A Spirit of Power, Love and a Sound Mind

My favorite verse, II Timothy 1:7, says that “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind.”

Fear comes from the enemy. It says 365 times in the Bible not to fear…one for every day of the year! And, because God did not give us this spirit, it comes from our enemy, Satan, who uses fear to try to stop us from doing many things, including living to the fullest of our potential. If we fear rejection, for example, then we may shrink back from praying with strangers, inviting them to church, telling them about the Lord or even what He has done in our lives. Or, if we fear failure (as I do), then we may be too scared to use our God-given gifts in fear of adding one more failure to our long list of previous failures. (Guilty!) Why bother anymore, we may ask. These are only a few examples of hundreds of things that fear drives us to do…or not do.

However, because we are “from God and have overcome…the one who is in me is GREATER than the one who is in the world” (I John 4:4). Therefore, in reality, the spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind is much greater than the spirit of fear, as they come from God whereas fear comes from the enemy (to try to destroy us).

One of the many things that the spirit of power enables us to do is face each day with strength. We have power to stand on, because God backs us up with this power. We have the power to overcome illness, loss and other devastations that life can throw our way. Have you ever wondered how someone can suffer with things like cancer, death of loved ones, job loss and financial struggle and still have joy in their heart and strength that keeps them going? It is only though the power that God gives that person to overcome in the midst of great difficulty. I have had members of my own family ask me how I can still be smiling and happy (full of joy) when I have been through so much in my life, far more than the average person. All I can do is point toward heaven and say “it’s only because God gives me the strength, peace and joy to do so.” I can tell you for certain it is NOT ONLY because I am a really strong person, but because in my weakness, God’s strength is more present and obvious in my life. When we handle life’s difficulties well, others take notice and it speaks volumes about our faith in God and His strength in our lives.

The spirit of love motivates us to love others, even when they are not lovely. We are able to love the coworker who is rude, angry or seems to enjoy ignoring or mistreating you. It may be really hard to do, especially in our own strength, but when we pray for God to help us to see others as He sees them and ask Him to help us love that person, He will do it! This spirit of love will supersede what we may feel like doing, like scratching a rude, snappy co-worker’s eyes out, for example! How many times I have had to hold my tongue from responding not out of love, but out of the flesh.  But, the results are always worth it! Case in point…I had one co-worker with whom I worked with for two years. Almost every day, she came in with a much less than desirable attitude and either completely ignored me or would say something snide to me. She was one of those who enjoyed seeing someone get in trouble and would laugh about it behind your back. Anyway, she was one of those that was much easier to avoid than talk to. I would rather have had a root canal than have to ask her something work-related because of the attitude I always got.

However, after my book came out, I posted a picture of it in the break room in case someone wanted a copy. She overheard me talking about it being a collection of my personal testimonies and said, “I have a testimonial.” I just about fell out of my chair because I could not believe she would have something like that to say. It would have been easy to overlook what she said and not respond. However, I said “Why don’t you tell me about it? I would love to hear what your testimony is!” She proceeded to tell me about a time where she was literally at death’s door and God intervened and did a miracle and she survived, to which I responded, “Wow! That’s great! I’ll bet you thank God every day for doing that for you! That is awesome! Thanks for sharing that with me!” From that point on, she was a TOTALLY different person. She actually started talking to me after that and her attitude did a 180 degree turn, at least towards me personally. I think she just needed to know someone cared and showing just a little bit of love towards her totally changed her attitude from that day on, praise God!

The spirit of a sound mind allows us to remain calm when everything around us seems to be falling apart and going crazy. The Lord helps us to remain focused, disciplined and even-keeled during these times. We do not have to go off the deep end when our world comes crashing down, because God gives us a spirit of a sound mind. Some versions of the Bible say “spirit of self-discipline.” This spirit allows us to remain under control when things in life are out of control, or even to resist that extra piece of cake you want, but do not need. It also helps us to become more disciplined in spending time with the Lord daily when so many things fight for our time and attention, for example. It takes self-discipline to grow any relationship, and that includes our relationship with the Lord. So many things can get us off track (even good things can), but He can help keep us, or get us back on, track and keep us there.

