Satan, Go Away

I was visiting with my niece and her husband last night.  He just got a promotion at work.  He is now the Junior High Pastor at the church he works at.  He said the email about his new position went out to everyone at the church, a colleague came up to him and told him to watch out, because he is moving up his work for God, he should expect some new attacks from Satan trying to stop that work.  I know I have touched on this topic before, but this really hit me.  He went on to tell us that someone remembered that very day (before reading the email) – and reported to a superior – that a parent had complained about him two months ago.  This did not hurt his job, as far as getting into trouble – no one can make everyone happy (especially with Satan around) – but it caused him distress.  Satan was out and whispering – trying to distract, upset, and derail – doing whatever he can to stop his work for God.

That is so true and so worth keeping fresh in your mind.  When things go wrong, perhaps God has a big job for you to do and Satan is out there, doing his best to put a stop to it.  I just published a bible study.  It covers all the gospels, blended together, and is a study for families that leads from a scripture reading, comprehension of the text, through application to lives.  Satan has tried to but his smelly head into the mix over and over.  One day I thought, this book must be really important, or Satan wouldn’t care what I am doing.  If you are working for God, Satan is after you!  Be strong.  Be excited things to wrong, be excited when there are whispers against you – don’t create them, but be excited – because when Satan is working against you – God must have something big for you!

Matthew 16: 21 – 23 --- From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.  But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”  Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

My grandmother has a cartoon on her bulletin board depicting slipper clad feet on a rug by a bed.  The caption reads “Live your life so that when your feet hit the floor, Satan says ‘Oh crap, she’s awake!’ “

 

Here is a link to my book, it is called

Our Legacy: Bringing Families Together with God (Volume 1)https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781681428994

Storms

We have been in a time of extreme weather lately.  All across the country and world, there have been amazing weather conditions.  In my part of the country, we have rain.  Gallons – and gallons – an amazing volume of water has been dumped from the sky.  Swollen rivers and flooding is quickly becoming common.  As it rains and rains and storms and a new tornado watch is issued, we know that eventually the storm will subside, the rain will stop, the water will recede, the sun will return.  Most of us don’t do a lot during a storm.  We tend to stay home and remain in a ‘secure and safe location’.  While we may not hunker in the basement every time we see a flash of lightning, we still don’t head out on a drive when the weather gets bad unless we truly must.

I am sure you have all heard the term ‘storms of life’.  If we tend to not make big changes to our actions when we are experiencing a physical storm – we should realize that an emotional storm – or life storm – is also not a time to make big decisions.  The middle of a financial crisis is not the time to buy a car or a home.  The middle of a heated argument is not the time to think about splitting up a marriage.  We need to remember that ‘this too shall pass’.  All the times of life that we experience will be over at some point.  Every crisis will end.  Just as a storm ends and calm weather returns, the storms in our life end as well and calm will return.  Trust in the Lord.  God knows what is going on with you.  Trust Him.  Pray.  Give Him your worries and cares and you can have peace.  Even when the winds are careening around you and the waves are crashing into your boat, you can sleep soundly in the arms of Jesus.  Pray for His will and trust in the outcome.  Follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, calm your brain and listen.  Let Him guide you through your storm.  Let Him lead you to the calm…

Isaiah 41:10  Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Matthew 11:28 - 30  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Psalms 46:1  1God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. (2 So we will not fear...)

Isaiah 40:31  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

A Day from Job

The other day, I got up with a kink in my back.  I got up, stretched, exercised, stretched – it didn’t pop.  I began to scowl.  I started the coffee pot, (came through later and realized it had not started) and began to get ready to leave for the day.  None of my pants fit – scowl – scowl – whine – big scowl.  The puppy peed on the floor – bigger scowl. Then I had to go feed the goats (that I did NOT want), dripped milk on my shoes.  It turns out that didn’t matter due to the marsh that we call a back yard  - shoes are wet after 2 trips across because I forgot the older goats branch of leaves, and the shoes go squish squish squish…  Woops – forgot my phone – scowl.   I took my dear puppy along to visit my mom and her dog – he did not want to lay in his bed - scowl.  Road closed due to construction – scowl.  I had to get gas (a normal occurrence but on that day… scowl.)  Had to put puppy in kennel – he whined and howled – scowl.  By now, I am mad at everyone.  I am mad at my husband for buying goats.  I have creases forming permanent lines between my eyebrows.  And I can feel the ‘yellow monster’ (a term from the anger management lessons that I teach –hahaha) raging inside of me.  Satan has taken over my thoughts and I was NEGATIVE – being mad at the world, mad at myself, mad at the dog – dark dark dark – scowl.  I thought – ‘I am really having a ‘Job Day’, everything is going wrong!’  Then I heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit in my soul, barely loud enough to be heard over the scowls…”Job persevered.”…

Job persevered.  Everything, every horrifying thing, everything went wrong for Jonah.  Yet Job persevered.  Job held onto his faith.  Yes he was angry at times.  But he never renounces or spoke against God.  He persevered.  Now, I didn’t loose my faith or speak against God either.  But I had lost ‘myself’ to the mishaps of the morning.  I had let Satan take over my thinking, I had let my anger and frustration rage – I was a time bomb of negative energy (so so so so glad no family members were around).  I was NOT persevering, I was not acting / feeling like a child of God.  I was failing.  I had tiny minuscule obstacles to overcome (yes, a lot at once, but still tiny).  Things did not go my way that morning – but I was unable to maintain my positive attitude and enjoy the peace that comes with Jesus.  Gut check!  Job persevered, God expected me to persevere too, and I was not doing well.

I love getting those proverbial kicks in the pants occasionally.  I need them to stay in line.  My point is, yes there is a point.  All these little things are just that, things.  A “Job Day” is often coined to mean a bad day, a day where everything goes wrong.  But really, that is NOT a Job Day.  A true Job Day is a day when everything goes wrong – yet you persevere.  You keep your peace, you keep your heart for Jesus, you don’t let Satan take your thoughts, you don’t create scowl lines, you hold on to the joy of being a child of God!

Exercising Your Faith

Exercise!  Be slim and trim and perfect!  No rolls, no flaps (that is what my kids call the fat/skin that hangs from the upper arm)!  We are bombarded with ‘be perfect’ propaganda.  The image of perfection bar is set VERY high.  I can’t even imagine the amount that is spent every year on diet everything.  Pills, drinks, food, trainers, gyms, videos, and advertising is a multi-million dollar industry.   Although I think many of this goes way too far, I do think we should be healthy and get plenty of exercise to stay healthy.  We all know that when you exercise you stay in shape, improve your appearance, and get stronger.

Think about that for a moment.  If you exercise you stay in shape, improve your appearance, and get stronger, right?  How often do you exercise your faith?  If we exercise our faith, it stays in shape, improves our appearance, and makes our faith - and us - stronger.  Stronger in faith and a stronger relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Why do we want our faith to be in shape?  If our faith is well exercised and active, we are ready to face whatever we encounter in life.  We are able to handle and succeed (with God’s help) in whatever work He has for us to do.  

How does a strong faith improve our appearance?  We are pleasing in the eyes of God.  We shine his glory forth for others to see.  Our faith and God’s ways (kindness to others, love, mercy) is passed on to others.  When your faith and joy shine on your face - your appearance - inside and out - is improved.

How does exercising your faith make it stronger?  Anything you put work and practice into improves and is strengthened.  If you work on your faith, the truths and actions become more automatic.  They become a part of us and no longer seems like work or effort.  Exercising our faith helps us to LIVE our faith.  It changes you.

How?  Pray a lot, listen to and sing worship music, read devotionals or books about your walk with God, listen to God’s will in your life, and most of all - read and study your bible!  Just like it takes effort to be healthy - it takes effort to keep your faith healthy!  What happens if you never exercise?  Your muscles get weak, your heart gets weak, you can’t run far without stopping… I could go on and on - never exercising increases your risk of death.  Not exercising our faith has the same effects.  Your faith and relationship with God gets weak, your heart gets weak, you can’t go through trials without giving up - - - - never exercising your faith increases your risk of eternal death.

Think about it.