Persuasion

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and HE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36 NKJV).

Look at the phrase “HE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE.”  It is from the Greek word “apeitheo”, which means “NOT TO ALLOW ONESELF TO BE PERSUADED.”

Have you ever had a disagreement with another person who simply REFUSED to accept the obvious?  One who, no matter how many facts or evidence you presented, continued to argue with you?  Frustrating, isn’t it?  The 26^th Chapter of the Book of Proverbs talks about arguing with those who simply won’t accept facts, no matter how plain they are.

So it is with one who does not believe in God.  It is not due to a lack of evidence FOR GOD – it is simply this:  Such a person REFUSES TO ALLOW HIMSELF TO BE PERSUADED, in spite of the intricacy of the human eye, the vastness of the universe, or the balance of cellular biology – in spite of these apparent fingerprints of God, this person REFUSES TO ALLOW HIMSELF TO BE PERSUADED!

How, then, do we PERSUADE anyone to BELIEVE IN GOD?  I think there are two things to remember.

First of all, we should realize that some people will not be persuaded (Acts 26:28), and it is not up to us who believes and who does not believe.

Second, we just need to love.  Love our brothers, love our neighbors, and love our enemies.  Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are MY disciples, if you have LOVE for one another” (John 13:35 NKJV).

Peace.

Davina

Steers, Hay, and Gardens

As the youngest of five, I knew well what it meant to fatten a steer, haul hay, and work in a garden.  These were not attempts to win trophies or ribbons at stock shows and such; they were necessities.

Still, I resented these things that seemed like intrusions upon my time.  While others were enjoying leisurely summer mornings, I was getting up before daylight, stumbling to the garden half-asleep, harvesting the crop of the day, and going back to the house to prepare and freeze it.

Thank you, Father and Mother, for these times.  I say this sincerely.

One of my greatest spiritual revelations came when, as an adult, I was visiting the farm on a “bean-picking” day.  As we approached the garden, I saw some gorgeous plants!  So big and full of leaves – I just knew they would have tons of beans as well!  When I actually got down to “picking” the beans, though, I was amazed.  The biggest and most beautiful of the plants had very few, if any, beans; but the scrawny plants were literally bent over under the weight of all the beans they had produced.

And it hit me.

He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’"

Luke 13:6,7 NKJV

It doesn’t matter how many leaves or blooms you can muster, or how tall or full you grow.  What matters is the fruit.

Peace.

Davina

Spiritual Warfare

Let me preface this blog by saying that I’m not one of those people who goes around looking for demons.  Sometimes we experience bad things because we live in a fallen world, and sometimes we bring things on ourselves because of our own neglect, or (to borrow a phrase from a preacher many years ago) because of our own “pieces of stupid”, which we all do.

But there are times that we find ourselves under spiritual attack.  As the Apostle Paul said, we are not “ignorant” of the schemes of the enemy (2 Cor. 2:11).

When you find yourself under spiritual attack, remember these things:

1.    Our weapons are not carnal.  “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses” (1 Cor. 10:3,4 NASB).  In other words, although we’re in this physical world, we battle through a higher power.

2.    The thing you focus on, you empower.  This gets really deep and sounds very “New-Age”, but molecular physicists have discovered that a molecule will STAND at attention when it is in the focus of the human eye.  Nature Physics 5, 253 - 254 (2009).  We are a culture that loves to raise awareness; how about raising some Holy Spirit awareness?

3.    Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world (1 Jn. 4:4).  I had a dream just a few nights ago that there was a ferocious beast in our house.  We could hear it roaring, and we were afraid for our lives.  There was also a beast who was with us – it was a gentle beast.  I remember telling the gentle beast “well, do your best,” but I had no expectation that we would come out of the situation alive.  What I realized after waking was 1) I had not seen the ferocious beast, but in my mind it was huge; and 2) the gentle beast was a familiar friend, but I had no faith in His power.  We must realize that who we have inside of us is greater than the one who wishes to destroy us.  As one friend of mine says, “The snake is dead, powerless; why are we afraid of a dead snake?!

Don’t give up.  Your breakthrough may be just around the corner!

Peace.

Davina