Letting The Enemy In

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. " Matthew 6:19-21

A few nights ago I accidentally left our garage door open all night. When I discovered this early the following morning I was concerned about little critters such as possums or skunks that may have wandered in more than I was thieves. Although both possibilities existed, the animals getting in bothered me more since we live in the country. 

In your life do you allow thieves to 'break in' and loot and plunder? You may buy many valuable things then lock them up in your homes,storage units, your cars, storage sheds,and bank lock boxes. Earthly possessions are great but the main treasure to store up that can't be stolen is the word of God in your heart. By doing this daily you have the ability to handle many things that happen in life to include a real physical break in should it occur. 

Where indeed is your life treasure? 

PRAYER: Fear can grip me Lord when I think my home has been robbed. I need to insure that my real treasure is you in my heart. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Behind Closed Doors

 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Our enemy Satan is very subtle. He works in the shadows to deceive people and plants lie after lie using often unsuspecting human subjects to trick us and take us off course. His mission is to kill, steal, and destroy according to John 10:10. He is not interested in the truth and will try to get even believers caught up and so busy they have little time to study the Bible. It is by reading and the study of God's word we have the weapons to defeat him. 

We can become so interested in doing 'good' that we forget to devour God's word. Sunday worship time is super but it does a person little good if there is no life change and no desire to go beyond that one hour on Sunday. It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict others, not ours, so if you live with a person like this, shhhh,not your job. 

Make sure you are not ignorant of the enemies schemes. Many people get uncomfortable talking about the enemy but he is puny, tricky, and REAL, but God is bigger and more powerful. Run to Him today!

PRAYER: I want to not get caught up in religion and forget to have a relationship with you Lord. I choose to resist the enemy and let him hear me praising you. I will run to you and flee Satan's traps. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

LESS THAN HONEST

 

Lately in our news we have heard the terms thrown around "less than honest", "not 100% truthful" or "misspoke " in regards to the public not being told the whole truth in regards to the new healthcare law. These terms sugarcoat the sin of lying. A lie, is a lie, is a lie. You can say to make it sound better " less than honest" but it is still a lie. Satan is the original liar and Father of lies it says in John 8:44.

Lying or being "less than honest" seems to have been made acceptable in our modern world. It is not more acceptable to God. You can be forgiven for being a liar if you sincerely repent and turn from this sin. Yes folks "being less than honest" is in fact a sin.

The Bible has much to say about lying. The first place most people run into it is in the Ten Commandments in Exodus Chapter 20 verse 16. In Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV) it says 'There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness we who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.'

Revelation 21:8(ASV) is pretty clear when it says 'But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.' A lake of fire. Ouch. No my friend, lying is wrong. If this is your habit ask God to help you purge it from your life.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus I want to be truthful in all areas of my life. I do not want to stretch the truth, tell "white lies" or any thing that is not true. The truth is what you want. I clearly know from your word what happens to those who make it a practice to lie and I ask you to forgive me of any time I have been "less than truthful" which is lying. Help our leaders who take an oath on the Bible start to take it seriously. In Jesus' name. Amen.

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF?

Many of us from childhood might remember reading the nursery rhyme about "Little Red Riding Hood" and the villain in this case was the big bad wolf.  Seems like lots of these childhood stories had a bad guy in them and good always won out over evil. 

In life even though it does not seem so at times, good always trumps evil. We are not unaware of Satan's traps and schemes to bring us or our loved ones down. He indeed is a trickster and weaves his evil sinister web in order to trap unsuspecting victims. Don't be fooled. We are all susceptible  to his deceptive tactics. Just because you go to church, attend Bible study, listen to Christian radio, watch Christian television shows, attend retreats and concerts does not mean he can not try to get to you. His mission is destroying your soul and getting you to believe his lies and deny Christ.

In 1Peter 5:8(NIV Reader's Version) we are warned 'Control yourselves. Be on your guard. Your enemy the devil is like a roaring lion. He prowls around looking for someone to chew up and swallow.'  Now that, my friend, is a pretty blunt  and graphic word picture. Other places in scripture he is referred to as an "angel of light". 2 Corinthians 11:14(NIV) says 'And no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.' For any of you who have ever been to a Harvest party  at Halloween or trick or treated you dress up like someone else. Well this verse says that Satan indeed also does that. If he came to you as his despicable, lying, evil,abhorrent, deceptive mean self he would fool no one.  So therefore he is tricky and gets people on his side by getting them to believe his lies. It says in John 8:43-44(NIV) 'Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.'

