MERE WORDS OR MORE....

The devil is a trash talker.
In case you had not gotten that one yet.
Especially when we are already afraid or anxious.
Oh - he is a fine master of words.
He knows how to play with the truth just enough to make us believe his lies.
He loves to make us doubt.
How he loves that!
Because doubt breeds fear, which will snuff out faith if we let it.
While reading about Sennacherib this morning, I could not help but think how his words could have come from the inner chamber of the enemy's strategy meetings.

..."Thus says the great king of Assyria: "What confidence is this in which you trust? You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?"
2 Kings 18:19-20 (NKJV)

The devil probably could not have said it better himself.
We speak of the weapons of our warfare.
We make plans for battle, but sometimes lack in the follow through.
We know we have the power of the Holy Spirit with us, yet we don't call upon it.
We think we can do this alone.
We trust in our own strength.
We boast in our own confidence.
In doing so, we fail.
When we speak out of our own strength they are but mere words.
He is right- how can we rebel against him alone?
We can't.
The good news is we don't have to.
We were never expected to.

"By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas; who established the mountains by His strength, being clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples."
Psalm 65:5-7 (NKJV)

The enemy is going to try to beat you and I up with his words. He will remind us of times we have failed. He will remind us of times we thought God failed. Times when things did not turn out like we had hoped or prayed.
When those whispers start to tickle you ears, silence them with truth. Not with mere words, but the Word of the God Almighty. The Word of Christ Jesus. He is your confidence. He is your strength. He is your power.
May we not only be diligent in planning for battle,
may we be deliberate in the follow through.
May we purposefully and intentionally submit ourselves to the Lord God in all our battles.
May we walk confidently in the armour of God, not because of us, but because of Him.
May we silence the lies of the enemy when he asks,
"And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?",
by responding with two words,
Jesus Christ.
Our deliberate deliverer.

HAND-CRAFTED SIN

So these nations feared the Lord,

yet served their carved images;

also their children and their children's children

have continued doing as their fathers did,

even to this day.

2 Kings 18:41 (NKJV)

You can fear the Lord and still serve your own gods.

That is my handwritten side note beside verse 33 of the same chapter, which states the same thing.

I, Rhonda, can fear the Lord, and still, mistakenly, serve my own gods.

Maybe not little statues, but little issues, you bet.

Money.

Accolades.

Security.

Love.

Anything that I try to put above the Lord God and Jesus Christ will become a god to me.

A god that I myself have created. It tells us the people were serving "their carved images". Someone had to carve them. Isaiah says something very similar.

For in that day every man should throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold - sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

Isaiah 31:7 (NKJV)

Sin that I have made for myself. It might have started out innocently enough.

A man wanting to provide for his family.

A mom wanting her kids to be well behaved.

Just wanting to shed those few pounds.

Writing something and wanting people to think it was good. Insightful.

An employee wanting to make his or her boss proud.

All good things, but the moment they move up the ladder to the top and surpass my relationship with Jesus Christ, they have become gods.

Am I sacrificing my family to make money?

Am I enabling my kids instead of training them up?

Am I obsessed about my weight? Letting it define me instead of resting in who I am in Christ Jesus?

Do I seek the approval of man above the approval of God?

All easy traps to fall into. For me it is usually a slow fall.

Gradual.

A little compromise here, a little give there.

A second look in the mirror followed by a run down of all the things I don't like.

Bribing my kids to behave in front of company, all the time.

Checking my profile status to see how many people have visited.

Sin that I myself have crafted.

If that was not bad enough, sin that can be passed down for generations (note the plural).

If I am obsessed with my body, don't you think for a second my men children won't be with theirs.

If my husband works at the expense of these boys, he is marking the path they will be likely to follow, and pay dearly for.

Diligence is what is required of me.

Listening for the Voice that says this the way to walk.

Heeding the Holy Spirit's nudges.

Keeping my heart and mind grounded in the word of God.

Because I, and you, have been delivered from all of that.

Deliberately.

"NO" MEN

We all have a desire to surround ourselves with people who encourage us, and rightly so. We need people who will lift us up. However, we must be aware of the pit of excess. We see it all the time. People become famous and are surrounded by an entourage of "yes" men. People come into places of leadership, and the "yes" men abound. Doesn't just happen in Hollywood. Happens right here in our own backyards. Successful coaches hung the moon, charismatic preachers can do no wrong, politically prominent men and women wield power unfathomable.

It can happen to any of us. Should we find ourselves in that situation we would be wise to make sure we get a healthy dose of "no" men as well. We need only to look at the story of Ahab, king of Israel, to see how deep the pit can be.

And Jehoshaphat said,

"Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?"

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat,

"There is still one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord;

but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil."

And Jehoshaphat said,"Let the king not say such things!"

1 Kings 18:7-8

(NKJV)

The two kings were considering going to war together. Now keep in mind Ahab was an evil king who had turned from the ways of the Lord. His desire to go to war was motivated by pride and gain alone. Jehoshaphat had requested that they inquire of the Lord, so Ahab called together hundreds of prophets (his personal "yes" men). They all agreed....go to war... the victory is yours... you are the best... you can do anything... the world is your oyster... so on and so on. Yet even in hearing this, Jehoshaphat knew something wasn't quite right. Then there was that one guy...

Our "yes" men need to balanced with the truth of God's word. Which means, at times, they need to be "no" men. Any one of us, left to our own devices, and given a bit of fame, fortune or power, can find ourselves heading head first into a deep pit of pride and self-absorption. Doing what we want, when we want, how we want, regardless of what God wants. Truth be told, I can find myself doing that now (without the fame, fortune or power).

We need to be watchful that we, ourselves, don't become another person's "yes" man. "No" men won't always be popular. We won't always like them,or be liked if we are one, but if they are acting in the love of Christ when they say no, we will treasure them.