So remember…do not fear, because God gives us so much more! J

 

Green Pastures Part V, "...goodness and mercy"

Ending my series on the 23^rd Psalm, verse 6 states, “Surely goodness and love (mercy) will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” On earth, it sometimes feels that goodness and love are hard to find, at least in my life. However, we need to keep our focus off of what is going on around us, which is meant to hold us down, and keep our focus on what is good and right in our world, Jesus Christ!

It is so easy to lose sight of the goodness and mercy that God promises will follow me (when I am living for Him). If Satan can keep our eyes on the discouraging circumstances and bad things going on around us in the world these days, we can completely forget God’s goodness and mercy in our lives. Besides staying in God’s Word every day and standing on His promises, we also need to write down a list of all the ways God has shown His goodness in our lives; from His protection, our family, the roof over our head, meals on the table each day, our churches, His provision and even our pets! Just the fact that I can walk, see and hear is God’s goodness and mercy in my life (especially when two and a half years ago, I was having progressive difficulty walking, which God miraculously healed!!) Then when circumstances give us “amnesia” for all of God’s goodness and mercy in our lives, we have a reminder of what God has done for us!

Although the fact is that things are very difficult in this life, we also have the promise that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (heaven). What an amazing promise to look forward to! The memories of this earth will one day be a distant memory. What we do on earth prepares us for the life ahead, and we need to make the most of them! How are we showing others the truth of God’s goodness and mercy? Are we telling others, believers and non-believers, about the goodness and love of God? Are we living an example of that goodness and mercy to others by reaching out to them, loving them and showing them goodness, which is getting more and more rare in our world these days? Let your light shine before men, that they may see and believe in Him and know that there is hope for them too!

We are running the most difficult marathon ever run, called the race of life, that sometimes seems to be never ending. However, when we keep our eyes on the finish line, in which we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, we are encouraged to keep on going towards the finish line. I encourage you to keep running this race, because even though life is very difficult, God is right there with us, following us with His goodness and mercy, even though it may be hard to see sometimes. Even if you have experienced a life similar to mine where it seems like all that follows you is difficulty and more difficulty, take heart knowing that it is not all in vain when you live for Christ! There is a great ending to this story of life…heaven!

As I Corinthians 9:25 says, “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Praise God that we will dwell in His house forever!! Who wants to go running with me for the greatest prize ever known?

 

 

Green Pastures, Part IV

Continuing with verse 4 of chapter 23, David says, “…your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” When we think of a rod, we tend to think of something used for correction, such as “the rod of discipline” with regards to our children (Proverbs 22:15). But on closer look, the rod mentioned here refers to a rod of protection (from the enemy) and the staff is used to guide us with care. Like a good shepherd does for his sheep (who are utterly helpless and defenseless with a shepherd to protect and guide them), we too would have the same fate without our shepherd, the Lord, who uses his rod to protect us and his staff to carefully and lovingly guide us. This continues with the theme throughout this chapter, one of comfort and rest in green pastures.

When we know we are protected and guided by our sweet Lord, we can relax without having to feel anxious, scared and worried that any number of dangerous things are right around the corner, ready to hurt us (especially from our unseen enemy!) We can live freely (although we still have to use the brains he gave us to avoid doing something stupid or unnecessarily dangerous), knowing that God is protecting us no matter where we live. I live in a suburb of one of the most dangerous cities in the US and every day I hear about shootings, robberies, murders, etc. It would be very easy to go out, as a single woman, and walk around petrified with fear that I might be the next victim. But, I can hold my head high with confidence that the God of the universe has his angels around me, keeping me safe. Not only this, but He also protects me from my #1 enemy, Satan.

Countless times, I have been in potentially dangerous or even deadly situations, and I have been kept safe. There was a period of about a year where my (ex) husband became physically abusive and one time had his hands around my neck and tried to choke me. I had just learned some self-defense techniques shortly before that, and was equipped to get his hands off from my neck before I was harmed. I always have this deep down assurance that God is protecting my every step.

