How & Why the Joy of the Lord Strengthens Us

Is living the Christian life a joy-stealer for you? If so, something is wrong! As Christians we should experience enjoyment in our relationship with God as we walk through both the valleys and mountain top experiences of life. We can also have joy whether we are suffering as a  result from our own failures and sins or as a result of sins done against us.

Joy means delight. In Nehemiah 8:20 we read that the joy of the Lord is our strength. The narrative surrounding this verse tells us that the people were convicted of their sin while hearing the law read. They began to mourn and weep. Nehemiah tells them to stop weeping and to celebrate what the Lord has done for them, for within the law was the provision for their sin. He encouraged them to celebrate the provision God made for their sins, through sacrifices, and to be joyful about their redemption.

How many times do Christians today focus on their sin and their sorrow for it and its consequences instead of Christ and His provision? I am not suggesting that we don’t call our sin, sin. But once we have done that, we must turn our focus immediately to the provision God has made for it. Continued focus on one’s sin and keeping one’s mind in a state of sorrow for it only leads to feelings of guilt, depression, and hopelessness. And, it prevents that person from changing.

Just as Nehemiah told the Israelites to change their focus from the words of God concerning their sin to God’s provision for their sin, even more we as Christians are to do the same. It is by focusing on the Lord’s Glory that we are changed, not by thinking about our sin (2 Corinthians 3:18). Focusing on sin and sorrow, only keeps one in it. Scripture tells us to refocus and celebrate what Jesus has done for us! So, be joyful about your redemption! Not only has Jesus paid the legal debt required by God in order for you to receive forgiveness, but He made provision for your sin on a continual basis (1 John 1:9). As we stay our focus on Christ, He works in us breaking us free from the strangleholds that bind us. As we celebrate the Lord’s sacrifice for our sins, rejoicing and delighting in it, we are strengthened to live in the holy liberty Christ makes available to us. We have peace because we are forgiven and have a sure redemption in Christ and we are able to stop striving to be good, instead rest in Christ and allow Him to change us.

In addition to the joy we possess due to our clear conscience and celebration of Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are able to maintain joy in the midst of suffering. You see, the joy of the Lord that was set before Christ and gave Him strength to endure the suffering of the cross, was you and me, and our joy. Now we receive strength for our trials as we find our joy in Christ who is set before us and who Himself is our reward for any suffering we may endure, suffering that many times comes to us on our journey as Christians simply because we belong to Christ. Philippians 3:10-11 tells us that we can rejoice in our sufferings knowing that we are sharing in His sufferings, and as we share in His sufferings on earth, we will also share in His glory in eternity. We must remind ourselves that this life is temporary – like smoke, it vanishes away. But those who belong to Christ live with the eternal hope they have in Him – the promise of a glorious future without pain or suffering or end.  Luke 10:20: …rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

We have reason to celebrate God no matter what we experience in this life. And, as we rejoice in Him, recognizing Him as our forgiveness for sins – our salvation and our hope for all eternity, we are strengthened to overcome sin, and we are strengthened to persevere through suffering! It is our rejoicing, our delight, our joy and focus being on Christ as our provision for sin and hope for the future that strengthens us to walk through this life. So get your mind off of your sin and your circumstances and onto Christ and His provision and eternal hope. This focus is what brings to pass the reality of Nehemiah 8:20, the joy of the Lord is our strength.

As a Butterfly Struggles to Emerge

This week while thinking about “change” in the mind and life of believers, and praying about what to write to you, I remembered a teaching I gave at a ladies tea in Ridgecrest, CA. As I shared there, I compared the new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) with the story of the butterfly.

You see, a caterpillar before its transformation into a butterfly, has no capacity for the light, fluttering, new-born movements made by a butterfly. It has no capacity for the delights experienced by a butterfly such as flying above the ground instead of crawling across it. It cannot even imagine it, let alone conceive it. The caterpillar must first be changed into a new creature – a butterfly.

As new creatures in Christ, there are a number of ways we could be likened to the caterpillar that was transformed into a butterfly. God changed us from creatures with sinful hearts to creatures with hearts that desire to please Him. Our old nature has passed away and all things are new (2 Cor 5:17). So, just as the caterpillar, now a butterfly, has a new life awaiting it, a new life awaits all who are new creations in Christ.

