Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. (Psalm 42:7 NIV)
Carol Ann, a commercial fishing vessel that my uncle named after me, losing the battle to stay afloat (photograph by Jay Fleming Photography http://jayflemmingphotography
We all have our battles to go through. Some are small and insignificant and we won’t even think about them this time next year. Others are ongoing…not unlike waves breaking over a bow of a boat, over and over again. We grow tired of the same old battles that seem to rear their ugly heads just when we thought we had them undertow. It’s humbling for sure. We know that those are coming back again for us, until we learn whatever lesson(s) Our Great God is trying to get through to us. We don’t like admitting defeat. We don’t like asking for help. In this Pinterest/Instagram world, we believe the lie that says everyone has it all together and figured out but us, and that’s the big secret that we try to keep hidden away. We ask, “What’s wrong with me?”
We’re sinful, but so is the makeup wiz on Tik Tok and ‘God’s gift to motherhood on YouTube! We are all pretty messed up! No one gets a hall pass to Heaven here! If we want to get in, we all have to come by the same ol’ way…the blood. That’s right! “Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22)
What blood? The blood of Jesus Christ. There’s no other way. No other way. Period. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me!” (John 14:6 NIV)
Without the blood we are all floundering through life…trying to make all our hard work look good enough to get us into Heaven. The take away from that scenario..emptiness.
The stern of the “Carol Ann” washed up on land (Photo by Wendy Mooers)
Without the blood we shipwreck our faith. We run aground and run ourselves ragged looking for ways to fulfill our dreams only to come up short. Sure, to some onlookers it looks commendable, but there, inside the deep, we know something isn’t right. We are exhausted and have exhausted every possible aid.
“Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horseman, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!” (Isaiah 31:1 KJV Blue Letter Bible)
Why do we do this? Why is it when we have an all powerful God, we tend to look to other gods for our help? We get on the phone and talk about it, we Google it, we go to food, alcohol, pills, pornography, Amazon…and even our own feeble supply of strength. You get the point. We won’t come to Him, and that’s a shame. Oswald Chambers said it this way, “Is it not humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things we will not come to Jesus Christ about. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words — “Come unto Me.” In every degree in which you are not real, you will dispute rather than come, you will quibble rather than come, you will go through sorrow rather than come; you will do anything rather than come the last lap of unutterable foolishness.”
We won’t come because we don’t know God. We don’t know the depths of His love. We don’t believe He will love anymore or in the same way. We don’t know His grace…His mercy…His forgiveness. We believe the lies that Satan whispers in our souls that, this sin, whatever it is, has breached the limit of His forgiveness. We can’t possibly go to Him now! And we don’t. A tragedy for sure. We fall into this trap because we aren’t praying. If we were we would know Him. If we know Him, we have the understanding that His grace has no limit. It’s when we won’t come to Him we should worry.
It’s an old tactic of the enemy to shame us into not coming to our Heavenly Father. Don’t fall for it! Do you remember in the garden? Adam and Eve hid from God when He came around to walk with them like He would normally do. The sin that promises to open your eyes to possibilities, closes your eyes to truth. The truth-He loves you now and will never stop! He yearns to be with you to give you all He has and is! Do you have children? It thrills me to no end to give them all they need and then some. How much more does God? Jesus put it like this, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”Luke 11:11-13
I am a first of all a student of scripture and homesteader want-a-be, and pastor’s wife. God has healed me from depression and anxiety through healthy lifestyle changes. I want to pass that on!
“When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.” Exodus 16:15 NIV https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.16.15.NIV
Manna box
Bare with me while I attempt to explain this journey that I’m currently on, without saying too much, because it’s very personal. The fact that it isn’t over yet, makes it hard to explain. It’s the kind of journey that would make for a good movie or a real page turner. It has it all, not unlike the story of the Israelites, in the desert, on their way to the land that had been promised to them. Like on any journey or adventure there is a lot of unexpected events along the way. I’m suddenly reminded of a certain hobbit from the shire on another, unexpected journey! In other words, you would be getting your money’s worth if you were watching this story unfold at a movie theater, but it stops being entertaining and moves to daily panic mode, when all of the plot twists are happening in your own life. The unforeseen can make us weak in the knees, and when that happens we drop to them. Even now, writing about it makes me feel a little gitty and nauseous. I guess it’s like that saying, “If the dream that you have doesn’t make you feel a little queasy, then you should probably find a different dream.” This dream was once a thought, an idea, that found me. I didn’t go looking for it. Then it was a picture that would pop up in my mind that had to be prayed about to see if it was in fact, from God. I had to work it out in my mind. Anything that drops in our heads, as followers of Christ needs to be screened. “Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 Bible Gateway.com) Having a good vision of the future can be a little like falling in love. You feel nervous talking about it because you don’t quite know what to expect. You don’t want to say too much too soon, for fear of jinxing it..or, maybe you’re just the quiet type and it’s not anyone’s business anyway! The most common obstacle for me in discerning if something is from The Lord, is simply thinking that I misunderstood or misinterpreted it, as something from God. This vision was a beautiful one. One I immediately gave thanks and praise for. However, this story (dream) is not playing out the way I thought, and I’m feeling like one of the weary Israelite travelers asking myself and God, “What is it?” or, what was that? Now it’s a matter of faith.
