/ composed of elements drawn from various sources.



Killing Sacred Cows

Killing Sacred Cows

The Word of God is awesome! It has all the power we will ever need for every situation in our lives (Heb. 4:12). All we have to do is mix it with faith and, praise God, a miracle (Heb. 4:2)!

I know many of you are thinking, It isn’t that easy. I believe the Word and I’m doing everything I know to do, yet things still haven’t worked out. I have experienced that too—personally and with many people I’ve ministered to. So, what’s the problem? Actually, there are many problems, but I think most of them can be summed up by what Jesus said in Mark 7:13:

“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition.”

What a startling statement! Wrong teachingspecifically religious doctrinesmakes God’s Word of no effect. The most significant revelations I’ve received from the Lord all have to do with renewing my mind from old ways of thinking that I learned in church. As I was freed from the traditions, the simplicity of God’s Word set me free.

At a recent Gospel Truth Seminar, the Lord led me to counter a number of traditions that void God’s Word. It was heavy stuff that was hard on even many full-Gospel fanatics. I tried to be as gentle as possible, but there isn’t a gentle way to kill a sacred cow.

It’s like the man who saw a cow with a wooden leg. He was so shocked, he stopped his car and asked the farmer about the cow. The farmer said this was a very special cow. He told stories of how the cow saved him and his kids’ lives more than once. The man was impressed, but that still didn’t explain why the cow had a wooden leg. Finally, the farmer yelled, “You can’t eat a special cow like that all at once!”

Unlike that farmer’s cow, sacred cows cannot be done away with gradually. You just need to kill them and deal with the fallout. So that’s what I did. It was powerful. I dealt with a lot of things in the seminar, but only have space to mention a few in this letter.

I think one of the worst doctrines in the body of Christ today is the belief that God controls everything or, as the religious terminology states, “God is sovereign.” It’s usually presented in one of two ways: One, God originates everything, or two, Satan originates the evil things but has to get God’s approval before he can do His “dirty work.”

This doctrine seems to be dominant in the body of Christ today. It’s so entrenched that many people will just discount what I have to say before hearing me out. To them, this has become a sacred cow. But this old cow needs to die. They need to kill that sacred cow, or it will kill the power of God’s Word in their lives.

On the surface, it makes perfect sense that God controls everything. After all, He is God. He is all powerful. He can do whatever He wants to do. He is sovereign.

I agree that God is sovereign if the word sovereign is used as it’s defined in the dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “sovereign” as “1. Independent. 2. Having supreme rank or power. 3. Paramount; supreme.” “Sovereign” comes from a Latin word that means “super, above.” I agree with all of those definitions. God is all of that and more.

But religious tradition has redefined “sovereign” to mean God has and does exercise “absolute control.” I totally disagree with that!

At one time, God was in absolute control of everything, but then He made man and gave him unrestricted power and authority over the earth. Man knowingly gave that power and authority to Satan. And Satan has been messing things up ever since (with our help, I might add).

You might say, “God could stop Satan if He wanted to. Therefore, the devil only does what God allows Him to do.” That’s not true. That’s a religious tradition that will render you passive and prey to the devil.

When God gave Adam unconditional authority over the earth, He gave him His word (Ps. 89:34). There were no strings attached. He didn’t say, “If you blow it, I’ll take back My power and authority.” No! God had to allow what man allowed. The Lord had given man total control over the earth. It was his to govern as he saw fit. Adam then yielded to Satan the power and authority God intended for man.

God is a good God. If it was only up to Him, we would all be blessed (James 1:17). That can be seen in the life of Job. God blessed Job abundantly. He was the greatest man in wealth and integrity of all the people of his day. But Job didn’t have a covenant with God. The Lord didn’t really have the legal right to be so good to Job. Job was a sinner and therefore under Satan’s control. So Satan pressed his case, and the Lord had to turn Job over to Satan because he legally came under Satan’s jurisdiction.

This is why the Lord started making covenants with people like Abraham and, eventually, the whole nation of Israel. If they would comply, then the Lord could legally bless them. This worked, to a degree. The problem was, no one could live up to God’s standard for very long. So, instead of the blessing He desired to give, the curse eventually came upon them because “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23).

People have seen many scriptural examples of God’s judgment upon man in the Old Testament and have taken from that that judgment is God’s way of correcting us. Under the New Covenant, that is no longer the case, and a number of scriptures will kill that sacred cow.

Deuteronomy 28 lists the blessings and curses that would come upon the Israelites depending on their obedience or disobedience to God’s commands. Notice the things listed in verses 15-68: sickness, poverty, grief, and every other trouble imaginable. They are curses, not blessings, as many religious people are trying to make them out to be today.

People will say, “This cancer was really a blessing in disguise because it made me turn to the Lord for help.” No! It’s not a blessing; it’s a curse. God didn’t put that cancer on them or allow it. The fact that they turned to the Lord is good, but they shouldn’t blame God for causing that problem.

God never uses evil to correct or draw us to Him. Romans 2:4 says it’s the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Second Timothy 3:16 says that God’s Word—not problems—is given to correct and reprove us. Afflictions are what Satan uses to steal away God’s Word (Mark 4:16, 17).

“But don’t all things work together for good?” No! That’s not what God’s Word says. That’s another sacred cow. Look at Paul’s actual statement in Romans 8:28:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Taken in context, that verse says something totally different from what religion has taught us. The two preceding verses say,

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

First, the Greek word for “helpeth” is a compound word that means “to take hold of opposite together, i.e. co-operate” (Strong’s Concordance). The Holy Spirit does not intercede for us automatically; we must participate, and as we do, He energizes and quickens and empowers our prayers. When He takes hold with us, things begin to work together for good.

Second, in verse 28, there are qualifications that most people ignore. The first is to love God. Did you know that not everybody loves God? Not even all who are born again truly love God. For those who do not, things don’t work together for good.

The next part says you must be called according to His purpose. What is His purpose? First John 3:8 says that the purpose of Jesus’ coming was to destroy the works of the devil. So, if you are functioning according to the purpose of Jesus, you should be out to destroy the works of the devil.

Therefore, this passage of Scripture applies to people who are not passive, but they are interceding and letting the Holy Spirit supernaturally energize and take intercession to a level where it’s not just human. That eliminates the majority of people right there. Add loving God to that and resisting and destroying the works of the devil, and you can see how that scripture has been misunderstood and misused.

God is not the one who makes our lives a mess. We have a choice.

Deuteronomy 30:19 says,

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”

To say we don’t have a choice is another way of saying we aren’t willing to take personal responsibility for our situations. When we believe we’re not responsible, it invalidates the Word of God. The Word tells us to make a choice between life and death, so we do have a choice. God even helped us out by telling us which one to choose: He said to choose life.

The slickest deception Satan has ever put across, primarily through the church, is to get people to embrace his work as the work of God. In my estimation, this is the worst doctrine in the body of Christ. If you really believe God controls everything, why do anything? Why pray? Why study the Word? Why resist? Just eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die, and whatever God wills will happen.

However, James 4:7 says,

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Notice that there are things from God that we submit to and things from the devil that we resist. God does not control everything.

Religion has played into the victim mentality because it’s the easiest way to explain away failure. The church has not been effective in helping people overcome things like sickness and financial problems, so they fall into the sacred cow belief that God is allowing this for a reason.

God isn’t allowing the bad things in your life. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives on the inside of every believer, and He is waiting on you to resist the devil and appropriate what He has already provided through Jesus.

This post is was written by Andrew Wommack and is taken in its entirety from his website at awmi.net. He also has a complete series of teaching on this. I encourage you to seek out the Word of the Lord for yourself, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the Word to you, and to really seek HIS face on this.

HIS Word works! ALWAYS!

Herald

Herald

Herald. What an odd word. What is a herald? Who is a herald? What are the duties of a herald? These are all great questions in regards to defining the word?

Let’s start with the song – “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. Hark is to listen! A bold statement. So LISTEN! To the Herald Angels. These are the messengers.

A Herald is a messenger, usually one that brings good news. And oh do I have some good news to tell!

It may be some of the same news that the Herald Angels sang, but expounding more! Jesus came!

So we have answered all of our questions with the one sentence and now we can focus on what the news is to bring!

What is this news? John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came to give us an abundant life! Oh wow! What does abundance mean to you?

 

Better Than TikTok

Better Than TikTok

I was going to start this post with – are you a reader? Then I realized the frivolous context of the question, given the fact that you are currently reading, by viewing this post. So scratch that.

