THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

An odd thing happened this week. Jane came back into the house and said, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but someone stole baby Jesus!” I went out the front door and across the lawn, and sure enough, my whole Nativity Scene was gone, stakes and all! I was flabbergasted! “Who would do such a thing?” But after a few angry words, Jane and I decided to take the high road. We guessed that the person who stole our Nativity Scene was probably someone who was too poor to buy something for the family and thought baby Jesus would be the perfect gift. So I left it at that and felt better about not cursing and rebuking them!

 

Then Jesus did a really cool thing. He reminded me of the many other Nativity Scenes I’ve accumulated over the years, and He told me to go around the house and take pictures of them. I don’t consider myself a big collector of anything, but if I was, I think it would be Nativity Scenes. I really like them, and I keep them out all year long, at least one in almost every room in the house.

 

I love the story of Jesus’ birth, how He was not born in a fancy place, but in a manger. He came to be known and honored by very rich men, but still, His birth was simple. And the first people the angels came to tell about Jesus’ birth was the shepherds.

 

We never even know the shepherds’ names. Were they all old men, or did they have youngsters with them? There are so many things we don’t know about them, but what we do know is that God felt that these shepherds were important enough to invite to this event. Right here, we see that God is not impressed by notoriety, wealth, or worldly power. God is impressed by the humble human who is willing to believe in Him and in “his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Ps. 107:8). God sent His holy child to regular people like you and me. It’s so great that we celebrate Jesus’ birth every year.  

 

And even though my outdoor baby Jesus was stolen off my lawn, the indoor Jesus remains in my home and in my heart.

 

Love, Carolyn

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to read the story yet, here’s the record from the book of Luke:

 

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

 

“And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

 

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 

“And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’

 

“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, ‘Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.’ 

 

“And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 

“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them” (Luke 2:4-20).

 

 

"BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD"

“BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD”

In the story of Christmas, the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she would be having a child by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, and this child would be Jesus, the son of God. Mary believed that if people would just stick with what God told them, His Word was always going to come to pass. “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).  She had heard of the miraculous things God did and totally believed that God’s Word was true. She believed that the Red Sea really did open up miraculously to let the Israelites cross over on dry land. She believed the story about the ax head that was lost, but then floated up out of the water, defying the natural laws of gravity (2 Kings 6:5-6). She believed what she heard about the Hebrews just looking at the brass serpent in the wilderness and getting healed of their snake bites (Num. 21:8-9).

 

So when the angel Gabriel told her that she was the one who would miraculously birth the Messiah, the son of God, the promised seed from the Bible, she believed it: “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).

 

Peter also was taught to believe the records of the many miracles God did. And he, like Mary, believed beyond what looked impossible by natural laws. Peter literally stepped out of the boat, after hearing and believing just one word from Jesus: “Come” (Matt. 14: 29). Peter saw that Jesus was walking on top of the water, even as the ship was being tossed around by the waves. When Jesus said, “Come,” Peter figured Jesus meant it, so he dared to do it.

 

We all have verses that mean a lot to our hearts. We can probably name a few right now. Those are the very ones the Lord has been trying to speak to us personally all along. If you’ve not done this before, you can take a slightly new approach to those favorite verses. Focus on the verse, then be like Mary: Believe the miraculous and say, “Be it unto me according to thy Word.” And let’s be like Peter, walk out and expect it to work.

 

Love, Carolyn

(painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1898)

 

Have a wonderful Christmas!

 

 

 

PROTECTING THE ANOINTING

 PROTECTING THE ANOINTING

Peanut and I were sitting in the car waiting for Jane. I looked over at the passenger side of the car next to ours and a young man was opening the door for his wife. I thought, “Wow, you don’t see that much anymore!” opening the car door for a woman used to be a common act of respect, appreciation, and honor—to show that the woman was someone special in the man’s eyes.

 

Many good ideas and practices like this one have been dropped, and many of us Christians have been wrongly taught when it comes to appreciation, honor, and respect, not only for others but even more insidious, as I see it, is the lack of respect for the anointing God’s put within us individually. Are we protecting that anointing, or are we sabotaging ourselves without even knowing it?  

