Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the August 2010 Edition

This issue includes:

1 Article From Me

Something to Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Article from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

HEAD KNOWLEDGE VS HEART KNOWLEDGE

Since I was raised in church, I have had head knowledge of the Bible all my life. I knew many Bible stories and believed all of them without question. I knew all those people really existed who did all the great things for God, but never gave much thought to how they must have felt at the time.

In fact, I think I must have thought of them more as a character in a book rather than a person just like me who had the same feelings, fears, and emotions. David had to have much faith and courage to face the giant Goliath when it looked from man’s eyes that He would be devoured and killed in a single moment. At a very young age, David had come to see in God something that many of us are never able to see over a whole lifetime. He would never have thought he could go up against Goliath and win if he had not been looking at things from God’s perspective instead of man’s perspective.

The Bible is filled with hundreds of promises that God has given to every Christian so they can walk in victory but the reason many don’t walk in victory is because they have a head knowledge of those promises, but it has not become a heart knowledge.

***Head knowledge knows about all the great men and women of faith that God used to do a mighty work for His Kingdom through the ages, but heart knowledge hears from God and walks in obedience to His word even though you can’t always see where you are going.

***Heart knowledge hears from God and decides to literally take Him at His Word, knowing that He will work everything out victoriously in whatever way He chooses.

***Heart knowledge takes a promise from God and claims it with all heart, mind, and soul, and then goes forward in obedience trusting God every step of the way.

***Head knowledge reads the Bible but does not act on what is read.

****Heart knowledge reads the words, knows they are absolute truth, then believes and acts on that truth no matter what anyone else thinks or says.

God thinks and work differently than us, and He will stand by whatever He says; we just have to get in on His way of thinking.

All my life preachers have talked about how I needed to have a Daily Bible Study in order to be a strong Christian. Being a good Christian like I thought I was, and I do emphasize ‘like I thought I was’, I made myself read the Bible, but much of the time my heart was not in it. I didn’t want to disappoint God, so I would usually pick what I thought was something that was very easy to understand but it didn’t make much of an impact on me as far as becoming a strong Christian.

It never occurred to me to ask the Holy Spirit to help me understand and comprehend what those awesome, holy, wonderful words were trying to say to me.

When I started to ask for understanding, it was amazing how I would read the very verse I needed for that day. I would feel like a “light bulb” had gone off and marvel about how many times I had read that very same verse without getting an ounce of understanding from it.

When you ask the Holy Spirit to help you to understand what you are reading, it is then that you start to gain the heart knowledge from God. You start to see His Character, and the more you see His Character, the more you will be able to believe what the Bible says absolutely and positively.

It is much harder for Satan to make you doubt when you have a clear understanding of God’s Promises for your life. You can boldly have the faith to believe that what He says will come to pass.

The Bible has the answer for your every need, so you can ask God for it with complete assurance that He will always back up what He says.

Something To Think About

In 1680, after soldiers had dragged away her husband, William, because of his outspoken preaching, Marion Veitch said:

It bred some new trouble and fear to my spirit; but He was graciously pleased to set home that word ‘He does all things well; Trust in the Lord and fear not what man can do,’ which brought peace to me in such a measure that I was made to wonder; for all the time the officers were in the house He supported me so that I was not in the least discouraged before them.

Shortly afterward news arrived that William was to be hanged. Marion rode horseback through a blinding January snowstorm to Morpeth jail, arriving at midnight. At daybreak, she was given a few moments with her husband, “then I went to a friend’s house and wept my fill.” That day, prosecutor Thomas Bell announced, “Veitch will hang tomorrow as he deserves.”

But that evening, Mr. Bell tarried at a friend’s house, drinking and talking until past ten. The night was dark and cold when he left for home. He never arrived. Two days later, his body was found in the river, frozen up to his arms in a solid block of ice.

William Veitch was released, and he and Marion lived to a ripe old age, passing their godly heritage on to their children and grandchildren.

The Lord’s peace had, as usual, been followed by His providence.

Interesting Bible Facts

JACOB’S WELL – a deep spring in the vicinity of Shechem (called Sychar in Christs time and Nablus at the present day). It was probably dug by Jacob whose name it bears. On the curb of the well Jesus sat and discoursed with the Samaritan woman in John 4: 5-26.

It is situated about half a mile southeast of Nablus, at the foot of Mount Gerizim. It is about nine feet in diameter and 75 feet deep. At some seasons it is dry; at others it contains a few feet of water.

JOPPA, OR JAPHO – (beauty ), now Jaffa , a town on the southwest coast of Palestine, in the portion of Dan. (Joshua 19: 46) Having a harbor attached to it –though always, as still, a dangerous one –it became the port of Jerusalem in the days of Solomon, and has been ever since. Here Jonah “took ship to flee from the presence of his Maker.” Here, on the house-top of Simon the tanner, “by the seaside,” St. Peter had his vision of tolerance in Act 11: 5. The existing town contains about 4000 inhabitants.

PITCH – The three Hebrew words so translated all represent the same object, viz., mineral pitch or asphalt in its different aspects. Asphalt is an opaque, inflammable substance which bubbles up from subterranean fountains in a liquid state, and hardens by exposure to the air, but readily melts under the influence of heat.

In the latter state it is very tenacious, and was used as a cement in lieu of mortar in Babylonia (Genesis 11:3) as well as for coating the outside of vessels, (Genesis 6:14) and particularly for making the papyrus boats of the Egyptians water-tight. (Exodus 2:3 ) The Jews and Arabians got their supply in large quantities from the Dead Sea, which hence received its classical name of Lacus Asphaltites.

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

A Powerful Story

Dragged through Sand and Sea

Barbara Brown Taylor tells of spending a few days on a barrier island where loggerhead turtles were laying their eggs. One night when the tide was out, she watched a huge female turtle heave herself up on the beach to dig her nest and empty her eggs into the sand.

Taylor didn’t want to disturb her, but the next day she returned to try to find the spot where the eggs were hidden. What she found instead were tracks leading in the wrong direction. Instead of heading back out to sea, she had wandered into the dunes, which were already as hot as asphalt in the morning sun.

A little ways inland, Taylor found the mother turtle, exhausted and all but baked. Her head and flippers were caked with dried sand. After pouring water on her and covering her with sea oats, Taylor fetched a park ranger, who returned with a jeep to rescue her.

