Most have heard of the faith of Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Denver Broncos.  What do you know about a Christian point guard for the New York Knicks, Jeremy Lin?  Lin and Tebow have comparable Christian experiences and were not expected to succeed professionally.  They testify for God when being interviewed.  Both play positions that are leadership roles for their team and their enthusiasm and faith permeate the entire team.  They are winners and they are Christians.

In high school Lin was a standout player leading his team to a record 31 and 1 in 2006 and a California Division II championship.  Despite his high school success he failed to receive any scholarship offers from top colleges.  He ended up playing for Harvard and getting a degree in economics.  He was overlooked by the NBA because he was a slender Asian and played for Harvard.

He was accepted by the Golden State Warriors to try out.  He ended up having to sleep on his brother’s couch.  A scrub at Golden State, in New York, he becomes one of the hottest sport stars in the world.  Lin tells about reading the Bible while having hurt feelings when Golden State released him without giving him a chance.  Lin said: “I definitely didn’t see it coming and got pulled out midway through the first practice.  My agent and I had zero idea that was going to happen.  It was really tough for me at the time but I just tried to hold on to a lot of the stuff in the Bible that God gives to trust, have joy in the sufferings and trust in his perfect plan.  That’s what I tried my best to do and I’m thankful the way things turned out.”

I have known a number of people who experienced “perceived failure” or what is perceived as failure but in time came to realize that God let them fail to lead them in a new direction. A number of lessons can be learned from failure. For one thing, it strengthens us spiritually. For another, failure not only teaches us to be dependent upon the Holy Spirit, but also it opens up unlimited possibilities. Every circumstance in life, including failure, can become an eventual blessing.

In an interview Lin was asked about Tim Tebow.  He feels Tim is such an inspiration and a polarizing figure but I think the things he says in interviews and his approach to the game is just unbelievable and I respect him so much.  Lin said: “I want to be able to do some of the things that he does in terms of the amount of charity work and the nonprofit work and the way he impacts people off the field.  I think that is what is most inspiring to me about him.”

Lin testified at River of Life Christian Church that he considers everything in his life, his coaches, his height (6’3”) and his opportunity to play basketball all blessings from God.  In one interview he said that he hopes to become a pastor and lead nonprofit organizations following his basketball career.

He recently said: “I’m thinking about how can I trust God more?  How can I surrender more?  How can I bring Him more glory?  It’s a fight.  But it’s one I’m going to keep fighting.”  He admitted that initially he was playing for great games, wanting to obtain a contract for next year.  After spending more time, Lin said his true prize was something in heaven not on earth.  “I realize I had to learn to stop chasing the perishable prizes of the earth and give my best effort unto God and trust Him with the results.”

If you want to follow Lin on twitter or Facebook you will find him having posted Romans 5:3 to 5 and Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,”

In our book: “God and the Bottom Line” we believe Christians can have an advantage.  Faith and trust in God develop confidence.  The Christian who depends upon the Holy Spirit and is sensitive to His leading is like the athlete who listens to an experienced coach. The coach can’t guarantee an athlete’s induction into the Hall of Fame, nor can he guarantee a gold medal for the athlete, but he can train him and teach him everything he knows, giving him every advantage, allowing him to consistently do his best. The Christian advantage does not guarantee presidencies, chairmanships, wealth, achievement awards, fame, or recognition, but it will lead the Christian in the direction that fulfills his God-given purpose. I believe Lin and Tebow are doing just that—their God-given purpose.

Ephesians 6:5 – 9 – Changed how I worked.  “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.  Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.  Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.  And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.” Instead of the word slaves, insert the word employees.  I believe what Lin and Tebow are doing is serving wholeheartedly Christ in what they do.

How much do we miss in life because we do not pray believing God will answer our prayers?

Matthew 7:7 & 8 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Mark 11:24 – “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

You may have heard of the church in a small Mid-west city of 35,000 that had God answer their prayer. Previously a lottery jackpot of $380 million had been won in Michigan.  There were 127 families, many farmers, who had worshipped in a non-denominational church for many years.  They wanted to add on to their facilities.  It was suggested that each family buy a ticket into the super lotto that had reached over $260 million.  Whoever won would divide the winnings equally to each of the families.  They each pledged to tithe on their portion of their winnings.  It would be enough to pay for the building’s expansion.  There were 127 tickets purchased and the church began praying.

