THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT HELPING A LOVED ONE

THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN WE’RE SERIOUS ABOUT HELPING A LOVED ONE 

When we pray for close friends or family, we sometimes miss the mark. Here are three things to consider if we really want to help someone. The first step is to ask, “What is the biggest challenge they are facing?” The second is, “What do they need?” The third question is, “What is the Lord telling me to do about it?”

Too often we look at other people’s problems from our point of view and say things like, “I wish they would just do such and such, and they would be fine and get over that problem.” We think we have the perfect solutions for those we love. But what if we look at the problem from their point of view?

Step into their shoes for a while. What is the biggest challenge they face? Are they afraid of something or someone? Are they mature enough to understand the situation? Do they feel overloaded? Is it that they don’t have anyone they trust for answers? Or, is it that the problem is something they do not honestly want to correct?

There could be any number of reasons a person isn’t getting blessed results in their lives. Jesus tells us: “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you” (Luke 6:31). When we want someone to help us with a problem, we want them first to try to understand our side, what we’re going through.

We want people to lovingly help us, not just blast us with some rote simplistic answer and be gone. (I admit I’ve done this a time or two and been sorry after). So let’s think about how we would want someone to talk to us, how would we want someone to treat us if we had a challenge like theirs.

The Bible tells us we are members of the same body of Christ, so it behooves us to help each other. Self-mutilation is just one form of the body fighting against itself. Autoimmune diseases are another example, and suicide is the ultimate. God tells us that it is the devil who makes people oppose themselves. We, as ministers to each other in the body of Christ, are given these instructions by the Apostle Paul:

^“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;

“If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

“And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Tim. 2:24-26).

Whether we like it, or not, God has put all believers together, and that’s why we are able to help each other:

“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Rom. 12:5).

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:25).

Often it’s just a matter of asking the person what they think their biggest challenge is. Sometimes people aren’t very transparent; they’d rather keep their problems private. Depending on how well we know the person, some things we could probably figure out, but if we don’t know, the Lord can help us.

“For thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men” (1 Kings 8:39).

The second question is: “What do they need?” What do they think they need? Once we have a pretty good idea of what their biggest challenge is, find out what they need.

Then the third question is one we ask the Lord: “What are You telling me to do?” Maybe He’ll tell us to pray. Perhaps He’ll ask us to do something in the physical. I think He often tells us to do something in the physical realm, and we don’t act fast enough and it slips by us, or we think we only imagined it. If we think He’s telling us to do something we’re uncomfortable with, we can always ask Him about it. He’ll be glad to find a way to let us know it was really Him.

These three questions will help us when we’re serious about helping someone else:

1.      What is the biggest challenge they’re facing?

2.      What do they need?

3.      What is the Lord telling me to do about it?

Love, Carolyn

Free Download 3/29-4/2/2019. Wings - Part 1. Click the link to receive the free download.

If you don’t have Kindle Unlimited or Prime, I can send you a word document or a pdf file so you can read my books FREE on your computer. Let me know at cjmolica@hotmail.com

Check out my other books and booklets on:

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

LET YOUR HEART REJOICE

LET YOUR HEART REJOICE

I switched insurance companies, and now I pay less, and I’m free of the harassment I was getting from the other company. I was a bulldog on this insurance switch for several months, and it finally all worked out. But did I relax and take time to enjoy the blessing? Nope. Instead, I started to get depressed about all the other things I needed to do. Wow, how stupid is that?!

We’ve all observed situations where someone gets their paycheck, but immediately, instead of being happy, they get depressed because they envision the money already being spent on bills. Maybe you’ve even been that person yourself.

It’s a matter of point of view. We get too focused on ourselves and the things WE need to do, rather than the blessings of what the LORD is doing for us.

