2022 CHALLANGE

Self-control has become a flashy concept. This hyphenated English word has turned heads and grabbed headlines since the 1960's. People spend millions of dollars every year on the latest Self Help program trying to harness this elusive virtue. Controlling our desires has proven to be the epitome of "easier said than done."

Let's face it...the reason we keep coming back for more every year is because there is a lot more riding on this than saying "NO" to another Oreo!

The good news for believers is we have our own super power living within us- the Holy Spirit- to help with our personal transformations. Think of self-control as the glue that holds the other virtues together. We can't love properly without it. We will never experience real joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness without developing self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

This fruit, as it's called in the Bible, is the result of the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. As we live our lives in Christ we grow a little bit at a time. With God's help we don't have to struggle to measure up to some impossible standard. Change will come as we continue to draw close to Him. 

Jesus is our example and he also grew and developed as he worshiped God. We can't change by believing in the 'gospel of self-help'. Instead, we are guaranteed to be Transformed by the renewing of our minds."So don't be conformed to this world; instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so you can prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)

NAUGHTY OR NICE?

Some people have the idea that God carries around a list, like Santa, giving him a blow by blow description of everything they have done wrong in their lives. Maybe you are one of those people who believe its only the church goers who get their prayers answered; not some runaway sinner like you.  You imagine if you keep off the radar God will forget about you and shoot that lighting bolt of vengeance in some other poor souls direction. Somewhere along the line you were told that God gets glory when you suffer in silence and accept your lot in life.

WHAT A LIE! The Bible tells us God gets glory when the lame walk and the blind see!

God sent his son into this dark, hurting world to seek and save the lost.  Jesus was born on our harsh planet not to condemn humanity but to heal your diseases, to deliver you from all your hurts and disappointments, and to set you free from every type of bondage so you can live with hope and joy.

As you approach this Christmas and New Year, realize one thing.  Jesus keeps no record of wrongs. He told us to ask and receive.  Instead of running away, go to the manger just as you are. Don't be afraid to tell Him what you need.  Our problems and failures seem huge to us but "nothing is impossible with God." Let this be the year you begin to believe He cares for the naughty and nice.

Luke 19:10  "For the Son of man came to save that which was lost."
Salvation is just the beginning of all God has in store for those who trust Jesus.  He intends to save us from our sins, and everything that tries to ruin our lives.

John 3:17  "For God did not send his Son into the world in order to pass sentence on people, but that humanity might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

A father came to Jesus and told him a spirit would often throw his son into both the fire and water, intending to kill him. The dad begged Jesus and said,  BUT IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING have mercy and help us.

Jesus answered him as he answers us....."All things are possible if you will believe."  Mark 9:23

  

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY

 Funny how "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" has a way of magnifying our sins and failures. As I sat at my desk pondering what I could possibly write to encourage others when my own thoughts were full of defeat and condemnation... God showed up... in my morning devotional with a word that set me back on the right track.  

You don't have to get to the end of your struggle to experience wholeness. Jesus came to forgive our sins and bridge the gap that separates us from God. Let His presence soothe your anxiety and give you peace and a sound mind. Accept His forgiveness this Christmas and share his gifts of mercy, grace and love with others. Remind this generation that God sent His only son into the world to forgive their sins. "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

 

"Come now, let's settle this," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool." (Isaiah 1:18  NLT)

ON THE ROPES

                                                                                     


Have you ever been so down and out you felt alone in your corner?  Maybe your emotions are telling you no one really cares, no one understands what you are going through and at this point in life's journey you are sure things will never change. Sometimes life throws us a punch we think we can't recover from, so we stay down and decide it's just too much trouble to get up and try again. Before you throw in the towel let me assure you defeat is not your only option.

God is in your corner.

 If you will let Him into your world he will be your coach. He wants to take your life to places you can't take yourself. Once you sign on with God he will begin a training program, created just for you, to help you reach your best potential. You will need a trainer,,,that is where Jesus comes into the picture. He becomes your teacher, role model and friend who will help you see the champion you are meant to become. In this boxing ring we call life you are going to need a trusted manager to help you  negotiate the path to the final round. The Holy Spirit will keep you motivated to fight the good fight of faith as long as you're on this earth.