A real question would be, do you like to read? This is definitely an ok question to pose, I think. Just because you scroll through your phone or surf the internet, coming across miles and miles of information does not mean that you like to read.

Books are such a wealth of information. Before Google existed, published literature is what we had. Have you ever seen a real dictionary?

BETTER THAN TIKTOK?!

Yes I know, I know! It is hard to believe there was life before Google or even now as we see all of the recipes in video form on TikTok, how in the world?!?!

Everyone probably has had a list of books to read over the course of this year, but I didn’t start with the list I had made (insert facepalm here)! Nor do I even know where the list has gone.

So maybe some recommendations would be in order. My favorite book is the Bible! It is so full of information for our daily lives!

What is RICH?

One of my favorite verses is John 10:10, which tells us that Jesus came to give us a rich and satisfying life! Wow! A RICH and SATISFYING life!

Jesus came to give us a life full of blessings! But the first part of that verse warns us that the thief is coming to try and steal the Word from us, so he can kill and destroy us. So we know he is coming, we must stay on guard.

The Bible also tells us to guard our hearts above all things, yet it also says to love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) and now I feel like a whirlwind or maybe I am in a tug-of-war. BUT WAIT! Thats it! This is war!

Ok, don’t get spooked about it because we are the winners! We have to put on the Armor of God as noted in Ephesians 6:11-18.

Let’s go back to the satisfying life! What may be gratifying to you, could look very different to me. Even the word “rich” could have many diverse definitions.

GOING BEYOND

But regardless, let’s imagine and dream! God plans are SO MUCH bigger than ours and if it can be accomplished by us, why would we need God? HE wants us to have a vision that there is NO WAY we could achieve on our own!

My goal is to win as many souls for the Kingdom, as is humanly possible! I want to use every avenue available! I WANT TO GO BEYOND ALL!!!

Just Breathe

Just Breathe

There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what his name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name he gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.

Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an “a” and an “e” in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels. But scholars and rabbis have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing. YH (inhale): WH (exhale).

So a baby’s first cry, his first breath, speaks the name of God. A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words. Even an atheist would speak His name unaware that their very breathe is giving constant acknowledgment to God. Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filing their lungs.

So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out His name?
Being alive means I speak His name constantly. Is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?
In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs. In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down. When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage.

When I think about it, breathing is giving him praise. Even in the hardest moments!
This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive. All of us, always, everywhere. Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.
– author unknown

A Little Reflection

A Little Reflection

The day is almost over, here where I l live and it’s time for me to do a little reflecting. I made a huge pot of soup yesterday, so I would have it to eat throughout today. My intentions have failed today, or that is sure the way it feels to me.

Later in the afternoon, I did wind up eating a little bit of the soup, but had no original plans to eat out. However, the Trio, complete with a veggie sandwich, loaded potato soup, and Caesar salad, from Nanny Goats did hit the spot. I also was not successful in passing up the mini candy bars.

On top of all that, I joined a Healthy Wage Challenge to get back on track with my “Fit and Fabulous by 50” goals. I’ll have to elaborate more on that soon! I have been recruiting for that as well.

For now, I will know that tomorrow is a new day. A fresh start is definitely in order. More organization and some list completions will also be expected.

I love cheering you on with your journey. Thanks for rooting for me too!

Meet Dalton

Meet Dalton

Today is my son, Dalton’s birthday! In my quest of being intentional, Brad and I are going to take him to lunch! I would love for you to meet him!

What can I say about Dalton, from “mom’s perspective”? So many things! Dalton is a handsome guy and single (wink, wink)! He is extremely responsible. A self taught, Graphic Designer, at the top of his field!

If you are looking for funny and always enthusiastic, look no further. I like to think he has taken some ques from his momma in the projection of positivity! If there is a choice, the glass is always half full!

Creativity oozes from every fiber of his being. Need action? This is your guy! Definitely a problem-solver!

He is a sports car enthusiast, has moved into the realm of motorcycles, and owns his home. Now, I am working on pulling him into the wonderful world of Jeeps! This momma wasn’t too excited about the motorcycle, but he proved his maturity. Safety class, prior to purchase? CHECK!

I could go on and on, BUT today I am anticipating our lunch date! So I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite pics.

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