Wherever The Light Is, The darkness Tries To Put It Out

                                                 When The Door Slams

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man' I put aside childish things. For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known. Now three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.                                                                                                                      (1 Corinthian 13:11-13 HCSB)

            What accounts for all the anger and horror in the world around us? Where are the angels? Can they come if we refuse to believe in them? What accounts for the darkness in human hearts as the world becomes more and more secular? Why are people turning to drugs for comfort rather than to the Light of Love? I don't know the answers to these questions. But I do know that wherever the light is, the darkness tries to snuff it out. 

            Perhaps all the terrible things that are happening are, indeed, a sign that the Spirit of Love is MIA, that more and more of us are turning to this ferocious power who pushes us into doing what we don't think we can do, who gives us courage we never dreamed we had. I take the devil and his crafty plans seriously indeed. One thing which we can count on the devil to do is to take the original good which God created, and try to make something ugly out of it. Sometimes he succeeds--though that does not make the original good any less good. There are people today who play with the powers of love, who take them trivially, who seek easy answers. 

            Think about this: There are no easy answers, but I think we need to be aware that if we deny the world beyond the world of technology and provable fact, we do to our own pitfall. "The miracles of Jesus were the ordinary works of His Father, wrought small and swift that we might take them in." 

            Affirmation: Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered                                           (Romans 8:35-36). 

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness     

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Our Faith Or Unbelief Is Determined By Our Understanding

                                                When The Door Slams

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrew 4:14-16 NIV)      

            Our faith or unbelief is determined by what we understand. Few of us realize the effect of our spoken word on our own hearts or on our adversary. The adversary hears us when we profess failure, sickness, and the lack of finances, apparently he doesn't forget; and we unconsciously go down to the level of our own understanding. No one ever rises above it. If you confess sickness, it develops sickness in your system. If you confess doubt, the doubts become stronger. If you confess the lack of finances, it stops the money from coming in. You say, "I can't understand this." No. Because most of us live in a paradox realm and spiritual things are very indistinct.

            Hebrews 4:14 must become a constant reality: "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our  confession "(NKJV). Our confession is that the Word cannot be broken, that what the Father says is true. When we doubt the Father, we are doubting His Word. When we doubt His Word, it is because we believe something else that is contrary to that Word. Our confidence may be in the arm of the flesh; it may be in medicine; it may be in institutions; but whatever our confidence is in, if it contradicts the Word, it destroys our faith life. It destroys our prayers. It brings us again into bondage.

            Think about this: Every person who walks by faith will have testing's. They do not come from the Father; they come from the Adversary. He is refusing to allow you to escape him. You become dangerous to the Adversary when you become strong enough to resist him--when you have learned to trust in the ability of the Father to meet your every need. When that becomes a reality in your consciousness, the Adversary is defeated. 

            But as long as he can confuse the issue and keep you in a state of flux, you are at a disadvantage. May your confidence in the Word be strengthened to give you wisdom to know that no Word from God is void of power or can go by default. There is no power in all the universe to void one statement of fact in His Word. Your confidence is in the unbroken, living Word, and as you hold fast to your faith in the face of every assault of the enemy.

            Affirmation: The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." The word of the LORD came to me again: "What do you see?" (Jeremiah 1:12-13 NIV)            

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                    Never Rest Ministries 

The Main Tactic Of The Enemy Is Deception

                                     When The Door Slams

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-11 NIV)  

            We are not to be ignorant of the Devil's Tactics. We can overcome all the schemes of the devil. The devil is a schemer. A scheme is a plan, design, or program of action. The Bible talks about the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11) A wile is a trick or a trap. A trap is a snare. 

            Warfare involves tactics and strategies. The greatest generals are great tacticians and strategies. You cannot win without a strategy. Don't allow the enemy to strategize against you. Overcome and destroy his strategies through prayer. Traps and snares are hidden. People fall into traps unknowing. We are delivered from the snare of the fowler. A fowler is a hunter. Satan is the hunter of souls. We can release ourselves and others through prayer. 

            The main tactic of the enemy is deception. He is a liar and the father of lies. The Word of God exposes the tactics of the enemy. God is light, and His Word is light. The light exposes the enemy and tears down the darkness. 

            Multitudes of people are deceived by the enemy. There are hosts of lying and deceiving spirits that work under the authority of Satan. These spirits include delusion, deception, lying, seducing, blinding, error, and guile. Our praying can strip the power of these deceiving spirits and cause the eyes of people to be opened.