The ranger flipped the turtle over on her back, wrapped tire chains around her front legs, and hooked the chains to the trailer hitch on his jeep. Then he took off, yanking her body forward so fast that her open mouth filled with sand and then disappeared underneath her.

The ranger hauled her over the dunes and down onto the beach, and the woman followed the path that the prow of her shell cut in the sand. At ocean’s edge, he unhooked her and turned her right side up again. She lay motionless in the surf as the water lapped at her body, washing the sand from her eyes and making her skin shine again.

Then a particularly large wave broke over her, and she lifted her head slightly, moving her back legs as she did. Every fresh wave brought her life back to her until one of them made her light enough to find a foothold and push off, back into the water that was her home.

Watching her swim slowly away and remembering her nightmare ride through the dunes, Barbara Brown Taylor noted that it is sometimes hard to tell whether you are being killed or saved by the hands that turn your world upside down.

Sometimes we feel that our world is being turned upside down, but according to Romans 5, when we’re in His hands His only design is to develop perseverance, which leads to character, which leads to a hopeful attitude. He makes all things work for our good.

(Barbara Brown Taylor, “Preaching the Terrors,” Leadership Journal, Spring 1992, 45.)

My Favorite Blog Post For The Month

My Dream About The Mask

One morning I awoke and realized that I had a very eerie but really powerful dream that stuck in my mind for quite awhile. It was so scary that I had to force myself to think about something totally different.

The dream was about a lady who was trying to sell me a mask. When I put it on it was supposed to show the “real me.” By that phrase I mean it was supposed to show everything about me deep inside – my thoughts, flaws, all the deep things I maybe knew about myself but didn’t dare want anybody else to know about.

I decided to try on the mask and remember feeling a creepy, scared, sick feeling all mixed together. Everything on my face was covered except my eyes and my face looked different. I got really scared and took the mask off quickly.

Later on I found out that if you left it on for a certain amount of time it would just become a part of you and you could never take it off.

As I lay in bed trying to make the panic feeling go away, the Holy Spirit started to speak to me and revealed that most of us have gotten to the point that we wear a permanent mask to hide who we really are because we don’t want the real person to come out many times. We try to put our “best self” forward so that others will think we are more spiritual than we really are.

I have to admit that I used to be a huge people-pleaser kind of person. I wanted to do everything to make everyone like me, no matter what the circumstances. That is a huge undertaking that is totally impossible and something no one should ever take upon themselves to even attempt.

If you have asked Jesus to be your Savior, then God is the only one you should ever be worried about having favor with. You will never be able to please everyone else no matter how hard you try.

That morning long ago, the Holy Spirit laid it strongly upon my heart to do everything possible to keep the sin out of my life and encouraged me to put on the transparent mask and be as real as possible among others.

I am not telling you to go out and share with everyone in your life every problem you might have. Satan is always lurking around trying to find something to use against you, so you definitely need to ask God for discernment about who you confide in. Again I say definitely use discernment about who you share intimate details or problems with.

I am talking about just “being real” in your everyday life. Have such an intimate relationship with God that the real you spills over into every area. If you live in this way, you don’t have to think first before you act. God will just naturally flow from you in your words and actions.

It will also make you a much happier person to know that you don’t have to put on a “hiding” mask for different occasions. You can just be yourself, let God take control, and see where He leads you. Take it from me (a person who knows very well,) it is very liberating to be able to do what God has called you to do without the guilt and worry of trying to please everyone else.

Make it a point to live so that when the mask shows the “real you,” it will be something you will be proud for everyone else to see.

Live the words of the hymn written by B. B. McKinney in 1924 – Let others see Jesus in you!

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

If We’ve Ever Needed You

by Casting Crowns

What an awesome video and so anointed. We do need God more than ever and need to fall on our faces before Him and seek forgiveness and repent of our sins.

Video – If  We’ve Ever Needed You

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Like

Unlike

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the July 2010 Edition

This issue includes:

1 Article From Me

Something to Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Article from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

The Awesomeness of the Holy Spirit

This is not so much a Bible study of the Holy Spirit but a testimony of who He is and what He has done and is doing now in me.

I had read John Chapter 14 about the promise of the Spirit and John Chapter 16 about the work of the Spirit many times, but one day everything clicked together and my life changed dramatically.

It was that “light bulb over the head” DING!!! kind of moment when I realized that all the struggling I had done trying to find answers and direction could have been so much less stressful if I had really understood that I didn’t have to do it all on my own.

I know that Jesus is talking to the disciples in the above chapters about things they were not able to understand at that particular time. He told them that new truths would be revealed to them as they were able to understand it, but the same thing is true today in our growth as Christians.

If we are truly seeking God, we can look back over the last year and see that we have grown. We can read a verse we have read many times before and have new light shed into our hearts because we are in a place to receive that new truth. It is not new to everyone such as the truths Paul received in the New Testament, but it is new to us in our walk with God.

I grew up in church, so I knew that the Holy Spirit is present in the life of every Christian and it is His job to guide me in the right direction and help me live a victorious Christian life. I just didn’t understand what a wonderful thing that is until the “light bulb” went off in my head as I read verses 13-14 of Chapter 16.

“Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

Since the Holy Spirit is God living in me, He will always show me the truth and I will never go astray when I CHOOSE to follow His leading. The truth comes straight from God, so I don’t have to worry if I have made the right decision. I can follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and have total peace in knowing I am going in the right direction.

The people who lived in Old Testament times could believe in God, but did not have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with Him. Only a very few ever got a visit from an angel or received a direct promise from Him, and they might have had to wait for years before they received what He had promised. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit there to give encouragement and comfort when they were going through a hard time or felt they didn’t have the stamina to wait any longer.

How awesome that God loved us so much that He made a way so we won’t have to face each day totally alone and at the mercy of the world. If you have asked Jesus into your heart, you have His Spirit living inside you just waiting for you to let Him lead.

God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for your sin, so He certainly has your best interest in mind for everything He asks you to do.

You must know about the character of God to really trust Him to be the CEO of your life, so make it a priority each day to study the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you read. Faith will be a natural byproduct of this kind of life.

You will be absolutely sure you can trust God to give you His Very Best, whatever that may be.