Satan is watching for people he can hurt, but we can catch him and rebuke him when he immediately comes to take away the rejoicing and thankfulness we have when the Lord sows blessings into our hearts. We need to cherish and hold those things dear. It could be a financial blessing, a moment of laughter, a new revelation from the Bible, a puppy hug. Any small blessing that makes us smile is worthy of thankfulness to God.

Jesus gives us a parable about what can happen to the good seeds God sends our way.

“Behold, there went out a sower to sow; And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts” (Mark 4:3-4 and 15).

We can’t let the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2) steal away the joy of any of the wonderful seeds our God has sown into our hearts. If we don’t embrace the small good things, our hearts can’t blossom. Instead, they harden from a lack of joy, and we end up living a sad life with a broken heart.

Proverbs, God’s great book of wisdom, tells us: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). The Hebrew word for “keep” is “natsar,” which means “to guard from danger, be a watchman over, preserve.”

If we receive something good, and we immediately begin to worry about something else or think about the next trouble to conquer or the next burden to bear, we have to make ourselves stop. We need to rebuke Satan for trying to steal our joy. Just tell him to get out, in the name of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:9-10 tells us that God has “given him [Jesus] a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.”  

James 4:7 says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

And sometimes people feel like nothing good happens for them. But that has to be either that they are sinning and getting the bad results from it, or that they aren’t able to see what’s good, and that could be a spirit of blindness. God has good for everyone, and if people aren’t seeing it, then it has to be the devil in one form or another, and that can definitely be changed. Repenting and prayer can change everything around for any person.

Let’s let the Lord help us to do a little more rejoicing this week.

Love, Carolyn

GOD'S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL

GOD’S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL

God loves us unconditionally. Matthew 5:45 says God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” And Romans 2:4 tells us: “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” Sometimes it takes a lot of convincing, but even in our human relationships, if we absolutely know and see it in action, that someone truly loves us, we want to reciprocate. Everyone wants to feel that they matter to someone and you matter to God. He has a wonderful plan for your life. I once heard a Bible teacher give the listeners this challenge: “I want you to say ‘God loves me unconditionally’ 50 times a day and then watch for His love.’” So I tried it.

Wow did I have some big surprises. I was doing pretty well until I went out on my patio and started to re-pot a few plants. One of the plants was super heavy, and I was very intense on getting it out of the one pot and into the other without hurting myself. Then I was moving everything around and sweeping and working hard. I love doing this, but I realized that I was so intense that I didn’t think about God much.

During those intense times when we’re working so hard to produce, we may forget that the Lord is right there with us. The first time I did the “God loves me” challenge, the transplanting project knocked the challenge right out of me. I didn’t say, “God loves me unconditionally” even one time! Maybe if I’d relaxed a little more and said my quote, I would have enjoyed myself more and not stressed out my shoulder muscles!

But the next day after the flowerpot incident, I was at work, and I had a project that was on a tight deadline. All day long I was saying “God, You love me unconditionally. I matter to you. You have a wonderful plan for my life.” I kept a tally and during work alone I said this or a version of it 75 times. And in spite of the difficulty of my project, I finished it in time. I was happy while I did it, and it turned out well.

How about taking on this challenge for the upcoming week? Keep a record and try to say some version of “God loves me unconditionally” 50 times each day.  Let’s see what happens.

Love, Carolyn

Free Download 3/22-26/2019. Wings - Sample E - Bible Studies.

SAMPLE BOOK with 6 of the 61 chapters from the complete book. The chapters I chose for this sample book are unique works in Biblical study. Chapters include: “The Missing Manual,” “Why the Devil Has No Authority,” and, “History told in the Heavenlies.” Also a good one on what we can gain from knowing about the O.T. festivals in the chapter on Father’s Day.

https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Faith-Sample-STUDIES-ebook/dp/B00FQ568MI/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=WINGS%3A+A+JOURNEY+IN+FAITH&qid=1553446157&s=gateway&sr=8-15

If you don’t have Kindle Unlimited or Prime, I can send you a word document or a pdf file so you can read my books FREE on your computer. Let me know at: cjmolica@hotmail.com

HOW TO USE THE SCRIPTURES WHEN WE PRAY

HOW TO USE THE SCRIPTURES WHEN WE PRAY

Sometimes it’s great to review our methods of prayer. Here’s a three-step way to be effective. The third step is one that I need to be reminded of the most, especially for my prayer before bed.