 

In 1 Chronicles 16:22 God says: “Touch not mine anointed.” Verse 21 says: “But the Lord did not let anyone mistreat them. He warned kings not to harm them.” But what if we are the culprits ourselves, not giving honor to the God-given anointing within us?

 

Are we sometimes being like Jeshurun of Deuteronomy 32:15 who “lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation”?

 

When I thought about the man opening the door for his wife, I thought about some of the wisdom Solomon shared about a virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. “She perceiveth that her merchandise is good” (v. 18). And as a wife, “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life” (v. 12). And verse 10: “Her price is far above rubies.” Isn’t the anointing of God in us at least as valuable as this? We need to honor who we are spiritually and take care that we aren’t sabotaging our most precious treasure.

 

So what are some of the ways we can honor and protect who we are spiritually? We can consciously be more aware of our physical surroundings. Is the environment in our home, at the grocery store we go to, where we choose to go for entertainment—does it encourage us spiritually, or is it a place we merely endure? Or can we possibly choose a different environment that is better for our spirit and our soul? Jesus can lead us there if we are willing.

 

Are we being cognizant of the food, the drink, the medications we take, and how they are affecting our spiritual treasure? And are we practicing healthy boundaries with other people, or are we letting others step all over us? These are choices we make.  Are they encouraging our spiritual anointings, or are they stealing energy from who we really are?

God says we have Christ in us. It’s a mystery, and it’s a treasure beyond anything the world has to offer: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

 

So like the man who cared enough to walk around to the passenger side of the car to open the door for his wife, let’s open the door for our anointing, treating it with respect and honor and protecting it from all its enemies.

 

Love, Carolyn 

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

 THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

I’m sure we all know people who are naturally wise. They just seem to have a very solid sense of what will work to the positive and what won’t. They exhibit an uncanny plethora of common sense and seem to be able to make good choices and good decisions that keep them out of trouble. Jesus told a parable about a man like this. The man wasn’t a good and honest person, but he was wise.

 

“Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his [master’s] possessions. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.’

 

“The manager [of the estate] said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people [who are my master’s debtors] will welcome me into their homes.’

 

“So he summoned his master’s debtors one by one, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of [olive] oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

 

“And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]” (Luke 16:1-8 AMP).

 

The KJV puts verse 8 this way: “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.”

 

Some people seem to have this kind of worldly wisdom already, and I have no idea where they got it. But then there are people like me who drew the short end of the stick when it came to worldly wisdom. My guardian angels must have been very busy, because, unlike the manager that Jesus talked about, I didn’t make many wise decisions as a young person, and even into adulthood, I made a lot of stupid choices. I’ve done my best to do God’s will, and He’s given me tremendous wisdom in so many situations, but there’s always more to learn.

 

A week or so ago, Kathy Stiles shared some insight on wisdom that changed my life. She posted The Passion Version’s translation of Ephesians 1:17a: “I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom.” Then she went on: “The book of Proverbs came to mind because of the subject of WISDOM throughout the book. I then recalled that King Solomon wrote most of the proverbs. And what is Solomon best known for? He received wisdom and riches above all others, for all time.”

 

Solomon also wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and The Song of Solomon, so how much wisdom can we also learn from these two books?

 

Though we’ve read the Bible many times and gone to the Lord in prayer for wisdom, I can see that it would really benefit us to take a closer look at these writings of the wisest king ever. I believe that in doing this, we will definitely be asking and allowing God to impart into our lives—to our daily choices and decisions—even greater wisdom than we’ve ever experienced before.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

INTIMACY WITH GOD

 INTIMACY WITH GOD

Last week my friend Kathy Stiles shared new insight on Ephesians 1:17. What she wrote opened my heart to a whole new world of intimacy with God. The Passion Translation of that verse goes: “I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him.” I’d never seen this translation, but something about the second part of the verse caught my attention.