Something To Think About

Garbage

Leslie Flynn tells of a mother who was peeling vegetables for a salad when her daughter, home from college, casually mentioned she was going to a questionable movie that evening.

The mother casually picked up a handful of garbage and threw it in the salad.

“Mother,” said the shocked girl. “You’re putting garbage in the salad.”

“I know,” replied the mother, “but I thought that if you didn’t mind garbage in your mind, you certainly wouldn’t mind a little in your stomach.”

Interesting Bible Facts

ANISE - This word occurs only in Matthew 23:23. “Anise is an annual plant growing to the height of one foot, carries a white flower, and blooms from June till August. The seeds are imported and used in large quantities on account of their aromatic and carminative properties. It grows wild in Egypt, in Syria, Palestine and all parts of the Levant.

Among the ancients anise seems to have been a common pot-herb in every garden. Although it is less used in medicine by the moderns than by the ancients, it still retains its former reputation as an excellent stomachic, particularly for delicate women and young children. The Romans chewed it in order to keep up an  agreeable moisture in the mouth and to sweeten the breath, while some Orientals still do the same.”

Dill, a somewhat similar plant, is an annual, bearing small aromatic seeds, used also for cookery and medicine.

ANKLE - This word does not occur in the Authorized Version; but anklets are referred to in Isa. 3:16, 18, 20. They were fastened to the ankle band of each leg; were as common as bracelets and armlets, and made of much the same materials.

The pleasant jingling and tinkling which they made as they knocked against each other was no doubt one of the reasons why they were admired. They are still worn in the East.

LAYING ON OF HANDS - This “formed at an early period a part of the ceremony observed on the appointment and consecration of persons to high and holy undertakings”; (and in the Christian Church was especially used in setting apart men to the ministry and to other holy offices. It is a symbolical act expressing the imparting of spiritual authority and power.—Ed.)

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

A Powerful Story

Eagle’s Wings

In Isaiah 40, we are told that by waiting on the Lord, we will mount on wings like eagles. Eagles are majestic birds with remarkable vision. Scientists believe their vision may be eight times sharper than that of humans. They have powerful feet with talons that can grip like a vise. Their beaks are butcher-like, designed to cut and crush and tear their food.

But most of all, eagles are built for flying. They have incredible speed, able to fly at sixty and eighty and one hundred miles an hour. They can do rolls and loops like an airplane doing tricks. Their wingspan extends to nearly eight feet.

But eagles do not fly like sparrows or robins. Most birds fly through the air by flapping their wings, but eagles cannot flap very long. They’re built for soaring, and thus they can go much further on little energy.

God created our planet with invisible columns of hot air called thermals rising up here and there from the surface of the earth. Eagles find these thermals, fly into the invisible currents, stretch out their wings, and are lifted higher and higher into the sky as though ascending on an elevator.

They may rise as high as fourteen thousand feet, so high in the heavens they cannot be seen with the naked eye from earth.

When they reach those heights, they emerge from the updraft, wings still spread, and they soar this way and that way, downwards and sidewards, traveling for miles with very little exertion of strength.

Isaiah seems to be telling us that God is invisible, but like the invisible uplifting thermal currents of this planet, he is present for his people. When we search him out, claim his promises and trust in him, spreading out the wings of faith, we are caught up to a higher plane. We mount up with wings like eagles. We can run and not grow weary. We can walk and not faint.

The strength we need for holy, effective, victorious living comes not from frantically flapping our wings like sparrows in distress, but from trusting in God and resting in Jesus Christ.

Pressed

Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;

Pressed so intensely it seems beyond strength;

Pressed in the body, and pressed in the soul;

Pressed in the mind, till the dark surges roll;

Pressure by foes, and pressure by friends —

Pressure on pressure, til life nearly ends.

Pressed into knowing no helper but God;

Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.

Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;

Pressed into faith or impossible things.

Pressed into tasting the joy of the Lord;

Pressed into loving a Christlife outpoured.

My Favorite Blog Post For The Month

Wow! What a Promise from God!

Sin cannot get confirmed dominion over the child of God, because God hath promised that it shall not. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Oh! how I love these “shalls!” There seems something grand in them. “Sin shall not.” Ah! Satan may come with temptation, but when God says, “Sin shall not have dominion,” it is as when the sea comes up in the fullness of its strength, and the Almighty saith – “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther; here shall thy proud waves be stayed.         -Charles Spurgeon-

Romans 6: 14 – For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

For – gar – a primary particle; properly assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensification; often with other particles)

sin – hamartia – offence, sin

shall not – ou – a primary word; the absolutely negative

have dominion over you – kurieuo – to rule, have dominion over, lord, be lord of, exercise lordship over; of things and forces to exercise influence upon, to have power over

indicates the contemplated or certain occurrence of an event which has not yet occurred (future tense.)

Indicative Mood – a simple statement of fact. An action that is occurring now, has already, or will in the future

This verse makes a huge statement. If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart I’m sure you will still be tempted just as He was when living on the earth, but God has given you the power to have victory over Satan and the temptation that he is trying to destroy you with. You don’t have to give in even if Satan is putting immense amounts of pressure on you.

God has given you His power to have the victory but you must walk in that power and know and understand the promises of the Bible. Satan knows them very well and plans his attacks carefully and methodically to achieve maximum results in your life. He will sometimes wait years for just the right moment to bring you down in a huge way.

Child of God, stand on and claim this verse with everything in you because sin absolutely cannot have power over you unless you give its approval. You will be tempted but you can boldly ask God to come to your aid because you are standing on His Word and claiming it with your whole heart.

Stand on the promises of God and let Him help you defeat the enemy Satan!

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

Cry Out To Jesus

God wants you to talk to Him about everything that is going on in your life – even the smallest of things. If you will trust Him with the small details, when huge problems arise you will automatically take them to Him.

Watch The Video by clicking on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmVxRl5bc4Y&playnext=1&videos=dpAHfGAqrRA&feature=artistob

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Like

Unlike

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the June 2010 Edition

This issue includes:

2 Articles Written by Me

Something to Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Articles from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

My Dream About The Mask

One morning I awoke and realized that I had a very eerie but really powerful dream that stuck in my mind for quite awhile. It was so scary that I had to force myself to think about something totally different.

