GOD'S BIGGER PICTURE

  

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Jane and I met Wendy for breakfast yesterday. I prayed over the food and thanked God for the opportunity to get together. I began to get teary-eyed and barely finished. I was so grateful for our 20-year friendship. I’m a staunch right-wing conservative and Wendy is staunch left liberal. We each wish the other would be different, but we know there’s no profit in discussing or arguing. God loves us, and to Him, we are both the most wonderful daughters He could have. It’s at times like these when there’s no budging on actively going forward on our conflicting political agendas, that I remind myself to stand back and look at the bigger picture. I trust with all my heart that God’s got the best figured out for all of His children. If I don’t believe that, I could end up like John the Baptist.

John started off so strong. He was the one to announce the coming of the Messiah, baptizing Jesus in the Jordan. He saw with his own eyes, and heard with his ears the blessing of God Almighty on His son Jesus: “The heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And low a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matt. 3:16-17).

But when Herod put John in prison, something happened in John’s heart. He stopped trusting God. He began to lose faith. Why? He started looking at his immediate circumstances, instead of the bigger picture God had in mind. Like Peter when he was walking on the waves to Jesus: “When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me” (Matt. 14:30). If our natural circumstances don’t seem right and we only look at what’s immediately around us, we begin to sink.

There’s a big difference in how Peter reacted and how John the Baptist reacted. Peter cried out for help, and Jesus lifted him out of the water. But John didn’t call out at all. Pride took over instead. He didn’t think it was right for him to be in jail. Why wasn’t Jesus getting him out? John allowed this downward spiral to continue and pretty soon he was wondering if Jesus was even the real thing. How quickly we can go down the negative sinkhole!

John called two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus, not to ask for help, but to ask Jesus: “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3). WOW! John had seen the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, and he’d heard God’s voice endorsing Jesus, and now he was going to question Jesus as if all this stuff previously was a big mistake?!

I think this shows us how important it is to keep bringing ourselves back up to trusting God for the bigger picture that only He knows. If we don’t believe God, who are we going to trust? Let’s get real.

Wendy and I will continue to speak our different opinions, and God isn’t telling us not to. I don’t believe any one person is always correct all the time. As long as we continue to love each other while allowing different opinions, we’ll be okay with God. But let’s be more like Peter and trust the Lord for His help. Let’s not be like John the Baptist, hot and strong at first, but then letting pride take over. We can’t ever stop trusting in God’s bigger picture.

John never repented after he went to jail, and he ended up going from bad to worse. He made Herod’s mistress furious, and she maneuvered to get Herod to behead him. A sad end to someone who was so amazing in the beginning. God bless him.

No matter how staunch we get about our opinions and beliefs, let’s always remember to stay humble before God. Trust Him to the end, and all will be well.

Love, Carolyn

FREE TODAY THRU TUESDAY. On AMAZON, or email me if you’d like a free pdf or word doc: cjmolica@hotmail.com

SAMPLE BOOK A: THE WORDS WE SPEAK

WORDS https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Faith-Sample-Words-ebook/dp/B00BLS8SOU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1546194534&sr=8-11&keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH 

This is a booklet with 7 of the 61 chapters from my complete WINGS: A JOURNEY IN FAITH book 1.  

The chapters I chose are stories about the words we speak, specifically about the power of words to direct our lives. These chapters are true life stories about the tremendous and varied benefits of choosing words wisely.

There are pertinent questions that go with each story to further help the reader look at his or her life and see how to apply the keys for a more satisfying and victorious life.

FREE BOOKLET: THE WORDS WE SPEAK

FREE TODAY THRU TUESDAY. On AMAZON, or email me if you’d like a free pdf or word doc: cjmolica@hotmail.com.

SAMPLE BOOK A: THE WORDS WE SPEAK

WORDS https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Faith-Sample-Words-ebook/dp/B00BLS8SOU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1546194534&sr=8-11&keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH 

This is a booklet with 7 of the 61 chapters from my complete WINGS: A JOURNEY IN FAITH book 1.  

