Witchcraft

P3455 Help! I’ve misplaced my hope!

/ DVH

It was here a minute ago, now where did I put it? … I seem to have lost my hope. Has that ever happened to you? You are walking along, minding your own business, enjoying the day so far, and suddenly your thoughts plummet to the ground and you can’t see anything good, anywhere. Guess what? You didn’t do anything, that’s a big sign the enemy just threw a destructive distraction bomb at you. he doesn’t need a person to do it, he scrolls his ill-informed rubbish across the screen of our minds.

If the devil cannot get us to stop talking about Jesus with other people then his back-up plan seems to be … ‘let’s mess with their minds.’ That’s when you start remembering perfectly, every mean thing someone else has ever done to you. It is like you have a bucket of cold water thrown in your face. The day started out OK, but now you can’t see one good thing about it. We need to be wise when we deal with our enemy — he hates us. If he can’t throw us off our game, then he will put someone else who can be provocative, across our path to irritate us.

Perhaps you have to meet with Sister ‘boy-do-I-get-up-people’s-noses,’ that day. She’s a dear old duck but she drones on forever about her grandkids, and how Jesus healed her from this and that, and she never ever asks how you are doing! You were looking forward to meeting her, a minute ago, because she is a sweet old saint — then grumpy thoughts hit you from behind. If you like reading detective stories, that is a clue as to what is really going on. 

One of the best things I’ve ever learnt is that not every thought in my dear little head belongs to me. satan loves to throw random thoughts into our minds…  he can even make them sound sympathetic. he says junk like: “I thought this was going to be a good day. But I just conveniently remembered the time this Sister was mean about blah blah blah.” satan loves to use personal pronouns. That is, he speaks as if those thoughts are yours. And we are off down the wrong road before we’ve even seen her, and we don’t need that nasty little demon of comparison whispering to us anymore because it seems we can fill in the blanks all by ourselves. We’ve lost our hope and he’s turned our head.

First things first. Resist the devil. Why? Because he will keep on at you, that’s why. If he can’t get you going round in circles about that particular Sister, then he will remind you of someone who looked at you funny, or someone who walked away as you were speaking to them. And rejection, suspicion, and insult just entered the contended area – the contended area is our brain OK?  It’s called the battlefield of the mind.

Our response appears in 2 Corinthians 2:11, we always need to know what God says: “To keep satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions.” Don’t be ignorant, nothing happens to us by accident. We are in a war, LOVE MUST BE OUR AIM or we are sunk.

After the enemy goes after our hope of sweet fellowship, then he tries to steal our peace. and we start having imaginary conversations in our head. With us playing both parties involved. “She’ll say this, and I’ll say that, and that will fix them!” That’s not good, because it borders on witchcraft. We can’t know how the other person will respond or react to us. We don’t even know half the time what will come out of our own mouth, until we are in the middle of it! 

Sometimes, when my dear hubby and I have the occasional argument – shock horror! I have found my previous negative experiences with other people can influence my current situation with him. It is like we have these key words and someone shouts “bingo!” He sounds like someone else I knew, that was not loving, patient or kind to me. (Meanwhile, it’s worth noting how many times the word I came up in those thoughts.) So now I am no longer disagreeing with my husband, I am still trying to win that battle I lost years ago.

Secondly, find your sense of humour. Be prepared to see the funny side of all this posturing. I try to remind myself that this is a person I love, and yet I’m currently working very hard to hurt them! Half the time, I lose track of what we are saying to each other in the middle of ‘the discussion’ – which is funny all by itself.

The third one is to apologise. Yes, even if they are wrong! I have quoted this scripture so many times to myself they ought to write it on my tombstone — “a soft answer turns away wrath.” (Proverbs 15:1.) It works! Tell the other person you love them more than you need to make your point. Here’s my translation of that. Be sweet to the other person who is currently shouting back at you, think of something good about them and say it out loud instead! Jesus gave us His hope, and He can help us find it again.

