Don't Open the Door to Satan Even a CRACK!

Great reminder from Kim!!!

Begin forwarded message:

"and do not give the devil a foothold." Ephesians 4: 27

As the Study Bible says, "Personal sin is usually due to our evil desires rather than to direct tempting by the devil. However, Satan can use our sins- especially those, like anger, that are against others- to bring about greater evil, such as divisions among Christians."

Satan is very crafty and sneaky! His goal is not to be noticed or given any credit, but for us to turn away from God!!!! He will do anything to achieve that goal.
... He will use our own weaknesses to turn us against each other (fellow Christians),
... he will use the provacative things of this world to get us to push God aside,
... he encourages us to worship ourselves (that way we won't be worshipping the One
deserving our praise!)
... he will keep us too busy so we don't take the time to know the things of God-
we just drift away from Him, little by little.

How scary! God warns us today ...
... not to even slightly open the door to the devil- not even a crack!
... not to let his lies become our truth!!!!! Or distort God's Truth!!!
... not to listen to his temptations!

Satans main objective is to keep us from knowing or remembering what is in our Love Letter from God!!

He will distract us, not necessarily with bad things but many times with constructive things that become way too important! Things that seem alright but can be used to keep us from reading the Truth, like.....too much church work, work, too many outside activities, too much sleep or food, time with friends becoming more important than time with our King, t.v., movies- if it keeps us out of God's Word, he is happy!

But, we are always VICTORIOUS with God!!! Amen!
God WARNS us to KEEP HIM CLOSE!!!! Be IN the TRUTH!!!!

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads," Deuteronomy 11: 18

"And the words of the Lord are flawless..." Psalm 12: 6

"The unfolding of Your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple." Psalm 119: 130

"All Your words are true!" Psalm 119: 160

Our Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your warnings! Thank You for encouraging us to be ON GUARD against the evil, destructive one!
Your Words help us to fight off harmful and wrong thoughts!!!
Your Words encourage us in the midst of turmoil!!
Your Words warn us about the corruption that surrounds us!
Your Words show us ways to build, with Your help, Your Kingdom for Eternity!
Your Words give us guidelines on how to live in this wicked world!
Your Words are LOVE!!!!!

We Thank You for family and friends Father! We Thank You for the good and the bad! May everything that happens strengthen us in our walk with You!

In Your Son's LIVING Name we pray. Amen.

Words Without Deeds: The Vice of Religion

It would be a convenient arrangement were we so constituted that we could not talk better than we live. For reasons known to God, however, there seems to be no necessary connection between our speaking and our doing; and here ies one of the deadliest snares in the religious lie I am afraid we modern Christians are long on talk and short on conduct. We use the language of power but our deeds are the deeds of weakness.

I love reading ANYTHING by A. W. Tozer: he challenges me with the Word of God applied to my life. In his book, "Born After Midnight," the above opening paragraph is the beginning of a few pertinent thoughts I want to share from the short chapter on Words Without Deeds: The Vice of Religion. Continuing:

Our Lord and His apostles were LONG on deeds. The Gospels depict a Man walking in power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10.38). The moral relation between words and deeds appears quite plainly in the life and teachings of Christ. He DID before He spoke, and the doing gave validity to the speaking.

Luke wrote of "all that Jesus began both to do and to tech," and I am sure that the order expressed there is NOT accidental. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ placed doing before teaching: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so..." (Matt. 5.19)

Unquestionable there is not another institution in the world that talks as much and does as little as the church. Any factory that required as much raw material for so small a finished product would go bankrupt in six months...

We settle for words in religion because deeds are too costly. It is easier to pray, "Lord help me to carry my cross daily" than to PICK UP THE CROSS AND CARRY IT, but since the mere request for help to do something we do not actually intend to do has a certain degree of religious comfort, we are content with repetition of the words.

CHALLENGE: How do we escape the snare of words without deeds? It is simple, though not easy. First, let us say nothing we do not mean. Break the habit of conventional religious chatter. Speak only as we are ready to take the consequences. Believe God's promises and obey His commandments. Practice the truth and we may with propriety speak the truth. Deeds give body to words. As we do acts of power our words will take on authority and a new sense of reality will fill our hearts.

Consequences....

A great reminder Bible study from Kim!

