The Dark Side

We all have a dark side, no matter how saved we might believe. Lately, we are intrigued by things from the dark side and this can be seen by our TV. programmes, movies and books. As Christians, we are taught to leave our dark side and temptations behind by turning to God’s words and ways.

So, how do we “feed” our interest in the  dark side without really “feeding” it? This is where, for me, my love for series come into it. I "feed" it by watching a series like “Supernatural”. This series is about two brothers who are hunters. They hunt for demons and basically anything from the dark side or hell. I enjoy watching the fight between good and evil. Angels do make appearances as well as heaven.  And of course, good always wins!

Is this right? Should I be "feeding" it anyway? Honestly, I don't know.  I need more thought on this one.

I also feel it’s a lot safer than playing games like “Charlie, Charlie” which is trending around the world at the moment. This game is currently being played by kids from primary school age and upwards, where they call spirits to appear. This is dangerous regardless of your age to play as we are not informed on all things dark.  

Dabbling in the dark arts is and will never be a good idea, regardless of age and generation. Demons are out there and so are Angels. I know Satan would love us to dabble and mess around with it because it gives him the gateway to get closer to us but don’t allow him to take the beauty and power of God in your life. The spiritual realm is constantly at war so let’s help by listening and following God. Let’s help by turning from our sins.

The Bible tells us not to do spells, speak to the dead and tell fortunes, etc. We have to remember that Satan is a fallen angel. An angel created by God. Now, we know how we find comfort and beauty in God’s angels and we have an inkling of how powerful they are so imagine how powerful Satan can be especially since God created him.

God wants us to fear Him because of His amazing power and abilities to do things but we also need to fear Satan because He might not be as powerful as God but He does have power and abilities. Now, imagine how powerful his demons are, especially since they were created by one of God’s fallen angels.

Do not delve in dark magic as the dark side is just as mysterious as the light side. God warns us to stay away for very good reasons and we should be scared, not intrigued. Unfortunately, we are like children, who means we don’t often listen to God’s warnings and we test the world around us by trying things we, deep down, know we should not try.

I do believe that dark does exist but I know that I am more protected by God’s light and the spiritual realm and while I keep my eyes on Him, Satan has no place in my soul.  

How do you handle your "dark side"?

Don't let anyone among you offer a son or daughter as a sacrifice in the fire.

Don't let anyone use magic or witchcraft, or try to explain the meaning of signs. 

Don't let anyone try to control others with magic, and don't let them be mediums or try to talk with the spirits of dead people.

Deut. 18:10 - 12

Soul + Compelling = Spiritual Compulsion

For the past weeks and months, compulsion has crept into my life. Not just tempting compulsions, like having the chocolates I shouldn’t have but spiritual compulsion. I have other people also dealing with the issue of spiritual compulsion. So, what is spiritual compulsion and how do we listen to it.

Spiritual compulsion is when God speaks to your heart to do something or say something.  He keeps putting scenes, words or people into our minds. And no matter how we try to ignore it, it keeps coming back to us, day or night. That’s how we often know that it is God.

The Devil doesn’t have the patience to wait for us to “get the message”. He moves on if we don’t react quickly. But God, he chose you or me to do his bidding, and He is patient, kind and loving, and He will wait for us because deep down, He knows it will take us a while because humans will be humans!

But what happens if we do His bidding and the other person is not as responsive as we expected because who would deny God’s bidding, right?  We hear often in church how we need to spread the Good News, tell others about being saved by Jesus Christ and how we all need God but how often do we question Him when He needs us.  We doubt, mistrust and many times just don’t listen.

We can’t make the other person listen, trust and believe but what we can do is do what God lays on our heart  especially if we truly believe God wants it to better or help the other person. But we also need to patient, kind and loving to give the other person time to do what they need to do to know that God is using you to help them. And for the person being compelled, it’s not always easy; it can be frustrating but needs to be done.

God uses us in many ways whether we understand it or not. He is not asking us to understand, He is telling us to follow Him and do what He says. Maybe He uses compulsion to help us learn to trust Him too?  In Scripture, Jesus tells a rich man to leave everything behind and follow Him. He couldn’t do it. If God lays something on your heart like this, would you? Could you?

