Faith, " A Belief Not Based on Proof

The Dictionary defines Faith as ‘A belief not based on proof’. The word Faith is used nearly 450 times in the Bible, that alone should encourage us to have it - live it - and be in it.

A friend of mine, who is studying to be a Prison Chaplin, recently asked me what one personal characteristic I would like to strengthen. He then shared with me that he wanted to work on his patience, which struck me kind of odd as this man is very quiet, very polite and one of the most patient people that I know. I reflected on both his question and my own patience or lack thereof.
Although I am quite a ways away from possessing the patience I would like to have, God gives me grace. He always forgives us. Always. Something we struggle to do for one another. 

Can you think of a time, or times when you were judged or not forgiven by a friend, family member or employer? Maybe you said something you shouldn't have or forgot something important or maybe you don't even know what you did. God doesn't ever do that. He gives us Grace because Grace is something which is not a created substance of any kind, but it is instead, love and mercy given to us because He desires that we have it, not because of anything we do to deserve it or not deserve it. How wonderful is Our God to love us that much? We sin daily, He forgives, it’s just that simple. Can you imagine what life would be like if we treated one another like that? 
Wow! 

I began thinking about how very blessed we all are to be showered with this gift of Grace from Our Heavenly Father and then I reflected on how in the world I could ever loose faith in our great God. Loose enough faith to believe for even one moment that He has forgotten His promises to me, or for me to question His timing. And I knew what I wanted to work on, my faith.
I want to have Mustard Seed Size Faith, or as close to it as I cqn possibly come up with. 

Matthew 17:19-20 the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't cast out a demon that was possessing a child and ...

He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have the faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, 'Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." 

It is kind of embarrassing when you stop and think about it, after all...a mustard seed is so tiny.

One would think we could all manage to squeak out that much faith, right? But, since I don't see any mountains moving around, so my guess is that collectively, our Faith is pretty far from the Faith Jesus spoke of that day so long ago. 


So, what can we do to change that?  We can start by being truly thankful for everything; everything we have, everything we value in our lives, and everything we go through. Not just the wonderful things, not just the things that bring us joy, but the things that bring us heartache as well. Not allowing the devil to steal your joy by convincing you that your past makes you unworthy of God’s promises, or you are a failure in any aspect of your life! 

Your not a failure as a student, or as an employer, your not a failure as a husband or wife or a failure as a parent. Ask Him to guide you, ask Him to change you...He loves the challenge! He is mighty and powerful and capable of fixing us in any and all areas.

The thing that makes all of the depression, sadness and heartache go away is PRAISE! We Must Praise Him for anything and everything that happens in our lives.  On the happy days or the bluest of the blue, all situations, both good and bad with this realization in mind.  

All Things work together for the good of those who love God, for them who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 

You see, nothing is impossible for God. The idea of anything being impossible comes from within us each time we measure God by the limitations of our own unbelief. He wants us to stretch that belief even if it makes us uncomfortable. He, in turn, gives us the fruits of His Spirit which Paul described

Galatians 5:22--23 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts ( Fruit of the Spirit) into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard..things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. 

We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. 

Francis Chan said, "God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through."  

If people would only work on developing that kind of faith, they would know that He has everything under control. Just kick back and be patient and have faith.  With that kind of faith, patience would never present a problem. We would have faith in Him answering all of our prayers and we would understand clearly that everything happens in His time, not ours. 

One good exercise, if you don't already do so, is tithing. People make excuses, they say that they can't afford it. Once you start giving the full 10% of every single financial gain your home receives, you will discover that you can't afford to. God is so wonderful, He rewards us for our faithfulness in ways I can't begin to tell you. The way I view it is that it is His money, to begin with, he is just allowing me to use it. So with that in mind, I write a check and give Him his 10% right off of the top and then the rest is mine to do with what I will.  He makes it work out. 


Chan suggests that we pray big because that pleases God; ask Him for things that may even seem far-fetched, remembering that nothing is too far fetched for our God! 
People think there are no longer any miracles; that's just silly. Of course, there are miracles!

People also think that God doesn't answer their prayers, that's silly too. Of course, he answers prayers. He does these things in His time, not ours and never without that five letter word... F-A-I-T-H.

I bet you have had miracles in your life, moments when God could have easily taken you home, but he didn’t, it wasn’t your time, I know I have. God has plans for us. 

One such miracle happened to me the beginning of the summer after my junior year in high school. Although I wasn’t a senior yet, I went to the senior class parties out in the woods with some people I knew from school. The girl who was driving that day had to go back to town early because she was scheduled to work the next morning. 
I can remember that I was having a good time and I was really disappointed when it came time to leave. For some reason, I was very anxious and I was so desperate to stay that I even considered staying alone. I knew others that I could ride home with would be coming along soon. Finally when I couldn't drag my feet anylonger, I got into her car. Just as we turned the corner to get on the highway home, the friends I was waiting for arrived, and they certainly didn’t have to twist my arm to get me to stay. 

That night I violated code #6 in my Mother’s Rule book of Etiquette, which stated clearly that I was:  Always leave with the one who brought you. I believe as I got older, that rule went by the wayside. It may have been because of that night. It wasn’t until the next afternoon that I found out that breaking that rule may have saved my life. A mutual friend called and told me that within a few minutes after I got out of the car I Was supposed to ride home in, the driver lost control of her car and rolled her car. The driver was ejected from the car and suffered a broken neck, another passenger was also severely injured and there was one death. The driver was very fortunate, she lived.

When she was finally able to have visitors, I went to the hospital to see her. As I stood there, by her bedside in a room full of machines giving her breath and nourishment, I realized that by the grace of God, it could have been me. That thought overtook me and minutes later, in the elevator I fainted for the one and only time in my life.    

 I think about that day often and each time I do, I feel so blessed and thankful to be alive, thankful that I had listened to His promptings instead of worrying about Rule #6. God was with me then and I have since learned that He is with me all of the time. He has plans for each and every one of us, all we need to do is have faith and be patient. He loves us so much. He challenges us to have patience and faith in His timing without having as much as a momentary doubt in our mind and He hasn't failed me yet. 

That's the stuff  that Mustard Seed Faith is made of.

Spititual Warfare ~When the Devil Attacks~

I woke in a cold sweat, gripped with fear. 

It  was early Spring, and the furnace was running so my bedroom should have been nice and warm, but instead it was  ice cold. 

I could tell, even in the dark that the door 

to my bedroom; which was always left 

open, was closed. I turned on the light, 

and got up and very carefully opened 

the door and checked my apartment out. 

The door was locked and things looked ok 

so I returned to bed where I propped 

myself up with a second pillow, grabbed 

my Bible and began to pray, however, 

the stream of ineffective and garbled 

words  that fell from my lips 

accomplished nothing...  

Suddenly I remembered, Psalm 100:4 "Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise." 

 

“Thank you Heavenly Father for my life, Praise you Father for all of my blessings, todays, and yesterdays, and the ones I’m not even aware of. Thank you for my life and the lives of my children. Thank you for my church family and all of my friends...”

As I praised Him, the warmth to the room returned, and a gentle comforting feeling fell over me as  I drifted back to sleep....

Many Christians are not aware of the powerful, unseen evil that lurks about trying to steal their joy. Instead of realizing what it truly is, they place the blame for their misfortune on others and seek a glass of wine, sleeping pill, or the comfort of anyone but Jesus. When they do that they are in fact handing the devil a victory, and who wants to do that? 

Unfortunately, the closer we draw near to God, the greater threat we oppose to Satan.

Satan has strategies in place to take us out if we’re not prepared! He targets us through open doors into our hearts and souls. Doors we may not even realize were left open. He attacks our minds where our thoughts are formed, and our thoughts control our heart. The things the mind attends to it considers, and what the mind does not attend to it dismisses. 

The word Heart can be found eight hundred and sixty two times in the ESV version of the  Bible. Two hundred of those times it pertains to our thoughts, as it is through our thoughts that we communicate with the Holy Spirit. It is with our mind that we form our opinions, social attitudes, values, and our self esteem. Our self esteem, be it very high, or very low, attracts Spiritual Attacks. If it is too high, we are typically overly arrogant or too proud. If it’s too low, we border on self pity which is akin to selfishness.

The opinion we have of ourselves affects our actions, achievements, and how we relate to our family, friends, and co-workers, but most importantly, it affects how we relate to God.