            David struggles were with natural enemies. Behind these natural enemies were spiritual ones that were opposed to the Davidic kingdom. Jesus was to come from this line and and sit upon this throne. David was fighting something beyond the natural. Through the Holy Spirit he was contending with the powers of darkness that were set against the arrival of the kingdom of God.

             The powers were also manifested through Herod, who attempted to kill the coming Messiah. Herod was driven by spirits of fear and murder. He was used by Satan to attempt to abort the coming kingdom. However, the Holy Spirit had already been loosed through the prayers of David, and Throne were secure. 

            Think about this: Many of these warfare prayers are taken from the psalms of David. Jesus is the Son of David. He sits on the throne of David's prophetic prayers were weapons against the enemy's attempt to stop the promised seed. David's victories in prayer opened the way for his throne to continue. The throne of wickedness was unable to overcome the throne of righteousness.

            David consumed his enemies (Ps. 18:37-40). He did not turn until they were destroyed . We must see our spiritual enemies completely destroyed. We must pursue the enemy. To pursue mean "to follow in order to overtake of capture." It means "to chase with hostile intent." We cannot be passive when it comes to warfare.

             Affirmation: The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. (2 Samuel 3:1)

Ask the Holly Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.   

                                                    Never Rest Ministries                              

                 

They Conquered The Devil With Words

                                                When The Door Slams 

            This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, welcome the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and depart in a time of testing. As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.                                        (Luke 8:11-14 HCSB) 

            Few of us realize that our faith imprisons us. The right kind of faith will set us free. It is not only our thinking; it is our words, our conversation, that builds power or weakness into us. Our words are the understanding in the kingdom of faith. Our words snare us and hold us in captivity or they set us free and become powerful in the lives of others. It is what we confess with our lips that really dominates our inner beings. We unconsciously confess what we believe. If we talk sickness, it is because we believe in sickness. If we talk weakness and failure, it is because we believe in weakness and failure.

            We get in the habit of confessing our weakness, and our faith adds to the strength of our weakness. We confess our lack of faith, and we are filled with doubts. When we realize that we will never rise above our faith, we are getting to the place where God can really begin to use us. We confess that by His stripes we are healed; when we hold fast to our faith, no disease can stand before you. 

            Whether you realize it or not, you are sowing  spiritual words, just as Jesus said in Luke 8:11: "The seed is the word of God." The Sower went forth to sow, and the seed he was sowing was the Word of God. This is the seed we should sow. It is when we confess the Word of God, and declare with emphasis that" by His stripes I am healed" or "my God supplies every need of mine," and hold fast to our faith that we will see deliverance. The politician and religious leaders are sowing negative seeds of fear and doubt.  

            Our words sow faith or doubt in others Revelation 12:11 declares, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." They overcame him with the Word of God that was in their testimony. They conquered the Devil with words.

            Think about this: Most of the sick that Jesus healed during His ministry were healed with words. God created the universe with words: faith-filled words. Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well" (Matthew 9:22). His word raised the dead. Satan is overcome by words; he is whipped by words. Our lips become the means of transportation of God's deliverance from heaven to man's need here on earth. We use God's Word. We whisper "In Jesus name, demon, come out of him." Jesus said, "In My name you will cast out demons; in My name you will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover" (read Mark 16:17). 

            Affirmation: But the seed in the good ground--these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, bear fruit (Luke 8:15).  

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.                                   

                                                            Never Rest Ministries

Defiance, Resistance, Violence, And Retaliation Are Now "The American Way."

                                                 When The Door Slams

In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.                                            (1 Peter 5:5-7 NLT). 

            God speaks clearly of the evil, the wickedness of falsely accusing another person, of giving untrue testimony on the stand in court, of lying or twisting or exaggerating so-called "facts" into misrepresenting the truth.....

            The American way is a talk-back, fight-back, get-even society that is ready to resist--and sue--at the slightest provocation. Instead of the obedient Minute Man representing our national image, a new statue with a curled upper lip, an open mouth screaming obscenities, and both fists in the air could better describe out times. Defiance, resistance, violence, and retaliation are now our "Style."

            Those leaders who break the commandment in this way are every bit as committed to a life of crime as the other varieties professional thieves and bandits. There are so many ways to get money by having people give false testimonies that we stumble over new ones day by day. We need the Ten Commandments as a measuring stick to see where we may be tempted to simply shrug our shoulders and ride with the tide with an attitude of, "What does it matter, we can't do anything about it anyway!"