Take a look around your circle of friends today. Are you surrounded by "yes" men? Have you gone the other, just as damaging direction, and surrounded yourself with "no" men? Do you have a balance of the two?

Godly correction and discipline will be just as profitable as godly encouragement if we let it. Let us be deliberate in surrounding ourselves with both.

IF I ONLY HAD...

I have recently started So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore. The chapter I read yesterday made mention of some"false positives" we carry around with us. You know them. They are the one thing or one area where we believe if we could just get that (or get it right) we would be secure and set in everything else. Must admit I have a couple of those.
At the same time I am reading about Solomon. The man had it all. Money, fame, favor of the Lord, adoration of his kingdom and other kingdoms. The dude was set. Yet it was not enough to keep him focused on God. He still turned from the God who had personally visited him twice.
He still turned to other gods.
My " false positives" are just like the gods Solomon chased. They can no more bring me security than, well, anything. It does not matter how much I have or don't have, the only security I can count on, that I can cling to, is found in Jesus Christ. What my false positives can do is turn my eyes from the God who loves me. They can make me blind to all the things I do have, all the things the Lord has been gracious to me with.
As I was reflecting after reading today I just kept picturing myself going back to Jesus daily saying " My security is in You". Not just about money, a job, or material things but in relationships as well. When I see someone at work promoted and I wonder why not me. When I see someone serving in the ministry in a manner I want to or would like to at least try. When I see someone with friendships like I want. Whatever it is, my security has to rest in Christ and in Christ alone. I have to trust that He has a plan, knows the plan, will execute the plan and that it is a good plan. That is what will make me secure.
For me, I will have to be purposeful about it.
I will have to choose each day.
I may even have to be audible in it.
Repeatedly.
I will have to, daily, be deliberate in my choice to be secure in and with Him.
After all, He was and is deliberate in delivering me.

THE TEMPLE

I have been reading about the temple Solomon built for the Lord. The great detail with which everything was made. The great detail that is recorded in the book of 1 Kings and in 2 Chronicles. How every little thing was planned for and designed by God. Even the smallest thing. I often wonder why God had the specifics recorded with such great accuracy. Why do I need to know how many cubits the vestibule was or how each cart was made?
I think one of the reasons why is that we don't forget we serve the God of details, even the smallest ones. Yes He sees the big picture, but that doesn't overshadow the details. He is all about the details.
1 Corinthians 3:16 reminds us that we are the temple of the Spirit of God. Just as God planned for and designed the very details of Solomon's temple, He has planned for and designed the details of you. From that freckle that you hate to those dimples you love, He has cared for them all. He sees the big picture He has for us physically, mentally , emotionally and spiritually, but don't think for a second He has left the details for you to work out. He hasn't. He is on top of each and everyone of them. Are we co-laborers in building our temple? You bet, just as Solomon was with his temple. But we are not left to sort out the details on our own. He has the specifics. He has a plan.
A plan that is for your good.
Because you and I were deliberately delivered.
And that is a detail we must not overlook.
Be blessed dear ones.

MULTITUDE OF ANXIETIES

I have battled anxiety for a few years now. Early on it was pretty bad. Now, it is just every once in a while, and I can usually tell when it is coming on. I know the cues for what sets it off. There are a couple of things that are sure fired triggers. I also know what reigns it in- for me it is scripture. I have a spiral set of "go to" index cards when I feel it building up. It is actually my second set because I gave the first one away:)
One of things I hate about anxiety is the feeling of being out of control. I can't control what is going on around me, so my mind and my body try to physically go out of control as well. I hate the shaky, nervous feeling anxiety brings with it. I also hate feeling like I am the only one. I know I am not, but when it hits, I kinda feel isolated.
In my quiet time the other day, I found this verse-
In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
Psalm 94:19
Now I have researched anxiety in my Strong's Concordance and managed to miss this verse.
I can not tell you how it comforted me to know the psalmist not only had one area of anxiety, but a multitude. Can I get a witness? Anxieties that he takes ownership of. They are not God's anxieties.
God brings a multitude of comforts.
For each and every anxiety I have, He has an answer.
That does delight my soul!

PLACE

Hubs and I were having an *ahem* discussion about "place", mostly mine, and operating within it. More specifically, defining it's boundaries.
You know...

It's not your place to say

You spoke out of place

What place is it of yours to tell me blah blah blah


So here is the question for you (and oh how I hope you answer) :


What is our place?


I talked about calling out blatant, unrepentant sin the other day.
That is all our place in my opinion.
But what about things that are just tweeks? Things we see others doing that are damaging to the body that they may not even recognize are hurting anyone.
That woman or young girl at church whose skirt is repeatedly just a little too short or shirt just a little to sheer.
The young man who repeatedly is demonstrative in his play for girls or in his attempt to exercise his dominance over other guys.
That teenager who is popping off at their parents in front of everyone.
The mom who loses it on her kids A LOT.
What about people you know well who are acting out of emotion and the result is hurting others?
What about that group of women or men who went out for a night and things got a bit, just a bit, carried away?
That wife who belittles her husband at bible study. Or on the phone?
The husband who bad mouths his wife in front of others.
Where is your place to speak to those issues?
Is relationship the determining factor?
Does it matter how well you know them?
Or do you have a place as a woman and man of God to address it regardless of how well you know them?
So we don't spend time arguing over this point, yes the how matters.
Absolutely.
In truth and in LOVE.
You don't do it with either of these you are acting out side the bounds of your place.
So lets pretend we are all mature enough we can do address the issue with both of those.
Where is the line that you are not allowed to cross?
I would love to hear from you minister wives, as I am sure you have had your fair share in dealing with this.
Looking forward to the insight!