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6: 23

This verse is all about consequences! I have 3 grandsons (3,2, and a 1 year old) and their mothers teach them all about consequences. For every action we take there is a consequence (good or bad), whether we are a toddler or an adult. Our actions dictate our future in this life.
There will be consequences if we are caught shoplifting.
There will be a consequence if we throw a temper tantrum (and we all know how to do
that, even as adults!)
There will be a consequence if we talk back to our parent or our boss!
There will be consequences if we are caught speeding!
There will be consequences if we are unfaithful to our spouse!
There will be consequences if we hit our sibling or get into a brawl.
There are consequences when we are rude, unloving, and mean- it negatively
effects those around us!
There are consequences for getting roped into participating in unhealthy activities.
There are consequences for not taking your medicine and/or not taking care of your
health.
There will be consequences when we divorce!
There are consequences for being too prideful!
There are consequences for not being forgiving!
(Oh, this list could on and on for days!!! )

Our "SS" speaks about consequences, "The wages of sin is death!" That is our consequence!!! It gets right to the point! There is no way around it! Except for the fact, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Alleluia!

We can't do anything about the consequences we have in this world from our actions but we are assured that we are forgiven (when we are repentive) and our Father God freely offers us freedom and eternal life with Him, His Son and The Holy Spirit forever and ever!!!

Father God, Help us to LEARN from our actions and consequences! May they be a stepping stone in our walk with You! Lord, we can't be thankful enough for the gift You offer us! Complete forgiveness from our sins (when we are truly sorry and truly want to cease from behaving in the same way again) and eternal life with the Trinity!!! Thank You Father for Your Great Love!!!!

A "Show of the Flesh" or "Living in the Spirit"?

Galatians 6.11-18 (see below)

I. A show of the flesh requires adherence to rules to avoid the cross and its persecution
Application: Have I picked up the cross fo Christ DAILY - denying the flesh to follow Christ in His ways?

II. Glory in the cross - which by Christ the world is crucified unto me and me to the world - instead of glorying in keeping the law.
Application: How is the world crucified unto me and how am I crucified unto the world today -- THAT is the glory of the cross and the evidence of the Spirit of God in my life!

III. A new creation avails much in Christ
Application: ALL things have become new: what evidence of my being a NEW creation is there today??!!

IV. When I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus, NO MAN can trouble me!
Application: Does my body bear the mark/ownership of Jesus as Lord, or do I let MAN trouble and agitate me?!

Is my GLORY in the flesh or by living in the Spirit -- Christ in me the hope of glory?!

“Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”
(Gal 6:11-18 KJVS)

A Well-Deserved Tribute

Colossians 4:17 ...Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.

I was fortunate to attend a life-changing event the other night: a retirement party for Richard Mallino. What an amazing tribute to a man who has invested year upon year into Christian education. Richard had a vision to train children not only academically but spiritually as well.

When it came time to send my children off to school, I was keenly aware that my husband and I were the ones who were going to give account of how we raised them. I realized that putting them in school represented the MAJORITY of time for most of their lives. If I had to relinquish the responsibility and send them away for day upon day, month upon month, year upon year, I had a very strong realization that the focus, friendships and relationships surrounding them, AND the authority I put them under needed to have the same heart, mind, and spirit that I would raise them with and support my values.

For that reason, we sacrificed extremely to put our children in Christian schools. Little did I realize that the sacrifice in itself guaranteed that the families that also put THEIR children in Christian school, families my children would be surrounded with and hang out with as their friends' families, had very strong core convictions.

The teachers, having had to sacrifice higher salaries, had in mind a MINISTRY of pouring into the lives of children for the Lord.

Was it perfect? No. But I believe that when you seek the LORD and HIS righteousness, everything else would be added. When I turned my children over to others to raise them or take a huge part in raising them, I knew that those I turned them over to would be praying with and for them, seeking their spiritual good, and pouring into their lives for success. I knew their friends would come from families that wanted to see the Lord glorified in such a way that they sacrificed vacations, clothes, and even housing to surround their children with Christian values.

There were many many incidents of kids that did wrong things in the school, but it was the minority, and was not respected by the majority of kids.

Richard Mallino poured his life, love, spiritual energy, and support into being a part of thousands upon thousands of kids' lives. I love the way one speaker said that he fought for kids, for the Lord, and for the teachers. He fought to keep the school and the vision alive, even against financial problems and even with a constant barrage of stones being thrown (as is always the case with leadership).

I was very challenged by the testimony of Richard's vocation: his life impacted many kids, many parents, many families, and even many generations to come. Not many people can impact the number of people that Richard did in his vocation. He was faithful to what Christ called and equipped him to do.

I know that my children were recipients of the benefits of his dedication. My children serve the Lord today because of the people that poured into their lives, and the friendships, and even the dating relationships that were made because of Christian education. Their faith was supported and bolstered instead of torn down. I planted, the school watered, and GOD gave increase. I also am so grateful that my children didn't have to go through huge, destructive lessons to see the power of God. I am humbly aware of the part that Christian school played in the spiritual lives and convictions in my family.

Yes, as Matthew 25.23 says, "Well done good and faithful servant." May we all be encouraged to live our lives to impact others and fulfill the ministry Christ left US here to do. I am challenged...