A few months ago, I saw a young man at robots. He has a growth growing out the side of his face, his right arm is crooked and he has a leg problem. When I look deep into his eyes, I see something; I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I don’t know why and can’t explain it because not many people affect me like this but he did. So, I did the only thing I could do, I prayed and I keep praying.  God wants me to do something and I don’t know what. I don’t even know if I have the courage to help. So, I give him money so he can eat, have electricity and try to look after himself. And every time, I give, He looks at me in the eyes and says “God Bless you”. Those three words pierce my heart every time and I often wonder if God is urging me to help him because maybe God is using me to help him believe those three words for himself and believe that God will bless Him.

And because I still don’t know, I am considering using my birthday to give him food stamps. Spiritual compulsion is just one of God’s mysterious ways and I don’t understand it, don’t know much about it, but I can’t ignore it. Can you?

The followers went everywhere in the world and

told the Good News to people, and the Lord helped them.

The Lord proved that the Good News they told was true

by giving them power to work miracles.

Mark 16:20

 

Perfect, period!

This is a humorous article specially written by a lady for the ladies. Gents, if you dare, read on.

I keep wondering why, when it’s our seven-day monthly special, men seem to find us so attractive, cute and sensual. So, I thought I would ponder on it awhile and give it a bit more thought.

Let’s be real here ladies. This is one of the times during the month where we feel bloated, unsexy and hate the thought of pampering any part of us. Our clothes seem too tight on us, our hair won’t flow the way we want it and frankly we are just not comfortable in any way. These seven days are our “leave me alone” and “I need chocolate” days. But yet, our husbands, boyfriends and men in general, notice us, give us the time of day, compliment us and generally seem to levitate towards us.

Have you ever noticed that after these seven days, their attention is not as strong as it was during them? They can smell those seven day hormones miles away.

And then I had a light bulb moment. God is great and even when we are feeling down and dirty, He uses it for the greater good. We just haven’t realized it! Now, you are wondering how on earth, can this be possible.

But think about it, we spend most of our time, trying to look and feel younger, sexier, and thinner, etc. Convincing ourselves, if we dress this way or wear this make-up, we can have their attention every day, all day.  If we exercise more, pamper ourselves more, they will listen more, do more, etc.

Well, ladies, I think God made us perfect every day regardless of the material items we think we need and/or the shape we’re in but let’s get adventurous.  He gave us seven days to flaunt our faith and figures in a respectful and self-honoring way!

Let’s use our hormones to encourage our fellow ladies to keep feeling positive about ourselves, sexy in our sexuality and down-right beautiful in our God given bodies!

Men don’t need to touch us to remind us and let’s be honest during those seven days he’s got no chance but let’s flaunt our natural beauty, our personality for God because He created us in His image and man, do you all look good! His blessings and our personalities shine through, spreading His love all around. 

So, let’s take our “ugly” seven days and turn them into our “proudly perfect” days because God didn’t make mistakes and He has given us seven days to show the world. You don’t need extras like heels, make-up and perfume on these days. All you need to do is flaunt your faith by being NATURALLY YOU!

Why wait for August to be Women’s month to flaunt it! Once a week, once a month is our time to shine!

You made my whole being;

You formed me in my mother’s body.

I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way

Ps. 139:13-14

PS: And for our dear ladies, who have done their time with this “milestone”, use those hot flushes to make the young men think they have the right stuff! It’s our secret, go on – have faithful fun! You are perfect in God’s eyes after all!

Silence is.....

Silence is…….Golden.

Important

We need silence to relax our mind, our body and our spirit. It is important that we have silence regularly to give us the time and space to listen to God talking to us. God’s presence brings us peace and complete calm physically and mentally. In our silence, God can truly reward us and be with us.

It is good to wait quietly for the Lord to save

Lamentations 3:26

love

In our silence, we are relaxed and we are able to truly feel God’s presence and His embrace by sitting still, our mind clear, our spirit calm. We are able to truly feel God’s arms wrap around us in His eternal Fatherly love. We can feel the Holy Spirit’s warmth course through our veins.

You only need to remain calm;

the Lord will fight for you

Exodus 14:14

Eerily effective

Sometimes silence can seem scary to us as we hate being left alone with our own, private thoughts but we need it. The silence helps us reconnect with ourselves and the world around us. The eeriness and overwhelming presence of God opens our eyes and our ears to receive and see His message clearly and without interference.

I find rest in God;

Only he gives me hope.

Psalm 62:5

Necessary

We need it. We need silence. Silence is our solitude and saving grace. We need it to survive, to strengthen our soul, to relieve the stress from our busy lives, to stay sane. Silence is necessary to remind us of what is important in life, what we want out of life and to ask God to guide us in the His direction.

He should sit alone and be quiet;

the Lord has given him hard work to do

Lamentations 3:28

Teaching

Silence teaches us to be patient, to embrace our relationship with God and to realise our blessings and be grateful for them. Silence teaches us how to be with ourselves, how to relax and how to enjoy simple moments in life. Silence teaches acceptance, reality and about our faith journey. Silence helps us to be in tune with our spiritual side and realise God’s love, faith and hope in us.

Even fools seem to be wise if they keep quiet;

if they don’t speak they appear to understand.

Proverbs 17:28

Silence is…golden.

To some, it can be a blessing or a curse. Silence is valuable and free. Silence is what God uses to be with us in prayer, in presence and in prosperity. Sit still and be with God. Let Him use it to realise your importance, His love for you, to fear Him, to realise your necessity to Him and to teach the many wonderful things He has in store for you.

God says, “Be quiet and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10

My Patch, My Tailor

Minor Burn, Car breaking down, missing hamster, lack of writing words and work issues in less than a month – people call it “Life”, I call it “A Rough Patch”.

Lately, I have been going through a really rough patch and I am still in it. It also got me thinking....is this God working in me, with me, trying to teach me a lesson or remind me of something I have forgotten? OR....is it the Devil, trying to get me on his side, tempting me to do things I know deep down is wrong in the eyes of my Lord? But one thing I know for sure is if it is the Devil, he ain’t gonna win!!!

It also got me thinking about an actual cloth patch. What is a patch used for? You rip your favourite pair of jeans. Those jeans that fit you perfectly, feel great and you don’t want to get rid of. So you decide to patch it. A piece of material is cut to fit past the rip and then you sew it. If you run your fingers over the patch you can feel the rough cotton and the smooth material. From the front, the patch looks completely smooth yet the rip edges are rough and visible but it is sealed. The patch is there so you are not exposed (or a body part at least).

In life, what is a rough patch used for? For me, it is clearly to make me re-look at things, reflect and consider changing things. Yes, it gets me down, makes me tired, stressed and then I go to training – my escape, my release. But like most things in life, you can run away but at some point you have to return and face it head on.

What does God tells us about rough patches? Aren’t we a rough patch in His eyes? Maybe because we are rough patches, we experience them as gentle reminders that this life is short and material things no matter how we might need them aren’t as important as nurturing our relationship with God.  How many times has God “patched” us up?

In the Bible, it tells us that we are the clay and God is our potter but for the sake of this post, I also like to think that we are God’s favourite pair of jeans and God is our tailor. He tailor made each of us and like me, I am sure that many of us have caused tears in His material. But being the loving God He is, he cuts a patch out of His material and gently weaves the cotton through our pain and suffering, patching us up so we are not exposed anymore.

It also makes me wonder, how many times we have “ripped” open the same patches and how God never complaining, always teaching, keeps weaving the cotton, healing us, sealing us in His protection and love.  He continues to wrap us up in His royal silk.

So in closing, I might be going through a rough patch but I dwell on the thought that even though I don’t understand why (at this moment), I know that God, my tailor, is threading His glorious needle, getting ready to weave His cotton and “patch” me up...yet again.

He is YOUR Father and Maker,

Who made you and formed you.

Deut. 32:6

(and won’t stop patching you up)