So like I said, the adventure I’m on started with just a nudge, an intuition. When The Lord gives you a sign, dream or vision, if you are like me you wonder right away…okay…what do I do with this!? The tricky thing is, He may not want you to do anything at all! Truth. He may want you to set with it awhile. Meditate on it. Pray about it, for days, weeks, or even years!! I don’t know about you, but that’s hard for me! When I hear from God I want to share it! Hearing from God excites me! After all, there was that whole thing about shouting it from the rooftops! Especially, if it’s a good word from The Lord. “Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. … Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17 Bible Hub.com) Seriously, this type of situation, where I need to just be still and hush, is a lot harder for me than I would have suspected. However, this last vision and word I received from the Lord, is the only time that it might have been best to keep my mouth shut. The other times God has given me a word of knowledge, it has been for the edification of another or a warning to a church. I’m clearly still learning. I feel the sting of, God desiring obedience over sacrifice. (1 Samuel 15:21) My emotions and feelings can get in the way with this, clearly. God gives you gifts that seem too much for you to handle at times-when you are handling it the flesh, that is. However, in the spirit, we have all we need to discern how to use what we have been given by our Father.
Our beautiful daughter, Elizabeth aboard her Daddy’s boat, Circuit Rider
The Bible is full of stories where God chose to let a person(s) know something that was way bigger than anything they could have imagined. God told Abraham to leave his home and go to a place that He would show him and that He would give him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, even though his wife Sarah was barren! God told Moses that He was about to lead the whole Israelite nation, that had been enslaved in Egypt for the last 400 years, to freedom…through him! There are so many more…Gideon was told by The Angel of The Lord, that he was in fact a “mighty warrior” while he was hiding like a coward in a winepress. David was Israel’s most beloved king, even though he was thought of as the least important in his family. The prophet Jeremiah was told by God not to feel inadequate because he was only a youngster, and that He was about to make him into a great prophet. All of these chosen ones were given larger than life missions and titles. Why are we so surprised and unbelieving when God tells us His plan for our lives? We are also chosen.
Our beautiful daughters, Emma and Elizabeth on the bow of the Circuit Rider, headed for Smith Island
So, last fall when it seemed like our lives were falling apart was when The Lord gave me this new hope. I would remind myself about it often, because well…I needed hope. Have you ever had God throw out a lifeline at the last moment? Well, this hope took on a life of it’s own! It caused me to get excited about life again, after years of bitterness. New life was breathed into my lungs, I could see the goodness of God chasing after me again. I felt renewed like the dawn. I had broken free from doubt, insecurities and failure. But, there was a big obstacle I didn’t yet take into consideration, namely, the people in this story and the forces of darkness. Yeah, kind of a big deal to leave those out! Truth is no matter how excited you get about your vision from God doesn’t mean others will. Especially, when God didn’t clue them in on this vision (hasn’t yet, anyway) and it’s gonna effect them greatly. There may be pushback. There was pushback. Truth be told…this isn’t my story. It was my vision, but not my story. It’s someone else’s story and God chose to tell ME and show ME what He means to happen in THEIR lives! Yes, this vision will also effect me personally, but seriously?! This is we’re it gets good…but not for me. I told the person what God showed me…(shouldn’t have) thinking they were going to be so thrilled.(Not quite) To this person it was just a suggestion, not set in stone and they had a choice over their life, of course. Hello…freewill is still a thing, right? Of course it is. I wish I had Tim Keller’s theological mind for all of this, but I’m doing the best I can at the moment. This is new territory for me. I’ve never been here before, with something so precious. Someone’s future is very precious, isn’t it? So, when I waltz in and start saying, “Thus saith The Lord,” well, it can be accepted and moved on in faith or it can be rejected and stamped out. It’s pretty scary for the messenger. After all, the person(s) I told this to is very important to me. I no doubt, wanted the hearer to thank me for sharing this amazing miracle with them. Ideally, I wanted them to give praise to God, who is so good to reveal what He is doing in their lives. I wasn’t like Jonah. I wanted them to respond accordingly, without turning away! I wanted them to throw theirselves in wild, reckless abandon to the truth! But, unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet.