 

That “God would impart the spirit of revelation to know Him through your deepening intimacy with Him.So, what was the process of how the second part of the verse became a much bigger reality than ever before?

 

1.      God let me know this was important, so I read it over and over and mulled it over in my mind.

2.      Next, I wrote it out myself. Putting something in our own writing seems to help establish it. There are many scriptures that document this truth. (Even God had to put the Law of Moses on tablets).

3.      Then I put it in personal terms: “God will give me the spirit of revelation to know Him through my deepening intimacy with Him.” I had to think about this one! What does “intimacy” really mean? Well, first I thought of a married couple. They know secret things about each other that no one else knows. We all have intimate thoughts that maybe never even come out, small worry thoughts such as “I wonder if the doctor is going to be mad at me for not doing my medicine right,” “I wish my daughter wouldn’t hand out with that girl,” “I really am so bored by this project.” These are kinds of seemingly small issues that we keep to ourselves or maybe share with one other person. But these are the kinds of intimate things God wants us to share with HIM!

4.      I repeated many times: “God will give me the spirit of revelation to know Him through my deepening intimacy with Him.” Then I started with one or two slightly negative thoughts that entered my mind, and I voiced them openly to God. He answered me immediately!

 

I realized THE MORE INTIMATE I AM WITH HIM, THE MORE INVOLVED HE WILL BE WITH ME! Now that I see how true this is, it makes total sense, and I wonder why I never saw it before! I used to think that asking God yes and no questions was a good way to start to be able to hear from Him, and it’s not a bad idea, but this intimacy thing is far better. Yes, it takes a little work if you’re the kind of person who keeps everything inside you, but now you can change that.

 

Such a simple and amazing truth for each of us. Start off by saying this out loud to yourself right now: THE MORE INTIMATE I AM WITH HIM, THE MORE INVOLVED HE WILL BE WITH ME

 

Love, Carolyn

 

 

GOD SEES US THROUGH HIS FILTER OF LOVE

 GOD SEES US THROUGH HIS FILTER OF LOVE

I went into the bathroom Friday and saw an ugly scary face looking back  - AND IT WAS ME!!! As miserable as I feel, my friend Chris reminded me last week of Job from the Bible. I can’t even imagine how Job felt!

 

“So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes” (Job 2:7-8). It doesn’t even tell us if anyone helped him with cleaning those oozing boils all over his body! He had to scrape off the pus and infection with a piece of pottery! Really gross.

 

I studied the artist Ivan Albright. He had no filter on his paintings at all. He painted every ugly mole, every wrinkle, and every wirey gray hair. He examined and painted every little ugly thing he saw and even exaggerated it’s grotequeness. But God does exactly the opposite. He looks at us through the filter of His love.

 

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).

 

And God will never give up on us, no matter what, “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).

 

I know that God loves me, and I will get well soon.

 

Love, Carolyn

LAMENTATIONS

LAMENTATIONS

I got slammed a couple weeks ago with a harsh virus. I could barely breath, so I went and got a mouth swab; it got sent to the lab, and was negative for Covid. THANK GOD! But the virus hit hard and caused a few small spots of pneumonia on my lungs so I’m fighting that. I couldn’t figure out how come this had to happen to me. The only reason I can see is that the Lord wanted me to experience more compassion for those who have been affected by this. It’s horrible. I realized how much compassions Jesus has for us, that He went through all this misery so we could get well.

 

I went to the book of Lamentations because I knew there was good scriptures there. Why is it called Lamentations?  Could it be because we lament and when we feel our worst is when we need God the most?

I think the passage of scripture speaks much to our times.

 

“The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.

 

“For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, they have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.

 

“They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. The anger of the Lord hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.

 

“As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.  They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled;
for our end is come.  Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

^“Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins. (Lam. 4:12-20).

 

And then the best part comes from chapter 3, starting from verse 19 (for brevity’s sake, I don’t include all the verses, but you get the point.

 

“Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

 

“For the Lord will not cast off for ever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

 

“Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.

