Truth #1 Know who God is and that He is ALL you need. There is nothing too small to take to the Lord first. I have found that we can get caught up in life here on earth. Our daily plans are so often first centered around home, kids, husbands, chores, finances, desires, just to name a few, but I've learned that when my day centers around God, kids attitudes change, my husband enjoys us when he gets home. The house looks a little bit cleaner, even when I did nothing at all. Maybe all because my eyes were seeing clearer, my heart was cleaner, my attitude was joyful. If God created the entire universe in 6 days, why do I think He needs me to jump up and be author of my day? Planning, cleaning, budgeting, organizing, and getting a jump start on MY day without recognizing Him first. Here's a thought, describe a CEO of a major corporation. Did you think of "the big man" up at headquarters that we rarely see? And when he comes, we have someone bring in cleaners to get the place top notch. We plan for His arrival. We're scared he will see our failures. Sweep everything under the rug. Hide those bad files in the supply closet and lock the door! So often, we as Christians see God as CEO, a worldly CEO. We contact Him only when we can't get out of it, can't fix it or clean it ourselves. We attend that weekly conference call as to fulfill a duty. We call upon our self-help books before the Bible to straighten it all out. And most times, we don't want Him to show up at all. We want to plan His visits. But that is NOT God at all! We are not a salesman going door to door, trying to meet quotas, while He sits somewhere waiting on us to report stats to Him. Absolutely not. "We then, as workers together with Him..." 2 Corinthians 6:1 We are working with Him. He knows the stats already. There is nothing to hide. No reason to go into work early to clean up a mess before the boss gets there. He was there when you created the mess. In fact, the Holy Spirit is doing the work, often without us as the vessels we are created to be, because we are bogged down with cleaning a mess that we can't clean ourselves. Then, we are busy trying to hide it! God created us, don't you think He knows us. Like a mother knows when the house falls silent, something’s up. Difference is, we have to investigate. God already knows because He is here. He doesn't have to be invited to our services, to our homes, in our lives. He just needs to be recognized in them. Are you recognizing God in EVERYTHING you do? Or are you believing a lie, that because you didn't send the invitation, maybe He won't show up today? Are you recognizing Him for who He is? "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?" Job 38:8-11 I'm reminded of a time recently, while exiled to the recliner for recovery from surgery, there was a zu-zu pet, a toy hamster, under a chair that I could clearly see from my view. Every time one of the kids would pass by, I would ask them to pick up the toy and put it in the toy box. A week went by and the toy remained. So, why do I think I can do more or even as much as my Heavenly, when after 7 days of requests from me the toy remained, yet He only had to tell the oceans once, "You can only come this far" and they listen. Why would I want to do it alone, when I have someone so mighty in my life? Yet, day after day we hold on to all those little things we don't need help with. These little things are clutter!
Truth #2 Satan is a LIAR "...When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44b Jesus tells us that when Satan speaks, he's lying. Simple as that. I haven't had a home phone in our home for a while, mainly because of Brody calling 911 and telling the operator that parents spank kids! Yep, don't know how I got away with no DFCS agents on my doorstep, but I did. So, when recently, I decided to place one in my home again, I sat everyone down for a safety talk. What is a real emergency? When do you call 911? While having this conversation, the kids’ imaginations ran wild. "Well, what if someone steals Bryli from the front yard." Brody asks. And all of a sudden, I realized that dialing 911 wasn't so important. They were already having their very own fears instilled in them at such an early age. I took the time to explain to them safety precautions in the event, something so unimaginable happened. The one thing God spoke to me at that very point in time was tell them he's a liar. So, that's exactly what I did. I expressed to them how Satan was placing fears in them before something had even happened and IF something like that did, to know, that is Satan in the flesh, so everything that person promised or threatened to do, was a lie! Do not believe him. Tell anyone you see that he is a liar and took you. Not to let him scare you into believing that he would hurt you or your family if you speak up, because he took you, he had already hurt us both. I told them these things, not to scare them but to ease their minds. These were fears Satan was already putting in their innocent little minds. Bryli asked, "But, what if you don't know I'm gone for years? And you don't know to look for me?" Its common sense for us adults, how could we not know she was missing? But Satan was already filling her head with the "no one cares" scenario that we believe in simple issues in our own lives. Satan lies to us everyday. He places fears in us before something can even happen so we will be so overcome with fear that we are virtually paralyzed. "You better not let anyone know your loosing your home. What a failure they will think you are! Why should you tell them anyway? They don't care. There's nothing they can do to help!" or "Don't bother them with your prayer request. Mr. Doe has cancer. He needs their prayers more than you do. That would be so selfish of you to even ask." We have to stand up to him! Yell at him! Tell him that he has no rights over us and our families. He can't have our hearts so he attacks our minds with lies and fears everyday. Don't let him stick around. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7 Satan is busy, especially busy with our children. They trust. They trusted that Satan was telling them truth more than believing that God would be with them in EVERY situation in life, big or small. So, often we expect them to stand firm in their faith by themselves for hours a day and wonder why they have bad attitudes and nightmares.
It’s time we recognize God and who He is daily, in everything we do and get ourselves into, good and bad. He’s not just a problem solver. The moment we wake, we as Christians, are in the presence of God Almighty. Don’t ignore Him. It’s also time to realize when Satan is filling our heads with junk and cut him off mid-sentence to say, “Get away from me Satan!” Out loud if you have to! Try it, it works! Set up good study habits. Seek God first! Whenever it is your day starts. If you give yourself 30 minutes to get ready, give God at least the same. It’s just double the getting ready. It’s like extending the shower. You never really want to get out, but eventually, the water turns cold. So, see this as extending your shower. Let God cleanse you and shower you with blessings of grace and mercy every morning.
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