DON'T BURDEN THE DONKEY

DON’T BURDEN THE DONKEY

This morning I realized I was in one of those in-between stages. A few weeks ago, when I started reading Jonathan Cahn’s book, RETURN OF THE GODS, the Lord inspired me to do a write-up on the book so that people could see some of the amazing things Cahn put together on the demons who have attacked, infiltrated and, in many cases began to dominate our current culture and lives. So last week I did that. It was quite a bit of effort but well worth it. It was one of those things that when God wants it done, there’s an urgency to it that you just cannot ignore, and you have to go full speed ahead until you’re done. So I finished my write-up, and now what?

 

There are so many things I want to do: start working on a painting, clean up the patio, paint the wall where I just finished a stucco patch, draw, get back to working on volume 2 of my BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE series, finish up the update on my trust, finish the Hemingway book I’m reading now, etc., etc. But when I started telling Jane about all those things, I realized I needed to just stop for a minute. What does the Lord want me to do this week?

 

Then I realized that it wasn’t up to me to prioritize the tasks for this week, but rather, up to the Lord. Letting the Lord lead me is the only way to ease up the scramble of so many tasks and so little time. When I thought about it, I instantly felt at ease. I know that since I give it to Jesus, it will be easy, and I will be doing the right things at the right time.

 

You probably know that about a month ago, I started claiming 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and every day when Jane and I pray, I tell God that we’re giving Him our bodies, minds, emotions, and spirit. It’s becoming a fundamental part of me, and the truth of what’s in my heart now manifests in my daily life.

 

There are two other scriptures we pray about letting the Lord lead us. One is where God tells Joshua: “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you” (Josh. 1:3). I take that as Him giving me the path before I take it. It’s not about my desire, but about His. And Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

 

So, seeing where He leads me this week will be exciting, and I don’t have to be anxious about it or worry at all.

 

I put out a preach letter many years ago and I loved the photo I found to go with it. The donkey is pulling a cart and has so many packages piled up in the cart that the cart falls to the ground, and the donkey is up in the air. That’s how we get when we stress over all the stuff we want to do. It’s not bad that we know what we’d like to do, but it’s definitely not God’s will that we get so overburdened that we’re up in the air, thinking, thinking, stressing, and getting nothing done! Like I tell people, hearing the Lord’s voice takes practice. We need to ask Him what’s the first thing we should do, and do it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. You’ll get to know Him. It’s fun and the most satisfying thing ever. You’ll see.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

AHAB AND JEZEBEL COMPANION SPIRITS

AHAB AND JEZEBEL COMPANION SPIRITS

A Jezebel demon is charming. It can operate in a man or a woman. But it can’t operate at full capacity without its companion spirit, Ahab. When Ahab, one of God’s anointed leaders, married Jezebel, it was not a godly partnership. God didn’t say anything about Jezebel at this point, but instead, 1 Kings 16:30 reads: “Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.” What is it about an Ahab that makes God unhappy? The Ahab spirit makes good people weak and easily manipulated. God doesn’t want His people manipulated by demons. The Ahab spirit knows that a person wants to feel worthwhile, wants to be powerful and make a difference in life.  But the Ahab spirit makes the person compromise and capitulate to get a feeling of control that he doesn’t deserve.  

 

An Ahab values peace more than purity. He or she would rather make a truce than a righteous covenant. They fear confrontation and will do just about anything to avoid it. Those under the influence of an Ahab spirit are passive. They like the position of authority but look for someone else to make the confrontational and difficult decisions. They allow the person under the spirit of Jezebel to have acting authority. Ahab of the Bible allowed Jezebel to set up her witchcraft, her sacrifices to Baal and Ashtoreth, her strange rituals and eventually Ahab sat by, letting Jezebel even murder the true prophets of God. Jezebel is a charmer, funny, engaging and even delightful, but once in control, vicious.

 

The word “Jezebel” means “unmarried, uncommitted, unrestricted.” A Jezebel spirit is always looking for an Ahab to control. Jezebel is not committed to Ahab but uses Ahab to facilitate his or her plans. And Ahab is a willing client. In psychology, the relationship between Ahab and Jezebel is called co-dependency. Jezebel needs a weak person and Ahab, who hates confrontation, needs a strong one.

 

Ahab conforms, compromises and counterfeits. He or she doesn’t want to make waves. Peace is prized above truth and the feeling of serenity above purity. 1 Kings 16:31 says Ahab thought it was no big deal to connect with Jezebel and “walk in the sins of Jeroboam.” Jeroboam was a master of compromise. The people were supposed to go to Jerusalem for their feast, but since Jeroboam was afraid that the people would switch their loyalty to the king in Jerusalem, he decided he better keep the people from going there. Instead, he made up his own rules, contrary to the rules of God.