We need to be I prayer for those deceived by him. Some are in vey high places of authority. Satan does not like the United States of America as we are founded as a Christian nation and lately he has worked his deception on many to try to destroy this great land. Take heart, keep praying. Don't feel like there is no hope because there is always hope!

Remember the first big lie was in the Garden of Eden when the serpent, Satan, said to Eve in Genesis 3:4(NIV) 'You will not surely die' . So right then and there it all began. The fall of man and sin entered the world. 

We have the power through the word of God to stop Satan in  his tracks by quoting scripture and not believing his lies. You may know someone who is caught in a trap of Satan who is a believer and may be deceived and walking another way away from the Lord right now. Just keep praying. God is not through with them yet. Revelation 12:11(NIV) tells us what to do. 'They triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.' 

Who are you praying for today? Know that Satan would love you to give up on prayer.Luke 18:1 tells us to pray and not give up. God is still on the throne and weave victory in Jesus Christ!! 

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus I know that Satan has no authority over me. I pray for my loved ones that may have believed his lies. I pray for friends who do not know you or who are being led astray by the enemy. Lord Jesus I choose to remember to pray each and every day and put Satan in his rightful place. Jesus is Lord! In Jesus' name. Amen! 

Click on link below for an awesome song of encouragement.

http://youtu.be/FqXZD_z3eCc

TRAGEDY, SADNESS, AND CHRISTMAS

Christmas time is happy and joyous for most or so we might think. Many people associate a family members death around this time of year and can not seem to get past it. Death may have occurred prematurely for a young person and when it is time for Christmas, the ache of that memory of that loss lingers on.

Yesterday the unspeakable tragedy occurred when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Connecticut with 20 young children among those killed. The families of these children will indeed have a horrible time at Christmas this year. Who would think of killing small innocent elementary school children? It is hard to comprehend why this would even happen. Who knows? Evil is out there and it works overtime to destroy our world.
The news media will be on the bandwagon now to ban all guns. It is a fact that this world has become ultra violent. People who are against guns always use times like this to try to take them away from law abiding citizens. It is not having a gun that is the problem, but it is what is in the heart of man. It is no wonder people do evil things especially since look at what is on television and in the movie theaters these days. Why on earth does everything have to be about killing and violence? Why is it necessary to make video games depicting crime and violence? Taking prayer out of our public schools in 1963 was certainly a huge factor in the downfall of our American society as well as removing the Ten Commandments.

Why are some so offended about the name of Jesus and the word of God? First of all Satan is alive and well and working his evil schemes in the heart of mankind. The Bible says in Proverbs 18:10(NIV) that ' the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are safe.' It is only through Jesus that you have eternal life.
There is good and evil in our world and yesterday's shootings were definitely in the very evil category. We need to pray for the families of the victims, the family of the shooter, and the entire community. Also pray for First Responders who had to come upon this unimaginable scene. Pray also for clergy and counselors in the area to use words of faith and wisdom in their counseling for the many people affected by this tragedy. Also pray for our government to not overreact to try to abolish our Second Amendment rights.

Once again we do not know why bad things happen to good people and especially to little children. This is not the time to get angry at God although many people do. They say 'why didn't you stop this Lord?' God can bring goodness out of tragedy although it may not seem so at the time.

In attempting to comfort those in grief, it is not the time to give them a bunch of Bible verses. It is time to be a friend and comfort them and pray for them.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) says 'The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?' Mark 7:21(NIV) says 'for from within, out of man's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder and adultery.' You can see from reading these two Bible verses how important it is to get your heart right with God. You keep it right by feeding it a steady diet of scripture. This is how you grow in love and learn to stop hating. For now we all need to simply keep all those involved in this senseless tragedy in our prayers.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus help us keep in the word of God and stay on the path of goodness and righteousness. We know Lord you too are hurting to see little children gunned down but we also pity this shooter who obviously had some problems. Father God we ask that you work something good out of all this tragedy. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SNEAK ATTACK

Usually attacks against a country by another are total surprises. Take Pearl Harbor for instance or the attacks on the World Trade Center. No one really expected these things to happen. Some evil things happen and are very subtle and catch even countries like the USA by surprise. 

Thorns remind me of evil in how you do not see them when you are weeding your garden and a lovely innocent looking plant has them and before you know it, ouch, you have just been pricked by one. That is how the enemy works on people. He makes things look good. He lies and deceives. Satan in  scripture in 2 Corinthians 11:14 is referred to as an 'angel of light'.

The enemy is like that. He works through his subjects,  whom he has already deceived, to lie to and  trick even more innocent people. It is like Adolph Hitler who wanted total control of his people and killed the ones he did not like and dominated the rest. Do not hate the person but hate the devil and the evil in the world.