A member of the church won and the money was divided equally with everyone receiving over Two million dollars before taxes.  An unusual thing happened.  Only about 70% tithed.  The Sunday attendance began to drop off.  The Jones family purchased a 22 foot boat.  It seemed the only time they could use it was on the weekends.  The Smith family bought a RV and began traveling on the weekends.  The Johnson couple traveled on the weekends to visit their relatives.  Shortly the minister was called to a larger church.  It took a few months to replace the minister.  At the end of the first year, the congregation was running about 65 families.  It wasn’t long before the church disbanded and those few remaining started going to different churches.

Those who were farmers had always been dependant on God for their livelihood.  They no longer had to rely and trust God to meet their needs.  They had adequate money to take care of every wish.  Do you think this may be why God doesn’t answer our prayer when we ask for a BMW car?  What if God gave us everything we prayed for?  It would be like Christmas every day as there would be no end to what we would be wanting.  How many non-believers would become Christians if they believed God would give them anything they prayed for?

1 John 5:14 – “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

God will not give us more than we can handle.  However, I believe the Bible is very clear: God’s promise is that He will meet our needs and will give us anything we pray for according to His will.  That is why not everyone is healed.  It is also the reason there are the rich as well as the poor.  We live in a sinful world and God will be with us through every disaster that occurs in our life.  He does not guarantee we will have no unfortunate situations take place.  He will give us the comfort and the courage to battle through each negative encounter.  That, we can trust Him to do!  (I made up the church winning of the lottery.  It never happened.  It was just an illustration of what Christians might do if God had answered.)

Was it how good a person was or how bad that determined who was chosen?  If the Bible was being written today would any of us qualify?  It appears that those who were selected had a story that illustrated to us want God wanted us to know about life.

The Bible had to start with Adam and Eve.  How else would we have known what caused the downfall of man and the result of sin?  Next we have Cain and Abel.  From them we learned the importance of tithing and how destructive envy can be.  Cain was envious of Abel because God favored Abel due to his obedience to God whereas; Cain displeased God through his disobedient actions.

The enviousness and the immorality of people before the flood caused God to start over again.  He made a covenant with Noah.  Noah worked for 120 years building the ark.  We learn the importance of trusting God, hard work and diligence pleased God.

Nimrod, a mighty warrior elected to build a city and a tower that reached into the heavens so they could make a name for themselves.  God caused confusion in their language so they could not understand each other.  Before that, they all communicated with the same language.  They were unable to complete their tower.  This caused people to scatter over the face of the earth.  From Nimrod we learn the importance of humility and God is displeased with egotistic people.

God selects Abram because of his faith to become a nation.  We learn from Genesis 12:3 – “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  God uses Israel to teach the world that there is a God and He can either bless or curse those who are obedient or those who are disobedient.  Throughout the Old Testament God blessed and prospered some and others were cursed.  God teaches that He requires faith and we are to trust in Him.

Abraham and Sarah decided to use Hagar to produce a son for Abraham.  Ishmael was born and then the two had a son, Isaac.  Isaac received much more attention from Abraham and Sarah than they gave to Ishmael. Because of envy, Hagar and Ishmael mocked Isaac.  It resulted in Hagar and Ishmael having to leave.  God promised Hagar that a great nation would come from Ishmael.  (Genesis 21:18) From these two sons two nations occurred.  The problem Cain had with Abel also was between Ishmael and Isaac, envy.  To this day they are unable to live with each other in peace.  (Maybe it is time to define envy: It is wanting something so badly that they will do anything to get it.  If someone else has what they want they will do whatever is necessary to either get it or keep others from having it.)  Does that sound like the Palestinians vs. the Israelites?

We learn that Isaac has two sons Jacob and Esau.  Esau, the oldest gave his birthright to Jacob.  Later Esau wanted his birthright back but does not get it.  Envy and hatred develops.  To this day their descendants cannot live in peace with each other.

God used judges and prophets teaching people how to live and what was required.  We were given illustrations of what happened to people who were devoted believers and those who rejected God.  Prophets were used to predict the future.  It was knowing we had a Creator that could plan the future, provided people with hope and security.  As a result, we can live believing that the future ahead of us is foretold in the Book of Revelation and we can trust it will happen as described.

We skip to the birth of Christ.  Jesus comes to bring us a New Covenant and a different description of God’s love, grace and character.  Christ selects 12 common people to be His disciples. I believe this is to illustrate that the average person can do all things if the Holy Spirit is within them. He trains His disciples to teach God’s “WILL” to all sinners.  Which is: To accept Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world, to study the Bible daily and live the way it says and do not deviate from God’s requirements.

