A Word of Encouragement

 I've spent a lot of time in churches of  a variety of denominations.  One thing I've heard consistently in each one is the idea that a believer can be "tormented" or "influenced" or "oppressed" by the devil at the will of the devil.

There's this prevailing belief that because I Peter 5:8 declares he is a lion, prowling about, seeking who he may devour, that we, believers, better watch out or he'll get us!

Let's start here if we could please:  HE MAY NOT DEVOUR A BELIEVER.  Not if you don't render yourself vulnerable to him.

He can only TRY to deceive you into believing he can torture you, torment you or oppress you.  He can try to bully you into believing he can do these things, but if you are a blood bought child of the Living King, he really can't do these things to you.

He does prowl about.  He is seeking for those he MAY devour, but you are not one of those.

Colossians 1:13 He (Jesus) has DELIVERED US from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of is love.

That's where we stand.  Delivered from.

One simple principle is the hinge upon which that truth WORKS for you. James 4:7

Submit to God.
Resist the devil.
and he will flee!!

No wiggle room, no negotiations, no exceptions.
Knowing what God says makes all the difference - and what you need to know most He put in a book for you.  Your very own MANUAL ON LIFE.

Thanks God - we needed that!!

One Trick and a thought about Vampires

Every good and perfect gift comes from God above. (James 1:17) And for every one of them, the devil tries to counterfeit or twist it in order to deceive as many as possible from the TRUTH.

A powerful TRUTH that acts as anchor for a Christian is the covering, the cleansing, the forgiving power of the BLOOD of Jesus.  Sin was a problem that required constant sacrifice and shedding of blood before Christ came.  The blood of animals was not sufficient to cleanse sin FOR GOOD!  We aren't any less sinful than the Israelites or anyone else.  However, the shed blood of Jesus cleanses us of sin once and for all time, because He was a Lamb without spot or blemish, the perfect sacrifice, holy, and therefore acceptable to meet the requirement of a Holy God in a way no other sacrifice ever could.

So is it all that surprising, that unable to do anything about the cleansing blood of Jesus, the devil would try to make "blood" itself into something else, something evil and not to be trusted?  You see, Satan has no real "power", not against a blood bought believer, but he does have ONE TRICK.  Just the one, but he has it perfected to the nth degree.  That trick is deception.  He deceived Eve and he deceived Cain and he deceived Judas and he is still deceiving people today into thinking things that are not true and therefore acting in ways that are contrary to truth.  When we act contrary to truth, guess what?  We reap consequences that are contrary to truth and we begin to feel defeated, and Satan heaps on more deception and before we know it, we are so far from the truth that we are no longer certain there even is truth!

Enter "Dracula", that blood sucking vampire who frightened me into sleeping with my covers firmly tucked around my chin every night of my childhood.  Suddenly blood is about death rather than life, which is the truth of God.  LIFE is in the blood, and Satan deceives millions into seeing it as DEATH.  Deceit doesn't have to be elaborate to be effective.  It just has to make you miss the narrow way.  It just has to get you one degree off course, and guess what? YOU ARE OFF COURSE!  You aren't a little bit going the right way, you are completely going the wrong way.  You've missed blessings, and joy and peace and all the wonderful things God intends for you.

So how do we stay on course?  How do we make certain we are entering the narrow way, and living according to Gods truth?  So we can be sure we are reaping all the benefits and perks God really wants to bless us with?  By reading the Bible.  It is our map, charting our course to the Truth.  Check out the Daily Bible Reading page.  This two year schedule will take you through the entire Bible at a pace that allows time for reflection and consideration of what you are reading.  (Plus, you'll be reading in tandem with hundreds of others who follow along with The Unity Project!)  Let's read together, and then we can grow together - seeking answers from Gods word about our world today and our role in it as Ambassadors for Christ.

See ya in the funny papers......

IMAGINATION

About 8 years ago I received a postcard in the mail, eye catching picture similar to the one I've shared here, with the caption boldly splashed across the top:

IMAGINE WHAT GOD COULD DO...

The possibilities seemed endless and breathtaking!  Imagine what God could do!  On the other side it advertised some Christian gathering and the theme of course was just that - Imagine what God could do and expanded that a bit with the word  "if".

IF you attended this conference...imagine what God could do in your life!

IF you gave an offering...imagine what God could do for you in return!

IF you just fell in line with the belief system and theology and behavior and dress and if you just fell in step with this ministry and it's teachings...imagine what God would be willing to do for you.

Flash forward about 8 years.  I don't remember much about the ad on the other side, but every time I open my refrigerator and without my even really being aware, I'm "seeing" that picture and those words.  Even the time we've been in the RV traveling it was taped to the fridge, it had so captured my imagination!  Then this week it hit me!  IMAGINE WHAT GOD COULD DO???  Nothing is impossible with God!  There is NOTHING God is not capable of doing nor is there anything He withholds from His children.  And praise God, it most certainly isn't dependent on ME what God could do or we would be in some serious trouble.  And we are in serious trouble, when we've come to the place where, even subtly, we think of God in terms of our control or subject to our actions.

Everything that every human being does is in RESPONSE to the Almighty God, Creator and Master of all heaven, all earth and everything in it.  This prevailing, subtle, sneaky and extremely DANGEROUS idea that God moves, works, thinks, feels or acts in response to us is the devils most clever lie EVER since the Garden of Eden!  In II Timothy specifically the end of chapter 2 and into chapter 3, Paul is warning against just this kind of captivity of lies an deceits that man is of the utmost importance and the universe behaves in response to man.  You should read all of this book for a full picture, but let's take a look at a piece of it.

II Timothy 2: 26, 3: 1-9  ...and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away!  For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

Paul goes on to instruct Timothy not only how to avoid this foolish behavior but to follow righteous behavior leading to true godliness.  Please bear with me while I repeat myself for instructions sake.  Everything a human being does is in response to the Almighty Father in Heaven.  Whether that response is acceptance or rejection, WE DO THE RESPONDING.  We are instructed to pray, yet Jesus clearly tells us God already knows what our needs are  (Matthew 6: 8).  We believe Christ died for us and receive the gift of salvation according to Gods plan (Ephesians 1:4), not ours. God already has everything in place and IF we respond according to His instructions we receive the blessing.    The land of Canaan already belonged to the Israelites, God had already declared He had given it to them.  They needed to respond to Gods gift in order to receive it.  It is subtle, but important.  It is a heart matter, that the very thought pattern, to be righteous, must be "God has provided, so I will ask and receive" and not "I will ask so God will provide".

So it struck me hard the other day, when I passed by the fridge and glanced at the familiar postcard that we have it wrong!  It isn't and can not be  IMAGINE WHAT GOD COULD DO...for there is nothing impossible with God, but really ought to be IMAGINE WHAT WE COULD EXPERIENCE if we trusted and believed GOD and responded accordingly and obediently.  We would experience the JOY of the Lord that is our strength, the power of the Holy Spirit in our situations, the PEACE of God that passes all understanding and the FELLOWSHIP with our Heavenly Father that knows no bounds!

II Timothy 3:16-17  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoruroughly equipped for every good work.

IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD EXPERIENCE IF YOU TRULY TRUSTED

 AND BELIEVED GOD TO THE END THAT YOU OBEY HIM IN ALL THINGS!

Turn the Tide Ministries is dedicated to changing lives one at a time for the increase of Gods Kingdom and the Glory of God the Father.  Starting with our own lives and moving outward, we obey our Lord as surrendered living epistles of His great and glorious grace.  Join us every Sunday for practical applications to your everyday lives of Gods rich and wonderful WORD OF TRUTH to His children until He comes to gather us HOME.