Week 2

Week 2

Physical Helps

Last week you complied a list of scriptures to meditate on and started Bible reading program. This week, continue to read your scriptures out loud to yourself 3 times a day and read 1 chapter a day in Proverbs, Psalms and John. Keep doing this and write down any new verses you come across that speak to your situation, adding them to your list.

When you meet with your prayer partner(s), share the verses you have on your list and talk about how doing this has affected you.

This week, I want you to add some actual scripture memorization. Ask God which of the verses you should work on and personalize it.

Don't try to memorize a long passage all at once. Read the whole thing over out loud once. Then work on one phrase at a time. Read it out loud several times and then try to say it without looking. A few hours later, see how far you can get with out looking and then repeat the process only adding another phrase if you had the first one down.

As you get these scriptures in your heart, you will find yourself doing or saying things that are contrary to them and they will pop up in your thoughts. This will enable you to change what you are doing or at least to tell someone that you should have done it differently. Listen to your spirit and act. Soon the verses will pop up as you are about to do or say the wrong thing and eventually it will not be a problem anymore.

At one point I realized that my fear of tornadoes was damaging my children. I needed to deal with it. There are several verses that speak of how God is a refuge and a shelter in times of trouble and through storms. I decided on a simple personalized mantra to speak to this fear. “Jesus is my shelter in the storm.” Every time the fear would try to grip me, I would repeat this out loud as many times as I needed to. Eventually the fear would subside. Today I live in a trailer on the prairie with no basement or root cellar to run to. THAT is a miracle. Every now and then I have a little healthy nervousness, but that overwhelming fear is gone!

Now on to the physical part …

Exercise!

The brain is a physical organ. It needs blood flow to work properly. Use the following space to brain storm about ideas that will help you move more, even if it's just 5 minutes more than you are moving now. Some people do better with going to a gym or concentrating on one activity like walking. Others need a variety of activities. I personally try to incorporate a variety of activities into my day from parking a little further from my destination to jumping on my mini trampoline 100 times.

Choose some goals and make a chart to check off when you've done one of the ideas. Or keep a journal of what you did each day. Writing it down or checking it off helps establish your new habits and gives you a sense of accomplishment. Share your accomplishments with your prayer partner(s) when you meet.

An activity chart is available in the next post.

Light and fresh air!

You were not built to live in a cave. Go outside for at least 5 minutes every day even if the weather is bad. It's amazing how spending a few minutes outside can clear your mind. Turn on the lights in your house. Get a full spectrum lamp and sit under it every morning. (Do not put it on while you are sleeping though. It will do more harm than good.)

Diet

Go on elimination diets. Sometimes certain foods can aggravate physical conditions that contribute to depression. Eliminate any food you think might be a problem for a week and then add it back in to see if it is a problem. Sugar and grains are often culprits.

Fasting is a great way to flush your system of toxins. Try fasting lunch to begin with. Once you have that down, try a couple of meals or a whole day.

Warning: Anytime you fast or go on an elimination diet, your body is likely to protest. Try to schedule the first day or two during a time when you don't have much you absolutely must do.

Supplements

There are many supplements that have been proven to be helpful with depression. I will give you a list of the ones I know about. Get the highest quality that you can and make sure they say “natural”. The synthetic ones aren't absorbed as well and can cause more problems down the road.

St. John's Wort is a well known supplement for depression, but please don't take it if you are on any psychiatric meds. It can interact with them and cause an overdose.

Please consult your doctor and your pharmacist before taking them, but don't stop there! Do your own research and consult with God as well. Find out about possible drug or supplement interactions. Try to find out how and why they work. Learn everything you can, read both the positive and negative articles, then pray and ask God to help you make decisions. Not everything will work for you.

If you have access to the internet, type the name of the supplement into the search bar and read or listen to several sites about it. Then type the name again and the word “warnings”. Read or watch several sites there. Then if you take any prescription meds, put the name of the supplement in again along with the name of the med. Once you've done all this, you will be able to make informed decisions. And if you start to use a supplement and you find yourself having problems, stop using it! Each person is unique. Do what works for you!

