Caught in the Headlights!

CAUGHT IN THE HEADLIGHTS Emerging from the short, lighted tunnel and rounding the curve, two headlights were coming straight toward my car. It was dark and cars were in the other lanes and I did the only thing possible to do: swerve into the three foot median to the left of me and pray for the best. Then I blacked out. Earlier that night, my 18 month old son had been running a fever and I had had to make the call that is hard for all teachers. Is he sick enough for me to miss school tomorrow or will this pass? As his fever continued to climb, I knew that it was not going to just pass. So I made the necessary arrangements for a substitute for the next day to teach my deaf students and then made plans to take Bryan to the doctor. Little did I know that it would be a long time before I was able to return to school again or just how sick Bryan would be. Because the doctor was over in Hampton closer to where my parents lived, I decided when he finally dropped off to sleep that it would be better to drive him over there that night rather than have him crying all the way over there the next morning. My husband did something totally uncharacteristic for either of us. Instead of putting him in the back seat in the car seat, he made a bed for him right next to me in case he woke up crying on the way over to my Mom and Dad’s. That decision would save his life. I was a huge advocate of car seats and continue to be. This was just a case of the Lord watching over us. We drove out of the front of our Virginia Beach home to the sound of Debbie Boone singing her huge hit “You Light Up My Life”. I loved that song. After this night, I would never forget it! Bryan slept soundly and all was quiet. There was much less traffic on the freeway because of the late hour. That is another reason we had decided it would be better to go to my folks’ house that night. I must say that I did have a moment where I felt huge misgivings about that choice. I cannot put words on it; it was just one of those times when maybe I had a touch of warning that this was not the best choice. It came and went quickly so I paid little heed to it. I chalked it up to me just being a little uptight about the entire situation. I never stopped to think it could have been the Lord’s prompting to me. About a third of the way there, I got in the wrong lane to go straight ahead like I wanted and had to veer off to the right. It was no big deal. I knew where I was and I would just drive the mile and a half to the front of the Navy Base, turn around and head back on my way. I felt no panic or concern. I was on familiar territory. Then came the headlights. Things moved in slow motion. I remember thinking, “Where did they come from? Am I in the wrong lane?” I wasn’t but I just couldn’t explain those headlights that were bearing down on me at a frightening speed. I swerved into the median and everything was quiet. I don’t know what time I came to. It could have been a few seconds later or minutes later. I saw the driver of the other car just standing in the middle of the freeway completely unhurt but dazed. I looked down and Bryan was at my feet in the floorboard in a crumpled heap. There was so much blood coming from his head. My heart fell into my stomach. This baby that we had wanted and prayed for was going to die and it was all my fault, or so I thought. I was able to open the door and pick him up gently. The cut in his head was so deep that I could see his skull. I grabbed a blanket in panic and wrapped his head in it praying all the while that he would survive and yet wondering how he could since he was hurt so badly. Suddenly a car stopped in the lane across the median and rushed to help us. He put us in the car and turned back toward the nearest medical help which was on the Naval Base. I kept saying, “It’s all my fault. I must have been in the wrong lane.” He gently told me not to ever say or think that again. “That guy was in the wrong lane and he was going in the wrong direction. We would later learn that he had been driving 22 hours from Pennsylvania and had gone to sleep and gone up the off ramp. He was totally uninjured and never even showed up to see how we were or for a court date. At the Naval Station, the doctors jumped to take care of Bryan immediately. They could see how badly wounded he was so they told me that they were just going to make a temporary bandage for Bryan’s head and send us in the ambulance to DuPaul Hospital. Bryan became hysterical when I handed him over to the doctors and even more so when they put him in the back of the ambulance and told me I had to sit in the front. He was so distressed that they came and got me and said I needed to ride in the back with him so that he would calm down for them. I felt better being close to him anyway! I was so scared and my thoughts were a continuous prayer that he would be alright. On arriving at DuPaul Hospital, we were rushed to the back. The police were there distracting me by asking hundreds of questions when all that I wanted to do was to be with Bryan. Suddenly a very young looking doctor came out towards me. He said that he would be taking care of Bryan and that Bryan was going to be alright eventually. He also told me that although he knew he looked like he was about 15, he actually had a wife and five children at home. He said that he would take good care of Bryan and someone would be coming out to take care of me. That puzzled me because I hadn’t noticed anything wrong with me. I was totally focused on Bryan. A nurse leaned over to my ear after this young doctor left and whispered, “You are in great luck tonight. That is Dr. Bill Magee and he is the best surgeon on the East Coast and he just happened to be on duty tonight. You don’t have to worry with him taking care