. I closed my eyes and held my hands out towards them. I don’t even remember what all I prayed except for God’s help, hand, peace, freedom and covering. I finished praying and opened my eyes. They stood there with their eyes still shut. She stood still and then opened her eyes. She had tears. I looked to him and he left an impression on me that I will live with for the rest of my life.

He stood tall but weak beneath the most pure and beautiful humility I have ever seen on a man. He stood with his arms held out and his hands opened up to receive any of what God could give to him in his hour of sheer vulnerability and the unknown ahead for him. He lingered there in prayer and the presence of God. He had peace on his face with eyes closed and his face tipped up toward the LORD. He stood as humble and bravely as a Daniel before the LORD in his dedication and love for all He is to him. His love for his Savior was greater than any love he had for himself. I saw a man, not knowing what will be, but knowing what is true. His family around him: sons who would see his bravery, daughters who would see his gentle strength and a wife that would be led through this hardship by a man who serves the LORD with all of himself.

That day in my own neighborhood, where I almost let a little bit of sickness keep me in bed, was a day that had more in God’s plan than I could have ever imagined could be. I prayed one prayer that day at church. But what I received was a lasting impression on my heart for people who are enduring persecution for the Word of God. My heart was broken that day, broken from out of its calloused, media infused reports to face ones, whose eyes I got to look into in their hour of pain for the real persecution in their lives that they would be flying back to that afternoon. While people, families, unaware and happily moving past us from Sunday school to church, a pancake breakfast and onto whatever they had planned that afternoon before the snow fell. Me, I had to work and hold a house open for people who were shopping for a new home. It all was trivial now.

 The depth of life is life itself in the One Who created us all. To Him be honor and praise.

Revelation 7:11-13  ESV  11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

 

On Guard! ~ Love Languages

A fight is stirring up in me. I have been noticing the hurts in people, but didn’t really know what was going on. Now I see better a variety of ways of what’s happening and its source. I'm seeing it in people's love languages, their giftings/talents and their faith struggles. There’s an enemy to trounce. This will be a three-part series.  So, here’s a sword, People. (Sounds of clattering swords being tossed before you) and here are your coverings. (Not exactly flattering, but very protective gear)

Here we go:

Love Languages.  I wrote a bit on this before, but this is going beyond that.

You may have read the book “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman, Ph. D.  It has excellent information that was sectioned into five ways that people receive love. It helps you pin-point their hot button and your own to understand how best to love another. There is a flip side, I have found too, and that’s what Satan/the enemy has been using. Here are the love language categories and you can see where you may fit and those you love may fit.

Physical Touch

Words of Affirmation

Quality Time

Gifts

Acts of Service

When you recognize what it is that means the most to you out of these, you can see that when you receive love in that way it does more for you than the other ways do.  But, here’s where I am seeing the flip side. I am seeing what Satan uses to hurt people to far greater ways than we have recognized for one another. Satan knows how you are loved best and so that is the very thing he wants to rob and destroy to cause the greatest amount of pain. Sometimes the one inflicting that pain isn’t even aware of it, but is more an act through the enemy. When we know the source of the evil intent beyond the person in flesh and blood, because the Word says that our battle isn’t against flesh and blood, it is easier to not be as upset with the person, but know its source. It even makes you better able to forgive that person, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Ephesians 6:11-12   11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

With every precious way of the most meaningful way of love for each individual also comes their tender achilles. To the one who cherishes physical touch thrives with snuggles, pats, handshakes and may tend to sit extra close to a person. When that touch is denied, or worse, done in a harmful way, it cuts so much deeper. The wound hurts more than anything else because it is a gesture that is the opposite of the language of love they need in a loving physical touch. It’s an abandoning and an emotional pain at the heart-level that is much deeper than bruises and when it comes with bruises, I can’t imagine the pain. (If anyone is in an abusive environment one must get out of it and seek professional help and guidance.) Understanding the additional emotional pain in physical abuse if their love language was physical touch, is very important to be aware of.

Words of affirmation help one flourish in that love and it establishes them. All love languages, when received in each of their way, establishes the person in love. Language is powerful and each of these five is considered a language of sorts. The one who needs language itself as its love language already has a double dose of emphasis on the importance of communication. Negative words, yelling, degrading, or not speaking (the silent treatment) crushes the spirit of the one whose love language is words of affirmation. It is a stunting of growth and in some cases can be death to their spirit and hope. Words of encouragement are like a breath of life to them.

