A Time and Season for Everything ...

Scripture: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: … a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance … “ (Ecclesiastes 3: 1 and 4)

It’s hard to see a friend or acquaintance in emotional pain or sorrow. It’s even harder to SIT with our friends while they work out whatever is going on.

Yet there is an extremist belief amongst some churches where negative emotions “are not of God”. Therefore, if someone is depressed, grieving, anxious, angry or anything other than happy and loving, they are made to believe they are “in sin”, “lack faith”, or worse, they have “demons” that need to be exorcised.

However, in the book of Ecclesiastes, it states that we all move through various seasons and emotions in life. It is all part of being human. For instance, in Ephesians, we are told not to sin in our anger. (Eph 4:6). But no where in the bible does it say Christians are not allowed to be angry (or sad, disappointed, nervous, etc.) For instance, there is a righteous anger that rises up in all of us for unjust acts perpetrated upon us and others, in which we should be angry. Emotions, even negative emotions are God given. It’s what we DO with our emotions that can be damaging.

We all move through “seasons” in life: During the “summers” of our lives, we hear from God and feel very close to Him. In the “winters” of life, we feel distant, and wonder why we aren’t hearing from God so much. The reasons are as numerous as grains of sand and God knows every single one Himself. But whatever the reason for our winters, springs, summers and falls, so long as we hang onto God as Savior and don’t turn away from Him, He will carry us through our difficult times.

The important thing to know is that when a friend is feeling lonely, depressed and hurt, the best thing we can do is “sit in the mud” with them. If they want to talk it out, let them, if they need a good cry, offer your shoulder. Sometimes even just sitting together in silence is good for the soul. For it is in the grieving that healing comes. It is the pouring out of one’s heart without judgment or “quick fix answers” that one can often climb out of the darkness. Without an outlet for “negative emotions”, a person is left to stew in their own misery, and it’s much more difficult to make it out

I speak from my own experience. Several years ago I had a friend who was going through a horrible time in her life. She was new to our church, and had been wounded in her past. She wanted healing more than anyone I had ever met. She knew in her heart of hearts God could heal her, and she sought His healing heartily, even though her past haunted her. The church she left, in their honest attempt to help her, “exorcised” her of “demons of depression” and “demons of fear”. Church members held her down, poured oil on her, made her recite scripture.

Other people, not quite sure how to handle such strong emotions, told her to simply “snap out of it”, “let it go”, or “God must be punishing you for some sin. Repent now!”

They meant well. But they went about it all wrong.

She knew she was not demonized or being punished. What she needed was a compassionate ear to hear her story, to validate her feelings, to acknowledge her past. And in that – her healing began. Over a few years, counseling, and the tender friendship from me and others, the Son broke through into her winter of distress. The shackles of her past fell off her body. The fear, anger and depression lifted. Summer came. Christ broke through! To see her today – you would never know from where she came or how far.

I share this story as a personal testimony. Everyone has their giftings in different areas. Some are called to teach, heal, be intercessors or prophesiers. Others have gifts of compassion or hospitality. There are numerous gifts listed in the bible.

Having the gift of compassion, I was able to “sit in the mud” with my friend. And God used our friendship to eventually bring about healing in her life.

My encouragement to you is: Are you using your gifts? Do you know what they are? If you don’t know, find out what they are and God will open a whole new world to you in which you can be used greatly even in the small stuff. It’s not always easy, whatever your gifting may be. But you will find it tremendously rewarding when you can look back and see how God used little ol’ you in His great big plan!

Prayer request: For those who are hurting, do not give up. God hears your cries, He is sending help! Until then, hang on – because He’s hanging onto YOU!

Prayer: Father we ask you to draw close to those who are hurting, Bring Your comfort and peace to those who are troubled and are in despair. Help us, Your church, to reach out with our gifts to those in need. Help us to find out what our gifts are, and then glorify You by using them to build up the body of believers. Amen

15 Challenges

Here is something a little different which challenged me.
A missionary in Spain posted it on his blog.