Step 1: Find the scripture that speaks to your heart regarding your issue. Sometimes that’s not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes the terms we use today aren’t written in the older Bible versions. We’ll need to look up something in more general terms. Where do we look them up?

There are two online sources that I use: Bible Gateway is the first. It’s easy to use. I type the word I want into the search box, and it comes up everywhere it’s used in the Bible. The second resource is the Blue Letter Bible online. I can see the definitions of the words from the original Biblical texts. I’ve put the links to these two sources at the end of this article. The information in these two sources is also available in traditional books.

Even though it takes a little effort to find a scripture or two, it’s worth it. God speaks through revelation when we go to His written word. Jesus told us: “Search the scriptures” (John 5:39).

Once we find a scripture that speaks to us, we read it and thank God for helping us to receive what it says. Even if we start off pleading with God, that’s okay. In Isaiah 43:26 God tells His people: “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together.”

The more we pray with honesty and openness, the closer our relationship with the Lord grows. We learn to trust God because we see that He hears and answers us.

Step 2: Realize we have an enemy. The devil has always tried his best to stop people from praying. Then when they do pray, the devil tries to get them to doubt that God has time to listen. But if we’ve found the scripture that says we can have something from God, then we use that scripture as a sword against “the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).

Jesus showed us how to use Step 2. When the devil fought Jesus mentally and emotionally in the wilderness, Jesus came back at him with: “It is written!” Satan is the one who stands in the way of our godly answer to prayer, but God Almighty’s words are weapons that don’t break. Jesus spoke directly to Satan: “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve’” (Matt. 4:10).

God stands behind His Word. He calls it a sword and buckler (Eph. 6:17 and Ps. 91:4). A sword is an assertive hostile weapon. Generally, we think of a buckler as an implement that will shield us. That’s true, but it also has projections on the front to pierce and injure the enemy. We push Satan back with the sword and buckler. Jesus said, “It is written,” to confront the enemy with truth directly. We remind Satan that what God has written is true, and he has no power to stop it. And that brings us to step 3.

Step 3: Say the scripture aloud. Saying something aloud is a double-whammy. You use two senses – your mouth and your ears. This step is self-confirming, and it helps especially when our faith may be a little weaker than you want it to be.

Using this three-fold way of praying makes it real. It strengthens prayer life and helps bring the results we desire.  

Love, Carolyn

These are the links to the resources I mentioned above:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=navel&t=KJV&ss=1#s=s_primary_0_1

https://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/

IT SEEMED SO SWEET, BUT NO!

IT SEEMED SO SWEET, BUT NO

Jane had a hard time sleeping and was awakened many times during the night, sweating and fearful. She blamed doctors who filled her with so much fear about dying in her sleep, that she tried to stay awake to fight off the fear. But the real problem was something else. It was a household idol: a framed picture of a female angel watching over two children walking over a bridge. Why do I call it a household idol? You would be surprised at how many people have this image in their homes. Somehow, we thought it was a sweet and innocent picture of a guardian angel that protects children. But that’s not it at all. Many images carry devil spirits with them, and we don’t even know it.

First of all, the angel is female, and that’s not accurate. Then there’s the bridge. Everyone knows that the image of a bridge is a symbol for crossing over from this world into the next. So, the message of this image is one of death. The real message of this picture is that a beautiful female angel is going to escort you to heaven. But the subliminal message is that you have to die first.

I’m not saying that everyone who has been under the influence of this picture, has a demon lurking in the bedroom. But enough people have night fears and trouble sleeping, that it’s worth considering the presence of spiritual entities.

