July 7, 2010 Sticks, Stones and Word-Grenades

I remember learning a sort of proverb when I was a kid: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."  Children try to believe what their elders tell them-- it's in their basic make-up to do so.  But when their own sense of right and wrong contradicts what they've been told, it's very confusing.  The old adage wasn't true, of course; it was a terrible type of denial, that instead of protecting me, left me very vulnerable to the injury of other people's words.  Lying statements about a person, when undetected or undefused, go deep down into a person's psyche and erode like acid, or they can later go off like bombs, debilitating and even destroying them.

Today we came across the very short, and somewhat hidden statement about Jabez (if you don't at least skim the geneologies and other parts of the Bible you consider boring, you miss important nuggets, or even a best-selling book!).  Here was an innocent kid being told over and over, simply by hearing his name, that he was a pain! (and possibly other words of a mother who had a bad attitude): "Come here, YouCausePain, and do these dishes for me.  That's the least you can do to make up for the suffering you've caused!"  Ouch! 

As Christians, we tend to name our children truthful and empowering things, and for a good reason!  God didn't change people's names for kicks--  He knew what names can do to people.  Names, when well-chosen, can help a child reach his or her full potential in God.  Parents should continue in that vein, speaking the truth in love over their children, as well as nurturing them in other ways.  We're going to make mistakes, obviously, but if we discover we've said something hurtful or untrue,  it is "best practice" to immediately ask a child's forgiveness and replace the untruth with the word of God.  Children also need to be taught what to do when they are ridiculed and picked on, since everyone is at one time or another. Sensitive children, especially, can really be hurt by this and need reinforcement.  The earlier we learn to receive God's comfort and allow Him to build us up with truth, the better.

We're not told how Jabez managed to become "more honorable than his brothers"-- God may have sent someone along to help him.  Since we're told about his prayer, he must have early turned to God in his disappointment.   
I wish this happened more often, but I have listened to the stories of many adults whose personalities were twisted and whose minds were warped by the things they were called as a child (along with other problems of their environment).  We see, however, that if a person will call out to God in faith, He will take up their case, deliver them from evil, restore their personhood, and bless them in their life with His favor.  Jabez even asked for a greater platform in which to testify of God's goodness.  God was able to use for good what the enemy meant for evil.  This is true for anyone who will turn to the Lord rather than remain in bitterness. 

God was able to use the lying statements of the Jews about Paul to get him to an even higher platform.  This could not have happened if Paul had buckled under the barrage of accusations being flung at him for years.  It is extremely important that we learn to hear God's words over us, over our life and person.  We have to believe Him and not the rest of the world, abusive or flattering as it may be.  If there's ever a time of "tearing down" in our life, it probably has a lot to do with tearing down the ways we operate based on lies we've believed about ourselves.  We can only reach our full potential if we are standing on the truth.  God says of you:   
"Rejoice, you who put your trust in Me;
You will shout for joy, because I defend you;
You will be joyful in Me, because you love My name.
I the LORD, will bless You, because you are the righteous in Christ;
I will surround you with My favor as with a shield." from Psalm 5: 11-12 

July 5, 2010 Strengthening The Spiritual Immune System

Psalm 3 showed up at a good time for me; it must have been on Paul's mind too when 40 men had vowed to kill him.  I don't have people vowing to kill me, (that I know of), but all it takes is one to throw a spiritual javelin at you and take you out (if you don't have your shield of faith up).  When an angry person shows up at my door with no good intentions, I have to be reminded that it's "not against flesh and blood" that we fight against, but against "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12, KJV and NKJV combined). 

When we're threatened in any way, we tend to go into our natural "fight or flight" reaction, don't we?  I haven't overcome that yet, and I'm not sure we're supposed to.  The best thing to do, I think, is to train ourselves to "fly" to God, and then, if we're going to have to fight, we'll do it in His strength and wisdom, and inside His protective shield.  I would like to be found in Him to the point where I'm invulnerable to enemy penetration, and always have the Spirit-led response to an attack-- but unfortunately I'm not always where I should be at every given moment. 