Satan wants to control our thoughts, and he works overtime to get it done, using any sin we commit or have ever committed to accomplish it. He works hard to dig up our past and use it against us. He tries to convince us that our former life style was much better than anything Jesus could ever possibly provide for us. He brings to mind our failures; lost jobs, broken marriages, mistakes we made while raising our children or anything we are ashamed of.. He works on us, promoting feelings of guilt, and shame, whatever it takes to convince us that we’re not worthy of God’s love.

Two of his more well known victims was Adam and Eve. He convinced Eve that God was lying to both she and Adam, and that his promises to them were nothing short of lies  that would come back void. 

After she was convinced, she easily encouraged  Adam to sin along with her. When God discovered them naked, and asked Adam how they knew they were naked, Adam was quick to throw Eve under the bus. It made them doubt Gods love for them and ruined their lives, which was exactly his plan.  

Satan slips in through doors to our minds that we leave ajar. Doors can be something as simple as a lie we tell, or something we spend time doing, that we really shouldn't do: reading listening to, or watching things that are not of God, things we should flee from.  I’m fond of saying, “What goes in is what come’s out.” Doors can be opened if we look at someone lustfully, or spend time with a friend or co worker who’s lifestyle is not Godly. I’ve heard it referred to as illegal entry, which is truly what it is. But God allows it to a degree because guilt in small doses makes us aware of our transgressions, grows us up, and draws us closer to him. 

Satan May not have access to our will, but our minds are an open target. Once he’s captured our minds and hearts he convinces us that we are worthless in Gods eyes. Why would God have great plans for the life of a nobody...a sinner? He just wouldn’t. These thoughts many refer to as ‘stinkin thinkin’ keep us so beaten down that we feel totally undeserving of anything Godly and good, including  Including better jobs, decent friends and the future of hope God promised us.

This is why It is so important that we establish a close relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

Talk to him throughout the day, every day! Ask him what he wants you to do to help yourself and better your life. Believe me when I tell you, God has wonderful plans for each of us. He wants us to fulfill those plans so we flourish and He receives the glory! He gave us each skill sets; one a florist, one a cook, one a mechanic, one with mad math skills, one a doctor, one a missionary, one a teacher, one a pastor...the list is endless! If you are in a job you’re not enjoying, or only doing for the money, ask him what He wants you to be doing. I believe that whatever it is, is something you already enjoy. 

He loves us so very much. “"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:7-8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Don’t ever be afraid to ask him to help you.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Once we feel crappy about our selves, even when we try to climb out of our pit, he brings along his buddy, the Spirit of Offense. He takes delight in making us feel inferior, even when there’s absolutely no reason for it. We should we shy from good job opportunities, quality men and women to date or spend time with?  Why in the world would we allow any old voice in our head to convince us that we’re not welcome at certain places that we would enjoy or would be beneficial to us. He uses the thoughtless comments of unsuspecting people to hurt our feelings. With that in mind, we can fully understand that although it is God's nature to influence us with the truth, it is the devils nature to influence us with lies. And he is ruthless, He uses anyone he can find to get those lies inside of our minds and hearts because once He gets us to believe the lies, we will never discover God's will for our lives. As humans, we have a tendency to blame others, decide they are rude to us, or they hurt our feelings, we rarely take the time to consider who or what is the true influencing factor, instead we go with what we believe is the obvious. 

“Attempting to defeat the enemy by wrestling with people could be likened to trying to destroy a tree by picking all of the fruit.” Lisa Bevere

Satan is out to destroy, and the more he destroys, the happier he is. He doesn’t care one iota about us, his battle is with God.  He stops at nothing, or no one, including Jesus himself.
‭
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.” Matthew‬ ‭4:1-11‬ ‭ESV‬

Jesus was able to outsmart him because He Loved and understood His Fathers words and He believed and memorized them. He spent many hours meditating over them and those words equipped Him to do His fathers work. This serves as an example to all of us to press into God's word. In  2 Corinthians 10, Paul explains the importance of our having the ability to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exulted itself against the knowledge of God and bring captivity to the obedience of Christ.

However, Satan doesn't just attack our mind, he attacks our bodies as well by encouraging sins of the flesh. Our bodies are living temples where the Holy Spirit resides. He does whatever he can to remind us of any and all guilty pleasures, or sins of the flesh. Paul reminds us that our bodies house the Holy Spirit. 

