Tag: #GoodNews

The thought crossed my mind one day that those who refuse to accept God’s word as absolute truth are believing a blatant lie. While this has some truth to it, I think God showed me how the deception can occur and that it may not always be their intention, simply because the untruth seems more logical.

I have been doing discussion board posts for over a year and I know I am supposed to reply to the other student’s original post, but somehow one day a couple of weeks ago, it seemed very logical to me to post my reply on another student’s reply to me, to carry on the conversation. Now, as my teacher pointed out and, by the way, knocked off several valuable points for not following directions, I was wrong. No matter how logical it seemed, it was not according to the instructions from my professor. She told me that the directions to follow are provided on the rubric. Now if I had taken time to re-read it and refresh my memory of this truth and her instructions, I could have avoided my error and saved myself some points.

Things can seem very logical, especially if most people around us are following a path of popular belief. It made me realize they are not always refusing to believe God’s truth, although some are, but rather are believing a lie based on what seems logical to them and those of influence around them. This is a deception the enemy loves. Maybe this deception occurs when we are not in the word enough to allow God to point out the misconception the world is selling. The enemy is subtle, he uses enough truth sprinkled over a lie to cover it up and make it taste better as it is digested. If we are not careful, we allow our desires and beliefs to override Scripture. This gives Satan a foothold in our life and can wreak havoc.

God says, “His thoughts are not our thoughts, and neither are our ways His ways” (Isaiah 55:8). No matter how many times you hear, “follow your heart”, we cannot trust our own heart to steer us in the right direction (Jeremiah 17:9; Eph. 4:22). We need to pray for spiritual discernment and wisdom to guide us. This takes studying the Word and spending time listening and mediating on Scripture to learn the voice of God so we can properly test the spirits and our own thoughts through the help of the Holy Spirit.

In A Heart Ablaze John Bevere writes that we can sometimes create an idol in our lives without being conscious of it.

“If we still desire a worldly lifestyle, which is against the flow of God’s authority, we can have it by subconsciously serving “our Jesus,” whose will is in accordance with our own desires. Without realizing it we have a manageable deity! It is a subtle deception, not a blatant lie….we can filter God’s word and commands through our culturally influenced thinking.”

Don’t take my word for it, read the Scriptures, and pray for spiritual discernment. I don’t bring these messages as a form of judgement on anyone, I need to take heed as well, but only to warn others of the tactics of the enemy and challenge us all to be diligent about what we believe and in whom we entrust our truth. God’s authority or man? It is not enough to simply believe in Jesus Christ, but we must also take heed of His Word and live by it to the best of our ability. None of us are perfect, only Christ is perfect. But we can look to Him as our example and role model and strive to be more like Him every day.

When is the last time you read the rubric?

I believe I have posted a message before about my dream when I was in an abusive relationship, but God brought it to my attention again recently, and is worth mentioning again.

At a time in my life when I was in a dark place, in an abusive relationship, I had a dream that I was sitting on the top row of bleachers with my abuser in an open field. I looked up and, in the distance, I saw three old planes coming into view and they flew on past over our heads. Next, I saw 3 newer fighter jets and they also flew over us. Then I saw black hawk helicopters and they too flew on past.

Lastly, I saw something white flying towards us, as they got closer, I could see that it was several solid white horses, but they didn’t fly on past. As they began to land in the distance, I could see the last few were in an array of pastel colors; blue, pink, and purple. They started to head my direction and as they approached, I saw they were majestic unicorns. They came straight up to me with great intention. I held out my hand and just as the first one got close enough to touch my hand, I woke up.

It is only in hindsight that I believe this was a message about my upcoming rescue. God was sending out all the forces of His army to come after this one lost sheep (Luke 15:4, ESV). The lyrics to Lauren Daigle’s song Rescue express this very well. He had a rescue plan so elaborate and incredible, some days I still cannot believe the lengths He went to, to bring me to Himself. My journey isn’t over, my story is still being written, but my life has changed forever, for the better, through God’s good graces. I am grateful every single day for His rescue and my adoption (Rom. 8:15-16).

It is not the first rescue mission God has been on and I am certain it will not be the last, but the ultimate rescue mission was the one where He sent His Son Jesus to die on that old rugged cross to save His people. He entered the world as a human and walked the earth, endured suffering and shame and died for our sins so we could be saved. A great rescue mission of a loving Father who is still coming after His lost sheep today.

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8).