Tide up on Tylerton. Everett watching on as Elizabeth walks along bulkhead.
So there’s that obstacle, but that’s not the only one. There’s the unforeseen forces of darkness that are always at work around us, seeking to steal any good word and gift away from us. They start sowing doubt in our minds, when the word or vision wasn’t accepted the way we would want. It causes you to second guess what you heard. Battling in the spiritual realm is something I’m not new to but, this time, yeah well…let’s just say I didn’t pass the test! I went and opened my big mouth when I shouldn’t have. Those evil forces made it seem like every word of encouragement was just static interference. It felt unappreciated, unwelcome. Hard to put words back into your mouth once they’re out there. Hard to make someone choose God’s will. They have to choose it. To be fair, they have to hear from God theirselves. We should not be someone’s amateur providence (My Utmost for His Highest August 1) We need to pray for them if they haven’t had confirmation from God yet. Never force it. I forced. I was excited, but no excuse. I know that now. Hard lesson learned. I got in the way.
So now I wait patiently and pray some more. I pray that The Lord will bring confirmation. I pray that The Lord will be gracious to me for failing Him, and forgive me for speaking when I should’ve stayed silent. I pray that God is working out all of the wrinkles as I’m typing this and that God will remind me that whatever He says, He will do..even now. Even though. Over here working out my faith in big ways and that’s what it is!
Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.
They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
Have you ever come to the reality that you are totally helpless before God? That apart from Him you cannot do anything? Do you understand that it’s His provision that is sustaining you just now? Well, sometimes we say, “Of course! I’m a Christian! I get it! “Not by works..yadda, yadda, yadda.. So, why is it when we are up against a wall we start to wonder? We wonder if God is truly the “God of the valley” as well as “God of the mountain.” There are many stories in the Bible to remind us that God will supply all we need, just like the story about the widow’s oil. The widow was about to become destitute. Her husband is dead. Sons about to be taken off as slaves to fulfill a debt. Things were looking dire. This widow was not too proud to go to Elisha, the man of God, for help. She reminded him that her husband had been a God fearing man and his family needed help. Elisha asked her a very important question before the miracle of oil flowed. He asked, “What do you have?” It always amazes me that God loves to come alongside us and work with us. It boggles my mind that a perfect God doesn’t need us or anything that we could offer but He wants us just the same.
The widow had a little oil. The story begs to ask us, what do you have? The Lord asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” He replied, “A shepherd’s staff.” With that shepherd’s staff he lead his people into the freedom God wanted to give them. He wants to do that for us as well. He’s enough, we just have to be willing. Willing to hold up the staff. Willing to pour out the oil. We can do more than we think. Right now…right now we are belting out the new popular worship song from Elevation Worship called “Jirah” but do we understand what this name means? Where it originated? Jirah means provides or sees. So when Abraham declared, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.” He was saying The Lord sees what I need and He provides. Reminds me of what David said in Psalm 23; “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want,” or Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray, “ Give is this day our daily bread.” We have all we need dear one. We’re covered. It’s finished. It’s been finished for 2,000 years and forever ago. God SEES to it. He provides for it. It’s paid in full!! Praise The Lord!
We sometimes question if God will really provide. We start to doubt. We get to the end of ourselves and then we pull out the big guns!! When things start going south and there’s plenty of room for doubt we go on a week long fast, pray for a solid hour, go to any services in church we wouldn’t normally go to because we think it’s all riding on us. Don’t get me wrong, all of these disciplines are great to do, especially if you are burdened in your spirit, but not because you think that if you don’t God won’t provide. God provided that day on a wooden cross with His only son. IT IS FINISHED, AND HE IS ENOUGH!
