Overcoming our enemies

In our lives, every day, rising giants who want us to stop, give up. There are situations, circumstances, pressures of day-to-day that frighten us, we often take "the ground", which indirectly try to say that we will not succeed, we are losers, defeated.
But beside all this, we know we have a faithful and powerful God who is always willing to extend His hand to us and help us. We only need to be alert, vigilant to the tricks that Satan throws at us, standing firm on the Word, praying at all times, in the full armor of God as we see in Ephesians 6:11-18
A good suggestion to overcome our enemies, what it often tries to get away from the presence of God, and follow the guidelines given by King David in Psalm 18:37-38
"I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither I turn again till they were consumed.
I crossed them so that they could not rise; fallen under my feet. "
Psalms 18:37-38
First we must recognize that our enemy is, what is the area that often must contend. The good soldier is one who recognizes his enemy, know how it attacks, you know their strategies, tactics.
Having recognized our enemy will come against him, not by force of your arm, for what we can do but go with the strength of our God is the One who empowers, anoints us. We know that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, then our battle must always be based on the word, and not on feelings, thoughts, the will of our flesh. "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect."
Psalms 18:32
Do not give up fighting until we know what he's really bruised, totally annihilated, can not rise up against us. It takes courage, resignation and accuracy. We can not play with it, or many pretend that it does not exist.
What often happens in our lives is that we get tired of fighting, because every fight actually takes effort, dedication, willingness and if we do not see immediate victory, gave up. But we must understand that God has His time for all things and that we reap the fruit of our actions but fading "because the time we shall reap if we faint not." Galatians 6:9
And learn to trust and rest in God, for God's acting in discerning, and always knowing that God is the only one who can give us victory over any difficulty, struggle situation. Every time we fight under the hand of God, we are not overwhelmed and conquered, but every time we fight with our own effort, carry a heavy yoke, and do not reach a full victory. TRUST IN GOD!
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD.
He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and does not fear when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green, and in years of drought, he toils not, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8

Thank God

Psalm 9:1 (NET) - I will thank the LORD with all my heart! I will tell about all your amazing deeds!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day where I live. It has become a day set aside as a reminder that we are to give thanks.

Although I am happy to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I find it just a little ironic as its original purpose has diminished from the original intent.

True, we are to be thankful but it goes beyond just being grateful.

Anyone, even someone who does not believe in God can be thankful for what he has.

Days of Thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states for a long time.

Thanksgiving Day was established as a national holiday where I live by President Abraham Lincoln (one of our most beloved leaders) in 1863 when my country was in the middle of the Civil War.

This day was set aside not merely as a day to be thankful but to be thankful to God.

"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God," ~ Abraham Lincoln

Even though the nation was torn apart by the Civil War, Lincoln established a national holiday in which we were to give thanks to God.

As the years have gone by, other elements have crept into this day and may have even taken it over.

For some, the day is about planning an elaborate meal or parades or sports.

To some, It has even become the official beginning of the Christmas season.

I will admit that I was fortunate enough to share a nice meal with wonderful family members.

I will also admit that we watched some sports on television as well.

Yet we also recognized why the day was established and we gave thanks to God for all He has done and continues to do for us.

We have many reasons to be grateful to God.

Yet one reason far outshines the others.

God loved us so much that He sent his one and only Son to pay the price we could not pay.

John 3:16-17 (NET) - For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

Now, Thanksgiving Day is over.

But is it ever REALLY over.

Should we not be thankful to God every day of our lives.

The Psalm I opened with says that I should thank the LORD with all my heart.

That means I should be thankful to Him every day including today.

Allow me to begin today by thanking Him for you.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/

Thanks and Giving

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” ~ Psalm 100:4, 5

It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States, so much is being said and written here about thankfulness.  Many people make and share lists of things that they're thankful for--employment, home, health, family, and friends being prominent. But for those more wanting in these and other of life's benefits, feeling of thankfulness may be harder to summon. When times are hard, we can be overcome with disappointment, grief, bitterness, or envy of those whom we think are more abundantly blessed. We think: if there is a loving God, why did He leave me with so little of those good things, or, why did He take them away?

