Arrows In The Hand Of A Warrior

“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.” (Psalms 127:4)

We are at war with the fallen values in our culture. Things like alcohol drugs,violence, pornography, immortality, and rebellion threaten to completely undermine the foundation of society. The key to change is found in our children. Children will become what we fashion them to be.

In the Bible, Solomon compares children to weapons – specifically arrows. Parents are to carefully form their children even as a warrior would construct fearsome “arrows.” A warrior’s future may depend upon the Accuracy and strength of each arrow. Arrows have three basic parts: the arrowhead, the shaft, and fletched (usually made of feathers). The arrowhead represents the child’s education, skills, and gifting. As parents we should insure that our children receive the best in their education opportunities. The shaft represents the child’s character. A good arrow’s shaft must be straight. No matter how Sharp the arrowhead, if the shaft is crooked, the arrow will always miss its mark. Even an inferior arrowhead on a straight shaft is better that a sharp arrowhead on a crooked shaft. The fletcher represent the stabilizing aspect of the arrow as it soars through the air. Without fletches, the arrow can twist, turn, or flip. Children need stability in their lives. That stability comes from a relationship with God. Most arrows contain three fletches that represents a relationship with the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit.

Inevitably, children will face situations in their lives that can throw them into a tailspin. Once a child leaves home the only solid relationship is with God that can give them stability in the tough times in their lives. An arrow is shot from a bow. The bow represents the direction, guidance, encouragement and blessing given to the child. Parents need to instill a sense of destiny into the heart of their children. Don’t point then toward a worldly goal. They need to be pointed toward the bulls-eye of God’s will for their lives. Parents are the warriors fighting for the next generation. Our children are our arrows. Don’t ignore the battle. We must do what it takes to fashion our children into arrows that will hit the Mark in their generation for God’s glory.

The Power Of A Single Prayer

Almost on a daily basis, we open the door of our hearts wide enough to be susceptible for anxiety and fear to walk in. It causes us to become stressed, distracted and focused on the wrong things in our lives.

Yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. The apostle Paul calls us to live in a very different way. He calls us not to be anxious for anything. In the original languages the Bible (Hebrew), the word for anxious translates to distracted further illustrating the power of anxious thoughts. Anxiety magnifies our problems and minimizes our focus on God. It prevents us from seeing God’s power and sovereignty in the midst of our circumstances.

Paul, who had many things to be anxious about, was essentially waving a caution flag because he knew anxiety could take us down a dangerous path leading to fear, doubt and despair. When we are anxious, our minds are monopolized with worry, instead of consumed with God’s power and what He is able to do.

Paul tells us that the way to combat anxiety is a simple prayer first and make a conscious choice not to be anxious. It requires us to face every uncontrollable circumstance and possible outcome with confidence the God has the power to change things. We are encouraged to anchor ourselves to this truth. We have a choice to believe God is all powerful and always has a plan, even if the outcome is not what we desire.

Paul calls us to prayer, petition, and thanksgiving. These are fruitful ways to use our time, and when we choose to do this, we can experience the peace Paul describes. In short, we’re called to focus on a dependable God rather than worry about an unknown future. So open your heart and open your mouth today in prayer and let the peace of His power come.

Philippians 4:4-7

Unlocking The Power Of Choice

All day, every day, you are interacting with the world around you. Other people, p,aces, things, ideas, you internal monologue, and so forth. Everything that happens to you, you have a choice in how yo respond. But,nits unlocking the power of choice in life’s most crucial moments that can truly make a difference between success and failure, passion or indifference, and optimism or pessimism.

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

Victor Flankl

Most of the decisions we make daily are thoughtless and automatic. Our lives tend to become so habitualized that we stop consciously thinking about many of the choices that we face. Unfortunately, we become so used to this mindless way of making decisions that any of us miss out on opportunities because we fail to act.

So often, to often many of us choose to be in things such as an unfulfilled job, an unhappy relationship, where you may love the person, but you know it’s not the right thing for you. Or we may have trauma in our life. And instead of making the decision to face that trauma and do something about it, we choose to ignore it. Or it could be a drinking problem where you know, you could choose differently; but continue to stay on that path. And it could go on and on.

To progress in our lives, we need to become mindful of our decisions and unlocking the power of choice when it matters the most.

