“Winning over Deception”

A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter.  So he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. “FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES."  When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note. "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. “LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."

Joseph was tested in a big way for several years in many areas of his life.  Would he love and forgive his brothers who did him wrong? Would he stay on track with his moral compass and be a man of integrity? Would he see that God had a bigger purpose than his pain? Would he stay sensitive to God’s assignment for his life? Satan doesn’t care how and where he gets you, just so he takes you down!

You may be in a season of heavy testing and temptation but just know that God says, He is able to deliver you from any demise that Satan creates for you. Paul says, “¹² If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. ¹³ The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Cor 10:12,13)

These four things can help you in your not falling into Deception!
Change Your Focus To Something Else! Fighting off evil thoughts in your own power isn’t going to help you to win! Nowhere in the bible does it say to resist temptation. We are told to “resist the devil.” “Every time you try to block a thought out of your mind, you drive it deeper into your mind. By resisting it, you actually reinforce it.” (Rick Warren) Place your thoughts on God who is bigger than your weaknesses. Friend, change the channel to another station in your mind. Turn your attention to something else. The battle to win over temptation is in the mind. David prayed, “Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless.” (Psalm 119:3a)
Reveal Your Struggle To a Godly Friend. God says, “If you fall, you have another one to pull you up.”(Eccl 4:10) That doesn’t mean that you broadcast it to the world! Prov 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.” Problems grow in the dark and become bigger and bigger, but when exposed to the light of truth, they shrink. You are only as sick as your secrets. “The truth is, whatever you can’t talk about is already out of control in your life.” (Rick Warren)
Resist The Devil. We are to fight back. Don’t lay down and give in and let him run you over. I tried that one day when I dared the neighborhood bully to run me over with his bicycle. Guess what? He did! Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife who seduced him to get in bed with her. Joseph said, “How can I do this great evil against my Lord.” Never be ashamed to ask the Lord for HELP!
Realize Your Vulnerability. There is none righteous, no not one. “He that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.’ (I Cor 10:12) Any of us, in any given situation is vulnerable to a fall unless we realize how weak we really are. We are good at fooling ourselves. Admit that you need his power and strength to overcome and WIN over your own lust of the flesh.

Winning Over The Enemy!

Have you ever felt like you were just minutes from your own despair? I recently read a story that should remind each of us that "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." (Isaiah 54:17) “If God be for us, who can be against us.” (Romans 8:31)

Robert the Bruce, a young soldier, found himself in a terrible battle during the Scottish Reformation around 1300. The enemy was soundly defeating this young man's army. He and his comrades found themselves hastily retreating from the battlefield in defeat, running away in fear of their very lives. The enemy gave chase. This young man ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, and soon found himself cut off from his comrades in arms.

He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave. Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he chose to hide there. After he crawled in, he fell to his face in the darkness, desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies.

When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave. As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony. He thought, "I asked God for protection and deliverance, and he sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?

His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his hiding place and kill him. And soon he did hear the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave's entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to surprise the enemy in a last-minute desperate attempt to save his own life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider's web, which by now was completely strung across the opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, "There can't be anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider's web to enter the cave. Let's move on."

Years later, a young man wrote about that ordeal: "Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."  

Author: Unknown

Winning Over Devilish Doubts 3

It’s interesting that when a player is injured in the game of football, basketball, soccer or baseball, the game is temporally stopped until the injured person has been removed from the game. Not so in the sport of boxing. In Boxing, the fighter’s aim is to not only win but at whatever cost. He may injure his opponent and once they’re stumbling and stunned, go in for more harm to win the match. They continue until their opponent can’t either get up again or until the referee declares the winner and the match is over.

Satan is no different. He goes in to not only injure one of God’s children, but also for the kill. “The thief cometh not but to steal, kill and to destroy, but I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Each of us must realize that Satan is not playing games; rather he’s in it to harm, injure, damage and to totally destroy God’s children. God teaches each of us how to win. How to come out on top, how to be victorious in every test and temptation that comes our way. “Think it not strange the fiery trial that is to try you as though something strange has happened unto you.” (1 Peter 4:12)

Elijah had just won a great fight on Mt Carmel. The fire of God had fallen from heaven, and 850 prophets were destroyed. Elijah declares that Jehovah God is the one true God and that the drought of 3 ½ years will now come to an end. He hears the sound of an abundance of rain, you would think, it can’t get any better than this. But what does Satan do? Within 24 hours, Jezebel puts the word out, “When I find Elijah, he’s a dead man.” How can a great prophet go from victory on Carmel to running and hiding in a Cave?

Had God changed? Was God now overwhelmed with the chaos, challenge or curve that came to Elijah? “No.” What had changed? I am convinced that you don’t know what your faith is made out of until it’s tested. Here is what changed.

Elijah’s perspective had now changed. When problems come knocking at your door, get ready for your perspective to be challenged. If your perspective changes, you will ultimately change your path. So follow me closely. Problems can challenge our perspective that changes our performance which leads us to us changing our path of victory. God gives us Power to use our faith to overcome our doubts to do His will and plan.

Elijah’s perspective caused him to run and hide in a cave. God shows up and says, “What are you doing here?” God had to speak again and say to him; “I’m not through with you. It’s not over till I say it’s over. Get up Elijah, and go anoint the King of Syrian, the King of Israel and the young prophet Elisha.” Don’t budge, friend until God says it’s over.

Praise the Lord, God gave Elijah a renewed, reset perspective that changed his path to win over the doubts that had knocked on his door. Quit running friend, Use your faith to change the problem, which will change your performance to WINNING over the enemy.

Winning Over Devilish Doubts 2

Doubt says:

“You’ll never build your business, finish high school, get married, and overcome your ordeal with your son or daughter.” “You can’t overcome your bankruptcy, win over cancer, overcome your divorce, recover from your mess and failure or see your broken relationship healed.”

Satan is a liar! All of us have to deal with negative thoughts that crisscross through our thought life. The problem is, What are we doing with those deadly thoughts? Thoughts can turn into our emotions that turn into decisions of defeat! Missed opportunities, broken paths to our dreams.

Have you ever wondered why God instructed Joshua who was facing their first city to conquer in the Promised Land, “Tell the people when you walk around Jericho, don’t say anything for six days; nothing until the last day.” I don’t think they could have kept from saying things like, “What a crazy idea this is! Joshua must have had a heat stroke, Who ever heard of winning over such a strong city like Jericho by just walking around the walls? What a horrible plan! Why is he leading?”

God told them to ZIP IT UP! Don’t say anything till the 7^th day when you walk around seven times. Had they spoken too soon, they would have lost their victory. I believe that’s the reason we miss and lose our miracles, blessings, and the favor of God on our lives. “He that will love life and see good days let him refrain his tongue from speaking evil.” (1Peter 3:10) 


Zechariah was told in his old age, “Elizabeth your wife is going to have a child.” He must have said something like, “God, are you sure you haven’t dialed the wrong number?” Because of his doubts and speaking negative about God’s promises, God didn’t allow him to speak another word for nine months. God was not pleased with the negative comment that came out of his mouth, But when Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist, Zechariah's tongue was released to speak.Doubts are deadly! What are you doing with the deadly doubts that get inside your head?

Satan says things like, “You’ll never see your dream come true, Just give up, quit, and throw in the towel.” When the people walked around the walls the 7^th time, “they shouted, and the walls came tumbling down.” Had negativity come out of their mouth, they would have missed their miracle.

How many miracles, breakthroughs, victories and wins have we missed because deadly doubts took root in our hearts which produced stillborn dreams? Many dreams have been aborted because of doubt. Ten spies came back to Moses with an EVIL REPORT! Is doubt evil? YES!


Satan tempted Eve by saying to her, “Hath God said you should not take of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge?” She took of the fruit because the seed of doubt produced death. It was their action of deadly doubt that got Adam and Eve booted out of the Garden of Eden. Between the promise and the payoff, Satan’s process is interjecting DOUBT to stop the plans of God in your life.


We can win, if we use our faith, confidence, and courage to walk into the promises of God. I declare today, “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.” I am blessed because of His favor on my life. The best is yet to come, because He says so! I am more than a conqueror through Him that loved us! Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. He is greater than your doubts.

 

Winning Over Devilish Doubts 1

Satan is the author of bringing doubts to your dream, vision and plans that God has designed for your life. Without Faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)  Israel went out with the greatest jailbreak in history! With God’s mighty hand, He delivered them out of bondage from Egypt. God used ten plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt to make His point. God turned the water into blood, brought frogs, pestilence, boils, hail, locust, darkness and death to the First-Born Egyptian.

If that wasn’t enough, God led them out with silver, gold and many riches in their hands from the Egyptians. He then led them in their escape in the path of the Red Sea. With pressure on their heels from Pharaoh’s army, God split the Red Sea before their eyes and Israel walked across on dry ground.

How could anybody doubt after seeing such glorious miracles with their own eyes? How could anybody think that God’s hand was insufficient, inadequate or lacking from what everyone would need to get where they needed to go?

But many of the two million plus chose to say, “The only reason God brought us out here in the desert was because there weren't enough graves in Egypt.” The audacity for them to make such a statement shows just how wicked their heart was before God. No wonder God says, “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23)

Somewhere you have to get your eyes off the enemy and place them upon the Name of the Lord. Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” When you place your confidence in the name of the Lord your God, there is joy, peace, courage, boldness and faith to stay in the fight. Anybody can give up, but it takes faith and confidence to keep singing, swinging, standing, praying, believing, and shouting that the God you serve will never leave you nor abandon you.

Tell me who has ever won a battle yet that didn’t use their faith. Let me ask you to name even one of the ten spies who returned to Moses with an evil report who said; “We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" I can’t name one of them from memory, but I can name two men who chose to use their faith. Just how will you be remembered? Will anybody remember what you did in the fight of faith? Doubters and cowards will not only be forgotten but will also be judged! It’s only men and women of faith who will go down in the halls of history and be given a great reward in heaven.

