A foot in divination

Zechariah 10:2
The idols speak deceitfully,
diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

Divination: a corrupted seeking of spiritual knowledge. Such as: fortune telling, astrology, witchcraft, tarot cards, and spell casting.

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Do you want to keep wandering around feeling oppressed without a shepard while seeking wisdom in deceitful places? From a deceiver that is only out to kill, steal, and destroy.

Or

Do you want the truth from the true Shepherd that gives wisdom generously leaving you lacking for nothing? To follow a Shepherd that went to the slaughter like a lamb to protect His flock so that we may have eternal life in heaven and a life more abundant on earth.

Your choice. He always leaves you free to choose. You can’t have one foot in divination and one foot in God.

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

All about that peace

In John 16:33 Jesus tells us that He has spoken His word so that we may have peace in this world full of tribulations. He victoriously proclaims that He has overcome the world and we should be in good cheer!

Jesus did not promise us peace. He offers it to us. It is up to us to accept it. How do we accept it? That verse tells us we accept it by being in His word.

In John 17:17 Jesus is praying for us and asks God to sanctify us through the truth of His word.

His word is sanctifying, healing, cleansing, correcting and brings us good cheer! It is where we find and accept the peace that is so generously offered to us. We are to be in His word daily to build up our peace and faith and then again when we feel that peace and faith rocked to its core.

His word is the building blocks of the foundation to the house built on the rock. It takes us out of the sinking sand and keeps building, stone upon stone, a great mansion of peace! Matthew 7:24-27

Abiding in His word is where all the promises come to fruition. It is what truly makes us His disciples. John 15:7, John 8:31-32

So, my prayer for you all is that you get into His word so He, the God of all hope, will fill you with all joy and peace as you learn to trust in Him. I pray that through His word you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13In Christ name, Amen

Why?

Testimony time:

I lived so much of my life depressed. Depressed is only the surface word. Under it you would find despair, stress, anxiety, anger, and defeat. I tried covering that depression with all kinds of lusts of the flesh. I won’t go into detail because there are some readers that may not be at the maturity level to handle hearing the roads I have taken, but for some of you that knew me then, you already know. Those lusts of the flesh appealed to me because it was instant gratification. I didn’t have to face the pain for those brief moments. Those moments in the flesh promised me peace and good times and “great memories” to replace the bad ones. But that flesh lied to me. It created choas, more pain, and more bad memories. I also drew other people in to these fleshly ways and they also share these same bad memories. I hurt myself, my kids, my marriage, and my whole family. None of this helped my depression in any way. Such lies I believed!

Jesus called me out of all of that. People talk about finding joy the moment they were saved. Can I be honest? I didn’t feel the joy of my salvation right away. I knew God was the answer but I still felt depressed and defeated. I would sit back and constantly ask “why, Lord? Why me? Why my family? Why did I do that? Why didn’t you stop me?” God didn’t condemn me for those questions, He just kept guiding me. One step in front of the other was all I could do for a long while. Just stay the course, Monica. One step at a time. I KNEW God was the answer. I had no where else to go.

Me and God have been a team for a few years now and I am here to tell you this: I have learned crying out “why?” to God doesn’t get the problem solved. When Peter stepped out of the boat to walk on water with Jesus he started to sink when he looked at the storm instead of focusing on the power of Jesus. (Matthew 14:22-33) Peter could have cried out “why?!” as he was sinking, but what would the answer to that “why” do? How would that answer save him from drowning? Instead, he cried out; “Lord, save me!”

That has been my biggest lesson as I have learned to trust God with my life. It has been the cure to my depression and all that goes with it. Crying out “why?” does not bring the solution. I trust the One that carries that answer and I trust He will reveal it to me should it ever be something that I need to know. That question of “why” does nothing for me when I feel like I am sinking. The only thing that saves me from drowning is when I cry out; “Lord, save me!”

And He does. Every single time.

I do feel the joy of my salvation now that the depression has been defeated. I feel it so much at times it is hard to contain, and maybe I shouldn’t contain it. So, if you ever hear me yelp out in excitement or jump in the air in celebration, just know that I am remembering where I was and where I am not anymore and where I am going when it is all said and done. I am remembering just how much I can trust God in this life and I have no reason to fear or have anxiety or be in despair! I am remembering just how long and wide and high and deep God’s love for me is. (Ephesians 3:18) And not just for me but for all of us, including the ones I have hurt.