God uses any attacks from the evil one (and yes, they often come through people who allow themselves to be used) to show us our weak places, or wrong states of being.  He heals us right up when we go to Him, so it's not the end of the world when we take a hit.  However, when we're not in the place of safety, we are at risk unnecessarily.  We waste time when we're knocked out for a while.  And the devil plays dirty and likes to kick us when we're down.

One of the worse things about getting wounded by a spiritual attack is that we tend to further injure ourselves with our unhealthy habitual responses to pain.  I do better than I used to, but I have to admit I still tend to fall into fleshly "self-medicating" when I am deeply hurt.  Our spiritual enemy studies how to hit us where he knows we're vulnerable: we advertise our vulnerabilities all the time, don't we?  Most of us have trouble facing what "open books" we are to all who care to observe.  Someone who hates you and wants to hurt you will go right for the jugular!  All he has to do, then, is watch our behavior afterward to know the attack was effective.  He doesn't have to do anything more, knowing we'll finish off the destruction all by ourselves. 

I've learned that I will recover much more slowly from a spiritual attack, and even end up getting sick, sometimes depressed, when I take refuge in fleshly things.  I thought the Proverb today was such an appropriate reminder:  "The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?  The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge." Proverbs 18:14-15  If our response to spiritual attack isn't to immediately seek out the Lord-- His word, His comfort, His healing and His wisdom-- we will lower our physical and our spiritual immune systems, becoming even that more vulnerable to whatever would like to destroy us.  Even our own weaknesses, then-- things we may have begun to have some victory in-- become greater enemies.  The world's lies have more access into us if we take refuge in worldly media when we are down.  Do you see why it is so important to go to the Lord first of all, no matter how we feel--even if we are angry with Him for some reason?

My immune systems are pretty strong right now, because I've been spending time in the Word, and I'm generally in a place of closeness with the Lord.  But I can still clearly remember times when I was not.  I don't want to get there again!  I can see the enemy would like to break my spirit so that I will succumb to sickness and sin and not be able to recover.  I am grateful to be shown that I am not where I need to be, and that I can improve my level of immunity.  I hope my experience, and these Scriptures today, will encourage you to stay close to the Lord, and run to Him first whenever you are challenged.   He is your shield, your defender, your sustenance, and the One who lifts your head.

Extra credit:  If the devil shows contempt for Christ by trying to thwart His purposes of redemption, can we be witnesses of the Gospel and gain great personal victories over the devil by overcoming sin, sickness and emotional disorders?  See Isaiah 53, Psalm 103, Luke 4:18, 2 Corinthians10:5

January 8, 2010

I am always impressed with Abraham's conversation with God. I'm sure Abraham was aware of the great evil in that place and was habitually interceding for Lot and his family. I always thought "how could Lot offer his daughters to those evil men?" but today I realized that the ladies weren't in danger from those guys. He included it to let us know clearly what those men were up to and what the Lord thinks about it.

I found myself comforted and warned by the Scripture selections today. Warned, because I saw how easy it is to become compromised in righteousness when we're in close contact with and influenced by the world, judging our own condition by comparison with what's going on around us. Comforted, as I also noticed the reference again in Proverbs 2:7 to the Lord being our SHIELD, and the references to God's justice.

It's also like Wisdom and Prudence, verses 10 and 11, are guarding us in the Way, and they will lead us out if need be, to protect us--like the two "men" did (I'm assuming they're angels)--from judgments to come. If I'm seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness first, Matthew 6:33, I will have my eyes on God and won't look back. Genesis 19:36

January 6, 2010

Genesis 13: 14-15 Receiving the promises requires vision: "raise your eyes now. . .all the land that you see I will give to you". I'm going to have to seek the Lord for a vision of what it is He wants to give me, or I won't be able to receive much. In Genesis 15:1, the Lord came to Abram in a vision. I need that! I'm getting a picture of God being my shield. This is a good beginning, as I tend to get intimidated. I'll be braver to move forward as I trust in the shield of faith: it's the LORD himself!!!