“And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”
Are you aware of the fact that we are indeed at war? It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian or not. The fact of the matter is that we are at war! You don’t have to believe in a thing for it to be real and the truth. Truth exists with or without our permission. It was extremely hard for me to get this at first. We have an unseen world all around us dwelling on this earth, and it has a ruler. Our enemy. The accuser of the brethren, Satan. He is known by many names: The Devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, and many more, but I want to call your attention to a specific title; “ruler of the kingdom of the air.”
“In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient”
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Matthew 4:8-11 (NIV)
Satan said that he would give Jesus all the kingdoms on earth if he would bow down to him. And Jesus was tempted to do just that. It does not state in the text that it wasn’t Satan’s to give. It actually was.
“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
1 John 5:19
“The air” which Satan rules over could mean the invisible realm above the earth. The earth’s atmosphere where Satan and his demons move about.
“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12
This could mean “the air” is an actual location or synonymous with “the world” meaning Satan’s domain. (gotquestions.org)
Either way in order to win battles we need to know who the enemy is and his tactics. We need to pay attention to his playbook. It isn’t that hard, with The Spirit’s help, of course.
We make a mistake if we don’t think the devil is real or if we think the opposite of that: thinking everything bad that happens to us is the devil. I’ve been guilty of the latter. I later realized what that verse above was saying. Let’s look at the Ephesians 2:2 verse again: “In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit WHO IS NOW AT WORK IN THOSE WHO ARE DISOBEDIENT.” Do you see that? Whenever we choose our will over God’s will and give into the flesh we play right into our enemy’s hands. As we say, “giving Satan a foothold.” So, our choices make a lot of difference in the spirit world.
On the opposite side of the spectrum we can see that some of the most devout and obedient people in scripture were not exempt from suffering. One of the most popular books on suffering I wrote about in an earlier post is the book of Job. The first description of this man was: “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” So, what’s the deal? Why did Job experience pain and suffering if he was a righteous man whom God prized as His own? This is the age old question isn’t it? Why do good people suffer? Believe me when I tell you that I do not begin to think of myself as someone qualified to answer that question but I have read and study the Bible and at the end of Job’s story I can tell you that despite all the questions and gut wrenching honesty that Job threw in God’s face about his condition, God did not answer the question of suffering for Job. No….He firmly reminded Job of who He was and is: The Almighty God! How can we question deity? But we do, don’t we? We question His deity every time we choose our will over His. I believe it’s fine to have questions for God and come to Him with those questions as to help you understand a situation. That is healthy in any relationship. It’s when we interrogate God because we have formed opinions about Him that are based on lies, demanding that He answer us is when it’s not a good idea. We need to know our place. That’s what God does for Job. He helps him to remember who is in charge, and has everything in His capable hands.
It’s so hard to trust when you are in the midst of a trial, isn’t it? But, if you’re reading this I’m sure that God has gotten you through some scraps in the past. Can you see where He was in those situations? We have to pray for the Lord to give us spiritual eyesight to be able to see the battle for what it is, just like Elisha prayed for his servant in 2 Kings 6.
“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:15-17 (NIV)
Satan will use lies mixed carefully with a little truth, so be very careful! He often tells us what we want to hear. So, steep yourself in the truth of scripture and pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Remember that God gives us spiritual armor to put on. He doesn’t put it on us, we have to put it on ourselves. He gives us everything we need, but we must be proactive. Keep building on the promises of God so that all the powers of darkness will tremble.
PRAYER
Father, I pray that you will surround your child with favor. I pray that they would take up their spiritual armor that you gave to them. Help them to be able to stand against any scheme of the enemy, that they would find peace in you. Give the assurance that you are for them and not against them even in the midst of the trials they find theirselves going through. You are their very great reward. Amen.
“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.” Nehemiah 4:6 (KJV)
Throughout the ages walls have been seen as defense strategies. Protection from the outside forces.
Truthfully, building walls around myself comes very natural to me, though sometimes not that healthy. As an introverted person and more specifically, an INFP personality, according to the popular Keirsy Temperament Sorter; I am very comfortable being alone or in quiet places. Finding those quiet spots can be the hardest part and knowing when it’s time to leave the ”mountain top” and enter back into the “demon-possessed valley” takes courage every day, as Oswald Chambers described in his famous devotional, My Utmost For His Highest. Like I said, in this world of chaos and clammer it’s harder than ever to find a quiet space. It seems like everyone is looking for inner peace nowadays but not many of us are coming across as peaceful!! It’s true! A great number of us are drinking camomile tea, soaking in lavender bath salts, listening to meditation apps and going to yoga class with little to show for it. As with anything that we need help with..Jesus is the one we should go to first. Jesus even needed to pull back for times of solace. Several times it is mentioned in the gospels that Jesus would rise early in the morning to pray before daylight and sometimes prayed all night.
