I don't want to leave this discussion about the one behind the curtain until we touch on the last part of this thought mentioned by Priscilla. On the bottom of page 50 she begins, "Personalize your prayer by asking God to help you pull back the curtain today--and every single day-- so you can see when the devil is behind the argument, the frustration, the anger, the discord, the falsehood, the insecurity, the fear." The picture above was the Wizard of Oz in his true form. Amazing isn't it ~ such a difference from the picture he tried to project to intimidate and manipulate for his purposes (as seen in Friday's post) . So what's behind your curtain? Are there 'bogeymen' hiding? My littlest grand babies get big eyes when I might mention bogeymen. And the oldest of the two would assure me (although I'm quite sure she is really trying to assure herself) that, 'Bogeymen are pretend, Nanny.' Both of them have a sound understanding even now that God is with them. He is everywhere. He knows everything. And even though bad things do happen in our family just like they do in every family, they believe that God does still, and will always, love us. One day their parents will have the talk about the evil one, yet at this tender age I'm sure we don't need to bring him up just yet. But you and I are not so naive or innocent and we DO need to consider the evil one. Just so you know what to look for, here's how Christ described him. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." So anytime things are going sideways it's safe to wonder if it's just the Wizard again trying to get his way. Always remember how Christ finished the thought above. He said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." ~ Andi
0 Comments
In Strategy 3 Priscilla brings back to mind the movie the Wizard of Oz. Released in 1939, the story was a huge success. If you're unfamiliar with the tale, briefly it's about a young woman, Dorothy, who dreams of an alternate place where there is a kingdom run by a mighty wizard who calls himself the great and powerful Wizard of Oz. He tells Dorothy he holds ALL THE POWER in the land, and that he, and only he, holds the key to her way back home. However, she later finds out the Wizard is no wizard, he has NO magic, and she has always had the power to go home. All she had to do was FOCUS on home! "He [your enemy] wants you focused on things that are physical and visible instead of where the action really is. "Pay no attention," in other words, "to the man behind the curtain."' Page 40. Illusionists are remarkable. They can do unfathomable things right in front of us. They're fun to watch, but we all know they are just using a trick, albeit a good one, but it's just a trick done while distracting our attention. That's the point Priscilla wants us to see as we consider our struggles and situations in life. There's often a man behind the curtain making smoke, and flames, and ominous images to scare the stuffin' out of us leaving us so frightened we forget WE HAVE THE POWER we need to stop him cold. Christ accomplished that victory! Will it change our circumstances? If God's will at that moment is our testing resulting in growth and more opportunity, then perhaps not. But if our suffering is the trembling, uncertainty, fear and confusion of that distraction brought on by the enemy, then YES we can eliminate that! The trick this illusionist employs is one of distraction. He knows if you stop long enough and think about it you will realize you have power, and that Christ has already defeated ALL the nonsense the enemy can throw against you. The enemy's means of warfare against us and our joy is: Distract, DISTRACT, DISTRACT! Don't be fooled by the man behind the curtain. He's only a pathetic, hopeless and vanquished foe. ~ One more week of camping! Too much fun! See you live in September (: Andi "If I were your enemy, I'd use every opportunity to bring old wounds to mind, as well as the people, events and circumstances that caused them. I'd try to ensure that your heart was hardened with anger and bitterness..." In this chapter Priscilla shares an important story. It's a tale of misunderstanding, growing anger, all eventually ending in deeply-rooted bitterness and hurt. I've lived through it, that revolving doorway of hurt. Just like the revolving doors at the airport we have opportunities to simply walk out, but instead we continue going around in that circle. When remembering some of my most painful hurts it seemed that after a while what caused the misunderstanding didn't matter as much to me as the woundedness I blamed on someone else. But if we could see behind the scenes we'd realize that while we're going through all this suffering, the enemy is laughing! The enemy enjoys layering on injury and imagining - encouraging the creative 'blaming' on everyone but us to run wild! Soon a sad situation has become a