However, here is the deal. The butterfly must make the effort to embrace its new life by going through the struggle of eating its way out of the cocoon while pushing its wings against the sides of the cocoon. If it fails to do this, it will die inside the cocoon – yes, a caterpillar changed into a butterfly – but, without tasting the benefits and joys of its new life, and without fulfilling its destiny as a beautiful new creature. Does this ever happen? Yes, sometimes it happens. And, sometimes, as Christians, although we are new creations in Christ Jesus, we continue in our old life, failing to emerge just as the butterfly who fails to push its way out of that which is holding it back from experiencing what it was recreated for. We still see ourselves as sinners instead of seeing ourselves as over comers. We still think of ourselves as incapable instead of proclaiming, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). Although we are no longer in bondage to the old nature, we still choose to focus on our old life and live our lives as that old creature. Most times, I think we do this simply because it has become comfortable and easy to us even though it is not what is best for us. We continue to live as the old man because of habit, and, perhaps some continue in the old life because they have a lack of knowledge of who they really are in Christ.

Either way, to experience the purpose and the joy of the new life that awaits us, we must make some effort. We must open the Scriptures and replace the old way of thinking with a new way of thinking. We must find out who we are and renew our minds accordingly (Romans 12:2), if we are to push our way out of the old life that we have been freed from. For example, God says you are a world over comer (1 John 5:4) and a conqueror (Romans 8:37). He says you are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6). He says you are established, anointed, and sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21,22). And, He says you are filled with the spirit of power, love, and a sound, disciplined mind. But, you may say you don’t feel like it; or you don’t see yourself this way. But listen, we cannot trust our own thoughts, emotions, or feelings as truth. Our only standard of truth is the Word of God! What does it say about you? Who does God call you? What does God say you have and what does He say you can do? Who does God say you are? Why listen to someone else including yourself when God is the one who has created you? Wouldn’t He know more about you since He made you?  Find out what God has to say and begin to act like you are who He says you are in the midst of your doubt.

It is sad that many Christians do not make the effort to discover and experience who they are in Christ. They continue acting like they are someone they are NOT and they miss out on the experience of living as the child of the King of the Universe. They continue to act like the old man/woman instead of who God has made them to be. To experience new life, we must learn to separate our actions from our identity. Put on the new identity and when we fail to act like who God says we are, we need to be careful not to mistake that unwanted action as who we really are. Robert McGee, author of In Search of Significance gives us a great example to help us understand this principle: A person loses their mind, gets down on their knees, and begins barking like a dog. Does that make this person a dog? No – of course not. Their actions are that of a dog; however, they are still a human being, despite what they are doing.

How about you? Do you know who you really are in Christ? Or, are you asking, “Where is this new life the Bible talks about?” I want to encourage you not to be one of those Christians who fail to put any effort forth to renew their mind according to God’s Word, thereby, failing to emerge and embrace the new life Christ has waiting for them.  Come on. You can do it. Spread your wings and push through your obstacles with all your might. As the butterfly uses all of its might to push its way out of the cocoon to emerge, you must push your way out of the old way of thinking in order to embrace the new life that awaits you. Open your Bible. Meditate on it. Believe it. Be who God has created you to be!

I am here to help you on your journey of change that will result by the renewing of your mind to truth. Remember, it is not what you believe that sets you free. It is not what you believe that transforms you. It is believing truth. You must discover it and experience it. Then, you, too, can share it! If you would like a copy of Scriptures that pertain to who God calls you to be, just send me an email and I would be delighted to send it to you.

For fun, I uploaded this video. You can watch a butterfly emerge from the chrysalis here: 

May God bless you… Until Next Time,

Sarah

Discover Truth!  Experience Truth!  Share Truth!
“Helping people to identify lies in their belief system,
replace them with truth, and thereby
increase in their faith and enjoyment of life & God!
                 www.sarahgoebel.com
                

Thought Patrol Part 2: Reframing Your Life Story

Did you know that if you are tired of the story you have been living, you have it within your power to create a new one?  I discussed in the last post of the “Though Patrol” series the first step in the process of change and that is you must recognize authorship of your story and take ownership of it. Without a recognition that you yourself have responsibility for life, you will not be able to successfully assess your thoughts, behavior and the results of your behavior to determine what you can and should change. Today, we will look at the role our assumptions and motivations play in creating our life stories.

In the Bible, God tells us that we can call things that be not as though they are. What is He talking about here? He is saying if you have things in your life that are not in alignment with God’s will for you and you want to change, then begin to use your imagination and envision that change and speak it into being. Do not get me wrong here. This is not a magical formula, but a process involving godly meditation and speaking a godly desire aloud, that must be persevered until the desired result is being experienced in your life. The thing is, as you envision the change and speak it, you will begin to believe it. You are simply going through the process of changing your thoughts to line up with the life God has said He desires for you. As the thoughts you are now meditating on change, so does your behavior begin to change which results in bringing the new belief to pass. Scripture says that what you believe opens or closes possibilities for your life. Your beliefs and assumptions about yourself, others, life and God have a tremendous impact on your behavior, performance and how you achieve your life or business goals. Ultimately, they construct your storylines, opening or closing the possibilities which influence your performance.

Another Scripture that comes to mind is Mark 11:24: Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. God is saying whatever you believe you can be, have, or do when you ask Him for it is a possibility for you to experience in your life. Your beliefs and assumptions will manifest themselves in the decisions you make, the things you say and the things you do. On the other hand, whatever you do not believe limits the possibility for that to be a storyline of your life.  In other words, there are empowering beliefs and there are limiting beliefs. Let’s take a look at what an empowering belief might look like.

1.  I will carry through the decisions that I make.
2. I have the ability and the perseverance to achieve my goals.
3. I am a positive person and those around me learn to respond positively to me.

A limiting belief would look like this.

1. No one ever supports me in what I want to do.
2. I am not good enough to earn that amount of money.
3. I am unworthy of good things.

Let’s look at the first example above of a limiting belief. Immediately, we recognize these statements are in contradiction with what scripture says about us or commands us to think. Philippians 4:8 is a good example: Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. When you believe no one ever supports you, your behavior will become such that it will cause people to be unsupportive towards you. On the otherhand, looking at the third example above of an empowering belief, your behavior will line up with the belief and you will have people responding to you in a positive way.

Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to be transformed by renewing our minds. Whatever beliefs you renew your mind to will become the storylines of your new life story.  Your thoughts will transform your behavior and your behavior will transform your life. We are able to know someone’s beliefs and values by looking at their behavior because behavior is a result of what we believe.

So it is important to acknowledge that you have been constructing and are able to construct what you experience. You are the one responsible for your own choices and those choices have created your storyline. If you continue making the same choices you will continue creating the same storylines. If you begin making different choices, you will begin to write a new life story.

God says in Deuteronomy “I set before you life and death.”  Then He goes on and commands us to “Choose life”. We make the choice as to what we are going to believe, feel and do. When we choose empowering beliefs we are choosing beliefs that lead to successful behavior which will result in a successful life and career.

As a Christian Life Coach, I help my clients to assess their story lines and determine the underlying assumptions and self concepts they were created from. I also help them learn to take their thoughts captive and analyze them as to whether they are thoughts that are empowering or limiting and then discard those that are not going to further the new story they desire to create. It is also important to examine one’s emotions to determine the assumption or thought it is attached to and whether that assumption is relevant to one’s present life.  If not, the assumption can be changed and the feeling can be converted to an intention.

You can take control of your thoughts and feelings and create a new life experience. Join me next week for Part 3 of the series on “Thought Patrol.”

Examples of Scriptures which speak of our belief system – our faith:

Matthew 9:22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Matthew 21:21-22 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

2 Corinthians 4:13-14 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

Thought Patrol – Change Your Life by Changing Your Mind

There’s Power in Policing Your Thoughts: Take Ownership of Your Life’s Story – Pt. 1

When an individual decides that they want to change something in their life, they must first recognize they are the author of their story. This is true for any area of life they desire to change – their money story, as well as relationships, and career or wellness stories. Taking ownership of your story is the first step and it is a crucial one.

Don’t misunderstand me. It is true that there are things that have happened to us that have been out of our control. You can’t do anything about the family you were born into, where you were born or when you were born. We also may not have control over experienced losses in income or physical disadvantages. If you were treated well as a child or abused as a child was not something you were able to regulate. We have all had sins done against us and some have been no less than horrific!

Yet how many MORE things have happened to us AFTER those events as a result of our beliefs concerning them. You see, it is not the events or situations themselves that have brought us to the place we find ourselves today. It is the beliefs we hold about them. It is how we have responded to them and what thoughts we have hidden concerning them into the depths of our minds. In other words, it is how we chose to think about God, our own value and identity, and even life itself as our take-away about the event we experienced or the circumstance we are challenged to overcome. Some people have allowed the situations of life to catapult them into their God-ordained destinies, while others have allowed their circumstances to hold them back.

