Graves' This and That

How we forget that the obstacles before us may just be from the strategy list of the evil one.  Distraction is his first Motive of Operation.  He sets up a skirmish in another area of our lives to draw us off-guard and to leave our assigned post.  For a soldier to be AWOL from his post brings great repercussions in the military. We recognize his behavior:  pride, intimidation, manipulation, conflict, overly dramatized words and emotions, hyper-sensitivity, and FEAR.  We are commanded in 1 Peter 5:8 to be self-controlled and alert.  The evil one prowls like a roaring lion looking for his prey.  From the good old internet, I found that the lion mostly roars to mark his territory and to draw the lion pride to unify.  I have observed several mine-field operations lately.  Tragically, the wounded are strewn all over the fields battered, weary, wounded, and confused.  The enemy was thought to be flesh and blood...ALAS, it is flesh and blood who delivered the blow, but it was the evil one

It is always such a "fist to the gut" when you find out that someone that you trust has taken the route of deceit.  Deceit takes many forms.  It always is closely akin to a lie and self deception. Always about hiding.  One might know it is an inappropriate choice when it has to be hidden!   Recall Adam and Eve hidding from God because of fear. In order to hunker down into deceit, it would seem that one would have to feel justified in "doing what he or she has to do".  It is always the "means justifies the end".  Deceit seems to also take on the role of presumption.  The presumption is: He or she will get over it.  I do what I have to do.  It is worth the risk to the relationship to do what is "needful".  In deceit, the one being deceived is always the one who gives the most. The deceiver seems to be very comfortable with the role and is proud of what is perceived as accomplished.  She or he is usually a manipulator of events. Tragically, what i

I have several favorite foods...ok, so I have to admit the truth, sugar is NOT a food!  However, I really have to guard the sugar intake...from the lips to the hips and then as I age, the concerns for diabetes and more weight.  Among my food choices which I really enjoy are those which do not pack on pounds. However, there is a wonderful and excellent food which I crave for my daily intake:  the WORD of GOD.  It does NOT add pounds, but rather is sufficient for every circumstance of daily living...which can tedious, joyful, or maybe horrendous,like having a root canal! The psalmist stated it so well, "How sweet are YOUR words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Ps. 119:103  There are times when I feel like there are bullets whizzing at or around me from the evil one and that is when I "hunker down" in the WORD.  I want to stay alert and recognize who the real enemy is.  I am grateful that ABBA FATHER is using HIS WORD to fill me, sustain me, teach me, a

OPPS!  I am mulling again. I wonder, what role does data "play" in our lives as Christ followers?   Having been an educator, data played a priority role in ascertaining how well or how poorly a student would perform on a mandated state test.  Data is used to determine the outcome of educational success of some students.  I listen and watch the news, and I am constantly hearing data being reported concerning polls, which may or may not determine who wins an election. Data, BIG or little controls too much of our decision making process and the outcome. Presently, I am praying for several who are experiencing cancer.  They each have been given data as to the prognosis.  Cancer is scary enough, but then the alarming statistics of data is given, which is usually negative, and the cancer patient and his or her spouse or parent walk away defeated and with little hope.   Is there a possibility that data can be skewed or manipulated? I also understand that data can be used for g

I have sent several messages by phone and received back information letting me know that the message failed to send.  I know that when we purchase mobile phones, we usually purchase a data package also.  I don't know about you, but I love it that my ALL-HEARING COMPASSIONATE FATHER always hears my cries, and HE has no data limits on me! HE even commands us: "Call unto ME and I will answer you and tell your great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3.  How about some other reminders?  "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."  Isaiah 65:24.  "If you abide in Me, and MY words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7  No reference to the number of times that I have cried out to HIM.  No correction for my constant crying out to HIM.  No displeasure to HIM or reprimand that it is me again, crying out to HIM.  Can you just im

The message of Joshua is still pertinent almost 3,500 years later: ""But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15 Of course, our problem is not the gods of the Amorites, but the gods/idols of our selves and our forefathers whom we observed that they worshiped.  For us as Christ followers, we have so become synergistic (mixture of what I think or feel and the TRUTH of Scripture) about our life in the LORD JESUS.  I am thinking that we have so tolerated our own sin for so long by calling it more acceptable name. Could we be self-deceived? It has now become a personality weakness, or some psychological identification which gives approval for its expression since this is what we are or controlled by....like a disease which