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭6:19-20‬ ‭ESV‬

 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Romans‬ ‭6:12-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Because Satan knows each of us very well, he holds the keys to each of us, he knows both our past and our future, so he knows who, how and when to target us individually. 

“ I believe that the spiritual attacks on your life have much more to do with who you might be in your future than who you have been in the past.”

Lisa Bevere- from Girls with Swords. Why women need to fight Spiritual Battles

It is very important that we know in our hearts that God's grace is sufficient. He is our creator and he adores us. You can always count on him and be thankful for his goodness. Doing so fills our hearts with thankfulness, which makes praise easier, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Spend time in His word. 
There are a few really great apps for your  phone or tablet that makes reading or listening to the Bible easy. I personally love ‘You Version’. You Version has several versions of the Bible available to read or listen to, as well hundreds of different reading plans, videos, graphic scripture posts and more. It’s pretty amazing. Plus, because it is an app for your phone or tablet, it makes it so convenient to dive into The Word every day, anyplace. 

Another important thing to do is to ask Him to change you, and take away your low self esteem or that prideful nature that Satan loves to dine on and replace those or any rough qualities with some he wants you to have. Tell Him that you want to be more like Him and less like who you once were. He will be delighted to comply. 
When feelings of self doubt creep in; and they will, when Satan rips your carpet of self esteem right out from underneath your feet, when you wake up in a cold sweat with his ugly hands gripping your throat or when you feel for even a split second that you are not worthy of every last detail of the plan God has for your life start praising! 
PRAISE GOD!  Thank Him for every single blessing in your life from your running water and flushing toilet  to your last bag of rice. From your broken fingernail or skinned knee to your loss of job or disease...He will hear you and He will recognize your voice and He will be there to help and love you through it. Soon you will be a light, and nothing can turn out the light on the inside!

Pastor Jim Staley said, “ The enemy doesn’t like the light for it dispels the darkness. We are on one side, and he is on the other. He’s deceiving us that he’s not even there. If he can infiltrate our bodies, he can infiltrate our friends, our churches, and our work places with out us even knowing. He can’t touch us physically, but our free will allows us to be used.” When we form a strong bond with Christ, and become a light, we can smile and know that Satan may have tried to steal our joy, but God will guide us through it, because our lives are is none of his business. 

LS Revised 11-2019, 10-2020

Sanctuary of Tranquility: Integrity...why bother?

Sanctuary of Tranquility: Integrity...why bother?: My parents were the first people in my life who taught me that making excuses was an indication of a lack of integrity. When I was in my f...

Integrity...why bother?

My parents were the first people in my life who taught me that making excuses was an indication of a lack of integrity.
When I was in my forties I had a boss who would never allow anyone to make an excuse for anything  whatsoever, saying, "There is no excuse”. Although his attitude may seem rather harsh, it taught me to always do the very best work I could possibly do never leaving anything for the next guy to have to do before they could do their own job.

My parents set a great example for me by always taking the time to talk to me about anything and everything and by demanding that I be honest, not only with them but with myself as well.
They took the time to not only help me to understand the importance of telling the truth but, they also showed me examples of the carnage that is possible as the result of a lie of any color. A little white lie, or withholding the truth (waiting around with information until you, for whatever reasons, feel the time is right to reveal it) can be every bit as damaging as a big fat juicy lie.

“For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not come to light"  ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭8:17‬ ‭NKJV)‬‬

From the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 42, and 138 times after that, the word truth is mentioned. This should tell us that we must go straight to the truth. God hates lies and deception,
Jesus quoted Isaiah,

  "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are  far from me " (Matthew 15:8)

The Psalmist says, "People all lie to their neighbors; lying lips spoken with deception (Psalm 12:2) We have seen how Joseph's brothers had deceived their father about the fate of Joseph (Genesis 37:31-35) However, today we see also that they knew in their hearts that they could not deceive God, " Surely we are being punished because of our brother." (42:21) 

Although He already knows your heart and words, God wants you to be honest with him, 
He likes candor, He wants you to tell him honestly what is in your heart today. 

