CRITICAL MEMENTS AND TRAUMATIC EVENTS THAT MAKE US WHO WE ARE

CRITICAL MOMENTS AND TRAUMATIC EVENTS THAT MAKE US WHO WE ARE

Jane lay on the wrinkled sheets of the hospital gurney, groggy coming out of the anesthesia. She wasn’t opening her eyes. Jane had to decide right then and there to either leave this world or fight to stay alive. In talking about it later, she said, “I could hear the male nurse yelling my name over and over, but I refused to listen. I was the last patient of the day, and there were ten patients before me who all had pacemakers put in like me. One thing I knew for sure: I wasn’t done yet. But I was struggling with myself and God. I couldn’t do what I wanted, which was to give up. I knew I had to do what God wanted me to do, which was to come back. So, I opened my eyes.” Jane decided to live and began a new season of her life.

The decisions we make at critical moments and traumatic events are life changers. We all come to crossroads, precipice points where we make the hard choices for our futures: career choices, marriage, divorce, children, health, spiritual choices, and so much more. We rarely get a preliminary warning about which choices will make the biggest difference in how our lives go. The critical moments and traumatic events crash into our lives unexpectedly and demand that we respond.

I had one of those traumatic incidents hit me when I was in college.

The Carbondale University of Illinois in May 1970. I stood in the crowd of protesters chanting, “Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, NLF is going to win.” I picked up a rock and threw it as hard as I could. The minute it flew from my hand I was jolted! What was I doing? I’d gone too far.

I was throwing a baseball-sized rock into a line of police officers, not even thinking who or what it could hit. I quickly backed out of the crowd of protesters and retreated to the trailer. I waited for my friends. I was silent on the trip home.

When I got back to my dorm, I had some real soul-searching to do. I’d come to one of those crossroads. If I stayed with the friends I had at the time, my whole life would have been a different story.

I was afraid of the person I’d become. I didn’t recognize her and didn’t want to be her.

I had to abandon my protester friends and began to look inward and to the Bible for answers. The next semester at school was terribly lonely. I was searching, and I had no friends.

At some point, we all come to crossroads where we honestly ask ourselves, “Why am I doing this?” And then we need to answer ourselves truthfully.  

Second Kings 7 tells us about four lepers who were in that predicament. The enemy was coming from without the city, and there was a great famine within the city. The lepers just sat there. Finally, they woke up and “they said one to another, ‘Why sit we here until we die?’” (2 Kings 7:3). They realized they were foolish just sitting there and waiting to die. Instead, they were motivated by a tiny spark of hope.

They decided that they’d make a move toward the enemy camp and just maybe there was a very slight chance something good would happen. As it turned out, their hope was rewarded. As the lepers went out, the enemy thought they heard a vast army coming against them, and they ran, leaving all their goods behind.

“And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment” (2Kings 7:7). There was so much food and wealth; the whole city was able to prosper from it.

Hope motivated the lepers’ action, and they were rewarded.

Hope is a great attitude to have. Psalm 146: 5 tells us a person can stay happy if he stays in hope: “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord.”

Even if we don’t always make the right decisions, we can pray like David did, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 51:10), because we know that “the Lord looketh [is looking] on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).

When our hearts are right with God, we can be assured that things will work out, no matter what they may look like now. We can smile with hope, “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).

And we do like it says in Philippians 2:12, “work out [our] own salvation [wholeness] with fear [reverence] and respect toward trying to do our absolute best for the Lord,” for we have to trust it really is, “God which worketh [is working] in [us] both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

God Almighty, the Creator of all things, loves us, and we can trust Him to help us, especially at those life-changing crossroads.

Because of hope and reverence for God, Jane came back from death. My traumatic event woke me up and made me look for hope in a different direction, so I gave up my only friends and pursued Jesus and the Bible instead. The four leprous men got up off their butts, and with a little hope, they walked toward the enemy.

When our hope is in the Lord, we will be able to make godly decisions at those critical moments and traumatic events.

We can trust that throughout all our life changes, we can continue to say: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want [lack]” (Ps. 23:1). Our hope in Him will always be rewarded.

Love, Carolyn

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. Name a crossroad or precipice you came to in your life and how it changed you.

2. Where do we find the record of the four lepers?

3. Have you ever had the “why sit we here until we die?” experience, where you had to decide between two seemingly bad options?

4. Can you see some of Christ’s nature manifesting in you? What characteristic of Jesus Christ would you like to see more pronounced in your life?