of your son.” I would later learn the truth of that woman’s words. Of course, I don’t believe in luck or coincidence but Dr.Magee was probably the best surgeon anywhere. Later he would painstakingly do surgeries such as the one he did on the little girl whose Mom had chopped all of her fingers off and he would painstakingly sew each finger back on connection all of the nerves and blood vessels. After this incidence, we heard numerous incredible surgeries he did. You probably have seen him on television along with his wife treating facial deformities on children in Third World Countries. He and his wife are the heads of Operation Smile and are often on television showing the work that they do. It is all donated. He was on one of the episodes of “Touched by an Angel” when it was on t.v. but now most of his television exposure is in documentaries and is often narrated by Roma Downey who was the main character on “Touched by an Angel”. He works at his home office in Norfolk, Virginia, about half of the time for pay and all of his and his wife’s other time is donated. And we were met by this amazing man in our greatest hour of need. I was whisked back to an examining room while the policemen contacted my husband and parents. They were also working the scene of the accident. When they contacted my relatives, they refused to tell them if we were dead or alive and since they had to pass my almost demolished car on the way to the hospital, they feared the worse. As the doctors began examining me, they discovered that it appeared that I had broken every bone in my mouth where my head had hit the steering wheel. I do not know if I had on a seat belt that night. I only know that I was in the habit of wearing them. I was bruised from head to toe and had scrapes and a few cuts but the big problem was my mouth. I later learned that my mouth was going to be in traction with heavy steel wires for several months and I would be on a soft and/ or liquid diet. I had no idea of the hours of pain and misery that I had ahead of me and it was good that I didn’t!!!!! Dr. Magee did a wonderful job of sewing up Bryan’s head. It took three layers of 300 stitches. We had to be careful not to let the scar get sunburned over the summer and a year later, he went back and did what is known as a z-plasty. This actually involves making the scar into a thin zig zag, much like a little lightening bolt. As Bryan’s face grew, this would keep the scar from growing wider. He is grown now and you would not even notice the scar unless you were really looking for it. God had surrounded our car with angels that night and then had this wonderful doctor on call at the hospital. Actually my recovery took longer than Bryan’s because I had to have my mouth in traction for months and then after the bones healed, the difficult process of building a bridge for the upper front part of my mouth began. Just one of my dental appointments was six hours long. Talking was difficult and teaching was impossible. I was black and blue and very sore for quite some time. My friend, Bonnie, substituted in my classroom and she made just the exact amount of money she had needed to buy new furniture for her living room. We had dear friends, a couple named Mike and Susan, who would come over and bring board games and soft snacks and help us to have delightful times even while I was unable to go outside except to go to the doctor or dentist. I didn’t exactly look attractive anyway and my relationship with cars had changed drastically. I wanted the biggest, longest car I could get. We had had a medium sized car. Had it been smaller, the wreck would have killed us. As it was, the only part of the car that was not totaled was the driver’s area. Oh how God was caring for us! We knew that he cared for us in that incident but I often wonder how many times He has spared us on the highway or in life and we didn’t even know it. I take God’s words that He will never leave us or forsake us. They have proven true throughout my life and I am so grateful to be His child. At the end of the year, I went back to teaching for almost two months but I began to think about the fragility of life and how close I had come to losing our beloved son. We decided that I should take some time to stay home with him. It was delightful being a full-time mother. Out of much pain, God had brought a very joyful situation. We always have reminded Bryan that God spared him for a reason; that He had a special plan for him. I still believe that. He is working with computers now and is a whiz at it but I still think we have yet to see the full extent of the plans God has for that young man. Later he had another near-fatal accident which only served to confirm my belief that God has something special for Him. As for me, I eventually went back to teaching deaf children until my own children started having more homework than I did! That decision only led me to a Bible Study where God called me to do the one thing that I had said I never wanted to do. What was that? To be a teacher of His Word! Having grown up as a preacher’s kid, I could never have imagined that would be what He wanted of my life knowing how much I hated being in the fish bowl as the preacher’s child with everyone mothering me and having opinions as to what I should and shouldn’t do. Our God really has a sense of humor. Never say that you will never do something! It may be the very thing that He calls you to do! And guess what? I LOVE IT!!!! God continues to bless us and grow us up in Him. Life is a roller coaster with many ups and downs but as long as we know WHO is holding us, we can live confidently and peacefully. So always remember who is beside you and that even when you are “caught in the headlights”, you are held in the hand of a loving heavenly Father.

