A person who is walking in deception does not know that they are deceived! Paul included intercession as part of God’s armor. Righteous prayer is agreeing with God. Prayer aligns our heart with His purposes for our lives and others. Ephesians 6:18 says, ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

Our place of intercession is on our heart-knees before our Intercessor. Hebrews 7:25. In Hebrews 4:15 it says that our High Priest, “…was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Remember how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil? He was at His weakest point.

Verse 16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This is a call for both our personal needs and the needs of those we are interceding for.

This was my newspaper article the Saturday before Valentine’s Day. I forgot to post it for you.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner on Tuesday. I was thinking about how our actions need to agree with our words and body language. 1 Corinthians 13 is often called the love chapter. Verse 1 says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”

An experienced drummer can greatly enhance the harmony of a musical piece. However, when a child gets ahold of a set of drumsticks, it can sound like chaos.

Harmonic rhythm is very soothing to our hearts. God created our bodies to function efficiently throughout every aspect of our lives.

Psalm 139:14 says, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”

He uses our interpersonal relationships to train us in His righteousness. That means, He will use conflict, adversity, and tensions to conform our thoughts, purpose, and actions to His will and ways. Here is one of His ways with our words. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” 

The opposite of that can be found in Proverbs 18:21. It says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Death words demean. They tear down rather than build up. They destroy rather than heal.

Death words are usually spoken in anger, rage, disgust, or rejection. Whereas life words encourage, strengthen, build up, and affirm. They are truth spoken in love.

Proverbs 17:22 stated two ways: it says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” 

Here is another contrast of living in harmony or chaos. Proverbs 12:25 says, “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” Paul wrote an antidote to anxiety in Philippians 4:6. It says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Doesn’t God already know? Yes, He does. However, He wants us to pour out our heart’s cries to Him, and then release them. He alone has the power to carry our heavy burdens.

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” Note: when we carry a burden that is not ours to carry, we become anxious. Our focus is on our impotent inability, rather than His supernatural power to meet all our needs.

Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” When our trust is in ourselves, the burden will become oppressive.

Jesus came to set us free from the things that have oppressively crushed us. Luke 4:18 in the Amplified says, “…to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity).”

How do we combat death words that have been spoken over us? How do we build ourselves up when we have been crushed by words or actions? I love this example from David’s life. He and his army of men were returning from battle. Their city had been
burned with fire. No one was around. He and his men were physically exhausted.

The sight they took in with their eyes caused them to weep until they had no more strength to weep. Then they turned on David. They even thought to stone him! What did David do?

1 Samuel 30:6 says, “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

First David inquired of the Lord to get clear direction. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.”

The Lord is our Source. Asking the Lord what to do is a life skill. Maintaining harmony requires a heart that trusts in God no matter what our circumstances are. Interpersonal relationships can be chaotic or harmonic. The choice is ours ~ always we have a choice of how we will react or respond.

Ezekiel 22:30 says, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Though this was written about Israel, we can apply it to ourselves.

When we choose to hide, a small gap is formed. The more we do things in our own strength, ignoring God’s way to victory, the more the gap widens. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.”

Hidden sin blocks our communion with the Lord. He never leaves, we are the ones who depart. Hebrews 3:12 says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.”

Here is the power of accountability, and an intercessor who stands in the gap for you. Verse 13 says, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

How do we live in the wisdom afforded by accountability? First we need to humble our hearts and acknowledge we need help. The body of Christ was designed for shoulder to shoulder combat. We have an unseen enemy who works through cunningly devised schemes.

Accountability’s wisdom is to maintain a heart of integrity. The words that we speak emerge from a heart rooted in God’s word. His word will not return to Him void. However, when we continually resist applying it to our personal lives, we will have no inner strength to resist satan’s wily deceptions.

Accountability’s wisdom is to find someone to stand in the gap for you. Our hidden sin opens the way for intruders whose mission is to deceive. That ‘hole’ in our testimony can be covered through intercessory prayer. 

James 1:14 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” We also saw in Samson’s life what happened when he disobeyed ~ enticed and entrapped.

Scripture has built-in companion accountability, as well as personal. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

In Psalm 119:9-11, the psalmist used the word young man. It pertains to everyone through a personal application. I’m going to paraphrase. How can I resist all temptations? By hiding God’s word in my heart so that I will not disobey it and sin against Him. Verse 10 says, “With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments.” David chose to disobey. Daniel purposed to obey. Both were heart decisions.

An ambush is secret. There is another story about an ambush in Joshua 8. You can read it for yourselves. Accountability is the essential part of an ambush. Do you want to gain victory over an area of defeat in your life? You will not be successful without accountability.

I was singing a little chorus from my childhood, but I changed the words. “No never sin again? No! Never sin again. What? Never sin again? No! Never sin again.” What is sin? Disobedience to God. We sin against Him first, when we sin against others. 

Why did David linger in the temptation that was before him? First of all he was a king, and it was the season for kings to go out to battle. He stayed home. Scripture doesn’t say, but maybe he was bored. Whatever the reason, he went up to his roof.

There he saw a woman bathing. In-his-face temptation. He yielded to the temptation and continued to behold her. The snare had been set ~ the trap door closed. Entrapped through disobedience.

Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” Proverbs 27:17 Amplified says, “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (to show rage or worthy purpose).”

1 Corinthians 12:14 says of Christ’s body, “For in fact the body is not one member but many.” Verse 18 says, “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”

In spiritual battle, God’s army stands shoulder to shoulder ~ united for one purpose. Let’s look at one example in Judges. Two times the children of Israel were defeated. In Judges 10:26 they wept before the Lord. 

The battle turned from defeat to victory because God instructed them to set up an ambush. Verse 33-35 says, “…Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position…the battle was fierce…The Lord defeated…”

Accountability~Fortification Part One

I am in a sad part of Judges in my daily reading.  Judges 17:6 says, “In those day there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The tribe of Dan still had not taken possession of their inheritance.

They sent out five spies. They came to a quiet and secure place called Laish. Judges 18:7 and 28 both say, “…they  had no ties with anyone.” No accountability leaves us vulnerable to the work of enemy. He looks for those who have isolated themselves from others.

Proverbs 18:1 says, “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against  all wise judgment.” When a wild animal seeks prey and comes upon a herd, it will look for the weakest. It knows that if it can separate it, then it will be able to easily take it down. 

Let’s jump to Joseph’s testimony to his brothers. Genesis 50:20 says, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good…” The lies that we have believed keep us from experiencing the goodness of God. That is satan’s design. David wrote Psalm 34:8 which says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

We ‘taste Him’ through intimate communion. He reveals His heart to those who keep His word ~  making it their own through obedience. John 14:21. We learn to trust Him and Him alone ~ wading through the deep waters of our hard trials. Psalm 18:16-19.

As we continue to implant His word, it becomes part of us ~ the power within that transforms our character. According to 2 Peter 1:4, we become a partaker with Him. We share in His nature to represent Him to others. Our lives may be the only Bible that they read.

James 1:21 says that the implanted word will save our soul. The Amplified says, “So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted (in your hearts) contains the power to save your souls.”

Colossians 2:7 says, “Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abound in it with thanksgiving.” How do the lies of the enemy get rooted in our hearts?

First they come through his fiery darts that we allowed to penetrate. Then they became part of our thought processes, and therefore our actions. We believed them, swallowed the lure and were hooked.

In a recent email from a mentee she expressed her belief that God is responsible for all the evil that has taken place in our world. Therefore why would she want to trust Him? Do you recognize the lies?