A few websites that I have found very useful are:

http://www.webmd.com/

http://www.mercola.com/

http://www.naturalnews.com/

It cannot be stressed enough: Include God in every decision. He is the one who made you. He can tell you just how you work.

At one time, I was having a lot of problems with my knees. I tried taking glucosamine/chondroitin, but it gave me really bad gas. I went to God and asked what to do. I had a very very strong impression that I should take more oils.
At the time, I was taking the recommended amount of flax oil and evening primrose oil. I doubled the dose, taking the oils at breakfast and supper. This gave me some relief but not total, so I added another dose at lunch. That did the trick! Some months later, I got tired of taking them so I quit. In a few weeks I was having great difficulty walking again. Went back on them and I rarely have any problems! A few years later, I started reading studies about how these oils help with inflammation! God is able to give answers when no one else can!

So here's the list:

Omega 3 oils – krill oil is the best, but flax or fish oil will help too.

Vitamin D3 – This is not the same vitamin d that is in milk. The D2 found in milk is a synthetic form of D. D3 works better and it is rare that enough can be ingested to be toxic.

B12 – Get the sub-lingual type. It is absorbed better

Magnesium – Make sure it comes from a source that ends in “ate”. If the chemical source of a mineral ends in “ide”, the source is a rock. “ate” means it is from an actual food source.

Vitamin C – C can cause stomach upset. If this is a problem, get the “Ester-C” variety.

B-complex – great for your nerves

Chromium – again, get the “ate” stuff

Beta Carotene – This is a natural form of vitamin A that is very difficult to overdose on.

Natural Sea Salt – Get the kind that has colored flakes in it. God put salt into other rocks so that you would get the trace minerals along with it. White salt is pure sodium. These trace minerals that are found with salt are the only kind of “rock” supplement your body is built to absorb.

You will need to research dosage and experiment with what works for you Every person is different. Starting only one supplement at a time and giving it a couple of weeks to see if you have any negative reactions is a good strategy. But remember, when using nutritional supplements, it may take up to 3 months to see a real difference. When I try a new supplement, I usually take a break from it after a few months to see if it has made a difference. Do what works for you.

If it helps with inflammation or circulation, it's probably good for depression. My personal (non-medical) opinion is that inflammation and lack of oxygen to the brain are probably the two biggest physical culprits in chronic depression.

A while after the doctors got my breathing under control, I was caring for a little girl. This little girl found a couple of feather dusters and started playing “cheerleader” with them. Right away, even before my breathing was affected, I literally felt my brain swell. I became very frustrated and angry and started yelling at her. Later, I realized that I had spent most of my life like that. It's no wonder I was such a pain to be around!

If you have allergies of any kind, this is probably happening to you too. Maybe not as severely as what I experienced, but inflammation may very well be a factor. Inflammation is a physical reaction that God designed to surround toxins so they can't kill you quickly. It's a good thing, but it can get out of control. At the very least, inflammation makes you tired and it's difficult to function or think well when you are tired.

It will take a long time to rebuild your nervous system. Be patient and concentrate mainly on renewing your mind!

Week 3

Week Three

Plant It

Psalm 126:4 Those who sow in tears, shall reap in joy.

A misconception that most of us develop is that in order for us to be happy, we need our needs met. This is just plain wrong. We are made in the image of God. Do you know what God gets a kick out of? Blessing His creation! Yes, we do derive some joy and happiness from receiving, but to be really satisfied, we need to be a blessing.

Think about the last time you did something that really helped someone or even something. Maybe you participated in a fundraiser for something you really believed in, or sat with a sick friend or even rescued a kitten. How did that make you feel? Share some of those experiences with your prayer partner(s).

One of the most important concepts we all need to understand is the law of sowing and reaping. Those of you who have never gardened or farmed might not be familiar with these terms. To sow means to plant and to reap means to harvest. God has set up this spiritual law with a natural example. It is found in

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

I'm a gardener. I started out with a little 4 x 8 sand box that I decided to make into a garden one year when the cats had used it for a litter box and the kids were no longer using it much. My life was pretty much like this sandbox, full of icky stuff and not much use to anyone. I decided to mix a little dirt into this sandbox and see if I could grow a little food. It was amazing how much food came out of that little garden. I was addicted! I didn't do it perfectly at first, but God blessed my efforts in spite of me and I learned. Soon, my whole back yard was a garden. Then my husband started helping. Now we produce so much that we spend our summers going to farmer's markets and providing food for others. We are still learning and trying new things. Sometimes things flop, but for the most part, we see growth and a better harvest every year.