John 8:32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

I grew up with the bad habit of exaggerating or elaborating and until quite recently I never thought of it as lying. After I started the Courts of Heaven program I came to realize that what I thought of as fish tales were in fact lies. The Courts of Heaven taught me to ask God in prayer to show me the things about myself that He would like me to change.
He did so without any delay, and my exaggerating was on the top of the list. Now if and when I do it, I flush with guilt because I know He heard me. He helped me understand that exaggerating was actually a form of lying and that always telling the truth with love and compassion for the listener demonstrates that element of integrity that is so very important in building relationships with others. It establishes trust.

Dr. Bren'e Brown addresses trust in our relationship with friends. She defines trust as not a grand gesture, but instead, a collection of small choices we make every day. She also reminds us that when we choose to trust ANYONE we are choosing to be vulnerable, a quality that is hugely misunderstood in our culture. We tend to think it means weak, it does not.

We are all vulnerable any time we open our hearts and reveal those precious parts of our souls to those we come into contact with. Many of us have been used or have experienced lies, and unfaithfulness from our spouses or friends and have shut down, closed the gate, and put our hearts in seclusion. So as friends to these people, or one who has experienced this first hand, we must remember how important being honest is. When the devil tempts us by making us feel like lying is the best course of action, the path with the fewest consequences, He is not only turning us into liars, but he is causing us to damage associations with anyone we lie to.

With that in mind, it is my best guess, that telling the truth is paramount even if it brings a few uncomfortable moments. It also smooths the path to establishing trust.

However, it is interesting to note; in one of the 20 most popular TED Talks, Pamela Meyer, author of Lie-spotting, claimed that on any given day we are lied to from 10-200 times!
Simple little sizzlers like these...

• The check is in the mail
• There will be someone out to repair your broiler first thing in the morning. 
• I'm fine
• I didn't do it
• I will pay you back

Often times these are empty words, where the heart does not accompany the lips. Words that fool and deceive, words that make us wish that with all of our hearts people would simply tell us the truth.

The best definition of trust I have heard in a long time came from life coach Charles Feldman. Feldman defines trust as choosing to risk making something you value vulnerable to another person's actions. We have no idea what a person will do with the personal information we give them. Trust must be built, and it can quickly dissolve into Distrust if the things that are important are not kept safe with the person we confide them to. 

Matthew 7:6 (KJV) 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

When I was in high school, my mom gave me dimes instead of pennies for my penny loafers so I could always call her if I needed a help of any kind. She knew I would need them. Having known me all of my life, she knew her red headed daughter had an open heart which made her vulnerable to deception. I am so thankful for her and for those dimes, I used them on several occasions.
I am also very grateful that I grew up when I did, having parents who possessed integrity. Parents who cared enough to prepare me somewhat for life and it's battles. Sadly, many were not as fortunate as I. They were never taught it and have no desire to have it. It has become kind of a lost characteristic which desperately needs to make a comeback; especially if people have any desire to have good relationships.

Proverbs 12:17 A truthful witness saves lives, but one who breathes out lies is deceitful 

Dr. Brown defines integrity in 3 parts: 

1. Choosing courage over comfort.

2. Choosing what is right over what's fast, fun or easy

3. Practicing your values, not just professing them.


I work with people all week long who have never experienced that nurturing kind of love from parents or friends. No one has ever taught them to step up and admit when they have done something wrong or when they have made a mistake. They are either too proud or simply afraid to.
Maybe the past repercussions have been too great or maybe they have never experienced just how magnificent it feels to be honest, even if there are repercussions.

Galatians 4:16 Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 

It takes a really deep, special kind of commitment to love, discipline, and teach your children or anyone else to have moral character. It takes patience, persistence, forgiveness, kindness, and time. 
I spend many hours on my knees, pleading with the good Lord to open the eyes of my own children and I praise him when I see indications that they are developing into some pretty cool adults. At some point they will have the opportunity to give their own testimonies. There have been some mighty scary moments along the way and there will more than likely be more to come.But hopefully, all of those hours I have spent praying for them will work for the good. 

Having integrity and being a good friend or a good employee is work. Admitting when you've made a mistake is tough stuff. Risking the loss of a friend because you are being a friend is tough as well, something many people will never understand or have the courage to do. Having enough integrity, to tell the truth, talk to people about what is on your mind instead of ignoring them or being mean to them and making things worse is also very tough stuff, but it can be done. Jesus will give any of us the grace to overcome anything we fear. 
All we have to do is ask.