STOP THE BLEEDING

  

STOP THE BLEEDING

In everyday life, we talk to people who are in circumstances that are so complicated and awful that even the heartiest of believers among us could be tempted to think there’s no solution. I’ve seen the devil pull this scenario again and again. The idea of no solution and no answer is the message Satan wants to propound. But Jesus Christ is the answer to every problem and has the solution to every trouble, no matter how complex or seemingly incurable.

We have the Lord Jesus Christ; we have the Bible; we have angels, but sometimes we forget that we also have each other. And it’s not a sin to ask for help. The Lord tells us we are to confess our faults one to another so that we can get help. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). It doesn’t do us any good to keep things bottled up inside.

If you were physically bleeding from a stab in the back, and you couldn’t stop it, you’d get yourself to the hospital and find help. It’s the same with us mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We have been given other people in the body of Christ to help stop the bleeding. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:25).

One of the biggest errors I see in the body of Christ is the hesitation to ask for help. I’m guilty of that myself. Pride gets in the way. But I think a more significant challenge is trying to figure out exactly what to ask or who to ask. We may need the Lord’s guidance even on that!

It can seem hard, but we need to remember that asking someone to pray for us or give Godly counsel benefits both parties. The person asking for help gets assistance and the person being asked gets a chance to stretch out his or her believing to manifest God’s love, maybe even in a different way than before. It’s a healing and wholesome exchange.

I believe that honesty in the body of Christ and asking for help when we need it will bring us closer as a family. With all the challenges we face in the world today, we need the expertise of others to help us meet and overcome the new adversities that confront us.

Love, Carolyn

My book, WINGS: A Journey in Faith – an excellent spiritual adventure and a great interactive workbook. Find it on Amazon in paperback or Kindle.

https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Heavenly-Workbook-Christian-ebook/dp/B007T9AJ7E/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1548893981&sr=8-6&keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH

BIND THE STRONGMAN - SATAN IN DUCT TAPE

  

BIND THE STRONGMAN - SATAN IN DUCT TAPE

Christians gather souls into the everlasting family of the one true God. Jesus said: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them. . .; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and low, I am with you always” (Matt.28:18-20). The devil is also working to gather souls. But until the final takedown of his kingdom, we have been given power in Christ to bind Satan and his minions, so that the message of Christ gets access to the people.

Notice that Jesus spoke to Satan, directly. We are supposed to do that too. Jesus “turned, and said unto Peter, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men’” (Matt. 16:23). Jesus wasn’t saying that Peter, the man, was the embodiment of Satan, but rather that Satan was present and was spiritually influencing Peter’s soul. Peter was telling Jesus he didn’t have to die, but that was not God’s will. Jesus was humanity’s only hope. He was sent to die for us so that we could live in heaven in God’s family forever.

Jesus spoke to Satan, showing us that we are not in a flesh war, but a spiritual one. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12)

The strongest entity in the devil’s kingdom is Satan himself (named by some as Lucifer or the devil). If we are to win souls to God, then we often need to take them back from the devil’s possession. In Revelation 18 we are told that the devil considers people as mere merchandise, so when we read Matthew 27:29 we know that the “spoils” Jesus is talking about are the hearts and souls of humanity.

Jesus says we must enter the strong man’s house to take back captured souls. Then he asks the question: “How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house. (Matt. 12:29) “spoil” is translated from the Greek for “plunder or seize.” And “goods” are, metaphorically “men of quality, chosen instruments.”

So how do we do this? Jesus said: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”(Matt. 16:19)

And “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).

The strong man of every evil situation is going to go back to Satan in one way or another. So, if we are to bind a demon, let’s get to the source. For me, I get a mental picture of Satan entirely wrapped in duct tape: arms bound to his sides, feet bound together, mouth covered—you get the picture. When I bind him, he has no effect, no mobility; he is rolled back. Then I bind (from Ephesians 6:12) any principalities, powers and any other demons in duct tape too and turn them back. Then I ask for angels to go out to do whatever it takes to get to the souls of whoever I am praying for. With this mental/spiritual duct tape picture, I can see and believe for an opening to the victim’s soul. And we can use this powerful duct tape image in prayer for other matters that the Lord directs as well.

Binding Satan himself is top level stuff. But with our Lord Jesus Christ, we are top level! Colossians 1:27 says: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you.” And one of my favorites: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”  (Phil. 2:13).

You and I are way more powerful than we think when it comes to power over any enemy. With eyes on the Lord and duct tape in hand, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper” (Isa. 54:17).