Come to Jesus (with lyrics)

As I have told some of my story in past blogs about being without my husband and raising two children for almost five years, the point has been made, I hope, that life is often hard. Not just a little hard, but it can be very hard. What is it that keeps us from just drowning in a sea of pain and giving up? What is it that we who are Christ-followers have that keeps us from reacting and grieving in the same way that the world does?

JESUS! Have you ever thought of just how beautiful that name is to those of us who believe? I remember times in my life when I was so weak and so defeated that the name of Jesus was all that I could force past my lips. It was a cry and a prayer all in one.

I have seen my sister cry out the name "Jesus" when she was having a seizure. Nothing else; just Jesus. And it made a difference...He came..you could feel Him in the room. What Father, what Savior would not come when His child calls His name. The name of Jesus is the most precious name I know. And when I hear other people say it lightly or take it in vain, it literally hurts me. My heart feels a stab of pain like no other.

Jesus carries all of my burdens and my sorrows. When I am filled with joy, I dance and sing to Him. And one sweet day, I know as surely as I know my name, that He will call me that final time and I will gladly fly to Jesus. I will fly straight into those loving arms that have often wrapped around me when I was crying too hard to even express what was wrong. I always knew that He already knew. Why wouldn't He? He was there when I was formed in secret in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139) He knew me before I was even created as a tiny baby. He knows my very soul and spirit. Someone has said that the spirit lives within the soul which is made up more of a personality and lives within a fleshly body. I think of my soul as being deeper than just my personality that others can see though. I think it is the part of me that Jesus can see and that it is the part of me where His spirit resides which literally changes everything in life.

How does it do that? When Jesus lives within me, I can quit trying to live the Christian life on my own. I can quit trying to serve Him. I can just put myself on the altar and ask Him to take every part of me and do whatever He wants to me;however He wants to do it; whenever He wants to do it; and that I will gladly submit. It is my admission that I am weak and nothing without Him. You know what? That is just how He wants me to be because then He can live THROUGH me and I can quit trying and just cooperate. After all, there is nothing I can ever do to make Him love me more or less once I have given myself completely to Him as my Savior AND my Lord.

The Lord part is an absolute. He wants all of me or He will have none of me. I must completely just take Him at His word that He has saved my soul and will seal me with His spirit and keep me until the day that He comes for me again. I am safe. I can relax. I can just be. I no longer have to be so concerned with doing. What needs to be done, He will do THROUGH me. Isn't that a wonderful thought? For a type A personality like me, it is absolutely liberating. I have spent so many years trying to please Him, to be better, to be perfect. I have tried to get His approval in the same way that I always tried to get my earthly Father's approval, through performance; through doing good.

But God is not like an earthly father. His plan is to live through me and as long as I keep trying to rely on myself to please Him, I am not leaving any way for Him to take over and live through me. That is why often, that He allows painful things to enter our lives so that we are on our back and there is no way to look but up. We are broken; at the end of ourselves FINALLY and then we cry out to Him as Peter cried out when He took His eyes off of Him and started to sink into the swirling waters of the sea. We make this walk with Him so much harder than He meant us to. I am convinced of that. We have so much more of Him that we can appropriate if we realize just how devoid of anything He needs except ourselves, our absolute surrender.