 

It looked pretty good, but it was a counterfeit. Jeroboam made some gold statues similar to the ones they made in the wilderness, set up two places for the feast—places much easier to get to than Jerusalem, and he changed the feast month to make it more convenient for him. (See 1 Kings 11:26-16:27.) It didn’t work out well for Jeroboam or his people.

 

When compromise starts, it escalates into the making up of new rules and situational ethics. Jezebel is allowed to make the rules, while Ahab feels obligated to religiously follow them, for fear of confrontation, a fight, or losing the relationship entirely.  An Ahab recognizes wrong, but fear binds him. The Ahab can see a wrong but is afraid of the consequences of standing up to it.

 

The devil always wants to set up unhealthy, unholy co-dependent relationships and the Ahab/Jezebel is a perfect example.

 

The great thing is that both of these demon spirits are flighty—they easily flit back and forth, in and out. They’re fickle, which makes them easier to tackle and take out. They’re renters, not homeowners. When we recognize their characteristics, we can do something about them.

 

Rebuke them in the name of Jesus Christ. Tell them they cannot be in charge of you anymore. Expose them and cast them out, in the name of Jesus. As it says in Philippians 2:10: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.”

 

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). We are bold and brave. We do not have to be co-dependent with anyone but the Lord. He is our safety, our leader, our standard.

 

We don’t bow to anyone but God because only He deserves our love and trust. The Lord loves us enough to hear our prayers and set us free of any demons. His rewards for relationship are everlasting, and eternally good.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

God inspires my writing, and you can find other great life-changing insights in the digital downloads and paperback editions found on Amazon under my name. If you would like to receive a free sample e-book, find the one on Amazon that you’d like and email me at  carolynmolica@hotmail.com .

 

 

Watch this week for my articles on the amazing content in Jonathan Cahn’s book, THE RETURN OF THE GODS. He exposes three main demons who are prominent now in America. If you haven’t read the book yet, I highly recommend it!

 

 

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Yesterday I heard a man use the phrase: “God is in control.” He has the right to use it because he has surrendered his life to the Lord’s leadership on a daily basis. For him, using that phrase is accurate and justified. But for too many people it is an excuse for apathy. “Well, I can’t do that much anyway. I just let God be in control.” But it doesn’t work that way. If God were in control of everything, Adam and Eve would have never sinned; David wouldn’t have killed Uriah to steal his wife; Peter wouldn’t have denied Jesus three times.

 

There are certain things that God is in control of, but we need to be sure we are not shirking our responsibilities and apathetically turning over the tasks at hand to God because we are too lazy or afraid to take responsibility for what He’s given us to do.

 

God gave humanity freedom to choose. God inspired Joshua to make the people decide: “If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

 

When the Israelites came to the edge of the Promised Land in eleven days, Moses sent out twelve spies to check out the situation. God brought them to the land He’d promised them. But there were obstacles.

 

When God brings us to a new place in our walk with Him, there are going to be obstacles, but that’s no reason to give up and lamely excuse ourselves by saying: “Well God’s in control, so I’ll just sit here and see what He does.” There’s a time for waiting, but if the Lord is leading us and we’re yielding to Him, we may discover that there are more times He calls us to action than the times He asks us to sit on the sidelines.

 

The Israelites were supposed to go into the Promised Land after eleven days, but since ten of the twelve spies saw obstacles, the people got afraid and wouldn’t go in. And God couldn’t make them go in. God doesn’t force us. He gave us freedom of will. The Lord wanted them to be bold and act, but they wouldn’t do it. (See Numbers 13 and 14.)

 

Fear and apathy go hand in hand. “The slothful man saith, ‘There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.’ As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed” (Prov. 26:13-14).

 

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth,” says the Lord in Revelation 3:16.

 

If we are going to use the phrase, “God is in control,” let’s mean it in our personal lives and use it in the right way, because we have chosen to surrender all to Him, daily yielding to His every call to action. Let’s sign with Him in contract, be with Him in action.

 

Be bold. No more sitting on the sideline thinking God is going to do all the work. We’re in a team and we all need to go forward utilizing our unique talents for our God and His kingdom.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

My most recent book, BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE, is full of great short stories of animals, and how God utilizes their unique character to teach us about Himself and our world. Fun summer reading!