The Challenge

You are desperate to live in Personal Revival. You are like the fellow that goes to the attic and stands in the middle of the room, takes out a piece of chalk and draws a circle on the floor. He then steps into the circle and says, “God, send a revival, but start it first right here in this circle.”

So I read this verse today – Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Man! That is good.

This is the CHALLENGE page. It is my challenge for you to set all your excuses aside and put forth the effort. If you do, I can assure you Personal Revival will come to your life.

CHALLENGE 1 Read through the NT in a month

If you have several bibles, take one you don’t use much and mark it up as you read it. Use a highlighter or a pen, write in the margins the revies God gives you. Try not to rush through the 9 chapters “just to get it done.” It will take about an hour, so that means you will have to sacrifice something else in your day to do this. It is so worth it

CHALLENGE 2 Pray in the Spirit (tongues) for an hour a day

If there is one thing that will charge your spirit, ignite your spiritual fire, teach you how to pray and keep you in fellowship with God, it is by praying in the Spirit. Sure we find ourself praying in the Spirit all day long, but this is a time when you get into your closet, or go for a walk and focus solely on the Spirit praying through you. As you pray, many times you will have the urge to pray with the understanding. Do it. You can sing in the Spirit too. I’m telling you, if you join challenge one and two, revival will invade your life within days.

CHALLENGE 3 Go out into your town and evangelize once a week.

One of the greatest things for your spiritual life is to evangelize. If you want to feel the smile of God on your life, evangelize. If you want rid your life of religious boredom, evangelize. Go with someone, buy some tracts, go to the mall, to the park, downtown, to the bus station or where ever people hang out and talk to them about eternity. It tough at first and the flesh belly aches, but pay not attention to that whiner. There are tons of hungry people out there. The harvest is ripe.

CHALLENGE 4 Memorize the Sermon on the Mount

When I was in Bible College, I memorize Matthew 5-7 with a friend. That is ONLY 111 verses. The most quoted verses in the Bible. Live the Sermon and you will be perfect. If you only had three chapters you could keep from the Bible, these are the three. Memorize them in your favorite version.

CHALLENGE 5 Go on a date with God

Probably one of the things God likes most. To spend time with you! Go on a date with him. For real. Take a walk around the lake. Go out for coffee with your Bible and journal. Walk through the fields or through a park. You don’t even have to have an agenda. Just be with Him.

CHALLENGE 6 Fast

I have practiced fasting all my life. Short fasts and long fasts. The body is wimpy and fights against it, but your spirit will benefit. You probably won’t feel spiritual when you do it, but you are spiritual when you do it.

CHALLENGE 7 Take a spiritual retreat

This will be the highlight of your year. It can be a day or two weeks. I have done both. A retreat with just you and God in some alone place where you can just be together. Bring your Bible, a good book, a journal, some MP3 sermons or music or whatever you do to feed your spirit.

CHALLENGE 8 Get the worldliness out of your heart

That will leave more room for Jesus. You don’t need me to tell you what worldliness is. The Spirit of God is telling you all the time. But if you eliminate those things from your life, the Spirit of God will be quick to fill the void.

CHALLENGE 9 Take a missions trip

It changed my life. Two weeks in Spain back in 82′ and the rest is history. Not only will it open your eyes to something other than your world, but it will give you a heart for the lost. And when you have a heart for the lost, you are close to God’s heart.

CHALLENGE 10 Worship and Praise

When you do, it just brings the Spirit close. Put on the headphones and go for it. Sit at the piano or guitar and sing make a new song unto the Lord.

CHALLENGE 11 Be in community

Go to church. Go to a small group. Hang out with those of like mind as you. Iron sharpens iron. You need each other to be sharp. God will use them to form your character.

CHALLENGE 12 Be filled with good works

After all, you were created for them and God set them up for you to do before you were born. It will make you feel great, pleasing to God. When you stop living for yourself and live for others, that is when you start to live.