Psalm 11:2 brought a fresh thought to my mind.  It was not a refreshing thought, but one of painful reality.  "For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart."  The wicked may not be flesh and blood people, but rather spirits of the evil one.  The arrows can be lies, taunts, divorce, sexual assault, pride, ANY circumstance that can cause pain, and doubt GOD'S love and purpose for my life.  The arrows of pain are usually planned in "darkness" but are shot at the righteous and lived out in the light of day.  The evil spirits know us well.  They have heard us and they know our areas which are most susceptible to "woundings".   The evil one has full knowledge of our commitment to the LORD JESUS and to whom we profess that we belong.  A strategy of his is to cause such pain and wounding that we become so distracted that we lose focus of GOD'S plan, purpose, and tr

In my Scriptures, I am in Daniel.  Chapters 4-5 are about the king of Babylon, King Nebbie, for short.   He describes himself as contented and prosperous.  Yet he has a dream which brings him fear.  He envisions a large tree with an enormous height.  It is seen throughout the earth.  It is green, lush, and productive.  Yet a messenger comes and commands that the tree be cut down. Nebbie then sees a man with the mind of animal in fields and the man will remain there as such for "7x".  SCARY! He knows that Daniel can interpret dreams and he calls upon him to do so.  Daniel praises him first for all that he has attained.  But then the truth is dropped on him. The tree is you! The animal is you!  You will eat grass like cattle and will live in the field.  Seven times will pass until "you acknowledge that the MOST HIGH is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes." He is then assured that the kingdom will be restored to him when he is will

Please pardon all the mulling that I am doing.  My heart has been considering family matters where there is hurt and confusion, healings of damaged emotions, financial concerns, how to have my heart and my mind set in the Heavens and focus on the eternal, and thoughts I will be sharing for a Bible class in a few weeks.  I have found real consolation in 1 Corinthians 2:16"For who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." those very words send such comfort to my heart who gets weary at times from the distractions of NOW, the seen around me.  Mind is the seat of consciousness, the faculty of judgment and perception.   The passage from Corinthians is a restatement from Isaiah 40:13-14, "Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed HIM as His counselor?  Who did the LORD consult to enlighten HIM, and who taught HIM the right way? Who was it that taught HIM knowledge or showed HIM the path of understanding?"  I

Please be assured that as I speak to addressing any sins or strongholds, I am not speaking of addressing them by discipline, legalism, performance, or will power.  I am speaking, if I have not given clarity, of addressing them under the guidance and leadership of the HOLY SPIRIT.  "When HE comes, HE (the HOLY SPIRIT) will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness because I am going to the Father where you can see me no longer, and in regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned." John 16:8-10 "But when HE, the Spirit of Truth, comes He will guide you into ALL truth.  He will not speak on HIS on, HE will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.  John 16:12-15 Only HE, the HOLY SPIRIT, can empower and motivate for change i

After the pulling down and demolishing of strongholds, it is suggested from some readings and personal experience: 1.  Claim for yourself the full deliverance accomplished through Christ's death on the cross.  2.  Hunker down in the Word, finding the Truth about God which addresses the stronghold area. Ex: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  LORD, I receive your grace which Calvary has afforded for me.  I will humble myself. 1 Peter 5:7. "  3. Check out those Scriptures which address putting on the new self and laying aside the old self. Truthfully, the old nature was rendered inoperative at Calvary, but I get to be willing and submissive to the Indwelling Spirit within to LIVE out of that truth.  4.  Reminder that Colossians1:27 states that it is Christ in me, the hope of my glory.  He is my righteousness.  5.  The real challenge is to bring emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit and ask HIM to alert when moving under the control of unhealthy emotion

There is no shame in being willing to identify the stronghold or strongholds which have a beach-head in a life.  One must get active into the Word of God and yield to the power of the Holy Spirit who has brought conviction and who will empower to demolish the stronghold/holds.  Just know, a stronghold may have other incorrect and unhealthy thinking patterns that have aligned with the major stronghold.  With the ole stronghold of pride, fear, insecurity, and inferiority depend on the major stronghold, pride, for their survival.   One can make intentional and repeated choices to confess specific sins as they relate to the strong area.  This is not the time to coddle, to sympathize, or to excuse the sins, but to move aggressively against the evil one's control that has been built up in the life.  Scripture reminds us that we are dead to sin and alive to Christ.  It would be an appropriate decision to make a declaration, (just an example) a statement of my will to the Lord...."I