 God loves you. He knew life would be hard so he prepared a way through every struggle even when their seems to be no way out. Jesus is the way.  His hand is reaching out to help you get up off the floor and get back in the fight. You don't have to just roll with the punches, you can rise above your present circumstances and reach for the prize. That Championship Belt is called eternal life.

If you want to give God a try, I have included a prayer for salvation.
Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Your only Son. Your word says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2;21). I am calling on you. I ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life. Salvation is your gift to me. I can't earn it. It's free. No strings attached. I believe and confess with my mouth that Jesus is Your Son the Savior of the world. I believe he died on the cross for me, and took all my sins, paying the price for them. I believe in my heart You raised Jesus from the dead and He is alive today. I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and ask for forgiveness. By faith I receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I am saved! I will spend eternity with You. Thank you Father. I am part of the winning team and I'm grateful. In Jesus name. Amen.

NAVIGATING THE CHOPPY WATERS OF FREE SPEACH

 Today, everybody has an opinion. Not only do we feel passionate about our convictions we also tend to share our thoughts loudly and without censure. Our culture has morphed into a playing field where we care little for the welfare of our verbal opponents. Our priority is to make our point at any cost.

Don't get me wrong. We all need to have hills we die on and no amount of cancel culture should shake us. But here's my point...some of our opponents are rotting in God's Harvest Field. We are needed now, more than ever before, to humbly join the fray and lead this generation to Christ. "The harvest is plentiful , but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Luke 10:2)

 Jesus is saying to us..."I tell you , lift up your eyes, and look at the fields; for they are ready for harvest." (John 4:35-38) It doesn't take a bible scholar to see what is happening around us. We are living in perilous times and watching the corruption of humanity unfold before our eyes. The bottom line is people will die eternally unless the son's and daughter's of God intervene.

God gave us a blueprint of how we can act in our woke culture. "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

What does acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly have to do with the harvest?

Justice is doable when we realize how important the harvest field is to our heavenly father. Salvation of souls is still His first priority and unless we let our inflated idea of self die and replace it with an attitude of love and respect for each other people will remain dead in sin with little or no knowledge of their eternal future.  

 It takes deliberate thought and self control to show compassion and acceptance to people who are argumentative and combative. When our reason in the discussion is to win a convert and not our point it becomes easier to use our words wisely to bring a sense of peace to a heated conversation. In many instances people with opposing views feel misunderstood. We certainly don't have to agree with their point of view but it is our job to make them feel heard and respected. 

Jesus has shown us mercy by his example. The world we live in wants revenge but God commands us to forgive and let it go: not once but over and over again, just as He forgives us. We are His ambassadors on the earth right now. In order to reap a harvest we need to bring a better perspective to this madness we are living in.

 With all the division we face on a daily basis the only way to stay centered and focused on sharing our faith with the people in our circle of influence is to begin each day in the word of God. His truth, not our opinion, is what will draw people to God's light. In this world where people are proud, abusive and full of hatred we need to show kindness. 

Humility acts out of love and obedience to God's principles. We can't make disciples of all nations by screaming, ranting and belittling others. Our mission is to carefully and gently lead them away from error and into the truth. Look around you. People are lost, afraid, hurting and confused. Believers hold the answers humanity seeks. Let's not waste this opportunity. This is the Harvest Season.

 

 

MIND GAMES

 I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to stop what I'm doing and "Re-Set" my "Mind-Set."  The truth is I need to revisit this fluctuating area of my thought life on a regular basis. If I'm not paying attention I get caught in the cycle of stinkin-thinkin. You know what I mean, that degrading self talk that whispers stuff like, You're not smart enough, Your worthless, You're unlovable, and the list of lies goes on and on.

Many of us understand the pattern all too well. We start to believe God has a good plan for our lives and we move forward with strength and conviction until we  hit some form of opposition and the old fears come crashing down in our thoughts again. We know where this cycle of self sabotage is coming from yet we allow these defeating ideas to distract us from reaching our goals.

The good news is when we find ourselves falling back into the negativity trap, stop and refocus on who God says you are. If you are one of the millions of people who struggle in this area I have one suggestion that is tried and proven to work miracles in the outcome of your success. Simply make a list of the promises in the Bible that speak to your current situation. Begin your day reading the list and ask God to help you believe what He says about you and the situation you are facing. There is one catch...millions of people know about this method and they try once or twice to defeat this battle but the negative thoughts return. Don't give up on yourself. Own your future. Give yourself time to develop a mental strategy to stay the course. You are a child of God, His masterpiece, and everything about you is special to your Heavenly Father. 