Love, Carolyn

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

https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Faith-Sample-WORKS-ebook/dp/B00DFPWNZM/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1546194534&sr=8-13&keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH

This sample booklet contains 6 of the 61 chapters from the complete book. The chapters I chose for this sample book are true life stories about forward actions that proceed from faith and how they work beautifully. 
CHAPTERS:

THANKS IN RELATIONSHIPS
THE ADVENTURE OF PLANTING SEEDS
NIT-PICKING
NO GLASS CEILINGS
MAGNIFICENT MONEY MANEUVERS

BEING AN APRIL FOOL IN THE BEST OF WAYS

FREE BOOKLET - WORKS OF FAITH

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

This sample booklet contains 6 of the 61 chapters from the complete book. The chapters I chose for this sample book are true life stories about forward actions that proceed from faith and how they work beautifully. 
CHAPTERS:

THANKS IN RELATIONSHIPS
THE ADVENTURE OF PLANTING SEEDS
NIT-PICKING
NO GLASS CEILINGS
MAGNIFICENT MONEY MANEUVERS

BEING AN APRIL FOOL IN THE BEST OF WAYS

SURVIVAL MODE - SHAKE IT OFF

SURVIVAL MODE – SHAKE IT OFF

He stepped into the quicksand mud hole and sunk up to his neck. To free himself, he lifted his knees up as far as he could and crawled slowly with his arms and knees to the edge of the slime. Then he stood, shook himself off, and took off all his clothes. He had to do that because if he left the sand on himself, soon it would itch and tear at his skin and cause terrible infections.

This TV story reminded me of Jesus talking to his disciples: “Whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5). The disciples listened.

Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel of Jesus  Christ in what today is southern Turkey.

“And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.

“But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts” (Acts 13:49-50).

Then Paul and Barnabas did what Jesus told them to do. They moved on. “They shook off the dust of their feet against them and came unto Iconium” (Acts 13:51).

When we let something go, we have room for something else to replace it. Shaking off the grit leaves an empty spot. The survivalist who crawled out of the quicksand barely made it out, and he had to expose himself. He got naked.

When we’re trapped in something, part of our deliverance may include being exposed. If we’re leaving something, we may not be assured of what we are going to. We may turn our backs to being overly involved with certain people or certain organizations, and when we go, we sometimes don’t quite know what to do.

We let other people and groups give us our identity, and without them, we may not be entirely sure of who we are or what we want. But Jesus knows who we are and when we’ve lost something, or have just crawled out of the quicksand and are standing there naked—well that’s the perfect time to turn to Him. He is more than willing to show us the way. I love that verse in Revelation 3:20 where Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Sometimes I feel like we just stay in the quicksand or we get out and then stand there naked, instead of just going to the door and letting Jesus in to have a chit-chat over dinner and figure out our next move.  

Most of the time we seem to stay in adverse situations longer than we should. Some of the reasons could be: We honestly don’t realize how bad they are. We know how bad they are, but we don’t want to acknowledge it. We are too afraid or too tired to think about having to change. We don’t have much hope in what’s ahead.

Or maybe we want to leave but for some reason need to stay a while longer in the situation. Often that’s the hardest position to be in, holding out till we actually reach the exit.

In the show about the guy in the quicksand, he had to have the presence of mind just to keep focused on what he needed to do—crawl slowly to the edge. He couldn’t move too fast, or he would be sucked down. So what do we do? We get discouraged or angry or fearful and stay put. But we need just to keep moving toward our goals, even if it’s only a little at a time.

When we have to stay in the mud hole until the right time to get out, an excellent way to stay healthy is to open that Revelation 3:20 door to the Lord every day. We remember to ask that He shows us something new, teach us something we can use, give us some way to bless someone before we leave, things like that—things that keep our minds and hearts from being bitter. Instead of focusing entirely on the situation we’re in, we can focus on what He’s showing us, without being a part of it.

I remember when I was about a month away from moving back to the States from South Africa. I worked at an insurance company doing some filing. Every day was drudgery. It was horrible and was making me sick and weak. I didn’t need the money. So why did I stay? Obligation? Loyalty? Habit? I have no idea, but when it was over, I was kicking myself for not leaving sooner.

Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off against the people that didn’t want them around, and they went to the next town. That’s what Jesus taught them to do, and Jesus does know the best solutions for every problem. The survivalist shook and scraped off the quicksand, put his clothes back on and took off for the next adventure.

I have several friends who have taken on new adventures over the past years, and I am so proud of them for having the boldness to move on. I pray they open the door for the real Jesus to come in, spend time with them and talk things over, then lead them in the next step of their lives.

Everyone is going to end up in some quicksand at one point or another. But we can trust in Jesus to see us naked, clean us up, clothe us and lead us on. Let’s be courageous.

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+

HIS WAYS ARE ABOVE OURS

HIS WAYS ARE ABOVE OURS

Jaden was the perfect candidate for leadership. He met the requirements, participated in all the meetings, and added real insight and help to the other members. Several of the leaders recommended him, and it looked like a lock. But when the final job interview came, he was denied. Why? God, why?

There are just some things we’re not going to be able to figure out or understand. God is all-knowing. But we are not, and we can’t figure it out with reasoning or logic. We’ve heard the common phrase, “there’s a reason for everything.” But the second half of that should be, “but we don’t get to know all the reasons.” God is always going to know more than we do. He sees the bigger picture beyond what we can see.

Job 9:10 says He “doeth great things past finding out.”