As one who might be counted among those more abundantly blessed, it would be too easy for me to respond with thoughts like: God never promised us a rose garden; it rains alike on the just and the unjust; even, we should be thankful for whatever we have, as little as it might be. These things are true, and we should remember them when our own road in life becomes rocky. But toward others on that rocky road now, we need to offer more than pious platitudes.

I need to do more to help those less fortunate than I--much more, and soon, as we don't know the day or the hour when our Savior will return (or we'll return to Him) to "close the books," as it were, on our well-doing. I need to go looking for my needy brethren, not wait until they knock on my door. I must, if necessary, go down into the gutters of life with them and get my hands "dirty" in their service--not just donate a few dollars now and then to a charity. Can I be that selfless? Do I have that kind of courage?

We should remember that "thanksgiving" actually consists of two words, "thanks" and "giving."  The Lord is pleased whenever we thank Him for the things He has blessed us with. But, whether our means are great or small, the very best expression of our thankfulness is to joyfully share our blessings with all others we encounter in life--to try to do for them, in a great way or small, what God has done for us. If it is truly in giving that we receive, then every person, comfortable or poor, can have the "richest" of lives.

Tom Fleming
Songs of Praises

THE LORD’S DELIGHT

What do you think the Lord delight in?

Difficult question? Maybe or maybe not… But let us really give it a thought.

If we believe that we are God’s image and are in His likeness, then He must have things that melt His heart. After all, we do have such things.

Talking about me, certain things melt my heart. The sight of my two lovely nieces always get me, no matter the mood I am in; A satisfied look on the face of someone I just rendered service to; and so on.

What about you? You probably have a much more interesting list compared to mine, and it is probably longer and more diverse… But the question is not about us but God. What does He delight in?

My devotion took me to Psalms where I saw an interesting verse- Psalm 147:11

          

      “… the Lord’s delight is in those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His unfailing love”.(NLT)

This stopped me for a long time and I had to look again. This is because it would have been more conventional if God’s delight is in those very righteous, very prayerful, strong Christians, exploit-making ministers, those who fast 24/7 and the likes. Not that Christian exhibiting the above are bad but I was surprised the scripture made no mention of these in the Lord’s delight-after all, these are the statistics we use to determine a “Good Christian”.

However, God’s delight is in those who fear Him and those who put their hope in His unfailing love. Put in a simpler English (my English) “God delights in those who live in reverence of Him, those who depend on Him”.

The Contemporary English version (CEV) says “the lord is pleased only with those who worship Him and trust His love”

The Good News Bible (GNB) says” but He takes pleasure in those who honour Him, those who trust in His constant love”.

So, it means that He (God) values greatly any man that considers Him in the actions he takes- to worship Him and Honor Him-a heart that live in perpetual dependence on Him.

Whether, he is strong or weak, rich or poor, in the open or secret… a heart that sees its inadequacies and cling to God perpetually.

A heart that though can live independently of God, but choose to pursue God (His will and desires), A heart that desperately seek God... He, God, cannot resist this… it gives Him great pleasure.

Tunde.

