DON'T LET IMPATIENCE GET YOU IN TROUBLE

DON’T LET IMPATIENCE GET YOU IN TROUBLE

Jane and I waited for the last bus out of downtown Johannesburg, South Africa. We had just moved there from the States to do missionary work so I had my passport with me in a large purse I carried at my side. It was dusk and we were getting anxious to get back to our friends’ house before nightfall. The bus should have been there already.

I was starting to worry, “Did we miss it?” Jane answered, “I don’t think so, but maybe the buses don’t run regularly, so I don’t really know.” We waited longer. We were the only ones waiting, which made it scarier because we didn’t have anyone to ask. What we did next was really foolish.

Our impatience prompted us to move. We went down the street to another bus stop closer in the direction of home. We waited there impatiently until we couldn’t take it anymore and we moved down the street again. We did this three times, getting further and further away from the more populated area. The sun was going down and we were getting more worried now—new country, unfamiliar ways, alone on an empty street and no bus in sight. Then Jane spotted a young black African man coming our way.

He got about halfway down the block and bolted toward us. Jane had seen him but all I saw was a blur.  She jumped in front of me, grabbed me with both arms around the middle, as I clutched my purse to my chest. The guy hesitated, then ran past us a ways. He stopped and continued to walk slowly down the street as if nothing unusual had happened at all.

Jane gently loosened her grip on me and I relaxed my clenched fists but my heart was still racing and we were both hyperventilating. When we settled down and started to breathe a little easier, in quivering voices we begged God to get the bus there soon.

In just a few minutes it pulled up—the very last bus leaving the city. For the next three years of living in Johannesburg, we stayed much more alert and aware of our surroundings and prayed about everything.

God wasn’t the one who told us to move down to the next bus stop. We should have just stayed where we were, but we let our impatience drive us into trouble.

How many times have each of us acted impatiently, recklessly setting out in a direction of our own choosing, without really consulting the Lord? Proverbs 21:2 tells us: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes.” But Luke 21:19 tells us: “In your patience possess ye your souls.” Patience stops to ask for the Lord’s input and acts deliberately, not foolishly.

My impatience nearly got my purse stolen, along with my money and passport. Impatience gets us to make mistakes, waste time, get into arguments and so many other things that we’re sorry for later. Proverbs 20: 22 tells us: “Wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.” One important way He saves us is to give us His wisdom. Don’t be fretful and hasty like we were. Wait on the Lord.

Love, Carolyn

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PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD

PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD

Last night I was in a state of half-asleep and half-awake when I began to praise God. I didn’t have my eyes open but I was conscious of what I was saying. I told God over and over: “I praise you; I worship you; I praise you; I praise you; thank you.” I went on like this for hours until I actually woke up about 5 a.m.

As I thought about this, it hit me that there are many Christians who no longer go to a traditional church building to worship and praise. But praise and worship still need to be a part of our lives. Praise and worship are an important part of our interaction with the Lord God. To praise Him doesn’t change Him, but it changes us!

When Paul and Silas were thrown in prison, they prayed and sang praises to God. And what happened?

“At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed” (Acts 16:25-26)

Paul and Silas were free.

David was being chased and pursued by Saul, who wanted to kill him. When David was alone, he praised God. And God rescued him and gave him insight on how to get away from Saul. “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies” (Ps. 18:3).

There are many verses about praise, but these two show us that praise opens prison doors. Praise can free us. David shows us that praise can save us from our enemies.

So even if we don’t go to an actual church building, and even if our Christian fellowship is only online or only a small group of people or even if we are by ourselves, we still need to take time to praise and worship God. We praise and worship Him for who He is and how thankful we are for Him being in our lives.

Even in awful circumstances: hurricanes, fires, jail, or persecution, we still need to praise and worship God. It’s probably our one and only true escape from our own self-destruction. David said: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Psalm 42:5). David was a smart man. There’s a phrase we hear these days, “Pay it ahead.” But David knew that “Praise it ahead” was even better. He said: “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Ps. 69:30).

When I woke up from praising and worshipping the Lord in my sleep, I realized I needed to praise Him even more when I’m fully awake. I need to make more time to worship Him. He is the absolute most important one in my entire life and I should tell Him more often!

