THE LORD SAYS WE CAN "TAKE UP SERPENTS"

THE LORD SAYS WE CAN “TAKE UP SERPENTS”

A few years ago I went to get my hearing checked. The doctor briefly looked at my ears, which were fine, then arrogantly went on to say, “Your nasal passages are partially blocked, but I guess you’ve learned to live with that.” Did I need to hear his negative report? NO! But once we hear something, it’s hard to un-hear it. The devil counts on that. He’ll bring up the bad report as often as he can, to hurt us or make us afraid.

Psalm 140:3 tells us: “They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips.” Even if people don’t mean it, their words can be used as powerful curses against us.

I got laryngitis over the Christmas holiday and went to the doctor as soon as I got home. The meds took care of it. But somehow it seemed to linger on. The devil was happy to remind me of what the doctor had said about my nasal passages and those awful words (curses) spoken against me, along with me thinking I was feeling some fluid down deep in my lungs, well, it started to get me fearful. I even went and got some expectorant, but there was no fluid in my lungs to bring up. Something was not right.

So this morning I had my roommate Jane pray for me. When she finished, I knew there was one more thing to do. We rebuked a spiritual snake that had gotten ahold of me. It wasn’t scary or weird, no ectoplasm or anything like that. We just spoke the words and spiritually knew it was done. Very awesome. The Spirit of the Lord led us to pull the snake out and cut its head off.

When Jesus appeared back on earth after He was raised from the dead, He met with His eleven disciples and gave them what has been called, The Great Commission.

“And he said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover’” (Mark 16: 15,17,18).

Everybody knows about the first part, to preach the gospel, but we don’t seem to know much about the other parts. I looked up the words “take up,” concerning serpents. They mean, “to draw up like you’d pull a fish up out of water,” “to take off or away something that is attached,” and “to remove.” Today we took up that serpent, right out of me. Snakes are sneaky and deceptive, like the snake in the Garden of Eden. They are liars. This snake was telling me I had something still wrong with my lungs and larynx and it brought back the words of that doctor as well, but it was all a lie!

I’ve heard of other people having that happen too. They had a car accident or something in the past and the snakes brought up the thoughts, the emotions and even the symptoms from the incident, but it was all a lie. As soon as the revelation came from the Lord that it was a snake, they rebuked it and pulled it off and the symptoms instantly went away. Praise God.

In Acts 28 Paul and others were shipwrecked on an island. Paul literally pulled off a venomous serpent.

“The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.

“When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, ‘This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.’

“But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god” (Acts 28: 2-6).

Psalm 91:13 says: “You will overpower the strongest lions and the most deadly snakes.”

Even from the time of Adam and Eve, snakes have been around to trick mankind by lies and deception. We even use the phrase today, “He (or she) is such a snake!” Revelation 12: 9 calls the adversary, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.”

Satan was able to deceive me by using a real sickness (laryngitis) mixed with the cursing words of that doctor, to set me up with a spiritual snake to keep me thinking something was physically wrong with me. But the Lord once again set me free.

Don’t let the snakes bite you!

Love, Carolyn

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"MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE" (JOHN 10:27)

“MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE” (John 10:27)

 “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 just get lazy and let our minds wander off. But this isn’t a good thing, it isn’t being considerate of other people. And if we want to get really 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 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 the 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.

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

Love, Carolyn

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THE BIBLE, NOT PANTHEISM

THE BIBLE, NOT PANTHEISM

The USA was founded as one nation under one God, the God of the Bible. As citizens of the USA, people can believe in just about anything they want, as long as they recognize that the government of this country is based on the belief system given by the Bible, the words and principles of the Judeo-Christian God, who we believe is the One True God. He is Elohim: The one and only divine creator of all of us. And there are inalienable rights under His system of love, and rules for life. He is El Elyon: The Most High God, higher and wiser than any other god. We are not one nation governed by pantheism, under many gods.

Before the Revolutionary War in America, Bibles written in English came exclusively from England. But with the war, importation stopped. Congress resolved to import 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland and elsewhere, into the different parts of the States of the Union. Becoming a new country without the reliance on the precepts of the Bible was unthinkable.

What makes the United States a Christian nation? Many people think it’s because of the forefathers of our nation, but that’s not it. Not all of them were even born-again Christians. Some think it’s because the people of our nation are primarily Christian, but that’s not it either.

Our country is a Christian nation because of its form of government. The ideas embodied in the constitution stem primarily from the Bible. At one point in modern history this was challenged.