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior He gives us the power to choose what the 'TALK BUBBLES' in our mind tell us. We don't have to believe the toxic stuff other people say about us, or bend in fear to our circumstances, or be upset and anxious about what is happening in the world around us. This is not about the power of positive thinking. God cares about us and its His power in our life that changes us. God is greater than any self defeating thought that pops into our heads. Think of each day as a clean, fresh canvas and God wants to paint a new portrait of you with every sunrise. Deliberately Re-Setting your mind on a daily basis takes work, but at the end of the day you will find it gets easier to capture those defeated thoughts and replace them with God's powerful promises. What we think and believe about ourselves and our future affects how we live, love and dream. Jesus wants you to experience life to the fullest.  Don't focus on past failures instead fix your eyes on today's victory. Your potential rests in the mind games you choose to play.

What does the Bible says about how God sees me 

https://openbible.info/topics/how_god_sees_us

 

 

THE LEFT'S NEW PLAYGROUND

 For years, many of us believed when we sent our kids to school they were safely learning their ABC's in an environment of parent/teacher trust. Not anymore. Our public schools have become indoctrination centers where our children are fed Leftist propaganda in an attempt to steal their core values of faith, family and freedom. We cannot sit back and watch our children become easy prey to this left wing agenda.

Parents are being broadsided by our Teachers Union on two fronts. First on their agenda is Critical Race Theory, CRT, a curriculum that promotes the idea that America is a racist country and we should be ashamed of our history. These anti American extremists have rewritten history to elevate the role of racism in order to divide us as a nation and ultimately control everything we do. It is essentially reformulated Marxism and the desire of those promoting this ideology is to turn our children against their parents,families and churches to support the goals taught in school. The teachers encourage children to turn in parents who question or challenge these concepts. If your skin is white,you are automatically guilty of racism. It doesn't matter what your reputation and character say about you. If you are black or brown you will never measure up  and will always be a victim. This curriculum encourages children to hate their country and be ashamed of the color of their skin. You don't need a college degree to realize how damaging this is to their emotional well being. This ideology has been peculating since the 1970's while quietly building steam and infiltrating colleges. At this point CRT has seeped into grade schools, the workplace, main stream media and politics.

Adding insult to injury, the school system is bombarding the classroom with sexually explicit content disguised as Sex Ed. Comprehensive Sexuality Education, CSE, is another agenda driven curriculum encouraging early sexual activity by normalizing youth sex. Schools are promoting and pushing multiple sexual orientations and gender identities as being the norm. They are grooming our children as easy targets for sexual abuse, experimentation and trafficking. These sick tactics the curriculum uses are proven to desensitize kids to the assault of adult predators. In California, parents are pushing back against a health book with sections on oral sex, bondage and drug use. Much of the content schools use comes from Planned Parenthood and the LGBTQ platforms. While schools tell children they can be born in the wrong body so its okay to physically change your gender they completely ignore science and never mention the Christian idea that sex should be saved for marriage. Other schools show preteens-10 to 13 year olds- videos highlighting how to pleasure your sex partner while giving fifth graders condoms. Most schools have no problem secretly telling young girls how and where to get an abortion without parental consent. This ungodly regime is deliberately perverting the hearts, souls and minds of an innocent generation. 

HOW TO STOP THEM

1. Organize a group of like minded parents. Hold meetings and educate yourselves. Ask your school district what curriculum they are using and if they embrace these two curriculum's challenge them and don't back down.
   
2. Sign up for emails from the Child Protection League, CPL,This organization will send you resources to distribute to other parents and churches. Muster all the help you can get.
3. Contact your Governors. They can decide to ban Critical Race Theory by deciding what money your state takes from the Department of Education. They can decline federal funding for this Marxist curriculum.
   
4. Plug into all the resources available. Help is out there! Knowledge is power. Below are a few links to get you started. 
   

PrayerU    PrayerU.com

Parents Defending Education   defendinged.org

What are they learning       whataretheylearning.com

The only way for conservatives to fail is to do nothing. Many parents are pushing back against this ruthless takeover of our great nation. WE ARE WINNING!  Don't let them lie to us, intimidate us or bully us. Keep fighting. Our children are the targets they are after. Let them know we have had enough!

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6)