That is why this song I have included so touched my soul and spirit when I first heard it today. It is such a simple and joyous song. It speaks of the simplicity of just trusting Jesus through every storm and through every joy and for our final departure from this earth.

I hope that it will touch you as it touched me. By the way, I am currently reading "Grace Walk" again by Steve McVey. Many of these thoughts were influenced by the first few chapters of this life-changing book so I want to give him credit for some of these ideas. Grace has been a challenge for this "do it all" girl. Grace is changing me from a "doer" to a "be-er". It is changing me to one who simply is and doesn't have to run around like a cat chasing its tail trying to be busy, busy, busy at pleasing God and serving in every capacity I can in my church and my community. Does grace mean I don't do anything? No, but what comes from me will be an overflow of Christ living and working within me. I no longer have to conjure up the energy and the works that were of no good to me or God anyway. It is liberating, as Steve summarized.

So I shall memorize the words to this little song and sing it joyfully when I am riding down the street, or cleaning the house, or in my bed with health problems that I have been having. And I shall praise Him as I sing it for He inhabits the praise of His children and I want Him as close to me as He can possibly be.

How about you? Have you gotten tired yet? Are you not tired of the merry-go-round? It wore me out! Get off and bow before Jesus and just give Him everything and let Him take over. Then come and sing this song along with me! It will be joyous, won't it?

I Have Learned

One of the things that the apostle Paul had to say that has always encouraged me includes simply three words: "I have learned.." (Philippians 4:11) This world that we live in is often very hard. There are good times when everything seems to be going our way and then, suddenly and without warning, great tragedy and difficult trials appear on our horizon; things that we have no idea how we will ever handle. But Paul was careful to say that "....I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."(Philippians 4:11) He continues in verse 12 to say, "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." In my early days, I lived by the "good girl theory". I felt that if I were good and obeyed God that I would remain under His umbrella of protection and that nothing really bad would ever happen to me. There were some exceptions to this rule in my growing up years but for the most part, the "good girl theory" was true more often than not! As I grew older, I found myself in varying degrees of difficult circumstances that challenged that theory. The horrific car accident that I was in with my son when he was about eighteen months certainly didn't fit my theory. But everything turned out alright and life went on pretty quickly and my worldview wasn't shaken too badly. In 1985, I began to take Precept Bible courses since I had stopped teaching deaf children in the public education system when my own children started having more homework than me and we felt that they needed me at home. That opened the door for me to enroll at my church in some of Kay Arthur's Precept Bible classes. I didn't know it, but what I learned in those classes would not only change my worldview and demolish the "good girl" theory but those classes were preparing me for the greatest trial of my life; one that I could have never imagined in a million years. The first course I took was I Peter and it was all about suffering. I learned that Christians should expect to suffer because Christ suffered. Now it wasn't like I hadn't heard these things before, after all, I was a preacher's kid and then later, a Chaplain's kid. I had heard the Bible all of my life. But this was intense training that minced no words and I must admit, it was rather scary for me, as if it was a foreboding of things to come. The second course I studied was "Philippians: How to Have Joy in all Circumstances". Wow! First we studied suffering and now we were studying joy. I believed every word in the Bible but still it was a challenge to see how one could really have joy in suffering and in some of the circumstances that Paul went through. But there it was: "I have learned.." That tells me that Paul didn't just jump out of the womb as an apostle who knew everything like some might think. He had to learn these things the hard way. I was soon to find out that I was going to have to do the same. But, I reasoned, if Paul could learn these things, then so could I. That was true but I had no idea the kind of fires that God sometimes permits as our "school". In 1989, my world came crashing down around at my feet. Through a series of events, I not only learned that my precious husband of 16 years was bi-polar, but I also learned that in his disassociative spells when he was traveling on the road for work, that he had actually robbed several banks. Sometimes he only asked to see the money and other times, he took a little of it. It all amounted to very little money which he stuffed in the car pocket of his work vehicle but it was robbery just the same. He would "come to" across the street from a bank that he had just robbed and wonder why there were police cars over there at the bank. At home, it was all like something he had dreamed and was not a reality to him. But it all caught up to him on December 22, 1989. Our world literally fell apart. As I watched my husband go off to prison for five years, I felt like the "good girl" theory was the biggest sham I had ever heard of. I had been so careful and so cautious. Bill was a real Christ-follower who was a leader in our church. He was no fake. He was, we were to find out soon, a man with a very serious mental disease. But that is a story for another day. So I wondered in the midst of all of this: "Okay, Paul, what exactly did you learn that is going to get me through this, the most frightening time of my life?" I only had to go down one verse to find out. Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." All things! Did that include consoling two heart broken children? Did that include becoming a single mom in an instant? What about going back to work? How would we survive? Did I even want to survive? But Paul's words haunted me. "I can do ALL things through Christ Who strengthens me." I would live through the ordeal and in the process, God would display His sufficiency to me through His various names. I would get to know my God and I would find out just how intimately He knew me. (Psalm 139) What are you going through today? Did you know that you can learn to survive and thrive just like Paul? It's not always an easy process but it certainly is a growing process. I am a better person today who knows her God much more intimately because of what "I have learned"! By the way, Bill has been home for almost twenty years now and "I am still learning". You would think that you could learn something once and that would be it but God is ever making us more like Jesus and He loves us too much to let us stay the way we are. What are you learning?

