New Creature Strategies

Remember that your enemy the devil has the ability to project an image on the screen of your mind. He can amplify his voice into the Theatre of your thinking disguising it as your own thought, with uncanny timing in the moment of your greatest weakness, when the Temptation is greatest to succumb that thought.

A new believer will fall prey to this strategy. Then, the enemy will pounce on him with a barrage of condemning thoughts. "How could you think such things? Now you are a Christian and you should be above that!"

Believers, as someone who has been a Christian for many years I can tell you that you will never be exempt from those kind of thoughts as long as there is a devil on the loose. The great news is that you can become an expert at identifying his voice.

My response to these kinds of thoughts for a long time has been to tell him to shut his mouth. Also, students of God's word can use it as a sword to deflect Satan's attacks.

Not too long ago he was assailing me with physical infirmity. In a dream I saw and felt the demons entering my body  and my initial reaction, as I was waking up was to chuckle, "Oh it's just you!"

A physical infirmity is often an attack of Satan. When beset with  any manner of sickness your first response should be to ask the Holy Spirit what is His path to healing for you. In this present case, I have his permission to seek the best medical and holistic answers while still getting prayer and continually meditating the word of God concerning healing.

In recent years my response to many of his attacks is to laugh out loud. It is humorous to me that he would come against me with the same tactics that were successful 30 years ago because it shows that he has a very limited arsenal. Now that I have learned who I am in Christ and what are my spiritual weapons, including the ability to command the host of Heaven (Hebrews 1:14), I will tell you that the devil is way more scared of me then I ever was of him.

If that sounds prideful to you then I will tell you the enemy is scared of you too. If you are scared of him it's because you haven't yet learned about the new creature that you have become, who you are in Christ. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2Timothy 2:15 NKJV

"ADD ONE" Fasting

God is raising up many prayer warriors to fast and pray for the upcoming elections. As I was seeking concerning my role, whether or not God would have me fast, He gave me an interesting Commission. I am calling it the "Add One" Fast.

Here's how it works. First, determine the length of the fast. If you do not have a determined number of days, Ask the Lord how long the fast should be. For me I knew this would be a 10 day fast synchronizing with the period that falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These are the holiest days on the Jewish calendar as the most devout seek the blessing of Yahweh for the new year.

Once you know how long the fast will be, then ask God to reveal to you what to fast. I did not know what to fast and I did not want to strike out on my own strength and effort. I have had too many attempts at fasting fail because they were not commissioned by the Holy Spirit.

I sensed that God was giving me a unique commission. "Begin by fasting coffee for the first day and I will show you what to add every day after that." So the first day I went without coffee and it was easier than I thought it would be. He did not reveal to me what to fast on the next day until that day when He told me to fast sugary sweets.

On the third day He put it on my heart to give up an evening snack. That is, not to eat anything after dinner time. On the fourth day He told me to praise. I realize that this is not a fast in particular but it is a discipline that he wanted me to add to my ten-day Journey. I took out my guitar which has been gathering dust and began singing praises to Him. 🎶

Let me clarify and say that I am continuing the disciplines of the previous days in addition to the new disciplines that He reveals to me.

I may or may not be sharing the details of my fasting experience in the days ahead. Fasting is usually an intimate thing shared with God Alone. But I believe that He prompted me to share this because there are many of you who want to add fasting to your prayer life but have not had much success. If this is the case feel free to share how this has helped you if the Lord prompts you to do so.

WORSHIP INTO FELLOWSHIP

I am writing at my sister's house. Potter, the Golden Labrador Retriever, is comfortable on his dog bed under the window, watching the streaming sunshine play on the carpet. Seems like a boring life to me, but he seems so content. My nephews are at school. My brother-in-law just left for work, and my sister is somewhere else in the house. When any of them walk into the room, Potter will leap up, tail wagging, to let them know, "I missed you! I missed you! I still love you!"

I am not what you would call a dog person. I had dogs when I was growing up. My wife and I had a dog twice when we were raising children and living in the country, outside dogs. They both got run over by cars. Traumatic. Cured me of needing dogs.

Occasionally we have had opportunities to get another puppy. When we do, we always take a step back from the emotional cuteness of the moment and count the cost. Do we REALLY want the mess, the trouble, the expense, the responsibility? No.

When God created Adam, He filled his world with pets. He brought them to Adam to cure his loneliness and to see what names he would give them. None of them was considered "meet" (King James language for "suitable" or "comparable"). So God took a "rib" (Hebrew literally, curved plank; probably DNA helix) and cloned a "comparable helper."

The Bible gives glimpses of heaven. We read of creatures who constantly fly around God's throne crying "Holy, Holy, Holy!" From our perspective, this seems a mundane life until we realize that these are much like God's pets who are so obsessed with Him that they live solely for His presence, much like the Golden Lab his master. They are never bored! And they afford God a measure of companionship, but cannot fulfill Him the way you and I are created to do, born of His own spiritual "DNA."

Potter has no choice but to follow his instinctive loyalty to humans. And pets, to their masters are somewhat therapeutic. But the dog cannot pull up a chair and enjoy a coffee moment and deep conversation. The dog cannot buddy in a golf scramble, or talk politics, rehash the OSU game, or conjoin in the majesty of a sunset.

