The Sucker Punch

You’ve seen it in the movies.  Some guy is walking along thinking life is good, but there is someone approaching from behind.  The man approaching is on a mission.  He’s angry, and he’s got tunnel vision on the guy ahead.  The other guy is blissfully unaware of this situation, and then is tapped on the shoulder.  He turns around and that’s when it happens—WAM!  He is sucker punched by the angry man and almost knocked out. 

The enemy of our souls also works in this way.  He is angry.  He wants to halt your forward progress.  Yet, so often we are blissfully unaware.  We’ve been praying; maybe we’ve been fasting.  We’ve achieved a tangible peace about something we have been seeking God over.  Then out of the blue we are tapped on the shoulder and WAM!  We are hit hard in a way that is meant to knock us out.  We are hit with news or situations that are specifically designed to send us into a tailspin….those very things that make us make us want to curl into a ball and retreat.

The problem is if we do that, then the enemy wins. 

In order to get back on our feet for the fight, it’s important to understand a few things.

1.  The reason the enemy uses the element of surprise is because it is one of his most effective strategies he can utilize to win. 

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” I John 4:4 (NIV)

When your opponent has a greater strength than you, the element of surprise becomes very powerful.  While we on our own are not stronger than the enemy, Christ in us IS more powerful. 

2.  We really shouldn’t allow ourselves to be taken by surprise by the enemy. 

“Keep your mind clear, and be alert.  Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour.” I Peter 5:8 (GWT)

We know that the enemy is looking for opportunities to take us out.  Simple as that.  It isn’t something to be fearful of, but it is something to be aware.  We do not need to allow ourselves to get distracted, or think that we are immune.  That sets us up as an easy target.  Think of Elijah after his huge show-down with Baal’s prophets & standing in faith for rain on the land.  It was right after that when the enemy used Jezebel to “sucker punch” him with a death threat, causing the mighty prophet of God to literally run for his life (see I Kings 18:16-I Kings 19).  I was told once by a wise leader in my life to always watch for the enemy trying to knock me out right after a spiritual high. 

 3.  We must be armed and ready for battle at all times.

“Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan.  For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.
 So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over you will still be standing up.
 But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth and the breastplate of God’s approval.  Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God.  In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.  And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God.”  Ephesians 6:10-17 (TLB)

When we are armed and ready for battle, when we are vigilant and watchful of the enemy’s tactics, we are able to lessen the impact of his attempt to take us by surprise. 

But what if you in a moment forget to be watchful?  

Know that the immediate punch still hurts.  That is what it is designed to do.  It is also designed to make you react rashly instead of respond responsibly.  In that moment, you must often do the things that are counter-intuitive.  First, know that it is okay to tell God that you don’t understand what is happening and why.  But use that to then respond with your full trust in His faithfulness and provision.  The enemy may have taken you by surprise, but God is all-knowing.  He knew about the moment long ago, and has orchestrated the steps to turn it into something that will somehow work for your good (see Romans 8:28) and for His glory.  

Here are a few immediate steps to help get you back on your feet and moving forward again.

1.       Ask God for comfort as well as direction. 

2.       Seek immediate prayer from trusted friends and leaders. 

3.       Act opposite of what your “flesh” tells you. 

If your response is to want to withdraw and cease making an impact, immediately reach out and do something that has Kingdom impact.  The purpose of the punch was to prevent you from something.  By getting back up and continuing forward on the path God leads you, it immediately negates many of the effects of the attack. 

“Pray all the time.  Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes.  Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.” Ephesians 6:18 (TLB)

Fight the good fight, my friends.

Waiting Here for You

Tonight I have so many things swirling through my head. So far I haven't been able to successfully get it all down on paper in a form that makes sense. There are just so many things that God is doing, and ways that He is broadening my faith. I am watching Him move; but I still wait for one very specific thing. I know it's almost here....I can feel it. We are on the 1 yard line getting ready to make it into the end zone. Will I do a dance when we make it--you'd better believe it! :)

In the meantime, here is a song that is speaking volumes to me right now. Enjoy the lyrics and the music. Time to turn up the speakers and get some praise on!

