God's word, from my table to your heart
WARNING! This blog is on temporary hiatus due to the NBA FINALS!!! Oklahoma City Vs. Miami Heat
Just so you know OKC is going to take the title!!!! Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
In the meantime God commands YOU to STUDY and PRAY!
Godspeed! We will resume our regularly sheduled bloggin’ after OKC has won! ; ) & 🏀 BABY!
(You know I don’t get nuttin done during B-BALL SEASON -_- )
Some women may have dated different men over the course of their lifetime–vice versa–and may have noticed that each partner exhibited some of the same characteristics. Many in dysfunctional or unhealthy relationships cannot understand why they keep attracting the same kind of person. The answer lies partly in your spirit identifying with the other person’s spirit (meaning that both people are operating on the same spiritual frequency), but most importantly, the connection is sealed when the relationship is consummated. When you have a sexual relationship with another person, you feel a strong attachment to them because your souls have been joined to each other. Even though you may have broken up with the person, if you have not prayed over your connection to them, you have not broken up with the spirit that is operating in them! Thus, every man or woman you date thereafter will be a different physical body, but the same spirit following you through each relationship. It is called a familiar spirit.
That’s why the Bible puts such emphasis on fornication, immorality and adultery. We were not created to have sex outside of marriage. The woman was created physically from a man’s rib (Genesis 2:22), but spiritually from a man’s soul! The Bible says when a man and woman marry, they will become “one flesh,” because their souls have become conjoined. This broken covenant is the result of sexual disease, out of wedlock pregnancy, break down of the family structure, and emotional discord because of rebellion against God’s word.
“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:6-9).
Moreover, when you commit adultery, you are not only physically sleeping with someone’s husband/wife, but you are also copulating with the spirit of cheating, the spirit of lying, and the spirit of dishonesty! Therefore, you have made an agreement in the spirit realm with whatever characteristics this person has in his or her spirit. If we define copulating: it means connected or joined. Therefore beloved, you have “connected” the spirits to your soul. Those spirits are now a part of who you are! You made an agreement with them when you opened the door to sin. Because of the submission to sin in one area of your life, you will be given to lying, cheating and dishonesty in other areas of your life. You have heard many a wives or husbands of cheating spouses utter, “He or she has changed,” they aren’t the same person as they were when we first got married.” The cheating spouse will result to telling lie after lie, and manipulating scheme after scheme to cover his or her tracks. They will begin to operate out of character because they are under demonic subjection. In other words, their soul is being ruled by these spirits.
Moreover, abused women often find themselves selecting the same mate over and over again because they have entered into a soul agreement with an abusive, violent, controlling or manipulative spirit. Oftentimes, these soul ties are made before a woman is even born; by the parents. In most cases the mother has married an abusive or controlling man, and the spirit has been passed down her lineage to her daughter. A lot of women feel guilty because they cannot understand why they keep choosing the same type of man, but in actuality this spirit is the one pursuing them! It is called a seducing spirit. If women are not aware of a controlling and abusive pattern they will keep entering these same type of relationships. A woman who has been in previous abusive relationships has to begin to make a conscious effort to pay attention to the type of behavior patterns a potential male suitor exhibits. Unfortunately, many women will deem this behavior acceptable because that’s the male example they were shown growing up in the home. It is true, many women marry replicas of their fathers! Most importantly, an abused woman must do a lot of spiritual work to break this generational curse, and sever ties with this type of spirit. It will take working on one’s self esteem, self worth, and learning to love oneself first. Whether it be through counseling, Bible study, or proactive self study. One must become diligent in identifying what causes her to make the choices that she makes, getting to the root cause of her behavior, and dealing with childhood emotional wounds.
In my research and counseling, I have encountered many people who have been sexually abused or molested. Often I find that many take on the spirit of the molester by later becoming the abuser themselves, delve into pornography or, people who have been molested by a same-sex abuser often enter into a soul tie with a homosexual spirit. It is called a spirit of transference. In no way am I saying all homosexuals are a result of a spirit of transference, but a majority of those whom I have personally counseled; this has been their testimony. An abused person must do extensive soul searching and Biblical study to identify their true identity–that which God created them to be–to deflect the identity which has been opposed upon them by the devil.