The dream was about a lady who was trying to sell me a mask. When I put it on it was supposed to show the “real me.” By that phrase I mean it was supposed to show everything about me deep inside – my thoughts, flaws, all the deep things I maybe knew about myself but didn’t dare want anybody else to know about.

I decided to try on the mask and remember feeling a creepy, scared, sick feeling all mixed together. Everything on my face was covered except my eyes and my face looked different. I got really scared and took the mask off quickly.

Later on I found out that if you left it on for a certain amount of time it would just become a part of you and you could never take it off.

As I lay in bed trying to make the panic feeling go away, the Holy Spirit started to speak to me and revealed that most of us have gotten to the point that we wear a permanent mask to hide who we really are, at least from a spiritual standpoint. We try to always put our “best self” forward so that others will think we are better than we really are.

I have to admit that I used to be a huge people-pleaser kind of person. I wanted to do everything to make everyone like me and couldn’t stand the thought of doing something that might make someone angry at me. That is a huge undertaking that is a total impossibility and something no one should ever take upon themselves to even try.

If you have asked Jesus to be your Savior, then God is the only one you should ever be worried about having favor with. You will never be able to please everybody else no matter how hard you try.

That morning long ago, the Holy Spirit laid it strongly upon my heart to do everything possible to keep the sin out of my life and encouraged me to put on the transparent mask so that I could be real.

I am not telling you to go out and share with everyone in your life every problem you might have. Satan is always lurking around trying to find something to use against you, so you definitely need to ask God for discernment about who you confide in. Again I say definitely use discernment about who you share intimate details or problems with.

I am talking about just “being real” in your everyday life. Have such an intimate relationship with God that the real you spills over into every area. If you live in this way, you don’t have to think first before you act. God will just naturally flow from you in your words and actions.

Live the title of the hymn written by B. B. McKinney in 1924 – Let others see Jesus in you!

True Forgiveness Frees Up Valuable Space In Your Mind

As long as you don’t forgive, who or whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind. Isabelle Holland

Many movies today are about revenge – somebody does something wrong to one person and they spend the whole movie finding a way to get revenge for that wrong. It might make for a good movie plot, but it makes for a miserable life in the real world.

Many people have the wrong idea of true forgiveness. They feel that to forgive would be to let the other person off the hook, meaning they would never have to pay for what they have done. Forgiveness just makes sure that you don’t let anything come between you and God, no matter what it is.

You always have a choice as to what you let yourself think about. You can’t control everything, but you can control your thoughts about something that has happened to you. The other person may not even realize they have done anything wrong, and you end up losing much valuable time and resources you will never be able to get back.

The quicker you forgive, the quicker you can get back to a productive life. Satan loves it when you hang onto things because he wants you to be as miserable as possible and get to the point that you can totally justify being consumed with anger. When that happens, you start on a downward spiral into an attitude that only gets worse with time.

Make the choice to occupy your mind with positive things instead of dwelling on the negative ones. You can’t control everything that happens in your life, but you do have the power to choose to do the thing that will be the most beneficial to you in the long run.

Don’t ever let Satan convince you that if you forgive the other person they won’t be held accountable for what they have done.

Something To Think About

Abiding, Not Striving or Struggling

Missionary pioneer J. Hudson Taylor of China was working and worrying so frantically that his health was about to break. Just when his friends feared he was near a breakdown, Taylor received a letter from fellow missionary John McCarthy that told of a discovery McCarthy had made from John 15 – the joy of abiding in Christ.

Abiding, not striving or struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power… this is not new and yet ‘tis new to me… Christ literally all seems to me now the power, the only power for service; the only ground for unchanging joy.

As Hudson Taylor read this letter at his mission station at Chin-kiang on Saturday September 4, 1869, his own eyes were opened.

“As I read,” he recalled, “I saw it all. I looked to Jesus, and when I saw, oh how the joy flowed!” Writing to his sister in England he said:

As to work, mine was never so plentiful, so responsible, or so difficult; but the weight and strain are all gone. The last month or more has been perhaps the happiest of my life, and I long to tell you a little of what the Lord has done for my soul…

When the agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before.

McCarthy, who had been much exercised by the same sense of failure, but saw the light before I did, wrote (I quote from memory): “But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith but by resting on the Faithful One.”

As I read, I saw it all! As I thought of the Vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured into my soul!

Interesting Bible Facts

PICTURE

In two of the three passages in which “picture” is used in the Authorized Version it denotes idolatrous representations, either independent images or more usually stones “portrayed,” i.e. sculptured in low relief, or engraved and colored. (Ezekiel 23:14) Moveable pictures, in the modern sense, were doubtless unknown to the Jews. The “pictures of silver” of (Proverbs 25:11) were probably well surfaces or cornices with carvings.

FRONTLETS, OR PHYLACTERIES

These “frontlets” or “phylacteries” were strips of parchment, on which were written four passages of Scripture in an ink prepared for the purpose. They were then rolled up in a case of black calfskin, which was attached to a stiffer piece of leather, having a thong one finger broad and one and a half cubits long.

They were placed at the bend of the left arm. Those worn on the forehead were written on four strips of parchment, and put into four little cells within a square case on which the letter was written. The square had two thongs, on which Hebrew letters were inscribed. That phylacteries were used as amulets is certain, and was very natural.

The expression “they make broad their phylacteries,” ( Matthew 23:5 ) refers not so much to the phylactery itself, which seems to have been of a prescribed breadth, as to the case in which the parchment was kept, which the Pharisees, among their other pretentious customs, made as conspicuous as they could. It is said that the Pharisees wore them always, whereas the common people only used them at prayers.

PITCH

The three Hebrew words so translated all represent the same object, viz., mineral pitch or asphalt in its different aspects. Asphalt is an opaque, inflammable substance which bubbles up from subterranean fountains in a liquid state, and hardens by exposure to the air, but readily melts under the influence of heat. In the latter state it is very tenacious, and was used as a cement in lieu of mortar in Babylonia ( Genesis 11:3 ) as well as for coating the outside of vessels, ( Genesis 6:14 ) and particularly for making the papyrus boats of the Egyptians water-tight. (Exodus 2:3) The Jews and Arabians got their supply in large quantities from the Dead Sea, which hence received its classical name of Lacus Asphaltites .