CHALLENGE 13 Consume the Word of God

Life proceeds from God and His Word. Want to be full of God? Be full of His Word. Want to be full of life? Be full of his Word.

CHALLENGE 14 Live in holiness

The pure in heart see God. So a holy life, holy thoughts, holy conversation will bring God close. You will sense His presence, you will feel his smile.

CHALLENGE 15 Walk in the Spirit

This is what the Christian life is. Walking, living, speaking and being led by the Spirit.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us be closer to you, to know your heart, be filled with your Spirit and reach the lost. Amen

http://jacobbock.wordpress.com/the-challenge/#comment-77

Putting Yourself Into Prayer

My very self You knew. My bones were not hidden from You when I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth (Ps. 139: 15)

As some of you know, I turned 50 at the end of September. One of the things I decided to do to kind of mark the occasion was to give myself the gift of fitness. It’s been years since I got any regular exercise (chasing down information in the office doesn’t count!), and my doctor has been pushing me to get some sort of regular exercise program going. A few days after my birthday, I had dinner with one of my nieces. I hadn’t seen her for some time and couldn’t help but notice how terrific she looked. So I asked her what she’s been doing. She told me that she had started working out at CardioBarre, a new fitness facility that opened in Eagle Rock a year or so ago. She told me she's been going there twice a week for about 4 months. That was all it took. I started going myself a few days later, and I can already feel a difference.

As often happens when people embark on an exercise program after an extended period of inactivity, you discover muscles you forgot you had, and you have to retrain parts of your body all over again. This particular program combines aerobics and ballet movements, working with hand weights (1-3 lbs each). The focus on grace, balance and strength really makes you appreciate the incredible creation that the human body is. As the Psalmist tells us, we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14).

But I have also discovered that I have to maintain a balance about this “body stuff” lest I become fixated on myself. St. Paul reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Our bodies are not our own to abuse and do with what we wish; we are to glorify God in our bodies (cf. 1Cor. 6:19-20). Last night while I was working out, I felt inspired to pray for people I know. (You have to do something to distract yourself when your muscles are burning :-) !) I prayed in particular for friends and family members who are facing serious illnesses and offered up my small pains that God would heal their sufferings. It might sound strange, but the prayer takes on a different level when you (quite literally) put your whole body into it.

I find it an amazing thing that even something as mundane as a workout can be turned into prayer. But our God is so lavishly generous. His abundant grace never fails to assist us in using everything in our lives as a means to come to Him.

Prayer Request: For those who are facing serious illnesses.

Prayer: O Lord, our God, thank You for the gift of our bodies. Forgive us for the times that we have abused them, or used them in ways that don't conform to Your plan. Help us to surrender ourselves completely to Your grace. Use us as You will to perform Your saving works for Your people in need. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Peace Beyond Understanding

Scripture: “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die. Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home ad do as you have said. …. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day of the LORD gives rain on the land.”” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.” I Kings 17:12-15

I had an interesting conversation with my best friend just a few days ago. We have been roommates for several years and on Sunday, I mused, “It’s amazing how God has stretched our finances. We shouldn’t be surviving on what we make – and yet, He somehow makes every penny stretch.” By HIS miraculous provision, HE is pulling us through this tough economy. It made me think of the above scripture about Elijah and the widow. Our finances ARE like the oil and flour.

The next day, I received news that my employment with Avery was coming to and end in November.

After the initial shock wore off, I entered into a phase of alternate panic/worry and peace.

Today, however, I feel the Lord’s peace in a way that cannot be explained. A “peace beyond understanding.” (Philippians 4:7) By the world’s standards, I SHOULD be panicked and worried. And of course I am concerned. But through my awesome sisters and brothers in Christ, I have heard such encouragement – and confirmation that God is in this. He always turns the bad in my life to good. Always. I am a walking testament of God’s turning my lemons into lemonade. From losing family members, property, employment, a roof over my head .. He has NEVER left me destitute – and the blessings always seem to come forward despite the hurdles and hardships that are thrown in front of me.

