Daily Archives: January 31, 2012

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries, Thirty-three Day Challenge

Thirty-three Day Challenge

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I am up for a challenge… I would like you to join me in this challenge.
I am a Christian.
I am still proud to carry this name no matter what the world has done to try to discredit it.
I carry it with honor.
I do not carry it lightly.

As a Christian I have read the end of the book.
I know that this world is only going to get worse.
I am not here to save the world.
I am here to be used by God to save those who are His out of the world.
This challenge is for those that are His.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of the church not looking any different than the world. I am tired of cults that profess the name of Christ being lumped in with the true Church. I am tired of the lost not being able to find the way of peace because the highway of holiness is so crowded and blocked with briars and thorns and fruitcakes that they can’t get through to see the real Christ. I am ready to be the tree of life that Zacchaeus was able to climb to get over the crowd in order to see Jesus.

I have just finished reading What Are You Waiting For by Dannah Gresh and am now in the middle of Every Woman’s Battle by Shannon Ethridge. Both of these books mentioned this challenge.

Then I saw this:

 

After reading these books and seeing this video and knowing my own experiences and weighing it against about what I know of the Word of God, I can’t help but feel my heart break from the marriages that I am sure have fallen apart simply because that serpent of old snuck his way in and wreaked havoc. I hurt as I think of how many marriages have not even been because the girl couldn’t see God’s man for the fog of Twilight and the fluff of the fairytales. To many of us are too weak and too desensitized to Satan’s presence to even know when to fight him, much less how.

It’s time for the Church to get busy about the Father’s business.
It’s time for the bride to make herself ready for the Bridegroom.

I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness;
but indeed you are bearing with me. 
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy;
for I betrothed you to one husband,
so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 
But I am afraid that,
as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness,
your minds will be led astray
from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:1-3

Today I ask that you bear with me in a little foolishness… because I too am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I want you to be presented to your Bridegroom as a pure virgin… standing unashamed before Him because you made yourself ready for Him. If your Groom were to come today would you drop your head in shame or would your head be lifted up ready to be received by Him?

I am afraid that many of us have indeed been deceived by the serpent… Adam and Eve alike. We have no doubt been led astray from them the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

So if you will bear with me in my foolishness to believe that the Word of God is true and relevant in our day and powerful beyond measure… if you will bear with me in my foolishness to believe that their is still believers in the world today who desire to carry the name of Christ with honor and truly desire to live a sanctified life proclaiming His excellencies… then take this challenge with me.

The challenge:
For thirty-three days.
One day for every year that Christ gave us give to Him.
For thirty-three days we shall live to Him and not ourselves in a purposeful way. For thirty-three days let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh.

Therefore, having these promises,
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves
from all defilement of flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1

Beginning February 14th, the secular day of “love” let us begin to live true, real, Biblical, Christ love.

The challenge will end on March 17th, St Patrick’s Day, the day given in remembrance to the man who is believed to have ran all the snakes out of Ireland.

Let us, in this thirty-three day challenge run that serpent of old out of our minds, out of our home, out of our church by loving the LORD our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength.

How do we do this?

On February 14th put out the trash.

Turn off the television programs that feed your flesh, your lusts, your pride, and yes, your depression. If you wouldn’t watch it sitting next to your Mom or your Pastor or kids Sunday School class turn it off. If it places a burden of dissatisfaction in you and makes you see yourself or your spouse in a negative way, turn it off.

Do the same with what you read, and the music you listen to, and with the conversations going on around you at work, at school, on facebook and twitter, or even in your home with your family.

Take that time and instead study God’s Word.

Listen to God’s Word.

Read God’s Word.

Thirty-three days is all I am asking for.

I will do the challenge with you.

Each day I will share a Scripture to meditate on.

I will share with you excerpts from the books above and together we will work to become women of integrity.

A woman of integrity lives a life that lines up with her Christian beliefs. She lives according to the standard of love rather than the law. She does not claim to be a follower of Christ yet disregard His many teachings on sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, immodest dress, and inappropriate talk. A woman of integrity lives what she believes about God, and it shows everywhere from the boardroom to the bedroom.  ~ Shannon Ethridge

This is not a flippant challenge I am asking you to join.

It is a challenge that could save your marriage if it is struggling.

It is a challenge that can lift you up out of the pit of defeat.

It is a challenge that can give you the strength to say no to what before you caved in to.

It is a challenge that can free you from your past and prepare you for your future.

It is a challenge that can open your eyes to the invisible chains that have been entangling you.

It is a challenge that you are not to do alone. Pray for a fellow sister in Christ to openly take it with you, not someone you pushed into it, but someone who is serious about it, God will send her.

Don’t try to force your spouse to join you, but explain to them what you are doing, and how serious it is, they will need to know because I have no doubt that there will be changes you will have to make to meet this challenge.