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

7 Divine Calls to the Christian from God

1.  The call to salvation                    Romans 8: 28-30

2.  The call to sanctification           I Thessalonians 4: 3; 5: 23-24

3.  The call to service                       John 15: 16; Eph 2: 10;  I Cor 1: 26

4.  The call to separation                2 Corinthians 6: 14-18

5.  The call to sonship                      I John 3: 1

6.  The call to subjection                Romans 13: 4-5

7.  The call to suffering                   John 16:33;   Acts 14: 22

Phil 1: 29; 3: 10  I Thess 3: 3; I Peter 2: 21

(from The Complete Book of Bible Lists – Wilmington)

A Powerful Story

Words on a Blackboard

Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth were among the most effective missionaries to China during the late 1800s and early 1900s. But their early ministry showed little promise, and Rosalind nearly gave up.

In her book, Climbing, she writes:

Those very earliest days and weeks at Chyangte were indeed times of testing. Often it seemed, at least to me, all useless, hopeless, like casting bread upon the waters.

But one little thing helped me more than I could ever tell. I had a Chinese carpenter make a good sized blackboard. It was really intended for the children, for the drawing of letters, pictures, and so on.

One day when feeling discouraged and in need of help I opened by Bible and was led (I know) to 2 Corinthians 9:6

He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

So impressed was I with the latter clause that I went to the blackboard and printed in large letters, high up out of the children’s read, the words:

HE WHO SOWS BOUNTIFULLY

WILL ALSO REAP BOUNTIFULLY

For more than two years, until our new home was built, this promise remained constantly before me, an ever-present incentive to sow bountifully the gospel seed, as I have endeavored to picture it, even though it often seemed the seed was being cast on stony ground.

The day came, however, when my husband and I were permitted to see bountiful harvests of souls reaped for our Master in that region.

My Favorite Blog Post For The Month

Wow! What a Promise from God!

Sin cannot get confirmed dominion over the child of God, because God hath promised that it shall not. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Oh! how I love these “shalls!” There seems something grand in them. “Sin shall not.” Ah! Satan may come with temptation, but when God says, “Sin shall not have dominion,” it is as when the sea comes up in the fullness of its strength, and the Almighty saith – “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther; here shall thy proud waves be stayed.         -Charles Spurgeon-

Romans 6: 14 – For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

For – gar – a primary particle; properly assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensification; often with other particles)

sin – hamartia – offence, sin

shall not – ou – a primary word; the absolutely negative

have dominion over you – kurieuo – to rule, have dominion over, lord, be lord of, exercise lordship over; of things and forces to exercise influence upon, to have power over

indicates the contemplated or certain occurrence of an event which has not yet occurred (future tense.)

Indicative Mood – a simple statement of fact. An action that is occurring now, has already, or will in the future

This verse makes a huge statement. If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart I’m sure you will still be tempted just as He was when living on the earth, but God has given you the power to have victory over Satan and the temptation that he is trying to destroy you with. You don’t have to give in even if Satan is putting immense amounts of pressure on you.

God has given you His power to have the victory but you must walk in that power and know and understand the promises of the Bible. Satan knows them very well and plans his attacks carefully and methodically to achieve maximum results in your life. He will sometimes wait years for just the right moment to bring you down in a huge way.

Child of God, stand on and claim this verse with everything in you because sin absolutely cannot have power over you unless you give it approval. You will be tempted but you can boldly ask God to come to your aid because you are standing on His Word and claiming it with your whole heart.

Stand on the promises of God and let Him help you defeat the enemy Satan.

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Like

Unlike

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the May 2010 Edition

This issue includes:

1 Article From Me

Something to Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Article from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

I want to talk to you this month about being obedient to God even when you know things are going to be tough before you take the first step of obedience.

God always wants His Children to grow and mature in His image and in His likeness. He never says that everything He asks us to do will be easy but He wants us to know His Character well enough that even if we feel we have been thrown into “the lion’s den” we will know He has already made either a way of escape or a way for us to be victorious in a terrible situation. Either way God will be the only one who will get the glory for everything that happens.

I was very excited about going on a medical mission trip out of the United States to a third world country. I believed that God was opening the door for me to go, even though I knew it would be a hard trip physically. I knew it would be very hot with no chance of an air conditioner anywhere, only taking cold showers, and riding back and forth in the back of a large truck on roads with huge potholes. I really don’t consider any of the above things to be terrible, I just live in a part of the United States where that is not my normal way of life.

It takes a huge adjustment to get used to any other way of life that is radically different from your own.

Three weeks before I was to leave, the Holy Spirit warned me of a huge spiritual battle that was to take place while our group was in the foreign country. This battle had nothing to do with the jobs we would perform as medical missionaries, but was the result of unconfessed sin by two members of the team that had to be addressed. I know they should have not even considered going at all, but God chose to address things there instead of at home.

I hate to admit it, but as soon as I realized how huge the battle would be I did not want to go any more. I am a person who absolutely hates confrontation, and felt sick to my stomach even thinking about the upcoming trip. I asked God to please not make me go, but my plea fell on deaf ears. I realized that I would either go into what I felt was “the lion’s den” or I would stay home and be in rebellion against what He had told me to do.

I knew I couldn’t CHOOSE deliberately to be in rebellion against God. I have always heard that “the center of God’s Will is the safest place you can ever be” and I knew it was His Will for me to go, so I decided to trust Him with all the details. I still knew that I would be going into a tough situation, so I no longer looked forward to the trip as I had before. In fact I dreaded it and my stomach seemed permanently tied in knots.

Two days before we left, the Holy Spirit started to give me much encouragement and peace that God had control of things and that He would give me the strength and boldness to do whatever I needed to do.

Isn’t it always like God to love us so much that He sends much love and encouragement our way even though we have such a hard time trusting Him? I believe I have learned a little more about His Character and that no matter how afraid I might feel God is with me in every battle. I knew that with my head, but I needed to learn it with my heart.

Our trip was to be for 9 days but turned into 10 because of bad weather conditions in our flight path. I knew the earthly agenda for each day of the trip, but had no idea how God would work from a spiritual warfare standpoint to bring about His desired end to a really bad situation.