Those named in the New Testament were instrumental in sharing the Gospel that Christ came to communicate to all of us.  We learned that God can forgive, we can receive His Spirit and our name can be entered in a book as important as the Bible.  That is the Book of Life.  Those, whose names are entered in that Book, will spend eternity with God and Christ.  Having your name entered does not depend on how hard you worked but have you accepted the offer of salvation?  If so, your name will be entered and probably in BOLD letters.

P.S.  I started blogging March 2009.  This is my 300^th blog.  God willing, I will continue every Monday and Thursday as long as people continue to read them.  There are about 20 hits per day.  Thanks for your participation!

Most Christians believe, without a doubt, God can be trusted.  But do we really live our lives trusting Him?

Hebrews 10:35 – 36 – “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” NLT

Do we realize that everything that God promises can be ours if we will do His will?  What have we missed by not trusting God to fulfill His promises?  You may ask: “What is God’s will?”  His will is that we study the Bible and live by its principles.  God, talking to Joshua as he was about to lead the Israelites into the promise land, gives us a capsule of what the Bible teaches to all Christians.

Joshua 1:5 – 9 – “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.  For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.  ‘Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.  Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.  Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.  This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.’” NLT

Many believe but do not trust.  The Israelites saw God free them from slavery, divide the Red Sea, destroy the Egyptian Army, supernaturally feed and give them water and then led them through the desert.  Yet, when they were told to enter the promise land they became afraid and refused to obey and trust God.

I remember in 1991 when we decided to buy 80 acres for a new church and didn’t have the money.  We obtained the acreage.  We started building a $23 million building project when we didn’t have the money.  It was completed in December 1999.  Years later, we have never missed a mortgage payment.  On special events we will fill seven services with 30,000 people plus.  In addition, we have started a number of satellites and other ministries.   What if we have had the faith and lacked the trust as the ten Israeli spies who didn’t trust God to keep His promises when told to enter the promise land?  Thus, they convinced the others it couldn’t be done.  That could have happened to our church and I am sure has happened to many Christians.

Isaiah 12:2 – “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 26:4 – “Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.”  Psalms 27:1 – “The Lord is my light and the One Who saves me.  Whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom should I be afraid?”

Are we not told that if we continually study the Bible, live by its principles and not deviate from it, we will be successful and prosper in all that we do?  Do you believe enough and have the faith to trust that God will keep His promises?  Isn’t it worth a try?  It starts with Bible study!

Hitler started WW2 and 35 million died.  Stalin was responsible for an estimated 100 million deaths.  Mao Tse-Tung of China had an estimated 100 million killed.  How many would have been killed had they had nuclear weapons?

Revelation 9:18 – “A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.” Fire, smoke and sulfur depict modern weapons.  At present there are seven billion living.  One-third would be over two billion destroyed.  Sounds like nuclear weapons would have to be used.

Prior to this happening we believe Scripture indicates that there will be a radical movement of people promoting fanatical ideas and theology intended to change the world when all restraints are removed.  Examples will be the teaching of evolution, situation ethics, moral freedom, self sufficiency (man is accountable to no one), sexual permissiveness and there is no life after death.  A world-wide anti-God movement is taking place.

A man will rise to promote security and peace.  The Bible refers to him as “the beast” or the Antichrist.  He will deceive most everyone as he forms a one-world government and a one-world religion.  Is there a person alive today that could convince the world that war could be avoided and peace could occur?  Doesn’t it look like nuclear war happens before the Antichrist takes over and controls the world?  He then will reign for seven years.  Wouldn’t a disaster have to occur before nations would abdicate absolute authority over everyone?  That means control of all money, governments, military and religion.

How concerned should the world be concerning Iran’s development of nuclear bombs?  They believe destroying America and Israel is a requirement to bring back their messiah, the Mahdi.  He and the Muslims would then rule the world.

Under the Antichrist every individual would have a mark or a computer chip on their right hand or their forehead.  Without the mark or chip no one can buy or sell.  We are more inclined to believe it will be a chip that will give complete knowledge and control of every person alive.  Don’t the prophecies of the Bible indicate it will be some time before all of this takes place and not end on December 21, 2012?

