Satan Our Accuser

Relive the biggest celebrity scandals since 1985.

When I read this headline, it so reminded me of the devil. Can't leave the past in the past. Like the devil, these people are constantly bringing up past failures and mistakes and throwing them in your face. Just can't leave a dead dog lay. It is like these people thrive on the failures and mistakes of others. Reminds me of a bunch of vultures just sitting around waiting for someone to fall so they can pounce on them and start tearing them to shreds. Only once they have torn you to shreds they don't stop there. Years later they dig around in the trash and pull it all up and start throwing it out there for all the world to see all over again. Like I said, Vultures. Matthew 24:28 Message Bible reads "Whenever you see crowds gathering, think of carrion vultures circling, moving in, hovering over a rotting carcass. You can be quite sure that it's not the living Son of Man pulling in those crowds."

Have you ever had the devil throw your past in your face? The devil will always be around to try to throw our past in our face and sad to say there are times he will use people to do it. They are the back- biters, fault-finders and gossips in the church. I read the following somewhere and it is so true and it goes like this, "It is time that we bind together and learn to pray for one another instead of preying on one another. We must hang together or satan will hang us separately."

Do not become discouraged when satan tries to beat you over the head with your past. Use God's word against him. This is the greatest weapon we possess. There are two reasons why it is so important to hide His word in our hearts. One, so that we might not sin against God and two, so that we will have the power of God's word to fight against satan. Luke 10:19 , " Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you"

One day it will all be over and those who stood true to the Lord will be caught up to meet Him in the air and as for the devil well, he will get his just reward. "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Rev. 12:10

So just keep on keeping on in Jesus Name and when the accuser comes around reminding you of your past just remind him of his future and watch him run.

If Your Knees Are Knocking

If your knees are knocking, kneel on them.
Unknown

When I read this quote it reminded me of two types of fear mentioned in the bible. One is harmful to us as a Christian. It is the spirit of fear. We are all attacked by fear at some point in our life. This fear grips our hearts and our minds. That is why it is so important to not only know who God is but to know God personally. We also need to know His word and to hide it in our hearts so that when fear tries to come upon us and tries to consume us, we will be able to use God's word against the fear that the devil is trying to destroy us with. Isaiah 41:10 reads, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

When we make up our mind to serve God, it will not matter what the devil throws our way. Satan will not be able to overcome us with fear. “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.” Daniel 10:12

In Psalms 56:11 it says “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” We need not to give in to fear. This will only give the devil power over us. We must learn to be like Job and the three Hebrew children. Job said "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:..." (Job 13:15) and the three Hebrew children said in Daniel 3:17-18, "...Our God whom we serve is able to delive us from the burning fiery furnance, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not. be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." They refused to give in to even the fear of death.

The second fear is valuable to us as a Christian. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” Psalms 111:10. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7. “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” Proverbs 14:26-27.

We have no need to be afraid. Roman 8:31 "... If God be for us, who can be against us ?" Psalms 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Remember, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Are You Prepared?

Quote: If at first you don't succeed, then sky-diving definitely isn't for you

Maybe he should have studied the manual on sky-diving and how to use the equippment first. You think?

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15


Brad was to embarrassed to mention that he had forgotten his parachute.

Hmmmmm, reminds me of the story of the five wise and the five foolish virgins.

Matthew 25:1-4 (NKJV) "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 "Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 "Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 "but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

You should never play around with the world or the things of the world. If you do then you will surely get the short end of the rope. The jokes on you!

"Don't become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a parntership out of right and wrong? That's not parntership; that's war. is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God's holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in who God lives. God himself put it this way:

"I'll be their God and they'll be my people. So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good," says God. "Don't link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I'll be a Father to you; you'll be sons and daughters to me." The Word of the Master, God. (2 Cor. 6: 14-18 The Message Bible)

Remember what it says in Luke 22:31 "...Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat!"

The Power of Positive Thinking

Sure little bird, you can make it to the next step!