If faith can move the mountains
Let the mountains move
We come with expectation
Waiting here for you, I’m waiting here for you

You’re the Lord of all creation
And still you know my heart
The Author of Salvation
You’ve loved us from the start

Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia

You are everything You’ve promised
Your faithfulness is true
And we're desperate for Your presence
All we need is You

Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia

Singing Alleluia
Alleluia, singing alleluia, alleluia

Waiting here for you
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
We're singing Alleluia

I'm singing Alleluia
Waiting here for you
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia
Singing Alleluia

Lyrics courtesy of Christy Nockels, Waiting Here for You

Death of a Dream

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ~John 12:24

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you. ~Joel 2:25

Have you ever experienced the death of a dream? Have you ever seen something that you had believed for die right in front of you? It is during times when we experience what feels like theft of a promise that our belief is really tried.

There are plenty of examples of experiencing the death of a promise or a dream in the Bible. Here are just a couple of them that speak so much to me:

Lazarus & his sisters- While Mary & Martha never had a specific promise from Jesus before Lazarus’ death, they knew that Jesus could heal him. Since Jesus could heal him and he loved Lazarus, it was an easy assumption for them to trust that Jesus would get there when they requested his presence to heal their sick loved one. However, Jesus didn’t come and heal Lazarus. In fact, he delayed himself purposefully. Mary and Martha watched their brother die, and they buried him. I’m sure their hearts were broken from Jesus’ seemingly insensitive absence.

Abraham & Isaac- Abraham had been promised that he would be the father of a great nation through his very own seed and Sarah’s womb. He had to wait 20 years for the fulfillment, but Isaac was his promise. Years later, Abraham had to have a hundred things rushing through his mind as God asked him to take his son to be sacrificed by his own hand. Did Abraham believe God would intervene….or did he simply pray and hope that he would?

There is one thing that we must remember above all else—God is always faithful and always true to His promises.

He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded for a thousand generations. ~Psalm 105:8

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him." ~Lamentations 3:22-24

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. ~I Thessalonians 5:23-24

Jesus told the disciples that Lazarus was only “sleeping,” and he told Mary and Martha that he would be raised. They were unable to comprehend what he was saying to them, but nonetheless, Lazarus was raised from the dead after having been sealed in a tomb for four days. Just as Abraham raised the knife to slay his dearest promise, God himself stopped him, and Abraham received the ram to sacrifice instead.

We don’t always know how the promise will come to pass….we just know that IT WILL. But what we do know is that it will “bear much fruit.” When a dream (a promise) is resurrected & restored, God always uses it in a mightier way—it becomes more powerful than it ever would have been otherwise, brings Him more glory, and points others to the person of Jesus Christ.

You've Messed Up One Too Many Times.....

Do we really believe what we say we believe? We say:

- Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." ~Luke 18:27

- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ~2 Corinthians 5:17

- See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. ~Isaiah 43:19

Do we really believe what we say we believe? We believe that God can do anything, that nothing is impossible with God. Yet so often we only want to apply this to our own lives, and not to the lives of those that we disagree with, or that have hurt us. Church…do you really believe that God can make all things new? Then let’s believe for those that are trapped in the most unattractive sins to be set free and made whole.

What do we do when we are given a real live opportunity to love unconditionally? Do we point the finger, say that they are doing exactly what we knew they would do, and then turn our backs. Or do we try to lovingly point them to the only One that can truly change a heart? We can’t be a gracious lighthouse & an accusatory judge at the same time.

Want to see how God can transform even the most far-fetched candidate into a passionate follower? Check out Saul's conversion story. Think of your "least likely candidate" for change....and ask God to challenge your heart.

Everyone needs compassion

A love that's never failing

Let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness

A kindness of a Savior

The hope of nations

Savior

He can move the mountains

My God is Mighty to save

He is Mighty to save

Forever

Author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me

All my fears and failures

Fill my life again

I give my life to follow

Everything I believe in

Now I surrender

Yes I surrender

Savior

He can move the mountains

My God is Mighty to save

He is Mighty to save

Forever

Author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

Shine your light and let the whole world see

We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus

Savior

He can move the mountains

My God is Mighty to save

He is Mighty to save

Forever

Author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

You were mighty to save

Lyrics courtesy of Laura Story, Mighty to Save

Are you Ready??? Lessons in Love...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. ~1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

This week is leading me to reflect quite a bit on love—what it is, what it isn’t. One of my absolute favorite passages in the Bible is the “love passage” in 1 Corinthians. I don’t love it for the mushy, gushy reasons that some people do. To me, if it seems all warm-fuzzy to you, you haven’t ever really been challenged in this area to truly love someone. This isn’t just a set of verses read at all of your friends’ weddings. It’s an honest assessment of what REAL love is supposed to be, and a challenge to those of us that claim to be in Christ to actually walk it out. If you’ve been tested in your love walk, it’s a set of truly poignant verses that are quite humbling. It may sound odd, but I count it as a privilege to have encountered such difficult trials in this area.

