Soul Blinders: A Girlfriends in God Devotional

Soul Blinders by Gwen Smith is an amazing devotional. Distraction is one of the best tools Satan has to sidetrack Christians and we can fight this by using God's word as "soul blinders".  Click on the link below and be blessed by reading this devotional.

Girlfriends in God is a daily devotional that I have been receiving for several years. I am always amazed at how pertinent and personal many of the devotionals are. If you have been trying to find a daily devotional, I urge you to try Girlfriends in God.

LOST - an Acrostic Message

Living for physical pleasures and earthly goals
Only relying on myself.
Sin is for hypocrites who believe in Jesus or God, not me.
There is no God who takes care of anyone.

If you believe this acrostic message is true,
I am praying for you.

Sunday Morning at a Bike Rally

5:30 A.M.
Morning is such a peaceful time at a motorcycle rally. A few early bird riders fire up their bikes for a port a potty visit or to beat the morning shower crowd. The birds are chirping a cheerful morning song above the soft snoring accompaniment of sleeping bikers. What a contrast to eight hours ago.

9:30 P.M.
Running motorcycle motors blend with the thumping bass of the rock band and blend into wave after wave of sound. Others sounds are the squeals of women, cheers of men, and the blaring emcee announcing another anatomy based contest. A stream of bike headlights form a single, bouncing strand of light; the stage is an island of glowing light amid the surrounding darkness; and twinkling or glowing lights adorn a variety of vehicles and people to add excitement and allure to the evening.

The contrast is vivid. As a saved follower of Jesus,  I see the contrast as the difference between the darkness of sin and the light of Jesus Christ. The darkness of 9:30 P.M. used to be my life and it makes me sad to see the frantic activities of people who are having "a good time". My good time activities were because I had an emptiness inside me that just wouldn't go away. I filled this empty place with things that made me feel good. However, the pleasure of my activities was temporary. In the darkness of late night and early morning -  I was alone.

That empty place is where God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit belong. Man needs to be in a relationship with God and when man is not; an emptiness is felt that just won't go away. Contentment is short-term. I remember when I was filled with the Holy Spirit. It felt like a glowing ball of happiness formed within my chest and expanded until I just couldn't contain the feelings of joy, love, and happiness. The expanding light filled me, my eyes overflowed with tears of joy, because I knew I would never be alone again! My personal relationship with Jesus filled that empty hole with the wholeness of God.

Bill and I studied scripture for his Sunday morning sermon at the rally. Those verses all describe the call of Jesus as being in the light of life.

John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

John 6:35
35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Proverbs 4:18
18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day

Jesus is the answer and will satisfy all of our needs when we follow him.

Pray for the sinner who is having "a good time". Pray for those seeking carnal pleasures that are temporary and fleeting. Pray for the knowledge of salvation to reach the lost within the darkest corner of night. Pray without ceasing brothers and sisters. Guard yourselves with the Sword of the Spirit - God's Holy Word. Now you know why I am "A Joy Filled Woman".
 

Why Does God Tolerate Wrong?

I saw the pictures of the huge tornado in Oklahoma today and the aftermath of the touchdown. It makes me sad. However, I am not going to question it as an "act of God".

I believe that good comes from God, bad  comes from Satan. You may feel that this is oversimplified, but I made a conscious choice to think this way. My prayers have been flowing to heaven all evening because the rescue workers, storm survivors, and families of victims need to be enfolded in a blanket of prayer.

I have my NIV Study Bible open to the book of Habakkuk. 
The prophet struggled to understand why God wasn't acting to save his people or making things better. Habakkuk wanted to know why he had to see injustice, destruction, and violence. He realized that the Lord has his own timetable and that we have to have faith and believe that God is going to act in time. Reading about Habakkuk tonight helps me to realize that I am not alone in struggling to understand why things happen. 

Even though Habakkuk was struggling, he turned to praising God in the end. When bad things happened, the prophet turned to God through praise of what He had done for his people in the past. Habakkuk chose to believe that God was going to act as he had in the past. Now that is faith in action! All the evidence pointed to a God who didn't care, or wasn't listening, however Habakkuk exercised his faith by believing in God's history.

God is a rescuer. He has and will rescue the righteous. Just not when we humans think he ought too.

Habakkuk 1-3

Resist the Devil and He Shall Flee

James 4:7

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

            In the final battle of "Transformers: The Movie", Optimus Prime and Megatron stand face to face with each other. After a moment, Optimus Prime tells his enemy,"One shall stand, one shall fall." The battle begins and the rock n roll lyrics tell us, "you got the power" as the giant machines crash, smash, and bash each other. Optimus Prime and Megatron hurl each other around until finally, Megatron is lying on the ground and a wounded, weary Optimus Prime is the winner.

            Christians have succumbed to a movie version of Satan that portrays him as being a big, powerful enemy who can easily toss God's people around in a battle. We have to sweat and struggle to win against our towering, formidable enemy just like Optimus Prime struggled against Megatron. However, this is not true! We Christians have been deceived, and who is the biggest deceiver there is? That is right, Satan.

            The word, submit, has a military meaning. A good soldier follows the orders of his commanding officer without questioning him. A good soldier resists, or stands fast in a battle because he is following his orders. Our weapons are not fists, feet, knives, guns, or other weapons. Our weapons are knowledge of the Bible, prayer, and reliance on God.

            When Christians submit to God and resist the devil, the devil will flee. Yes, that's right, Satan will take flight, fly away, scamper off, or run away.  This is not just an assurance from a Biblical writer; it is a promise of God.

             So let us get this television movie version of Satan OUT of our thinking. It is a lie. Again, I ask you, who is the biggest deceiver and liar in the Bible? That is right, it is our foe who rules this world. BUT he cannot defeat us when we have submitted to our heavenly Father and resisted him.

            When a spirit-led, coheir of the heavenly kingdom is wearing the armor of God and stands up against the enemy; he will flee, run away, take flight, or scamper off. Satan cannot make Christians do anything.

            I feel like standing up and cheering aloud. Oh yeah! I am the winner in this fight every time! I can just picture myself standing toe to toe with the Deceiver and claiming God's promise by saying, " I am holding fast against you. You cannot defeat me because I am a child of God!" Then the enemy will turn around and scamper away in full flight from the power of God's promise that I just proclaimed.    

Update 6/4/2013
I want to share another devotional with you from one of the Girlfriends in God - Sharon Jaynes. Sharon knows you have to take a stand against the enemy too. Her scripture is Ephesians 6 and the title is, Lessons from a Dirt Clod Fight
 

Thanks, Mom

My mom, Virginia Tucker.
 

I am a day or so late with this post, but I still wanted to thank my mom for being the amazing woman who taught me how to love Jesus.

My mother started teaching me about Jesus before I could even talk. Even today, as an adult, I will sing Jesus Loves Me to myself. Mom also read the Children's Bible to me many times, patiently pausing and answering the hundred and one questions I would ask.

Thanks Mom

I love you.