The chapters I chose are stories about the words we speak, specifically about the power of words to direct our lives. These chapters are true life stories about the tremendous and varied benefits of choosing words wisely.

There are pertinent questions that go with each story to further help the reader look at his or her life and see how to apply the keys for a more satisfying and victorious life.

Love, Carolyn

WARRIORS NEED REST TOO

WARRIORS NEED REST TOO

For those of us who are fighters, what’s more thrilling than winning a battle against the enemy of God’s people? Not much, right? And yet Jesus tells us in Luke 10 that there is something even more spectacular.

“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, Behold, I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:17-20).

What does that mean? Well, for one thing, there will be no more battles to fight in heaven! Everyone who’s born again has true peace and joy to look forward to, forever.

Revelation 21:4 tells us: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

And Isaiah 65:25 paints a beautiful picture for those of us who are animal lovers: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock.” In the Bible, there was a donkey who talked to a prophet, so many of us believe that in heaven, animals will be able to talk too and what stories they will tell!  

According to our Lord, heaven is something we as Christians need to focus on at least as much as we focus on fighting those battles.  

It’s dangerous to be a warrior without taking time to revel in the hope of heaven.

If we spend most of our time getting all hyped up over the battles, what about when there are no more battles? If we’ve not practiced just being happy in the Lord’s presence, we might not know what to do with all the free time. Seriously.

We’ve all seen that happen to some retired people. They work, and work, and work and don’t take the time to find out how to relax. Then when they retire, they feel like they have nothing left to do. Let’s not be like that.

King David of the Bible was a warrior, and yet his psalms are salted with verses where he is basking in the hope of heaven. Look at Psalm 16:8-9: “I have set the Lord always before me: Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Psalm 119:114 and 116: “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Let me not be ashamed of my hope.”

And lastly: “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Ps. 146:5).

It’s no secret that the world’s in a mess and we are the ones letting God work in us to fight against Satan for the health, deliverance, and blessing of God’s people. But let’s take at least equal time to be happy in the Lord, focusing on the great hope of what He says about heaven. It’s what Jesus said we should do.

It wouldn’t even be a bad idea for us to memorize those two verses about heaven or write them down and carry them around for a while (Rev. 21:4 and Isa. 65:25). With all the negatives that bombard us each week, I think it might help us if we can also take a little time to focus on heaven.  

Love, Carolyn

If you have family members or friends who would like to get my weekly Preach Letters, let me know.

I publish two every week, on FB, Wordpress, and Blogger and can send them to an email address, or physical address too.

I sell my e-books and booklets on Amazon, as well as a paperback of my first book.

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IT'S A CLUE

IT’S A CLUE

In a mystery movie, the screenwriter spatters clues along the way, but it’s only when we watch more of the story, that we flesh out the clues and the whole story comes together to make sense—mystery solved.  The Bible is like that. I’m reading the gospel of Matthew now, and there are so many passages along the way that are like those clues in a movie, and I don’t fully understand their meaning. When that happens, I go to a Concordance to start to flesh out what God is really saying. A Concordance gives me the fuller definition of the original language before it was translated into English. Here’s an example, with Matthew 6:22-24.

^22 “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

²³ But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

The first word I looked up was “light” in verse 22. In the original language, it is a portable candle, one that can be lit, or it can go out. The next word I looked at was “eye.” Here it used metaphorically, of ethical qualities.

The candle guiding us is our ethical qualities – our moral standards. Our moral or ethical standards guide our whole body. The “body” is the whole man—body and soul. What we do with our body and soul is maneuvered by our moral standards.

In the second part of verse 22, what does it mean, “if thine eye be single “? The word single means simple, clear, in which there is nothing complicated or confused; without folds (not double-minded). Jesus was saying that if our eyes (ethical qualities) are clear and not jumbled, our “whole body will be full of light.” People think they can take some standards from the Bible, some from Buddhism, some from Hinduism, or Islam, or New Age, or situational ethics, but if those standards don’t jive with what the God of the Bible says, there’s going to be double standards, ethical difficulties, and a confused, jumbled mess. Granted, a person needs to understand what the Bible actually says, and not just blindly believe what’s “always” been taught. Asking questions is perfectly okay with our God, and there are plenty of verses documenting that.