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Mark 1:35 (NLT)
One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God ALL NIGHT.
Luke 6:12 (NLT)
And, although His plans were not His own but those of His Father and bigger than any of ours…like redeeming the world from sin! Hello? Yet, He was never in a hurry! He could be found meditating and praying before His Father, especially first thing in the morning before light.
I like to wake up before anyone else does too. If I don’t, I usually feel very unproductive. Can you relate? I like to check in with God before I start my day, before people start with their demands for my attention.
So in my opinion our first line of defense:
1. God first. Meditation. Time in His presence. Worship and praise. Thinking of Him and His goodness. Being thankful. This is our first line of defense. Praise and allowing God to fill us with His word and His Spirit. Think of Mary sitting at Jesus’s feet. “Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:42 (CSB)
It takes discipline and a lot of self-control to set a while and just bask in His beauty. We are living in a super fast paced world now. Anyone who lives their lives calmly and assuredly will stand out. We will be noticed. Some will want what we have. Some will take offense and chalk it up as laziness. Never mind. Just keep living your life in freedom, walking with Christ.
2. Our second key to building a fortified wall is: Prayer. A devoted prayer life. No one can take that away from you. It blows me away that The Creator invites us to communicate with Him at any given time!
Good communication is a must in any relationship. My husband has said it a few times behind the pulpit, that “it’s impossible to have a healthy relationship if you don’t communicate. Think of having a boyfriend or girlfriend…If you don’t make them a priority by calling or visiting them, that would not be a healthy relationship.” How can we expect to have a relationship with God if we never talk to Him or never reflect on His goodness in our lives? If we say we have a relationship with God then that should mean we have developed a healthy prayer life. In the popular classic, The Practice Of The Presence Of God, Brother Lawrence was determined to invite God into every moment of his day as a monk in a Paris monastery in the 17th century. Brother Lawrence served his fellow monks at the monastery, doing such menial tasks as the dishes and mending sandals, and he was thought to be the happiest person alive by those living in the monastery with him. Why? He was being satisfied by The Savior. He had a strong prayer life and it was well noted by the monks. It is one of the most quoted books by Christian authors. Here’s an excerpt:
“He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.”
I believe the late great revivalist, Leonard Ravenhill knew the importance of a strong prayer life. I first came to know about him a couple years ago when reading one of Ann Voscamp’s writings and then his name got my attention again when a mentor had quoted him on his Facebook post. Ravenhill urged his listeners to make prayer a lifeline. He would often say in his sermons that, “No man is greater than his prayer life.”
Ravenhill urged serious Christians to make more time for prayer like those men who had a reputation for great prayer lives during the great revivals in our country: John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney and William Booth.
Lawyer, Methodist pastor, and Civil War chaplain, E.M. Bounds wrote eleven books, nine on prayer, and said,
“What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use, men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.”
Prayer is as important as our next breath.
3. The third defense is to know The Word. There are so many benefits to knowing what God has said. Remember Eve knew but the serpent caused her to second guess what God said. His Word never changes. His promises are still true. It gives encouragement in times of doubt and fear. It brings us solace and help when we are grieving and in dire need, it can rebuke and guide when we have strayed off course. It’s also called, “the sword of the Spirit.” It can divide truth from false, bone from marrow. (Hebrews 4:12) It cannot fail when used rightly and in the hands of God’s precious child. But, remember, your adversary knows what God’s Word says as well. (Genesis 3:4, Matthew 4) I found out that the more I read the Bible the more I want to read it. You grow a hunger for The Word of God. You will find that the more you feast upon it the more will be revealed into your own spirit. This is because God’s Word is alive!
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12
The Word of God is Jesus! Jesus is alive!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1&2, 14(NIV)
4. Fellowship among the believers would be a major line of defense as well. As much as I hate to admit it, I cannot fulfill God’s calling on my life without others. I tend to want to do things on my own as I described before. I’m always thinking that I might be bothering someone if I ask for help. Maybe if you ask another introvert!! Lol! Seriously though, most people are waiting for connection and Jesus commands us to go and make disciples! It’s not up for debate. We are to make disciples and love our neighbors. A strong body of believers can change the world!