Consequently, a ten-year research study was done of the political documents of the Founder’s Era (1760-1805), and every quote or reference to a source outside the Bible was documented. The research was published in 1983, which showed that 94% of the ideas in our Constitution are based directly or indirectly on the Bible.

What we believe as Christians are the words of our God, the God of the Bible. He has been challenged in the past, both the far reaching past and the past that is still lingering on our breath. I have to admit that in some categories I’ve been lulled into complacency, not even realizing it’s happened.

It’s like the story of the frog. If he’s put into a pot of boiling water, he will immediately jump out. If he’s put into a pot of cool water and the heat gradually is turned up, he will cook and die. (Horrible story, I know, but it gets the point across).

The deterioration of truth is slow and calculated perfectly to the human condition, to a person’s mental, emotional and social state. Scientists probably know exactly how long it takes and the conditions for a carefully placed erroneous idea to infiltrate and begin to infect the mind of a normally sound person.

This infiltration happened to the Israelites of the Old Testament over and over, as well as to those who walked with Jesus on earth and those believers of the first century church. The twisting of truth by the Leviathan spirit talked about in the Bible, has not stopped. That’s why we must continually refresh ourselves with the truth from God’s Word.

God’s will is to “have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2: 4-5). God formed our bodies.

Isaiah 44:24 tells us: “Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.”

He gave us the amazing brains we have. It’s the Most High God who placed the nearly incredulous gamut of emotions within us and the triggers that set them on fire. (Love, passion, grief, anger, jealousy, power).

Only the God of the Bible created us as everlasting spirit beings, with the ability to speak and the will to make choices. Numbers 16:22 tells us that the God of the Bible is “the God of the spirits of all flesh.”

Nebuchadnezzar knew and worshipped many gods, but when he witnessed the three men walking in the fire, he recognized that their God was greater than his.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither.’ Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

"And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them” (Dan. 3: 26-27).

The God of the Bible is greater than any other god, in so many ways. Do we know Him? Not just His acts, but His ways? And what about His First begotten son, Jesus Christ. We have read and studied many great men and women and many great teachers, but there’s only One First begotten son of the One and only Creator of everything we know and don’t know. Do we know Him? I mean, really know Him?

We can know Jesus Christ better if we want to. There’s only one legitimate Lord of Lords, sent from the Most High God and that’s Jesus. Yesterday I saw a marquee in front of a local church that says, “God sent His only begotten son, not a committee.”

The principles taught in the Bible are the ones that have been put in place as a contractual agreement for the government of the people of the United States of America. And there’s good reason for that. As Christians, let’s get better acquainted with the principles and more importantly, with the God who authored them and the son who showed us how to apply them.

Love, Carolyn

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LIVING PROOF OF GOD'S DELIVERANCE

LIVING PROOF OF GOD’S DELIVERANCE

My senior year in high school I happily applied for scholarships to college and I was pretty excited about it, that is until I got rejection after rejection and no one would help me. Even my counselor treated me like I was a complete loser. I went from excited to depressed pretty fast. Even though I went to church and read my Bible all the time, I didn’t know how to apply it to my state of mind. I got into drugs the day after graduation. I was able to find a job, but it was a lousy one, with no future. One of my girlfriends suggested we go to Los Angeles and be hookers. It was the 60’s and I figured sex was about all I had going for me, so I thought that’s probably what I’d end up doing. My life was a mess.

Then the Lord came and rescued me. I was still struggling at the time. I’d gone to college, then nursing school and nothing was satisfying the emptiness I felt, nor did it take away the deeply-rooted fear that I could end up on the street as a prostitute. It’s funny how fears that we have at a very tender age twist their way into our very fiber and stay with us even when those fears don’t make any sense any more. I experienced this recently.

I was talking to a woman who was in a hard life situation. She’d lost her home, didn’t have work and had two young children to support. She was very afraid. She told me she goes to church and she has hope that God will help her. I prayed for her and told her He would for sure. I knew from the Bible that God would help this woman, but one part of me had an overwhelming feeling of pain. I was thrown right back into the day my girlfriend suggested we should go be hookers; inside of me, I went to that hopeless place and felt emotionally wrung out.

Though I told the woman of God’s love and mercy, I didn’t feel it myself. I became her; I became my old self, with nothing of a future—falling, falling, with only a little hope in God to hang on to.

When I realized that this happened way too often when I ministered to people, God did something so wonderful to instantly change me. It was right there with me all along, but I didn’t see it. I could feel the person’s despair but I wasn’t feeling the fact that I was living proof that the despair can turn into complete wonderful delight.

Yes, as a college-aged girl I was messed up, which has given me great empathy for people in situations like I was in, but God rescued me. When my brother invited me to go to a Christian Rock Festival, I went. Then I re-dedicated myself to the Lord and started to study His Word and began to understand what I read and apply it. I’m a success story now. I’m not ultra-rich by any standards, but I’m okay. I did it—never had to be a hooker. And as silly as that sounds now, back then it was very real. The Lord God saved me and the Lord Jesus took me. I’m living proof that there’s a way out and up.

My personal psalm is Psalm 40:1-3: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”

Now I’m one of the top faux finishers in Las Vegas, a published Christian author who’s read in over 100 countries and 27 languages. My life is good. I have friends and family who love me and God’s given me the best job ever, to write for Him and help people.

Love, Carolyn

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HIS MERCY IS AMAZING

HIS MERCY IS AMAZING

I was developing a technique with paint, to make three Masonite boards look like real steel. I decided I had to combine two different techniques to get the right look. It was a rush job and I was scurrying. I wasn’t happy with the final pieces. Since I was complaining the whole time in my head, God didn’t really have to do anything nice for me, but His mercy was greater than my grumbling. The client loved the pieces.

I had another experience yesterday when I spent time with a young woman who felt she was being ostracized by her family. She was a stranger to me. I didn’t know her past, didn’t know if I would have deemed this girl “worthy” of my time or mercy. But the Lord directed me to talk to her, listen to her, encourage her and express His love to her. I did it.

The word “mercy” is used 262 times in the KJV and the first time is with Abraham’s nephew Lot. From what we see of Lot in the Bible, he was not a very spiritual man. When Abraham took him to Canaan with him, they stood up on a mountain and looked down at all the land God had given Abraham. Abraham asked Lot which part of that land he would like to have. Instead of deferring to his elder, he immediately chose the greenest, most beautiful part of the land. He chose Sodom and Gomorrah. Not a good choice for him.

Lot wasn’t spiritually strong enough to prevail over the evil that had taken over. The practices in those cities, and the hearts of the people were so confused and perverted that destruction was eminent.

God sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family. Lot happened to be at the gate of the city when the angels came. The news spread fast, that there were two strangers that entered their city gates. The angels took on a human form in this situation.

“The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My Lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.’

“They said, ‘No; we will spend the night in the town square.’ But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

“But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.’ Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, ‘I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly’” (Gen. 19:1-7).

The people in the city of Sodom were so depraved that all of them came hungrily to Lot’s house to get at these two strangers. When it says that they wanted “to know” the two men, it means they wanted to sexually rape them, and it’s translated that way in many versions of the Bible. Can you even imagine a whole city so spiritually and mentally perverted that they all would want to come and see such a thing?!

How could Lot stay in such a place? And he called these men his “brothers.” Other translations say “friends.”

But God obviously had mercy on Lot, and knowing that destruction was coming, He sent two of His angels, looking like men, to get Lot and his family out of there.

“But he [Lot] lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, ‘Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.’

“And Lot said unto them, ‘Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

“Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one? —and my life will be saved!’ He said to him, ‘Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there” (Gen. 19: 16-22).

Not only did God have so much mercy on Lot that he let him and his family escape (except for his wife who of her own free will, looked back), but when Lot pleaded with God to be able to go to a smaller city in the valley, God once again had mercy on him and told him he wouldn’t let the destruction come on the city Lot wanted to stay in.

God’s mercy is enormous. I can’t say that I am a naturally merciful person, but Jesus tells us, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). We can be whatever it takes to be a blessing to God’s people and I’m just so glad God was merciful to me with my steel sample and then He used me to show His loving mercy to another one of His children.

Love, Carolyn

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ALMIGHTY AND AL SUFFICIENCY

ALMIGHTY AND ALL SUFFICIENCY

In the Bible, El Shaddai is one of the Hebrew names used for God. It’s mostly translated, “Almighty,” but that doesn’t give the full picture. Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies tells us that many Hebrew scholars say El Shaddai is derived from two words, “sufficiency” and the prefix, “who is,” showing God’s infinite sufficiency for all beings. Other scholars say El Shaddai is derived from a word meaning “breast,” indicating that God is All Bountiful. Think about it. When a baby breast feeds, what does the little one get? Plenty of good nourishment, for one thing, until he or she is satisfied. The baby also gets antibodies that both protect the baby from getting diseases and fights the disease if it attacks. The breast of the mother also gives great comfort to the little one and a connection with one who deeply loves them.