The first part of Matthew 6, verse 23 goes on to say: “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” The word “eye” is again ethical qualities. The word “evil” is “the Evil one,” so this is saying that if a person’s ethics are inspired and motived or manipulated by the evil one, Satan, then the intent is “wicked, actively bad, actively causing sorrow or pain.” They are actively “bringing toil, hardships, annoyances, and trouble.”

If moral codes are so deranged, the whole self is going to be full of darkness. “Full of darkness” is translated from one word that means covered in darkness, like a tent. Things are opaque; vision is blinded. Actions are shady and shadowy. There is “ignorance respecting divine things and human duties.” People whose moral standards begin to deteriorate, become prey to the Evil one’s ethics, or lack thereof. They become “persons in whom darkness becomes visible and holds sway.”

And the last part of verse 23 says: “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” The word “light” in this part of the verse means the light of God. If that gets compromised, the darkness gets “great,” which means great in number, magnitude, and degree.

God has the antidote to going to the dark side. It’s in the next verse, Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

The word “hate” doesn’t mean what we think it does. In this verse, it’s a relative preference. It means a person prefers one over another. He or she cares about serving the interests of one rather than the other, for whatever reason. A straightforward analysis would be if a person has two jobs, two bosses, and both want the person to work on the same Saturday. The worker can’t do both, so he or she analyses the pros and cons, and picks one.

When Jesus says: “He will hold to the one, and despise the other,” it means he’ll “hold fast to, cleave to” one, and not really think much of the other. To “despise” means to” think less of, disdain, to look down on.”

We can’t be disciples (disciplined ones) of the Lord and get all the benefits of God if we play in the devil’s sandbox. The consequences just aren’t worth it.

Let’s come to the feet of our merciful God and learn what it means to truly surrender all to Him.

Love, Carolyn

If you know of any family members or friends, who would like to get my weekly Preach Letters, let me know.

I publish two every week, on FB, Wordpress, and Blogger and can send them to an email address, or physical address too.

I sell my e-books and booklets on Amazon, as well as a paperback of my first book.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH+

THE PRESENT

THE PRESENT

“Blah blah blah blah blah.” My best friend Jane was talking, but my mind was racing ahead on something else, and I didn’t hear a word she said. Some of us have the habit of letting our minds go ahead of where our bodies are. We’re already thinking about the next thing and our focus strays from the present moment. Sometimes we get lazy and let our minds wander off. But this isn’t a good thing; it isn't considerate of other people. And if we want to get good at hearing from the Lord, we need to practice listening better to people, especially the ones we care about.

First John 4:20 says: “For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Listening does take some real effort, especially if you know you’re not that good at it. People want to be heard. They want to have people interested in their lives. Listening is an act of love.

There are more verses in the Bible about God listening to us than verses saying we need to listen to Him. That’s because God is love and He’s an expert at listening. If we want to be more like Him, we have to want to be good listeners.

Here are a couple of ideas that may help:

1. As soon as you can, after a conversation, go over the conversation in your mind and try to write down what the other person said. If you know you’ve missed some things, apologize and try to remember to ask them again later. Most people will forgive you and be glad you made an effort to ask again.

2. If you ask a question and you get an answer that’s complicated, or you aren’t clear on the person’s answer, repeat it back to the person to see if you got it right.

These are two very simple and practical ways to build listening skills with people. But, we can also use these with the Lord. If you feel He’s telling you something, write it down. If you’re unclear on what He’s saying to you, repeat it back to Him. He’ll let you know if you got it. Remember, He loves you. He’s a great listener, and He wants us to be great at it too. “MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE” (John 10:27).

“To live in the moment is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present!”

Love, Carolyn

GREAT START TO THE NEW YEAR: INSPIRING ways to see that the Lord is part of our everyday life.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH+ 

JESUS THE INSTIGATOR

JESUS THE INSTIGATOR  

When the dentist finished putting the composite filling in my tooth, the dental assistant held something in my mouth that looked like a fat pen. I heard it buzz a couple times. Then she took it out. What the heck was that?