Satan seemed to know the importance of what God had told us to do and he tried to make everything as hard as possible. We were the second team to go and saw the first team getting ready to leave on the same plane we had just arrived in.

The first team had great weather for most of their 9 day trip, with it raining much of the time to keep the days and nights cool. From the moment we stepped off the plane it was extremely hot and never got cool at all. In fact each day got a couple of degrees hotter. We were all used to being able to cool off in the air conditioning at least during the night hours at home, so it was much harder to sleep with just a fan blowing hot air on us. We were extremely thankful for the fans, though.

The first team had also worked in the schools that were very close to the compound where we stayed, so they had a very short commute. We had to drive an hour each day over a road with huge potholes and bounced around in the back of the open bed truck. After a long day at the schools, we still had to make the long commute back.

I do have to say that by the end of the trip I had learned a lot about letting my body flow naturally with the bumps and jolts, and felt very proud that I wasn’t nearly as sore as I was the first few days. I just wish I had learned that trick sooner.

It’s funny now that the things I thought of as huge obstacles are the ones I remember most about making the trip so special. I’m glad that everything happened exactly the way it did because God needed to do a lot work more work on fine tuning my character to make me more like Him.

I couldn’t see it at the time, but even in the few short weeks I have been back I see how God has radically changed my life. A few times before leaving and while I was there, I felt like He must be punishing me for something and I surely wanted Him to show me so I could repent and get out of a terrible situation.

But even though it was one of the toughest times of my life, I knew there was a reason for what was happening. I probably will never understand fully the scope of the spiritual battle that was fought in those ten days, but I knew it was very important not to let my flesh rule and I was determined not to “lose it” and do something I would be sorry for later.

Proverbs 24: 10

If thou faint in the sight of adversity thy strength is small.

Adversity drives you to your knees in prayer when nothing else will. It was truly a supernatural “God” thing that six people were able to not just barely function, but be able to put our whole heart into ministering to the children in their time of need with a huge spiritual battle going on around us. God showed me that absolutely nothing is too hard or big for Him to handle.

The Holy Spirit kept bringing to my memory the story of the Israelites at the Red Sea. God had already told Moses that He would put them in a very hard situation on purpose so He could reveal to them His Glory.

There was absolutely no way out for them, and it must have certainly looked to them that they would be slaughtered. But God had other plans and He wanted to show them just how awesome He was and that they would never have to worry about Him taking care of them ever again – at least that is what He was trying to teach them.

God put the six of us in a place where we couldn’t leave easily. We had no vehicle of our own and the nearest commercial airport was over 80 miles away over roads that would have taken many hours to navigate even if we had known how to get around. We had flown into a small airport on a plane that seated 18 people. It had brought us on a Tuesday and it would be the next Tuesday before it would be back to pick us up. We all would have left early if it had been possible, but God still had work to do, at least in my life.

At church we often sing a song called “In Christ Alone.” Below are the words:

In Christ alone I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory, let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone

At my lowest point, I truly found that Christ is enough to fulfill every need you can ever have. It is wonderful to have good friends, but there are some things they can’t help you with no matter how hard they try.

I found that even when I was stuck at the Red Sea with what I felt was no way of escape, God never left me for a single moment. There were a lot of people praying at home and I could feel the prayers. I am so thankful that they took their job seriously, because our welfare much depended on it. God did a truly astounding thing in our greatest hour of need.

You don’t have to be stuck in a foreign country to feel like you are fighting a huge battle with no way of escape; you don’t even have to leave your house.

II Chronicles 20: 14b-17

came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not your’s, but God’s.

Tomorrow go ye down against them: Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

God knew from the start how He would give them the victory, and He knows how He will work out every detail in your life also. He just wants you to get to the point that you will surrender your life to Him and KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU KNOW (my term for being absolutely sure of something) that He will work everything out the way He desires whether you ever completely understand why things happened the way they did.

We as humans will never be able to see the whole picture of how and why God works the way He does.

Even though things didn’t turn out exactly the way I had hoped, I know that I was obedient to God and I trust that He is working things out the way He knows best.

I probably will never see the full effects or lives touched by the spiritual battle we fought. All I can do is be obedient to God and trust Him to work everything out in the end. It’s so funny how we humans think we have our lives tied up in a neat little package and that we are in full control of everything that happens to us. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

God is the only one who is totally in control, so why don’t we get in on His way of doing things and walk in His victory.

As you have found out from my situation, what He tells you to do won’t always be easy but the closer you get to Him, you will find that you don’t desire to be anywhere else but walking in His obedience.

Let God dramatically change your heart and life by stepping out on faith in obedience to whatever He tells you to do. You won’t really start to know His mind and character until you make that huge step into what you think of as the unknown.

God knows every detail of the way you will go, and nothing ever catches Him by surprise. Make the choice to trust Him and see where He leads. As for me, I want to stay in the center of His Will even though I don’t understand everything about the way He works.

I certainly cannot say that my life has been boring in the least since I decided to truly follow God’s leading. Come and join me on this miraculous journey of letting Him mold and make me into a useable vessel that can be used for His Glory.

What An Awesome God We Have!

Something To Think About

The Interruptions Are The Ministry

A minister once observed that sometimes “interruptions are the ministry.” In the book, Before Burnout, the authors point out that Mark’s Gospel provides many examples of Jesus handling interruptions well.

After he healed a man with an unclean spirit, Jesus was suddenly interrupted in the midst of his teaching by four men carrying a paralyzed man. Later He was pursued and interrupted by a large multitude.

At one point, after being interrupted by Jairus, Christ was almost immediately interrupted again by a woman with a long-term illness. The Savior compassionately handled all of those interruptions well.

A study of the way Jesus handled these kinds of interruption can teach us several things:

1.  Christ always responded graciously. He never conveyed the attitude that people did not have a right to interrupt Him.

2.  He made people a priority. For the most part, those who interrupted Him were not prominent individuals, yet Christ treated them as important.

3.  Although frequently interrupted, Christ did not allow those interruptions to deflect Him from His ultimate purpose. For example, after dealing with the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus immediately went on to raise Jairus’ daughter.

4.  On occasion, the Savior actually initiated an interruption himself. He interrupted His teaching of the multitude to call Levi the tax collector to follow Him.