Internal alarms

Me and three missionaries a few years ago we had  our responsibility in the car of the leader of our mission. We were on the mission field facing a really difficult time, a land of brave and strong. much we were in a somewhat fragile stage where we felt the weight on his shoulders.
One morning to try to relax a little got the car and we went sightseeing in a city park. The green in the park did not hide in the dark place where our souls and the park were. Surrounded by bars, slums and people meeting drinking and fighting. Even under these conditions, look around, we parked the car, turn on the alarm, we pray (to try to alleviate the bad feeling) and enter the site. We seek a surplus under the giant trees and beautiful and each one sat down, took his Bible and began to read and enjoy the scenery.
Shortly after we heard something that froze. Our hearts trembled, looked at each other and think, this is our end! The car alarm went off. One of the boys’ team ran with full force to try to reach out and see who was driving the car. We were praying and crying to God. He returned later and said ok just attempted robbery, there was nothing. The car was there. Thank God, we think. We put the car closer to us and try to return to our "relax." Time later the situation has been repeated three times all the same until we discovered that it was not a thief nor dangerous neighborhood. Inside the car had set sunscreens that fell off the window and as the car alarm had motion sensors, sunscreens fall to the alarm sounded!
How often stop to think that the situation in our life is the same. Alarms ring. Debts, fights, arguments, infertility spiritual feelings of guilt. They are alarms and tend to say that the system of government prevents us from enriching the boss locks us to grow the company. Our neighbors are the reason we are as our church is the reason for our lack of faith. People around us all conspire against us. Yes It would be wise to look at the mirror before looking out the window!
Romans 12:2 - ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We need to do an internal review and understand that sometimes the question is from the inside out. That is why God always uses the words, conversion, change and be born again. John 3:3 - Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
The society is renewed only God can Redo!
When alarms do touch themselves these questions:
1 - there is unconfessed sin. Psalm 32:3-5  When I kept silent, my bones wasted away... “I will confess  my transgressions to the LORD.”And you forgave the guilt of my sin

2 - Conflict unresolved. Matthew 5:23-24 - 

3 - Concerns are a lack of faith. 1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. - in German the word worry means to strangle.

Listen and respond to alarms running the presence of God.

http://patinanni.blogspot.com/

Anger Management, the Lord's Way

One of the most common--and potentially, most destructive--human emotions is anger. It can be as low-key as the frustration we feel when we can't find some item we need at the moment, or as intense as the rage often prompted by some grievous wrong done to ourselves or to a loved one. When not controlled, anger can cause us to lash out at anything or anyone nearby, even innocent bystanders; to nurse never-ending grudges; or even to embark on a mindless quest for vengeance, with tragic consequences.

It's not necessarily wrong to become angry when our persons or rights are violated; anger can serve as a legitimate defense mechanism by moving the person to needed action. But scripture clearly teaches us that anger is dangerous, and that it must be controlled and subordinated to the Lord's command that we extend love and mercy to others, even our "enemies."

Thus, we read that "wrath killeth the foolish man" (Job 5:2), and are admonished to "cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil" (Psalm 37:8)--for even righteous anger can lead to evil acts, if it is not controlled. The Lord wishes peace and harmony to prevail among men.  "A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife." (Proverbs 15:18)  Indeed, "slowness to anger" is such a precious attribute that it characterizes the Lord Himself (Psalm 103:8). Many great and powerful figures in history have been afflicted (and afflicted others) with a fierce, impulsive temper, but how many of them came to grief by forgetting that "he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city"! (Proverbs 16:32)

The best way to avoid the pitfalls of anger is to be proactive: consciously practice the virtues of patience, kindness, mercy, humility, and good humor (one of the best ways to dissipate the tension that often leads to anger). Doing so denies anger a fertile spot within you to take root and grow, and equips you with the tools you need to restrain and channel it in positive ways. When anger does come, deal with it immediately rather than letting it fester; "let not the sun go down upon your wrath." (Ephesians 4:26). The most ingenious response to an angering wrong I ever heard of: retaliate with a good deed!  "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee." (Proverbs 25:21-22)  Thus may the wrongdoer be moved to repentance and restitution, and an enemy replaced with a friend.

Above all, strive daily to live Christ's precious teaching to replace anger at our enemies with love, and blessing, and doing good, and prayer (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27-29).  What better example could we emulate than that of the Lord Himself who, though utterly innocent and yet subjected to the most unimaginable cruelty and indignity, could still beg His Father in Heaven to "forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

Tom Fleming

Songs of Praises

WHY NOT?

                                           

                Something caught my attention during this week, several people at school, at church and even in my house constantly said: The best of God's coming and the harvest is almost complete. And i was happy to hear this by realizing that they had faith, but after a while I began to think why noone is still reaping the fruits of their seeds.