At the same time I was learning about the spiritual law of sowing and reaping. It made sense to me, so I decided to try it. The results have been amazing! My husband was sitting back watching and he is now sowing his own spiritual seeds! Through the years, I've been able to share this concept with many others and let me tell you, the satisfaction you get from being a blessing and then watching others succeed at being a blessing is immense!

If I go out to my garden and sow a pack of pea seeds, when the plants mature, I will reap peas, not corn. If I don't prepare the ground properly and just throw the pea seeds out there without really planting them, they are likely to be eaten by birds or mice and I'll wind up with a patch of weeds.

In the same way, if I sow time or provisions or kindness or any variety of things into any of God's creation, I will reap those things in the future. The really great thing about it is that whatever you plant will be most likely be multiplied! There are some things that can steal your harvest, but we'll discuss that as we go along.

Over the last two weeks, you have been sowing the Word into your spirit and nutrition and exercise into your body. Your spirit needs to be constantly fed the Word of God to keep it healthy just like your body needs to be fed good things. Keep doing these things!

This week we are going to start sowing blessings outside of ourselves and into the earth. Sowing is a deliberate process that we need to be doing on a constant basis to ensure a constant harvest in the future. But sowing is just a part of the process in reaping a harvest.

When I go to plant a garden, the first thing I do is decide what and where I'm going to plant. I look at several things when considering this. First, I choose what I want to plant based on what I need or want. Then I ask myself: How much light does this plant need? What kind of soil does it need? How much water will it need? Based on this information I make decisions about where I'm going to plant.

What are some of the things you need in your life? Hope? A kind word? Help? A hug? Take 5 minutes and list those things here:

Think about places where you could plant these things. Is there soup kitchen you could help at? Could you adopt someone in a nursing home? Those are big things … Could you write a little encouraging note to a friend? Read a book to a child? Mow a neighbor's lawn? Pay a toll for the stranger behind you?The possibilities are endless! Take a few minutes to brainstorm possible ideas here:

One of the things I find myself most in need of is time. Over the years, I've invested quite a few volunteer hours in the church cleaning, teaching Sunday school and organizing events. Occasionally, when I've had super busy seasons, God has slowed down time for me so I can get more done. I have no idea how He does it, but the days will seem like they go on forever and I get twice as much done as I normally would.

After I decide what and where I'm going to plant, I need to prepare the soil. I dig it up, take out any plants or weeds that are already there and put some fertilizer on it. In the spirit we have to do similar things.

At one time, I felt very unlovable. I needed to be accepted and there was a woman in our church that I really didn't like. I asked God how I could love her. He told me to give her a hug every time I saw her. At first, it wasn't pleasant hugging her. I really had to work to make myself do it. But over time, I grew to love her and she became a huge part of a breakthrough that I desperately needed.

I came from a fairly affluent family, but the decisions I had made in my life got me into a place where I felt that I was the family charity case. I believed I was a burden and somehow not worth loving because of this. God used several people to help me in this area, but it all came to a head during a trip to a women's conference in St. Louis. On the way home, there was a woman in the van that I hardly knew. She knew nothing about my situation, but she saw a vision that depicted my life perfectly and then started ministering to me about how God accepts me just like I am and that I didn't need to be ashamed.

At the next church service we were asked to share what we had experienced at the conference. As I was sharing about what had happened on the way home this woman suddenly ran up to me, grabbed my shirt and stuck some money in my bra. She declared, “Sue, God says He wants Your cup to be full!” Suddenly, all the shame totally broke off of me as my tears burst into laughter. From that moment on, the curse of poverty was totally broken off my life.

I had been planting seeds with my tithes and offerings for years and I had reaped little miracles here and there, but the huge weed of shame in my garden was shading out those seeds and stunting my harvest.

