My Power Of Freedom

                                                     When The Door Slams

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy,      O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.                             Psalms 2:5-9

        This reminds me of a story, Victor Frankl, know for his writing and position as head of the Department of Psychiatry in Vienna, Austria, was captured by the Nazis during the Second World War.  At the concentration camp, the guards took his shirt, cap, belt and shoes. Next they took his slacks and underwear. There he stood naked before them. Frankl says they all began to laugh. They stripped him of his wrist watch, his wedding ring, and his dignity.

         While all this was going on, Frankl was thinking, "There is one thing you cannot take. You cannot take from me my power and freedom to choose my attitude." The reality is the Nazis never did, even though Frankl suffered through years in the concentration camp.

        Think about this: Three thousand years ago, King David also prayed for mercy and chose a victorious attitude. We can come to God with our petitions, large and small. We can ask the Lord to deliver our souls from death, to keep us alive in whatever kind of "famine" we face. Don't hesitate to ask God for His help in your time of need.

Ask the 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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Discipline Or Spiritual Warfare

                                                     When The Door Slams

For the Lord disciplines the one He Love and punishes every son He receives.                                                                                                                                                                     Hebrews 12:6 

        There is a tendency among Christians to view anything unpleasant that happens to them as the result of "spiritual warfare." When a difficulty arises, many immediately ask God to remove their distress. The problem is that their predicament may have nothing to do with Satan or with spiritual warfare.                                                                                                                                                                  Think about this: It may appear far more glorious for us to explain our hardships as Satan's determined attacks against us, rather than admitting that we are merely reaping what we have sown and are being disciplined by our heavenly Father (Galatians  6:7). 

        What is often mistaken as Satan's attack may actually be chastisement from our loving Father. If you have neglected your role as spiritual teacher to your children, God may allow them to fall into sin. If you have been dishonest at work, God may correct you by letting you face the consequences. It would be foolish to pray that God would ease your discomfort. 

        God is disciplining you in order to gain your attention and bring necessary change to your life. How tragic it is that we never make the connection between our problems and God's discipline. God's discipline will not help you if you dismiss it as Satan's doing or spiritual warfare. Not every hardship you face is the chastisement of God, but Scripture indicates that God will discipline you.

        If you misunderstand God's chastening, you may actually blame Him for not answering your prayers of failing to protect you from Satan. Meanwhile, God is warning you of the danger you face because of your sin. are there difficult circumstances in your life? Could it be the discipline of God? Lord God, whose nature is perfect love, will correct you because Lord has your ultimate good in His heart.

Ask the 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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Peace In My Circumstances

                                                     When The Door Slams

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."                                                                                                                                                                                      John 16:33

        How do we find peace of mind in the midst of the circumstances many of us encounter today?             Think about this: A single mom faces a pile of bills. Though she knows and trusts Jesus, it's hard for her not to give in to despair when the financial deadlines approach and no help has appeared.

        An older man gets layoff at the job he has given himself to for years. Now he knows he may be too old to find something comparable. He believes in the Lord God, but month after month with no job prospects, it gets harder and harder. 

        We can name any number of circumstances and you probably know people in the midst of them. How do Christians maintain their balance in such times as these? God never promises we won't face hard times, even painful hard times in this world. 

        What God does promise, is to give us peace in the midst of our trials. What is that peace? Philippians 4:6-7 speaks of it as a supernatural, incomprehensible peace that the world cannot grasp or understand, but the true Christian can. It is the peace Christ gives to us because we knows he will be in the midst with us, the Lord God will meet our basic needs in the midst of our troubles, and He will get us to our next destination in faith. This is powerful peace. Do you need faith now? Just ask Jesus, my Lord and Savior.

Ask the 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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Where Is Your Focus

                                                     When The Door Slams

So Peter, turned around, saw the disciple Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You? Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"                                                                             John 21:20-21    

        The first thing you do after God speaks to you is critical. Jesus was telling Peter what type of ministry he would have and what type of death he would suffer (John 21: 18-19). It was a sacred moment in Peter's life, as his Lord pulled back the curtain to his future. His was not to be an easy life, but a life ordained and blessed by his Lord and Master.

        Rather than responding to what Jesus told him, Peter looked around at his fellow disciples. His glance fell upon John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. "But, Lord, what about this man?" Peter asked. Peter had just been given the somber news of his future death. How natural to compare his assignment with that of the others!