Additionally, a good majority of women who have been abused or molested often turn to prostitution, drug use or promiscuous behavior. They enter into soul ties with spirits of self-hate, hatred towards men, or self-destructive behavior. There have been countless cases of gay and abused men and women who have, through years of earnestly searching for truth, found their true identity in Christ and have broken this demonic stronghold.
But it is not easy! The devil will fight you every step of the way! But know beloved, it is our birth right to freedom in Jesus Christ!
In conclusion, breaking free from soul ties is attainable! Don’t think for one moment you have to stay where you are: in a hopeless, dark and lonely place where it seems like you cannot escape a burdening sin or a demonic stronghold! God is a rescuer! It will take a strong desire and a willingness to want to change, and submittance to God’s will for your life. I am living proof of how God can come in and put the pieces of a broken life back together again and use it for His glory! Amen!
We must be very careful in guarding our spirit and what we open our spirit up to.
(Excerpt from the book: Don’t just breakthrough, BREAK FREE! )
When one becomes a Christian, God commands that you pick up your cross and follow Him! That requires letting go of all worldly plans, goals and desires. He sets us on a new course in Him. Oftentimes it may not be finite, sometimes He just reroutes our course. Like the children of Israel, sometimes God has to bring us through the desert before we can get to the promised land. But how long it takes to get there is most times up to you. I will be the first to tell you, if you go in obedience your plight will be much easier and may be faster. Many times we stall God’s plans for us by walking in disobedience and rebellion, or having a negative, complaining and bad attitude. But Beloved, still there are no guarantees.
“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority (Acts 1:7).
Many other times God may be tearing down the walls we have built around ourselves and rebuilding us up in Him. Jeremiah 31:4-18. He takes us through hunger, distress and dry patches in the desert; often testing our faith, like our Father Abraham whom He tested with His beloved son Issac. He is teaching us patience, endurance, building up the character traits needed in us to be soldiers in this Christian army. Beloved, we come to God as weaklings. We think we are strong because we have been surviving off of the world system; flattery, social status, economic position. We have gotten our identity from the world’s modicum of success. God has to come in, clean house and teach us that our identity is solely in him, not of the things of this world! Beloved God is a GAME CHANGER! When in the world, we are looking through the dim eyes of success. When we give our lives to God, He can elevate us beyond what we can ever conceive of in our limited mind. He works in the supernatural! He can do exceedingly, abundantly whatever we think or ask (Ephesians 3:20). God has not forgotten you!
Joel 2:25 says:
So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25 NKJV)
Moreover, Christ had to literally carry His own cross while beaten, battered, bloody and bruised. Here on this earth, those that are called to Christ must do the same. We must carry our cross; which is heavy on our backs as sickness, dis-ease, burdens and human loss; all while being beaten and bruised by the wicked spirits that work in the darkness of this world — often through the hands of man.
This brings to date the current Trayvon Martin situation. Some are deeming it profiling, racism, or a hate crime. Beloved, can I tell you that it’s neither! It is a spiritual battle! The eyes are the windows to the soul. When you look into George Zimmerman’s eyes, they emanate coldness, darkness, and lifelessness. Let us not forget our father Jesus Christ was the sacrificial lamb that was slain so you and I could be free! Satan and his kingdom worked through the insecurities, classism and hatred of man to slay Christ. The death of Trayvon Martin is an ever present reminder that souls, minds, and the heart of man still needs to be free from the grips of sin and fallen humanity. The war still rages between good and evil. If we look at this situation in the physical it is a tragedy indeed, but looking from the eyes of spirituality, God sent one of his children down to earth for an appointed time to do His will, and God has called Him back home! He is in a much better place than us, for he is sitting at the Father’s feet, while we are yet here to fight the good fight. Of course, it is of great pain and loss when we lose a loved one, but let us not forget we are only here on borrowed time. Beloved, God has not forgotten us! He knows His plans for us before we are even born. Some of us will have to suffer the wrath of the devil; persecution, hatred, and even death! And let us not discount Mr. Zimmerman, also a life that was lost in the wilderness that only God can bring back home!
Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes~Mark 9:23
Beloved, I’m here to give you good news this afternoon! Anything is possible if you can just BELIEVE! Grasp it, roll it over in your mind and meditate on it! What you believe is totally dependant on you! No one can believe for you and no one can take away from what you believe!
To believe is your mental ticket to freedom, it’s your wings to fly!~ To believe is your liberty to soar new, uncharted territory! You can go as high as you want if you would only get it in your mind that IT IS POSSIBLE!
Philippians 4:13 says,
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Amelia Earhart, facing harsh criticism and male dominant-opposition, believed she could fly and was among the first women to pilot an airplane!
Bessie Coleman, defied the odds of racism, sexism and poverty! She was denied flight school training in the US because she was African-American, so she FLEW HIGHER THAN HER MOUNTAIN and went over to France, learned French and became the first Black woman to fly an airplane. Now what’s your excuse?
Dream big! When obstacles get in your way, dream bigger, when you face mountians, fly higher!– all while being FABULOUS, FLY, AND SOARING NEW HEIGHTS!
YOUR HEALING
And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:20-22 ESV)
YOUR RICHES
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44 ESV)
*Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 ESV)
CAST YOUR CARES ON THE LORD
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)
Be Encouraged!
Beloved, there will simply be days you will not be at your best as a Christian. We live in this fleshly body and we are not immune to attacks as the world also endures. Because you are a Christian, some will hold you in judgement or may condemn you for displaying passionate emotion. But, the Bible admonishes us to:
Be angry, and do not sin : do not let the sun go down on your wrath (Ephesians 4:26 NKJV).
I’m here to let you know that there will be bad days, and despite what peers may think or say about you, it only matters what God’s word says. If we reexamine the verse it says it’s ok for you to be angry, but the key words are, “do not sin”. If you may have sinned, do not allow voices you make you feel guilty or unchristian because you may have acted inappropriately. The important thing is to admit your fault, repent and ask God’s, and the person offended forgiveness. On the Christian road to salvation we are bound to have fender benders, accidents, and breakdowns along the way! As we grow in Christ we will learn to better depend on God to navigate those roads “under construction”, forks in the road, and detours. We come to God at different stages in our lives. Let God work on you where you are–without the guilt! You cannot change yourself, only God can! When you fall…fail, pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and begin again! That’s what I love about the Father; we can always start over and He will always accept us every time! Hallelujah! Be encouraged!
Come now, and let us reason together, Says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18 NKJV)
Starring: Liam Neeson as Ottway
Dermot Mulroney
Frank Grillo as John Diaz
James Badge as Dale
Joe Anderson
Nonso Anozie
Dallas Roberts
Ben Bray as Hernandez
James Bitonti as Ottway’s Father
Jonathan Bitonti as Young Ottway
Director: Joe Carnahan
Producer:1984 Private Defense Contractors: Liddell Entertainment, Scott Free Productions
Distributor: Open Road Films
As a person that loves to watch movies, over the years I find that as a Christian there aren’t many movies I can watch without displaying the use of profanity, vulgarity, or illicit sex–to name a few. Really, I have been delegated to watch mostly children’s movies because of the out right immorality.
So finding myself in movie mode on a young Monday night, I decide to take in a movie. I know better by now to watch a movie without reading its synopsis right? So I go to a certain website and read the review of the movie The Grey . It touts it as an “action packed” movie that deals with “spirituality and morality.” “A must see movie,” that delves into “human nature” and “human survival.” Even though it had an “R” rating (thinking it was more for cadavers and wolves), “sounds like my kinda of movie,” I tell myself. BY NO MEANS am I a movie critic, but this movie had such strong sentiments that as a Christian, I would be remiss not to write about it.
In a very concise review, The Grey tells the story of seven surviving oil riggers who, while flying out for another gig, succumb to a plane crash in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. The riggers not only have to battle the elements of torrent weather and snow storms, but also fend for their lives against vicious wolves that see the men as a threat to their territory.
The director does a great job with cinematography and creating a realistic dark, grey atmosphere–hence the title–that implants the viewer directly into the Alaskan wilds, right alongside the cast. However, in a few scenes the camera was very shaky and you could not accurately see what was going on.
The film is unapologetic in its tone. It takes you on a thrill ride with on-the-edge-of your seat action and has your heart racing at the turn of every scene. It is not an easy movie to watch.
Trying to critique this movie from a Christian standpoint and a non-believer’s stand point, I cannot help but come back to the same conclusions.
The Grey is laden with epithets throughout the whole movie. If one were to remove all the “cuss” words there would simply be little dialogue. On top of that there was blatant use of sacrilege, constant reference to sexual immorality and fornication.
I do understand the director may have been trying to showcase “real” human nature and the good of man, but I felt it was done on an imbalanced scale, weighing on the side of Atheism. For instance, there was a scene where the protagonist of the movie–Neeson, who’s character was named Ottway, reprimands one of the oilers from looting the deceased and later tells the men to gather the deads’ wallets so they can be identified by their loved ones. Carnahan hints there may be some type of existence of a God in a scene where one of the men wants to say a prayer for the dead, and thanks God for keeping them alive. And, in a later scene in the movie when character John Diaz chooses to die by a beautiful flowing river and says he doesn’t have anything better to look forward to than that view. That was the most tear-jerking scene in the film.
The oilers eventually get killed off one by one, with Ottway being the last survivor left. In an earlier scene, Ottway self-righteously alludes there is no God, now fast-forward to the final scene where he sits on an embankment and violently, blatantly curses God and demands God to help him. In the next minute he retorts, “fine, I’ll do it myself then!”
By all means, one can understand the hurt and anger people may feel when they deem God has forsaken them. The way Ottway’s character was written does not give the audience enough history to fully understand why he chooses the spiritual beliefs he does. Here’s a man who has neglected God his whole life and at the very end, instead of finally making peace with life, he disturbingly launches a tirade against God. Giving God a few seconds to deliver him out of this situation–albeit nightmarish. Furthermore, I cannot even understand how actor, Liam Neeson, could recite this hateful monologue against God, even if it was written in the script. Actors can challenge the writing.
It reminds me of the verse:
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36
For a movie?
This film showcases the pride and arrogance of fallen man, giving God ultimatums and when it isn’t deemed (in their minds) God is just, they curse God and continue to make themselves the God’s of their own lives.
The film, in my opinion, did not have any kind of moral to the story, no plot, or explanation, it just was. I get that every story isn’t going to have a happy ending, and the director was trying to portray realism. If anything, this film tells the unfortunate story of a group of men, all but maybe two, who throughout the course of their lives did not acknowledge God and died in their sin with no hope.
Moreover, if God’s own prophets such as The Apostle Paul, John the Babtist, Stephen, Peter, why…even God’s own beloved son Jesus, died horrendous deaths; and they were servants of God, why does the writer choose to depict a story where arrogant, unrepentant man expects to be spared death?
My spirit was troubled very much watching this movie, so much so I had to ask God’s forgiveness because of its out right use of God’s name in vain. It made me question the religious motives of the writer and director as the movie seems to be another case of Christian bashing and hatred towards God. I will do more thorough research from now on on any movie I watch.
In the context of relationships, it is touted men are from Mars and women from Venus, but I tell you over my lifetime I have met those from Pluto, Jupiter, Uranus and some even from the Sun; my friendship with them burned me so badly!
It’s not just men and women who think differently from each other. People in general are raised with different values and beliefs systems. Some come from two parent homes with a foundational upbringing, some come from broken, single parent homes. And, a good share come from abusive, (whether mentally, physically, or sexually), dysfunctional, or homes where there was alcohol abuse. Likewise, a person may have had a background of any variation of these interchangeably. Our relationship compass is based on a module of our parents’ (or parental figures) relations with each other, and with us as children. Thus, that’s how we first learned our behavioral language. Subsequently, environments such as school, work, or social environments as well as romantic relationships, peer pressure, and religion also shaped the way we behave and relate to one another. Therefore, we all enter relationships with pre-programmed information; what we deem is right, wrong, acceptable or intolerable based on perceptions of our own individual reality.
A problem occurs when some cannot incorporate another’s “reality” into a relationship and accept the person and their life’s experience, and work toward finding a common ground. With this mindset many have an insular view of those not like them. They deem their experience, beliefs, and outlook on life as being superior than another. This behavior speaks of a person who is unwilling to compromise in relating to others’ needs and has a shallow, one-sided expectation of how they expect to be treated within a relationship. Oftentimes, this results in said person(s) taking on a role as a dominator or aggressor; or becoming passive in the relationship.
Some people are narrow-minded in their perception of others, and are truly blinded outside of how they were raised. Because they have not grown up in or experienced a certain environment, they can be very judgemental and unwilling to accept a person different from themselves for who they are. Or may feel that they are superior or better than the person.
There are many in the church who have given their lives to the Lord, and sit under sound doctrine and teaching, that exhibit these dominating characteristics. There are some who enter ministry and because of position, develop a superiority complex, and become puffed up with a condescending spirit of pride and importance. Many spiritually bruising those new sheep that enter the flock. I call them Bible Bullies! They are ever ready quoting scriptures, holding prayer meetings, at every church conference; but their tongue speaks of condemnation, and heart of judgement.
This behavior is was what turned me away from Christianity in my formative years as a Christian. Fast forward, years later when I came back to Christ and started going to a new church. A young lady in the church befriended me, as I hardly knew anyone at the church I was happy to make new friends. She seemed nice at first, she would invite me over to her house for prayer meetings, and different church functions. At her prayer meetings, the way she delegated authority instead of letting the Holy Spirit lead, I started to see a dominating spirit but just brushed it aside. The more I fellowshipped with her the more uncomfortable I became. She slowly began picking me apart; she didn’t like my hair, put down the way I dressed, I was too quiet, I didn’t talk enough in her prayer meetings, she didn’t like the career I was in at the time. The list went on an on. A full grown adult, I felt like a child being scolded by my mother again. She was very verbal and offensive in her opinions, and she had a very dominating personality. As a young Christian I would tell myself, “this is my sister in Christ,” to try to keep the body of Christ in unity, and after all, I was supposed to “suffer long” as the Bible tells us to do. Many days this lady would tell me something so hurtful it brought me to tears; but she was a leader in the church, she was well-respected, and she knew the word of God. Unfortunately, this would not be the only “Christian” relationship that I tried to hold on to at the expense of my own self-value and self-worth.
As a baby Christian, I just could not understand how people purporting to live for Christ could be so mean and cruel. I would go through the motions with them like clock work: argue, feel guilty, repent, forgive, argue again.
Everybody kept preaching forgive, forgive, but what I couldn’t understand was how to forgive a person who kept hurting me over and over again. A person who keeps reopening wounds that have healed. I kept meditating on Matthew 18:22: forgive your brother seventy times seven. But really, how do you know when it’s time to just walk away from a relationship, Christian or otherwise? How do you know when it’s not just about forgiveness, but you are being abused? I simply didn’t know how to separate forgiving a person from loving them from a distance. So after contemplating and praying profusely about it, I feel God put an answer on my heart.
Signs that you should FORGIVE, but love from a distance:
1. Physical, verbal, mental abuse
2. Violence
3. Constant attacks on your character
4. Condescending i.e always putting you down
5. Can’t accept you for the person God divinely made you to be
6. Tries to change you
7. Tries to get you involved in illegal activity
8. Person is not willing to compromise
9. Person has a gossiping spirit and constantly spreads others’ affairs
10. Jealous, envious, competitive spirit. Not happy for your success
If it is a struggle to be in a relationship with a certain person and you feel drained every time you go around them, for your own peace of mind and sanity you may have to walk away from the relationship. Sometimes it can be just for a season. God is not the author of confusion (1Corinthians 14:33). Where there is no peace, beloved, God simply is not there.