Revelation 13:16 – 17 – “It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

A black market will not be allowed to exist.  It appears Christians will either be beheaded for not worshipping the Antichrist or starve to death for being unable to exchange money.  The Bible seems very clear that Christian’s faith will be tested.  However, many theologians believe the church and those having the Holy Spirit shall be raptured prior to the Antichrist taking over.

When Revelation was written how did the writer know that a day would come when everyone could be able to see what was happening and could worship a world leader?  Revelation 11:9 – “For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.”

For seven years the Antichrist will rule.  The first 3½ years will be peace and the last 3½ will be total chaos.  The world will then end, as we know it.

II Thessalonians 2:8 – “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”

The question facing the world today is:  “What shall we do about Iran’s development of nuclear armament?”  Do we ignore it and see weapons of mass destruction be unleashed on America?  Or, do we ignore it and hasten the end times?  Will God make the decision or will it be left up to man?

In the meantime, we see radical changes in artificial intelligence, computers, digital manufacturing, synthetic biology, nanomaterials and further development of technologies.  They are even telling us we will be able to live for hundreds of years because of improvement in health technology.  Do we live believing the future will provide the needs of every man, woman and child or should we live believing the radical fanatics could destroy us?  Regardless how we live, every day evil will make every effort available to deceive us into believing everything will turn out for the best and we need not worry about life after death.  Scripture tells us to always be prepared spiritually for we do not know when our end comes as it may come abruptly, unannounced. Are you prepared—you can be???  John 3:16!

The Bible’s New Covenant is a contract made by God to the church and Christians.  Do you have the faith to believe what He promises will happen?  Faith or the lack of faith affects everything in life.

Most people encounter stress.  Stress comes from a lack of control of a situation, thoughts, fears, work, scheduling, health, relationships and many other reasons.  Stress comes from when it controls us rather than us controlling it.  Sometimes we have stress and are not sure what is causing it.  Knowing the cause provides a better chance of controlling it.  Many times changing habits or our attitude corrects the problem causing stress.  However, if we are unwilling to accept responsibility for our actions it makes it difficult to release built up tension.   The best way I have found dealing with stress is to pray about it and trust God to handle it.  For me, it has always worked.

Let’s look at the meaning of faith and confidence.  If we define confidence as believing in our ability to do certain acts in which we depend on ourselves for completion and then define faith as requiring us to believe something that doesn’t seem reasonable to the human mind.  Faith trusts in the Deity Who promises and performs things that may seem supernatural.  May we further define that confidence comes from the mind and is intellectual and faith comes from the heart and is spiritual.

Mark 11:22 – 24 – “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.  “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

How strong is your faith?  Christ indicates—to God nothing is impossible.  Could we ever have enough faith to believe that God would move a mountain for us?  I have heard stories concerning answers to prayer that are almost as unbelievable.  Does not stress come from our lack of faith?  If we believe that God will meet our needs is there ever anything that should stress us out?

Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

Whatever we need we are told that God will supply it.  There is a difference between needs and wants.  We may never want to be sick, have pain or feel discomfort.  However, that is not considered a need.  If we are spiritually mature we would only pray for needs that we believe God would want us to have.  It may be the courage to face death.

God says He wants us to be prosperous.  Isn’t that something we should pray for?  I believe He would answer if we were to use our prosperity in helping others or to be able to give more to His ministry. However, we are ever dealing with thoughts coming from the evil one.  We may not realize it but the Bible says we will constantly be persuaded, deceived or tempted.  One of the greatest causes of stress may come from guilt. Too often we listen to the wrong voice.  The wrong voice does not want us praying, growing spiritually or gaining in faith.  How much stress may be coming from listening to the wrong voice?  If we are listening to the Holy Spirit don’t you believe that we would probably have less stress?  If we believe stress comes from a lack of faith, shouldn’t we be praying for more faith?

Mark 10:53a – ““Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.”

Romans 10:17 – “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

Galatians 3:11b – “the righteous will live by faith.”

Galatians 3:14 – “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”

If you have watched the presidential nominees’ debate recently, you know that providing their income tax information has become important.  With that information, it also provides how much they give to charitable organizations.  The Bible has made it very clear what God expects of His children: Abel brought a sacrifice to God that was acceptable but his brother Cain did not.  Apparently God had told them what he expected of each.  One obeyed and one did not.  The illustration of Abel’s giving teaches us the importance of worshiping God and as Christ teaches us, giving Him our very best.  Tithing and sacrificing has been a part of worshiping God from the very beginning.