These four strategies should help to build a strong fortified wall of defense against the enemy. It’s important to note that we cannot do anything apart from Jesus Christ living His life through us and He gives us the tools we need to live a disciplined life for The Kingdom of God. In my next post I will share with you some of the tactics of the enemy and how we might better be on guard against them.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:19 KJV biblegateway.com
My husband and kids 12 years ago.
I’ve been on a health journey for sometime now. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to gab about healthy food, vitamins, exercise and gardening. The passion I have for all things health started around 12 years ago, when God intervened moments before I was about to take my own life in the spring of 2010. I was seriously depressed and had been for many years. I was in my early 30’s with a wonderful husband and three beautiful children. Everything about my life looked perfect to anyone who only knew me on the surface, but my mind was in shambles on the inside and so was my body. The voices in my head made me believe lies about myself and I had stopped trying. I had lost so many battles. The weight crept on and I don’t remember even caring about that very much. I was just trying to get through each day as a pastor’s wife and stay-at-home momma. Just trying to survive. It took all the energy that I could possibly muster to get through the day tending to the needs of my family. I tried to make it as easy on myself as I could with some things. Our meals being one of them.
It seemed so much easier and cheaper to eat prepared meals from the frozen food section: TV dinners, skillet stir-fry’s and the like. So, that’s what I did. Mostly everything we ate came in a box or a can. I was already used to eating plenty of canned vegetables growing up on Smith Island. It’s hard to get great produce on an isolated island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay! That wasn’t to say that I didn’t have fantastic meals growing up. My mother was an outstanding cook. The best there was. OUTSTANDING. But like I said, I was used to not eating fresh veggies. It just didn’t matter to me.
Getting back to that unfortunate turned miraculous night, I sat at the dinning room table with a bunch of old depression meds I had recently been made aware of while cleaning out the bathroom cabinets a few weeks prior. I probably had been prescribed and taken off of almost every depression medication know to man by that point. I just desperately wanted my mind to hush. I can still remember how loud it was in my head. I opened up God’s word one last time before “going to sleep” and I stumbled on 2 Kings 20:5, which says:
“Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I WILL HEAL YOU, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the LORD.
2 Kings 20:5 NIV Blue Letter Bible
I knew when I read those words that God would heal me of the depression and anxiety! And, He really did! Can you guess how?? You guessed correctly if you said through diet and exercise. Taking care of my body, which Paul called “the temple” in 1 Corinthians 6.
I realize that for some who struggle with mental illness this is not going to be enough on its own but for me it was. God healed me in this way and I can never forget it! Although, if you saw me today you would probably think that I have forgotten! Which is why I’m writing “Rebuild The Temple” instead of “Build The Temple.” But, I got to work on my “temple” right after that night and started learning all that I could about what God says about health and healing. It lead me right into my own wellness! In three years time I was almost 80lbs lighter!! I was exercising once or twice each day, even running! I still can hardly believe it when I think of the anxiety and depression I had faced before.
With my family’s support we had made the switch from highly processed food to eating healthy organic food and buying from farmers markets when we could. It was a win-win for our family. My getting healthy was causing my family to get healthy as well. We looked better, we felt better and there were less doctors appointments and medications. Sounds like a miracle to me!
I am not as fit as I was when the health journey was fresh. It’s been many years now. I’ve gained almost all the weight I lost back. Sure, I still have a passion for health and healing but I have been less motivated as of late. I haven’t been as eager as I was years ago. It’s not uncommon for me now to skip a workout or eat drive-thru from time to time.
There have been some lasting changes however. We still buy organic food when it’s available. We stay away from processed foods and have a small garden and try to make everything from scratch. Exercise is still done but not as frequent, and I have a full vitamin cabinet.
So, what happened? When we moved I was used to walking or jogging in the morning and strength training in the afternoon but now we live in an area where the elements of nature are against those walks/jogs. I think I got really frustrated with the high tides and mosquitoes! The greatest problem however, that I have to deal with that I didn’t before: Candida albicans. My archnemesis.