Your life is your garden. When you first establish a garden, there are other things growing there that you have to clear out. Some of them may have good uses, like grass, but you don't want grass growing up in your garden. Look at your life. Are there things there that you really don't want? Maybe things other people have planted that don't fit in your life? Weeds like unforgiveness, condemnation, shame and rejection? The Bible emphasizes these particular weeds in Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” They are incredibly nasty invasive weeds that will steal your harvest. Make sure you deal especially with them and are vigilant about these weeds if they try to creep back in.

Take some time to identify the weeds and things that just don't fit in your life.

Ask God for help in removing them. You won't get them all right away and even when you think you have them conquered, they will pop up again. Just keep at it. I have found that it generally takes 2 to 3 years of intensive weeding to establish a new garden bed in my garden, but it gets easier after that. The same thing goes for removing weeds and unwanted things from your heart.

Now that you've made some decisions and prepared your soil, it's time to go out and plant! Remember, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” That's found in I Corinthians 9:6. It may seem like you just don't have any seed to plant. Ask God for seed. He loves you and will get you started! Plant whatever you can. Ask God to multiply it and plant more next time. You will see it grow!

The hardest part is now done, but there's still a few more things needed to get your harvest. The two most important things to do are watering and weeding. In the spirit realm, Watering has to do with prayer. Tell God how thankful you are for the crop He is giving you. Do this on a regular basis. Weeding is just repenting of those sins that creep in and keeping your eyes on Jesus! There are other things you might have to do depending on the situation. God will show you as you go along.

Then comes harvest time! It's important to know what your harvest is going to look like and for that you have to have God's wisdom.

You've probably heard the old story about the preacher who lived in a town that was about to be flooded. When he was told that he should evacuate because the levy was going to break he refused to go saying, “My God will deliver me!” The flood waters rolled in and he had to get up into the second story of his house. A boat came by and offered to take him to safety, but he refused saying “My God will save me!” Later, he had to cut a hole in the roof of his house to get above the flood waters. A helicopter came by and put down a rope, but he refused to climb it, still believing God would rescue him. When he got to Heaven, he asked God, “Why didn't you save me LORD?” And the LORD answered, “Well I sent someone to warn you. Then I sent a boat and a helicopter!”

That preacher had probably been involved in saving and rescuing many people. He had planted, but he didn't recognize his harvest when it came.

Several years ago my youngest son was 18 and needed more space than the little room he inhabited in our house. During his teen years, he had worked for his dad and helped us buy the little plot of land our trailer sat on so he owned it along with us. As I was praying one day, the LORD told me that by March of the next year we would have a new house. I got so excited! I dreamed about a new house on our property that would be big enough for us and the family that Jesse dreamed of. Early the next year, my husband started looking at a piece of land that had 7 ½ acres and a house. I was wondering how we could possibly buy that property and build a new house when it suddenly occurred to me that this place might be the new house God was talking about. We closed on the place in March. We not only had a new to us house but 7 ½ acres to boot!

Sometimes our vision of a harvest isn't the same as God's. Pray for His wisdom to recognize your harvest.

This week's assignments:

Focus on one weed. Find scriptures to personalize and memorize concerning that weed. See how many you can memorize this week.

Plant something in the spirit realm every day. Share what you did each day with your prayer partner(s). Also discuss any harvests you receive with them.

Continue with your Bible reading, scripture meals and physical goals.

Week 4

Week Four

Forgive

Luke 18:21Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”






Shame, fear, greed, lust and many other sins will slow your garden down, but, judgment, condemnation and unforgiveness will shut down the flow of blessing into your life from God. They are more than mere weeds. They poison the ground of your heart. I can work the soil, plant and weed all I want, but unless God sends His rain, warmth, and light, nothing will grow. God promise that if we will let go of judgment, condemnation and unforgiveness, He will bless us.

Luke 6:37-38 Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Understanding these things is absolutely essential, so let's look at these in depth.

Many people point to the above verse and conclude that we are not to judge anything. But! - the Bible needs to be taken in context, considering the entire book. If we are not to judge anything, why does God instruct Moses to set up a system of judges in the Old Testament? And why does Paul instruct the Corinthians to judge the man who is sleeping with his father's wife in chapter 5? The Bible obviously instructs us to judge behavior. What Jesus is talking about here is looking down on someone while thinking of yourself as better. If you read the rest of the sermon Jesus was preaching in chapter 6, you will see that He is talking about being humble and loving your enemies. He is not saying you shouldn't judge behavior or belief systems.