Thoughts can enter our minds in three ways: from God; from our own brain functions that release the thoughts we have pondered in the past, and, therefore, stored in our physical brains; and from demonic spirits. Wrong thoughts do us no harm, nor are they accounted as sin to us as long as we judge them for what they are, and send refuse to keep them.  However, those thoughts that are more than fleeting – thoughts we allow to stay and make their home in our brains, are another thing. They begin to write our life story and direct the path it will take in the future. What I am saying is our thoughts have actually shaped our adult lives and created our life stories. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man thinks, so he is. Therefore, in order to decide what needs to be changed in our lives so that we may live a more joyous, free, and successful life, we must first take ownership of our story.  We must accept that we are responsible for the thoughts we have pondered and allowed to become a part of who we are. Many times, these thoughts became attitudes and then directed our actions and speech, leading us to our present situations.

However, if you are breathing today, your story can still be changed – with God there is always HOPE. Our God renews and restores as we cooperate with Him. God wants us to become one with Him, to connect with Him not only in our spirits but with our minds. We do this by policing our thoughts. I call it Thought Patrol. We can review and evaluate our life events and gain insight as to what we took away from each. As we do this, we discover hidden themes and recurring patterns that have occurred due to what thoughts we pondered, thus creating a default way of thinking and responding to anything that reminds us of similar types of situations.  This pattern is embedded in our physical mind. We are able to then reflect on aspects of our identity, including the ROLES by which we define ourselves, that are associated with our thoughts about ourselves. We begin to undo all the false thought patterns we have developed and make new patterns of thought that are in alignment with God’s thoughts (Phil 4:8).  In order to do this, we must determine to pay close attention to what we are thinking (police our thoughts) and begin to make (requires effort) intentional changes in those patterns (2 Cor 10:5 and Romans 12:2).

Think about these verses. They give us direction for living free, purpose-filled, and successful lives before our God:

How we are to think: Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Think good pure thoughts).
How we can think this way:
1.     2 Corinthians 10:5 – “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedientto Christ.”
(Determine to police our thoughts, take captive those thoughts that are out of order because they deny God’s presence in our lives, they deny who He is and who He has made us to be; refuse to think upon them.

2.     Romans 12:2 – “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, pleasingand perfect will.” (Replace those harmful thoughts with the good thoughts of God. Don’t think about your situations the way those without God would do. Instead meditate on God’s revelation of Himself (His sovereignty and love) and of who you are in Christ. New patterns of thinking will begin to develop and life begins to change and reflect God’s presence).

Every thought that enters your mind this week, I hope you will apply Phil 4:8 to it. If the thought is not good and encouraging, then take it captive and put it down according to 2 Corinthians. Replace it with thoughts from God you find in Scripture.

Let’s interact. Would you share a thought concerning who God is and/or who He says you are in Christ? Please feel free to comment on the post, ask for prayer, or ask questions throughout the week. I will do my best to answer you. You might want to subscribe to the feed for this series to ensure you don’t miss a thing. Also, it would be wonderful if you would invite others to join us. Meanwhile, I am praying for you.

Next week, we will talk more about how our roles in life have defined us.

With Sister Love,

Sarah Goebel

 

How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth!

I have found  daily reading from the Bible to be vital for my life.  Today, I want to share some interpretation rules I have learned in one of my academic classes that I believe will help you to read the Bible for all its worth!

I think these guidelines can help achieve consistency in anyone’s biblical understanding. I pray you will find this to be true for you:  (1) The first rule addresses our starting point, which is what we call exegesis. Exegesis is what we do in trying to understand what was written to them back then and there. One does not have to be an expert to do the basics of exegesis. We just need to be aware of a few things. For instance, Fee and Stuart, authors of How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, recommend that we set limits to what the text can and cannot mean today based on what it could mean when written to the original recipients. In other words, it cannot mean something to us today that the hearers then would not have understood. Remember, those that these words were originally spoken or written to didn’t try to interpret them in their present time according to a future understanding or future culture such as our western lifestyle in the twenty first century. It is we who have that task. We must look back and interpret according to their situation and culture, not according to our own.