The dentist explained that it is a blue light. He said it’s an instigator—it starts a chemical reaction in the two mixed materials for the filling.

In looking up the light spectrum I found that blue light helps boost alertness, heighten reaction times, elevate moods, and increase the feeling of wellbeing. It’s a high energy wavelength. I immediately related this to my Lord Jesus.

I thought of the verse where Jesus said: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Jesus is like the blue light. He’s an instigator. He gets things started. He starts us out as a fresh Christian when we accept Him as Lord of our lives. His light cleanses us of all sin, guilt, and shame. Later in our spiritual walk when we need new inspiration or a fresh revelation, He’s there to give a jump start.

We call on Jesus to give us more light on a situation where we feel like we’re in the dark or confused or anxious. Jesus makes a way out of any aspect of darkness and will continue to guide us with His light if we let Him.

I’ve found that when I prayed for the light of Jesus to intervene in a situation, it triggered a domino effect in circumstances that I really had no control over, things I certainly couldn’t change or fix in the natural.

The Instigator, Jesus, gets things rolling and then we get to watch and see how awesome the results follow through, often in ways we would have never dreamed of or expected.

My dentist said the light instigator shining on the two parts of the composite material made it set up much faster than in the old days.

I want to be quicker to call on Jesus’ light in my situations. With His jump start, the results will most likely be speedier too.

Love, Carolyn

BE INSPIRED: I started reading the gospel of Matthew again, and WOW! And you can see some practical ways to apply what you learn in one of my books or booklets – true stories of applying Bible principles in our everyday lives.

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THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD IS WISER THAN MEN

  

“THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD IS WISER THAN MEN”

The card Marie sent me for my birthday this year made me laugh so hard. I saved it and now and it’s the perfect picture for today’s message. The cat looks so goofy as he’s about to “boldly go to an age he’s never been before.” The Bible says: “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise” (1 Cor. 1:27). How foolish is it to think we can go into 2019 with a clean slate? But according to God’s Word, we can start fresh.

When God looks at us through Calvary, He doesn’t see 2018 or anything behind. WHAT??! That’s right. God is so thrilled that we believed Jesus took our sins away on the cross, that He forgives and forgets every time. He may look foolish to some, but does He care? Nope, Not one bit. Because “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25).

God gave us His precious son Jesus, and He sees us through the blood of Jesus. His love is radical, unfailing love, and He sees us as his beloved sons and daughters right along with Jesus too. 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

So what about the past? What about 2018? Proverbs 13:12 tells us: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” We hoped for a lot of things in 2018 and they didn’t happen the way we wanted or as fast as we wanted, so we got discouraged, angry, and disappointed. We felt defeated and unstable, rejected, full of turbulence, and/or heaviness. Many lost hope because they weren’t seeing results.

But just because something is delayed, doesn’t mean it’s declined. When we feel like we’ve lost hope, our hearts get sick. But faith is the voice of victory, and that’s where we need to be: in faith, not sick at heart.

We need an exit strategy. If God forgives and forgets, then we need to do the same.

He tells us in Jeremiah 31:33-34: “They shall be my people. . . . They shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God gives us the freedom to be able to accept a clean slate. How awesome is that? No need to keep battling the wounds of rejection, disappointment or discouragement. He’s opening new doors and large doors. “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me” (1 Cor. 16:9).

And all things are made new. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

I love that card that Marie gave me. As silly as that cat looks, he’s definitely got the right idea!

Love, Carolyn

Much of this message is paraphrased from my notes on a teaching I listened to on Youtube by Ryan LeStrange. It was a message I needed to hear, so I figured I wasn't the only one 😊

You can find my books and booklets on Amazon.

 https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=wings+carolyn+molica&sprefix=wings+carolyn+molica,aps,353&crid=EZNJZZUP3KHG&rh=i:aps,k:wings+carolyn+molica&linkCode=ll2&tag=jmbcsds-20&linkId=db88efb13727dcb484eb29f5b1683284