 

It’s $15 on Amazon, but I have copies here at home for $10. Send your $10 and address to me at 4401 El Parque Ave. Las Vegas NV 89102 if you’d like a signed copy for only $10 😊

 

https://www.amazon.com/BIBLE-LESSONS-NATURE-Carolyn-Molica/dp/B0BV4GC859/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QACB0S8NH0BF&keywords=bible+lessons+from+nature&qid=1676485121&sprefix=%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-1

 

NEHEMIAH'S SPECIAL PRAYER

NEHEMIAH’S SPECIAL PRAYER

Nehemiah was one of the Israelites who was taken into captivity in Persia. God favored him and made him the personal assistant to the King. When Nehemiah found out that there was a big problem in Jerusalem (over 900 miles away), his heart went out for the people. The first thing he did was pray. It was a different kind of prayer. Nehemiah asked God for a hearing, like in a court case.

 

There are several places in the Bible where God requires Nehemiah-type prayer.

 

God asked this kind of court-case prayer of Isaiah. He says to Isaiah: “Meet me in court! State your case and prove that you are right.” That’s the Contemporary English Version. The Amplified reads: “Remind me [of your merits with a thorough report], let us plead and argue our case together. State your position, that you may be proved right.” And the KJV: “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified” (Isa. 43:26).

 

The elements of Nehemiah’s court-case prayer are as follows.

 

1. RECOGNIZE THE FEAR OF GOD. Nehemiah addressed Him: “I beseech thee, O Lord God of Heaven, the great and terrible God” (Neh. 1:5a). The word “terrible,” in the Hebrew means “to be feared, or morally to revere. It means to cause astonishment, to be held in awe or godly fear.

 

Nehemiah was well aware of the wrath of God Almighty, the vengeance of God that took place when He merely took His hand of blessing off of people and let them reap the consequences of bad behavior. The results, as Nehemiah had experienced personally, were perilous, destructive, miserable, full of anguish, failure, and deep depression—all the things the devil loves to put on God’s people.

 

Nehemiah verbally recognized God’s right to be angry.

 

2. REMIND GOD THAT HE IS A GOD OF MERCY. Nehemiah reminded God that He is the God “that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments” (v.5b).

 

3. CONFESS AND REPENT FOR SINS. Nehemiah not only confessed and repented of his own sins, but he also confessed and repented for the sins of the people. “I pray before thee now, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments” (vv.6-7).

 

Notice that Nehemiah mentioned the sins of his father’s house. There are sins we commit on purpose; we know better but we do them anyway. Then there are “sins of our fathers.” The Bible term for this is “iniquity.” These are patterns of thinking and acting that we “naturally” fall into, sins in our blood. They are sins we may or may not even be aware of until we see the painful consequences they bring to our lives. Nehemiah’s heart was broken when he heard about the people in Jerusalem, and he knew that they had fallen back into bloodline sins: apathy, moral compromises, rebellion, stubbornness, pride, abuse, ungodly priorities.

 

Nehemiah understood and repented for the people.

 

4. PRESENT THE EVIDENCE. This is where Nehemiah went back to the scriptures to present evidence of God’s mercy to His people even after they sinned. He reminds God of how He worked in the time of Moses, how He told Moses if they didn’t do right, they’d be scattered and how if the people would turn back to Him, He’d gather them back and bless them. Then Nehemiah put his plea forward and basically said: “Since you did it for Moses, how about us?”

 

5. ASK FOR PARDON AND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD. Nehemiah then asked God: “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer” (v.11). In the same verse, Nehemiah also asked God: “Prosper [move forward and make successful] thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man [the King of Persia].”

 

Nehemiah’s court case with God was a huge success. As it turns out, God blessed Nehemiah by working in the King to send Nehemiah to Jerusalem to take care of the problems. The King also sent letters to those in authority to make sure Nehemiah had all the physical supplies he would need to totally rebuild the walls and gates of the city. Building the walls and gates turned out to be much more of a blessing than just protection. It unified the people, strengthened their hearts, turned them back to God’s ways and healed them.

 

Just to confirm the five elements of Nehemiah’s prayer:

 

1.      RECOGNIZE THE FEAR OF GOD

 

2.      REMIND GOD THAT HE IS A GOD OF MERCY

 

3.      CONFESS AND REPENT FOR SINS

 

4.      PRESENT THE EVIDENCE

 

5.      ASK FOR PARDON AND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD

 

I pray that God will help us to remember this type of prayer when we need it.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

My new book, BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE, is full of fun stories about how God uses nature to teach us His ways. This book is appropriate for young people as well as adults. 😊 And if you’d like to write a review, that would be great. We writers know that a good review makes a big difference. Thanks.