All thanks to God who sent Himself in the flesh as Jesus to live amongst us and go through this troubled life with us. Then to have every bit of evil this world contains thrown on Him on His way to the cross where He took on the wages of sin for us so that we can have an eternal relationship with Him unhindered by that sin. He gave us a way of escape! (1 Corinthians 10:13, Psalm 68:20)

I will never be defeated again! Yes! I have joy!! An everlasting joy!

Psalm 61:2
“From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Psalm 107:19
“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.”

Isaiah 51:11
“Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

Business as usual or unusual business?

Matthew 24:37-39
“As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be.”

At the time of the flood everyone was caught living their life business as usual. Everyone, except Noah and his family that is.

Noah and his family were caught being about the Father’s business. They were living life yet their business was not usual at all. Sure, they had usual business in their lives but that isn’t what they were all about. Their main focus was on God and His business. God led and guided them in their usual business as they fulfilled His.

Those who lived their life only focused on worldly business as usual ended up falling away into great evil and no righteousness of God could be found in their hearts. Their focus were in the ways of the world and the world became their ruler. This is the danger of living a life business as usual with your focus on a corrupt, fallen world that will soon pass away. Taking your life out of the usual to live a life doing God’s extraordinary, out of the usual work leads to great blessings now and in the end.

Will you be caught being about the Father’s unusual business and following Christ or caught only doing the usual business of the world?

Matthew 24:36, 40-41, 46
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing His business when He comes.”

Maybe you are someone that has never decided to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Maybe you are someone who did, at one time, say a prayer for salvation but now realizes you never really started living your life for God and never really started following Christ making Him Lord of your life. Let me tell you some good news. That is a decision you can make right now at this very moment.

Christ willingly left His rightful seat in heaven to come die on a cross so, even while we are still sinners, we could be saved from the wages of sin. (Romans 5:8) When Christ died on that cross He opened up a fountain of living water that washes us clean and redeems us until the very end. (Zechariah 13:1) He was buried in a tomb and rose 3 days later with only the scars of His sacrifice remaining. Scars left behind not to remind us of what our sins have done but to shows us how they are healed. He ascended back to the Father so He could send the Holy Spirit to teach us and remind us of His word. (John 14:26) As we abide in His word He remains abiding in us and changing our hearts and granting God’s will in our lives. (John 15:7) Then, as we stay in His word, we become His disciples and joyfully, passionately live to tell the world about Him! (John 8:31, Mark 16:15)

This is our good news! This is what keeps us about our Father’s business! If you are willing to admit your need for a Savior from your sins, believe and have faith that Christ died for those sins, and confess Him Lord of your life with a desire to turn away from your sins and follow Him then all I can say is… “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:50

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”
Ephesians 2:8

Complaining vs. Prayer

Complaining brings sin. Prayer brings grace and change.

I don’t need someone to stand in agreement with me that someone did me wrong. I need people to stand in prayer with me over the person that did me wrong.

I don’t need people to stand in agreement with me over political views and decisions. I need people to stand in prayer with me over the leaders of this country.

I don’t need people to stand in agreement with me that life may be knocking me some blows. I need people to stand in prayer with me for endurance and hope.

This is the difference in complaining and taking it to God. Complaining just dumps your worry, stress, anger and bad attitude on others and makes them worry, stress, be angry and have a bad attitude. Asking for prayer says “Let’s take this worry, stress, anger and bad attitude to the One that can fix it and bring us hope and contentment in the midst of it.”

Complaining about someone says “I want you to not like this person, too. Be angry with me!” Praying for someone says “I want us to show love to this person and let go of the anger.”

Complaining brings sin. Prayer brings grace and change.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” Matthew 5:43-47

“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” Hebrews 12:15

“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:23-26

Who is your master?

I have made a post a while back about my cat and dog having the same master but hear me out again.

What makes my cat and dog get along? According to the world they shouldn’t. Cartoons have shown us ever since we were kids that cats and dogs are enemies. In fact, my dog doesn’t like any other cat in this world except our Jackson. Why?

Because they have the same master. They are loved, cared for, and provided for by the same master. Having the same master makes them family and that makes a difference. They don’t hate each other because they are drawn to the same one that shows them love.

Now, lets take this past my home and out into the world. What is truly the answer for us to be equal? For us to see each other as family? What would draw us together in love? Yep, you guessed it! Having the same master!

“Well, I don’t want to be mastered!” you might say. Ok, but you are mastered by something already. I don’t know who or what it is for you, but you have made a choice to let something master you. Something or someone is guiding you in life. This thing or person may change through the years and maybe even day to day, but there is still something mastering you.

Now, let me tell you about my Master. He was willing to leave His righteous seat in heaven, leaving all His royalty behind, to come live among us as God in the flesh. He was birthed from a virgin girl (doing the impossible before He even took His first breath in this earth as human) and was raised a poor carpenter’s son (even though His true Father is the great I Am). He walked this earth as an everyday boy quietly growing and maturing and waiting so patiently to be about His Father’s business.

Then, when the time finally came, His ministry came alive! This was wonderful for us! He was preaching about the truth of the bible, correcting the law, and performing miracle after miracle! What this also did was start the ball rolling on His true purpose here. His whole life had been lived sinless. Not one speck of sin stained Him because, although He was fully man, He was also fully God. He came as God in the flesh, remember? That is why He was able to resist all temptation to the fullest and live a sinless life. He felt it all. In the flesh He felt every bit of our suffering and was about to feel it in the most horrific way.

You see, long ago sin entered this world through Adam and Jesus was going to remove that stain forever for all who believes. This removal takes a blood sacrifice. A perfect one. Something the whitest and healthiest of lambs couldn’t cover. It was going to take the Lamb of God. God sent Himself to do the work. Jesus is God in the flesh, remember? He was beaten to near death before He was forced to carry His cross to Calvary. The evil of this world lashing out at Him in full force. An innocent man being treated as the scum of the earth. He hung on that cross fighting for every breath just to say “forgive them Father, they know not what they do.”

Darkness fell. The whole despair of the world encompassed Him in darkeness and as He took our sin on Himself, sin He had not ever committed Himself, God the Father had to turn His face from Him. God hates sin. His goodness is so great that sin cannot be in His presence. The wages of sin have to be paid in order for God to even be in our presence. The wages of sin is death. Jesus died on that cross to fulfill those wages forever for anyone who believes and accepts Him as master of their life.

What does Him being Master of your life look like? It is full of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness. It is Him interceding for us that brings us into a close relationship with God and His goodness for now and all eternity. I can now never be plucked from the Father’s hand. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:28

Because He rose again (defeating death and embracing eternal life) and acended back to heaven in His rightful seat by the Father, He was able to send the Holy Spirit to be our helper. This Helper abides in us and changes our hearts as we walk with Him. When we walk with the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Our whole life begins to change! Our whole heart changes! And since Jesus defeated death and embraced eternal life in heaven then I will, too.

This is my Master and I live to serve Him. I serve Him by loving Him with all my heart, body, and soul and I love my neighbor as myself. I love my neighbor by pointing them to Christ on the cross where all the love and healing they have been searching for can be fulfilled. Let me tell you, when the Spirit guides me to help someone in that way there is nothing more fulfilling! When I hear it in their voice or see it in their eyes it never gets old. Serving my Master fulfills me and helps others to be fulfilled. He lifts me out of sin and washes me clean daily. His grace and mercy will follow me everywhere I go for the rest of my life. He makes me content in all circumstances because He has taught me to trust Him.

Are you ready to change your master? He calls to us all. He desires us all to come to Him and be saved from this fallen world and be loved til the end! If you feel like God has never called to you but you have made it this far in my post…this is it, my friend. He is calling you right now. Let that love fill your heart and allow Him to become real to you. I pray that over you as well.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…”
Revelation 3:20

Expectations

God is really laying a message on my heart this morning that I need to share.

You know what holds us back from joy, peace, and contentment? Expectations.

Expectations of how we should be, look or feel. Expectations on how others should be, look, or feel. Expectations on how life should be, look, or feel.

Expectation are like the sign that was nailed above Jesus’ head on that cross. Everyone expected Jesus to be king of the Jews in a way that wasnt His character. Many times we nail signs above others heads expecting them to be something in a way that isn’t their character. Same goes for the expectations on ourself and our life.