 

We in this country need to be careful. We need to pray for those leaders who seem to be wanting total control. Many people do not believe it as they are deceived themselves. Currently we are in a battle of good and evil. This is intense spiritual warfare. Look around you. Many freedoms are being threatened yet many do not seem to believe it. It is not a political thing or a Republican or Democrat thing but it is about the freedom to worship God and keep this nation as it was founded based on principles in God's word. Why is it others can voice their anti Christian opinion but believers and people of faith are mocked and ridiculed?

 

Psalm 33:11 could not be any clearer and it says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance". My problem is how a person can say "God Bless America" then condone and make a law it is okay to kill God's creation in the womb or force a Christian medical professional to kill a baby when it is against his conscience? How can a person vote for someone who thinks nothing about that ,is beyond my understanding. When a leader stands up and declares we are no longer a Christian nation it makes you wonder why we might be having a severe drought. Something to ponder.

Recently  a U.S. Christian corporate executive had the courage to stand up for traditional marriage and has been called hateful. Since when is believing God's word hateful? No one said this man hated anyone! He simply stated his convictions under The First Amendment which he is entitled to.

Many well meaning people do not see the attacks on our rights taking place but they are in fact being trampled upon and threatened on a daily basis. Evil likes it when the people are unaware and they can run over us. Things like taking away freedoms are very subtle and before you know it tyranny and domination are the order of the day. Many here in the USA laugh at the notion that we, the supreme power, could ever be dominated and even by our own leadership.

When it comes to religious freedom, even some college campuses are being told their Bible clubs can not meet on campus. This is real. I am not making this up. Little by little little things are taking place taking freedom away from people and putting it into the hands of government.

 

We are to pray for our leaders and those in authority. We know God is in control and ultimately knows the 'big picture' so we need to trust him but we also do not want to be ignorant of Satan's schemes to destroy one of the greatest nations on earth. We became great because our founders kept God first. Little by little ungodliness crept into places of high power and men and women were allowed to be in office who named the name of the Lord but that is all they did. Perhaps they mentioned a denomination they belonged to but never said the word Christian. Some in public office today are even atheist! God's name is an offense and stumbling block to many. Christians are called intolerant and hateful yet those who say that, are intolerant of us!

 

If you name the name of Jesus you should believe and follow what is in God's word. None of us are perfect by any means but there is right and there is wrong and there is good and there is evil. 1 John 4:1 says "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

 

Some have asked that I not get 'political' or they did not want to read my blog anymore. God is political. He cares about our country. Much is written about kings and those in authority right in his word. We know there is a force of good and evil and we know Satan has the power to be cunning and trick many. We have to be alert.2 Corinthians 2:11 says "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." 

One thing to keep in mind in all this is we are not to hate or be mad at someone but to pray for them. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

 

Proverbs 29:2 says "When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan."  When there is unrighteousness going on Christians need to speak up or suffer the consequences. Proverbs 28:15 says "Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people." Ecclesiastes 10:6 says "Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones."

 

Let me leave you with one final scripture found in Proverbs 14:34 and it says " Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."  Do not look to a man to save you or the government to save you but look to Jesus who is in control of all!

 

PRAYER: Lord Jesus help me to not be deceived by trickery and evil in the world around me. Keep my eyes open and help me speak out in love against any evils I see in my world around me. Help me Lord remember to pray for those who lead us. In Jesus Name. Amen.

 

NOTE: Excellent website to check out which is nothing to do with government but is independent is www.presidentialprayerteam.org . 

CRACKS IN THE PAVEMENT

Another story idea came to me while I was pulling weeds from cracks in our driveway before these nasty things had a chance to totally destroy our asphalt driveway. Weeds are like that. They choke plants. Some have thorns on them and stick you when you are innocently reaching for say, a strawberry. Weeds choke out life and cause destruction.They are so powerful they can break through concrete, brick, and asphalt.
Satan and his destructive powers are like that. Good news!! God is more powerful. Just like I spray weed killer to get rid of pesky weeds, the word of God is our 'Satanic weed killer' so to speak. You 'cover' yourself and your family with the word of God so you are protected from the onslaught of the enemies tricks to bring you down.
In the Bible weeds are referred to when mentioning the word of God. It says in Matthew 13:18-23 the following "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: when  anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
What in your life is choking out the word of God so it can not bear fruit in your life?
PRAYER: Father I want to get rid of those 'weeds' in my life that choke out your word for your word is truth and the way to have a victorious life. I resist Satan and he has to flee. In Jesus name. Amen.