Other cultures around the world know more about spirits occupying physical images and objects than we Americans do. It’s time to wake up.

Jane remembers that before she was 8-years old, the angel picture hung above the head of the bed where she and her younger sister slept in their Chicago home. She remembers that the prominent subject of adult conversation all around her was about who’s dying, who’s in the hospital, who’s deathly sick.

Jane’s mother got multiple sclerosis when she was 4-years old. She was frightfully conscious of the fact that her mother could pass away while she slept. Like the two children in the picture, she thought that maybe the angel would watch over them too. But Jane remembers that in spite of the picture, she was so scared that the next morning her mother would be dead. A few years later, the fear of death included her father, who started bleeding from his stomach ulcers. All this time the angel picture was supposed to protect the two sisters, but instead, the fear and dread mounted.

As Jane grew into adulthood, the guardian angel image stayed near to her and so did the fear of death, sickness, and hypochondria. Why? The demon stayed, and when she found the same kind of framed angel picture in an antique store, she bought it and hung it up in her bedroom across from where she sleeps. She’s not been able the sleep well for years, and it was only last week when we discovered the real problem was coming from the demon attached to the picture.

In the Bible, there are many records of the evil effects of spirits occupying images and objects.

In the book of Joshua, we see the record of Achan. He took some of the idols of another culture and hid them in his possessions. Because Achan was part of a group of soldiers that were to take down an enemy, the effect of having the idols with him, influenced the whole group. Before Achan stole the idols occupied by demons, the soldiers were full of courage, and they were so convinced of their strength that they lessened their troops. But since the demons were now in their possession, instead of winning the battle against their enemy, fear swarmed them, and they ran and were defeated.

Joshua was devastated. He didn’t know what the heck was going on. He prayed, and God told him:

“Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

“Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you” (Joshua 7:11-12).

In another record, Rachel took household image idols from her father, Laban, when she left his home and went with her husband Jacob: “And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's” (Gen. 31:19). Laban came after them and questioned Jacob. Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had taken them, so he told Laban: “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live” (Gen. 31:32). Laban looked in everyone’s tent to find his idols, but Rachel sat on them and told her father she was menstruating so she couldn’t get up, and Laban left empty-handed.

Rachel was not killed, but the images occupied by demons had their effect: They orchestrated a complete severance of the family’s relationships. Neither Rachel nor her sister Leah ever got to spend any time with family again. Demons split families apart.

The best way to get rid of the demons is to get rid of the images and objects they occupy. In the book of Acts, we see that Paul visited Ephesus and taught about Jesus. There were a lot of people who were into witchcraft, sorcery, and other magical arts. There were some who even pretended to cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ, but since they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ themselves, when seven of these wizards tried to cast a demon out of one man, the possessed man jump on all seven, stripping their clothes off and chasing all seven wizards away! It’s a pretty funny story (Acts 19:13-16).

Many people in Ephesus were learning wizardry and witchcraft and had books on how to do it (i.e., Harry Potter and other such books these days). But when they saw that their teachers were false teachers, they saw the truth that Paul was teaching, and they learned that it was demons that occupied those “how to” books:

“And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.  Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

“So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:18-20).

Achan in the Old Testament was killed because of the destructive nature of the demons who he brought into the camp. Rachel ruined her family relationships because of some images she took with her. Jane couldn’t sleep well and was tormented with fear at night because she took that childhood angel picture into her bedroom with her.

The people of Ephesus burned the demon-occupied books, and Jane took that angel picture, broke the glass and threw the whole picture in the trash.

Are you being blinded or blocked from God’s deliverance because of an old demon whose home you’re still carrying with you? A key? A photograph? A St. Christopher necklace? A self-help book?

Let’s take another good look at what’s in our immediate environment. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or valuable it is; it’s not more valuable than your life! Destroy it. And unless the Lord tells you otherwise, don’t give it to the thrift store so someone else can get hurt by its devil.