“I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

“O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. (Lam. 3:19-58)

 

THE DEVIL WILL NOT DEFEAT US!

 

Love, Carolyn

 

A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE

 A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE

Jesus went to the mountains when he needed a break from ministering. I watch a movie or go mess around in my garden. Sometimes we tend to overdo it, being so intense, serious and religious; we don’t make time for fun and relaxation. It’s just not healthy and it’s not God’s will. He wants us to enjoy what He’s given us. That means we get to experience our God-given emotions of happiness and pleasure.

 

I know we’re not to base all of our decisions on what makes us feel good. But we’re not to deny ourselves either. Balance is a good thing.

 

In Old Testament times there were feasts throughout the year. Ecclesiastes 10:16 tells us “a feast is made for laughter,” so God must want us to have some good times. Proverbs 15:15 says, “He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.”

 

The original word for “merry” means playful, cheerful, joyful, pleasant, and beautiful. The word for “heart” means feelings and intellect. To have playful, pleasant, and beautiful feelings or thinking, we need to include some laughter, fun and relaxation in our busy schedules. God has a reason for wanting us to employ our emotional side.

 

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” The definition for the word “merry” includes “brightness.” Frieda, an older friend of ours tripped on some steps, took a bad fall and was at home recovering. She was spending a lot of time alone and was getting absent-minded and dull in her thinking.

 

Jane picked up on this and remembered that Frieda always seemed to really enjoy watching baseball. Jane got out the baseball schedule and started calling every day to get Frieda hooked up on a game. The happy emotions kicked in and she looked forward to getting her daily call about a game to watch. Her mind grew sharper and clearer. She was happy and it changed her whole outlook.

 

Find something you love and do it. King David danced and played music. Peter went fishing. Jesus went up to the mountains. And I go out to my garden.

 

Whether it’s the garden, a trip to the mountains, watching your favorite sport or any other “time out” activity, let’s not deny ourselves the opportunity to refresh our souls and get healthier as we enjoy what God’s given to us.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

LET'S LIVE FREE

LET'S LIVE FREE

Ground zero for any human being is not the soul but the spirit. That's why, when a person says they are trying to "find themselves" or doing some deep soul searching, they won't be truly satisfied until they look at the spirit. God says in Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose." To have true liberty and delight in this world, we need to know ourselves as a spirit person and be led by the Spirit.

 

John 3:8 says: "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." When we allow the spirit to rule, we are free to go wherever it leads. Second Corinthians 3:17 tells us: "The Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." And Galatians 5:1 tells us we should "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free."

 

When we believed in God's son, God Himself made us alive spiritually in Him. At that moment, He took the documents that listed all the bad things against us and folded it in half so no one could see it. Then it was nailed to the cross. It talks about this in Colossians.

 

It was the custom of the day that any person who didn't pay their debt had papers written up against them. The papers were put up in a place in the city where everyone could see. But if some benevolent soul came along and paid the debt, the paper was folded in on itself, and no one could see the debt. It was gone, paid for. That's how it is when a person gets born again of Holy Spirit. All debt is paid, and the person is free.

 

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened [made alive] together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross" (Col. 2:13-14).

 

Once we're free, and we're endeavoring to walk by the spirit, we're like the wind. We are free to obey the Lord and Him only. Colossians 2:16: "Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon," or where you hang out or what you do.

 

No one can judge you, only Jesus. Paul says he doesn't even judge himself: "But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: Yea, I judge not mine own self" (1 Cor. 4:3).

 

Yes, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:10). And "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). We can't do this by our great reasoning and mental discipline. We have to remind ourselves that we ARE spirit, created in God's image and like Him. We can only be free like the wind when we let our spirit-self be in charge of our lives. We have to look at the Word of God to find out who that spirit self is, who WE really are.

 

Paul tells us: "Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh is lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (Gal. 5:16-18).

 

Verse 25 of Galatians 5 says: "If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit."

 

We are told in Romans: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:14-17).

 

Verse 29 tells us: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."