5.  When important priorities made it necessary, Christ isolated Himself from interruptions.

Learning to handle interruptions in a Christ like fashion will take us a significant distance down the road of handling life’s circumstances.

Interesting Bible Facts

MANNA – A month after leaving Egypt the people were in want of food, and murmured against their leaders, when the quails were sent in the evening and the manna appeared in the morning after the “dew was gone up.”

It was a small round thing, like hoar-frost or coriander seed and the people said, “What is this?”

Moses answered that it was the bread that the Lord had given them to eat. Its flavor was like wafers of flour-bread and honey. The gummy drops which form on the leaves of the tamarisk are of a similar sweetish substance, as also the tarfa gum, and several other articles called manna in Arabia; the true manna was none of these, and probably a distinct thing made for the occasion.

Its similarity to other things offers no explanation of its character.  It came without notice, and as abruptly discontinued. Botanists have tried to explain the thing by references to many articles, as esculent lichen, which is eaten in Northern Africa. It is a species of moss.

Some have considered the miracle as multiplying the natural supplies of the desert as that of the loaves and fishes was at Bethsaida, increasing five loaves and two fishes.

MILETUS – Seaport and the ancient capital of Ionia, Asia Minor, 36 miles S of Ephesis. The presbyters of the Church of Ephesus met Paul at this place on his return from his third missionary journey. Several men of renown were born here: Democritus (460 BC), Anaximes (504), Hecataeus (460), Aniximander (611), Thales (639), and Timotheus.

There were four harbors, one of which would hold a fleet. The oracle of its famous temple of Apollo was consulted as late as the 4^th Century. Christian bishops of Miletus were present at several councils from the 5^th to the 8^th centuries.

It is now a ruin called Melas, near the mouth of the river Meander. The sea has receded from the site several miles.

MILE – The Roman measure, was equal to 1618 English yards. (The English is 1760 yards.) “To go a mile” in Matt v. 41. The Jewish mile was of two kinds, long or short, according to the length of pace. The Roman measurement was ultimately introduced into Palestine.

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

A Powerful Story

In the Manufacturing Business

In his famous book The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale includes a chapter entitled, “How to Create Your Own Happiness.”

“Who decides whether you shall be happy or unhappy?” he asks. “The answer – you do!”

Peale then relates a conversation he had with a couple over dinner in a railway dining car during a trip. The woman was expensively dressed in furs, diamonds, and an expensive dress. But she seemed to be having a most unpleasant time with herself. Rather loudly she declared that the car was dingy and drafty, the service bad, the food terrible.

Her husband, in contrast, was genial, affable, easy-going, and pleasant.

During dinner, Peale asked the man what business he was in. He said he was a lawyer, the he added,  “My wife is in the manufacturing business.”

This was surprising, for she did not seem to be the industrial or executive type. So Peale asked, “What does she manufacture?”

“Unhappiness,” replied the man. “She manufactures her own unhappiness.”

An icy chill descended over the table, but reflecting on the conversation later, Dr. Peale wrote, “I was grateful for his remark, for it describes exactly what so many people do – they manufacture their own unhappiness.

My Favorite Blog Post For The Month

Yes, Patience Can Be Learned

Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.   -Barbara Johnson-

One thing I have found out the hard way is you absolutely must learn patience if you intend to walk with God.

I used to be just about the most impatient person in the world. When I decided I wanted something, I absolutely could not rest until I got it, or at least I didn’t think I could. I sewed a lot when I was younger, and one night I thought I just had to have a new outfit for the next day. I started cutting out the pattern at 9 that night and got through with the outfit about 2 the next morning. I might have been tired the next day, but I had my new outfit. That is just one example among many that come to my memory of what an impatient person I used to be.

I found it hard to think of anything else at all once I decided to do a certain thing. I also thought that my “wants” were so important that others should drop what they were doing to help me achieve them. My Mom is probably the one that got the worst of the deal on that one, because I frequently expected her to drop everything and help me out.

When I really started to seek God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal His plans to me, I quickly discovered that no amount of begging or pleading would force Him to make something happen one minute earlier than He had planned.

It’s crazy to think that I as a mere human would even think of trying to force God to change His plans just because of my impatience, even though I didn’t think of it that way at the time. I certainly had no idea of the Character of God and at the time didn’t know Him on a personal level very well at all.

When I look back on those times, I can see how much I have grown in the area of patience. Now I know that “waiting” is something I will always have to do well in order to follow God with all my heart.

Psalm 25: 21

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

Psalm 27: 14

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psalm 37: 7

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Isaiah 40: 31

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

These are only a few verses of the 125 the concordance listed for the word “wait.”. Some of them talk in the context of “lying in wait for something or someone,” but either way one would have to learn to be patient to achieve their goal, even if it was to do harm to another. I have read in history books where people planned for months or even years to get every last detail worked out for a wartime attack in a strategic place; so how much more should we as Christians learn to wait for God’s best.

Just in the four verses above, the Bible says you will be blessed if you will wait on God instead of trying to work things out for  yourself. I know from many years of experience that this is not an easy thing to do, especially if you are as impatient as I used to be.

I do not at all mean to imply that “waiting” is always easy, because it isn’t. Sometimes I want to work things out in my own way and do it RIGHT NOW, but from some hard-learned experience I know that I will just be asking for trouble in the long run. It is much better to wait than mess things up and it take God even longer to straighten out the mess I have made.

If you are an impatient person waiting will be hard, but you will never be sorry if you wait on God to bring things to pass in His time. If have found that I really can trust God with every decision I make each day.

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

We Fall Down – The Passion

What an awesome worship video!

URL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1o-lMw3rC0

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the April 2010 Edition

This issue includes:

A Very Different Article From Me

Something to Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Articles from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

For those of you who have just joined my newsletter list, I encourage you to also read back archives on my blog as this one will be very different from anything I have written up until now.

The Holy Spirit has instructed me to share with you what has been going on in my life in the last 5 months. One thing I have found out for sure – you will never get in a rut (comfort zone) nor be bored if you follow God’s leading. I can promise, though, that your life will never be the same in a good way.

God wants you to get familiar enough with His Character that you know you can trust Him with anything that comes your way, whether large or small. It is not easy to get to that place, but once you start to get glimpses of who God really is, you know that without a doubt He has everything under control and you really can trust Him with important decisions you must make.