It is a challenge that I want you to pray about before you commit to it.

That’s why it doesn’t begin until Feb 14th.

Pray and if the Lord wills… join me.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come
and His bride has made herself ready.
Revelation 19:7
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>It’s a Miracle! …Or Not

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When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying,
‘Work a miracle,’
then you shall say to Aaron,
‘Take your staff
and throw it down before Pharaoh,
that it may become a serpent.’
Exodus 7:9
The first sign before Pharaoh is the same sign that Moses performed before the children of Israel when he came to them from the wilderness. His staff would become a serpent. I have always found it interesting that God chose this as a sign. In my opinion this points us all the way back to Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made…” I believe God chose this sign as a direct mock in Satan’s face. I think this sign was to remind Satan that God had created him and that he, God, still had complete authority over him.
Now when Moses threw his staff down and it became a serpent, Pharaoh called in his wise men and sorcerers. They too came in with staffs. They threw their staffs down and theirs also became serpents. My friend do not think for one minute that Satan has no power here on this earth. He is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and his desire is to blind you and deceive you so that you might not see the glory of God. He has many tricks up his sleeve and many who will do his will just to experience his power.
In 2 Timothy 3:8 we discover the names of these two magicians, “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses…” But more importantly we discover the nature of these two magicians. Men and women like these have existed since the fall. They are those who are caught in the snare of the devil, and held captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26). Most are so entranced that even when they are face to face with the truth of God, they refuse His authority over them. Choosing rather to have the temporary power of Satan.
We read in Acts 8:9-10 of “a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from the smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, ‘This man is what is called the Great Power of God'”. We read on in Acts how the people were all amazed by this man’s magic arts. They were captivated and deceived by his tricks. They were confusing his sorcery with the works of the Almighty God.
Then we read how the truth of God showed up through Philip bringing the people the gospel. The people believed and were being baptized. The magician, Simon, saw his followers slipping away, and he also saw that the apostles of Christ came with a power and authority that he had never had and he wanted it. Simon professed to believe and was even baptized, but what we discover was that his profession was not of faith. He simply thought this was his means to gain this power of God.
Oh, but our God does not work that way.
In Acts 13:8-10 we read of a magician named Elymas who is working to oppose the apostles to keep the proconsul away from the faith. We read that Paul “filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, ‘You who are full of deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?'”
These men are everywhere.
Still today we must be on the look-out for those like them.
Going back to 2 Timothy 3:1-9 we read of the difficult times that will come in these last days. We read of those who rise up and appear to have “a form of godliness, although they have denied it’s power;…” (2 Timothy 3:5)
What power is it that they have denied?
The power of salvation (Romans 1:16).
The power of the grace of God.
The grace of God that instructs us to “…deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.” (Titus 2:12)
These men attempt, as Paul said, “to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord” They mimic God in an attempt to deceive those who are weak so that they may hold a position of power over them. They will succeed if you do not hold fast to the truth, the Word of God.
Holding fast is not just obtaining knowledge. These men are quite knowledgeable of the Word of God, which strengthens their ability to deceive. Satan himself attempted to use Scripture to tempt and deceive Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-12). It’s not just about knowing, it’s about obedience to what you know.
You, however, continue in the things you have learned
and become convinced of,
knowing from whom you have learned them,
and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings
which are able to give you the wisdom
that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:14-15
Obedience to God’s Word is key to our not being deceived by men such as Jannes and Jambres that stood in Pharaoh’s court and opposed Moses. It is key to keep us from being deceived by Simon and Elymas who opposed the apostles. We guard ourselves against these men by keeping our eyes wide open and watching their deeds.
We read in 1 Timothy 5:24-25 that “The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.”
Men such as these can only go so far. My friend, Satan can only go so far. “But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.” (2 Timothy 3:9)
Yes, the magicians of Pharaoh mimicked the power of God. They threw down their staffs and into serpents they did become, but that is not where it ended. “…But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.” (Exodus 7:12)
Oh precious one, don’t you just love our God! This sign so simple, yet saying so very much. Our God is greater. Satan can only mimic the power of the I AM. He can not originate his own. Satan may be able to deceive some for a while with his trickery, but his ways will be swallowed up in the victory of our God. “He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:8, 1 Corinthians 15:54).
Oh Father,
How great You are! You are my God and I follow no other. Keep my eyes open that I may not fall prey to those who are doing the will of Your enemy and mine. Let me not be impressed by a smooth tongue and magic arts. May the power of Your Holy Spirit work mightily in and through me as it did in Moses and in Paul and in Philip. May I not be afraid to stand up to the Jannes’s and Jambres’s of my time. For You my God will prevail. I will continue in Your Word and hold fast to Your truth walking in obedience to what I already know as I pursue to know even more. Strengthen me my God, according to Your glorious might, and Yours alone.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen