Category Archives: Blog

The Weapons of Warfare – Pt. 2 – The Enemy’s Activity

In my last post I talked about the enemy’s domain. This time, we’re going to look at a short list of what he does in that domain. Again, I’m simply going to lay out scriptures, giving a few thoughts along the way, but my hope is that you will read the scriptures and ask God for His thoughts.

1 Chronicles 21:1 – “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.”

This was a census of David’s military. The thinking at this time was that a man could only count what belonged to him. But Israel belonged to God, so this census was very foolish, and God brought punishment for it to David. The enemy was coming against all of Israel, by inciting their leader to sin. So, bear with me for a moment, as I follow this trail.

How do you come against a nation? You go after it’s leader.

How do you come against a church? You go after the leadership.

How do you come against a family? You go after the parents. Why do we think the divorce rate is so high?

Anyone else see a pattern? Anyone else see a reason to pray for anyone in your life who is in a leadership position?

Zechariah 3:1 – “Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right side to resist him.”

Part of the meaning of the word resist, is to “accuse”. It also means to oppose, to be an adversary. Bottom line for me? My enemy never takes a day off. He is my adversary at all times, opposing me, accusing me, resisting me. Let me ask you a question:

Have you ever come into church on a Sunday morning and as you try to enter into worship, you begin to think about everything you did wrong that week? Has a sense of shame accompanied you into church? Or, are you suddenly reminded of the last fight you had with your spouse (maybe that morning!), and you can’t get it out of your head? That is your adversary at work. Accusing. Opposing. Resisting.

Or how about when you determine to spend time in prayer. Ever find your thoughts wandering into territories that are absolutely not conducive to fervent, effectual prayer? Your adversary is at work.

Matthew 13:19:  “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

Mark 1:13 – “He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.”

Acts 5:3:  “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?”

What do you think he actually used to fill their hearts? Perhaps it was fear of having nothing for themselves. Or maybe it was the need to control, to ensure they would have enough provision. Maybe it was just outright greed. We don’t know, but experience tells us that when our hearts begin to fill up with thoughts of “what about me?”, sin is not far from us.

2 Corinthians 2:11 – “so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

Oh, but I think many times we are very ignorant of his schemes. Did you even know that he schemes against you? Looks for ways and opportunities to hinder you, make you stumble, make you doubt, make you stop. It reminds me of fur trappers. They don’t just stand around with their fingers crossed, hoping a rabbit hops by. They set snares in areas where they know rabbits would be found. They scheme up ways to make their traps more efficient and more effective.

Our adversary is not passive, but I’m afraid that all too often, we are.

2 Corinthians 4:4 – “In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

2 Corinthians 11:14 – “And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

1 Thessalonians 2:18 – “So we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.”

1 Peter 5:8 – ““Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Revelation 12:9 – “So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world.”

Ok, let’s summarize.

Our enemy…

Provokes us · Accuses us · Tempts us · Can fill our hearts to sin · Blinds the minds of unbelievers · Snatches seed that is sown · Hinders us · Schemes against us · Disguises himself · Deceives the whole world

Again, this is just a sampling. We know that practically, his activities play out in many different ways and take many different shapes in our lives, in our homes, our churches, our communities, and in the world.

But we can take heart!

In the next post we will begin to talk about the weapons of our warfare. All that we have been given to walk in victory, take back ground, advance the Kingdom of God. Watch for it!

The Weapons of Warfare – pt. 1 – The Enemy’s Domain

One of my goals in my Lifegroup is to try to create an atmosphere that leads the women to desire and seek deeper intimacy with God. Last week’s teaching was on spiritual warfare, which may seem like an odd avenue to a closer relationship with God, but it actually isn’t odd at all. Hopefully, this series of posts will bear that out.

I thought I would lay out a sampling of what the scriptures say, and then I will offer my thoughts – but that’s all they are. My thoughts. I’m asking you to look at the scriptures and seek God for what He is saying in them.

Knowing our Enemy: His Domain

Ephesians 2:2:  “…in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

1 John 5:19:  “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

2 Corinthians 4:4:  “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel…”

Revelation 12:9:  “the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

John 14:30:  “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me…”

Ephesians 6:12:  “For 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.” [the lower heavens, or the heaven of the clouds]

Job 1:7:  “The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

Colossians 1:13:  “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,…”

Matthew 4:8-9: “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”

From the looks of it, the whole earth is satan’s domain, including the atmosphere. The conundrum is what do we do with the scriptures that tell us that the earth is God’s and everything in it, or that Jesus is Lord over all? The best illustration I could come up with is the Roman Empire in biblical times. It may not be a great illustration, given my weak grasp on history, but it’s all that came to mind. The Roman Empire was vast. Really, really huge. And throughout it, there were many Governors, or rulers. They each had power and authority over their particular ‘domain’, however, there was only one who was sovereign over the whole empire. Caesar.

So my thought is this: Satan has power in his domain, but he does not have sovereignty, and that is important for us to know.

Let’s also consider this: Satan was in the Garden of Eden, the place where God walked with Adam and Eve. The place He had created for them. He was also present at the last supper, when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. He was in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was being arrested.

I think, based on my own experience, that many of us live unaware of the presence of the enemy. When we are fighting with our spouse, experiencing road rage in traffic, thinking of ways to get our next fix (drugs, alcohol, sex, food…whatever our fix may be), when we feel overwhelmed by life to the point of withdrawing from others. We blame our spouse, blame the ding-dong drivers, blame our job, blame our kids, blame ourselves, blame life. And so we fight the wrong enemy, engage in the wrong battle, and wonder why we feel defeated.

We have to acknowledge the war that is taking place all around us. Not just out there, but in our homes, in our churches, in our own hearts. Ignoring it will be of no benefit to us.

The enemy’s domain is the whole earth, including the atmosphere.

He is called the ruler of this world, the god of this world, and the deceiver of the whole world.

He has power, but he is not sovereign!

We will neither glorify him nor underestimate him. We will educate ourselves on his domain, his activities, and the weapons we have at our disposal, and we will walk in the victory that is available to us.

Questions to ponder ~

Where have you most seen the enemy at work in your life? (Marriage/relationships, your job, your emotional / mental state, your ministry or calling, etc.)

How quickly have you been able to recognize that he is at work?

How does the fact that his domain, where he is working and exercising his power, is the whole earth, change how you view world events, if at all?

Next time: The Weapons of our Warfare – Pt. 2 – His Activity

It’s us or the stones

It’s the first song in my I-can’t-sleep worship playlist. Something about it brings me to my feet, which is probably why I can’t sleep.
https://youtu.be/y6WnMuoZYOg

This song got me out of my sickbed if even for a few minutes, to stand and praise Him. It is a reminder that praise is hard in hard places, but He is still worthy of our praise.

There will always be something or someone trying to take our song. Keep us focused on our hard place or our hard life, hard marriage, hard job, hard everything. We need a reminder that we don’t praise our life, we praise God. We don’t sing because our life is good, we sing because Jesus is good and He is forever worthy of our song. Our circumstances do not change that.

I know we don’t feel like singing. We don’t want to have to shift our focus. Seems like a lot of effort. Sometimes, let’s be honest, we would rather just lick our wounds than raise our hands to heaven. But there is something that happens when we choose to get up and begin to praise God. The darkness and oppression that hang around in the hard places begin to lift when we begin to release our praise.

What something or someone is trying to take your song right now? I’m not just talking about singing along in church or with a video. I’m talking about your song. Your praise. Your acknowledgment that no matter what, you will believe in and trust His goodness. Your hallelujah.

He will be praised. Let’s keep the stones quiet.

Covid, Revival, and the gaze of the church

It was Wednesday morning, August 19th, and I woke up with a headache and feeling like I had a chest cold. By the next day, it felt like full-on flu, but unlike any flu I had ever had. On Friday I got tested and on Sunday that test came back positive for Covid-19.

The next week was the sickest I’ve ever been. It was the flu on steroids. My joints felt like they were full of broken glass. I had horrible night sweats, a constant headache, a cough that would not quit, and less than zero energy. I couldn’t even think straight. I had more than one serious thought that I might die from this virus.

On day 10 the turn around came. Not a huge turn, more like a slight curve, but enough to give me hope. My joints stopped aching so bad, and I was able to come out of my room for a bit and walk through the house. One walk-through and then I had to go back to bed, but it was something. With each passing day it has gotten better, and today, my only symptoms are some shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, and a narly brain fog that sometimes makes it hard to focus, hard to communicate well, and hard to remember things. The cough is rare, if ever, now. No body pain. Some occasional congestion. I’ve read that it could be months yet before I feel back to normal. That’s ok. I honestly feel lucky to have survived it at all. I am very fortunate to have a husband who took such good care of me, even though he too tested positive. His symptoms lasted a day and then were gone and he was back to normal, except for the fatigue.

I also have a lifegroup of women who cared for us both for the first two weeks, by dropping off a meal every day. I usually find it very difficult to accept help like that, but there were days that I don’t think we would have eaten if not for that meal. I could barely stand up for more than a couple of minutes, and both of us were too fatigued to move much at all at times. I am so grateful for a community of women who jumped in to do what they could, dropping off food at our doorstep every day. Oh, another symptom that is still with me – I cannot taste or smell things. Actually, the taste seems to be improving. If something is tart, tangy, or salty, I can taste that. Otherwise, I’m just eating because I need to eat. I also struggle with bouts of nausea and stomach pain. This thing is a circus full of fun.

But, I had (have) a lot of people praying for me, including my family, and I believe with all my heart that those prayers moved heaven on my behalf. So thankful.

Ok, that’s my Covid ordeal. I survived and I am recovering. But lemme tell you the good stuff.

Before day 10, I couldn’t do much more than mutter “Jesus, help me” numerous times a day. But once symptoms began to subside, the tide turned. Covid often made it hard for me to sleep at night, so I began having lots of late-night worship sessions. Those sessions turned into prayer times, as I climbed back up on the wall to take my post as an intercessor, albeit a weakened, sometimes nauseous one. And then, my appetite returned with a ferocity I hadn’t seen in a while. Not an appetite for food, but for the Word of God, as I began a renewed search for the heart of my Father. I found my gaze had turned from being consumed with Covid, off of what’s been happening in the political arena and in the streets of our nation, and back to Jesus.

All of this had actually begun before Covid threw me against the rocks. Now, it’s rising up like flames that just hit the kitchen curtains. Spreading, growing. Because God used Covid to fan into life an ember that had only begun to burn. While my body was surviving, my soul began to thrive and that means God had His way and the enemy did not. Any way you turn it, it’s good.

I did not start the flame. I did not will myself to want more of Jesus or to seek more of His heart or to re-engage in intercession. It was not by my own strength or persistence that I came out of the worst part of Covid with a revival going on in my soul.

God is on the move.

And oh my gosh haven’t we all just been waiting for it? As chaos increases and lawlessness is more brazen than ever. As the deception grows thick and rage is running the streets, we’ve waited for God to pull back the curtain and reveal the truth and put everything right. But what if we’ve been looking in the wrong place for the move of God? What if He wants to do it in us, instead of out there? Perhaps the shaking starts with us, those who are called holy and righteous and belonging to Him. What if we’re the ones with the curtain and the need for truth in our innermost parts?

What if Jesus is turning the gaze of the Church away from what’s happening in the darkness and fixing it on Him who dwells in unapproachable light?

There is not one thing going on in the world right now that is outside of the sovereignty of God. Not one thing is thwarting His plans or altering His purposes in the earth. He is who He says He is. He will do what He said He will do. He has built His Church on the truth of the Gospel, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Nothing is hidden from His sight. He will neither slumber nor sleep. He is making ready His Bride, to present her to His Father.

Turning her gaze back to Him. Making a way in her wilderness and streams in her desert. Allowing the sifting and praying for her, that her faith will not fail. Calling her to return to her first Love, to choose the better thing, to love Him with all her heart, soul, mind and strength.

We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!

Hebrews 12:2 – The Passion Translation
What is God doing in you right now, in the middle of what you’re going through?
How is He attempting to turn your gaze to Him?

the lie behind ‘you are enough’

I’ve written about this topic before, more than once. Just stating upfront that I am aware that this is not the first time I’ve brought it up in our conversations. I didn’t forget and you can stop trying to spell d-e-m-e-n-t-i-a in your head. I don’t have it. But I do have a passion for this particular subject and as long as it is poisoning the Church, I’ll keep talking about it.

For most of my life I believed I was not enough. And by most of my life I mean since I was a little girl lost in a family of dysfunction, feeling invisible and voiceless. Not enough to stop the chaos around me. I grew up and left that home, but ‘not enough’ left with me and it about did me in.

The fear/belief/suspicion that we are not enough is a weapon the enemy is using against the Church quite effectively. It breeds comparison in us. It brings depression and anxiety, striving, and self-hatred. But it is not being used in the way most of us would think.

It is truth he is using, not a lie.

I have yet to find one thing in the Word of God that tells me that I am enough. Instead, He paints picture after picture of just the opposite.

We’ll start with the loaves and the fish. The little boy with a small lunch, among 5,000 hungry people, offered what he had. It was clearly not enough.

The poor widow who put her two very small copper coins in the offering plate. Not enough to help anyone, but it was all she had.

The crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. He didn’t have enough strength to get himself into the pool and get his healing.

The disciples with not enough faith in the storm.

The countless times that the Israelites did not have enough of anything to win their battles.

And the most glaring not enough of them all – our severe lack of enough righteousness to save ourselves.

There’s more, but I think you get my point. We are not enough. It’s the truth, but it’s the lie the enemy puts behind it that makes it a weapon against us.

We should be enough.

Just a little twist of the truth and you have a sharp weapon to use against the psyche of God’s people. Something that will keep them focused on themselves for generations. A should that keeps them chasing what they will never catch.

Can we begin to see it from a different perspective, and turn that weapon around?

What if my enough would keep someone from seeing their need for Jesus? If I’m enough for my husband, why will he go to God to be filled? If I’m enough for my children, why would they learn to depend on God? What if I let go of the need to be enough, because I know the truth?

Has it occurred to us that the enemy’s scheme is to make everything about us? To keep us focused on our smallness, our failures, our weaknesses (or, our strengths, our victories and successes). Either way, it turns us inward. Really, that’s what this “not enough” thing is about, don’t you think? Us. But if we would pick up the Word of God and read it, we would find the truth and the truth would set us free.

We are not enough. God is. That’s the whole point. God is our deliverer, our healer, our all the things that we are not. That’s why we must set our eyes on Him. Set our hearts on Him. Set our faith on Him. And stop trying to be enough so that we are justified in setting all of that on ourselves.

Let’s spare ourselves the self-help books and the memes that show us whispering to ourselves “you are enough”. Let’s refuse to listen to those who, with the best of intentions, keep trying to convince us that we are enough.

Instead, let’s repent. Turn around. Go the other way. The way that glorifies God for being more than enough, for having strength that is perfected in our weaknesses, for being not just everything we need, but everything those around us need.

Let’s repent of giving God glory and then beating ourselves up. Of singing His praises and then silently screaming our self-loathing at ourselves. It’s a grievous thing we are doing when we say He is our all in all, but walk around feeling shame that we can’t be the all in all for others. It is making us sick – physically, emotionally and spiritually sick.

After many years in the Word of God, walking with Him, learning Him, I no longer feel the need to be enough. My God is enough and this is about Him. My family needs Him, not me, to be enough. My friends, my community, the lost around me – they all need Him to be enough.

Christianity is about Christ. We will not be healed until we stop making it about us.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

John 6; Mark 12; John 5; Mark 4;

let’s raise a sword to father’s day

Sunday morning. Quiet house. Pondering these two sentences:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” (John 6:44)

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

I can’t get to Jesus unless the Father draws me to Him, and I can’t get to the Father unless I come to Jesus first. Of all of the spiritual truths, this one is the great tenderizer of my heart.

God built a cross and put His Son on it because of the sin that separated us. Then He chased me down by drawing me to Jesus so that Jesus could make things right between me and my Father. Everything that was done was done because my Father wanted me with Him. I will never get over that. Ever.

And I grieve because of how many Christians find no rest in the truth. So many are still trying to win God’s approval, still trying to prove themselves worthy. Keeping Him at a distance, trying to figure out if He can be trusted.

And that is why the Word of God is a sword.

On this day especially, when fathers are being celebrated, many of you have a bitter taste in your mouth that has made its way to your heart, because not all earthly fathers are good. Sad fact of a fallen world: good parenting is hard to do and some just couldn’t do it and it turned children into victims, and the enemy knows an opportunity when he sees one.

So here’s a question: How is the enemy using that bitter taste in you to his advantage?

Maybe it’s keeping you from forgiving, which makes it hard to receive forgiveness. Maybe it’s protecting a victim mentality that makes everyone around you suspect of trying to hurt you. Every slight, real or imagined, sends you into a tailspin. It’s possible that your bitterness is being used to force you into a continual cycle of trying to get approval from others and then crashing into depression because you just can’t get enough approval to make something in you feel better. Maybe you punish yourself because you weren’t worthy to be loved well by your father. Maybe you’re just angry. Like, all the time. Those are all fallouts from trauma, but honestly? I don’t think any of that is your enemy’s actual goal.

His perfect outcome is to draw a straight line from your earthly father to God.

I believe he could care less how you feel about your earthly dad, just as long as your relationship with God suffers because you have used your earthly father to judge your heavenly Father. But here is the truth that the enemy will never whisper to your heart:

There is only One who is the exact representation of the Father and His name is Jesus. He is the only One who can walk that straight line to God. Every other single person on this earth has to go through the cross.

Today, of all days, calls for a sword. Truth to break lies that are so dang strong. Love that will conquer a heart that’s been hurt. A heavenly perspective that will change how we see a fallen world with fallen people.

Truth can help us choose forgiveness, choose to move on, choose to let go. The Word of God can tear down the lies that keep us imprisoned in our childhoods (and our adulthoods), where we re-live our wounding on a regular basis.

Truth reminds us that God cannot be measured by earthly fathers; that all goodness starts with Him, not with us.

The sword of the Spirit declares with every swing that God is good and that you can trust that the whole reason He built a cross for His Son and drew you to it is because you are loved and wanted by Him.

Come Home

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” Psalm 90:1

“The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27

From pages so old, Moses is whispering to us that God is our home.

I know. Home wasn’t always a good place for me either. It wasn’t always safe and mostly I couldn’t wait to leave. It was where escape became my first and strongest addiction. And then I found other so-called homes. Relationships that hurt. Marriages that hurt. Places that made me long to be free, to be anywhere but there.

I always had a roof over my head but I was always homeless.

Because true home is a safe place – physically and emotionally. A refuge. A place we don’t want to leave and when we do we can’t wait to return. It is where we feel most welcomed, most ourselves, most free. Home is where we live, not where we simply survive.

And finally, after running from every other place that called itself home for me, I ran to God. I didn’t feel safe with Him at first, because I didn’t feel safe with anyone. Trust issues don’t just disappear when you say a prayer, know what I mean? Words like “God will punish you for that” don’t just stop sounding true. I didn’t know that He is actually kind, or safe. I didn’t know that I had finally run home.

Belief doesn’t just show up in us. We choose it, because we have been given free will to do so. Everything we believe was a choice we made to believe it. For years I chose to believe that if I just hung in there, tried a little harder, my life would get better and I would end up happy. But eventually, it became clear to me that nothing was going to change and that made me sad and panicked and tired. Out of hope. And just as one king has to die for another king to take his place, one belief system has to end so that another can begin.

So one day in a hospital cafeteria I chose to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that He died to pay the price for my sins, and I could now be forgiven and have eternal life. But honestly? The thing I most needed at that moment, the choice that was like jumping off a cliff for me, was to believe that God could change my life. If that wasn’t true, then I was a goner. So I jumped.

Some people feel most “with” God when they are in worship. For others, it’s being in nature, or maybe it’s when they are gathered with other Christians in prayer. I know a few Christians who only feel close to God when they are in church. Others have a particular spot in their home where they meet with Him. For me, there’s only ever been one place.

From that hospital cafeteria, I went back to my life, to a husband and kids and emotional wounds that wouldn’t quit. And a bible. That’s it. No church. No bible study groups or women’s ministries. Just a bible that I didn’t understand, and a need to know God. I needed to find out who He was and why He loved me. That was 30 years ago and today, the Word of God and the presence of God are the same thing to me. I am most at home when I am with Him in the scriptures. I feel safe there. Loved and free. It’s where I talk to my Father and He talks to me. It is always where I most want to be.

For Christians, life is a journey home, and doesn’t that make you think heaven? But Moses has whispered something and I can’t shake it.

God is our home. Heaven is where we finally see what home looks like.

 

{Dear believer – while the scriptures may not feel like home for you, they are where the truth is found. They are where you will come to know Him, the One you have chosen to believe. To try to follow Christ with nothing more than a sporadic or occasional glance at the Word of God will make following Him a confusing, cumbersome endeavor. Or worse, an option.}

#readyourbible