        This is the great temptation of God's servants: to compare our situation with that of others. Did God give my friend a larger house? Did God heal my friend's loved one and not mine? Did God allow my friend to receive appreciation and praise for his work while I remain anonymous? Did God allow another Christian to remain close to her family while I am far removed from mine?

        Jesus assigned Peter and John to walk two different paths, but both Peter and John have enriched our lives. Jesus knew how dangerous it is when a servant takes his eyes off the master to focus on a fellow servant. Where is your focus? Have you become more concerned with how God is treating someone else than you are with how He is relating to you?    

Ask the 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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God Answers Us In Various Ways

                                                       When The Door Slams

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from Me; Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.           Luke 22:41-43 

        God answers our requests in various ways. He can say yes, no. or grow, depending on the request, the circumstances, and how it fits in His overall plan. When God chooses to answer yes, most of us are overjoyed. However if He chooses to say no or grow, our reaction may be quite different. It is easy to interpret a no response as He does not really care or maybe He didn't really understand what I asked for.

    In this passage, Jesus asked if He could forego having to drink the cup of death and be placed on the cross. God's answer to His Son was no. God the Father knew Jesus had to die to take our place, so we wouldn't have to pay for our own failures and sins.

    However, notice the next verse. When God said no, He sent an angel to strengthen Jesus. When God says no, He has a reason, but He also desires to be supportive. 

        Think about this: The angels God sends to us often come in the from of another person who can help to sustain us. "Angels can be found in a Christian Twelve Step group, in therapy or support groups. Sometimes the "angel" is a family member or close friend. Sometimes it is also our guardian angel. 

May God grant me the serenity and courage not to fear His answer to my prayers but help me to grow when confronted with a "no."        

Ask the 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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Joy and Peace of Mind form the Holy Spirit

                                                     When The Door Slams

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.                              Revelation 22:18-19

        Revelation contrasts the serenity and blessings of believers to the severe plagues and pain that will come to those who refuse to accept Christ. There is also a final warning to all people not to mess with God's Word. 

       Think about this: The Bible is under attack in our world, even by very "religious" people. Some discredit it completely, but others are more subtle. Does your own pastor believe in the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible? Even seminaries often belittle God's Word. Cults crop up every day. Manipulative men want to control others' minds. Some claim to have written new books to the Bible. They take advantage of the naïve.

        God's Word is complete. It is God's inspired love letter to us. It guides us to recovery from our negative tendencies, sins, and addictions. It teaches us to reach out to God and our peers. It teaches us our significance and promises a glorious future. It is God's completed gift and our personal path to joy and peace. May God grant us the serenity that comes from trusting His Word and not being fooled by those who would discredit it or add to it. 

Ask the 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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Unreasonable Failure and Badness

                                                     When the Door Slams 

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.                                          If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.                                                                            1 John 1:8-9

        The truth is that we are both good and bad. Our friends have outstanding strengths that attract us, but they also disappoint us at times. We are created in God's image and have talents and abilities, but we also let ourselves down when we fail. None of us are all good or all bad. True wisdom comes from accepting that we are both good and bad. 

        This remind me of a story about a person after trying to build an image that he was all good. He could not tolerate the idea of having any weakness or failure. He pressured himself to always be perfect. For this "all or nothing" thinking set him up far a fall. And like Humpty Dumpty in the nursery rhyme, the fall came. 

        He felt absolutely helpless and hopeless. He not only saw how he had failed, he now felt like a total failure. He was deceived by denying the truth and believing his own lies. The simple believes every word, But the prudent man considers well his steps. A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident. He who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated. Proverbs 14:15-17. 

        His perfectionistic tendencies and inability to tolerated weakness, failure, and "badness" both in himself and others finally brought him to the hopeless point of completely mad: insane, crazy or just deranged. We all know someone like this.

        Think about this: We can admit we are unreasonable, foolish or just dump, because God has a solution for that. Our failures can be forgiven and we can go on to face life. We don't have to pretend to be all good, or have all the answers. We can be real and allow the Lord to heal. Thank You Lord Jesus, that you accept me the way I am, so I don't have to pretend to be something or someone I am not.  

Ask the 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