"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves, they have the first secret of success." - Norman Vincent Peale

I understand what Norman is saying here. Before you can be successful at anything in life, you must first believe that you can and will succeed at whatever task is set before you. That goes from anything in your everyday life to any task that you may face in living for God. No matter how many times in life you get knocked down, you must determine in your mind and your heart that you will continue to get back up, brush yourself off, and keep on keeping on. I want to remind you that whatever it is that you set out to do, that you must continually remind yourself of this passage "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13)

It is important to think in a postitive manner. Being negative will definitely get you nowhere in life. Norman says that people can become quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things and yes they can but, this can be very dangerous and bring much destruction. We must remember that without God we are nothing and can do nothing. We are not a self-made success. We must never ever forget where our source of accomplishing power comes from. If we do, we will end up like the man in Luke 12:18-21 18) "And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19) And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20) But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21) So is he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God."

There were others who became successful in life but forgot where the source of their success came from. It was as though they thought they became successful all by themselves and soon found their lives in such a disaster. They ended up losing everything they had even their very lives. Men like King Saul, Solomon, Samson, Judas and the list can go on. But there are others who realized that they could do mighty things in Christ and became willing vessels in the hands of God. These men and women never forgot where the source of their success and victories came from and they lived on and made history as mighty warriors for Christ. Men and women like David, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Ruth, Samuel, Abraham, Rahab, Ester, Peter, Paul and again, the list goes on.

I don't know about you but I want to be like the latter group I have spoken about. I want to be a willing vessel in the hands of God. I believe that I can be successful. Yet, I know that this can only be accomplished as long as God is in complete control of my life and I willing give Him that control. I must never forget that He is the source of my success.

How Will You Respond?

“There are two big forces at work, external and internal. We have very little control over external forces... (such as tornados, earthquakes, floods, disasters, illness and pain.) What really matters is the internal force. How do I respond to those disasters? Over that I have complete control. ”
by Leo Buscaglia

Eph. 6:12 says "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Luke 22:31 "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:"

Understand that your strength lies in the power of God. Eph 6:10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might."

Know that the battlefield is in the mind. We put on the armor of God in our minds as Paul instructs us in 2Corinthians 10:4-5 ("For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

The whole armor of God is required in our daily spiritual warfare. Be sober and be vigilant! Eph 6:11 "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

God has provided everything you need to have power over the enemy. Eph 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.

So when internal forces try to bring disasters into your life it is up to you how you will respond. You can throw in the towel and say what's the use or you can do as David did in 1 Samuel 30:6 "...But David encouraged himself in the Lord". Tell yourself this, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13. You can be victorious. You do have complete control. The choice is yours. What will you do?

Vultures In Waiting

A friend emailed the above picture to me and it reminded me of another story that I read earlier today called: Self-Admitted Pedophile Arrested, Then Released This story is posted on the following blogsite: http://www.writenow.wordpress.com/ If you get a chance, please stop by and read the story and comments.

Silly Question & Soul Searching

Ok folks, here’s a question just for fun: Can you breathe out of your nose and mouth at the same time? Well, I can’t! That’s right, I actually tried it. I ran across this question and the next thing I knew I was sitting here trying to conquer this feat and I could not do it. Yep, I found some time to myself and here I am doing silly things like this. I just tweaked, snapped, flipped out, and went swoosh - right on over the edge. Maybe it’s not good for grandma to be home alone, you think?

But this silly question brought to my mind the questions in James 3:11-12 “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”

In Matthew 6: 24 it reads “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

So even in my state of folly, some reasoning came to my mind and I ask the following questions:
A) Who is your master?
B) What flows from you, a bitter or sweet spirit?
C) What is the source of the fruit that you bear?

We are told that we need to have a physical every now and then to make sure that all is well with our bodies. We need to make sure that the heart is pumping right and the blood pressure is at the right level. We need to have our eyes examined to make sure we see correctly and our hearing checked to make sure we hear properly and so on. So it is with our spiritual body. We need to take time to do some soul searching every now and then to make sure that all is well with our soul. David cried, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24).

