Posted on

Want a Pickup Truck?

“The only folks who talk about Satan drive pickup trucks,” said the pastor.

Guess Jesus has an awesome truck, as He Himself said the following about our enemy:

Per Jesus, Satan  is:

“The enemy”, Matthew 13:39
“The evil one”, Matthew 13:38
“The prince of this world”, John 12:31; 14:30
“A liar”, and “the father of lies”, John 8:44
“A murderer”, John 8:44

And Jesus said that Satan is the one who:

Jesus “saw . . . fall from heaven”, Luke 10:18
Has a “kingdom”, Matthew 12:26
“Sowed tares among the wheat”, Matthew 13:38,39
“Snatches away what has been sown in [a] heart”, Matthew 13:19; Mark 4:15; Luke 8:12
“Bound a woman for 18 years”, Luke 13:16
“Desired to have Peter”, Luke 22:31
“Has angels”, Matthew 25:41

Scripture in general represents Satan as the one who is:

“The great dragon”, “the old serpent”, Rev 12:9; 20:2
“The tempter”, Matt 4:3
“The prince of demons”, Matt 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15
The “source of demoniacal possession”, Matt 12:22-29; Luke 11:14-23
A roaring lion seeking to devour Christians, 1 Peter 5:8
Overcome by faith, 1 Peter 5:9
Wily, Eph 6:11
The spirit that works in the disobedient, Eph 2:2
Our “adversary”, 1 Peter 5:8
“The deceiver of the whole world”, Rev. 12:9; 20: 3,8,10
The “seducer of Adam and Eve”, Gen 3:1-20
“The god of this world”, 2 Cor. 4:4
“The prince of the power of the air”, Eph 2:2

He is the one who:

“Fashions himself into an angel of light”, 2 Cor. 11:14
Put betrayal into the heart of Judas, John 13:2,27
Perverts the Scripture, Matt 4:4; Luke 4: 10,11
Will “flee if resisted”, James 4:7
Caused “Paul’s thorn in the flesh”, 2 Cor. 12:7
Hindered Paul’s missionary plans, 1 Thes. 2:18
Caused Ananias to lie, Acts 5:3
Blinds the minds of unbelievers, 2 Cor. 4:4
Can produce false miracles, 2 Thes. 2:9
Moved David to sin, I Chron 21:1.
Caused Job’s troubles, Job 1:7-2:10
Was the Adversary of Joshua, Zech. 3:1-9

In addition:

False teachers are “a synagogue of Satan”, Rev. 2:9; 3:9
Evil men are his children, 1 John 3:8,10

You want a truck too?

The 4th Wednesday of every month we will write about warfare and how you can prevail. You can subscribe to our blog posts to be certain not to miss any.

PS. Thanks to Richmond Hill Baptist Church for nicely organizing these scriptures.

 

Posted on

Insidious Assaults

Satan came to kill, steal and destroy; the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour; the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus; Satan is the father of lies; the enemy is the accuser of the brethren; and it is called the ruler of and the god of this world.

Had enough? Has it sunk in? Is this part of your reality? Do you live like it?

Let’s review the precise nature and resulting impacts of our enemy’s “assaults.” In future posts, I will expand on each item below, supported by scripture references.

  1. Men and women uniquely reflect different attributes of God.
  2. Men are designed to come through, and women desire to be pursued.
  3. This leads to core questions. For men, it is “Do I have what it takes?” For women, it is “Am I captivating?”
  4. The father of lies has strategically answered these questions with a resounding “No!”
  5. Each answer is a lie, shot with precise targeting to intentionally corrupt our God-purposed strengths and desires.
  6. Each lie implants evil messages that are engraved into our hearts.
  7. We must decide how we will handle these messages — to accept, reject, or ignore them.
  8. How we handle these messages then shapes how we see ourselves, and through that lens, how we relate to the world.
  9. We then make decisions of how we will live our lives. These decisions are called agreements.
  10. These agreements imprison us, causing us to live far from our God intended design.

Understanding this, when you meet someone, you see the “me” that he or she created to survive the lies and messages shot at their hearts.

Let’s put flesh to this.