However, I have had experiences where people came into my life and I truly suffered long with them and there was a spiritual sharpening and pruning in either person, resulting in long-lasting friendships. Beloved, every relationship in your life should be brought before God in prayer and fasting to get His clear discerment and purpose for that person in your life. Again, those lasting friendships were interceded daily for God’s discernment.
I prayed, fasted, and interceded for the aforementioned friendship but after seven years I had to walk away; walk away in tears might I add! After all those years she didn’t change. The answer God told me was that some people give their lives to him, but not their mind. My former friend was a Christian but her mind was still operating in the world system. She had not given God full control of her mind! Moreover, all of us have had strongholds that we had to surrender to God once we became a Christian, and for some it may have taken years to be delivered. But if you truly want to be set free, first there must be a confession, then repentance, and a willingness to change. Beloved, God speaks in confirmations. If you keep getting the same message from different sources, God is trying to get your attention! Sadly, my former friend had the same problem in every area of her life, but refused to become accountable for her actions. Oftentimes, “Bible Bully” would boast ‘this is the way I am and I’m not going to change.’ Sorry…if the stench of your behavior is insulting and offensive to your fellow brethern, you are polluting the fragrance of Christ.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 2 Corinthians 2:15.
Being a Christian is so much more than being busy for God or doing things for the Kingdom. The foundation of Christendom is based on relationships, period! God is the author of relationships having first created man, Adam, then creating a help mate, Eve to be in relation with him (Genesis 2:22). In Genesis 7:9 God commanded Noah to take the animals in two’s aboard the ark. Beloved, it takes “two” to procreate. The most important relationship of all: God exemplified the ultimate act of love by sending his own beloved son down to earth to die for us sinners so we can have salvation (Romans 5:8). More than that, back in the Old Testament God spoke to people only through prophets: Moses (Exodus 19:3-25, 20:1-17); Elijah (1Kings 18); Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:1-7). Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:1-28); Jonah (Jonah 3:1-10). Those desiring to follow God did not have the luxury as we do today to communicate directly with God. God loved us so much He sent us a comforter, the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), as a conduit to be able to communicate with Him one on one, so we can have a personal, intimate relationship with Him!
So if God built His kingdom on the foundation of relationships, how much more does He want us to have a personal and loving relationship with each other according to the scriptures?
1 John 4:9-11: In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us and sent His son to die for us, we also ought to be able to love without criticism and condemnation, as God’s grace overlooked our filthy sins. If we began to model all of our relationships after the relationship The Father has with us, maybe we will learn to accept each others differences, idiosyncracies, habits, and behaviors with tolerance, and open-mindedness; rather than heavy-handed judgement and ridicule. Maybe we will learn to accept others’ shortcomings with patience and edification rather than shunning them because they’re not like us, or trying to make others fit into our mold. God is not a Bible Bully!
John 4:8 says:
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
A good friend passed this story along to me. I loved it so much I just wanted to share the message!
Me: God can I ask you a question?
God: Sure
Me: Promise you won’t get mad
God: I promise
Me: Why did you let so much stuff happen to me today?
God: What do you mean?
Me: Well, I woke up late,
God: Yes
Me: My car took forever to start,
God: Okay…
Me: At lunch they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait,
God: Huummmm…
Me: On the way home, my phone went DEAD, just as I picked up a call…
God: All right…
Me: And on top of it all, when I got home I just wanted to soak my feet in my new foot massager and relax, but it wouldn’t work!!! Nothing went right today! Why did you do that?
God: Let me see, the Death Angel was at your bed this morning and I had to send one of the other angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that
Me: (humbled) OH
GOD: I didn’t let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road.
Me: (ashamed)…
God: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick and I didn’t want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn’t afford to miss work.
Me: (embarrassed) Ok
God: Your phone went dead because the person that was calling was going to give false witness about what you said on that call, I didn’t even let you talk to them so you would be covered.
Me: (softly) I see God…
God: Oh and that foot massager, it had a shortage that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn’t think you wanted to be in the dark.
Me: I’m sorry God
God: Don’t be sorry, just learn to trust me…in all things, the good and the bad.