So what does judging look like? We are all guilty! Have you ever said something like this? “Well, I've ______, but at least I never _______; or I would never __________. There are things that you do that aren't right in the eyes of others. There are even things you do that aren't right in the eyes of God. And odds are that if you look down on others in judgment, you will wind up in a similar place.

I often joke about the supplements I take. When I was younger, my husband's grandparents had a cabinet full of supplements that they took. I thought that was just stupid and told people it was probably the reason they got cancer. Now I take a handful of supplements with every meal and if I don't, I wind up not able to walk! That's a happy example of winding up in a similar place.

My husband and I often talked about how badly some family members handle their finances and looked down on them. They wound up in bankruptcy and we shook our heads in disgust. Guess what? We wound up going through bankruptcy too.

My friend talks about how she judged her mom for staying with an alcoholic husband. This man was her step-father and made life very difficult for her as she grew up. After my friend married, her husband became an alcoholic. When she heard this message about judgment and forgiveness, she realized she had been holding grudge against her mom and had wound up in the same situation. She wrote to her mom and apologized for not forgiving and understanding. Shortly after, my friend's husband got born again and is free from that addiction!

Are there ways in which you have judged people? Take some time to think about this. Write down anything that God brings to mind.

Ask Him to help you. It might be something you can handle with just repenting to God, however if He impresses on you to go talk with that person or to discuss the situation with your prayer partner(s), do it! God created us as social beings. We need to interact to be healthy. That's why He told us to “confess our faults to one another” in James 5:16

Now let's look at the word condemn. To condemn means to pass a sentence of punishment on a person. Does this mean that we should never discipline our children or send anyone to jail? Again, we have to look at the entire Bible in context. God does tell parents to discipline their children, in fact, Proverbs 13:24 declares that the parent who fails to discipline a child, hates that child. The Old Testament is full of laws with prescribed punishments for law breakers. In Acts 5, Peter proclaims that Sapphira will die because of her deceit.

No, in this verse, the word condemn is referring to judging someone as being worthy of hell and irreversible rejection. The Bible clearly advocates discipline and punishment for those who sin, but our attitude in carrying out these judgments must be in love. First, to protect the innocent, and secondly, to bring the sinner to repentance if possible.

The third word we want to look at is forgive. Many people think that in order to forgive, you have to let people walk all over you. But it's just not like that. In the Amplified Bible Ephesians 5:1 says: “THEREFORE BE imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. In order to find out what true forgiveness looks like, we have to look at how God forgives.

God is a just god. He is a perfect god and He is the one who created everything. He knows how it works. If something exists, there is a purpose for it. No matter how much you or I think God should have created us with detachable arms for ease of sleeping, God has a good reason for it. (In my case, He knew I would loose them.) Many people think the world would be better off without flies. But, did you know that if you put a maggot on an infected wound it will eat the dead flesh that is causing the problem and leave the live flesh alone? And think about how much animal manure would be heaped up if it weren't for flies. Did you know that spiders play a huge role in controlling insects that destroy crops? Or that snakes keep the rodent population in check? Did you know that mosquitoes rarely bite healthy people?

The truth is that God created the cycles of life. In order for a building to be built, things have to be destroyed. Trees need to be grown and cut down. Rocks need to be formed and then cut or crushed. Metal needs to be extracted from the ground and then heated in the fire to be formed into pipes and wires … Farming involves tearing the ground, burying seed in it, growing the plants that have come as a result of the death of that seed, cutting them down, feeding those plants to you or to animals that must be slaughtered and cooked to feed you.

God in His wisdom created all things in balance so that no one thing can take over and destroy His creation. God also has a reason for allowing people to experience pain and death. Let me be very clear! It is not God's will for His children to be sick or in lack of anything! Jesus said, “The enemy comes to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I have come to give life and life more abundantly.” He also instructed us to pray that “God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10) In James 1:7 it says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” Pain and suffering are not God's will for His children, but He does allow it. The reasons may not be clear to us, but in the end we will understand. It is my personal belief that most of it is to draw us to Him, to motivate us to pray for ourselves, our loved ones and for the salvation of all who will come to Him.