 

This is amazing! It means that you and I are spiritual brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, with the same amazing Father. That means that we, as spirit people, are above every single demon there is! Colossians 2:15 says this about Jesus: "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them." We ARE the children of God as well, with the same God-given reborn spirit!

 

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God that justifieth?

 

"Who is he that condemneth? Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

 

"It is written, 'For thy sake, we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' [That's before we became spiritual people!] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

 

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8: 31-38).

 

Let's believe it, receive it and act like it! We keep reminding ourselves of who we really are and that there is no devil spirit, no demon who is bigger than we are spiritually. Like Jesus, we stand. "Resist the devil and

and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

 

And with people, we walk in the spirit. "And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). And "We walk in love" (Eph. 5:2).

 

Let's live free and kick the devil's butt this week!

 

Love, Carolyn

 

 

"THOU SHALT NOT STEAL"

 “THOU SHALT NOT STEAL”

I was talking to a friend about a winter vegetable garden. She made one by lining milk crates with shade cloth and could move the boxes around for the best sun as winter progresses. She also told me that many stores just gave away the crates. This sounded great! So the next time I went to the store, I drove around the back, and laying cattywampus on the ground were lots of milk crates. I thought they were being thrown away, so I took six home with me, lined them with the shade cloth, put in the special soil mix I made, and planted my vegetables. The next day when I went to water my new garden, to my alarm I saw this message on the side of the boxes: “WARNING: USE BY OTHER THAN REGISTERED OWNER PUNISHABLE BY LAW.” Oh nooooooo!!

 

What to do now? I know stealing is a sin, but. . . but. . . but. . . They are only plastic boxes, no big deal; I thought they were trash; my friend said . . . .  Then I got called to go help a friend at work, and a whole week went by, and I still hadn’t decided for sure exactly what I was going to do, though it just stayed niggling in my head. I found myself thinking: “If I had a child, would I want them to see me stealing and think it’s okay if you have a good excuse for it?” Heck no. Just because it was only a few boxes doesn’t make it right.

 

In Exodus 20, God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, including verse 15 that says: “Thou shalt not steal.”

 

And in fact, when Joshua and the Israelites first came into the promised land, they took the city of Jericho, and God gave specific directions concerning the city’s wealth. But Achan decided to help himself to some of it. It’s interesting to note that in Joshua 7, where the story is recorded, Achan is described as the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah. We know that adults are responsible for their own lives, but did the parents, in this case, not pass on to their children and their children’s children the importance of not stealing, not lying, not coveting, and the rest of God’s Commandments?

 

It says in verse 1 that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.” God was upset with all of them, and because Achan seemed to represent their disobedience, he and all his family were destroyed.

 

When we get to the New Testament, a man asks Jesus: “’What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’ And he said unto him, ‘Keep the commandments.’ He saith unto him,’ Which?’” And Jesus listed a few, including “Thou shalt not steal.” (Matt. 19:16-18).

 

Then in the Epistles, Paul includes not stealing as one of the requirements of loving they neighbor as thyself (Rom. 13:9).

 

And in Ephesians 4:28, God tells us: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

 

With Jesus as our Lord, and God to watch over us always, we need to respect each other. We don’t need to take anything that belongs to someone else because God is always near to provide everything we need and more, without having to steal it. Philippians 4:19 provides that promise: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

 

Yes, the original Ten Commandments of God are still excellent rules to live by doing unto others as we would have them do unto us.  

 

So, what did I do about the stolen milk crates? I went back to the store, and the Lord led me in only the way He can do. I walked in the front door and went up to where I thought the manager was. It was closed for lunch. I headed toward the back down past the dairy section. Then I noticed two workers headed toward the entrance to the back. One of them was pushing a hand truck, and guess what was on that truck? Yep, 5 or 6 milk crates!

 

 I said, “I need to talk to the manager.” And the girl with the milk crates said, “We’re all managers here.” So I said, “I did a bad thing last week concerning those boxes.” And the girls both looked past the milk crates to some cardboard boxes in the back.