Do you wonder?  Do I have a stronghold?  My reply?  Do you have wrong beliefs, wrong patterns of thinking, or preconceived ideas that have become your truth?  How about unhealed hurts?  Unmet needs?  Competing? Comparing? Controlling?  Failed expectations from others?  If your answer is yes, as was mine, then it is imperative to decide if I want to be a healthy Christ follower or a victim/victimizer in myself and others?  Am I content to live out my days, angry, blaming, and accusing others for what "they" did to me?  If I get angry enough, I will not only build a stronghold of being a victim to becoming a victimizer of others making them responsible to keep me happy, secure, and constantly propping me up so I won't feel insecure or inferior.   When I recognize that I have a stronghold, 2 Corinthians 10:5 commands me to "pull down" "demolish" every belief, every argument, every excuse, every lie which I HAVE MADE MY TRUTH, every thought that has rais

 I have been mulling the last few days on the words arguments and pretensions which the NIV uses in 2 Corinthians 10:5.  I have wanted to check out other translations:  ESV: arguments and lofty opinions , The Voice: arguments and ideas, and every high and mighty philosophy, The Message: warped philosophies, NKJ: arguments and every high thing that exalts, NLT: every proud argument , KJV: imaginations, and every high thing .  Oh my goodness!  I get it LORD.  Each noun in these verses suggest the "idea of mental planning intended to result in some not well-intentioned deed."Alan Richardson.  Is it no wonder that we must take aggressive and intentional action against these "thoughts" for they become our stronghold and our course of action which is attached to a sinful thought? I am amazed that we are not alert to the hammering noises that are going on for the building of the stronghold in our hearts and minds.  As a parent, we would not turn a deaf ear to the cries o

CHRIST'S sacrifice on the cross has secured one of the greatest blessings for this Christ follower:  I no longer have to be enslaved to sin. Sin has lost it power over me; I am no longer under the penalty of sin; Finally, death has been conquered.   This glorious transaction is a once and for all action, FINISHED, never to be repeated.  However, I can choose to ignore sin that trips and ensnares me, and it won't be long until I have a metastic and malignant stronghold/cancer ready to invade and join up with other malignant sins.  Along with the stronghold or strongholds come the chains.  Because of self-deception, I can choose to just drag the cumbersome and noisy chains.  Interestingly enough, the chains are very visible to everyone else but I am foolish enough to think that "only I know, hear them, and feel their weight."  Harshly speaking, I am a fool if I ever get comfortable dragging chains and being enslaved again!  Romans 6:16 "Don't you know than

I will admit, the life of faith, being steadfast and immovable is a consistent work of being alert and being submissive to the Indwelling Holy Spirit who resides within us. The flesh or the strategy of the evil one seems to demand full-time attention like a bratty spoiled child. The soul, (the mind, will, and emotions), gets cluttered with flesh/sin patterns/habits. My sinful habits can become a fortress, a stronghold in my mind and heart hindering the working of the Holy Spirit.  HE is offended by the presence of sin.  HE is holy.  I MUST choose to look inward.  Have any of my sins become a stronghold? In a stronghold, the evil one becomes the lord/ruler. The intent of the evil one is to keep me in such hot messes maybe of self creation with his help that I refuse time in the WORD of GOD and knowing HIM.  After all, I can get so involved in religious activity that I become self-deceived.  2 Corinthians 10:3-5 are verses which are intentional and aggressive moves against my stronghol

Eons ago, I was informed of the Scripture: "Godly sorrow bring repentance that leads to salvation (soundness, safety) and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." 2 Corinthians 7:10.  Again, working on a Bible study from Beth Moore, she reminded her readers to have a clear conscience.  She related that having a guilty conscience has been a tool of the evil one in her life.  More than fodder, but a good principle for victory that I get to implement daily. Because my sinful choices are so disappointing personally and to others who are affected, it is truly a work of grace to allow godly sorrow to have its perfect work and I HAVE NO REGRETS OR GUILTY CONSCIENCE!  I am thinking this is a principle that I will have to practice daily just like:  I am dead to sin and alive to Christ, I must clothe myself with humility, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and etc.  Of course, these are faith statements that I will make regardless of the emotion that wants to have t