Love, Carolyn

THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ANGELS

THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ANGELS

What do we really know about angels? Just two days ago I got rid of a couple of female angel images I had up in my house because that’s an inaccurate picture. If you look at the original Hebrew word in the Bible that is translated “angel,” it’s always in the masculine form. All the angels in the Bible are male. And I am sorry to say that there are no fat baby angels in the Bible either. So why did I have pictures of female angels and fat baby angels in my house?

We get so used to seeing certain images in our lives, that we don’t even question them. You can guess how surprised I was when I realized I’d had these images up all these years and never even gave it a second thought until now. But God is always willing to teach us more if we are willing to hear.

After Jesus confronted the attacks of Satan in the wilderness, “Behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matt. 4:11). Luke 22:43 says: “There appeared an angel, strengthening him.” If Jesus needed the ministering of angels and the strengthening they could give, don’t you think we do? Of course we do.

Jesus told Peter: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). Colossians 1:27 tells us it’s “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” God is willing and able to do the same for the Christ in us as He did for Jesus Christ in the flesh. Jesus Christ said He could pray for angels and so we, being the body of Christ now, can do the same.

Jesus declared: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth [is believing] on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12). Then He adds: “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” Asking for angels' help is one of those “anythings.”

Jesus reiterates this truth in John 16:23: “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” Asking for angels to help us, is a “whatsoever.”

There’s nothing in God’s Word that says it’s a Christian requirement to receive angels as helpers. But when we get born again, we make Jesus our Lord. Shouldn’t we be willing to follow His example? He received help from angels, and He was able and willing to ask them for help.

If we say we’re unworthy of angels, Jesus says we are worthy. If we say we don’t need them, Jesus did, so why wouldn’t we? Are we more equipped than He was? No way! Never!

In this crazy world do we really think we can get along by ourselves just fine without their help? Or maybe we think it’s up to God to send them when He wants to. But He gave us the power to look at a situation or circumstance and know if we need additional help. It’s not that complicated. Jesus said all we need to do is ask for help, believe and receive. “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).

God’s Word is there for us to study up on angels so we will better understand them, what they do, and who they are. With the accuracy of what God’s Word teaches us about angels, we can be more effective ministers for Him, plus receive help for ourselves when we need it the most.

Love, Carolyn

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

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 ALL 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+

My book WINGS: A Journey in Faith is on sale in paperback from Amazon and is available in stand-alone parts, sample sections, and also the entire book of 61 chapters in e-book format.

REMOVING THE EFFECTS OF WORDS SPOKEN AGAINST US

REMOVING THE EFFECTS OF WORDS SPOKEN AGAINST US

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” When my brother and sister and I would fight as kids, we’d retort using that phrase. But in looking back, I think you’d have to be superhuman not to have spiteful words affect you. Many of us as adults are still being affected by the things spoken against us. We can reverse and eliminate that baggage.

In many Pagan religions, when they got together to put a curse on someone, they believed that spirits went out with the curse to make sure they got the results. Curses were powerful in the old days, but are still very much in effect today as well.

The story of King Balak and the Israelites in Numbers 22 gives us a prototype of what curses do and the antidote. The principles still apply today, over 3000 years later.

The Israelites were on their way to the blessing, the peace and the good life God promised them. They met up with two very renowned kings and asked to pass through their domain. The kings said no, and came against the Israelites. Everyone figured the Israelites would get wiped out because these kings were very well equipped and strong, but instead the two kings were defeated. The defeat of the mighty kings shook the world around them. When King Balak heard about the fallen kings, he was afraid for his land and his kingdom because the Israelites were coming there next.

“Balak saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: [He] said ‘Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field’” (Num. 22:2-4).

Balak and the people back then believed in the power of the words spoken by prophets and soothsayers. They believed in the spiritual powers backing the words these people spoke. There was a very famous soothsayer named Balaam. He was not an Israelite. He lived over 400 miles north of where the Israelites were now traveling, and where Balak’s kingdom was. Balaam could be compared to a current day psychic, who may have some truth, but bad stuff as well. In Balaam’s case, God wouldn’t let him say anything against Israel.