Don't Give Up on Your Dream

After visiting with my pain doctor today and getting approximately eight trigger point injections and an epidural for my lower back, I found it impossible to get comfortable in our bed. My husband already knew that if he were to get any sleep after a series of injections, he should sleep in the guest bedroom. As I perched on soft pillows, gingerly propping my neck up as little as possible and watching a special on Sandi Patty, I still could not get comfortable. So I found myself lying there just pondering on some things with the Lord, my Abba. I have prayed for healing. So far, it has not come in a physical way. On the other hand, I do not feel that God has removed the call from my life to share the gospel as a Bible teacher and speaker. The problem has been that I cannot predict what my body will be able to do from one day to the next.Therefore, up to this point, it has been impossible to commit to speaking engagements in the future. As I pondered, a radical thought came to me; or at least it was radical for me. Maybe I was like the man who was ill and sat by the pool. Maybe in faith, I needed to mail out my new batch of brochures, make myself ready study-wise and wait to see if God opened doors as He used to before I took a downhill plunge healthwise. Surely if I was invited to speak and felt that He wanted me to accept, He would supply everything I needed in the area of energy over chronic fatigue and toleration of pain to carry through on the call He had put on my life many years ago. I have been so ill the last two years that I felt I was on the backside of the desert. Perhaps He had put me on the shelf for now, I had thought.And maybe He had for a time. More likely, He has just had me at His feet for a season. Perhaps I was to write and give up the speaking. I know up to this point, it would have been impossible to speak anywhere. The odd thing is that my health has not changed but something in my spirit seems to be changing. Could it be that God is asking me to "pick up my mat" like the man in the New Testament by the pool who needed healing? Is He now ready to "do a new thing" and asking me to trust Him and proceed in the direction of re-entering the speaking/teaching arena? I will be doing much praying about that in the coming days but I truly feel that is the way He is leading me. People are dying without Jesus. Others are sinking in circumstances not knowing how they will make it through another day. This is important stuff. I am qualified as the Lord's vessel to do something for at least some of these people.I have been through the fire and come out on the other side. I know God's faithfulness in trials and illnesses experientially. Teaching is my main spiritual gift followed closely by encouragement. Is He asking me to trust Him and walk out in faith again? Could it be that this long dry spell is coming to an end and my health is going to be restored or is He just going to use me in spite of my health? These are the questions I am putting to Him in the light of what I feel the Spirit is saying to me. As I wandered up to the computer, I clicked my e-mail on and the first thing I saw was Mark Evans' "Selah", a letter that he puts out daily to encourage his congregation and anyone else who subscribes to his letter. For many days, I have been so bogged down in chronic fatigue that I have just deleted these letters that I used to read daily because I was too tired to read them. It was all I could do just to get through my mail and do what I absolutely had to do. I must confess to days of relaxing to music on youtube but that required no effort on my part! For some reason tonight, I felt led to open the letter that Mark had sent today. What was in it could only be a God thing. I want to include just a little of it below. "Your Vision, Your Dream.. Can You Still "See" It?" And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by. For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day. ~Habakkuk 2:2-3 ... Write the vision and make it plain... There's an interesting picture in Amos '... "A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion's mouth will recover only two legs or a piece of an ear. So it will be... ' (Amos 3:12NLT). Picture Satan as that lion, you as that lamb, Jesus as that shepherd coming to pick up what's left of you, of your dream, and I want you to see how God can bring victory out of defeat... Has life torn your dream to pieces? With God, you only need two things for a comeback: 1) An Ear To Hear.... Stop listening to voices that discourage you; it's not over until God says it's over! God told Ezekiel to prophesy to a valley full of dead, dry bones (Ezekiel 37:4): 'So I prophesied... and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.'(Ezekiel 37:10). Your hopes may be dead and your soul dry, but if you listen to what God is saying your dream will live again. 2) A Leg To Stand On... The God who gave Job twice as much at the end of his trouble as he started with before it, isn't finished with you yet. Read what He's promised and stand on His Word.... Achan was stoned to death in the Valley of Achor for stealing the spoils after the battle of Jericho. End of story? No, later, God in His mercy said, 'I will give... the Valley of Achor as a door of hope... ' (Hosea 2:15). You may be living with your consequences, but by God's grace you can still live to see your dream fulfilled." Mark Evans "Selah" What do you think? Is God speaking to me? The best way that I know to find out is to proceed as if He is, asking that He will close doors if it is not His will. But whether He chooses to move me out again or leave me in bed, interceding for others, counseling with hurting women and doing some mentoring, I will serve Him. I made that commitment long ago and it is set in stone. What about your dreams? Do some of them need dusting off and taken before God? Has it been a long time since you looked at them? Maybe God is ready to do "a new thing" in your life. I'm excited at the thought of it. I hope this encourages you to be excited, too!