I stand here today with the full confidence that no matter what happens – He will provide for me. It doesn’t matter what the worldly circumstances are in front of me, because I know ultimately God is in control. I am drenched in His beautiful Presence. I cannot describe it any better than that. And I know full well it is not my own strength or power that I feel this way – but His, because all I can do at times like these is spread my arms open wide and say to God, “Ok, Lord. Where are You taking us now?”

I can only figure He gives me such strength and peace in order to share my testimony to encourage others. I find it incredulous that I am in this unbelievable, almost ridiculous phase of my life of being content in this circumstance I find myself in (Philippians 4:11) despite how it looks or seems. I can’t explain it, but I have a joy and peace in my life at this very moment that can ONLY be provided by the Holy Spirit. Each step I take, I find myself blessed in one way or another.

That’s not to say hard times are not ahead of me. But it’s times like these I grip my Father’s hand all the more, because at this point, all I can do is look up at him with a smile on my face and say, “Where are we going?” But wherever I’m led, I’m glad he’s by my side.

Prayer: Lord, help all of our brothers and sisters being affected by the world and the economy. Hold them all through hard times, and help them to look up and see Your hand in their midst as you care for each and every one of us. Help us to hold onto Your hand as You guide us through the peaks and valleys of life. Amen

Prayer request: For not only us as believers to hold onto God all the more - but for non-believers to learn Who God is through this crisis of economy we are all facing. May non-believers come to realize they can't do it on their own, and they need a Savior. And may they grow into mature Christians through their experience, and not just Crisis Christians.

Loving with God's Love

I don't have a blog of my own to share today - my home computer that died still hasn't been replaced, so I had no opportunity to prepare something last night. However, I received my daily e-mail today from the 40 Days for Life Campaign that I wrote about in an earlier post. The reflection for today is just beautiful, and I wanted to share it with all of you:

But the Lord said "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in the night and perished in the night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock? Should I not be concerned about that great city?"-- Jonah 4:10-11

-------------------------REFLECTION by Dennis DiMauro----------------

God doesn't value people and things like we do. Jonah loved a shade tree more than an entire city of sinful people. We love our dogs more than a terrorist. We love our cars more than a beggar on the side of the road. And sometimes, we love our money more than a child growing in a desperate teenager's womb.

But God isn't like us. Genesis 1 tells us that humans were the capstone of God's creation. We were created on the sixth day after God had completed the land, the stars, the plants and the animals. Therefore, His love for us is greater than His love for a plant, ananimal, or any other created thing. And the book of Jonah tells us that He loves even the most sinful people and seeks to bring them into His merciful arms. And it's a love that seeks to touch all of his created children: that desperate teenager, the baby growing in her womb, even tyrants and terrorists. So it's up to us to imitate God's merciful love by helping and praying for those who persecute us, and those who don't love us back.

PRAYER: Gracious God, loving our enemies seems like one of the most difficult things You could ask of us. Please remind us that this is how You love and that if You ask it of us, then You will give us the grace to do it. This we ask through Christ our Lord, Amen.

What Shape Are You In?

Scripture: "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:14-15)

A few years ago, a good friend of mine was in a spiritual crisis. Very solemnly, I was asked, "If I were to leave church (turn away from God), would you still be my friend?"

I burst into tears. No. Really. I did.

This person had walked closely with God for several years, served in several different ministries in church and witnessed amazing answers to many prayers.

I'm glad to say they never did walk away. They successfully worked through their crisis. We're still friends. And they are close to God as ever.

But why my dramatic reaction, you may wonder.

Because I realized that if my friend walked away from God, they would not be the same person I came to know and befriend. The act of turning away from God would definitely change their countenance, personality, outlook on life ... well ... everything. I couldn't handle the idea. For me, there was very important common ground upon which our friendship had been built in the first place. Taking God out of the equation would have pulled the rug out from under both of us.