King Balak sent his messengers up to get Balaam and bring him down to where he was. Balak was willing to send his men over 400 miles one way and then also pay Balaam a large amount of money for the curse because he knew it worked. This is the message he sent to Balaam: “Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot [know] that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed” (Num.22:6).

We can see from this verse many things about curses. First, we see that curses are directed not toward weak people, but against “mighty” ones. Next, we see that the purpose of the curse is to “smite” them. This word “smite” in the Hebrew is a powerful word and has many synonyms including: “to strike home, strike deep, to wound or kill. It means to “beat, to overpower, overcome, crush, stop, ruin, plunder, suppress, lay waste, attack and destroy.” This word “smite” also refers to being smitten like a plant is smitten when it begins to wither.

King Balak believed that just the words of Balaam in a curse (with the attached devil spirits to go with it) would “drive them [the Israelites] out of the land.” The word “drive” in Hebrew implies violence, power, anger, and hatred. It means to expel or cast out like mire is cast up by the sea. It carries with it the idea of shame and disgrace. It is a sentence of banishment.

Even today, when negative words and phrases have been spoken against us by people who believe in what they are saying, the same motivation and intent are behind it.

The Lord says we are His people. We are mighty in His sight. If you ever feel like you are on the right path with the Lord and you are being beaten at every turn or stopped or any of the other definitions of what it means to be smitten, then it just may be that a curse has been spoken against you.

Yes, there are groups of Satan worshipers that get together in our villages, cities, and suburbs for the exact purpose of speaking curses against God’s children. But often it’s much subtler.

Curses can come in answer to the simple question, “How’s so and so doing?” Answers like, “Oh she always has problems with her finances.” “He can’t seem to make a marriage work.” “She is sick all the time.”

But what’s sometimes more insidious than what other people say about us, are the curses we speak over ourselves. Things like: “My father died of a heart attack, it’ll probably get me too.” “I probably won’t ever get a better job.” When we say things like that, they can keep us in a state of being cursed, smitten, withered, or even violently spewed out of our own promised lands.

BUT THERE IS AN ANTIDOTE. On Balak’s second try to get Balaam to come and curse God’s people, Balaam did go. King Balak took Balaam up to the mountain top where he had a good view of the Israelites, but when it came to time to speak the curses, Balaam opened his mouth, and blessing words came out! After three tries from three different viewpoints, Balak was furious because Balaam could only speak what the Almighty God gave him, and that was words of blessing over the Israelites. Finally, on the last try, an amazing thing happened:

Balaam not only did not curse the Israelites, but he prophesied the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the one who would cut down and annihilate every possible curse ever! “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star shall come forth from [the descendants of] Jacob. A scepter shall rise out of [the descendants of] Israel and shall smite [remember the definition of “smite”] the princes of Moab and destroy all the sons of Sheth. And Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city” (Num. 22: 17-19).

Balaam says this is a parable. It is indeed a prophetic speaking, talking about how Jesus, the King of Kings, will come to rise out of Israel and “smite” the princes (devil spirits that instigate the curses) of Moab and Jesus shall have dominion and destroy any curses that remain to this very day. And that “day” includes the present day, 2019!

Galatians 3:13 tells us the truth about curses: “Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us.” All the things spoken against us, including the things we have recently said about ourselves, are wiped away when we believe what Jesus has done for us, not only in the spirit but in our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our decisions, and our bodies.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lists curses of the Law of Moses. In the King James Version it says God brings them, but truthfully, God only allows them if people aren’t able to accept redemption from them, or maybe don’t know that they can be free or know how to get there.

That’s why we have to get more of Jesus, and less of us, less of our intellect and reasoning, and more simple believing and receiving. I am right there with you on this.

