Was it God or the Devil? Discerning Satanic Hindrances

JENNIFER LECLAIRE

 

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Did God stop you or was it the devil? (istockphoto.com/tumpikuja)

I’ll admit it. There have been times when I thought the devil was in my way and it was really the Holy Spirit preventing me. There were other times when I thought the Holy Spirit was opening the door and it was really the devil tapping into the idolatry in my own heart to set me up for a mess.

I’ve grown up quite a lot in Christ since then, but we are all prone to miss it from time to time. Understanding how the Holy Spirit leads and how the devil deceives can help you follow the steps the Lord has ordered for you instead of falling into the roaring lion's trap.

We can take a lesson from the apostle Paul, who keenly observed the difference between his own plans, the Holy Spirit’s plans and the devil’s plans.

Praise Him with Every Part

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5

After years of quadriplegia, my bones are feeling tired. But whenever I struggle with pain, I pray, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name." I force all parts of me to bless the Lord, even my lower back when it's aching - it's one way of making certain God receives glory during physically agonizing times.

Your heart determines your life.

Proverbs 4:23

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Your heart determines your life. This may be the most important proverb. The favor or grief in your life depends on ruling and training your heart. If you direct and instruct your heart with godly inputs, there is no limit to your potential success before God and men.

Every sin starts in your heart, and your character and speech reflect your heart. You can only pretend to be different than your heart for a short time, for it will quickly regain control and dictate your actions. Others know your heart by your words and choices.

Start Speaking Faith Now

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." (Matthew 12:34-35)

Words won't work without faith any more than faith will work without words! It takes them both to put the law of faith in motion.

Many believers don't realize that. They'll continually speak words of doubt and unbelief, then they'll jump up one day and say a couple of faith words and expect mountains to move-- and to their dismay, they don't.

Why not?

Because as Matthew 12:34-35 says, it's the words that come from the heart that produce results. The person who just throws in a couple of faith words now and then isn't speaking them from the abundance of his heart, so they're not effective.

Does that mean you shouldn't start speaking words of faith until you're sure you have the faith to back them?

Pears, Pears, Everywhere

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. — John 15:5

My family had a tree in our backyard that provided two things: shade and countless jars of pear preserves. One day, I asked my mother why she made so many jars every year. Her response was, "If I don't, they will start falling off the tree and go bad." With that, I went outside to take a look for myself. There were pears everywhere--so many, in fact, that the tree branches were beginning to sag and snap under the immense weight of their fruit. It looked to me like my mother's faithful picking was encouraging the tree to produce even more!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PRAY FOR BLESSING?

Sheila

I’m on Twitter. I love Twitter. I can send out little soundbites about my day, complain about aches and pains or the weather, or make little jokes, and get instant feedback. It’s fun!

And I have a lot of followers, and I follow quite a few. Yesterday this Tweet came across the board from a certified Life Coach. She said:

Start by blessing yourself. “May I be safe, may I be happy, may I be healthy, may I live with ease.”

I thought this was interesting. I’m speaking at a retreat as you read this (I actually wrote this post and scheduled it to appear today), and I’m speaking exactly AGAINST all of those things.

Do You Dream about Others?

A few more posts from my Q&A with J at HHH series. Today's question is about dreams.

"My troublous dream this night doth make me sad."

William Shakespeare, King Henry VI

Mommaof3: My husband and I have been married for 5 years, and in the past year or so I have been having some troubling dreams. I try thinking good things before bed, since everyone says that you dream what you're thinking...that doesn't help at all. I keep dreaming about cheating on my husband with 2 different people (who i know in real life). I'm not asking for an interpretation or anything like that. lol Just do you have any advice on how to deal with these dreams? My husband thinks that it is funny because one of the people I dream about is his brother, so he likes to tease me and say that I married the wrong brother. However, it really bothers me to have these dreams about these 2 guys, because then it kind of changes how I think of these people in real life. So I guess I would like to know if you can suggest any ways to stop the dreams, and also how to deal with them (or forget them!) once I wake up in the mornings. (these dreams happen like once every week or so. So not every day, but not just occasionally.) Thank you for speaking so openly about marital sex and all that goes with it! :)

Oh no, what did I dream?!

Be Skillful

"The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." (Psalm 34:10)

Did you know that, according to the Word of God, there is no lack in the Body of Christ? Everything we could ever need, every problem we could ever face has been covered by the blood of Jesus. His exceeding great and precious promises have supplied it all.

Why then do many of us keep on suffering lack? Because we haven't, as Hebrews 5:13 says, become skillful in the Word of righteousness.

It takes skill to apply the Word of God. Sometimes we just sling the Word around and try to use it any old way. We pray some ignorant prayer and then say, "Oh well, God knows what I mean" and expect it to be answered.

What Did You Say?

Mary Southerland

Today’s Truth
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

Friend to Friend

Fruit is one of my favorite foods. When I go grocery shopping, it always takes me longer to get through the fruit section than any other area of the store. I spend what some might consider a ridiculously long time picking out what I hope will be the juiciest apples, the plumpest grapes and sweetest bananas. Experience has taught me to quickly discard any piece of fruit that is bruised, mushy or discolored. I shake cantaloupe and thump watermelons. Ripe strawberries have a unique sweet scent and only the reddest cherries will do. Plums and tomatoes must be firm to the touch, bright in color and wrinkle-free while the more wrinkles the better when it comes to choosing passion fruit.

Heavenly Rates at the Heavenly Gates

A man dies and goes to heaven. One of God’s angels meets the man and says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."

"Okay," the man says, “I never ate a piece of non-kosher food in my 90 years. Nothing.”

"That's wonderful," says the angel, "that's worth three points!"

"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended synagogue all my life and always gave as much tzedakah as I could."

"Terrific!" says the angel, "that's certainly worth a point."