Several years down the road now, I still think about that moment, and the realization that those of us who are believers .. are the people we are because of Christ in us. He shines His light through us. He shows others who He is through our actions and words. He fills us up in a way we are able to pour out upon others His grace and compassion. Without Him - well, look around at mainstream America. What a sorry lot we would be; lacking in morals, values, compassion for our fellow man, unable to empathize with others or give freely of ourselves without asking for anything in return.

Our relationship with Christ runs deeper than most people realize. He shapes us, molds us, makes us more like Him. Without Him in our lives .. who do you think we would be more like? I shudder to think.

Most people don't realize the act of being a Christian is a verb, not merely a description. Daily, we give ourselves to God - to lead us through the day, make the right decisions, steer clear of temptation. Being in the world day in and day out is like being in a spiritual gym. The only time we get to rest is when we sleep!

But thank God for His presence in our lives. Thank God He does lead, guide, protect, answer prayers, heal and teach ... to name only a few things He does on a daily basis for us all!

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for being in our lives. Thank You, Lord, for guiding our steps and catching us when we fall. For Your unconditional love. For shaping us into the men and women You always meant for us to become. Thank You, Lord, for my every breath!

Prayer request: For anyone who is struggling in their walk. To hang in there. Keep holding onto God. He will pull you through whatever circumstance you find yourself in.

What does it take to satisfy you?

Scriptures: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (I Timothy 6:6-8)

A friend of mine recently came to the US from my home town and shared something he observed in a mission trip he had back there. He said, “You would think that, with all the technologies and the fun and entertainment thereof, teenagers today should be the most content and happiest people of all. But, the truth of the matter is, they are not. On the contrary, they are constantly complaining about being bored.”

Moreover, he said, “During the mission trip I had, I discovered something truly amazing. When I went to the country side, I saw a lot of children, because their parents went to work in big cities, were cared for by their grandparents. These children had very few games and very little material entertainment. Sometimes, they did not even had much time from their grandparents, either. To these children, if you are willing to spend some time to listen to them and to talk to them, they would be so happy. But, for those children in big cities, especially teenagers, it seemed like spending time talking to them is not good enough. They still complain about getting bored.”

He then reflected on the time when we were still children, with the little possession we had materially, we were so easily content. He concluded with a remark questioning the good of all these advanced technologies brought us. It seemed to him that all these material possessions and advancing technologies did not create satisfactions in life, but instead, created wants and desires that brought teenagers to a greater void inside.

This reminded me of something I learned when I was studying Marketing Management in college. One of the strategies to promote a product or service when there may be little or no need for it is to create the need by educating consumers through advertisements, TV commercials, and all kinds of publicity activities. Such creation of virtual needs had helped brought about the mass and rapid economic growth.

In many ways, especially in the areas of materialistic enjoyments, this certainly has contributed to a much higher level of living standards in many parts of the world. But, if we are honest enough, we have to admit that this approach has also changed the definition of happiness in life from being content and peaceful to being competitive and successful, from pursuing moral and spiritual to pursuing tactful and materialistic. While this is still not that visible in the adult world, it has become very obvious in our younger generation who has been called the leaders of our future.

The net result of this phenomenon is the emergence of a generation that is deprived of the true understanding of the value of the rich and abundant life in our Lord Jesus. As they seek to fill the void inside them, they will be just like what Apostle Paul described in the bible, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (I Timothy 6:9-10)

I wonder, if this phenomenon is a created reality, a result of the consumer education, is the solution to this problem also in education? If, through the creative use of mass media and technological platforms, this world can successfully change the focus and contents of the value system, then, shouldn’t we be able to do more and better with the powerful words of God?