That’s where trust comes in. With faith and obedience, there’s always going to be some unanswered questions: “Why?” “How?” “When?” We trust and obey from our hearts, not our minds. Our minds are too small to handle all the data it takes to answer every question all at once.

We have problems at times waiting on God and trusting Him. But we’re not the only ones. Take a look at Gideon.

The Midianites were destroying the land. The Israelites were hiding in caves, and they were in poverty. Gideon was threshing some wheat to conceal it from the Midianites, when an angel came to him and said: “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour” (Judges 6:12). At the time, Gideon was only a young man, definitely not a man of valour. But God saw him as different from how he saw himself.

Then Gideon questioned: “Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites” (v.13).

But the angel didn’t bother to explain why it was happening. He just told Gideon what to do next, and said: “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?” (v.14)

“And he [Gideon] said unto him, ‘Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.’ And the Lord said unto him, ‘Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man’” (vv.15-16).

Detail by detail, God guided Gideon. The fascinating battle strategies, the beliefs, the errors, the loves and losses, and more, are all recorded in Judges 6-8. It’s amazing to read it all. Gideon trusted and obeyed, and he saved Israel. “Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon” (Judges 8:28).

We have to get used to doing spiritual things without always having to know why. The spirit of God urges us, and our job is to obey. We read the Bible or let someone else teach us from the Bible as to what God does, and what He’s really like.

Daniel 4:35 says: “He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”  God doesn’t have to tell us. But He does let us know He has a good plan for us, so just do the next thing and trust Him.

Jaden did the next thing God opened for him. He later found out that the company he had applied for was corrupt. Because of his integrity, he wouldn’t have lasted there even if he’d gotten the job.

So many things are like that; we don’t find out until later why our prayers weren’t answered in the way we had expected or in the time frame we were wanting. However, we see in the Bible, that everyone who trusted God and just obeyed, got great results, whether or not they understood the why and wherefore.

Love, Carolyn

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

https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Faith-Sample-Miracles-ebook/dp/B00BMW8Y7Q/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1547858605&sr=8-15&keywords=wings+carolyn+molica

In this sample booklet I’ve chosen 6 chapters specifically about miracles. In our world today we sometimes get so involved in medicines and technology that we forget about the bigness of God in providing the miraculous. These stories remind us to think BIGGER.

Chapters:

JESUS GETS TO THE ROOTS

CALLING THE DOG

GOD’S SPIRIT TOUCHES OUR SPIRIT

PUPPY HEALED DOG

MIRACLE OF BETTER EYESIGHT

BLACK ICE

ANGELS AND MOTHERS

FREE BOOKLET - MIRACLES

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

https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Faith-Sample-Miracles-ebook/dp/B00BMW8Y7Q/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1547858605&sr=8-15&keywords=wings+carolyn+molica

In this sample booklet I’ve chosen 6 chapters specifically about miracles. In our world today we sometimes get so involved in medicines and technology that we forget about the bigness of God in providing the miraculous. These stories remind us to think BIGGER.

DO IT RIGHT

DO IT RIGHT

This photo is me after work today. I was tired but satisfied. We’re working against a very tight deadline. DeNece painted the mock-up flower, then had to go out of town, so we’re left with only three people, Sean to draw and Brian and me to finish painting 45 flowers by Friday. We started on them late last week. It was almost time to go home today, and I discovered a few errors in the transparency. I battled with myself: should I take the time to fix it, or leave it? With the schedule we have, I wanted to leave it, thinking, “No one will notice anyway.”

But the Holy Spirit was nagging me to make the changes. I’ve learned that when the Lord urges me to do something, He somehow also provides the time in which to get it done. My real boss is God, so I had to take the extra time at the end of the day to make it right. It went miraculously fast.

I can’t say I was surprised, because I’ve seen God do this so many times, but when He wants something done that I think will take a certain amount of time, He always speeds it up for me. I think He smiles when He does it because in every instance I’m still so amazed! I guess this is one little miracle way He likes to give me the message, “Here I go again. Trust me on this!”

God slowing and speeding up time? Yep, it’s in the Bible. Hezekiah was dying, and he asked Isaiah to help him by praying to God. Hezekiah was offered a choice: the shadow on the sundial could go either 10 degrees backward or forwards. Hezekiah assumed that the sun going back would be a more significant sign since it would go against nature. God granted Isaiah’s prayer, and the sign occurred. 

“And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down” (Isa. 38:7-8).

Here are two scriptures that show God’s willingness to fast forward:

“A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time” (Isa. 60:22).

“Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it” (Jer. 1:12).

The Lord doesn’t act willy-nilly, but it was the Lord who urged me to do the right thing with the flowers, so since God told me, “Do it!” He was the one who hastened the doing!  

I love it when that happens.

Love, Carolyn

I send out these preach letters in snail mail, e-mail, WordPress, Blogger, and Facebook, so if you’d like to get them a different way than you are currently getting them, let me know.

Also, if you have a friend or family member who you think would like to get them, let me know that too and I can send them on. 😊  

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.

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

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

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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

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