What started out as a few moments of silliness ended up in some precious soul searching moments with God. I always feel better after I have spent some time with my God making sure that all is well with my soul. So, after you have spent some time in making sure that everything is A-OK between you and God, then please humor me and let me know, can you breathe through your nose and mouth at the same time? :-0

Technical Issues

If anyone has posted a comment to my blog and I have not responded to it, it is because I did not receive it. For some unknown reason all of my mail has been going directly to the trash. This was just discovered today when tech support came out today to see why my internet connection kept shutting down after being online for 1 to 10 minutes (which has been going on for a few days now). So if anyone would like to make any comments concerning any post I have made please feel free to try it again. Hopefully everything is up and running as it should be. Have a great day and God bless you all.

UNITE AND RETRIEVE

Buffalo vs. lions vs. gator

After lions seize a baby buffalo, a wild and amazing animal battle ensues. » See the surprising outcome

I was amazed when I saw this film clip. Then I thought this is how the church is suppose to respond when one of it's own is attacked by sin and satan.

When the lions attacked the baby buffalo and took it down, I looked at that as the sins of this world getting a hold of one's life and bringing it down. Then as that life made it's fall, the aligator saw it's opportunity and came in and made it's attack. I looked at that as satan coming in for the final kill.

The story didn't stop there. A miraculous thing takes place and the entire herd comes back when it hears the bleeting of the baby buffalo. They all join forces and unite as one. They are now able to rescue it from the clutches of evil and death.

As the children of God, we should not sit on the side lines doing nothing and watching as our brother or sister is being torn apart by sin and satan. We should not sit around talking about what we saw or heard what they did when they fell into sin. That only drives them further from the safety of the Good Shepherd. Remember: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." Proverbs 18:21

We as the church of the living God should respond as the herd of buffalo did. Not just a few of us but the entire church as a whole. When we see one of our own being torn and drug down by sin and satan, then we should unite as one and join forces together in unity and attack sin and satan and reach out to our brother and sister in love and help restore them back to the flock of Christ.

Peace In Our Darkest Hour

JERUSALEM - An 8-year-old Israeli boy spent six hours floating in the Dead Sea alone at night after his father left him there by accident during a family trip, police said Sunday.

They said they would not press charges against the errant parent.
The Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth and one of Israel's most popular tourist attractions, has an abnormally high salt concentration that allows swimmers to float on the surface.

Rescue workers said the boy, Shneur Zalman Friedman, from Jerusalem, was in the sea with his father and two brothers on Thursday evening when currents swept him away from shore, without anyone else noticing.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the family was part of a large group visiting a beach reserved for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men — who do not bathe in the presence of women — away from main public areas.

His father left the water with other members of the group and only noticed the boy was missing as darkness fell, Rosenfeld said.

A major search by police helicopters and volunteers in motorboats finally found Shneur about 2 miles from the shore early Friday after six hours in the strong-smelling, corrosive water, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav of the Zaka rescue organization said.

The boy was dehydrated and frightened but otherwise healthy, he said. Shneur told his rescuers he remained calm throughout the ordeal, saying prayers and thinking about his school friends as he floated in the darkness.

"The boy said that he didn't try to swim, he just drifted with the current," Rosenfeld said.

The mineral-laden waters of the Dead Sea helped keep the boy afloat but could have choked him had he panicked and swallowed large quantities, said Omer Cohen of the Megilot volunteer rescue unit.

After hours of fruitless searching, workers had all but given up hope of finding the boy alive.

"We thought we were looking for a body," Cohen said. "We were surprised to find the boy alive and well."

The amazing thing about this story is how an eight year old boy, though frightened, all alone, and in the darkest hour of the night, stayed calm in the midst of his storm. This child simply said his prayers and thought good thoughts. He didn't panic and fight against the current. He just simply drifted with the current and stayed calm through it all. This eight year old child did not become overwhelmed at all. If he had, then he could have panicked and had the life choked out of him by the mineral laden waters.

We could take a lesson from this child on how to stay afloat in our spirital walk of life, could we not? When we become so overwhelmed and we are in our darkest hour and feel so all alone, we simply need to lay back and flow with the current and call on Jesus. We need to think good and positive thoughts. We cannot panick and become frightened and frustrated, for when we do, that is when the sinful laden waters of this world will pull us under and choke the life right out of us. We need to learn to trust in Him. It is time to believe and understand that He has it all under control. He will send help in the midst of our storm.
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." ~Psalms 46:1~