Whenever we are studying a word or phrase in the Bible, God set it up so that we learn a great deal about the meaning in the first place it’s used. The first usage of the Hebrew El Shaddai is found in Genesis 17:1:

“When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said to Abram, ‘I am God Almighty. Live in my presence with integrity.’”

The word “Almighty” here is El Shaddai. The Almighty God told Abram to live in God’s presence with integrity. Like the phrase my grandparents often used, “Honest to God.” Other translations read: “always do what’s right,” “be blameless.”

God was telling Abram to be honest and do what’s right because He, El Shaddai, was going to take care of all the things Abram needed. It wasn’t worthwhile for Abram to have to live any other way. Nothing he could get by fraud, stealing, or lack of honesty was going to be better than what El Shaddai was going to give him.

El Shaddai was going to be his sufficiency in all things. El Shaddai was going to be more than bountiful to him; He was going to supply endless nourishment; He was going to give Abram every weapon he would need to triumph over any enemy. And El Shaddai was going to be Abram’s intimate companion forever. What in the world could be better than that?!

Let’s be like Abram and get to know El Shaddai close up.

Love, Carolyn

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CHRISTMAS GETS SCANNED OUT - AND THE NEW IS READY FOR YOU

  

CHRISTMAS GETS SCANNED OUT – AND THE NEW IS READY FOR YOU

Several years ago I came home from Christmas vacation; it was already two weeks into the new year and my Christmas cards and envelopes were still sitting on my drawing table. It was too late to send them out and I was feeling guilty. The guilt began to gnaw on me, then a scripture came to mind and I latched onto it: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Phil. 3:13). Previously, I thought that this verse only meant reaching forth to the future, but no. It’s also reaching forth to the thing that is before us right now. What are we going to do right now, in the next few minutes of our future? 

There’s a popular Latin phrase that I’ve seen on cups and t-shirts, “Carpe Diem,” and it means “seize the day.” I really like that. The Lord has enough for us to think about and do in this very day that there’s really not much time to dwell on the past, or procrastinate about the future. We need to put our attention on the Lord and get busy thinking about and doing what is the best thing for the day we have in front of us. As Matthew put it: “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now” (Matt. 6:34 MSG).

The same week that I was feeling guilty about the unsent Christmas cards, I happened to go shopping looking for discounted Christmas decorations and wrapping paper. I went up to one of the sales girls, asking: “Where is your after-Christmas sale stuff?” She answered, “Gee, I think Christmas has been scanned out.” I realized that’s what I needed to do with my guilt about those cards.

Fortunately for us, God wants us to scan out our past mistakes. We’re not supposed to carry any guilt around with us. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1). We aren’t supposed to be carrying guilt around or be burdened by self-deprecation. Paul writes to the church at Corinth:

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that is judging me is the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:2-4).

When I study the Bible, I’m usually looking at the King James Version. But if there’s something a little confusing, I’ll check out other translations. For the preceding scripture in Corinthians, the NIV gave more clarity:

“I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:2-4 NIV).

That is really a great truth. We do our best to walk by the Spirit and do the right things before God, but that doesn’t mean that we are always innocent. We may be acting in error and not even know it. The important thing to God is that our hearts are right. “The Lord sees not as man sees; for man is looking on the outward appearance, but the Lord is looking on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). That’s a great comfort and gives us reason to get our hearts straight and follow up with our actions as well.

Luke 15 gives us a wonderful analogy of God’s fatherly love and forgiveness to us. [The wayward son speaking]:

“I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father.

“But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to be merry” (Luke 15:18-24).

Notice that the father didn’t pay any attention to the son’s telling him about his guilt. The father was just so elated to start again, that the son was forced to totally scan out the past and get started new. The first thing they did was have a party.

Jesus gave the commandment to love God above all, and to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:39). Have you ever thought about the fact that if we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, then we have to love ourselves first? If we think about forgiving others, but we haven’t forgiven ourselves, then we’ve got it turned around backwards.

The beginning of a new year seems like a good time to take a quick look at the past year, admit our errors, ask forgiveness of God, forgive ourselves, and move ahead. Hebrews 11 gives us many examples of people from the Bible who were just like us, endeavoring to live a good life for God. They went through hard times, they made mistakes too, but they didn’t get burdened down by guilt. Even murderers like David and Paul were able to drop the guilt. They scanned out the past and moved forward into the grace of God:

“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” (Heb. 12:1-2)

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6.)

I love the way The Message translates what Paul said to the Philippians:

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running and I'm not turning back.

