Monday, November 12, 2012

Protecting Women

I am late to the battle. I know that. I have lacked understanding.
Let me get right to my point.
Our women need men. It is not a matter of equality.
Women, real women, the way God created them to be, want to be protected.
The proper order of things is that a woman will defer to a man to be protected by him. As a man my job is to protect the women in my life, to encourage and love them and protect them from outside enemies and from their own inner musings.

This election season has burdened my heart. "The war on women" is a phrase heard over and over. Those who seek to harm women have accused those who stand to protect women of being at war against women. Nothing could be farther than the truth.

We are a people created by God with a free will. We are a nation of freedom.
It is in the name of this freedom that certain ones proclaim there should be no limits to our freedoms. They say women must be given free contraceptives, women need to be able to access abortion services on demand.

My understanding is that generally women want relationship more than sex.
The heart of a woman is to raise and nurture family.

So why would those who proclaim to be for women's freedom fight so hard to give them access to birth control and abortion unless the goal was that women are objects to be used for sexual satisfaction without cost? These are not people seeking to protect women, these are people seeking to use women. Worse, they have recruited, abused and lied to some of these women and gotten them to advocate for the same things. It has been a cultural shift that can only be understood as a spiritual attack on the mind and understanding of women.

Have women been used and abused by men in our culture historically?
The answer is certainly yes. Do women get paid less than men for the same work. Honestly we must say yes. As a business owner I hired women because I though I could pay them less. Historically me have been the providers and women came in behind to fill in the shortfall.

The enemy has succeeded in turning the world upside down. I can't even get to the heart of my thinking without generalizing or writing page and page that will completely offend.

Prayer for a friend

You are favored by God. As the enemy requested to sift Peter like wheat because he was a chosen vessel, so he has requested of you. Because you also are God's chosen vessel! Even as Jesus declared to Peter: "Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." So is this promise for you. You are one who strengthen's others with your gifting. The enemy cannot have you. This is God's declaration to you!

When your heart is overwhelmed make the following declaration:

The voice of the Lord is majestic. His Word is Truth. My feelings are only passing emotions that exist only in my soul which God has saved, and he is in the process of healing. His Word is my truth, my life, my hope, and my strong tower, my fortress of strength when my heart is overwhelmed.

I declare what his Word declares about who I am.
I am victorious even when I don't feel it.
God will vindicate me.
God is my healer. He is healing me. He heals my soul.
Holy Spirit is my comforter. He comforts my pain.
He knows everything about me and he has gone through it all with me.
His presence went before me and follows after me.
His presence is my strength.
He himself, Jesus, the creator of the world, the One who created me, is cradling me right now.
He is my great reward.
I can trust him when nothing else makes sense.
Jesus is my treasured possession that no one can ever take from me.
He is my shield. He surrounds me with favor like a shield.
When my heart is overwhelmed, he stills my heart and teaches me to trust and to rest in him. Even when I don't feel it, I declare that he is my rest, and my shield, and I will trust in him.

Oh God, I love you! My heart is overwhelmed. I declare Jesus is all I need. You are my healer. You are more than enough for me. I believe. I believe. You are my healer. You are my strength. I have no more strength. Be my strength. These thoughts, though overwhelming will not overwhelm me. The enemy has come rushing in like a flood, God will raise a standard against him. (Is. 59:19).
This battle is not mine but the Lord's. He is the one who declares me innocent.
His blood shed for me makes me innocent. I believe. I believe. His Word is Truth. His Word, not my own thoughts, are my truth. God fights for me. I run to him. Hold me daddy, hold me daddy. I am yours. I am yours! I trust you alone.

Letter to my son


Hi Son,

It was great to see you. I really think you are amazing! You always have such a positive outlook. You are a refreshing person to be around! You are so compassionate and easy to be around! I can see why people want to be friends with you! I also think you have a gift and passion for (things) that you should continue to pursue that!

It was nice to get a peek into your life while I was there. It reminded me of a story about the son of a rich man who took his inheritance and went and spent it on "the good life." In the end he ended up living with the pigs he was hired to feed.That was the story I was reminded of.

Son, God has such great things for you! I just want to remind you that you are a son of the King. In life we have two choices. We can choose to live from our soul or we can choose to live by the spirit. There is a whole side of life that you seem to be ignoring and I want to remind you that it is available to you!

I kinda watched the stuff you had on TV. Even my flesh, the soul, likes it because it caters to our lowest desires. But it seemed so pointless! Is that all life is about, watching videos and laughing at sex jokes? At what point does that just lead nowhere?

In the story I was reminded of, the son finally comes to his senses! He had lived in an opulent house and ended up living with pigs. He decided he could live better as a servant in his father's house than where he was. You can do better son!

In the story, the son goes back home, and his father is there waiting for him.
He welcomes him back with open arms. There is nothing that the son has done that the father does not forgive.

