Journey into Forever

" But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." - 2 Corinthians 11:3 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." -  Timothy 4:1 A very good friend of mine sent me a subscription to " Tabletalk" from Ligonier Ministries.  Much of it is pretty deep, but I am fascinated by the current issue I am reading.  It' s titled " A Field Guide from the Abyss, A training Manual for Demons".  Each article is written from the perspective of a trainer for Satan, to help his army wreak havoc on Christians and Chriatianity in general.  The articles refer to God as ' the Enemy'.  Holy cow. It asks the reader to keep this manual available at all times, and try to move against churches as a whole rather than individuals.  Here are some of the id

"Behold I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." -Revelation 3:20 'And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." -Hebrews 11:6 He likes to help.  Well no, that's not really true.  He likes to DO it.  By himself.  Well, maybe I can offer a little help, but he knows how he wants to do it, and so he takes control.  This morning he "helped" make coffee.  Those 3-year-old hands opened the cabinet drawer and pulled out the coffee pot, almost dropping the carafe.  I saw it going though, and scooped it up before it hit the ground. Filling the pot with water was a challenge also.  He took the carafe to the refrigerator, cause that's where you get water, right?  It's a challenge for anyone to fill up the carafe from there, but when

"Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever." -Hebrews 13:8 (ESV) Those who know me well, realize that my family runs a fireworks stand every year.  It's tedious and very tiring, but we are basically doing it for our grandchildren.  They work, we supervise, and we get irreplaceable time with them. It's a win-win, even though I am exhausted at the end of the 2 weeks. Six of the 8 grandchildren are old enough to do some type of work in the stand.  The other day, I needed to make a list of some of our product.  I asked the youngest granddaughter to go into the camper to get the tablet for me so I could do that.  After a few moments, she comes back to the tent with my ipad.  You see, times have changed.  Tablet in my mind was the pad of paper I had in the cabinet under the tv. She , understands tablet to mean my electronic device.  All the older kids said they would have done the same thing.   They didn't grow up buying a Big Chief ta

"If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." -James 4:17 "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says." - James 1:22 I read the newspaper every day.  I get it digitally, and sit at my kitchen table with breakfast or a cup of coffee, and see what's going on in the world.  I like that much better than listening to the news on television, which I seldom do anymore.  I skim, read here and there, and when I think I've learned enough about the day, I go to Words with Friends or Facebook.  Anyway, sometimes I come across an interesting obituary.  Not always, but once in a while I  just see one I want to read.  One day I read the obituary of a 60-something year old woman.  She had written her own obituary, and one comment that she included really got me.  It said: "To all of those I have wronged and/or hurt, I'm sorry." Wow.  Talk about poo

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." -Psakn 34:18 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." -Revelation 21:4  He's sullen.  The only time he really smiles is when he has done something ornery or even mean to one of his classmates.  On the playground, he is often too rough or downright physically aggressive.  Sometimes he almost falls asleep in class.  If his silence would scream it would show us that daddy was drunk again last night, and the fighting and fury went on until the wee hours.  He's tired and scared.  But he will never tell you. The woman at work is large and in charge.  She has a short fuse, and wants to be in control of everything.  She jumps on others first, to be sure they don't jump on her.  She's really hard to be around, unforgiving, rude, in your face.  I

" For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies."                                                                   - John 8:44 Sometimes it just starts as a thought.  Sometimes it starts out as a fullblown act.  And sometimes it never hapens although we want it to.  It's a lie we tell ourselves, the world tells us, and sometimes other Christians even tell us.  But most importantly, it is a lie of Satan to lead us here we should not go. GOD WANTS ME TO BE HAPPY We've all heard stories about people using this excuse when they are trying to convince someone that it is God's will that they ditch their marriage.  Most of us realize that is a lie from Satan.  It's pretty obvious.  But there are many other 's

"How long, Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save?" Habakkuk 1:3 We've all been there. Prayers that bounce off the wall.  No answers when we cry out day after day, week after week, month after month.  We question the goodness of a God who seems silent when we, desperate for answers and solutions, beg Him with tears, moans, and sometimes anger.  Why????? Often, when we look back, months and sometimes years later, we see what The Plan was.  Sometimes we don't. But when we are actually going through the experience of petitioning our God for our needs and we feel unheard and unloved, it's not easy. If you are familiar with Lysa Terkeurst, she's faced a number of battles recently when she has cried out to God for answers.  She experienced a marriage crisis and breast cancer within the last two years.  But in her new book, "It's Not Supposed to Be This Way", Ly