One story that always comes back to me is the one Corrie Ten Boom tells in The Hiding Place. Corrie and her family became the leaders of a large resistance group in Amsterdam in WWII. At one point they were captured and put into a concentration camp. She and her sister were put in barracks that were horribly infested with fleas. Her sister insisted they give thanks for the fleas. Corrie resisted this idea, but finally gave in. They got down on their knees and thanked God for the fleas. They were not allowed to pray or speak about God anywhere in the camp. However, the guards would not come in the barracks because of the fleas, so they had complete freedom there. As a result, thousands of people heard about Jesus on their way to the gas chambers and went to Heaven. It may not always be comfortable for us, but God will always use whatever happens for our good and for His glory.

So what does all this have to do with forgiveness? God created the universe. He created laws that demand justice to protect His creation from destruction. He has every right to be angry and to punish us for our sin, but He loved us so much that He Himself took the punishment for our sin on the cross. He chose to put aside His anger and pay the price for our sin Himself. We too may have the right to be angry, but we must follow His lead. We must set aside our anger and choose to love and have mercy on those who sin against us. Jesus said we are to “ love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”. We do not know who will turn to God through our kindness.

This does not mean we are to let people walk all over us. Jesus did not do this. The Gospels records several times when people came to kill Him, but until it was the Father's timing for Him to pay the price for our sins, He simply walked away. He also defended the innocent, spoke of the scribes and the pharisees as serpents and vipers and even took a whip to those who were cheating people in the temple.

We are to do the same as God leads, but most of the time, we simply need to step back and allow God's Word to work. Those who will come to God and repent will escape the ultimate destruction and those who will not, will suffer the destruction they bring on themselves.

It was not God's will for Hitler to rise to power, however, God loved him and his supporters enough not to snuff them out the day they were born. He gave them every chance He could to repent and turn to Him. And in the meantime, He used the evil that Hitler wreaked on the world to bring multitudes into His kingdom. You may not think that this was the best way to do it, but you are not God. You don't understand how everything works. He is way smarter than you could ever hope to be. Just try collecting all the atoms that it takes to build a blade of grass and put them together! He knows what He is doing and we have to choose to trust Him.

Here's the deal: God is the only source of life. He gave us a choice. We can choose Him or we can walk away from Him. If we walk away from Him we choose death and destruction. Jesus said it this way in John 12:46-48 “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”

In Ephesians 4:31 the Bible says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

Does this mean we should never be angry? Again, we need to look at the entire Bible to discern what this means. If you've ever studied the Gospels, it is quite evident that Jesus got angry at times. So, let's look at the verses surrounding this verse.

26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Clearly, this verse is talking about frequent or sustained anger and bitterness. Anger is a gift that God has given us, but frequent or sustained anger will destroy you. So what is appropriate anger? We need to follow Jesus' example. Jesus did not become angry when people attacked Him personally. He got angry when other people were being hurt and He acted in love to protect those who were being hurt. This is not to say you should never fight against evil that is directed at you. A rapist or a burglar must be brought to justice. In the absence of consequences, they will continue in their sins and hurt other people. Hitler was able to

gain control and commit the atrocities he did because good men failed to stand up against him … and he lost the war because good men saw and decided to give their lives to defeat him.

This week, look up the words anger, bitterness and wrath in the Bible. Find out how it is to be used. And if you have problems with frequent or sustained anger or bitterness, ask God to help you put it away and love those with whom you are angry. You may even be angry with God for allowing things to happen in your life. Confess this to God and forgive Him. Tell Him that He is smarter than you are and ask Him to use those things for your good and for the good of others.

Week 5

Week Five

Be Content

Philippians 4:11 For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

So far, we have been working on self-control. This week, we're going to turn around and work on letting go of control - of the things and people around us. Most of us spend a lot of time trying to control things we cannot control. The truth is, the only thing we can have complete control of is ourselves. Our actions, words and work can make changes in the environment around us, but there are so many other factors involved!