“Candida is a fungus that aids with nutrient absorption and digestion when in proper levels in the body. When it overproduces, typical candida symptoms may appear. In the digestive tract, if left unchecked, it breaks down the walls of the intestinal lining and penetrates into the bloodstream. This releases byproduct toxins and other toxins from your system, causing leaky gut syndrome. Make no mistake: This is a chronic health condition.” (https://draxe.com/health/candida-symptoms/#What_Is_Candida)
As you can see, this can have severe ramifications. For someone who was used to having very little problems loosing weight before, this illness can make you feel like you are going crazy!! I thought at first it was just a mental block that I needed to work through. I’ve been devastated by this autoimmune disease for 8 years now. I only found out what was going on and what I was dealing with, within the last four. I more than likely contracted the candida when I was prescribed so many antibiotics for chronic UTIs, which I still have and treat with natural remedies. Now that I know what the problem is, you would think that it would soon subside but, that’s not been the case. In some ways this has been more frustrating than the depression was. It feels like sabotage. It makes me feel like I know what Paul meant when he said,
“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little YEAST works through the whole batch of dough.”
Galatians 5:7-9 NIV Blue Letter Bible
Paul called the sin and evil found in our lives…yeast, which is what candida is. We know that Satan loves to render us ineffective. This is a great example of that. My Achilles heel: Sugar, bread, noodles, potatoes…creates YEAST. Knowing this should make me gear up for battle. This should tick me off to the point were I’m determined to do something about it. Right? Well I have. I can’t tell you how much time and energy I have spent researching this, talking about this, spending money on this but I’m still suffering. Why? Because this isn’t going away if I pass on doughnuts. I’ve been shown that I’ve been fighting this alone. I get so frustrated that I leave God out of the equation. God said to me a while back; “You are in the way. The battle is mine, not yours.” Recently I hear His spirit telling me to “Start praising!” This is the prescribed way to deal with any “invader” that comes to steal your inheritance or territory. I just started to put this all together this morning! Look at King Jehoshaphat’s story with me in 2 Chronicles 20.
This shows an accurate plan of attack against foreign invaders:
1. Fast (and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. vs.3)
2. Pray (The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. vs.4)
3. Trust (Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” vs.12)
4. Show up (You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” vs.17)
5. Worship and Praise. (“As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” vs.22)
A couple years ago a friend was talking to me about how the spiritual affects the physical and vice versa. He even mentioned how negativity and a complaining can cause illness. Well, now it’s been made a reality. Much like when God said He would heal me and then everything in Scripture seemed to be about health and healing to me!
My negative attitude has made me sick. The frustrations I have had and the stress in my life has made me physically ill. The prescription, amazing enough, is praise!!!
In the book of Ezra the elders wept at the sight of the new temple that was built after the exiles returned to Jerusalem. In the same way when I look at my temple and how it has “fallen into disrepair”makes me sad, but this is how God grows us up! So we will see what not to do, or what we should have done differently. He lets us fall down and fail sometimes to make us more aware of who we are to look to for our strength and success. Ezra told those elders to praise the Lord anyway. To eat and drink and celebrate because God was with them! This has been such a reminder of what God did in my life to heal me 12 years ago. He will stop at nothing until we are whole and perfect. I will start declaring positivity over my life instead of failure. I am already healed, In Jesus Name. I will start today to rebuild the temple with Him. Praise God!
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’ ”
Ezekiel 37:11-14 NIV
Can something dead be made alive again? Ezekiel gave an award winning answer to this very question when God asked him,
“Son of man, can these bones live? ”
(Ezekiel 37:3)
I’m in awe over his wise response: “Only you know Lord.” Good. Answer. Israel was stuck. Not stuck in comfort mind you, just stuck. We will get to the comfort part later.
I was in my prayer room four years ago, reading from another prophet, Jeremiah, when the words, “what do you see” seemed to come off of the page. I knew the Lord wanted me to “see” with spiritual eyesight something in my situation that could be found in these very words. Excited, I looked out the prayer room window, but my excitement soon stopped and I answered, “what do I see?” Well, Lord it literally looks dead-very dead (very dry) out of this window. I was looking out over the once bustling store and hangout of my youth. At the time I was still trying to adjust to being in the newly renovated parsonage and truthfully not feeling it. Feeling a bit lost and tired. Bone tired (bone dry) after all of the packing and moving that had taken place for months but trying to settle in, nonetheless.
A few months later I heard the same,”What do you see?” again. This time when I looked out of the same prayer room window, things were starting to happen. Things were coming together like those dry bones did in the book of Ezekiel. It was just about “boat time” and the locals were riding down to the county dock to meet the ferry boat when it comes in every afternoon at 1:15 and tourists were strolling about as well. It was a very different view than the last time. It was coming alive in some respects. So, I said, “Lord, I see life! I see things happening! I guess it’s not as dead as I thought at first.”
Okay, all of that said brings me to today’s message and what I think God wanted me to “see” in all of this. Can something dead become alive again? Of course! Remember Lazarus? The Resurrection of our Lord Himself? Or how about whole cities and towns: Nineveh, The Hebrides. Yes, yes! Dead things can be brought back to life! What I’m seeing lately though is that many a dead thing is walking around! Unbeknownst to them-they are in fact dead! Zombies. Constantly consulting their phones for any and everything. Never looking up. Too comfortable to move. Seriously though…this is not funny! And it’s not just our phones! What I am “SEEING,” many are not! Spiritually speaking, of course. And, the truth is that if I see many being deceived, more than likely I too am being deceived. A scary thought. Our enemy no longer hides in the shadows. He is right up in your face these days and if we aren’t seeing that we are deceived. We live in a time when sinful behavior is not only allowed, it’s praised! If we are not taking a stand at this point for truth and losing some friends and gaining some enemies than we might be on the wrong team!
I realize God tells us many times to, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) and “Do not be afraid. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:14)
Lately though, I sense an urgency. I feel the leading of the Spirit to get a move on! I think that sometimes, in the past I have thought that those scriptures gave me the excuse to be complacent. That’s not what these verses mean at all! Prayer, in and of itself is action and when we pray there is also an element of watching, also an action. We are to watch and pray. This exercises our faith and trust in Him to move on our behalf. So, it’s pray, watch, go!
What I am getting at is this: We are losing our get up and go for the kingdom! Living in this western society has caused us to have a sort of “drive-thru” faith. We want God to fix everything the way we want our doughnuts! Hot and now! Am I right? We are weighed down and can hardly move. Confession time…I sometimes put off praying about something that is on my mind because I have told myself that He couldn’t possibly be interested or isn’t going to give me what I think I need. Silly, huh? That’s laziness on my part.
I believe that instead of having such a bratty attitude about God we need Him to show us how serious this can be. That we could be in a spirit of stupor that Paul talked about. (Romans 11:8)
Look at that one part in the Ezekiel scripture again..the children of Israel say that “our bones are dried up and our hope is gone and we are cut off.” Isn’t that sad for God’s people to come to such a conclusion?! “To despair is to turn your back on God.” -Marilla Cuthbert (Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery) If our hope is gone then that says we have put our trust in ourselves and our abilities. But if we are looking to God we will have all we could ever need! To say we are cut off implies that God has separated Himself from us. We are alone. A lie that the enemy would like us to believe. We learn however from The Word that God “never leaves us or forsakes us.”(Deuteronomy 31:8) If we turn to Him with humble hearts He will always come near.
Look at what God says…”I am going to open up your graves!” He says, “ I’m going to settle you in your own land and everyone will know that I done it!” That’s it right there! Did you see it? It’s all for Him! All for His glory. We can try to move and do all we want but until it has His stamp on it…until it has His seal it’s all worthless.
I truly believe it is time to get a move on for His Kingdom and His glory. And when I say that I mean first of all to draw near. Cultivate a prayer time with God. Away from all the distractions. This could be the year of a Great Awakening! This could be the last trumpet call for us as followers of Jesus Christ to come under His yoke, let Him loose the chains and distractions and get a move on! Let’s ask what He would like to see happen for His glory in our lives that will spill over into other’s lives. He is worthy. And He cares too much for us to be stuck for too long. It’s time to get going.
..the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. And he came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT! ‘EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE LOWERED; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH; AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD!’” (Luke 3:2-6 NASB Blue Letter Bible)
I recently read Luke’s account of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. It was enough to get me in the Christmas spirit and cool me off a little from this August heat! Let me share what I have been pondering with you:
The message entrusted to John from God was weighty and direct, much like the Old Testament prophet’s messages. John was definitely the man for the job. Jesus even said of him, “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John.” (Luke 7:28 NIV Blue Letter Bible)
So who was John and why should we still heed his message?
John the Baptist was a New Testament prophet. The son of Zechariah the priest and Elizabeth, cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. His birth was announced to his father, Zechariah by the angel Gabriel, while he was offering up incense at the temple. The angel proceeded to tell him:
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF FATHERS BACK TO THEIR CHILDREN and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:13-17 NIV Blue Letter Bible)
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