Recently, God supernaturally protected my 17-year-old son, who took out my car out to go a mile down the road to the grocery. When he went to turn left, there was a fire truck RIGHT THERE, coming full speed towards him and just feet away from my car. (It was blocked from a long line of trucks and big cars). He thought quickly and gunned the engine to get out of the way (towards a ditch straight ahead), then had to quickly brake to avoid going into a deep ravine. The car rested right between a telephone pole and a guardrail. Cars were everywhere at this busy intersection. When my son got home, he said that he was scared out of his mind, and that there was ABSOLUTELY no way (it was impossible that) he should not have been hit by something! There was not even a scratch on the car! It was then I teared up and told him that just that week on Wednesday night, my pastor prayed over us in the chapel meeting for special protection for us and our children. The moment he prayed that, I had a strong feeling that something was going to happen in our household soon but that God was going to supernaturally protect us.  

These are a few examples of God’s rod of protection in action, and I praise God! His rod also protects us from Satan, our enemy, who is always looking for someone to destroy and devour. Satan is powerful but God’s rod far outweighs any measly power that Satan has! As dangerous as our world is and some of the people in it, our struggle is not really against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). How thankful I am for the Lord’s rod of protection, not only against potential danger or things we can see, but even against things that are unseen coming against us!

Now I move on to the staff of guidance. How many times I have needed God’s guidance in raising my children alone! Having so many decisions to make sometimes overwhelms me, but I am comforted in the fact that God will carefully guide me when I ask Him to. Even with the small decisions, I ask God for His guidance to make the right decision as I carefully weigh the options, as some decisions could have a long-lasting impact on this family. God always gives me peace about the right decision, and no peace about the wrong decision, which guides me to make the right decision.

A few years ago, I had to make a decision to get a spinal tap to diagnose several neurological problems I had for two years that were increasing. At first, I told the doctor “No way! I am not getting that done” (I hated the thought of a huge needle going in next to my spine!) However, she gave me a few weeks to think about it and let her know at my next appointment. Long story short, I prayed that God would give me guidance on what to do. He knew what was wrong with me physically and whether in fact I really needed that particular test done to find out the cause. Within 24 hours, I was overwhelmed with peace about the procedure and had it performed about a month later. As a result, the problem was confirmed (along with the MRI showing lesions on my brain): Multiple Sclerosis.

After a firm diagnosis, it gave me a peace of mind knowing what the problem was so I could move on forward and begin to treat and prepare for this accordingly. It was much, much harder not knowing why I had suffered so many neurological problems. I was also now able to enlist my prayer warrior friends to pray for me accordingly as well as being able to pray for this specifically myself.

I am very thankful for the rest (in green pastures) that the Lord brings to me through His rod of protection and His staff of guidance! Have you thanked God for these things today?

Green Pastures, Part III

Verse 4a of the 23^rd Psalm states, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…” This portion of verse four leaves no room for gray areas. It does not say “if I walk through,” but, “even though I walk through.” Life in an imperfect world is a guaranteed recipe for valleys to come our way; abuse, depression, war, angry people, unemployment, anxiety, financial struggle, divorce, illness, racism…I could go on and on. Again, God never promised we would not face these valleys but he did promise that He is with us, so for this reason, I have nothing to fear.

And, in spite of those things we can still fear no evil because He, the almighty God, creator of heaven and earth is with us personally. In 2012, the Lord was preparing me for the biggest battle in my life, the hardest year of my life, which took place in 2013. He specifically told me the words, “do not fear the unknown.”*

I was coming into a season in my life where I was being prepared again and again for a big trial coming up and I must admit that I was fearful of what this was going to mean for my life. What would I lose? What would happen? Would my kids be okay? Would something happen to completely turn my world upside down? In the midst of all of these difficult questions, and because I knew he was preparing me for a very difficult season in life, all I could do was ask God to help me have the strength, courage and fearlessness I would need to make it through whatever was coming.* The same can be said for anyone going through a difficult valley. We all need the shepherd’s help, and he freely offers it to us, even when “we walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”

Including Psalm 23:4, there are 365 times in the Bible where it says “fear not” or “do not fear,” one for every day of the year! Although I did fear what was to come in 2013, I also had confidence knowing that God would be right there with me through it. Looking back, I did go through the “valley of the shadow of death” in 2013. I would not wish what I went through on anyone, even an enemy. However, in the midst of all the loss I faced along with the illness, financial loss and plethora of friends I thought I had before then who decided to scatter when I was facing the lowest valley in my life, God stuck with me.