Does giving to charities necessarily make a person better able to govern?  Not really, but does it not give us an idea of one’s character and where their heart toward others might be?  However, would we not prefer a politician who is more acceptable to God in this one area?  Providing you believe giving is important.

Having been on a number of church boards and a church treasurer, I have been told that about 25% of church members tithe and that could be correct but, I believe it is more of an estimate than an exact figure.  Those who have studied their Bible consistently realize the importance of tithing and God’s promises of blessings to those who do.

When you look at the charitable giving of the income tax of those reporting, last year Mitt Romney gave more than 16% to charity.  The Obama’s, under Rev. Wright, gave an average1%.  Later, they boosted it to 5%.  In 2010 they gave 14.2%.  Over the past ten years Vice-president Biden has averaged $369 per year.  In 2010, the Biden’s gave 1.4%.  Newt Gingrich donated 2.6% of his 2010 income.  The Clinton’s gave in 2002, 1.2% and in 2004, 12.57% according to the Tax Foundation.  For four years they averaged 8.26%.  Rick Santorum and Ron Paul’s 2010 tax reports were not available that I could locate.  Many Christians believe giving to Planned Parenthood is different from giving to a religious organization, but it still counts.

Many times we are told in the Bible that if we keep His commandments we will be blessed and prosperous.  The Jews were told if they disobeyed God they would be cursed.  Deuteronomy 28:15 – 19 – “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.”

God does not list the things we are not to do as threats.  However, He was giving the Jews warnings that if they did not obey they would not receive His blessings.  The Israelites disobeyed God repeatedly and He withdrew His blessings which had brought them success and prosperity.  God allowed bad things to happen.

Wouldn’t it be great to have committed Christian politicians to lead our country; ones that are true leaders, plus putting Christ and others first?  For a couple hundred years America had been one of the most blessed and prosperous nation.  Approximately 60 years ago we became a self-centered nation and our prosperity has been gradually decreasing.  The Jewish nation has been an example of God’s blessings and curses but apparently, we have not learned from history.  We are following the same path they took and they have suffered for more than two thousand years.  They failed, as we, to obey God’s commandments.  One of those commandments has been to lovingly be willing to give to others on an individual basis through tithes and offerings and not become the welfare nation we are now, relying on government to meet our needs.

Have you ever been in a position waiting on a customer and you could not help them and they placed a curse on you?  Did you buy something at a yard sale and from then on have nightmares?  There are Satanists who place curses on people who fail to meet their demands.  For some unknown reason you may have had bad things happening to you and were unaware of the cause.  We may not be cognizant that we are going through a battle with evil spirits.   Scripture tells us it is a possibility.

Ephesians 6:10 – 17 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Most ignore the fact that there are millions of evil spirits that are emissaries of Satan who are forever tempting and cursing people.  They are constantly seeking to interfere with our relationship with God and are repeatedly tempting us. There may be times that they cause all sorts of problems.  Their trick is to cause deception or disobedience.  We cannot adequately stand against them in our own power.

It has been proven that we could have enemies who use evil spirits to persecute us, lie to us, cheat us, hurt us or even kill us.  That enemy exits in the unseen world.  There are wicked people who will do evil things that may affect us in many ways physically, mentally and materially.  The battles that we go through may not be against flesh and blood and it may not be about people, but evil spirits.

Our struggles could be with the rulers of the darkness.  Satan’s master plan is to deceive humans and get them to reject and rebel against God and His people.  Their goal is to enslave people into various forms of idolatry, deceptive philosophies, evolution, humanism or even climate change.  We are told we may even have to fight against wicked spirits in the heavens above.  The immorality of our age has been inspired by demons.

How do we fight against evil spirits with power to exploit our human nature, to fan human passions and inflame human lusts and encourage us to make human errors?  You don’t believe any of this?  Then why would it be in the Bible to warn us?  Scripture then goes on to tell us how to defend against these powers.

We are told to put on the belt to protect the lower portion of our body.  Truth is the first piece of armor.  We must know the truth about God and have a protective relationship.  We then place the breastplate to protect our upper body.  We are to protect the heart.  All issues of life come from the heart and they can defile a person.  Satan tries to corrupt the heart so that it will display ugly passions instead of the love of Christ.  Our feet must be ready to move for the gospel.  Everywhere we go we must be willing to witness for Christ.  We must put on the helmet as a blow to the head could be fatal.  God gives us a helmet to protect our thoughts from satanic influences and interference.  Satan normally goes after a person’s mind.  Scripture says if Satan can control the mind he can control the person.  Without God’s protection, our thinking is open to the influence of Satan’s rulers of the darkness.