A quality time person is devastated by quick hellos and good-byes. They are desperate for companionship and deep connection and feel abandonment even though someone may love them dearly but is “busy.” The person not getting the quality time interprets being unloved. It really isn’t about them, it is often truly, just busy people, but when we recognize this we can make better strides to really be there for the person who truly needs quality time. Scheduling it and making a routine of it can help children and adults who need quality time. They know they are valued and counted and chosen as an important part to your life.

People who love to give gifts also like to receive them. I have a mother-in-law who loves to send cards. She talks about the cards she sends to people and how she wishes they would send one back because she likes to see the stamps etc. I’m terrible about sending cards and I have to very deliberately and intentionally send them. When I recognize her love language as gifts, it also involves her cards. Neglecting to do the same for her hurts her much more deeply than just a missing card. It is a symbol of love to her. I see her heaviness at Christmas time when she puts up the few cards that she has received and mentioned the names of all the people she sent them to. It’s love to her and by our not noticing or unseeing eyes, Satan tromps around and hurts her in her heart’s interpretation for love.

This one is pretty common, Acts of Service. If you are having a harder time identifying someone’s gifts, it may be Acts of Service. These people are usually quiet and not very demanding, but are always there to help. They may be nurses or in the health field, or volunteer to bring meals or host baby showers or fix your car or stop at the store for you. When you aren’t there to help them when they need it, because they always are the ones serving they hardly ever ask for help, it hurts. When they reach the point to ask someone else for help, they really need help when they ask! When they aren’t helped it is extremely painful and disheartening. Being let down feels like being unloved. It’s because they have already gone the extra depth of hurting because the "helper" has had to ask for help and then to not get the help REALLY hurts.

Satan has had a heyday with this stuff. The enemy silently slithers and goes for the achilles.

Genesis 3:14-15 ESV  14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

Getting sick enough of all these depths of hurting in the hearts of every dear person and being aware now, has given me a drive to be proactive against it; to be defensive and offensive.

On Guard!

Sometimes it takes something to rile us up into action and boldness. I am reminded of this kind of attitude from an event that happened a while ago.

I received a phone call that our daughter had been in a bad car accident on her way to church. We lived close by and drove quickly to the accident site. The car was rolled over and smashed against a pole. I jumped out of our car before it had fully stopped and ran to the ambulance that was parked in the road with its lights flashing. I grabbed hold of the silver latch of the door of the ambulance and burst inside of it. No knocking, just threw open the door and stepped up in. I saw my daughter on a board with neck brace, her dress strewn across her and her nylons torn. I knelt down immediately by her, wedging in by the Emergency attendant and placed my hands on my daughter and started praying. My daughter later told me that I came in there like I owned the place. I hadn’t thought about it, I just did it. That’s the boldness, that’s the fire of His Spirit, that’s the surge that says, “No, the enemy doesn’t get this!”

 Because…God has given us authority.

 Luke 10:19  Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

We can do better! We can stop this junk because Satan has been sneaking around going at this from the backdoor and we have seen him. We can pray to be more aware of how to love and how we hurt. We need to love in all manner of ways. We have been given the position to bruise the serpent’s head, and authority to tread on the power of the enemy. We can love better and we can pray more!

In the power of forgiveness, I have learned that that is the beginning of healing and new life. The boldest example is in Christ’s forgiveness of us and our new life that comes.  You may not feel the people who hurt you deserve forgiveness, but neither did we when Christ forgave us. He did it out of love. A lot of times, the people that hurt us don’t even know that they needed forgiveness or caused such hurt. It isn’t that you need to go to them and say, “I forgive you,” but if you forgive them in your prayers and ask God to heal you in those wounds, He gives us that healing. You let go of bitterness and your right to judge them and put it back to God’s right. What God does in healing is really miraculous. From there, you are enabled to be more sensitive to the way you love others and the victory of love from God becomes the victory you have authority with and can stomp the enemy. There is healing to be had and love to be unleashed and in love we can all move from strength to strength.

Psalm 84:7 ESV  They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.