This seems like a basic idea; yet, we all can probably think of some times we have seen poor interpretation from ignoring this rule. For example, those who do not believe that spiritual gifts are for today sometimes use 1 Corinthians 13:10: “When the perfect comes the partial will be done away” as their theological basis for refutation of the spiritual gifts. They claim that the perfect has come in the form of the written Word of God, particularly the New Testament. They say, therefore, prophecy and tongues are no longer needed. With good exegesis, however, we know that First Corinthians 13:10 could not possibly mean this to the first century Christians; because, they did not know we would have the Bible in the form we have it today. By asking the question, “Could this have meant that to the first century reader?” when we are considering an interpretation, we can prevent ourselves from building a false theology.I am not trying to tell you what to believe concerning spiritual gifts. But I am saying that if you don’t believe they are for today, hopefully this isn’t the reason.

The second rule: When the situation surrounding the first century recipient is comparable to ours, then God’s Word to us is the same as it was to them. That’s easy enough. On the other hand, if it is not comparable, whether it is what we want to believe or not, we must accept that most likely it needs to be interpreted in view of cultural relativity. In other words, it is vital that we correctly reconstruct the circumstance of the hearer then in our exegesis, if we are to apply this rule with biblical accuracy. These things must be done before we can then determine what the Word means to us today in our present situation.

One such place in Scripture that is interpreted differently by different denominations is First Timothy 2:11 concerning the operation of the church and women. As I have studied the passages concerning this issue this past year, I have found that the Church at Ephesus was a church in crisis! This is important to know because a church in crisis may need different instructions than one that is not. One of their challenging issues involved some very specific women who were spreading wrong teachings (1 Timothy 5:11-15; 2 Timothy 3:6-9). When considering what they may have been teaching, consider the culture of Ephesus. The culture was highly influenced by the goddess Artemis which encouraged women to dominate men. Her worship was fanatical and traced back to the Amazon (female warriors), of whom many in Ephesus claimed to be descended from.

Having this type of knowledge about what was going on in Ephesus helps us to understand the situation, problems, and crisis Timothy was trying to handle which demanded drastic measures. It helps us to understand why Paul would write, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet” in one place and do the opposite in another. Paul was the founder of the church at Ephesus and had left Timothy there to handle the crisis. Paul was laying down some strict measures based on the situation present in Ephesus at this particular time in order to bring it out of a crisis situation. Paul wouldn’t allow a woman to teach or speak for that particular church at that particular time for that particular circumstance, but did not mean this to be a doctrine for every church for all time.

After all, Paul writes to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11) to help them sort out the issue of head dressings when women are… what?–when they are prophesying and praying in public worship services!  He didn’t command them to be silent. He gave instructions for them to pray and prophesy. One cannot pray and prophesy and keep silent! In other areas of Scripture we see women were involved in leadership roles in Paul’s ministry as well. Therefore, we must take the this Scripture and the one other used to prevent women from holding leadership roles in some churches today and consider them in light of all the Scriptures and references to women and ministry made by Paul. When we do, I believe the best conclusion is these two situations must be culturally relevant, meant for very specific situations, and not a universal mandate.

Again, I am not trying to change your doctrine about this controversial issue with this short post. However, I do hope I have heightened your sensitivity to specific problems inherent in Scripture, and helped you realize why different options exist. I share Fee and Stuart’s goal that as readers, we learn to discern between good and not-so-good interpretations and perhaps to know what makes them one or the other.

    Until next time…may you be safe in our Father’s care and may He continue to reveal His truth to you, unhindered by tradition!

For Christ’s Glory,
Sarah

1Fee, Gordon D. and Stuart, Douglas. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003.

We Could Change the World

My prayer for all of us for 2013 is that we could live just as stated in this song by Matt Redmond…. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

08 – We Could Change the World

Blessed to Be Stretched

Have you ever felt that you were being stretched?

Friends, I have to tell you that God has taken me totally out of my comfort zone and is stretching me this season. I encouraged my daughter to remove my grandson from the public school system and allow Jon and I to home school him. Today, the following definition describes me well, especially the second one.

The Online Dictionary by Farlex defines “stretched”
1. To lengthen, widen, or distend: stretched the sweater out of shape.
2. To cause to extend from one place to another or across a given space: stretched the banner between two poles.
3. To make taut; tighten: stretched the tarpaulin until it ripped.
4. To reach or put forth; extend: stretched out his hand.