Haggai 1:6-10

"... You have sown much and bring in little, eaten but do not have enough ... Why? Because of mine house that is deserted and every one of you run your own home"

            Once we become of our ways and accept Jesus Christ as our only Savior, we had in our minds that we would miss nothing; our provision, our feelings and everything would be kept by Jesus ... and we have seen the fulfillment of His Word faithfully. Now you ask, then why not have picked fully what God has promised me?

            When we surrender to Jesus, we made a covenant with Him; covenant faithfulness, humility and loyalty, as is done in a marriage, committing us to be steadfast in joy and in sorrow, in times of crisis and in times of plenty. But we don't always honor his covenant, over time, we think that we need not be so extreme, and that God will be with us even when we are not with him.

              The people of Israel will always be a reference of infidelity, because if there was a little more sunshine in the desert, they turned to other gods and forgot the Father's house, taking care of their own homes and their interests, and breaking the covenant made, thinking that all was well. The book of Haggai talk about  the reconstruction of time and how God's people was disinterested around that time.

               As a farmer who plant and spends a long time waiting for the harvest so are we, but we often have on planted land wrong, outside the presence of God, we have consumed our time at work, at school, at home, and we have forgotten that God have stay in front to guide us. 

               Our sweat and our effort, our tears will not change our actions (seeds)that are not being deposited on the ground of God's will. So if you are not harvesting...

                                 STOP AND THINK!

What land has deposited its seeds? It's been really faithful to the covenant made with God?

Blessings,  

MaryGondim

www.verdadecongelada.blogspot.com 

Dear Christian: Lest We Forget

I am thankful for this day of remembrance because we are a people with short term memories. It is good to be reminded year after year of the special breed of men and women who see it as their duty to protect the rights and freedoms of the rest of us. What privileges we enjoy today because of those who chose not to see their lives to be greater than the societies they swore to protect. Could you do it? Could you give up your life for your country or even for an individual? This special breed of people deserve a day to be honoured, where appreciation is shown for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. It should be a holiday everywhere. We are not glorifying the horrors of war but instead lifting up those who have or are prepared to stand up in it.

You know that I write primarily to my fellow believers so what is on my heart now is not to take away from the purpose of this day but instead to point out the obvious to the followers of Jesus. As much as we lift up and honour our veterans and their comrades who did not return home, this should also be a reminder of our Christian duty. These men and women fought in terrible physical wars but we are called as soldiers to fight in the greatest war of all time that has spanned over 2000 years now. It is a terrible war that has claimed many causalities and is seeing the slow degradation of man. We too have been called to lay down our lives every day in an act of love and service. We have been called to stand in the gap for those who are unable to protect themselves.

Jesus said:

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

How do we lay down our life for a friend? By placing our needs beneath those of our friend; by sacrificing your own interest for other people; by taking on the role of a servant and living your life for the benefit of others; by fighting for their liberation from the bondage of sin; by covering them in prayer and fighting for them with the Word of God. This is exactly the purpose Jesus left us here, telling us to go into the world and make disciples. We don't obey this command like a mindless soldier but make the conscience decision to go with the motivation of God's love.

The apostle of love, John, the son of Zebedee, wrote to us:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)

I always found it interesting that John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 had the same spirit of sacrificial love. But God's love, demonstrated through Jesus Christ, is of even greater quality than this. It is not enough to sacrifice for friends, for fellow believers. Jesus said anyone can do this, but love that really matters is when we are willing to do this for our enemies, those who hate and persecute us. The apostle Paul wrote:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Anyone can do kind things for friends and even strangers but God's love pushes us into a different quality where we gladly and joyfully lay down our life for our enemies. Jesus did exactly this for us because as sinners we were enemies of God. Then he turned around and told us to love with this same quality love with which he loved us. It is the only way that we can be equipped to fight in this war. It is the only thing that puts quality in the things we do in Jesus' name. In this spiritual war in which we are soldiers of the right, are you prepared today and every day that follows to lay down your life for the sake of all people, saints and sinners alike? It is the instruction we have received from our Commander & Chief.

CHOICES

 On the above six letter word lie the only major difference between us and other animals. Choice, defined simply as a layman means “the ability to choose” but dictionary defines it as the “act of choosing something”. Also, it means “the power to choose”.