Here’s the last one: “Agree with your adversary quickly …”  (Matthew 5:25.) Nothing shoots an argument down more quickly than when we start saying things like: “You are right. I was wrong, I am so sorry for causing all this angst.” Here is the reason why … we are looking to win our brother, NOT the war. If we win the argument we will lose something – our hope for a different outcome. Hardening our hearts against others is hardening our hearts against Him!

We are not at war with our brother or sister, instead we are both fighting a common enemy. We need to humble ourselves, and take the lower seat. Jesus is well acquainted with humility. He didn’t do what others accused Him of doing. Plus, He said not a word. Man, I gotta get me some of that!! When we misplace our hope, we need to stop and go looking for the Lord. He is our anchor. He will teach us how to overflow with hope, instead of foundering in the depths of despair and angst. Bye for today. 👋.

P 2546 We will sometimes suffer wrong.

/ DVH

I Samuel 24:1-12 “After Saul returned … …set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when He said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life.  May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.”

Every time I read this scripture I am extremely impressed by David’s integrity. He had totally committed himself to living His life Almighty God’s way. But at the same time, King Saul was constantly attempting to kill him. Saul was the legitimate king, appointed by God, but he was threatened by David and he had been chasing this young man here there and everywhere for years. Jealousy and spite drove that older man along. But David’s conscience was so soft before God, it smacked him upside-of-his-head when he cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.

We may not like it but submission is in the book. We are not submitted to God if we are not prepared to submit to the person who is the leader. In our homes, at our office, in the government or our churches. Just because it is not cultural to submit, that does not make it wrong. Submission is not meant to be fashionable, fun or enjoyable! It’s hard work and sometimes even dangerous – as David found out! Particularly if you happen to disagree with the person you are submitted to or they have a bone to pick with you! 

However, real submission is a tool to facilitate transformation in us, not make us comfortable. After all the Lord Jesus was utterly submitted to His Heavenly Father, but He also submitted to all the religious leaders of the day. The King of all glory was standing right in front of these experts, and they didn’t know Who He was! But Jesus chose to submit to them, anyway. God’s way is not always about us enjoying the process, it is about obedience. ‘Rebellion is as witchcraft in the eyes of the Lord.’ 1 Samuel 15:23.

David understood this truth and he respected God’s order. He understood the Lord lifts up one, and pulls down another. So David left Saul to God, so the Lord could deal with him … for twenty-five years. Did you get that? Twenty five YEARS!  This young man had been anointed by Samuel and he knew he was to be the next king, yet he let the Lord God build His own house. He did not try to wrestle the kingdom from Saul. Instead he lived honourably, and learnt from God how to respect His enemy. And at the same time he honoured God by his diligent obedience.

You know in my denomination, sometimes there are things that happen that I don’t understand. People move around between churches like ice cubes in a water pitcher. These people are often here one week, and gone the next. It seems to be that they think the preacher is not spiritual enough, or they don’t like what he says, or he doesn’t come to visit them, or they already know all that stuff they want something different. Why this world doesn’t already know all there is to know about the Lord Jesus because of these gifted people, who apparently know everything there is to know … escapes me! 🙄

Human beings disagree, mainly because we prefer to hold onto our own rights. But it is not a matter of compatibility. It is a matter of learning how to love those who cruelly use us. Meanwhile, some days, nobody can annoy us better than a spouse! LOVE CONQUERS ALL … not war of the words! None of us are nice – that’s a rumour started by people who want their own way. Without the Holy Spirit in charge, we can all be mean. Look at Adam and Eve. God came to be with them in their garden every evening and yet they still disobeyed … then they blamed each other. Before we make important decisions we should try looking in the mirror, strangely enough, the person at fault is often in the mirror!

King David knew all about facing his weaknesses, and through God’s processes he was transformed by them – but he  still suffered. Suffering wrong is one of the greatest keys in our spiritual keyring. It hurts like mad, but carries with it the incredible honour of sharing in the fellowship of Christ’s suffering. 👋