5. Read Psalm 23. Give an example from your life where the Lord has been a shepherd to you.

This is a chapter from my WINGS: A JOURNEY IN FAITH (Book 2). I’m working on the final edit and then it goes to print. I have several other shorter books and booklets. Take a look:

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MIKI'S MIRACLE

MIKI’S MIRACLE

On Saturday, my friend Miki sent me an Easter greeting along with the following message. Her story is a “WOW!”

“Today is the anniversary of a miracle. It’s the day I woke up mad at myself that I was running late and didn’t drop Mouse off to sleep over at the Vet. God was looking out for her because the Vet clinic burned to the ground and there were no survivors.”

Miki is a dog lover, and God is too. He cares for us, and He also cares about our pets.  

Luke 12:6 says God doesn’t even forget about one sparrow: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?”

Psalm 104:14 says: “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle.” 

God tells us to care about the animals too: “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast” (Proverbs 12:10).

God cared so much about Miki, that He orchestrated a situation where she would be late, so that her little dog, Mouse, was saved from certain death. That was an amazing Easter Miracle.

I’m so thankful that Miki shared that with me so I could share it with all of you.

Love, Carolyn

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LET'S COME UP OUT OF THE GRAVE

LET’S COME UP OUT OF THE GRAVE

This morning I heard about a preacher who gave a talk on all the pagan things relating to Easter. It made me sad. Like we need to hear more awful things about the world right now?! I don’t think so. It’s good to know what’s going on, but to fill our minds with it? I felt myself slipping into a “I want to hide” mood. Jane and I prayed and rebuked the influences trying to put us in a defeated state of mind.

Today we celebrate! The sun still comes up, flowers grow, and animals play. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to give humanity a reason and right to live in freedom and truth. He is the light of the world.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life’” (John 8:12).

I’ve found that to be so true! When I slip into sadness or darkness, Jesus is the one who always pulls me out of the grave in one way or another.

Let’s keep seeking Him and loving Him, the living Christ, forever the one who knows how to do life the best.

Love, Carolyn

JEZEBEL SPIRITS ARE CUNNING, BUT WE ARE WISE

JEZEBEL SPIRITS ARE CUNNING, BUT WE ARE WISE

I was in a situation that taught me firsthand about Jezebel. Most people think this is a spirit that entices men sexually and gets them into trouble. Yes, that’s part of it, but there are different types of Jezebels. Even though the spirit has a female title, it’s not always female. It likes to attach itself to those in positions of authority, but it also tries to bribe ordinary Christians in various shifty ways. I’m going to tell you a true story to illustrate how it works and what the Bible says we can do about it.

When I walked into work, my friend Lilly was staring at a difficult-looking sample to match. It came from a middle management fellow, and it was for his friend and had nothing to do with our regular work.

She avoided it for a week, and she told me she was feeling extremely uncomfortable about doing it. She didn’t even like the fellow who asked her to do it. She was double-minded about even starting it, but she gave in. “I’ll just find a close match as fast as I can, and that’ll be it.”  A couple of weeks went by. Then out of nowhere the purchasing agent, David came to Lilly and asked how the “special” sample was going. The fellow with the original request had called the purchasing agent to see if he could pressure Lilly into hurrying on the illegitimate sample he wanted. 

Lilly was furious. She didn’t like the idea of doing the sample in the first place since it wasn’t a legitimate job. It was something she was just supposed to sneak in on the side. And now she was being seduced and pressured by David to get it done. She fumed and complained all day long. But she made the compromise and did the sample. It was a tricky one and everything that could go wrong did. Instead of doing the work she was supposed to do, she spent almost the whole day on the sample. When she heard that the boss was coming in, she hid all the evidence and pretended to be working on her regular assignments.

Lilly had never done anything like that before. She’d always been very honest in her dealings at work. But David, the purchasing agent, pestered her so much, she gave in and did something dishonest. Now she was caught in the trap. Since Lilly kept the project hidden from her boss, and only David was in on it, David would always be able to use this as blackmail against her any time he wanted another favor. Now David had the power to control Lilly whenever he might want it, which is precisely what a Jezebel spirit wants—CONTROL and POWER.

When a person is under the influence of a Jezebel spirit, the person in whom the spirit is will always try to get others, like Lilly, to join into a secret illegal bonding. With men, this Jezebel spirit will use the power of sexual passions to lure and then control the man. To a woman having this spirit in her, a man doesn’t even have to have physical contact, if a seductive glance of her eyes will do the job of capturing and controlling him enough to get what she wants.