I don't know about you, but I tend to suffer from this horrible disease called “Mommy God Syndrome”. It's a common problem among moms, but I understand there are other forms of it that infect fathers, single people, and even kids! Some of the symptoms are ADHD No-Sleep Sheep Brain, Pity-Parties, My-optic Misery, and Screaming Witch Voice.

Mommy God Syndrome, and all the other forms of this disease, have a mistaken identity at their root cause. You are made in God's image, but you are not God! Get a revelation of that! There are some things you just can't do. You can't always magically make everything all better. (Although your faith and prayers can help bring about miracles that bring great deliverance.) You can't control your spouse or your friends or your grown children. You can't be in two places at the same time. And you can't know all things! Understand that and you will feel so much better!

Your prayers and your words can do a lot to change your personal circumstances and the direction of the world, but we live in a world of many people and God is concerned about all those other people too. Their prayers (or lack of them) along with the wisdom of God may or may not create circumstances to our liking. BUT! We have this awesome promise from God in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” So, even though we can't control everything, we can trust God to bring blessings out of everything that we encounter!

So how do we learn to be content and overcome “Mommy God Syndrome” or its evil counter parts?

Thank God in All Things.

I Thessalonians 5:18 In everything, give thanks. Not for everything, in everything. In every circumstance, we need to thank God for the good things He will bring out of it, even if we can't possibly imagine any good coming!

The circumstances Corrie Ten Boom went through in WWII were truly created by demonic forces, but God used those fleas to rescue! No matter how horrible your circumstance. Thank God in it and You will see miraculous things occur!

Trust God.

Choose to believe He is able to provide for anything and everything you need. Don't put Him in a box. Often times, we think we need something at a certain time or in a certain way, but remember, God is smarter than you! He may have something different planned for you. If He doesn't answer your prayers the way you thought He would, trust Him. He's probably got something better in store for you.

I've found that the best way to remove stress from my life is to make a list of things I think I need to have or do. Then, I ask myself, “If this doesn't get done, or I don't have this, will it make a big difference in 100 years?” Most of the time, there's not anything on there that will really make a big difference that far in the future. But if there is, I put it on the top of my list. The rest of it, I put in the order of how much I want it. Then, I work on accomplishing it. God is able to provide. If I don't get my peas planted, He'll find a way later to get me some money to buy some … or He might send someone with some jars or cans of peas when I need them. And if He doesn't, I probably didn't need them anyway!

If you really want it (and it's not against God's will) and you keep bugging God about it, He will make a way, but it's probably not going to look like what you think it will look like. Just a couple of examples:

When our kids were starting school, I really wanted them to have a Christian education. We were severely financially challenged at the time. We lived in the boonies in a house with no central heat or indoor toilet. My husband was working 3 jobs to make ends meet, we only had one car and the cost of daycare was more than any job I could get. We lived 30 minutes from the nearest Christian school so even if they gave my kids free tuition, getting them there was impossible. Back then, the only thing I knew about homeschooling was that people in Iowa were being thrown in jail for it. I heard through the grape vine that an acquaintance of mine had started homeschooling. I figured it would cost thousands of dollars and that I wouldn't be qualified, but on a whim I called her to ask about it. I found out that it wasn't as legally difficult in Illinois as it was in Iowa and that it wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought. So I wound up homeschooling my kids and then went on to teach several area kids as well.

For many years I've wanted a greenhouse. With our veggie business booming, we really need one so I was believing that God would provide one. We could have gone out and borrowed a bunch of money for it, but we just weren't comfortable doing that. This winter, I was messing around on the internet and I found a plastic bottle greenhouse! It is something that we can build with very little money and it has the added benefit of giving us a unique opportunity to interact with our customers!

In both instances, I could have borrowed a bunch of money or given up, but I kept bugging God and He made a way!

Accept Others For Who They Are.

When my husband and I first married, we had a really rough time. My dad was the ultimate handyman. He could build or fix anything. My husband has some wonderful talents, but when it comes to fixing things … well, it's just not his strong suit. As a farmer, he has to have some basic mechanical abilities, but he's much better at growing things than fixing things. Of course I assumed that he ought to be able to fix or build anything, because that was my expectation of what a man does. It really caused quite a few problems until I learned to accept him for who he was and quit demanding that he be something he was not.

