Tag: Jesus is Lord

Fiction and Fantasy—The Twins of Spiritual Warfare

Fiction and Fantasy—The Twins of Spiritual Warfare Devotional Reading, August 14, 2023

Do not fixate on your desires! When developing new plans, present them to God in prayer, wait for His blessing of approval, and then move forward. S. Johnson

Throughout my life, I have always loved being on the road. I became a Road Warrior in my early twenties. Reflecting on my years of traveling extensively throughout the United States, still brings joy and excitement to my heart. Driving was something that I had to do, and yes, my life was filled with happiness from the new experiences. But two unexpected life events [a mid-life divorce and a physical disability] changed the direction of my life. And my presenting circumstances forced me to become a virtual world traveler.

Yet, I refused to accept the fact that I had to see the world through someone else’s eyes. Every day I would spend a lot of time remembering my former life and verbalizing my desire to travel again. Every day the wheels of my mind kept spinning to develop a plan to resume life on the road. Being dissatisfied with my present life affected my mental and emotional health, I developed insomnia and a dark cloud of discouragement permeated my mind.

Still, I am not one to easily give up. So I asked myself, What changes could I make to resume my former lifestyle of traveling?

One day while I was looking through my YouTube feed, I saw the solution to restart my passion for traveling, Van Life. I did six months of extensive research and decided this option would work. All of my discouragement quickly dissipated as I developed a comprehensive plan for living a minimalist lifestyle in a van.

I was well-organized with my habit of searching for van life videos at night and saving them to Watch Later. The next morning, after quick worship, I watched a few videos on the downside of van life as a single woman. Unless you become part of a van-life community, the instability of searching for the best places to park and live from day to day is a stressor. Unpredictable weather, the unexpected expenses of vehicle maintenance, food planning, and most importantly, staying on high alert for remaining safe were among the top challenges of van life.

Still, I was not intimidated. From my travel experiences, I was confident and quite proud of my strategic plans to enjoy freedom from paying rent. Yes, I could live on the road and travel again in my well-designed, minimalist, stealth van.

“LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” —Jeremiah 10:23, NIV

But our loving God intervened! The next two videos were made by single, professional, female van-life communities which brought my fantasy of van life to a halt! Many voiced their personal beliefs of worshiping nature, transcendental meditation, drinking wine, and smoking marijuana along with varied philosophies, morals, and values which brought me to the reality that I would be an isolated van-lifer because of my Christianity.

Reflection: What plans have you made for yourself that exclude the blessing of God’s approval?

Believers are no exception to planning their lives without God’s divine intervention. We pursue careers, financial stability, start businesses, relocate, purchase homes and vehicles, become involved in relationships and marriages with people who have not surrendered to God, and develop retirement plans without praying and waiting for God to reveal His plans for our lives.

“Fiction explores what is possible but not true, while fantasy explores what is impossible.” Adazing website

From our desires, we create a fictional life, which drives us to develop impossible plans [fantasy] for us to fulfill. Yes, we can strategize and develop plans down to the smallest detail, but the fixation on our desires causes us to forget one crucial element—the unknown and unstable future. Whether or not we have taken into consideration that life will always bring unexpected changes, we do not view those changes as beyond our control.

We are confident with our projected outcomes based on human wisdom. Sadly, our thoughts have taken us beyond our human capabilities. We imagine that our future is in our hands, but the unknown future belongs to God. Only the Omniscient God can provide a perfect and expected end for us.

When our desires exclude God, we invite spiritual warfare into our lives. Moving forward with our self-made plans provides the perfect opportunity for Satan to help us in bringing those plans to fruition. No, he cannot read our minds, but his evil angels observe our behaviors and present to us the things which appear to be a blessing. Because we are fixated on our fictional plans which we do not see as impossible [fantasy], we never consider that failure or suffering from unforeseen consequences of moving ahead without God is a possibility.

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” —Romans 7:18-20, ESV

Yes, for as long as we live on this earth, as Christians, we will remain in the battle of good versus evil. Satan knows that we fight every day to overcome temptations and sin against God. For protection against the warfare of succumbing to our desires, we must pray a prayer of surrender every day.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” —Jeremiah 29:11

God promises to give us hope and a perfect end when our plans are in alignment with His plans for our lives. Surrender, trust, and obedience are the spiritual character traits we must possess to be in the right standing with God. Our loyalty and dedication to God are only possible if we love God more than our heart’s desires and are committed to doing His will by obeying and following His plans.

How can we keep our minds from developing fictional plans based on the illusions of fantasy? Ask yourself, do my plans honor and glorify God?

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” —Philippians 4:8

Pray in faith and learn to listen for the Holy Spirit speaking to you through your thoughts which are always in alignment with the Scriptures. God has given us the ability to dream, yet, our dreams must align with the reality of His plans. God is the only one that can order our steps and give us a victorious outcome based on His promises and His power!

Weekly Scripture Reading: The Life of Joseph, Genesis chapters 37-50

Prayer: God, we pray for protection from our wayward thoughts and plans. We ask You to block every aspect of the spiritual warfare of delusion from our lives. Lord, we surrender ourselves to You and commit to pray and wait for Your plans to be revealed in our lives. In Jesus’ Worthy name, we pray, Amen.

© 2023 Steps 2 Success with Spiritual Solutions and Woman, You Are Loved by God Ministries

“Jesus, If You Can”

Jesus, If You Can Devotional Reading June 2, 2023

“And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.'” —Mark 9:22-23

Our greatest battle in life is Faith versus Feelings! We have embraced and adopted the worldview of do-it-yourself. Because of self-reliance, our measure of faith has not grown or developed. Many Christians have stopped praying for God’s Divine guidance and help in their routine duties of life. It’s not until a life-changing event that we get on our knees and cry out for God’s help.

Words of Faith, Fear, and Doubt—”But if You can do anything”

Yes, the child’s father had heard of a man and His disciples who could heal. After the disciples failed to heal the young boy because of their faithlessness, the father used all the courage he had to approach Jesus. The disciples’ failure left the man feeling unsure of Jesus’ spiritual power to heal. Yet, he took the risk in front of a crowd of people to ask Jesus if He could heal his son.

In His earthly life, Jesus always exhibited His true love and compassion to those in need. Some biblical translations mislead us to believe that Jesus scolded the child’s father with the response “What do you mean, ‘If I can?’ Jesus asked.” Those condescending words would never be spoken by our Loving Savior!

Our faith in God is being attacked every day. The spiritual warfare that we face includes the misrepresentation of God as punitive—always ready to punish humanity. We know that the fallen angel, Lucifer who is now Satan is responsible for the lies regarding God. Our faith has diminished because we failed to learn of God’s character which is evident throughout the Bible.

Even so, do not let worldviews, your feelings, the opinions of others, the presenting circumstances, or the lack of Scriptural knowledge cause disbelief in the love and power of Jesus Christ!

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.…” — Matthew 11:28-29

Jesus knows the weaknesses of our hearts and characters. He is aware of the self-reliance and fears that prevent us from coming to Him immediately when we face overwhelming challenges. Yet, He tells us the only way His Divine power can provide absolute resolution to the trials and sorrows we face.

The story of the child with symptoms of epilepsy and his father who decided to courageously approach Jesus with the little faith he had teaches us that when we put our unbelief aside and approach God in prayer, supernatural results happen even though our faith is weak. Our prayers must be spoken in faith, “Jesus, I know You can.”

In Revelation, the Apostle John reveals to us the Character and Majestic Power of Christ: “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hell and of Death.'” —Revelation 1:18-19

Who else but Jesus can reassure us that His power is so great that He overcame death? And who else but Jesus would die for all of humanity including those who despise, disobey, and have no faith in Him?

“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” With finite understanding, we will never fully comprehend the POWER and Love that Christ has for us. Still, every day we can make the intentional commitment to embrace and verbalize Jesus’ love, be intentional with our faith, and believe His Holy Words.

Prayer: God, we are distracted by the many worldviews that are diminishing our faith in Your power and love for us. We commit to faithfully believing in Your loving character and Your unlimited power. Jesus, we love You. Thank You for Your love, grace, and mercies. In Jesus’ Loving Name, Amen.

© 2023 Steps2successwithsolutions and Woman, You Are Loved by God

Relying on the Strength of His Righteous Right Hand

Relying On the Strength of His Righteous Right Hand Devotional Reading

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” —Isaiah 41:10

In our relationship with Christ, the greatest challenge comes from within our minds. Yes, we love Jesus, but we do not trust in Him. We have been influenced and molded by the worldview of “Self-reliance.” Readily embracing DIY [Do-It-Yourself] has caused us to exclude God from every aspect of our decision-making.

DIY results in disobedience. without Divine guidance, we practice self-governance which opposes God’s righteous standards. Yet the reality is that we were not created to live using prior experience, strategies, or guesswork in choosing the best option. Belief in our limited abilities over God’s power leaves us faithless and feeling alone, producing anxiety, worry, and stress.

“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday. But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.” —Proverbs 4:18-19

Pray and Wait! Pray for guidance in every aspect of your life—even the little things. Fight the urge to live with a DIY mentality. We don’t have to stumble and fall as unbelievers who live in darkness. The righteous have access to Divine Guidance and Strength 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Achieving a victorious life requires faith, trust, and obedience to God’s will and plans. Throughout your journey, visualize Jesus holding You in His Righteous hand and guiding you toward perfection. Although restoring furniture is a great DIY skill, it’s not worth taking chances using DIY guesswork with our precious lives and suffering unnecessary consequences.

“Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” —Psalm 27:14

Choose Christ and His gifts of peace, joy, and contentment by renouncing all self-reliance. Turning your life over to Jesus every day reveals steadfast faith and trust in the Lion of Judah. You will never regret staying in His Righteous Right Hand!

Prayer: God, we have suffered from the anxiety and worry that the DIY mentality produces. We desperately need Your Help! Please lead, guide, and direct us in our journey. We ask this prayer in the Worthy Name of Jesus, Amen.

© 2023 Woman, You Are Loved by God Ministries [Steps2successwithspiritualsolutions]

Sabbath Blessings

As we approach the last Sabbath in October of 2021, pray and thank God for all of the blessings that He has given to you including life, health, strength, and the ability to praise him. Jesus gave the priceless gift of His life to redeem us from a debt of sin that placed us into Spiritual Bankruptcy. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Psalm 107:2. Happy Sabbath!