Now tell me who were Joshua and Caleb? You know those names because they won out over their devilish doubts. Choose today to step it up and win over the enemy of your soul. God is for you and you can declare with boldness like Paul, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. He also declared I have fought a good fight, finished my course and kept the faith. “For we walk not by sight but by faith.” Choose to be a WINNER today with your faith over every devilish doubt!

“WINNING OVER DISAPPOINTMENTS!” 1

Did you know that your disappointments can be God’s appointment for your life? Possibly you have experienced a great setback where you have questioned; “What is this all about?” Each of us needs to have a file in our life called the “I don’t understand file.” I don’t have all the answers to our disappointments, but God is able to turn our mess into a miracle, our test into a testimony and our chaos into a celebration.

 Job was a man who walked close to God. He was blessed with everything that you can imagine. He was wealthy in having sheep, oxen, donkeys, crops, children, and his wife. But one day, the winds of adversity knocked on his door in a very devastating way. Job responds to all his losses with, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!”

Each of us will face disappointment in various ways: A marriage that crumbles, kids who become rebellious, a bankruptcy, a moral failure, a false accusation, or a loss in our health. Nowhere does God say if you love Him that everything will be smooth sailing! God says just the opposite. “In this world you shall face tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33)

I really don’t enjoy tests. I never did like the pop quizzes that our teacher surprised us with. But on the other hand, I do like things that are tested! I’m glad that someone tested the razor before it hit my baby face. I’m glad someone had tested my brakes before I drove my car. I’m really glad that the pilot had to be tested before he got up one morning and said, “I just feel led today to fly three hundred people to California.” No, each of us are thankful that there are tests and requirements that must be met before he got behind the cockpit of that plane. Doctors must be tested before they are able to perform surgery on somebody. Prescriptions must be tested before they can be sold across the counter to be introduced into your body.

God also allows each of us to be tested for various reasons. Most of us don’t really know what our faith is made out of until we are tested. James 1:2 says, “Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold.” God sees something good and makes gold of our faith when we are tested.

God has allowed my life to be tested many, many times. I feel at times like Martin Luther, who said, “My temptations have been my master in divinity.”  Job for sure had his share of disappointments. After losing so much, how did it all end up? Yes, he could have gotten bitter, but chose to get better and to believe and trust in his God. That’s not always the case with some who have experienced losses in their life. Job chose to take the path of trusting in his God. In the end, he was blessed with twice as much as he started with.

Listen to Corrie Ten Boom, who experienced such great pain and loss in the Nazi concentration camps. She said, “Look within and you will see distress; look outwardly and you will be depressed, but look up to God and you will find rest.” Life is too short to live with a heavy cloud of disappointment over your life. God has already seen a way out of your difficulty. Look up today and experience His power of freedom, joy and peace that is designed for your life.

"Winning Over Disappointment" 2

Advertisers and writers are told of words to avoid in their usage of the Headlines. Here are the three: Easy, Credit and Free. May I add, nowhere in God’s headlines for success are easy, credit and free. Jesus tells each of his kids, “In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Jesus never said that life would be easy, or that you could charge your troubles and pay on some installment plan for another season. Or that there would be no cost for our freedom and liberty in Christ. HE paid it all!

Acts 27 tells us about the apostle Paul who was a prisoner on a ship heading to Rome with 275 men. A storm came down with such fierce intensity that it broke the ship apart. Paul had warned the men, “You should have listened to me in not departing from Crete”, but this night God sent his Angel who told me, “Stay with the ship and no life will be lost.”

You may not realize it today, but God can turn your Disappointment into a Divine Appointment. Paul and the prisoners after a long storm would eventually swim to the shoreline of the island of Malta. There, the people would welcome them and build a fire for the cold, broken battered men. While Paul was putting sticks on the fire, a poisonous snake came out and bit him. The people said, “He must be a murderer and will die.” Paul shook the snake off into the fire and didn’t swell up and die.

When he didn’t die they said, “He must be a god.” Well, Paul wasn’t a god, but He did rise up above his disappointment and showed them how powerful his God was. God was about to bless the island of Malta for their giving hearts to this group of strangers. Who would openly give so willingly to prisoners? They did! They welcomed them and helped them with their setback. When Paul didn’t die, they knew something miraculous was going on.

Then they brought the sick to Paul and people were miraculously healed and God was glorified and praised on that island. Did you know the island of Malta is known today as the most giving island in the world? 83% of that island gives to charity. Blessing 276 prisoners with a welcome turned into them receiving healings and people getting well from their sicknesses and diseases.

When will any of us see that God can turn our winds of adversity, our pain of difficulty, our setbacks, struggles and our stress into Great Victories and Wins for the trajectory of our life? Malta ended up being blessed with the lame walking, the blind seeing, and sick bodies being healed and changed forever.

Why not start looking, hoping and expecting for God to turn your disappointment into a deliverance, not only you but for somebody else too. Be encouraged today that life may not be easy and free, but somebody is watching over you to turn your disappointments into divine appointments for you and somebody else.