Power Over The Enemy

We are never more vulnerable than after our most recent victory. This is the axiom, and maxim of truth, that we see Jesus give His disciples after they find themselves distracted by a lesser goal that Jesus set before them. After all it was so easy to do.

Whether it’s temporary opportunities, criticism, or mundane tasks, Satan knows he doesn’t need to destroy us if he can distract us. He lets a few victories remain without a counter-attack, and when we let our guard down it tends to b after a major victory or achievement.

While Jesus was thrilled about the disciples’s successes and effectiveness, He also knew their vulnerabilities and wanted to keep them focused on the ultimate blessing. Yes we should be thrilled that Jesus does His work through us, but it’s purpose is for God to be glorified. That is why Jesus says to His disciples: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.” (Luke 10:20).

Therefore if God uses you this year, like the disciples, rejoice! If you see the Spirit breakthrough by you using your gifts, thank God, be in awe at His greatness, and then humbly come before God, and remember the bigger picture: you are going to spend eternity with Jesus!

Rejoicing in temporary authority will on,y lead to the loss of joy when that authority is no longer experienced. Our joy should be primarily stirred up by everlasting realities. After all, authority, power, and success are fleeting privileges in this life. Relationships are to be enjoyed, but not worshiped. None of these can bear the weight of all our joy.

Set your joy first and Foremost in the heavenly place this year, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. It is around His throne that all the Saints will engage in everlasting worship. And where you and I will take our place, when our time comes to be with Him forever.

Luke 10:16-21

Living With Fear & Walking By Faith

God is Father in creation, Son of redemption, and Holy Spirit in regeneration. The perplexity of who God is has had the church in arduous debate for hundreds of years. Some say God is one, not three; others say God is three, not one. In actuality, aGod is omnipresent and omniscient cannot be defined. Great is the mystery of godliness.

For the purpose of understanding the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- let’s look at the make up of humankind. When God created man, He created him in His likeness as in his image. Man is one being, yet made up of three parts; He is a spirit, has a soul, and lives in a body. Each entity gives a sense of awareness and another level of consciousness. In the spirit, man is God conscious. When Adam sinned, his soul died. I. Scripture, death means separation, not always the cessation of life. Sin separates man from God. In the same way, a person dies naturally, so it is spiritually. The spirit is separated from God.

In a man’s soul, the place that houses one’s memories, affections, emotions, and appetites, there is self-consciousness. When God breathed the breath of life into man, he became a living souk. Man became aware of life. The soul is where man wrestled with God. It is where man is transformed by the renewing of the mind. When the body is dead man loses consciousness of the world, for the body connects a being with the world.

In summary, we have God-consciousness in the spirit self-consciousness in the soul, and world-consciousness in the body. All three entitles don’t always align; and we find ourselves wrestling with one or another. Which results in inner turmoil. Sometimes, the spirit wants to perform accordingly, but if the soul (mind) is so damaged and wounded that the person is holding onto issues they cannot release, then evil has an opportunity to attack. There is a war for the mind. With the Spirit, we become aware of God but with the mind, we serve the Lord. The enemy wants to create havoc in the place where we serve the Lord.

Displaying God’s Power

Have you ever enquired of God why He allows us to suffer? Have you ever wondered if it’s because you have said or did something wrong? Whenever something unexpected happens in our lives we look for someone to blame.

Such questions are valid, and reflect the human experience. However the Bible offers us a different perspective. In John 9 Jesus’s disciples had similar questions as they saw a man walking around blind. The Apostle John records Jesus’s response, and it was not what the disciples expected to hear.

Jesus and His disciples were walking through the streets of the city when they encountered a blind man. One of the disciples asked Jesus why the man was blind and asked who was to blame, his parents or himself. Jesus’s response put their confusion to rest, although it shocked and surprised them; it was not because of either persons sin, but so the power of God could be revealed through him ( John 9:3).

We can almost imagine the disciples standing there, looking perplexed by Jesus’s response. How could this man’s blindness display God’s power? How could this terrible situation bring glory to God? How could his life serve a higher purpose that what we see before us?

The blind man’s sight was completely healed, but his healing wasn’t immediate. He wasn’t healed when Jesus put on the mud, but only after he obeyed what Jesus instructed him to do. The blind man was healed when he chose to obey the command of Jesus to “go.” Without questioning or hesitating, the man went and his obedience resulted in not only his healing, but discovering a purpose from his pain.