Until September of 2010, Jon and I lived separated from our kids and only grandson. God took us by surprise when He led us to move to this small town in the desert of California where he had already gathered all of them to live and work.That move in itself was a step of faith even though I knew it would be a blessing to be near my children.

Now God is stretching me from a speaking ministry to ministering to a wonderful young man who has a champion residing within. It is indeed a challenge for me but it is also a blessing. My free time is mostly gone. My schedule is tighter than ever and the activities of my day do not allow time for much “me” activities.

Yet what a blessing it is to be challenged in this way. What a privilege to have the opportunity to build a relationship with Alex and pour into him the things God has poured into us so that he can take them to the next generation. And what lessons and knowledge God is and will be teaching Jon and I through Alex.

I have always admired and highly respected the home school moms. I thought my season had passed for such a privilege. Isn’t it just like God to surprise us in these ways?

Proverbs 22:6 GW
Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.

We Like the Light – But Which Light?

Yesterday, my husband, Jon, and I jumped into the car and headed to Las Vegas, Nevada, approximately a 4-hour road trip. Yeah, I know, Las Vegas has the nickname “sin city”, but Jon’s beautiful and compassionate sister invited us to join her and Jon’s eighty-six year old mother for a couple days at the Rio Hotel on her! We were ready for a mini-vacation so this was perfect timing and a great gift to us! Besides, how could we pass up the opportunity to visit with them when they were so nearby? Kathy, Jon’s sister lives in Washington, D.C. and his mother lives in Minnesota making it difficult to visit often. Our time together thus far, has been blessed and I thank God for arranging it.
I love the way God speaks to us in so many various ways to include the activities we find ourselves engaged in. Last night I stood at our hotel room window and enjoyed the magnificent view of the well-lit city. I marveled at the beautiful lights and their bright colors and I thought, “Isn’t it strange how man, even in his unredeemed nature, is drawn to light. Man built a city for the purpose of indulging man in the sinful pleasures of the world but instead of making it a dark place, he has lit it up like nothing else I have ever seen.” God spoke to me in my spirit and said, “Sarah, man is drawn to the light because at the core of his being, He is in search of Me. Satan uses light as a counterfeit of the true Light (Me- 1 John 1:9) but instead of leading men to life, he leads them to death. There is always a resemblance of light and truth in all that he does but his light will go out.” Job 18:5 says, “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, and the flame of his fire gives no light.” How important it is for us to examine the light that we walk in. Is it the light of the wicked or the light of the LORD (Isaiah 2:5)?”

Who Are These Wicked People Who Are Totally Worthless?

Jeremiah 13:10
This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.

WOW….How careful we should be to listen to God’s voice as He speaks through the Holy Spirit to our spirit to our mind (of course, always in agreement with the written word) or as He speaks directly from the Scripture as we open the pages of our Bible. God calls those who refuse to listen to His words, wicked. And look what God says about their refusal to listen. He calls it stubbornness of heart and He says it leads to going after, serving and bowing down to other gods. The result is they are left to become totally worthless. May we as Disciples of Christ be quick to listen and respond to the words of the one and only infinite, majestic, omniscient, omnipotent God of the universe! Then, and only then, we will not become worthless to the Kingdom of God and it’s advancement upon this earth!

More on “Desires”

Psalm 38:9
“Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.”

We need strong, passionate desires. It is desire that fuels us from complacency to doing something productive and meaningful in our lives. But we must question where our desires come from. Most times our desires are linked to thoughts we have meditated on. This is a key point in determining whether our desires are godly or ungodly. When we play a thought over and over on our mind, considering it in every way, either a good or destructive power is released into our lives. What type of power is dependent on whether the thought that has now become a passionate desire was a godly or ungodly one, thus, resulting in a godly or ungodly passion.

We should, therefore, examine our desires by asking where they come from. Are they a result of thoughts flowing from our natural evil heart, evil spirits, or God? Scripture tells us that the heart of man is evil and that we cannot even know our own heart. We naturally have an inclination to want for ourselves and ourselves above all else. In other words, our natural desires are selfish and self glorifying.  These desires and those born from a thought planted by evil spirits who possess the airways, always lead to destruction.  They lead us away from God.  Whereas meditating upon God’s thoughts and allowing those to take root as our heart’s desires, releases a power that transforms our lives from the inside out into the image of Christ.