            Think about this: I fully realize there are times when resistance is needed. We would not be a free nation had we not fought for our liberty. Furthermore, the lawless would rule over the righteous if we allowed ourselves to be walked on, stolen from, and otherwise taken advantage of. There are times when there must be resistance and a strong determination to defend one's rights.... My concern is the obvious erosion of respect for needed and fair authority...the lack of submission toward who should be over us, who earn and deserve our cooperation. A man can never be the same after hearing God's truth spoken in the power of God's Holy Spirit; he will either obey and go forward, or ignore and die a little each day.  

            Instead, there is a growing independence, a stubborn defiance against any authority that attempts to criticize, correct, or even caution. No one can deny that this self-centered rebellion is on the rise. My desire is that we see the difference, then respond correctly to God-given authority with an attitude of true humility, the mentality mentioned in the New Testament modeled so beautifully by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 5:6-7). 

            Affirmation: You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1: 8-9).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness. 

                                                Never Rest Ministries

True Believers Of Christ Have Found The Secret Of Life

                                                 When The Door Slams

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, In his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.                                                                                                                  (Ephesians 2:14-16 NLT)

            The struggle we have with a holy God is rooted in the conflict between God's righteousness and our unrighteousness. He is just and we are unjust. This tension creates fear, hostility and anger within us toward God. The unjust person does not desire the company of a just judge. We are at war with Him unless or until we are justified. The religious and unjust go to church every Sunday but there is no true repentance. Only the justified person can be comfortable in the presence of a holy God.

            The Apostle Paul sets forth immediate benefits--fruits of justification. In...Romans he explains what happens to us when we are justified, when we are covered by righteousness of Christ that is by faith: "Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory" (Romans 5:1-2).

            Think about this: The first fruit of our justification is peace with God. To the ancient jew peace was a precious, but elusive commodity. The present-day turmoil in the Mid-East seems like a replay. Every time they get close to finding the peace found only in Christ, Satan steers them away. Blinds them. He throws up a smoke screen. He bluffs them. And they miss it! But true Christians have found it--forever! We have found the secret of life.

            "The unjust don't know how to live in peace," the apostle Paul says concerning the human race (Romans 3:17). As we look around, we find that there is little personal, domestic, social, economic or political peace anywhere. Why? Because we all have the seeds of suspicion and violence, of hatred and destruction within us. 

            Peace can be experienced only when we have received divine pardon. When we have been reconciled to God and when we have repentance within, with our fellow man and especially with God...Christ has made peace with God for us and is Himself our peace. If by faith we accept Him, we are justified by God and can realize the inner serenity that can come to man through no other means.

           Affirmation: He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far from him, peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come the the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us (Ephesians 3: 17-18). 

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.                       

With It, We Survive And Conquer, And God Is Glorified

                                       When The Door Slams

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.                                                                                       (Galatians 6:7-10 NIV).  

            Maybe we have come to expect too much too soon in our lives. We microwave our meals, speed-dial our cellphones, download and upload all our devices on the internet. Fast and faster, still not enough. We have become accustomed to instantaneous results. But instant breakfast is one thing; I don't believe we can expect instant gratification and instant fulfillment in our lives. In spite of what they show you on television, there is no quick fix between info commercial breaks. You must have patience and engage in persistent action toward making your dream become a reality. 

            When they don't see instant results, many people become discouraged with their dreams and goals. They become impatient. And I believe many of them walk away from their dreams just as they are about to break through and flourish. You must have patience. Your time is going to come if you work diligently and faithfully. It don't matter if no one else recognizes that. It matters only that you see it and have the patience to wait for it. 

            Without it, we stumble and fall. And God is grieved. Because life is a task, we need strength to face it, not speed to run from it. When the foundation shakes, when Christian leaders and friends--even the religious leaders--are immoral and falling into apostasy, when the bottom drops out and brutal blows attempt to pound us into the corner of doubt and unbelief, we need what perseverance offers: willingness to accept whatever comes, strength to face it head on, determination to stand firm, and insight to see the Lord's hand in it all.

            Think about this: I can't imagine a better picture of the race of life. Winning is not simply a matter of coming in first; it depends as much on finishing the run with the light inside us still burning bright. That light is a gentle and quiet spirit, full of peace and hope, which stays alive even when darkness closes in all about us.

            Affirmation: You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, "In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay." And, "But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back." But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. (Hebrews 10:36-38 NIV)   

 Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness  

       

                                                     Never Rest Ministries