mess. We're playing right into the enemy's hands. Holding a grudge? Feeling abused? Unforgiving? Convinced of the absolute worst we could 'imagine...?' Blaming others... We're headed straight into an attitude of bitterness and hurt... On page 161 Priscilla writes: "Prayer gets at the truth. The truth of what happened? Yes. If that's really what took place, then yes. The real facts and details don't change as you get real with God in prayer. But get ready for some other pieces of information to bubble up to the surface as well..." It's true that when we come to a place of wanting healing - God will help us. (But He never said it would be pretty.) You may see, as Priscilla did, as I did, your own complicity in the misunderstanding. You may see that your unforgiveness caused an escalation of the hurt you and another suffered. You may even see that your mistaken impressions fostered an attitude of false impressions that had nothing to do with the truth. Then, when God lays all the evidence on the table, you can pick up the pieces that are yours. You can ask for His forgiveness and watch those pieces vanish. You feel the freedom and peace of forgiveness and are able to then focus on forgiving. ~ Andi It's natural to think that God always listens to us, and that He is ever near. Still, there are days when our devotional time feels more like a lonely walk in the woods than it does following Divine foot prints in the sand. How can we fix that? Do you remember Star Trek? The starship Enterprise used a forcefield to protect itself. The forcefield was invisible but extremely effective. It repelled weapon attacks, approaching debris in space, etc. We tend to do something similar when we are in protection-mode. We put up a forcefield when we want to avoid injury. Is it invisible to us, do we see what we're doing? Sometimes. Is it effective? Oh, very. Here's how it looks. Have you ever asked yourself, 'Where did God go?' 'I pray.' 'I read.' 'I cry, and nothing.' 'Where is He?' God may not be saying anything, or, perhaps He's talking to you but He can't get through. Is your forcefield up? Are you protecting yourself from dealing with things you know He wants to talk about? You're trying to avoid the pain the process could cause. Frankly, are you afraid God is going to fire that laser and blow your heart to bits? It can feel like your heart is shattered, but just on the other side of that feeling is God's embrace and healing. So, when he puts your heart back together it will be stronger, bigger, more forgiving, and more closely resembling the heart of Christ. Do you really want protection from that? When you hit that time in devotions when God seems to be nowhere, consider your forcefield. Is it up? So what should we do about that? Drop the forcefield. He will always turn your fear of hurt into growth and joy. ~ Andi "Make me to know your way, O Lord; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, ..." Psalm 25:4 In this series we've looked at choosing our devotional space and dressing it up for that sense of holiness and relationship. We also explored reclaiming time from our schedule so our devotional routine can flourish. Now with time and a space, what do we need to do? For the longest time I believed the only way to study the Bible was listening to a teacher. After all I thought, I don't know all the ins and outs of the Bible. I wanted to be sure I understood Scripture clearly and that I wasn't coming up with interpretations that were just mine or were wrong understandings, not corroborated or supported by other biblical texts. Listening to someone teach who has years of experience is a quick way to learn, it's like taking giant steps that quickly give us deeper comprehension. But speed in learning isn't always the important thing with God. Sometimes it's the small, coincidental lessons we experience along the way that make huge changes in our life. How do we study then? Here's a few suggestions: 1. Reading consistently is the best help. Bouncing around in our reading may not give us the context of God's story that we want. Read consistently. Following a reading plan is very important. Many reading plans are free online. 2. Using a Bible with commentary notes is also a great idea. And reading different translations of a passage also broadens understanding. 3. There are bible-study websites that offer free use of commentaries, dictionary and even scholarly tools for deeper comprehension. A couple I like are: biblehub.com and biblegateway.com. When you get stuck in figuring out what God is saying in a passage, try these sites. Finally, pray for yourself and your Divine relationship. Ask God to renew your desire to meet each and everyday. Before you know it you will crave that time with Him and it will no longer be hard to find, it will miraculously appear! (: ~ Andi |
To get automatic updates click: RSS Feed
Your Host:
|