Take Heart!

Who's out there?  Who is causing this trouble? What should I do?

These are a few questions that I know are going through the hearts and minds of people today as we watch the news reports of shootings and riots around the world.  So much confusion and anger.  So much fear.

The first response seems to be to try to place blame.  Racism, Religious Terror, Bigotry, Insanity, Criminal Activity, the list seems endless.  Have people gotten so bad in the past 50 years that there is no hope?

My friends on social media are dividing into camps and fear is causing them to lash out against other people.  I have tried not to join the mudslinging, but have inserted my understandings into the conversation.  The problem is that the true solution to the problem is one that many of them do not want to hear or do not want to trust.

So to save a lot of space, here is my understanding.  It is based on what I have learned over the past 40 years.  Muslims are not terrorizing the world.  Christians are not the source of the unrest around the globe or even in our own county, cities, and towns.  Phobias about different races are not at the center of killings.  I am not saying we are not seeing these things, but that we are aiming at them when we should be understanding the source of evil.

I have seen that as a world full of people and especially as Americans largely ignore or flat-out reject the spiritual aspect of our lives.  We all have a physical, mental / emotional, and spiritual aspect of existence.  Because we trust so heavily in the physical and mental, we do not trust the spiritual.  It has taken me decades to realize that focusing on the spiritual aspect of life in the same ways I do physically and mentally provides a balance and wisdom that eliminates so much confusion.   The reality of this is explained in the Bible in Ephesions 6:10-20
which says:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

In other words,  the evil one in the world that the Bible identifies as Satan is the one who is behind the so-called Muslim Extremist, or the Right-Wing Extremist who kill indiscrimately and then kill themselves.  Or even the riots that grow out of uncontrolled anger and domestic disputes that end in murder-suicide.  Why do so many mass murderers kill themselves?  I think that Satan hates even them and once he has enough control over them to cause them to commit these crimes, he definitely has enough control to cause them to destroy themselves as well.  He is a manipulator of lives and walks into the lives of those who do not oppose him.

In John 10:10 the scriptures describes Satan as a thief and says John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 

If this is the identifying mark of the "Thief" then he is definitely taking control of people who are not paying attention to their spiritual lives.


The second part of that scriptures gives the solution to this problem. Our spiritual aspect of life encompasses our alignment with good and evil. Because of the schemes of Satan, we must always be on guard to keep ourselves aligned with God in order to have peace within us and in order to keep the evil of the world from destroying all of us.


John 16:33 says

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”One by one, some people of the world are letting fear tell them that physical and mental efforts will overcome evil. But physical and mental efforts will only overcome evil when the spiritual part of us is aligned with the one who has already overcome evil. That is where the power to change the world lies.


God, who is good and all-powerful, has given us the opportunity to provide ourselves as a gateway for good to reign. He should be invited to control our lives in such a way that He is living in us and we in Him. When more and more of us turn our spiritual lives over to the one who lies, kills, steals and destroys, then that is the gateway for an evil world to prosper.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

The answer begins with those who truly seek the Prince of Peace and not the Prince of Darkness.  We must seek God the Father and reject the Father of Lies. We must actively turn to God and admit that the power we need comes from Him who has all power and more importantly, give God permission to use our lives to bring about a healing of our land.  Humbling ourselves is very difficult.  Prayer takes discipline and patience. But these are the ways to seek the face of God and ask him to heal our land, our families, and our future.  Take aim, not against flesh and blood, but against the true enemy in spiritual realms, but take heart, He has overcome the world!

Follow Directions to Find Direction

     We recently received a do-it-yourself doghouse kit for "Baby" the new dog in our family.  As we opened the box it said all you need is a screwdriver.  We looked for directions but found that it only had a set of pictures on the side of the box with one-sentence instructions for each step.  Fortunately, the process was so simple that those were the only instructions needed.  The house went together quickly and easily.  Many men are teased for their approach to such projects thinking they don't need to read the directions and that they can figure it out for themselves.  I remember putting together the baby crib for our first daughter and realized that the company must have put in some spare parts.  Later, once I read the directions, I had to disassemble the bed and put the parts where they were supposed to go.
     I think a lot of adults treat their Christian life that way.  We may have attended church and been taught from the Bible as children and, upon reaching adulthood, we believe we know what we are supposed to do in every situation.  We have heard about Jonah and Moses and David.  We have heard the parable of the sower and the lost sheep.  We know most of the 10 commandments, but not the order.  Many of us feel like we can get through just fine and can go to a pastor if things get confusing.  But I have learned that we miss a lot of things in life and and up with a lot of spare pieces left over when we don't seek God's directions in His word every day.
     The Bible is not only the words of God, but is the living Word of God.  It is the Voice of God in our lives.  It is another avenue of communication used by God for our daily direction.  When you read your Bible every day, God brings to you the words AND the understanding to interpret it into your current situation.  He "speaks" to us about our present needs and decisions on a spiritual level.  The Bible also gives us wisdom that comes not from current culture, but from the everlasting, infinite, creator of the universe.  It is wisdom that can be trusted to always be correct.  Proverbs 9:10 -"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
     Time and time again I see adults who believe they "know" God.   Many of them know about God, but haven't communicated with Him in a long time.  When someone asks if I know someone, they usually mean, "Do I spend time regularly with them", or "Is this person a regular part of my life."   They usually don't mean, "Have I learned things about this person in my past."   In order to know God and have Him as the guiding influence in my life, I have to keep in regular communication with Him.  Otherwise, he is just a philosophy or a life-goal.  God is the divine person after whom we were spiritually created.  He is active and speaks through His living word.  We should seek that word daily and pray to Him in the same spiritual way He speaks to us.
     The Bible includes direction for our life, it is true, but by reading and studying it, God speaks to us about today and uses the time we dedicate to His word as a time to connect with us and allow us to know Him more.  We learn how powerful He is and how loving He is and how dependable He is.  He is our direction, He is our knowledge of everything, and He is our daily existence..... or as He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."  The direction to go leads through Him.