Getting Over Yourself

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 74. It’s the next step after the pity party’s over. Verses 1-11 is where I’ve found myself before. You’re wondering, “How long is this going to take, God? Are you going to do something, or are you just going to stand there and watch them destroy me?” One time God asked me, “How long did it take you to decide to turn to me?” I did like Job, and said, “I’ll just shut up now.”

Verse 12 is a reminder that God has been at this a lot longer than you have. “Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.” Since the beginning, God has had you. He saw this day, and all those days before this one…you know, your downhill slide. Verses 13-18 recount God’s power and the works of His hands. I love verse 19. “Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.” “But, Daddy; I’m your little girl!” LOL I can laugh now; and I hope God did then. That manipulation thing doesn’t work very well with Him. But, oh, don’t we love to try it?!

Verses 20&21 is where we start. “Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.” Consider your covenant with God! It’s the one Jesus blood was used to seal. Your salvation was not the only thing Jesus secured for you. Jesus secured and assured your redemption as well. Redemption is not only about redeeming you from the power of Satan over your eternal soul. Redemption is about giving you back your power over your life here on Earth; right now! God will help you redeem your clarity, your sanity, your peace, power, joy, and love-love for Him, for yourself, and for others-even those who have hurt you. The greatest commandments, according to Jesus are 1. Love God with all your might, your heart, and soul, and 2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Self-loathing, self-doubt, self sabotage, and self defeat are part of that vicious circle we can find ourselves caught up in. This is especially true when we’re dealing with generational curses. The biggest reason addicts and alcoholics relapse is that they never get to deal with the cause(s) of their addiction(s). Those can be found in the daily lives of the generation(s) before you, and in your own. When you begin to see and understand them, you can begin to overcome them.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

More About Those Gates & Doors

(Proverbs 24:7-8) “Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may enter! Who is this King of Glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

I’ve studied many different texts, ranging from Bhagavad Gita to Confucious, I Ching, Tao Te ching, Confucious, and some Jewish texts. Of course, we have the law given to Moses, and we have the Prophets, Psalms, and Proverbs in our Bible. There are some books in the Catholic Bible, that are not in our standard Bibles, but are quite enlightening. They are called the deuterocanonical books. They are: Baruch, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach, Tobit and Wisdom. Do you think these all could be ancient gates and doors to God’s law, love, and wisdom? The Vedic religion of India is said to be the oldest, with Hinduism right behind. (The Vedics believed in ONE supreme Being/One God.) Judaism and Christianity come shortly after these other religions. I’ve found so many similarities in their texts, core beliefs, and wisdom, encouragements, etc. Jesus said, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16) There’s an ancient door. We (Judaism and Christianity) are not the only ones who Jesus reached, and reaches out to. I found so much encouragement and peace when I read Confucious’ teachings. (Proverbs 4:7) tells us: “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. How else do you get insight to other spiritual beliefs than by getting knowledge of them? Understanding, or insight, empowers peace among men.

In terms of generational curses, those ancient gates and doors represent the futility of dysfunctional living. When we let the King of glory in, he drives all those unclean things out. Then, He gives us new attitudes, thoughts, ways. It’s that simple. No, it’s not easy, but with discipline, and insight, and patience, we will overcome. This is where some of those teachings from I Ching, Confucious, Tao Te Ching, and Wisdom gave me an extra boost. Of course, the Bible is still the base that we build our houses on. One of the beliefs of Buddhism is that there are many planes of existence. In our Bible, we read that as we grow in Christ Jesus, we go from strength to strength and glory to glory. Did you overcome that cigarette habit yesterday? Then you’re at a new level of strength and glory today, aren’t you? Yeah…a new plane of existence.

I’ve got so many scriptural references to this lesson, I’m just going to list them. You can contact me if you have any questions; use the comment section. John 14:6, Matt. 7:12, Luke 3:23-30, Luke 11:37,-53, Luke 12:1-7, Matt. 17:9-13, Jeremiah 15:19, Matt. 21:43, Matt 12:33, Jeremiah 17:5-10, John 8:58, John 10:31, John 3:31, Luke 24:45

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

Rule Them, Indeed

First, back to Psalm 2:9 -“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them into pieces like a potter’s vessel.” If you look at all the nations of the world, all the different cultures, beliefs, religions, standards and boundaries (moral, social, familial, etc.), you’ll see why it’s important that you be able to break them and dash them into pieces.

This verse tells us a couple of things. First, the nations and the ends of the earth are our heritage. That means they can be of benefit to us. We can learn from other cultures, beliefs, and religions. We can also be led astray by them, as the nation of Israel was through intermarriage with people of foreign cultures. (The lands they journeyed through and were supposed to dispossess) Some cultures have very different standards and boundaries, social and familial practices, and some religions are idolatrous, and may even involve witchcraft and sorcery. Some of the ancient religions involved human sacrifice, especially the sacrifice of children. We know that this is not Godly. We also know that some things considered the norm for others, are not going to work for us. Just because a bunch of folks do it, doesn’t make it right; or even beneficial. This is where the rod of iron (Word of God) and dashing things into pieces comes in. The things that are of no use to us, those that will harm us, those that go against God and Godly wisdom, etc., are the things we need to throw out. This works the same way in generational curses. Those things that are/were harmful need to be thrown out and replaced with God’s ways, according to God’s standards and boundaries.

That brings us to Psalm 3:1-7 “Oh, Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Have you ever been laughed at by peers because of your faith, or because you wouldn’t do something they thought was o.k. to do? Many will try to tell us that God’s ways are old fashioned, outdated, actually even oppressive and hateful. But God is a shield around us, and the lifter of our heads. It almost always turns out in the end, that obedience to His Word, and sticking to His ways, was the right thing to dos. I say, “almost,” only because some of those results we won’t know until we get to Heaven. Verse 7 of Psalm 3 tells us that God will silence and disarm the enemy. It never fails, when the enemy causes you to doubt or fear, God’s Word will show you the truth, and empower you to stand on the truth; dispelling the fear and the doubt.

Finally, Proverbs 3 gives us a lists of all the benefits we gain from allowing God to teach us, and keeping to His teaching, and keeping His commandments in our hearts. Whenever I read about God’s commandments, I think of Jesus’ words: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Thank you, Casting Crowns, for this inspirational song!

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu

A Freewill Offering Of Prayer

eden08122015

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, bids us to pray for a situation to be righted, or for a person to be changed-immediately as an adversity is occurring. We’re told that it’s our responsibility.

I never really thought about it like this before, but it’s just like stepping in between the bully on the playground and your brother or sister. Only the fight is in the Spirit, isn’t it? Hosea 14:2 (NIV) says it this way: “Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.” Isaiah 58:12 (ESV) tells us, “your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” When I think of this, I have to rejoice; especially in today’s hurting world. We have the power to change the tide for someone in a future generation, just by praying for someone. That brings me to what Jesus said in the sermon on the mount. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matt. 5:9 -NIV)

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu