And the Wind Doth Blow

***REPOST of post dated February 2008***

The kids have missed two soccer practices and half of another because it has been really windy here in the past couple of weeks. You could barely get out of the car without the wind blowing the car door back on you and crushing part of your body. While I was picking up Beth from school one day I noticed a bird that was lazily “enjoying” the wind. First he would fly a little forward only to be pushed back by the wind. Then, he seemed to give up and be content floating along wherever the breeze would take him. His wings stopped fighting what he couldn’t resist long enough to just float along.

It reminded me of something the Lord has been showing me. Something that is still sinking in. Something that if left untethered can become dangerous.

A while back some of you may recall a post I did on my allergies (I removed this post months ago). I had decided to see a doctor that I thought the Lord was leading me to. I had felt clearly that this is what the Lord was going to allow to help me in this area that had become quite a “thorn in my side.” The methods she used were interesting, not utilizing medication, which I did not want to consider. Things moved along okay. It was getting expensive but I felt it was helping...until she suggested I watch a DVD called The Secret. Then, instantly, I knew that I had made a mistake. I knew that God and not told me to see this doctor. I had listened to my own thoughts, my own ideas, my own agenda of how I wanted it done. And, I was deceived. I immediately stopped going to this doctor. Looking back I see now that I was going down the road associated with New Age doctrine and mysticism. It was clearly not directed by the Lord.

I was extremely grateful the Lord had placed this caution on my heart. As the weeks moved on, it didn’t stop there. I realized how easily one can be swayed by teachings, books, and even today's Bibles that are manmade paraphrases of what they think the Lord is saying. I began praying for wisdom and discernment. I began research on doctrines, book reviews and false teachings. I was alarmed at how easily, for a time, I could have been seriously swayed by false teachings and doctrine. Since then, I have thrown several books that I owned into the trash. When I compared what some authors are writing with the Word of God it did not add up. It sounds good on the surface and made me “feel better” for a time. I have since learned that what I read needs to be carefully assessed to see if it lines up with the word of God. There are some mindsets of mine that I am still working on the Lord changing because it was everything that my flesh wanted to hear.

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes (Ephesians 4:11-14).

...I will no longer buy books by "famous Christian" authors without careful prayer and research into what they truly believe.

In scripture, we are warned that there will be false doctrine by people who say they are Christians. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15). This is why I will no longer buy books by “famous Christian” authors without careful prayer and research into what they truly believe. This can be hard when it seems everyone is in agreement with everything that is out there. If it is mainsteam and tickles the itching ears then it is probably not the full gospel of the Bible.

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths"(2 Timothy 4:3-4).

So how do you know? Pray for discernment. Pray that the Lord would give you a heart like the Bereans in Acts who carefully studied the scriptures to make sure everything Paul was preaching to them was true (Acts 17:11). Carefully and scrupulously compare what you think is true lines up with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If they are teaching the love of God, are they also teaching about the wrath and judgment of God? Are they teaching repentance? Are they teaching that we are saved by faith through grace and not of works? Are the thoughts taken in context with the whole Word of God or is a verse carefully selected to support what the author is saying?

We are living in an age of deception. Be aware of what is going on out there. Pray that you are not deceived! Read and study the Word of God daily.

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith"(1 Timothy 1:3).

To Evangelize or Not

Leon Brown of Evangelism Team has a great post on evangelism being something that we as Christians pick and choose if we want to do it or not.

Quoting Leon Brown:

"We are all called to share our faith in some capacity; and while everyone may not be open air preaching, everyone is required to "preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15).

Inside our churches, however, this does not seem to be the case. It is quite possible that you are one of the few that actively shares your faith. When you request to have people go out with you, only one shows up, or maybe even none. While that is sad, there's good news!

Praise God for that one that showed up, and praise God if you're the only one. You are being obedient to your Maker! What you must not do is be like Martha and complain. Allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify His Church through your obedience (because people see you), and allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify His Church through your edification and encouragement to the people whom reside in your local body. But again, and I cannot stress this enough...never complain about it."

Read full post here.

From: Leon Brown's Blog

Praying the Scriptures

“Father, grant me a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of yourself. Please, don’t leave me to myself. I am so worldly. My thoughts and feelings are so unspiritual. I scarcely feel any awe or trembling or sense of spiritual beauty or sweetness or glory. Have mercy and by your Spirit awaken in me a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that when I read or hear your wisdom and your revelation I will have ears to hear and eyes to see the wonder of it (Psalm 119:8).”

From: desiringGod (Ministry of John Piper)

Amazed

Are you amazed anymore?

Open Book

My daughter recently witnessed me reading my Bible and mentioned that I must really love God because I was always reading my Bible. My heart was warmed to hear that and was glad that I could be some kind of example to her in that manner.

The next week, the lady that helps me clean my house told me that she never knew anybody that had faith like I did. I took that as a great compliment too. Once again, it was great to have encouragement from someone that hardly knows you. To be an example is something I struggle with daily and it was nice to see that some work the Lord was doing was paying off to someone that you least expected to notice.

But little do they know. Little do they know how difficult it is sometimes to concentrate on growing my faith. How hard it is sometimes to wrestle with my flesh and sinful desires and thoughts. They don't really know that I get discouraged and down right overwhelmed. They would probably be surprised to hear my prayers. The ones that are full of whining and complaining. The ones that are full of fear and doubt. The ones that wail to God with loneliness and despair. The ones that you don't want anyone to see the weakness but it shows forth anyway with vengeance because I wear it on my sleeve. The ones where I question my faith all together and wonder if I have any faith at all anymore.

"He whose life is one even and smooth path, will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence, but little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of tempests; but they who 'do business in great waters', these see His 'wonders in the deep'. Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of God's greatness and loving-kindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you, as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold His glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been left to the darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity might have involved, but that in the great fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His wonderful dealings with you." --Charles Spurgeon

In the midst of my struggles, if I had remained in the shallow waters I wouldn't have cried out to God. I wouldn't have needed to and thus I wouldn't have received the knowledge that He is pouring upon me now. God's timing is so precise and perfect! Thank goodness that my life is an open book to the Lord. It's all laid out there and He can see every word of it. He can see that although I can struggle at times I am desperately seeking Him. I am trying to learn how to believe and have more faith. Nothing escapes our Lord as He knows the innermost workings of my heart and thoughts (Psalm 94:11). To some that is a scary notion but to me it is comforting because He knows where my heart is and what it is really seeking after. Even so, there is much work to be done. He will melt me with fire to purify me so that I can share in His righteousness.

Remember the Israelites after they had been freed from slavery in Egypt? There was no rejoicing in their freedom. No thankfulness for the God who freed them and was leading them into the Promised Land. The Lord said that they were just wailing on their beds and not crying out to Him. Boy, what a fine pack of people huh? You wouldn't want to be around that group with a ten-foot pole. Oh, but alas -- if you looked closely and probably not very hard -- I'd be right there with them! I'd be the one throwing up my hands and wailing on my bed!

Recently I was reading Matthew 8:26. The disciples are on a boat with Jesus who is sleeping when a sudden storm comes up and fear grips them. I can see them with wide eyes watching the waves and the storm all around them as fear wants to gobble them up. They hurriedly awaken Jesus who asks them,"Why are you fearful, O you of little faith." Jesus then rebukes the wind and the seas and I love what happens next -- there was a great calm. What goes through my head when I read that is boy those disciples were so lucky! All they had to do was go wake up Jesus who was right there on the boat with them! Yet they still had no faith! We are in good company are we not?

In his book Running Scared**, author Edward T. Welch says this, "When we complain, we hold him in contempt. The white lies we tell are against the God of truth. The anger we display is murderous toward others and stands in judgment of God himself. And it is not just what we do that is so serious; it is also what we don't do. We don't love God and neighbor with our whole heart. In our spiritual indifference we can go for days thinking that our personal interests are paramount; that is, we forget God. When there is persistent sin, there is no fear of God (Rom 3:18)."

Through it all the Lord is teaching me to trust in Him and not in my fears and worries and the fruitless opinions of others. My interests for my life are not important. It all boils down to conquering sin. Concentrating on my fear and worry makes me look inward to myself as I feed off the insecurities. After a while it's all I know. And that makes it a lot harder to look up. The Israelites never battled their sin and were never were allowed into the Promised Land. If they were truly pursuing God, then they would have been very concerned about the sin in their life. That is what it is ALL about.

Here is what Welch says about sin, "The reality is that the Spirit convicts of sin. One piece of evidence of kingdom life is that you will see more sin, not less. Outside the kingdom of heaven, there is no concern about sin. That doesn't mean that unbelievers are so bad; it means that they are indifferent to the fact that their sin is against God. They hide the more shameful sins, but they don't do battle with them. When you are brought into the kingdom of light, you both see sin and, for the first time, get in a battle with it. The battle means you are alive."

What I trust in most is what I want to hang onto. But I am letting go.

Slowly. Surely. I am. I will. The work He has started in me will be complete.

And my hope is in my God who works all things for good to those who trust in Him.

Lord, I am an open book. Rewrite the chapters. Make me a best seller for your Kingdom.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them (Col 3:1-7).

**I recommend: Running Scared

Blessed Are The PeaceMAKERS

Guest Lane Chaplin on Slice of Laodicea posted this on how we are called to be peacemakers and not peacekeepers. Listen to the sermon by Mark Kielar of First Baptist Church of Boynton Beach. It is an absolutely fabulous point on what exactly being a peacemaker is about. I encourage all those who are sharing their faith to take some time to listen to this one hour sermon.

Here is an excerpt from the post Blessed are the PeaceMAKERS (Not the PeaceKEEPERS):

"One of the charges Ingrid is met with often here at Slice as do many of us meet is that we are trouble makers who cause division in the Body. We are told that we should basically be pacifists who allow any and all error into our lives and practice and are scolded for even taking the time and effort to discern what exactly error is. This is propagated largely and very often by those professing the name of Christ who are carnal hypocrites because they wouldn’t hold the same philosophy of wanting others to accept everything regardless if it’s error if they were to see their child about to eat paint chips or chop off their finger by placing it next to a power saw. Since a Christian is defined by the Bible and the Bible says that it’s the one who points out error to make peace instead of lying about the “peace” that is already there which is basically keeping a veneer over false peace, shouldn’t we relinquish our subjective opinions to the authority of God?"

See full post and link to sermon here.

Spiritual Sickness

Have you noticed lately there seems to be a lot of people that are sick? I think I probably notice it more since I have been one of them. About a month ago, I got really sick. I had all kinds of ultrasounds and tests done, blood drawn, and even nuclear medicine pumped into me that made my organs glow! Thankfully, nothing too serious was found.

But I noticed it. While at the hospital having tests done I saw all the people there. I saw them picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy. I heard about sickness going on in my friends and family. And I wondered. What is going on?

I can see how sickness can make many people think that God is not there. I can see how people can be deceived by the Word of Faith teachers (Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Todd Bentley and others) who say that if you are sick you must not have enough faith. I can see how people can think that God doesn't want anybody sick and that they must have some huge sin in their life that they better deal with. Job's friends told him that. All of his troubles had to have been caused by sin -- there was no other explanation.

My soul searching for several years now as to just what was going on with me did indeed uncover unconfessed sin in my life. I do not doubt that God used this suffering in my life to show me exactly where my heart was -- and it wasn't with Him. God allowed the misery to show me that there is more to life than my circumstances. The bottom line is the reason we do suffer whether it be sickness, persecution or otherwise is because we are living in a sinful, fallen world. There is not one of us who is not a sinner and therefore could be subject to sickness and suffering at anytime. I believe God definitely uses these trials as times of testing, chastening, discipline and to remind us that we are not yet perfected in Him. I am a sinner. Job was a sinner. We are all sinners. God perhaps used sickness in my life to show me that I wasn't so humble after all. I wasn't following Him like it looked like I was. And that was frightening. It still is and I am still learning.

Even now, I am going through a time in my life where I just want to be well again. At times, it has become so consuming that it has stopped me in my tracks and kept me from doing the things that I need to be doing such as evangelizing, praying, being a parent and wife. God specifically showed me that my health was, well, my idol. I was worshiping it and I became extremely fearful. I was leaning on my own understanding about what was happening. I was doing everything to try and make it better for myself without trusting God. My prayers were full of complaining and whining. I went though so many scenarios of what could be wrong with me. Come to find out God doesn't really care so much about the physical....it is the SPIRITUAL that is important to Him. He uses the physical sometimes to shake up the spiritual. He uses the physical to make us trust in Him, to test us, and to discipline us. He uses it for His power and His glory.

We know that sin is not always the cause. Remember the parable about the man who was born blind (John 9)? The disciples asked what sin he or his parents had committed that he was born this way. Jesus answered that it was no sin that had made him blind but so that the works of God could be revealed. This particular man was born blind so that Jesus could heal him while he walked on earth and that God's glory would be seen by all!

Another explanation comes from 2 Corinthians 12. Paul was plagued by a thorn in his side that God put there to keep him from being proud. We don't know what it was (some studies elude that it was an eye problem) but we do know that obviously it bothered him and he pleaded with the Lord three times to remove it. The Lord answers him in 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul goes on to say that he will boast all the more gladly of his weakness so that the power of Christ could rest upon him. Concentrating on my sickness was a weakness for me. I was weak in my own strength. But God used it for good. And, sometimes it is down right hard to boast about it.

Have you ever noticed when you go to a doctor they never ask or seem concerned about what you are eating? They listen to our list of symptoms and then they jot down on their notepad a prescription and then send you out the door. God is not concerned with just giving us something that will make us feel better for a little while. He is not concerned with the symptoms. He is concerned and sent His Son to die for the cause -- our sin.

God is not concerned with just giving us something that will make us feel better for a little while. He is not concerned with the symptoms. He is concerned and sent His Son to die for the cause -- our sin.

So what food are you eating? Are you eating from the vine of life? What is coming out of your heart? Living continually in the sin of this world will make us sick just like eating things that are bad for you can make you sick (*see more on this below). The good news is that God has all ready healed that sickness. He suffered and died on the cross for it! One of the verses in the Bible that is always misinterpreted is 1 Peter 2:24 which says in part "by His stripes you were healed." This does not mean physical healing but a healing from the eternal sting of sin (read the whole verse in context). I do believe God heals in the physical but it is His choice if He wants to or not. I also believe that there is a reason that God does what He does and we should not question it but learn from it. He is a merciful God and full of loving kindness. But sometimes He will crush us to make us righteous.

And so I rejoice in my weakness for when I am weak then I am strong! I rejoice in renewed hope and joy!!

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

*(While God did show me where my heart was during this time I did have some things that were continuing to bother me. I continued to cry out to God for answers and He began to show me things regarding my nutrition and hormones. Our body is a temple for God and do believe that what I was eating has some to do with health issues. The food in this country is certainly not what it was in Bible times (it is highly processed) and I think careful consideration and study in this area is important as well. We are each individuals and I think the key is crying out to God for answers as to what He might be working in our lives whether it be physical or spiritual. Even if you don't find the answers regarding physical matters don't neglect the spiritual. Your eternal life depends on it. If you want more information on some interesting nutritional things that I have discovered please contact me.)