Now, that loud voice in our heads will tell us that our expectations are valid, and it is easy to agree with that voice, isn’t it? That voice is loud and proud and….full of hate, negativity, and bitter roots.

There is another voice. It is a stil small voice. It is a voice we must seek to hear. It isn’t loud but it is mighty. It is there to serve us and to guide us. We must intentionally go to this voice and deny the loud one. This is the voice of the Spirit of our gentle Savior and mighty God. This voice pulls away temptation, expectation, and condemnation. It is still. It is small. But it is mighty! Invite that Spirit to stand between you and that loud voice. Cut out the bitter root with the sword of His words

God tells us that two commands fulfill all the others. Love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourself. (Matthew 22:37-40) This is not an expectation. It is a command. He does not expect us to be able to fulfill it on our own. He knows we can’t. But His command can be fulfilled through Jesus who has fulfilled it all perfectly. Through Him we find our strength to do all things God has commanded. (Philippians 4:13) We go to that cross and see every expectation and sin that was ours washed away by the blood of Christ who never held either of those in His own flesh. We are given much forgiveness, grace, and mercy through that cross so we are commanded to give much forgiveness, grace, and mercy through that cross. (Luke 12:48)

Let go of expectations that turn us into victims. God gives us everything we need. Amen? Do we all agree on that? Then what else are we expecting? We have all we need in Christ. That leaves us room to rejoice! To pray for ourselves and others! To praise! To have compassion! To see the fruits of the Spirit grow and become evident in us!

As Christians we walk with the Spirit not by the flesh. That flesh may speak louder than the Spirit but that Spirit is the same Spirit that gave Christ strength for the cross. (Matthew 26:41) That same Spirit rose Him from the dead and that same Spirit lives in us. (Romans 8:11). That is the power we have over that loud voice. When that voice gets loud, seek the still small voice and you will find the power and strength of Jesus. When we have been given that what else could we expect?

Who are you mirroring?

My favorite class I had in college was Abnormal Psychology. In that class I learned more about human behavior than any other class I had taken. One lesson was mirroring.

When someone comes at you in anger it is because they are feeling hurt in some way and they want you to mirror their hurt. So, they spew anger to make you feel hurt. Or maybe they feel belittled so they come at you with anger and intimidation to attempt to make you mirror their feeling of belittlement. Maybe they feel overlooked in life so they come at you with always one upping everything you do even if they lie about their actual accomplishments in attempt to make you mirror their feeling of insignificance. I think you get the idea.

Now, how can we turn that knowledge into wisdom. Let’s take a quick lesson over the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is studying, researching, and learning something. Wisdom is discerning that knowledge as truth and applying it to your life. We can see how many people can be very knowledgeable on many things but still not have an ounce of wisdom.

I balance the knowledge I gain against the Holy Bible. So, when I go to my bible with this knowledge of human behavior, am I willing to accept it as truth? Yes. Let me tell you why.

Our feelings come from our “heart”. Our inner most being. That place where you can either hold forgiveness or bitterness, love or hate, peace or anger, etc…. I know this because Luke 6:45 states: “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

If out of the abundance of my heart my mouth speaks then that means out of my mouth comes what I am feeling. So, I am projecting to you what is in my heart. Why am I doing that? According to psychology I am wanting you to mirror what is in my heart. The bible seems to agree with this “mirroring” or “conforming” as it is called in Romans 12:2 when it warns us to: “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

God wants us to mirror Him. He reacts to us in a way that we are to mirror. Such as in the fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Since what flows from the heart cannot be faked, at least not for long, how do I naturally project those characters of the Spirit onto others instead of how my flesh (the part of my inner being that naturally wants to conform to the world) wants to react. Well, we ask Christ to come into our hearts. Does this mean we are asking Christ to become this miniature little being that lives inside us? No. It means we are inviting Him to change our hearts. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

Once Christ gets to work on us then that change of heart begins to mirror or reflect the fruits of the Spirit. So, now, what I am projecting and asking someone to mirror is directly connected to the heart of Christ. How amazing is that?!