Love, Carolyn

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INSPIRATION TO ENDURE

INSPIRATION TO ENDURE

Right now is a really hard time for many people I know: Job changes, death, hurricanes, immigration problems, just to name a few. Traumatic events still take place in our lives. We thought since we're born again things should be going better for us. But sometimes they just don't. The truth is faithfulness isn't something for the weak-hearted. It takes some real inner strength to stay faithful and our faithfulness gets tested over and over throughout our lives. Faithfulness isn't that easy sometimes, but is it worth it? For sure! Hebrews 11:6 tells us that God rewards faith:  "He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

In the big picture of things, our lives are really short here on earth compared with our eternity. "As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more" (Ps. 103:15).

Though life may seem unbearable at times, God promises that "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" (1 Cor. 10:13).

In Old Testament terms, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Ps. 30:5). You say, "That's the longest night ever!" But God does promise joy in the morning. And God "is not a man that he should lie" (Num. 23:19).

In New Testament terms, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17). I looked up the word "affliction" in the Greek. It is a thronging, crowding pressure. It's narrow, burdened with anguish, persecution, and trouble.

God is not denying or minimizing what we feel like when the traumas of life hit us. When the phrase “light affliction" is used, the word "light" has two meanings in the Greek. The older meaning of the Greek word translated “light” doesn’t seem to have much to do with how we interpret “light” these days. But in the Greek language, which the English was translated from, the meaning of this word is very significant and can’t be ignored. Light is a powerful force.

It means the “affliction” is being driven like the wind. We’ve all seen the devastation a mighty wind can cause: uprooting the strongest trees, tearing up houses, demolishing property, knocking out the electrical power and so many other horrific things. The word “light” also means the strength of oars pushing in the water. If you've ever watched the Olympic rowing teams, you know how powerful those oars cut through the water.

“Light” also refers to the aggression of demons. We’ve all been exposed to demonic entities and have seen how powerfully they push people to do things that are destructive. The demons themselves are destructive, mean, full of strife and inciting fear and so many other ungodly things. So when we read this verse about “light affliction,” we need to think about light as being a strong manipulative force. The Lord is telling us that He totally understands that the afflictions that happen to us are terrible and hard to bear up against.

But the second meaning of the word "light" is just as we suspected. Compared to the abundant, perpetual honor, praise, glory, and dignity we will have for eternity, the afflictions we have in this life can be dealt with. We are strong enough to deal with them and still live in victory.

The Lord has given us the means to endure.

Hebrews 12: 1-2 says: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

We are never alone in our suffering or what we must endure. Even though it may seem like the end, we can make it through. The Lord will help us.

So let's do our best to stay faithful to Him, even in afflictions. Our reward is everlasting.

Love, Carolyn

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THE THINGS YOU SAY

THE THINGS YOU SAY

My dad used to chuckle, “I’m losing it.” He used that phrase way too often and in the next six years sadly he did lose it. His creative, sharp mind took a downhill turn and succumbed into a dementia he never quite recovered from. Did it really have to do with the words he spoke? Both scientifically and Biblically the answer is unfortunately, yes. A lot of scientific research has been done to test the results of the phrases we speak. “Words have power. Most people speak words that increase body stress and turn the body’s pH from alkaline to acidic. Words can change the way we think and feel.  Researchers have concluded that speaking the correct form of words and thinking the correct thoughts actually can change a person’s DNA.”  (Kevin Trudeau, Natural Cures 2004).

An experiment was done by the Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto, where different words and phrases were spoken to water crystals, which were then photographed. Harsh and mean words made the molecules look very different from the molecules that received gentler words. The water molecules in this experiment responded to words, and so do the water molecules in our own bodies. Children’s bodies are about 75% water and adults about 60%. We are affecting those molecules with our words.

Our brains are created to respond to the things we say. But we confuse it when we say something like: “God did an amazing miracle for me yesterday!” And then we follow it with: “It was unbelievable!” We’ve just said it was great and then negated it with saying, we don’t believe it. Then our brain doesn’t really know if it should trust our words, or not. Sometimes we mean what we say, and sometimes we mean the opposite – very confusing.

It’s so much better and clearer, if we try to always say what is true and use the words that confirm that we mean exactly what we say.

The Bible states many things about the words we speak. For instance: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). If we will believe the truth of that one verse, we will be inspired to start listening to what’s coming out of our mouths—are we speaking life or death? When we are cognizant of what we are actually saying, we can, with the Lord’s help, let our speaking be more deliberate and purposeful.

Another great verse is: “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth” (Prov. 6:2). Obviously, God wants us to know that what comes out of our mouth is important and not to be taken lightly. It’s not that we have to be stanch and strict and oh so serious all the time. There is a place for fun and joyfulness in our talk too.

We need to take a checkup from the neck down to see if our hearts are right with God, then take a checkup from the neck up to see if our speech is matching a clean and righteous heart.