Just One Glimpse

One glimpse of your beauty just changed everything.
The truth of your Spirit removed our hearts' pain.
From one soul to another, Crying for broken chains;
Through your tender compassion you made everything change.

Lord, You pour Your love into us
And make us fully whole.
But you often work most strongly
Through another precious soul.

You formed deep bonds of love
And we joined our hands in prayer.
Seeking hope, peace, and love,
How Your Presence filled the air.

We cannot begin to describe But we'll never be the same,
As your daughters, your bride.
Heart to heart and soul to soul
We are irrevokably tied.

So we covenant to live for the rest of our days
As Sisters joined by You forever singing Your praise.
And should one of us hurt, the other deeply feels that pain.
And we turn our faces upward to feel Your healing rain.

For My Sister Barbie Eslin who prayed with me for the tearing down of strongholds.
I love you, dear one! Thank you for loving me back!

Wounded Soldiers September 11, 2009 by admin Filed under Faith, Faith Articles One of my all time favorite movies is “Gone With the Wind”, the epic drama about the feisty Scarlett O’Hara and the plight of Southerners during the Civil War. There is a scene that haunts me right after the intermission. The camera swings wide and all across the ground as far as the eye can see are dead and wounded soldiers. It is an overwhelming sight to see those who once went forth with such determination and loyalty to the South now lying unable to move on the ground. As I think on that scene, often a picture that is less concrete but equally moving comes to my mind. It is a picture of those who started out as soldiers for the Lord and were intent on serving Him. Then, for whatever reason, hard times came or other things attracted their attention and loyalty and, now, they are no more effective than those soldiers in Atlanta. What has happened to “all the Christian soldiers” and who will go and “fight the good fight”? Who will be strong and help those who are falling by the wayside to get back on their feet and back into being a committed soldier of our Lord Jesus Christ? The soldiers in “Gone with the Wind” were brought low by bullets, muskets and other weapons of war. What has brought our Christian warriors to the ground? Was it a relationship gone bad, hurtful words from a fellow Christian, lack of daily communion with the Lord, a tremendous loss in their lives? Whatever it was there is healing with Christ Jesus and they CAN become effective soldiers again unlike those lying on the ground after a battle in the Civil War. And if you ARE still an effective warrior, maybe you need to look around and see who you can bring the gift of encouragement to, so that we can get more of these soldiers back on their feet. And we are ALWAYS in the business of recruiting new soldiers! God’s Word tells us that we have an enemy of our souls and his name is satan. While he cannot steal your salvation from you, he is quite capable of stealing your joy and your effectiveness through the fiery darts that he aims at the battleground: your mind. There the enemy sends darts of discouragement, guilt, disappointment, and lies. Remember, he IS the father of lies and therefore the enemy of your soul. How do you resist him? Well, God answered that question in Ephesians 6. He tells us in detail the armor that we are to put on DAILY. “Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:1 NASB) This armor is as important as the clothes you wear to protect your body against the elements. Without it you will never have victory as a soldier for Jesus Christ, and this world is in desperate need of dedicated soldiers who won’t give up no matter what comes their way. Are you a soldier of the Lord? Do you have your armor on? Do you even know where you left it? It’s not too late to get dressed for war because, my beloved brothers and sisters, we are in a war for the very souls of men and we need all Christians to be suited for warfare at all times.