Among the curses and their effects in Deuteronomy 28, are:

Vs. 20 – despair, confusion, and rebuke in every enterprise you try to do

Vs. 22 – consumption (emaciation, anorexia perhaps?), fever, inflammation

Vs. 27 – tumors

Vs. 28 – insanity, blindness

Vs. 29 – oppression, not prospering, being robbed

Vs. 30 – adultery, failure in business

Vs. 32 – sons and daughters turning away

Vs. 35 – problems with knees and legs

Vs. 61 – every sickness and every disease

If we take a look at some of these verses and see those things in ourselves, we’ve probably been cursed by words from our own mouths, words from others in our lives, or even curses that have come down into our lives through our ancestors, down into our blood and even physical makeup.

We rebuke those curses in the name of Jesus Christ. We call on the King of Kings to crush the powerful spirits who backed King Balak, and we accept new freedom and release as we both meekly and boldly follow the leading of Jesus Christ, the curse breaker, to our victory in Him.

Love, Carolyn

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

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

REPENT - IT'S THE WAY TO A BETTER VERSION OF ME

REPENT – IT’S THE WAY TO A BETTER VERSION OF ME

I love this quote from T.L. Osborn, one of the great healing evangelists of the 70’s: “Jesus did enough! He did enough to even cover the worst thing we can do. He did enough for ALL mankind, FOREVER. There's nothing we can do to shock Him, scare Him away, disgust Him so much He'd ignore us. He got tempted by whatever tempts us. And when He was crucified for all the results of giving in to those temptations, He took it to the devil and shook it in his face and dumped it off at the devil's feet: ‘There, finished for all time!’”

Jesus paid the ultimate price for every sin against nature, against God Himself, against each other, and things we do against ourselves, as well. But if people don’t think they’ve ever done anything wrong, then they’re not going to ask the Lord for forgiveness because they don’t think they’ve done anything wrong.

People may not be concerned about changing anything they do or think. People who can’t say they are truly sorry for anything they’ve done to God, themselves, or anyone else, will not perceive any need for a savior. And they don’t think they need a Lord, because they believe they’re doing okay by themselves. They think life’s full of necessary bumps and they’ll handle it themselves in their own ways. These people have been taught to accept themselves as they are. This philosophy is deceptive.

God, our creator, accepts us as we are, so that He can help us change into better. Anyone who believes they can’t be better is being deceived. And anyone who doesn’t want to be better is also deceived.

To be a better version of ourselves, we need to be genuinely sorry for things we’ve thought, said, and done in our lives, that we know in our hearts, were wrong. It’s not necessarily shameful that we did them, but it is shameful never to say we’re sorry about them. Jesus told his disciples to repent.  

The word “repent” is translated from a Greek word, “metanoeo,” which means to think different afterward, to reconsider morally. It means to change one’s mind for the better and heartily amend.

Right after the devil tempted Jesus in the wildness, he came back, and the first thing he preached was repentance. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17).

Jesus also said: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matt. 9:13). And Matthew 11:20 tells us this about Jesus: “Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not.”

Repentance is essential for people when they first want to believe in Jesus and want Him in their lives. They say they’re sorry for all past sins, and they accept Jesus as Lord of their lives because they know they have not done a very good job at leading themselves. They believe He took their sins to the cross and that He even went to hell for them, and then was raised from the dead to everlasting life.

But repentance is an ongoing thing. The older and wiser we get, the more apt to learn about our past, which means we discover a few new things we need to think differently about now, things to reconsider morally. I know that has been the case with me. Things I’d written off, things I did where I thought I was right and didn’t find out until I was 50 or 60, that I wasn’t right at all. But I found that when I told God, I was sorry, and I repented of my past ways of thinking, I experienced new freedom, and it’s been awesome! Heavy loads I didn’t even know I was carrying, were lifted off.

God’s will is always that we have a better and better life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Repentance is a significant part of that.