The young woman had a stunning voice, but she was “thick” by Madison Avenue standards, so her world told her she was not lovely. She believed the message that her frame made her imperfect, so she struggled with her value, even to the point that she believed herself a disappointment to God. Her agreements? Survive in her worship music while accepting that she should be alone. She accepted the “fact” that she was unlovable, in spite of the fact that she was stunningly beautiful in so many ways.

As a young boy, he courteously addressed a teacher that did not suffer the voice of children. “You must keep quiet. You must shut up. You cannot speak to me. You do not belong here,” all said more sternly than warranted. His agreements, “I have no voice, and if I did, offering it is dangerous, so I will hide.” Meeting him as an adult, you leaned in to hear his soft voice, and he selected jobs where he hid his God given passion and gifts. Who is he now? Via his loud and clear, courageous, and gifted voice, he offers hope and love to kids in unforgiving lives.

The arrows that resulted in the agreements of “unlovable” or “hide,” were aimed EXACTLY at the desires, strengths, and passions God had placed in each of these stunning people. Do you think it was random?

On the 3rd Wednesday of each month I will discuss assaults, posing, wounding, and healing. To your freedom.

 

 

 

Posted on

A “Real” Man? A “Real” Woman?

Search the web on what it means to be a “real” man or woman. You’ll get differing opinions, more questions than answers, or reasons to be gay.

So how do we figure this out? Based upon:

  • What society says?
  • What your mom or dad, or lack thereof said?
  • What you learned from awful experiences?
  • What science allegedly says?
  • What you were told in countless self-help or even religious books about how to become the perfect women or man?
  • What you heard at an agenda-laden sex-ed class?
  • What nihilism or hopelessness proposes?

Does it even make sense to ask these questions as parents allow children to identify as squirrels, or adults now identity as puppies? Would you want the answer if it existed?

Let’s start with the “truly scientific.”

What games did you play as a child? Do you think they might suggest themes about the heart of a boy or girl?

  • Did you detonate things or want to create relationships?
  • Did you make every stick into a weapon, or want to be pursued by a valiant prince?
  • Did you want to walk alongside someone in an epic story, or did you want to rescue the damsel?
  • Did you do tea in your twirling skirt, or did you take every chance to wrestle and get bloody?

Do you think these were taught by society?

  • How many boys, prevented from owning toy guns, still chewed their toast into the shape of a weapon?
  • How many Barbie’s were saved by Superman, or Thor, or Mr. Darcy, or — Yes, it is now cool to be saved by Wonder Woman, and as much as that affirms girls, do you think she just wants to be saved by Wonder Woman?
  • How many girls desire to drive through Paris in a convertible with their hair blowing in the wind?
  • Why do women invest so intentionally to reveal their beauty, physical and otherwise? Or, why do so many women desperately hide their beauty as if it is shameful?
  • Why do some men get caught in an endless loop of small adventures, whether the addicted video-gamer, the adulterer, or that fifty-year-old ski-bum who still hits on ski-babes his children’s age at the mountainside bars?
  • Why do we find patterns and themes across the world?

Is this all random, or are there real and immovable truths?

Maybe it’s nature or nurture, simply to what you ascribe, or it changes with every alleged evolutionary progression. But do these leave our hearts settled, or do we end up more confused and hopeless?

It says in Genesis 1:27 that “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Since God does not have a physical body, and we are made in His image, then we are not made to reflect his body but His characteristics; our identities are at the level of our heart and soul, not our bodies, although our bodies are designed to align with our hearts and purposes.

Second, it did not say that God made just generic people — he made a male and a female specifically, each with his or her own design, purpose, and characteristic that reflect God’s own heart.

So, the creation of each gender is at the level of the soul, and each gender uniquely reflects different aspects of God’s character.

Need time to think on this, or will you accept the word of God as your plumb line? The second Wednesday of each month I will post more about this topic, sharing what scripture says about the heart of each gender. This will NOT be about how to be perfect as each, or what each gender must do. For example, anyone can cook, clean, lead, doctor, parent, serve, and so much more.

This will be about what awakens the heart of each gender, what makes each come alive. It is meant to encourage and inspire, and it will never intentionally guilt or shame. I look forward to sharing on the second Wednesday of each month.