 

I said, “No, not those, the crates you’ve got there on your hand truck.“ And I told them I came back to confess my sin, that I could dump out the dirt and the plants and bring them back, or I could pay for them. They kind of giggled, then said, “Don’t worry about it, honey, there’s no tracking device on them, and we do sometimes give them to charities in town, so you’re okay.” I could still hear them giggling as they disappeared through the door to the back of the store.

 

It feels really good to do the right thing. Only Jesus could set it up for the milk cart girl to be right in front of me! The girls were giggling, and I had a good laugh too (and a big dose of relief). God is so good to us.

 

I know you may think this is kind of silly, but I think about the parable Jesus told about being faithful in a little, and God can then trust you with a lot, so that’s how I try to live.

 

Love, Carolyn

LOVE SOLDIERS

LOVE SOLDIERS

A few more details about how powerful we are in striking down strategies, curses, and attacks on God’s people. The Lord gave me a new name for people like us who love His people so much that we are willing to go to battle to protect them. We are LOVE SOLDIERS – strong with true love toward His people, and strong in battle against those who would hurt them.

 

Tonight is a full moon, when many Luciferian groups, witches covens, and other devilish groups gather together to cast spells, chant curses, and utilize astral projection to cause hurt to God’s people. Even though we know God is the one who created the beauty in the earth and skies, the devil counterfeits God’s majesty and uses what is beautiful to inspire events that curse God and those who believe in Him.

 

I learned about the Illuminati, Deep State, Cabal (they have many names), back in the 70s, and just figured they’d always be around. But that doesn’t have to be true. There’s no place in the Bible that tells us Satan’s strongholds on the earth are everlasting. In fact, the Bible shows us that the opposite is true. What happened in Babel? And all through history, we’ve seen that kings and kingdoms rise, and then they fall down. Family lines disappear entirely, like the Amalekites in the Old Testament. Egypt in Old Testament times was the greatest power on earth. Where is it now? Just because an entity has been around for many years, doesn’t mean it can’t fall apart. After all, powerful groups are made up of mortal men who are subject to the sicknesses, financial devastations, relationship disasters, and all the other ailments other human beings experience. Even the greatest of devil spirits can’t even keep a person alive forever.

 

God loves everyone and abundant pardons anyone who repents, but when people purposefully get together to strategize against, and curse God’s people, love soldiers need to take action. God gives us a strategy in Genesis 11.

 

Nimrod made himself an enemy of God by organizing a plot to overtake God’s authority.

 

“And the Lord said, ‘Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’

 

“So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build [stopped building] the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” (Gen. 11:5-9).

 

First, we learn from this passage that there is power in agreement, but that ‘agreement’ can be broken. When people agree “nothing will be restrained from them.” God confused their language both physically and otherwise. They no longer spoke the same natural language, resulting in the inability to agree on anything. Nimrod’s plan was foiled.

 

In James 3:16 God gives us a truth we can use as a prayer tool to break up the plans of anti-Christ groups, or individuals who comes against us in our righteous adventures with God. “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” We can pray that the spirit of Babel, envy, and strife be rampant in the anti-Christ group or an individual. God says these two spirits bring confusion and every evil work. In Genesis, the group not only had to stop the big plan they had, but they were scattered. We also use this word referring to an individual being “scatter-brained.”

 

Jesus said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matt. 12:25).

 

We see another great Old Testament example of how a group of three kings and their armies came against God’s people and were taken down by strife and division within their group: It’s found in 2 Chronicles 20.

 

“It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

 

“And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord:

 

“And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

 

“For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

 

“And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped” (2 Chron. 20:1,4,22-24).

 

There are many other passages we can pray against an enemy of God’s children.  Psalm 7:15-16 is among them: “He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate [head].”

 

Another couple of passages that David used are in Psalm 69:23 and Psalm 37:14-15:

 

“Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.”

 

“The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needly, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.”

 

I know this stuff is a bit heavy, but love soldiers need to know what to do when the enemies come against the innocents.