The first mention of Jezebel in the Bible is with the manipulative wife of King Ahab. The Jezebel demon has existed way before the woman named Jezebel came along. But she is a noteworthy prototype, and thus the name, “Jezebel spirit.” She coerced over ten million Hebrews to bow to Baal and to kill God’s prophets. This one spirit was responsible for corrupting an entire nation. It is intensely ambitious, but it doesn’t want to be the King, it wants to be the sneaky shadow, controlling the King, as it keeps its packet of secret alliances ready for use whenever it wants something. Jezebel is a master of enticement and blackmail.

Proverbs 5:3 tells us: “The lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil.” And Proverbs 7:5: “Keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.” In these two verses, the word “stranger” is a Hebrew word meaning “a stranger to the truth, an alien, an enemy, one who turns aside.”

When I saw these verses, David, the purchasing agent, came to mind. He has an unusually sweet, quiet, soft way of speaking—very compelling. One time he came up to me and whispered, “I think I put that big gouge in the floor. Do you think you could fix it without the boss seeing it?” I thought that was a little strange. I thought, “If the boss wants me to fix it, tell him, and he can authorize it. Otherwise, I’ll just keep doing what I’m hired to do.” And I never did a thing about it and never mentioned it again. At the time I had no idea what he was up to, but just glad the Holy Spirit in me didn’t let me get trapped by the sweet and oh so innocent-sounding voice! I’m sure many of you recognize this “charming enticer.”

Deuteronomy 13:6 tells us about the Jezebel spirit: “If thy brother, or thy son or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known.” That pretty much says it right there. The gods who are other than the true God are the ones who want us to do dishonest things: Things like stealing time, lying about things, hiding things—all those things that we intuitively know are bad. But with the clever enticement of a close relative or a friend, this Jezebel spirit knows all the right words to get us off track enough to do something that could easily come back to bite us later if we don’t chop it’s head off immediately.

Proverbs 23:27 tells us: “A strange woman is a narrow pit.” In other words, a tough one to get out of. First Corinthians puts it another way: “What? Know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh.” Second Corinthians says: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” Just one hook-up with evil can take us down a long dark snake hole!

Proverbs 7:21-27:

“With her much fair speech, she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now, therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.”

“Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.”

So, what does the Bible say we are to do about a Jezebel person when they try to charm or trap us?

Proverbs 2:10-11 and 16 give us part of the answer: “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee, to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words.” “Discretion” is translated from a Hebrew word that means “a plan, craftiness.” Jesus tells us: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16).

Where it says “understanding shall keep thee,” the word “keep” means to “preserve and guard against danger.” Now that you understand something about what a Jezebel spirit does, you can make a plan to keep yourself from the person in whom it’s operating.

Proverbs 5:8 tells us: “Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house.” Second Corinthians 6:17 corroborates what Proverbs says: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

There’s another point that’s important here. Deuteronomy 13:8 tells us: “Neither shall thine eye pity him.” This demon elicits pity from its prey. Because the person exhibiting the Jezebel spirit talks so nicely and seems like such a gentle and pleasant person, we are tempted to feel sorry for them and be nicer toward them, but God says don’t do it.

The way God has made for these people to get delivered from these demons is to be exposed and made naked. When exposed, they get so ashamed that they want to be delivered and get free from that spirit that is ruling their actions. See Hosea 2:5 and 19, Ezekiel 16 and 32.

There are many more examples of how Jezebels lure good people down bad paths. The record of Samson and Delilah comes to mind.

I hadn’t thought much about Jezebels until I saw the situation at work with Lilly and David. After studying Jezebels in the Bible, I can easily see them in real life. I do what the Bible says to do—avoid or expose. I hope this article will be helpful to you as most of us are seeing Jezebels much more often than we ever imagined. Now we know what the Bible tells us to do about them.

Love, Carolyn

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HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND GET RID OF GENERATIONAL CURSES

HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND GET RID OF GENERATIONAL CURSES

What would make three brothers kidnap three girls, lock them up in ropes and chains, and torture them for ten years? The devil and bad blood, that’s what. When Adam sinned and turned his back on God, the bloodline of all humanity was affected. The tendency toward sin literally got into his blood and was passed from generation to generation.

Adam sinned, and his son became the first murderer. It’s hard to imagine some of the horrible things we hear about. Many of these evils come about because of generational curses. “The guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exod. 34:7).

There are lots of different kinds of generational curses, some more notorious than others. There is a way we can recognize them, and identifying a generational curse is the first step to deliverance from it. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lists many of the generational curses that are still in existence to this day. Take time to read it this week.

When we read the Bible, we can see the wrong thinking and bad habits passed from father to son, mother to daughter, etc. Sometimes you’ll see that a curse skips a generation and comes roaring back to a grandchild. The Old Testament is full of examples of generational curses:

“And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God” (1 Kings 15:3).

“And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah and reigned over Israel two years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father” (1 Kings 15:25-26). King David lusted after Bathsheba and even had her husband killed so he could have her. Then Solomon, his son, “loved many strange women: of the nations concerning which the Lord said, ‘Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’ Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and went not fully after the Lord” (1 Kings 11:1-3, 6).

In our times, we see molested children sometimes becoming molesters when they get older. We see children of alcoholic parents becoming alcoholics themselves. Other examples of generational curses are stealing, uncontrollable lying, drug abuse, eating disorders, other addictions, erroneous thinking about finances, irrational fears, physical sicknesses, and diseases, inexplicable early deaths and mental problems, just to name a few.

But every evil can be overcome. God made a way to cleanse the sin that causes bad blood supernaturally.

The answer is Jesus. Because He shed His perfect blood, we receive redemption when we accept Him into our hearts. Our new spiritual blood flow is without the curses that came before. It is up to us to allow it. We have to get strong against the devil’s forces that want us to consent to a life peppered with all the bad we seem to be stuck with.

But we’re not stuck with it; God sent Jesus as a Savior for us. He can supernaturally wipe away all generational curses.

We have to first read God’s Word to convince ourselves, and then tell the devil and his evil forces what we now believe the truth: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse” (Gal. 3:13).

We keep reading the scriptures and let the truth enter our hearts and change them from the inside out. Only the Spirit of God can get in between the cracks of our brains, our other organs, our souls, to repair, heal, restore and create the new being God intended for us to be.

And just because we believe for the miraculous doesn’t eliminate the physical things God’s already put in order, like food, sleep, medicines, environment. All these things are part of how the Lord may lead you to deliverance. Be open to His Spirit for direction.

Every change is a miracle at the cellular level, no matter how long it takes. And God is a miracle-working God.

Love, Carolyn

QUESTIONS AND EASY CHALLENGES

1. Can you name one or two examples of a generational curse you’ve read about in the news or seen in your own experiences?

2. How do generational curses get passed down? Give a couple of examples from the Bible of generational curses.

3. Where does it say Jesus redeems us?

4. Is there hope of being different and released from evil curses? Where in the Bible does it say we can be new creations?

This article is from my second WINGS book. I’m now re-editing it for print. Thanks for your prayers. I’d like to get the paperback copy out this year.

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WHAT CAN I DO WHEN IT'S NOT FUN ANYMORE?

WHAT CAN I DO WHEN IT’S NOT FUN ANYMORE?

Have you ever found yourself in your normal routine and you’re doing something you used to like, but you realize you don’t like it anymore? That’s not a happy situation, so what can we do to make it better?

Step one is to admit we don’t like it. “How does the situation make you feel?” We’re not going to make hasty decisions based on feelings, but we’re not going to deny them either. Feelings are just that, feelings. They aren’t good or bad. The devil didn’t invent emotions. God gave them to us. Like a barometer, they’re good for monitoring our atmospheric pressure.

We need to openly admit that something has changed in the activity or something has changed in us to make us feel unhappy with what we’re doing. If we’re going to move ahead with a healthy attitude, there’s no more room for pretending that everything is okay. Step one: How does the activity make us feel?

Step two is to take a good look at the activity and answer a few simple questions. Often we float through activities without giving them much thought. I was involved in a weight loss program for several years. I reached my goal weight, kept it off and developed good eating habits. There came the point when I felt like I wasn’t learning anything new, and the flavor of the weekly meetings soured.

My friend Miki kept asking, “Why are you still going? You don’t need to.” I’d give her some lame answer and just kept on going. Sometimes other people see us better than we see ourselves, so when we’re serious about examining our activities, trusted friends can help.  We may be doing something only out of habit, and not because it’s advancing us to a better place.

In Quantum physics, atoms consist of electrons orbiting around a nucleus. The electrons exist in a wave state, like a cloud, whirling about the nucleus. That is until it’s observed. When the scientist observes it, suddenly the electron appears as a particle and no longer a wave. It can be like that with our lives—things, activities, people and ideas all whirling about us in obscure cloud-like forms. They don’t show their true nature until we take the time to observe them. Then things become clear.

In step two, we take a closer look at the disagreeable activity and ask a few simple questions.  “Why do I feel this way now, when I didn’t before?” “Has the activity changed?” “Have I changed?” Once we answer these questions, we’re ready to move on to Step three.

In step three we ask ourselves, “Even though I’m unhappy with this activity now, is it moving me toward my goals?”

If it’s not, then it’s time to pray about dropping it. Some things will be okay to drop right away. With other matters, the Holy Spirit may direct us to wait or take baby steps toward leaving the activity behind. Praying for the Lord’s guidance will be essential.