I have seen Christian leaders utilizing radio broadcast, TV programs, internet and mobile technologies, virtual space forums, and many others to reach out to this world with the good news of our Lord Jesus. We have been commissioned to preach the gospel to the end of the world and we have been instructed to be “wise as serpent.” (Matthew 10:16)

I am convinced that the Word of God is more powerful than anything this world has to offer. Our challenge is to find out the effective way of delivering gospel to this lost world in a way most relevant to them in the most efficient way. We also need to reach out to them in the most expedient way possible because, after all, “the end of all things is near” (I Peter 4:7), is it?

While the search for ways and means to reach out to them is important and imminent, if we cannot demonstrate the blessings from such value system we promote, what good is it for others? Let’s start this effort by asking ourselves, “What does it take to satisfy me?” Is it our Lord Jesus alone? Or, is it Jesus plus?

May God bless us so that our lives show to this lost and twisted world the amazing riches of the life in Jesus!

Prayer Requests:
For all teenagers lost in the fun and entertainment of modern technologies

Prayer:
Father God, please allow us to lift up ourselves and this lost generation, especially our younger generation, to You. We ask that You Spirit guide and strengthen us to live out the glory and power of the new lives You have blessed us. Raise up from our younger generation maids and servants for Your kingdom and righteousness because we pray in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus, Amen!

Christian Philosophy I

Scripture:
Proverbs 23:7 says,“As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”If that is true, and it is, then it makes sense to be sure that you are viewing your life through the right filter.

Every person views their life through a filter. For example, an optimist sees opportunity in every situation they face, while a pessimist can only see defeat and failure. Both could be facing the same circumstances, but how they filter things determines how they respond. That filter could also be called their philosophy.

A philosophy is simply a way of thinking. And whether you know it or not, the direction that your life is going has been influenced and controlled by your personal philosophy, or your dominant way of thinking.

Colossians 2:8 reads,“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

In this scripture, Paul was giving the believers in Colosse a warning. The word bewaremeans to be like a sentry on guard duty. It’s a military term talking about being on guard, being on the look out. And the word spoil is not talking about food; it’s talking about the spoils of war that go to the victor: the gold, silver, and land.

Paul is saying to be on guard so that you won’t be overcome by an Enemy that will strip you of your treasure, which is the truth that God has placed in your heart. That Enemy, the devil, wants to steal what God has given to you, using the world’s philosophies and the religious traditions of man.

Jesus referred to this in Matthew 15:8-9, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

The people believed the commandments of men more than the Word of God. They maintained a form of godliness, but they denied the power of the Gospel of Jesus (2 Tim. 3:5). Jewish leaders were saying that Jesus was not enough, that the people still needed to observe rituals and ceremonies. Those requirements were making the Word of God of no effect in their lives.

“Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition” (Matt. 15:6).

They were operating according to a philosophy, but the wrong one. Many Christians are doing
the same thing today. They have bits and pieces of the Word of God filed away in their brains, but they have not meditated on the Word enough to change their core beliefs. When the pressures of life come, they are able to quote dozens of scriptures about God’s promises, but then they act according to their hearts’ values.

A good example of this can be seen in the life of a recent Bible college students. She was in her sixties and a really great woman of God. She had listened to a teachings on prosperity and could quote all the related verses. Intellectually, she understood everything taught. But at the heart level, she still had a poverty mentality, or you could say a poverty philosophy. She had been raised by parents who went through the depression and had successfully indoctrinated her with the fear of lack. She was so fearful that she stored and hoarded everything, even keeping her money at home, not trusting banks.

Although this woman had accumulated some money with her philosophy, she still saw herself poor, and it affected all of her decision making. Her philosophy, or way of thinking, was actually holding her captive and limiting what God could do through her life.

If, at your core, you have a negative philosophy, or way of thinking, it will manifest in your life. If you see yourself broke, sick, or a failure, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if you see yourself prosperous, healthy, and successful at your core, that will be what manifests in your life. So it’s important that your philosophy be based on the truths of God’s Word.

It’s through the subtle deception of human philosophy that Satan tries to deceive us. The first example of that can be found in Genesis 3:1-5: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Now, think about this. It says that the serpent was more “subtle.” The word subtle means crafty, sly, cunning, and deceptive. He wasn’t using a frontal attack to overpower Adam and Eve; he was attempting to change their way of thinking, their philosophy.

Adam and Eve began with a pure philosophy. They were completely dependent upon God and never questioned His wisdom and goodness. Satan first caused them to question God’s Word, and then he caused them to question God’s goodness. He beguiled them, which is what Paul was writing about in 2 Corinthians 11:3: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Satan has never changed his tactics. He is at work through our society and culture trying to create a philosophy that is contrary to God’s Word. He is always trying to devalue the finished work of Jesus and His Word. I’m sad to say it’s working. Even most Christians today do not have their belief system firmly in place. They are influenced more by culture, motion pictures, their upbringing, or the opinions of others than by the Word of God.

Many of you reading this know what the Scripture says. You have read that God wants you to prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers (3 John 2). You have read that by His stripes, you were healed (1 Pet. 2:24) and that Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). Yet when you look in the mirror, you see a failure, a loser, or a sick and defeated person. Why is that? It’s because of your core philosophy.

Maybe your parents told you that you would never amount to anything or a previous mate convinced you that you were worthless. Or perhaps a religious leader told you that you were cursed because of your behavior and you believed them. Whatever the root cause for your belief (philosophy), you are being spoiled, and your treasure is being stolen.

If that is you, then begin changing the way you think. Study and meditate in the Word of God, and change your basic core beliefs.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

Prayer:
Father, we surrender our lives to you so that we will change to be more and more aligned to your Will by your Word. In Jesus Name. Amen

by Andrew Wommack
http://www.awmi.net/extra/article/christian_philosophy

No Pain, No Gain

For your thoughts are not My thoughts, nor are you ways My ways, says the Lord (Is. 55:8).

I’ve been having some pain in my neck and shoulders recently, so yesterday, I made an appointment and went for a massage after work. This was a new place for me, as the place I’d been going to has recently gone out of business – another casualty of the economic downturn.

The place I went to is run by a couple of young ladies from Korea. Linda, the masseuse, was phenomenal. To look at her, you wouldn’t think she had the strength she does. But she made bread dough out of my back. At times what she was doing was painful as she discovered knots in some muscles that I didn’t even know were there. I could feel the tension melting out of my body. The concept of causing pain to relieve pain seems strange, but in a mysterious way, it does work.

As I was driving home afterwards, I thought about how God works with us the same way. At times, He will allow us to experience things that can be painful, in order to excavate from us some habit or attitude that is not in line with His plan. As happens with the massage, you have two choices. You can fight it, thus causing even more pain, or you can relax and go with it, and the tension will ease. If we surrender to God’s plan, we find that He gives us everything we need to endure whatever painful experience we are going through, and to come out victorious on the other side of it.

Earlier this year, I was experiencing a lot of difficulty in one particular area of my life. Being a project manager, I tend to think long-term when it comes to planning. That’s fine for work, but in the spiritual life it doesn’t serve me so well. Over the summer, a good friend was visiting from Colorado. When I shared with him some of what I was going through, he told me about a book he’d been reading, and strongly urged me to read it. The book is called He Leadeth Me by Walter Ciszek. I won’t go into the details and spoil the story except to highly recommend it, and to say that it gave me a completely different perspective about long range planning when it comes to my spiritual walk. It really hammered home what Jesus meant when He said, “Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your life-span?” (Lk. 12:25).

It took a painful experience to get me to simply allow God to take care of me day to day instead of worrying about next week or next month or next year. But at the same time, He gave me what I needed (via the book) to help me get there. It has been a tremendously freeing thing, and I have found in the weeks since finishing the book that I enjoy the things that are right in front of me so much more. That, in turn, causes me to give praise to God more often and more intensely. It’s a lot less stressful to live life this way!