This man may have lived his entire life feeling inferior, unloved, rejected, excluded and possibly believing that he had no purpose. But there stood Jesus, telling everyone that this man’s life could serve as proof of the power of God. But it only happened because of his obedience.

We often talk ourselves out of obedience, rather that trusting and obeying God’s commands to “go.” But when we walk in faith, true healing and purpose can begin to take shape in our hearts and lives.

What a world this would be if we ask caught a glimpse of how God wants to turn our pain into purpose m and use our lives as proof of His power.

John 9: 1-7

What Does It Really Mean To Be Blessed

Feeling blessed. A quick look at social media shows how many people today feel blessed. In the social media world, saying you’re blessed can be a way of boasting while trying to sound humble,

College scholarship? Blessed. Unexpected raise? Blessed. Wonderful family? Blessed.

Christians we know that term too, of course. We pray God will bless our family. We attribute our undeserved gifts to “God’s blessings.” We talk about ministries being blessed. But what does it really mean? How should we understand the blessing of God?

The Good Life

“My trials grounded my faith in ways that prosperity and abundance never could.”

For believers, is the blessed life synonymous with the successful life? Is it the Christian version of the good life? A loving marriage, obedient children, a vibrant ministry, a healthy body, a successful career, trusted friends, financial abundance – if these are characteristics of a blessed life, then having them all should translate into an extraordinarily blessed life.

But does it! If someone had all those things, would they be extraordinarily blessed ?

Rather than turning to God, they might feel self-sufficient and proud. Perhaps a bit smug and self-righteous. After all their hard work would be yielding good fruit.

Moreover, they wouldn’t need to cry out to God for deliverance; everything would already be perfect. They wouldn’t need to trust God; they could trust themselves. They wouldn’t need God to fill them; they would already be satisfied.

God’s Richest Blessings

My desire for God is greatly fueled by my need. And it is in the areas of loss where I feel my need most intensely. Unmet desires keep me on my knees. Deepen my prayer life. Make me ransack the Bible for God’s promises.

Earthly blessings are temporary; they can all be taken away. Job’s blessing all disappeared in one fateful day. Our marriages are dissolve, our children can rebel, our health can spiral downward. Our dreams can be shattered in a bat of an eye.

In the midst of those painful events in our life, we can experience God’s richest blessings. A stronger faith than we had experienced before. A deeper love than we had ever known. A more intimate walk then we could ever explain. Our trials tend to ground our faith in ways that prosperity and abundance never can.

While our trials are not blessings in themselves, they are channels for them.

Like in Laura Story’s song, “Blessings” “What if your blessings come through rain drops? “What if trials in this life -the rain, the storms, the hardest nights – are our mercies in disguise?”

This revolutionary idea of blessing is also firmly established in Scripture.

The Common Thread

The ESV translation of the New Testament has 112 references with the words bless, blessing, or blessed, none of which connects blessings to material prosperity.

“Suffering and trials are not blessed in themselves, but they are channels for God’s grace.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn…. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake… Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you.”

Matthew 5:3-4; 10-11

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Luke 11:28

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.”

Romans 4:7; Psalms 32-1

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on… Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Revelation 14:13; 19:9

There is no hint of material prosperity or perfect circumstances in any Nee Testament reference. On the contrary, blessing is typically connected with either poverty and trials, or the spiritual benefits of being joined by faIth to Jesus.

In the Greek the word blessed is makarioi which means to be fully satisfied. It refers to those receiving God’s favor, regardless of the circumstances.

What is blessing, then? Scripture shows that blessing is anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in Him. Anything that draws us closer to Jesus. Anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal. And often it is the struggles and trials, the aching disappointments and the unfulfilled longing that best enable us to do that.

Truly Blessed

“Unmet desires keep me on my knees and make me ransack the Bible for God’s promises.”

Pain and loss transforms us. While they sometimes unravel us, they can also push us into a deeper relationship with God than we ever thought possible. They make us rest in God alone. Not what we can do or achieve on our own.

In pain and loss we long for Presence. We long to know that God is for us and with us. Great families, financial wealth, and good health are all wonderful gifts we can ask God for, but they are not His greatest blessings. They make us delight, not in God, but in His gifts.

God’s greatest blessings always rest in God Himself. When we have that it is then we are truly blessed.