Most animals do not have this capacity in a sense, but for us, who possess a mind (whether sane or insane) we make choices every moment.

It is choice that gives me an opportunity to write this, it is my choice that make me to actually start writing, choice makes me write at the time am writing and of note is that choice make every other thing in life count or not.

In our world that parade so much information and options to live daily, choice is the currency that determines what we take “HOME” or whether we won’t take anything home at all or even go Home.

 So the big question is what Choice are you making?

It is tempting to talk about choices that can make us succeed, prosper, leave legacy, make us great etc, rather, I am “making the Choice” to talk about worshipping God through our Choice(s).

When we talk about worship, we all kind of cast our minds straight to songs, gestures, methods, and so on but let us know that Our reasonable act of worship is first to choose.

God in His infinite wisdom created us and give us the power to choose, but unfortunately the choice of our first father and mother (Adam & Eve) led us to fall from the exalted place God placed us (Gen. 3:1-19).

A ray of hope appeared when a man made a choice to separate himself to God and seek for a city whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:8-10) and out of him God raised a generation of righteous men through faith in God-and through this, we that were out of the commonwealth of Israel now become partakers. Abraham could have stayed back in the company of his people and among his kinsmen; rather he left those behind and sought…

Moses also chose to leave the enjoyment of the palace of pharaoh and join his kinsmen (Heb 11:24-27), so did the Hebrew children in Babylon (Daniel 1:8), and many others…

It is of importance to note that choice and faith go together. As the Scripture says in Heb 4:2 , “For we have heard the Good News, just as they did. They heard the message, but it did them no good, because when they heard it, they did not accept it with faith(GNV). Every time we hear the word, we make the choice to obey (accept it or mix it with faith) or not and even now, today, in every moment, we have to choose to live for God or for any other option available.

Do know that every time we choose God first, we worship Him...

So what will you do? The choice made by Abraham change the history of the world, the choice of Saul affected his generations, the choice of Paul took him to Rome and the gospel reached the then Center of the World, the choice of Lot took him to Sodom and corrupted him and his family...

Your Choice matters.

Joshua 24:15;

 Heb 12 & 13.

Time Spent, or Time Invested?

Lately, it seems as though every time I turn around something or someone is making demands on what I consider to be one of my most precious resources.

I am not talking about money.

I am talking about something far more precious.

Time.

Reasonably speaking, there is a good chance I can find a way to replace the money I spend provided I spend it responsibly. (Granted, there is always the possibility of circumstances outside my control changing that. That is why I say, "Reasonably speaking…" )

The same, however, is not true with time.

Any time I spend, regardless of how responsibly I spend it, I will not be able to replace.

Scripture makes it clear that I have a given amount of time.

Mathew 10:30 (NET) - Even all the hairs on your head are numbered.

In other words, God knows how much time I will have in this world.

I, on the other hand, do not.

That makes the way I spend my time more important than the way I spend my money.

There are some ways I spend my time that I cannot change.

Time I spend working is an example.

Work is not only a way in which I make money, it is also an activity planned by God in the beginning.

Genesis 2:15 (NET) - The LORD God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and maintain it.

So, an appropriate amount of my time is meant for work.

What about the time that is left.

Some of my time is meant for family.

It is important that I provide financially for family.

It is also important that I spend our time with them.

Scripture makes these statements abundantly clear.

1 Timothy 5:8 (NET) - But if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than the unbeliever.

So, there is time for work and time for family.

There is also time I have no choice but to spend on myself.

For example, several hours of every day I must devote to sleep.

Thus, the amount of time remaining grows smaller and ever more precious.

A few years ago, I really had to think about how best to spend this remaining time.

The easy solution would be to spend it on myself.

Yet, there was a far better solution.

Spending this time, or as much of it as I could, on God and Kingdom Service was far better.

Once I made this commitment, It did not take me long to realize something very important.

Time I devote to myself is time spent.

Time I devote to God is an investment.

The return on that investment is far exceeding my expectations.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/