However, I did not feel his presence the way I normally do nor did he speak as clearly as I am accustomed to hearing him speak, but I believe he was trying to develop my faith to a greater degree. Was I still going to believe he was there with me when I did not feel him or hear from him at all through the hardest points of 2013? It’s one thing to believe in Psalm 23:4 when things are going okay and God is clearly speaking to you, but how about the times when the rug has been pulled out from under you and you cannot feel God around anywhere? What then? Some of us must come to the point in our struggles and say, “either what God’s Word says about His faithfulness is true, or it’s not.” This is not based on feeling, but on truth.

So, if you are facing a period of depression and/or loss as I did in 2013 or other dark valley and feel that life cannot possibly get worse, step out in faith and hold onto the TRUTH (even if you cannot feel it). God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Valleys are temporary, but God’s faithfulness in permanent. TRUTH never changes, no matter how we feel. Emotions and feelings of hopelessness, feeling worthless, and unimportant to anyone are lies from the enemy meant to keep you from believing the truth!

Emotions can change in a matter of moments and can leave you feeling defeated enough to give up. There were two times specifically that I was on the verge of completely giving up on life in 2013, but God intervened in some way to keep me going just one more minute, then one more hour, then one more day and then one more week…until I came out on the other side, stronger than ever before! Thank you Lord, that I have nothing to fear, because even in “the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for (BECAUSE) you are with me!”

*Some content taken from excerpts of Chapter 12 of my book, “Struck Down, But Not Destroyed.” (June 2014, Crossbooks publishing)

Green Pastures, Part II

Picking back up again in Psalm 23, we come to verse 3, a continuation of the perfect picture of rest that verses 1 & 2 speak of. Verse 3 states, “…he restores my soul.” When we rest in Him, He gently “restores our soul,” our very being. When we are running around busily trying to survive the daily “rat race,” it is impossible to feel restored. Only when we quietly rest our minds and bodies, reflecting on who He is can we “recharge” so that we can accomplish the task He put us on earth to do.

The same time the Lord told me back in 2012 to rest, I was working three part time jobs as a single parent. Two of the jobs were quite demanding; the other job was more relaxing and repetitive, being much easier work. I always felt like I was going high speed and when I got home each night, fixed dinner, cleaned up, did laundry, assisted with homework, washed dishes, spent some time with the boys and did my devotions, I practically poured myself into bed, exhausted. During the day, however, I felt like Superwoman and enjoyed the fact I got so much accomplished every day.

The three jobs went on for 3-1/2 years until the doctor I worked for retired. Perfect timing, I believe, because the Lord knew I could not keep going at that pace much longer. Even when I lost two of these three jobs due to his retirement (the job I was left with was only p.r.n., as needed, with no guarantee of hours), I still found it hard to rest although circumstances made it much easier now, so I asked the Lord to help me rest. It was eight long months before I found another steady job with guaranteed hours. Even then, my hours were cut from about 45 a week to 30 a week and I had to take a huge pay cut. While I complained at first about the lack of hours and fretted about how I was possibly going to pay my living expenses on such a huge decrease in pay, I was beginning to feel more rested. I literally felt like God was restoring me physically and emotionally from the inside out and after a while, I learned to enjoy where the Lord had me although underemployed with a significant drop in pay.

He began a series of physical healings in my body over the next two years, as I worked this one 30-hour-a-week job. First it was problems with quickly progressing weakness in my legs, then some moderate to severe spinal problems (that caused extreme stiffness and moderate to severe chronic pain) that he healed instantly and miraculously. Then He healed my chronic asthma, leaving me no longer dependent on my asthma medication and twice daily inhaler! Although I still have Multiple Sclerosis and not all of my spine problems are gone, I feel much better than it did two years ago! Not only has he restored my soul of the weariness and heaviness that came with running the “rat race,” He has begun to restore my body as well! There is nobody else on earth who can do this permanently like He can. Praise Jehova Roi (My shepherd, the God who sees)!