Finished lots of things...& Free by the blood of the lamb

Today I dominated life. There was so much to be done (and there still is a good amount to get done), but the things that needed to get done today did. I felt so productive and that is really gratifying for me to be able to check things off of my list. It's one of my biggest joys in life. :)

Life always provides days like today...a challenge and then a sense of accomplishment upon rising to the challenge. I like those days. :) ...usually more so at the end than the beginning though.

Today was strangely wrapped in discussion about spiritual warfare. I know that's a random jump, but it was on my mind. We even talked about the workings of the devil in Kindergarten music class. These kids are awesome/strange/surprising/ridiculous.

Last night I had a discussion with a friend about how God empowers us to do huge things, but satan lies to us and keeps us from doing anything remotely close to what our potential would allow. I told my friend to read Galatians 1 without really knowing what it said. We read through it and this is the part that stood out:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Galatians 1:6-9

The bold phrase was really the kicker for me. God's Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection is Truth. satan is the father of lies. If there is a chance that we can easily turn to a "different gospel" in our lives, what about the True Gospel has been twisted, confused, or distorted? That's the question. What aspect of the Gospel has satan twisted just a bit to bind us to a gospel that isn't the Free Truth of Christ crucified? My friend and I threw out several options...
-the lie that the Gospel isn't for everyone, only for some
-that Jesus just died for Christians.
-that there is still something I have to do to earn Jesus' love.
-that I'm not worthy of the salvation given me.

and here's the one that my friend and I concluded was being spoken to him and probably to me as well...
-that the Gospel proves powerful and true for our eternal salvation, but we are rendered powerless here and now on earth.

There is so much truth to that. satan leads us to believe that the dreams we have are unreachable, the problems that surround us are unsolvable, that we would never be capable of doing great things and it's not even worth it to try. What an awful, awful lie!

It's a lie I'm currently struggling against. We talked about spiritual attack in prayer group this morning and how we are called to put on the full armor of God! The Word of God is our sword! It is our weapon against the wickedness of satan. His lies are disproved in God's Truth. It is our way to know when satan is speaking lies to us. We must hold it to the Word of God and what it says about who we are. Guess what...we can't know what it says about who we are if we don't read it!! We have no ammunition if we aren't in the Word.

I, as of late, haven't been consistently in God's Word. I can always tell too. Like, things don't bounce off of me as easily, even when I know they're not true. I get weighed down by things. Joy, purpose, and focus are more difficult to come by. I need to "sharpen my Sword," so to speak. satan has no power over those of us who are truly free in Christ. Own that.

In other news, I'm reading the book The Shack right now and it's pretty interesting. I'm a bit over half way through. I'll probably have some thoughts about it when I'm done, but I'm still trying to figure things out. I don't know how much of it I'll really agree with, but one thing is for sure, I've been engaged in it (which is a huge feat in and of itself) and secondly, it's taken my "God box" (if you will) and shattered it with a hammer. It really works to break up our stereotypes and boundaries that we create for God to live within. It's interesting. More on that later.

....that lady that had the octuplets and already has 6 kids at home was just on TV. They ask everyone and their mother about what they think about this lady, her family, her lifestyle, the doctors, etc etc. "Oh how appalling!" "How could she!" "How irresponsible and dangerous!" "Our tax dollars going to this?!?" Okay..so maybe it's not an ideal situation. But get off your darn soapbox and do something about it. Your criticism isn't helping anything or anyone. Actually, you're only making her situation worse. If you are concerned about the wellbeing of the children, do something to improve it. Thanks. That is all.

Last thing...I saw a person get hit by a car tonight. Well...I didn't physically see the person get hit, but I was there just after it happened. A few cars had stopped in the middle of a pretty major street and I was wondering what was up. Then as I got closer, I saw a person laying in the street. People were covering the person with lots of layers of blankets--probably to help with shock. I didn't feel like I should stop. Too many people often make the situation worse. I got about a block away and heard the sirens and then I saw the ambulance coming. It was really crazy. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. It was kind of intense for me.

Anyway...I'm talking to the Hawaiian intern right now. And I should be in bed. Blessings all...I pray that God reigns over you and shows you in everyway possible how much He delights in you.