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul” (Prov. 18:7). We don’t want to be fools.

It’s not beneficial to be frivolous either, saying: “Oh, I didn’t really mean it.” If we continue saying things like: “It blew my mind,” or “My foot is killing me,” or “It scares me to death,” or “It was unbelievable,” our brain will accommodate those words and the words make actual grooves and nerve connections. Our brain then sends those signals to different elements in our body and our body begins to respond accordingly.

Speaking something, puts it in motion. And the more often we speak it, the more likely things happen around us to bring it to pass. It’s one of those laws of life, just like the law of gravity: If you drop it, it’s going to fall.

Let’s stop dropping “word bombs” on ourselves and especially on our children and those we love. I’ve seen the sad and awful results too many times. So, I’m asking you to please consider what you’re saying.

Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of phrases you need to get rid of. Also ask family members or friends to help you. I know it’s not easy, and it’s especially not fun to have people correcting you about the words you speak. Frankly, it gets annoying!

But if we will make the changes in our speech, it won’t be long before we notice the changes in our bodies, our emotions and our minds. We will be healthier and our lives happier.

Love, Carolyn

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HOW TO MAKE EVIL GATHERINGS INEFFECTIVE

HOW TO MAKE EVIL GATHERINGS INEFFECTIVE

In Las Vegas we’ve noticed that when certain events come to town, they can have a bad influence on the spiritual atmosphere and it starts to affect us. When lots of people come together to participate in something contrary to God’s Word, their demons get stirred up and they like to extend their influence into the community at large. I know you’ve seen this kind of thing in your own cities, and communities. But the Lord has given us revelation on how to make these gatherings ineffective.

Sometimes we don’t recognize the influence of gatherings such as witches covens and Satan worshipers on full moon nights, or gatherings of terrorist pods, or the aftermath the morning after a huge hedonist party in town. We tend to take things too personally. And often when we feel bad, it’s not even us; it’s demons in the atmosphere pushing at us.

Some weekends here, we can feel the agitation in the air and it makes people drive especially dangerously. Sometimes the atmosphere just feels exceptionally heavy and oppressive. I’ve had mornings I didn’t feel like doing my hair, didn’t feel like writing and my brain was foggy. It just wasn’t like me. At first I thought it was me, but the Lord showed me what to look for and I’ve learned that most of the time I’m just reacting to the group of demons come to town.

God gave me revelation on this by reminding me of Nimrod. In Genesis 10:9 we learn that King Nimrod was “the mighty hunter before the Lord.” When it says “before the Lord,” it means he was in His face, against the true God. Nimrod got the people together and “they said, ‘Let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make a name [for ourselves]’” (Gen. 11:4).

“And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. And the Lord said, ‘Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech’” (Gen. 11:5-7). When the people were together, they were united in the words they spoke. It’s like when you agree with someone and you say, “You’re speaking my language.”

The awesome thing here is that when the Lord God confounded their literal language, they couldn’t communicate with each other. When people can’t communicate, especially when it comes to getting a project done, they can’t agree and that brings envy and strife. James 3:6 says, “Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”

So the Lord showed me that we could pray for this to happen with whatever demons had come to town. I prayed that God’s strong angels would surround them and that the agitation, the envy, the strife and the confusion would happen within the confines of the convention or event and that it would not penetrate the angelic walls put up by the Lord to surround them and keep them in one place. It’s like putting those devil spirits in detention, so they couldn’t get to us anymore.

Within minutes of praying this, my mind was totally clear and I had plenty of energy to get going on my day. The difference is astonishing and it works every time. It will work for you too.

Another Biblical example of this is found in Second Chronicles 20. It’s the story of Jehoshaphat and his people. Three different nations came together for a type of convention or event in the wilderness of Tekoa: It was called war! They all got together to take what Jehoshaphat had. But Jehoshaphat and his people prayed and “when they began to sing and to praise [for the victory they anticipated], the Lord set ambushments.”

“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” (2 Chron. 20:22-23).

When Jehoshaphat and the people came to see what was going on, “behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped” (v. 24).

That’s the thing about some demons, they are so stupid, they start to fight each other and kill their host!

So if you sometimes feel the pressure or heaviness of the spiritual atmosphere, or you sense a strong agitation, don’t automatically think it’s something wrong with you. Ask the Lord what’s going on. It could very well be that there is some kind of gathering near you that you can spiritually confine and keep at bay.

Though we would love to deliver everyone from the demons that manipulate them, it’s not always possible. But it is possible to detain the demons, confine them to a certain areas and prevent them from affecting us. Through Jesus Christ we have that authority and ability.