“So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it” (Phil. 3:12-16 MSG).

Love, Carolyn

QUESTIONS FOR PONDERING

1. Do you take a few minutes first thing in the morning to give your entire attention to the Lord? How do you do this? What do you say? What does He say back?

2. Can you think of a small way you might have a party or celebration over leaving guilt behind?

3. What have you done recently to show love to yourself?

This was a revised version of a chapter from my first book, WINGS: A JOURNEY IN FAITH. Available on Amazon as an e-book or in paperback. Also portions available as a free pdf file cjmolica@hotmail.com  .

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=aps&keywords=WINGS%20Carolyn%20molica&linkCode=ur2&tag=jmbcsds-20&linkId=XQMVLVZYNBLYAGEM

INTEGRITY IS IMPORTANT

INTEGRITY IS IMPORTANT

One afternoon when I was an executive assistant, my boss gave me a letter to type to a client and sign. It wasn’t an unusual request, but this time I was faced with a real dilemma. He lied in the letter. I didn’t want to lose my job by confronting him, but in my heart, I knew I didn’t want to sign my name to a lie. After debating with myself, I decided that if I lost my job, God would have to get me another one. I’d rather say no to my boss and yes to God. As it turned out I kept my job and my boss hated me the rest of the time I worked there.

That was a long time ago, but today I think there are many more opportunities to be dishonest: get a handicap card when we’re not handicapped, not go back and pay for the extra item that showed up in our cart, take the hacked fire stick so we don’t have to pay for a movie, and so many more things. These things may seem silly, or small infractions, but we must realize that a small fracture line in a baseball bat can end up splitting the bat in two and that goes for our lives as well.

We get very good at coming up with rationalizations as to why we “need” to be just a little less honest than a good conscience based on the Word of God would have us be. I have to be honest: I was the one who wanted the fire stick. (some of you know how much I love movies.) I took my sweet time coming around to doing the right thing. I debated with myself, rationalized and even had the nerve to tell myself, “Well I’m doing it for someone else’s benefit too, and I know they’ll be really happy with it.” (Sounds like Saul blaming his disobedience on “the people” in 1 Samuel 15:15, doesn’t it?)

For my walk with God, as a proclaimed minister, I can’t afford to be consciously dishonest in anything, and I don’t want to be. So I looked up some verses in the Bible, just to drill the importance into my heart once again.

Psalm 26:1 says: “Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.” In other words, when we don’t walk in integrity, we will slide! Who wants to slide away from God, for a few free movies? Not me!

Proverbs 19:1 says: “Better is the poor that is walking in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. The word, “perverse” means “twisted, distorted and crooked.” In other words, an honest poor man with God is better than a rich fool without Him.

What about our children? “The just man is walking in his integrity: his children are blessed after him” (Prov. 20:7). What are we teaching our children, if they see by our actions that we lack integrity and we’re not honest people?

And what about our businesses? What kind of people do you want working for us? Unfortunately, if people are dishonest in one category, they are most likely dishonest in more. Acts 6:3 is a great verse for doing a job search: “Wherefore, brethren, look you out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”

And finally, the Apostle Paul exhorts us: “Brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Happy New Year: a year of honesty, integrity and truth.

Love, Carolyn

Look for my new book- I am offering it for F R E E   . . . later THIS MONTH – WINGS Volume 2: JOURNEY WITH JESUS 

OPEN THE GATES

OPEN THE GATES

This is the year for me to throw caution to the wind. No more being timid. I’m going full strength into following every little thing that may be the slightest touch or tiniest whisper of the Holy Spirit and jumping on it right away, without hesitation. Isaiah says, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Lift up thine eyes round about and see. Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night” (Isaiah 60: 1,4,11).

I expect to be bolder this year. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no man pursuing: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” We all make blunders. And the bolder we get, the louder the blunders get. But honestly, what’s a blunder or two (or three) when it comes to the people we love? Let’s be willing to forgive each other as we step out in a little more bravado than we’ve exhibited before.

I don’t know of one Bible hero that didn’t make a pretty loud error in his or her attempt to walk with God, that is except for our Lord Jesus. Instead, God tells us to be brave, be courageous, rise up, take a bite out of fear!

One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 54:2: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.” The Lord God has given us liberty.

God promises, “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron” (Isaiah 45:2).

Let the gates be open. It’s like the Lord is sprinkling drops of fresh spring water above the ocean of our many thoughts. Let’s see what He has, reach for the drops, ponder their purity, collect them and drink with gusto!

To a blessed and happy 2017!

Love, Carolyn