Me: I will trust you
God: And don’t doubt that my plan for your day is always better than your plan.
Me: I won’t God. And let me just tell you God, thank you for everything today.
God: You’re welcome child. It was just another day being your God and I love looking after my children…
~Anonymous
Commentary: what a wonderful admonition to teach us to walk by faith and not by sight. We have the faintest idea of how God protects us on a day-to-day basis from spiritual attacks, forseen and unforseen, by the enemy. This story reminded me that no matter what I may go through or how I may feel, to trust God, because He’s always in control!
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
It is often said that the eyes are the window to the soul. These eyes are intense; yet subtle. Strong; yet vulnerable. They are full of life with an overshadowing of death. They seem to tell an enigmatic story. Yes! I can see a soul through those big, brown, eyes. It seems to be SCREAMING, FIGHTING, PLEADING; but its cries go unheard encaged behind a steamy, fog clouded glass. Its tears becoming the dew, slowly dripping down the window of despair. Those eyes seem to be a prisoner of a lifetime of pain. Those are the eyes of Daniel Brown.
As I sat watching Daniel Brown’s story on a TV program, I was astounded and heartbroken to learn about this man losing the innocence of his life. Mr. Brown was alleged to have raped and murdered a female companion whom he had casually dated. Danny, as his family called him, had a rock solid alibi and there was no physical or tangible evidence connecting him to the crime. The only witness to the murder was the deceased’s six-year-old son. And unfortunately, it was because of his sole testimony–albeit ambigious–Mr. Brown was sentenced to a lifetime in prison.
Sadly, there was no justice in this case for either side; Mr. Brown would spend 19 years locked up in a jail cell while three small children would be emotionally locked up not being able to enjoy the precious gift of a mother. After almost two decades later Mr. Brown, who was never before in trouble with the law, was eventually exonerated at the advent of DNA technology. The DNA evidence linked the murder to that of a known serial killer. But unfortunately–at press time of this writing–the state of Ohio refuses to expunge Danny’s criminal record, maligning him still a convicted murderer.
I kept turning this story over and over in my mind, contemplating the physical loss of human life: death and incarceration. This is one but of many cases of injustice in the legal system, but I couldn’t help but ponder the injustices many also endure in the religious system. An injustice where in some parts of the world Christians are forced to worship covertly–in underground hideouts, dugouts, and even caves–for fear of their lives. It made me think about the the physical bondage many Christians endure simply by claiming Jesus as their Lord and savior.
http://www.jesus-loves-you.org/?p=4804
Those disciples that have a call on their lives to serve in ministry, I believe, are attacked most severely because satan is still aggressively trying to stop the movement of the Gospel. Likewise, he tries the case with no evidence but is ever ready to convict. He assigns his counsel of chief demons–in the form of man–to viciously persecute God’s saints! This was the same diabolical spirit that was sent to deceive Eve in the Garden of Eden at the very beginning of God’s creation in the Old Testament. And, also the same spirit that was responsible for the Apostle Paul’s numerous stonings, lashings and imprisonment that ultimately resulted in him being beheaded in the New Testament.
In the book of John God admonished his disciples, telling them that the world, or the spirit that’s in the world will not receive them because they are following Christ:
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you~John 15:18-20.
Unfortunately, Mr. Brown spent the prime years of his young life physically and mentally locked up behind bars, enduring tumultuous years of hardship, isolation, and one would suppose hopelesness, for a crime he didn’t commit. But how many Christians across the globe are serving the same life sentences; being beaten, tortured, burned, mutilated, and killed for a crime waged against them by a false witness–the crime of loving Jesus.
If you would like to read about Danny Brown’s story or have a loved one that you believe is falsely incarcerated please visit Centurion ministries’ website for more information:
http://www.centurionministries.org/cases/daniel-brown/index.php
http://forejustice.org/db/Brown–Daniel—Danny—.html
Please also get involved and support a ministry that helps persecuted Christians. Here are a few to consider:
http://www.persecution.org/
http://www.smyrnaministries.org/africa
http://injesusname.org/
http://www.christianpersecution.info/
Healing Balm Cafe 
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