Different people are made differently. When we project our abilities or expectations on someone else, we take offense when they don't live up to those expectations and it can cause big problems.

My husband used to get very upset because I didn't remember things about him like he does me. One day, he was just sure I didn't love him because I couldn't remember some little thing about how he likes his ice cream and cake.

I got a gallon jar and a baby food jar. I put the gallon jar in front of him and said, "This is the amount of room in your brain for memory." Then I put the baby food jar in front of him and said, " This is the amount of room in my brain for memory. It's not that I don't love you, I'm just not capable!" He realized that I was right and started laughing.

Ask God to Show You How He Sees You and the People Around You

When you look at a baby, what do you see? Do you see a self centered person who spends all its time sleeping, eating, crying, pooping and peeing and has no ability to contribute to it's own care much less the care of others? If you are like most people, you acknowledge that there's not much a baby can do, but you also see the potential that little baby has. God doesn't see you, or anyone else as they are right this minute. He sees you as what He created you to be. When you get a revelation of what God has created you for and the people around you, you will be able to respond to them in an entirely different way.

Many years ago, God showed me that His will for my husband was for him to become a rich man who would support the Gospel. At the time, my husband was a depressed agnostic stuck in a dead end job with absolutely no ambition to become anything more than a farm hand. To the world he looked like a flunky who would never accomplish anything. This revelation totally changed the way I saw him and gave me much more hope and patience. He isn't rich yet, but over the years, I've seen him grow close to God and develop a real ambition to be to be his own boss and to build a business. He has changed so much and I am so proud of him!

In the Amplified Bible, I Corinthians 13:7 describes love as “Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fade-less under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].”

Choose to believe the best of every person and don't give up on them. God hasn't given up on you!

Appreciate what others do for you.

So often, we focus on what we expect other people to do for us instead of appreciating what they do for us.

Many years ago, my mom was doing some motivational seminars for businesses called Adventures in Attitudes. She wanted me to take the class, so I went with her. The class was a secular class, but the principals were straight out of the Bible. I had been learning most of the stuff that was being taught in church, but one thing I hadn't heard about in church was a very interesting study that had been done to find out how employers and employees who had good relationships interacted. In the study they discovered that for an employee to feel that the boss liked them, the boss had to give at least seven positive communications (either compliments or positive touches) for every negative communication.

If it takes seven positive for every negative for people to feel liked in a business situation, how much more should we appreciate the people we love? Take a few minutes right now to write down the names of those closest to you. Underneath their names, write down at least 3 things they do for you or things you like about them.

Learn to say NO, and respect the right of other people to say no.

One of the easiest ways to get yourself stressed out is to make to many commitments. You are not God. If you don't have time to do everything, it's time to cut some things out of your life. It is better to do a few things well than to be spread so thin that you can't do anything well.

Recognize that you can't do everything and don't feel guilty about it. And while you are at it recognize that those around you aren't God either. Refuse the temptation to be resentful if someone can't or won't do something for you. If they can't or won't, just go to God and ask Him to be God! He is able!

Have you been doing your Bible reading, memorization and personalized confessions? Keep it up!

This weeks assignments:

Make a list of all the things you'd like to get done every morning when you wake up or every evening before you go to bed. Circle those things that might make a big difference 100 years from now and then number the rest according to how important they are to you. Pray and ask God to help you with the list. Start with the circled items and then do as many of the rest that you can. Mark off what you get done. At the end of the day, show the list to someone and give God thanks for all He's helped you accomplish.

Go on a criticism fast. For this week, try your best to not criticize anyone or anything. (This includes the President and the other drivers on the road.) This isn't something you can keep up forever, but it will help you establish a habit of speaking encouraging words.

Find at least 7 things you can compliment someone for tomorrow. Tell someone they look good. Compliment another person for a good idea they had. Tell another thank you for something they have done. You can compliment the same person every day for the same thing, just be sure to compliment! Keep a piece of paper nearby and make a slash mark for each compliment you give. Try to beat your score every day.

Next week, we will be exploring how to find God's purpose for your life and how to get where you want to go.

Have a super positive week!