Also, now that I know the person projecting whatever negative emotion on me really has a desire for me to mirror their heart, I can react differently. It isnt necessarily something I have done to cause them to act that way towards me but a bitter root within them that is causing that projection on to me. Now I know how to handle that. Will it still hurt my feelings or maybe stir up some anger? Sure. But me and Jesus can work out those hurt feelings and anger together. I cant expect that hurting person standing in front of me to be able to work that out with me. When I remember that Hebrews 12:15 says: “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”, I can be filled with compassion, grace, and mercy for that person because my feelings are not for them to handle. That is my Lord’s job. And let me tell ya! He is good at handling that! He is perfect at it! Not only that but He has given me an overflow of compassion, grace, and mercy so I can project them onto others.

Will we always be perfect at reflecting our Father’s heart? No. But as I said, He gives compassion, grace, and mercy generously. He keeps us covered while we are learning and practicing His ways.

Who do you want to mirror in your life? The hurting and flawed people of the world? Or a God who is perfect and holy and loves you to the end?

Proverbs 23:26
“My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.”

Assumptions

More assumptions I would like to talk about.

1. It is crazy that you worship a God you are supposed to be afraid of.

We are not scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. When the Bible says to “fear God” it is not saying to be scared of Him. Fear, in that sense, is to hold in high reverence. To show the utmost respect. To see Him as holy. God does not want His children to be scared of Him. He doesnt scare us into obedience. We are obedient because we respect Him and know His ways are right. Just as you dont want your kids to obey the rules of your house because they are scared of you or your punishment. Wouldnt you rather they obey the rules because they trust you and respect you?

2. It is abusive to tell your kids/people that they are sinners that need to beg for forgiveness.

Have you ever had a perfect day without sinning a single time? If you say yes, then whose moral code are you using to define what is right and wrong? For us, the Bible gives us our moral code. It never changes. And it tells us in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned. I dont think anyone can disagree with that. Just take a look at the 10 commandments. I dont think it is unreasonable to say those commandments define what is right and wrong pretty well. It is unreasonable to suggest that anyone besides Jesus has never fallen short on those. That is why Jesus provided a way for forgiveness that we do not have to beg for. Forgiveness is freely given in abundance when we turn our hearts to Christ as our Savior. Another amazing thing happens once we realize we are sinners and accept Christ’s work at the cross as our salvation….we dont want that sin anymore and our behavior starts changing. We receive not only freedom from the punishment of sin but we receive freedom from sin as we walk with Him!

3. I believe there is a God but I am going to let my kids believe what they want. Who am I to tell them what to believe in?

You play a very important role in what your kids believe. If you arent guiding them as Christ being their Lord and Savior then you are showing them that you dont really believe that He is. Because if you really believed about the truth of salvation and how to obtain it then you wouldnt leave that an open sentence for them. Why would you? It would be like having a cure for something that is making them very sick but expecting them to find it on their own before they die. And by the way, even the demons believe there is a God. They also know who Jesus is and what He did. So evaluate what it is you really believe about salvation against what the Bible says about salvation.

4. If I have to pay for my sins later, so be it. But I am not worshipping God just so God wont punish me for simply existing.

God doesnt punish us like that. He does correct His children because every good parent does. But if you are picturing a God that has some weird pleasure of watching people suffer for being sinful then you are picturing the wrong one in that role. Satan plays that role and God provided a way of escape from the deceiver. Jesus paid for your sins. In full. Why would you ever turn down such a free gift and choose to pay for your own sins? Do you really understand what you are choosing here? It isnt you burning in hell with God in heaven laughing at your demise and sending down lightening bolts to further your agony. Nope. You are asking for an eternity without God in it. Void. No goodness or light. Just darkness and evil and regret and hate and torture. Nothing to hold back evil. For eternity. Do you realize how long that is? Jesus already paid for you! Why is that such a horrible thing? You are God’s masterpiece and He wishes noone to perish. He would never punish you for simply existing. God’s wrath is Him turning from you as if He never knew you. Not worshipping Him will not stop that wrath. Worshipping Him will not stop it either. Admitting you are a sinner, believing Christ died for your sins, and confessing Him Lord of your life keeps you in the loving gaze of the Father that created you and wants so badly for you to choose Him. Why else would He make you exist if not for you to have the chance to choose Him and spend eternity with Him? It is that loving relationship between the Creator and us that makes us more than willing to worship and praise Him! He is such a good, good Father! And, by the way, there is no ruler in hell. The satan that you are buddying up with now will be just another demon in hell when this is all over. With no power at all and suffering just like you.