Love, Carolyn

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

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 ALL 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+ 

A TON OF FUN SPEAKING UP

A TON OF FUN SPEAKING UP

The company I work for moved our art shop to a different warehouse. I was still working on a piece in the old shop, so I hadn’t seen the new one. When anyone came back from the new shop, they’d look at me with wide eyes, exclaiming something like, “It’s sooo small!” But the Lord inspired me to start calling it “The Big Shop.” At first, I thought it was just me being sarcastic, but when I finally got over there, it became real. I started telling people that I was calling it “The Big Shop,” and it would grow into that for me. They probably thought I was nuts, but it worked, and it was a ton of fun just speaking up. Somehow, even though in the natural it is way smaller than we had before, we’ve managed to make it big enough to work well for us. I thank God for that!

When the Lord gives us a personal message about something that seems so impossible, and we proclaim it, He will confirm it for us, no matter what.

I had a similar experience a few years back with a severe headache.

“It hurts!” I moaned. My hardhat felt too tight, and my head throbbed. Even my eyes hurt. I’d taken ibuprofen but it wasn’t working so I complained out loud until I caught myself. If my head was going to stop hurting, I had to change what I was saying.

I repented, and instead of saying what I had, I called for what I didn’t t have--healing. I said, “The Bible says by His stripes I’m healed. Head, you’re healed.” I called for what I didn’t have. That’s how faith works. Faith calls for things that are not so that they come. It's like I used to call my cat. If I called, “Here kitty kitty, he didn’t show up. But if I called the right thing, “Here Snickers,” he came trotting down the hallway. The right things to call for are in the Bible.

Sometimes we start off good, and we find a scripture or two that fit what we are calling for, but then we get distracted and let it go by the wayside, and the problem returns. That's what happened to me. I started paying more attention to my head hurting than to the healing I was calling for.

I made myself stop and told myself, “You’ve been healed. Healing come here now, in the name of Jesus Christ.” I started to get distracted again, so I gave my head a little swat with my hand and commanded, “Listen up. Stop hurting right now. I’m calling you healed by the stripes of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in charge here, not you.” The pain went away and has never returned. The presence of health replaced the pain. God’s Word puts it this way: God has “chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought [zero] things that are” (1 Cor. 1:28).

When it comes to the Bible, we sometimes have trouble with calling “those things which be not as though they were” (Rom. 4:17). But there are many things we do in everyday life to call things in before we see them.

For example, your best friend tells you she has a birthday present for you. You haven’t touched it yet nor seen it, but you’ve been told it’s there and you fully expect it. It works the same with God’s gifts from the Bible. If He says we have a present of protection (Psalm 91), then we do. If He says He has health for us, then we can call it to us.

Hebrews 11:1 says: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” What do we hope for? We hope for all the things God’s gifted us with. Second Peter 1:3 says He “hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” It’s our job to first do a little research to find them in the Bible then exercise our faith to receive them. We CALL for them. Jesus said, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might SAY unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6). From this passage, we see that “Faith Says.”

If you throw it into the sea, it could come washing back up, but if you plant it, it’s staying there. We plant it with words, God’s words. That’s how my head pain was. It never came back, and that was several years ago.

God's promises of good health, good relationships, sound finances, spiritual know-how, and insight —these are just some of the things God's provided for us. Second Corinthians 1:20 says: “All the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen.”  Amen means “so be it.”

It's up to us to call the gift ours then follow the breadcrumbs the Lord Jesus gives, to get to the right results that are especially made for us. And as Peter found out: “God shows no favoritism. In every nation, he accepts those who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35 NLV). What God has made available for one person is available for any other person because He loves us all.

God only intends good for us. Any evil is only temporary and subject to change. Things change because we have Almighty God on our side. Jesus, His son, showed us how to use faith to call in any of the gifts from God’s heart. The Lord will specifically give us what we can call for in any situation. I’m happy with “The Big Shop” and my healthy head.

Love, Carolyn

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

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+