Demons in our Lives

 

A friend is the pastoral assistant at our church. From time to time, she preaches in place of our senior pastor. She had to preach at our Son rise Service on Easter Sunday. In her planning she got to thinking about Mary Magdalene.

When we think about this Mary, we hone in on the fact that Jesus healed her from seven demons. We don’t know what those were. We do know she appreciated the healing she received to the point she followed the Master as he taught and healed others.

My friend wondered if we who live in the 21^st Century have demons controlling our lives. She came up with three, distractions, doubt, and despair. When she shared this thought with me, I thought she was onto something.

Later, I reached into our mailbox and, among the ad mail, I found an envelope addressed to us. The return address was that of a daughter of a recently deceased friend. I immediately had a bad thought. I opened it and read the sweetest note I ever received. I realized I judged the daughter for taking a month to get the thank you card to me. Then I thought of the conversation about demons. I had the demon of Judgmentalism.

Later, I posted a message on Facebook of our conversation and added some traits that fall under category of “demons.” Two of my Facebook “friends” indicated they liked the thoughts. I also received two comments that gave me two more traits believed to be demons.

The list presently includes:

Distraction,

“You will keep in perfect peace whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3 NIV

Doubt,

“. . . he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed away by the wind. James 1:6b NIV

Despair,

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my lord. Psalm 42:5

Judgmentalism,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2 NIV

Impatience,

“. . . everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. . . “James 1:19 NIV

Self-entitlement, Selfishness,

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” Phil. 2:1-2 NIV

Conceit,

“. . . do not think better of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Rom. 12:3-NIV

The aftermath of anger,

“A fool gives full vent to his anger but a wise man keeps himself under control.” Prov. 29:11 NIV

“But I tell you, anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” Matthew 5:22 NIV

“ . . everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” James 1:19-20 NIV

“In your anger do not sin” Psalm 4:4; Ephesians 4:26 NIV

Pride,

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 NIV.

Pettiness,

“. . . be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 NIV

Criticalness,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2 NIV

Several of us have been trying to grow spiritually. We were on a journey throughout the Lenten season. This time of personal introspection has shown us so very much about how we should live our lives for Jesus.

A word about the graphic:

  This is how we feel when we break through  a demon that controls our lives.

graphic: www.reposty.com via God Tube.

Faith Overcomes

“. . . for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:4-5 (NIV)

As we mature in Christ, we more easily accept what He tells us and we grow closer to Him. For me, this has a special meaning. For me, things of this world are just that, things. Now, please, don’t misunderstand me. I know we have certain possessions that are basic to living safely. I know we aren't to get attached to them. These products serve a purpose and break down. But we shouldn't act defeated when this happens; our faith is not in that equipment but in the LORD.

Faith Statement My life is not my own. I belong to Christ.

Justified because of Grace

Being Rebekah .com

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in

which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:1-2 (NIV)

”‘ . . . justified through faith. . .’” Because we believe in God, He treats each of us ‘just as if I’d’ not sinned. When we ask Him to forgive us of our wrong doing, He takes his arms of love and wraps them around us and He speaks to our hearts as if we were completely whole.

”‘ . . . peace with God . . .’” in the process of confessing our sin, we begin to feel a calmness about certain issues involved with our lives. We express thanks to God for our newly found calmness. We feel His presence in new found ways.

” ‘ . . . access by faith. . .’” As we proceed through the process of confession we find our faith strengthened. Because our faith is strengthened, we gain more insight into the things of God.

”‘ . . . into this grace . . .’” We experience God’s grace as we walk with Him through our daily lives. Sometimes we have times where we see God’s hand in an event in our lives-a friend might say something to inspire us, we might feel the need to pray for someone and later find out they had a need.

”‘ . . . rejoice in the hope. . . ‘”We are to have joy in our anticipation of our being in heaven with Jesus when our time on earth is over. 

”‘. . . of the glory of God.’” When we get to heaven we will see God in all His splendor. We will experience our arrival at our true home. All that we will see and share in will be ours because of His great love for us, love that we do not deserve.

Click here to hear an American favorite hymn on grace:Amazing Grace

Spiritual Winter

I am reading FACING YOUR GIANTS, by Max Lucado. In this book, he talks about David and how he faced Goliath. He uses a term I hadn’t heard before. He said the looseknit tribes of Israel, in One Thousand BC, were going through a bad era. He then states the people went through three centuries of spiritual winter.

The phrase ‘spiritual winter’ set me to thinking.

Do we, as modern day Christians, have spiritual winters in our Christian life? Are we, as a nation, experiencing a form of this phenomenon? If we are, can we break through this ordeal?
It seems the answer to my first question also works for the second one.

1. We stop reading our Bibles. We are a people who can give many excuses. “I don’t have time.” Our pastor reminded us in one of his sermons that we all have 168 hours a week. “I’m too tired at the end of the day.” “I can’t understand what I read.” I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “It’s not what I don’t understand when I read the Bible, it’s what I do.”

2. .We start watching TV shows we know we shouldn’t. We justify our viewing habits by saying or thinking “ But the newspaper said it was good.” “But my friend said it didn’t have any bad language in it.” or “I like this actor/actress, it won’t hurt to watch it.” As a writer, I have sometimes claimed to myself, “It’s research.”

3. We begin to exhibit inconsistencies in our behavior and we justify it. We call our closest friend and tell something that we were told in confidence. Again we try to make our actions seem right. “I can trust her/him. She won’t tell anyone.”

4. . We don’t pray as we once did. There again we make excuses. “I’m too busy.” I saw a sign years ago, “If you are too busy to pray, you are TOO busy.” “I don’t believe God hears my prayers.” If we think God doesn’t hear your prayers, then we need to look at our lives and see what we’ve done to cause it.

5. We look to other gods, forgetting the one true God. We have a plethora of things that can take the place of the God of Abraham, if we let them. Yes, it’s nice to have a new car. . . once in a while. Yes, it’s cool to have a nice home. . . we can afford it. It is nice to have a beautiful yard. . . if we don’t forget how we got it and it doesn’t own us.

Now, how do we get back to where we need to be–come out of that spiritual winter? We need to follow the directions of God in II Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Sin in Our Lives

This year I chose a devotional book that deals with a topic for a month at a time. This month’s subject is Sin. We have to decide what we mean by sin in order to talk about it. We know taking another person’s life is a sin. We also consider taking something not belonging to us a sin. It has been referred to as missing the mark, or falling short.

Several years ago I participated in a weekly women’s Bible study. One of the areas we discussed was ‘Christian’ sins, those little attributes we have that we excuse or overlook.

One of our former pastors had a little chorus he sang. “My sin is better than your sin. My sin is better than yours. My sin is better than your sin. My sin is better than yours-because you don’t know what mine is.” We all chuckled when he sang it. But we knew sin is sin and it is not good.

Preachers remind us, if we have sin in our lives, God won’t answer our prayers. Scripture tells us to confess our sins to one another.

Eight years ago, I had the opportunity to substitute for our then pastor on a Sunday morning worship service. I spent quantity time going over my life checking as to whether there was sin present. Originally, the service was to be a small service. The conference had it’s annual Family Camp Sunday on that day. Several of the members planned on going for the day. One of the men of the congregation died. His calling hours were that Sunday afternoon. Those who planned to go across the state to the camp changed their plans and attended church as usual. I’m thankful I spent the time searching my heart as a part of my preparation.

As a writer whose aim is to write for God, I believe I should live as close to Jesus as I can. One way I can reach this goal is to have a vital relationship with Him, through daily prayer, devotions and Bible study.