In First Corinthians 12 we learn that God is willing to give us a word of knowledge and a word of wisdom. Knowledge tells us what’s going on, and wisdom tells us what to do about it. Both of these are available from God to us. But if we still have some doubts about whether we should keep doing the activity or let it go, then we need to go on to the next and final step four.

Step four is the last step. We ask the question, “Are the benefits of this activity worth the pain to stay with it?” Jesus said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:28 & 31).

Make a list of the benefits, then a list of the detriments to staying with this activity. We prayerfully take the time to weigh the worth.

We’re a quarter way through 2019. It’s a good time to examine our goals and the activities we’re doing in light of those goals.

We ask ourselves, “What are my major goals: in relationships, in work, in exercise, health, spiritual matters, finances, entertainment, relaxation, hobbies, and special interests?” 

Then we take each category and observe the activities around each. We make those activities stop swirling like a cloud and instead become clear like the electron particles of an atom, with observation. Did we find any extremely unsatisfying activities? Then we carefully go through the four steps to change the circumstances. 

Step One: How does the activity make me feel?

Step Two: What has changed?

Step Three: Is the activity putting me closer to my goal? If not, how do I drop it?

Step Four: Is this activity worth the cost?

God wants us to live a satisfied life, and that means changing things up every once in a while to get ourselves to a better place.

Love, Carolyn

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INTEGRITY IS IMPORTANT

INTEGRITY IS IMPORTANT

When I was an executive assistant many years ago, 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 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 I’d rather say no to my boss and yes to God. As it turned out, I kept my job, even though my boss didn’t like me much after that.

That incident was a long time ago, but today 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 shopping 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 the Word of God would have us be. I confess that 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 thrilled with it.” (Sounds like Saul blaming his disobedience on “the people” in 1 Samuel 15:15, doesn’t it?)

Though Satan’s temptation to be dishonest never seems to go away, we do have the ability through Christ, to repent and change, thank God! “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). God wouldn’t tell us to be honest unless He already knew He’d given us the inner strength to do it. And as an extra bonus, He rewards us for having the faith to just “man up” and carry it out, in spite of our fears or rebellion.

“But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6).

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, (especially at tax time when I’m tempted to add a few extra receipts into my deductions). Dishonesty with God is definitely not worth it!  

And I’ve found that sometimes people are ignorant of their deception. We tend to follow the crowd. And what we see other people do, we do it too. But we should always be taking our actions to God, not to what others get away with.

David was able to say: “Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide” (Psalm 26:1). 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 or a few extra dollars in tax returns? 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 we want working for us? Unfortunately, if people are dishonest in one category, they are most likely dishonest in more. Acts 6:3 is an excellent 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.” And do them.

I pray that the rest of this year 2019, we live honesty, in integrity and truth.

Love, Carolyn

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THE WISDOM OF A FRIEND

THE WISDOM OF A FRIEND

I am a responsible person, but maybe like some of you, I sometimes take on the responsibility that doesn’t belong to me, and it can get me in trouble.

When we fall prey to weaknesses in our personalities, it’s great to have a wise spiritual friend to turn to—someone we can trust, who will listen to our problems and tell us the truth.

My best friend Jane is that person. I’ve said, “Everyone needs a Jane” on several occasions. She is extremely wise. She’s like a scout in the frontier days. She knows my capabilities and my weaknesses, and she can also spot the traps.

When we lived in South Africa, we learned about water buffalo and how, when they know they are being hunted, they circle back and hunt the hunter. Jane’s like a spiritual tracker, who can see what that buffalo is doing and then get out of its way and to safety.

I remember a time at work when I almost fell into the “taking on someone else’s responsibility” trap.

I started to fill out some paperwork a new worker gave me, but I didn’t feel at peace about it. Something just wasn’t right, and I didn’t know what it was. I mulled it over for three days, and it was still bothering me, so I told the story to Jane.

She instantly saw it for what it was spiritually – a trap!

It was not any of my business to handle the paperwork. It should have gone to my boss. But when the new worker gave it to me, I somehow felt responsible, and I took it. When Jane pointed that out, I realized that although the paperwork wasn’t given to the wrong person on purpose, and even though I could have easily filled it out, it wasn’t my job. I sure didn’t want to put a rift between my boss and myself over a silly piece of paperwork.

When we know what’s our responsibility and what’s not, it’s easier to stay free from stress in that area.

Jane helped me with that. If you don’t have a spiritual scout to watch out for you and who will listen and honestly help you, you can certainly pray for someone to come your way. Having someone who knows us and watches out for us is a great blessing!

Love, Carolyn

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