 

We never forget that when people turn away from God, He still loves them and wants them to turn back to Him. That’s why we continue to pray for everyone we can. God’s word to them (and us when we mess up) is: “Repent and live!” (Ez. 18:32). That’s our first prayer and hope for the evildoers. But some will not repent and continue in their evil deeds, so I give you God’s written weapons to put into your personal arsenal for when you need them.

 

God says of His love warriors: “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms” (Jer. 51:20). That is, spiritual kingdoms.

 

Let’s keep love at the forefront of our minds, and be ready to go to battle for the body of Christ whenever God says GO.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

BLESSINGS AND PITFALLS OF EXPANDING OUR VISION

BLESSINGS AND PITFALLS OF EXPANDING OUR VISION

Jane and I have a number of daily scriptures we’ve been praying for many years. We’ve seen how the content of these scriptures have change our vision, our habits, and our lives. One of the most influential has been 1 Chronicles 4:10. And yesterday, the Lord gave me more insight on the blessings and the pitfalls of how this verse works in real life. 

 

“And Jabez called on the God of Israel, ‘Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!’ And God granted him that which he requested” (1 Chron. 4:10).

 

Jesus gave his followers a mission: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations” (Matt. 24:14). “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19). And in Mark 16:15: “He said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’”

 

The blessing is that we get to do God’s will and know that it is a good thing. But Jesus also told his followers that they would be persecuted. That persecution is not only what we could imagine bad people would do to us, but it’s much more than that, and that’s what the Lord was showing me yesterday.

 

We, as Christians, not only support those who are physically taking the gospel around the world, but we also pray for the Word of God to be taught and believed around the globe. Our prayers are a big part of what Jabez was talking about in 1 Chronicles 4:10: “Enlarge my coast.” To Jabez and to us, having our Lord give us a bigger prayer vision is a blessing. In fact, in that verse, when Jabez says “bless me indeed,” the original word for “indeed” means “abundantly, exceedingly, greatly.” So Jabez is saying that if God trusts us to let Him enlarge our vision, “our coasts,” it is a huge blessing to Him and to us. But it comes with a price that Jabez addresses in the rest of that verse. 

 

The devil deals in the spiritual world, as well as the physical, like we do. He can see when we are stretching out ourselves in prayer or in action, and he hates it. He knows that our God will indeed answer all of our prayers.

So when we enlarge our coasts in prayer or in preaching and following Jesus Christ, the devil will send evil to attack us. But God already has the answer for that.

 

In Jabez’s prayer, he admits to being grieved by evil. That’s being honest. In the U.S., when we hear about human sex trafficking, Satanic sacrifices of babies, cannibalism, all within our own borders, we are horrified. But honestly, Jabez is telling us that if we stretch out prayer as far as God wants us to, we are going to see way more evil than anyone wants to ever see. The only way to stay at it is to rely on God to protect our hearts. God needs us to pray for all the world, but He knows we need Him to protect us from the effects of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling the depth of evil that Satan perpetuates.

 

If we are to ask God to enlarge our coasts, we must also pray that He protect us from what feelings, emotions, physical, chemical, and biological things that would attack us. And Jabez prays that God’s hand be with us always. Jesus must grip us tightly as we go to battle in prayer for the people and creatures of this earth. Remember, God put the seed of Christ in us, and Philippians 4:13 says: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

 

If God is calling you to stretch out your faith vision, in prayer, or in any other physical actions, please don’t take it lightly. Even personal prayer is a big deal to God, and it automatically makes you an enemy of Satan. We determine to not let ourselves be tempted to be over saddened by the world, or overly angered, or despondent, or fearful in any way, because Jesus will always be with us, and God will never leave us unprotected if we surrender all to Him and rely upon Him. And, He has even given us this promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

 

There’s no fear in asking the Lord to enlarge our coast. It’s a great blessing to be called upon to do just a little more for Him. But be aware of the pitfalls and pray like Jabez that we will be helped in avoiding and be protected from every enemy. God won’t disappoint ever. He’s got our back, and our front, and above us, below us, and all around us! We are blessed, and we are covered.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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