Ephesians 2:1 – 3 – “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”

For defense and offense we are to carry a sword.  Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

There are two things that caused me to write this blog.  We need to realize that there are evil spirits that we must deal with whether we see them, hear them or not.  They are not around to make life easy for us.  It is possible to pick up an item at a yard sale and odd things could happen.  Second, God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us deal with spirits of darkness.  It takes faith and belief that God can overcome.  If unusual things are happening in your life the best advice I can give is to pray and ask God to intervene.

Lastly, evil spirits are not always attached to inanimate objects.  They are everywhere and most Christians do not realize when they are being tempted or tested.  But if we are allowing our self-centered natures rather than our spiritual natures to influence our actions, temptations may be difficult to overcome.  May I suggest we take Ephesian 6:12 seriously?

Heard recently of a person being cursed and it stayed with him for years.  May I recommend if you ever hear someone place a curse on you, pray out loud immediately: “I pray in the name of Jesus that the curse is returned to the sender, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen!”

Do you know anyone who has not been discouraged?  It is a response to life’s challenges and there could be many.  Read Scripture!  Was there anyone who did not have times when they were discouraged?  You could be faced with financial pressures, health issues, feelings that you don’t measure up, unable to please others, being abused, unanswered prayer, a lack of recognition or a loss of confidence.  Even King David faced discouragement.

Psalms 42:11 – “Why am I discouraged?  Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again—my Savior and my God.

There are Christians who do not have a meaningful relationship with God.  They do not truly know Him, trust Him or believe in His promises.  When they become discouraged they may have no one to turn to.  They believe they know Christ and have a relationship, but they probably don’t.  It isn’t unusual to lack faith.  The Apostles were with Jesus three years and had a problem with faith.  They saw Jesus feed 4,000 and 5,000, raise the dead, heal the sick and when He calmed the storm, He stated, you of little faith.  Even after He was resurrected the Apostle Thomas said He would not believe until He could see Jesus and touch Him.  Are we any different?  How would you rate your faith?

The greater our faith the less discouraged we become and the more encouraged we are.  You may say that you believe in God.  Yet, even the demons believe in God.  James 2:18 – 19 – “But someone will say, ‘you have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

Faith does not come just by what we believe.  It comes by having a relationship with Christ.  Show me someone who has a close relationship with Christ who rarely reads their Bible and isn’t a consistent prayer.  Show me someone who has a relationship and yet continues to live as the world lives.  Are you ashamed of your Christianity?  Are you afraid to witness?  The answer can determine one’s degree of faith.

We must understand that a Christian’s love comes from our faith.  Faith and love go together and obedience follows.  Faith promotes love and love motivates obedience.  When they are functioning adequately they overcome discouragement.  When we become discouraged, it may start with a weakening faith, possibly a lack of love or just being disobedient.  Keep in mind the number of times Jesus said: Your faith has made you whole.  Had the sick not had faith would they have been healed?  Then shouldn’t a Christian overcome discouragement using faith?

If life doesn’t challenge us, God will.  We cannot live without facing problems.  We live in a world full of sin and ruled by Satan.  However, we do not have to live being discouraged.  Every problem that is solved and that we overcome is an encouragement that we can beat the next crises.  If you have the right relationship with Christ you know there will be nothing that you have to face on your own. You must understand that faith knows that whatever God promises He will do.  If you have the conviction and the faith to trust, you will never need to face anything by yourself.

If we are facing a serious situation what is the first thing we often do?  We try to solve it or get someone to help us.  What is usually the last thing we do?  If we can’t solve it we pray!  With the right relationship and faith the first thing we should do is pray.  What one thing do you learn when you read the entire Bible.  The ones written about are there because of their relationship to God or Christ.  How many of the religious Jewish leaders can you name mentioned in the Bible with the exception of the Chief Priests?  Only those who had a relationship with God are emphasized.

Matthew 17:16 – 20 – “I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”  ‘You unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.’ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.  Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’”

Lacking faith, as we noted, happens to most Christians.  Increasing faith is a process that comes with spiritual maturity.  If we are struggling with discouragement the Bible is the greatest encourager I know.  God loves us and His Spirit can be with us every second.  He is there to make sure that whatever we encounter He will get us through it.  If you lack faith and trust, you now realize it improves through a relationship with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.