Love, Carolyn

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JESUS REPAIRS RELATIONSHIPS AND MAKES THEM BETTER THAN EVER

JESUS REPAIRS RELATIONSHIPS AND MAKES THEM BETTER THAN EVER

We all get our hearts hurt a time or two in this life. We just don’t have the ability as a human, to never hurt or disappoint someone we love. It’s not that people are intentionally evil or mean, but stuff happens. Psalm 118:8 is the very middle verse of all the verses in the Bible. It says: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” A while back I was deeply hurt by someone I never expected it from. She got married and never told me. I only found out afterwards by someone else. My heart reeled; I felt broken and my soul was devastated.

It tore me up for weeks. It was over a month and finally I couldn’t take the pain anymore. I had to settle it; I had to know why I wasn’t told. Even if she got mad at me, I had to know. I prayed and the Lord urged me to make the phone call. By the end of the evening, I got a full understanding of what had happened. There were major complications in the wedding plans. Lots of things changed and things got missed.

When I understood what happened, I could finally just forgive and forget. I let it go and my soul was freed of the pain. It was such a relief.

Though my heart had been crushed, I learned two very important lessons:  1. Handle heart issues as soon after the incident as possible, and 2. Don’t put your confidence in people. Even the best of them can hurt you. It doesn’t mean we stop loving people, but it does mean we have to go back to what God says about trusting Him and the Lord Jesus above all else.

Psalm 147:3 says: “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”

Jesus said this about His commissioning from God: “He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives” (Luke 4:18). Sometimes I feel like those two phrases can relate to the same thing. When our hearts are broken, the painful emotions take us captive until we can finally get free. Time heals, but it doesn’t always make us totally free from the hurt. Only Jesus can do that.

John 8:32 says: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  I could guess a hundred possible scenarios as to why I wasn’t told about the wedding, but in the end I wouldn’t have guessed the real truth. I got the real truth because I prayed to get it and the Lord answered my prayer quickly.

When our hearts are broken and our souls devastated, our trust in Jesus will absolutely help us to rebuild, repair and heal. We go through the pain and though it’s so hurtful at the time, later we look back and say: “Now I understand.” And then we can go on. The resilience of the human heart and soul is astounding.

We survive; we get understanding; we get through sorrows; we get through struggles; we get through pain; and we can rebuild.

God promises in Psalm 23:3: “He restoreth my soul.”

My pain lasted a month and my recovery took place miraculously in only one day. I asked for His help and did as He guided me to do. I made it through and now I can honestly say my relationship with that person is so great, it’s as if the hurt never happened at all. We are very close now.

This kind of miracle mending comes with Jesus. It feels very different from anything else!

Love, Carolyn

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HEARING FROM GOD

HEARING FROM GOD

I woke up one night with the picture in my mind’s eye of a bat with big ears. Bats respond to vibrations much like we are to respond to the vibrations from the Holy Spirit. These spiritual messages are often in the realm of the unseen but we all have them. Those times when you “just feel like” you should wear a certain shirt, talk to a certain person, show up at a different time—these nudges happen to all of us, all the time. Sometimes we wish they were more like Las Vegas moments, with the bells and whistles to let us know “HEY YOU, THIS IS GOD!” Or like Jane’s sister said, “They should be accompanied by a movie theme song to let us know this is a big deal.” But most of the time the messages from the Lord are more like “a still small voice” Elijah experienced in 1 Kings 19: 11-15:

“And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

“And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

“And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold . . . the Lord said unto him . . . .”

I liked the way a friend, Adrienne, talked about being led by the Holy Spirit. She said: “God is ever present. Being mindful of this by actively listening for Him, is the key to walking by the Spirit. Even minor changes in schedule—if we show a little humility—it keeps our connection with God strong. We may never see the results of our obedience: like the car accident that doesn’t happen because of our obedience to be elsewhere. We may wonder how to tell if we are on the right track. The only way is to play it through and see what we get. Rejoice in the victories and when it doesn’t go as well, ask God how to do better.”

I think of soldiers, firefighters, undercover agents, 911 operators: they are trained to listen to their hunches and respond quickly. People’s lives depend on it.

God gives us Holy hunches. He can’t force us listen or to obey. But we can train ourselves to get better at both, while at the same time, asking for His help.

In Luke 11:11 Jesus says if a child asks his father for bread, the father won’t give him a stone. When we’re asking for a more spiritual walk, He’s not going to give us a stone to trip over, but rather bread to nourish us and make us stronger disciples.

Love, Carolyn

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