A New Thing

A New Thing January 2, 2010 by Karen King Filed under Faith Articles Isaiah 43:19 KJV- “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” As a new year dawns, traditionally it is a time to make New Year’s resolutions. Some people want to be more organized; others want to lose weight or spend more time at the gym; many Christians want to study their Bible more. It is easy to make a resolution but it is hard to keep it. I want to hear the voice of God more this year. So often in prayer, we spend all the time talking to God ourselves but no time actually listening to what He has to say to us. But to truly know someone, we must listen and hear from them. If I do all of the talking to a friend, I never will truly know that person. In the book, The Horse Whisperer, by Nicholas Sparks, the main character works with horses. He doesn’t use the traditional method of training them with whips but he sits and watches them for hour upon hour. He listens to the sounds the horse makes. He watches how the horse moves and reacts. As the horse becomes accustomed to having him around, Nicholas slowly moves closer and closer to him. Finally, the horse knows that he is not going to be hurt and he actually allows the man to touch him. As that happens, the trainer begins to whisper in the horse’s ear. A bond of trust has sprung up. The horse listens to the trainer and responds to his words. There is no need for a whip of for force. He easily complies with the trainer’s wishes. I believe that the amount we hear from God is proportionate to the time we spend before Him. Like the horse, as we begin to be in God’s presence, hear His words from the Bible and just sit and watch how He works and meditate on His ways and His attributes, He begins to see our sincere desire to be with Him. There is a bond of comfort and intimacy that develops just as with the trainer and the horse. God wants to speak to us. It is not something He desires for us to beg Him for but first we must be quiet and know Him and watch His ways. Then, one day, we feel Him move very close and whisper with His Holy Spirit in our ear and we are ready to hear. It took time for the trainer to gain the horse’s confidence and get his ear. The trainer was willing to devote that time. Do we really want to hear from God this year? Is that perhaps your New Years’ resolution but you feel that it will never happen? It will happen in proportion to the amount of time you spend at His feet. Time is a precious commodity and we all have 24 hours a day. It takes time to get to know a person to the point of intimacy. Do you want to hear God this year? Decide to spend time at His feet. If you don’t set a time and place, you probably will get caught up in the busyness of the day; in the tyranny of the urgent. Meet with Him at the same place and time as often as possible. It takes discipline and the enemy of your soul will try to stop you at every turn. How badly do you really want to hear from your God? Is it bad enough to set aside some real time? If you do, by this time next year, your life will be radically changed. And that is a resolution worth making!! Jeremiah 29: 12-14a (NASV) – “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you…”