I know I have written on this subject before (see What’s Love Got to do with it?), but it’s one that I think is often looked at in passing. My goal today is to essentially give you some food for thought to digest over this weekend—to challenge you AND to challenge me. Also, with this weekend being Easter, our greatest example of love is plainly staring us in the face. God’s love for us through Christ is THE lesson in love.

Look again at Paul’s description of love from 1 Corinthians. At a recent conference, Beth Moore stated “True love always possesses a longing.” Joyce Meyer said today on her facebook feed “You can’t walk in love for free….it costs something.” Are you willing to face the longing if it’s never met? Are you willing to pay the price to walk in love?

Could you truly love someone if it cost you what meant most to you? What if it were a child, a family member, or a relationship you’ve prayed about? Can you love someone to the point of complete selflessness? The honest answer is that you and I are incapable of this kind of sustained selfless love on our own. It is only through the One that IS love that we can love someone even when we must die to self.

It’s a love that each of us is craving, and we become frustrated when the people around us cannot give us that truly unconditional, self-sacrificing love. We must first receive that love from our Heavenly Father before we are able to give it to others. This type of love requires motives to be checked regularly. You can’t “fake out” God when it comes to matters of the heart.

Take a few moments to look at the relationships in your life. Give an honest self-assessment of how your love walk is looking with these people. What is the number one way you can seek to increase your love walk right now? Go to the Lord to receive His love as a free gift….in return He will strengthen you to love those around you in ways that will astound you.

Keeping your Past from Invading Your Future

“…”How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love”

But don't you know who you are?
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade”

I often think in song. It’s an odd characteristic (I think), but nevertheless, it’s the way my mind works. While I don’t have the talent of song-writing, I admire and respect those that do. When a songwriter captures thoughts and feelings and sets them to music, it allows for others to share similar sentiments with all barriers removed.

One of the things that I do when I am actively trying to work and pray through issues is listen to music… Praise and worship to God are a huge part of who I am. I have been spending a lot of time in prayer over specific things and specific people, and so I have been walking and jogging and listening to music….a lot. Perhaps it has to do with who and what I am praying for, and perhaps it is an actual trend, but I have noticed something wonderful about such a large percentage of contemporary Christen music right now—the message of newness.

So often, people are concerned with “getting life on the right track” so they can find or return to God. We become so focused on the mistakes and poor choices that we have made, we feel we must either be forced to live in separation from a loving Heavenly Father or punish ourselves for all the wrong we have done. But there is no need for that. You see, it is our Savior that paid the price for us and makes us new.

Christ chose to take your punishment for every sin, every poor choice, every mistake. When you ask Him to be your Savior, you are accepting His payment for your sins. When we choose not to forgive ourselves and to move into newness, we are saying that what He did wasn’t enough. We are instead choosing to carry our past into our future. This causes us to be weighed down so heavily with burdens that we no longer have reason to bear.

Not one of us is too good to not need a Savior……and not one of us is too bad to not have Him serve as payment in full for what we have done and will do in this life. Take Him at His Word. When you have sincerely asked for forgiveness, He washes the memory of that sin into the sea of forgetfulness. Allow yourself to act like the One that paid the price for what you have done….move past the regrets, the hurts, the sins, the mistakes, and the poor choices and into newness of self, newness of life. Look forward to your future with hopeful expectation of a life with greater power and bolder influence to point others in the direction of the Life-Saver.

Take a moment and thank the Christ that has given you newness of life—heart, soul, and mind. Is there a song of worship or praise that echoes the sentiments of your heart? Share it with your Savior.

“Cause this is not about what you've done
But what's been done for you
This is not about where you've been
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel
But what He felt to forgive you
And what He felt to make you loved

You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade”

Lyrics courtesy of “You are More,” Tenth Avenue North