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