Child of God, you have the capability of FELLOWSHIP with the Creator, not just worship. You are capable of ascending to His level, of thinking His thoughts, of conversation, of fulfilling Him in a way that a mere angel can never do.
Like God and unlike the heavenly beings, you have a free will. One glimpse of His loveliness and majesty will stimulate in you a devotion not unlike a loyal canine, but God calls us even higher. "We have the mind of Christ."

Dedicate an hour, designate a day for you and Him. Brew some coffee, or whatever you like, open your Bible and listen. Or begin by sharing your heart, unburdening your soul. "I love the Lord because He hears my voice."

Don't get religious. Just stay real--you can't fool Him.

Thought for today: Be sure to take time to Worship, but take some extra time for Fellowship with God.

The Secret Sacred Place

BIBLE MEDITATION:
 Matthew 6:6  "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
What did our Lord mean when He said, "Enter into your closet to pray?"
The word "closet" simply means a place where you can shut the door on the
world and open the windows to heaven.

IN JESUS' CULTURE, DEVOUT JEWS WOULD WEAR THEIR "CLOSET" AROUND THEIR SHOULDERS. THE TALIT OR PRAYER SHAWL WAS A QUICK RETREAT FROM THE WORLDLY DISTRACTIONS INTO A PLACE TO SHARPEN ONE'S DIVINE FOCUS.

As you study the life of Jesus, you'll discover that Jesus sought times to
be alone. Sometimes He would go on a mountain, sometimes into the
wilderness, and sometimes into a garden. It is the secret place that is the
sacred place. The mark of your prayer life is not really how well you pray
in public, but in private.

ACTION POINT:
When you enter your closet to pray, spend some of the time in silence. Clear your
mind. Then listen for His Words of edification, encouragement, and
exhortation.

Born Again AGAIN

Do you need to be born again again?

Let me say that sanctification is a process. Those who are sanctified are being sanctified. In the process of growing up in Christ we can reach a plateau and after walking on that plateau for some time begin to sense a need to go up higher. Unwittingly, we can begin expending effort to get to a new elevation, instead of simply trusting Christ. We can become frustrated, knowing that there is a deeper experience, but not able to achieve it, we get discouraged.

I have been in that place more than once. I am sad and discouraged with myself because I thought I would be further along than this. I feel like I haven'
t made progress in my walk. My disappointment with myself I begin to project to God.

Do you know that God has never been disappointed with me. Not that I have always been jack sprat with His program, no. But most of the time, if I am discouraged, I have failed to live up to expectations of myself or other people.

So God says, start over. Go back to square one. Kind of like a monopoly game, you pick up a card that says go back to GO.

That is where I get undressed and am naked before God. I take a shower once again in the blood of Christ and He hands me a clean towel and fresh garment. I think, "I may not be this or that, I may not have saved many souls, or built much, or earned any feathers in my cap, really I have just a boogered up life, but I know how to do this!"

Maybe that's what Paul was speaking of when He says "I do not count myself to arrived or really accomplished anything but THIS: Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I PRESS..."

So, Christian, when you are hearing the Spirit of God say, "Be born again," there is no shame in that. It is simply a do over point. It is like a "new life" in the video game of life. It is a way to regain your joy when you feel like a failure.

Not a bad thing to admit that I have failed. Not a bad thing to recognize the inability of the flesh to please God. Not a bad thing to cast myself once again at the feet of a merciful God and then look up to see that I am in His arms.

There is a parable in Luke 18 about two men who went up to prayer. One felt pretty good about his accomplishments, the other felt like he had messed up his whole life. He wouldn't even go in, but stood outside beating his chest, crying to Mercy. There wasn't a third guy there. So which one are you? Which one can you identify with?

The Pressing In Prayer

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:1-8)

Jesus is teaching that there will be opposition to our petitions. The unjust judge is not representative of God. God does not require us to wear Him down. Rather, the unjust judge represents the god of this world, Satan. While our petition is not to him, he is the one indifferent to the needs of the poor, not God. He is the one who seeks to block our petitions or delay the answer.

Unfortunately, because so many of our answers are delayed, Christians lose heart and waver in their faith. Jesus says plainly not to give up, that God is on our side and is answering speedily, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Will there be anyone still persevering in prayer or will we grow discouraged and swallow the lie that God is indifferent, that God is actually opposed to the troubles of widows and orphans and the rest of us who are often struggling to get by?

If there were no opposition, we would ask and receive, boom! It would normally be that easy, because God is so willing to answer when we ask according to His will.

And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1Jn 5:15)

And those of us who have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires want nothing for ourselves but what will further the kingdom.

Jesus said, all things that the Father has are mine and He (the Holy Spirit) will take what is mine and show it to you (John 16:14-15, so we can know how to pray). Remember, we are joint heirs with Jesus, (Romans 8:16-17) so if all that the Father has is His, then all that the Father has is also ours (in Him, when we ask in His name, with His mind).

Considering that, it becomes all a matter of timing and protocol. In the Royal court of heaven there is a ton of protocol, which is not burdensome once we learn it. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. That is not burdensome. Then, soaking in worship tunes our hearts to the exact frequency of heaven. We become easily moved by the Spirit, aware of what the Father is doing, as Jesus was.

Jesus knew when to ask, how to ask. He knew when to walk by and when to stop and minister to the forlorn. For Him it was not difficult, something He had to work up. And when we move in faith, when we understand the willingness of God to answer, and the boogering work of Satan to block our prayers, we will press and press until we wear his little pointed butt into the dust where it belongs. WMS