An even better story is that in the reality of the Kingdom of God, God sent Jesus to pay the price for everyone who chose to blow their inheritance (which is all of us). You know, the good news is not about being good, or living correctly for God. It is knowing and accepting the fact that God has paid the price for every stupid thing we have ever done!

You are an awesome person son, and you live in a community that has so much need for what you have to offer them. You were always the most spiritually sensitive of all our family. You can hear God better than all your siblings! I want to challenge you to listen for and return to papa!

God came to save our souls. Our soul is our inner man-our mind, our will, and our emotions. THAT is what God came to save! Our mind is corrupt and depraved!
But the Bible says that we are to renew our mind by reading the Word. Do you have a Bible? Just read it. Stop playing games, and watching TV, and spend some time reading Psalms and the New Testament. God came to save your will. We all choose to do our own thing, that is easy for everyone. The soul God has saved chooses to submit his will to God's will for his own good. There is no inner peace when we demand our own way, but when we listen for and do God's will, the inner peace that so eludes us comes and fills us with joy beyond comprehension. Remember what the presence of God feels like! The third part of our soul is our emotions. Emotions can ruin us as we swing from happy to depressed, from content to pissed in a matter of seconds. God saves us from being led by our emotions and helps us to realize that feelings are fleeting but his love for us in every circumstance is constant.

        God loves you! Never forget that! I love you too, enough to write this! It is hard for a parent to speak to his adult son, and I am afraid that you will think I am judging you, but I want to encourage you: You were raised to be more than you currently are! God is waiting for you to give yourself to him completely! Even as I am typing this God is speaking to me that you are right where you need to be. Because of who you are and how you were raised, you are influencing people. People look at you and wonder what it is that makes you what you are-and it is the imprint of God on your life. You are a minister of his presence just how you are, and as you begin to press into him that reality will become so much more clear to everyone around you. They KNOW already that you are the Kings kid, and they are just wondering when you are going to start living like it!

Son, I'm asking Holy Spirit to invade your life! Your part is really simple. Just say "Yes!" That is all there is too it. Just say "yes" and thank him for what he has done. He does the rest.

The riches of the Kingdom is the Presence of God. His Presence is always available. It is only a question away. "Father, would you come?" And he comes.
Son, I invite you to invite Him to come visit. He will come bearing gifts!
That is how he rolls!

His name is Jesus. He is the visible image of the invisible God. There is power in the name of Jesus. He is God himself, and God himself saves you! He made himself nothing. He died a criminals death for you on a cross. He is Lord. You don't have to put any confidence in human effort. We boast in what Christ has done for us. God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. Everything else is worthless when compared to knowing Christ! Get to know him! He loves you and so do I.

Pa

How am I supposed to live?

I did not choose to be born.
I did not choose when or where.
God created me, and somehow here I am, aware.
I am here on this planet. How did I get here?
I just did. I was alive. Then I chose my own way. And I died.
Yet God had a plan. Before the world was.
He sent his Son. He paid the price, and he died in my place.
Now I am alive in him. How can this be?
All I have comes from him.
So why should I fret and why should I worry?
He is the creator. He is the author. He is the finisher.
What if the greatest thing I could do was to amount to nothing!
The world seeks great things.
David said: "I don't concern myself with things too great for me."
What if this is the challenge God has for me?
Don't seek great things for yourself.
Make disciples he says. Does that mean I'll be famous?
One day at a time. Be who your are.
The gifts that you have, are for his joy and pleasure.
No one on earth appreciates you like he does.
Do as he asks. Humble yourself.
Turn from your sin. Be a servant to all.
But not for your glory. It must be for him.
He is in charge and he opens your doors.
Go through when he opens them. Don't choose the others.
His sheep hear his voice. They won't follow another.
I follow my leader the best that I can.
I often fall short, but he picks me up again.
I am not worthy, that's why I need him.
His grace is sufficient, I'm dependent again.
My creator, my leader, he works in me.
He will lift me up for the world to see.
He lifted up Jesus, on a cross hung him there.
He bids me to follow, what more can I do?
Dying to self is my place of joy.
For the joy set before him, he offered himself.
I am his treasure and he is my reward.
His presence is better than silver and gold.
So here I am Jesus. I find myself in you.
You set my feet on a rock, and that rock is you.
I have found my creator, he gives me such joy.
I will worship him forever, what more can I do?
I will live for his presence, and live for his will.
If I amount to nothing, he will love me still.
I can't improve on his plan, so on this rock I will stand.
Gazing at Jesus, the God who became man.
Unless the Lord builds the house, I labor in vain.
My children are a gift I will not have shame.
I will rest in his love and I will rest in his care.
He gave me this life to lay down for him.
The greatest love is to lay down your life for a friend.
I give it to Jesus. That's how I will live.