I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to start this newsletter (also my blog and other web sites), but initially had no idea what the content of it should be. When I say I had no idea, I mean just that. My mind was a total blank as to how I should even get started. I looked at other sites and thought about using some of their ideas, but I realized that I either was going to depend on God to tell me what to write or do something totally in the flesh that wouldn’t make much of a difference to anyone who read it, much less change their life in any way.

Then sitting in my office one day, the Holy Spirit started to give me instruction and laid out the plan for this newsletter. It seemed so easy after He told me what to do, and I wondered why I had been so anxious about it.

As I sat down each month to put it together I knew that I had included each article for a reason. Some person maybe thousands of miles away from me was dealing with a specific thing and would hear what God had to say through me. It is so awesome how God chooses to use one person to minister to another, even if they have never heard of each other or might never meet in person. I marvel each day when I see that people from all over the world are signing up for this newsletter. Even 20 years ago that would not have been possible.

The breadth, length, and height of God’s love for us is much more than we will ever be able to grasp. That is why He wants us to learn to trust Him enough to place our life in His hands to do with as He wishes.

After I had been doing the newsletter, blog, and writing articles for several months, God opened another door for me to be the secretary at our church. He worked it out so that I could work in the morning at the secretary job and in the afternoon writing the blog posts, articles, and working on the newsletter.

From the start, the Holy Spirit started to give me new and fresh ideas for big improvements that would benefit the church and my Pastor seemed excited about them. Even though being the church secretary was not something I had ever thought about doing, I found myself excited about going to work each day. I am still excited about it and don’t even dread Mondays. It truly makes a difference when God places you in the perfect job He has chosen for you. You can go to work knowing that you do make a difference each day.

The Holy Spirit did give me a warning, though, that I should not let my ministry at the church ever come before what God had told me to do online (blog posts, ezine articles, etc.) He said that both were very important and I should work on them equally. I truly tried to keep that in mind and not let my morning job take on more importance.

I must insert here that my secretary job requires me to do a lot of desktop graphics (for the bulletin, monthly church newsletter, and posters for events we have) plus other things that I truly enjoy and seem to have some talent for.

In my afternoon job God, for a reason known only to Him, chose me to be a writer. The truth is, I have no real talent for writing and have never ever never ever (and I emphasize that) had a desire to be a writer in any way; so going into this whole internet endeavor, I knew I was sunk from the start without the direction of the Holy Spirit on what to write.

I don’t have article thoughts pop into my head on my own. I really want you to understand that I am not a writer of my own abilities. I know how to put words and sentences down in the correct order and did well in English in school, but as I look at the flowery, beautiful words and phrases of other writers I truly see that I could never compete with them with my own abilities.

I have written the two paragraphs above to help you understand that the afternoon hours were much harder for me than the morning hours. I had to shift to another way of thinking in the afternoon. My afternoon routine was basically “Holy Spirit, what blog post or article do you want me to write about today?” Then I sat there until I heard from Him.

I had many anxious days at first, but eventually I realized that I truly wanted the Holy Spirit to tell me what to write, so I should just listen to what He had to say and go at His pace. When I quit being so anxious, the writing started to become easier.

I still had to get into the mode of blocking everything out and fully concentrating on what God wanted me to say. That is not an easy job because there are a multitude of everyday interruptions that will come crowding into your mind if you let them. Each day was a discipline in concentration. I don’t see how writers sit still and write for hours each day – I truly admire them for all their discipline.

I have told God many times that I have no idea why He would choose to tell me to write articles when it is certainly not easy for me in any way. I have just come to the conclusion that if I truly want Him to be Lord of my life, I must be obedient to what He tells me to do whether it is easy or not and because He is God I don’t have to understand how He is working everything out for my benefit. I can and will trust Him to do a good work in me.

He also reminds me that He loves to choose those who don’t have the capabilities on their own; then they will never be able to take the glory that only belongs to Him.

Over the months, I made it a point to do everything each week that I felt the Holy Spirit was leading me to do. When I tried to write an article and didn’t feel the release of the Holy Spirit yet to post it, I waited until I knew I had written everything He wanted me to write.  I had a perfect peace about it before I pushed the PUBLISH button.

I think one thing that is so attractive about not having to punch a time clock is that you can work at any time of the day. I still felt that the Holy Spirit had told me that the afternoons were to be reserved for writing, though, and tried to abide by it.

But since writing was hard and a lot of concentration was involved, I would put it off if I was really tired in the afternoon or something happened that took my time in other ways. I am a night person so I can be tired in the afternoon and wide awake by 8 at night. Even though there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind, I still thought everything was OK because I was getting all the work done and the Holy Spirit was still anointing what I was writing.

After a time of doing that, I became convicted about trying to get back to always doing my work in the afternoons. I knew that if I were punching a time clock at another business, I would be expected to do the work during the time slot they allotted, not just when I decided to do it.

Almost as soon as I tried to get back in the afternoon groove, unexpected things started to happen that I felt I really needed to do and they pulled me away from writing.  While I was doing them I was miserable inside though, because I knew what God had told me to do. In fact, I got to the point that I worried about it all the time. I guess I was trying to be Superwoman, but not doing a good job of it at all.

The Holy Spirit was still giving me things to write about, so I guess I rationalized to myself that it was OK to do other things in the afternoon and still do my writing at night when the situation called for it. It is very sad how we all can rationalize things in our mind to make them seem right, no matter what the truth is.

Then about 5 months ago, I started having a problem writing the newsletter and other articles that I felt God wanted me to do each week. It seemed to get harder and harder until finally I didn’t hear anything at all from the Holy Spirit on what I should write.

Thank goodness He spoke to me in other ways, but not in this area.

You would think I would have known right away, but after about a month of intense prayer and asking God to please show me what was wrong, the Holy Spirit said the following words:

“There is a huge difference between fitting God in and putting Him first.”

I don’t think I have ever been more broken about anything in my life. I felt like the biggest failure ever to be born. How could I have failed God so badly when all I wanted was to walk in obedience to His plans for my life? Over and over I kept telling Him how sorry I was for failing Him and asking for forgiveness. I know that I was forgiven the very first time I asked, but I was so heartbroken that it didn’t seem enough to just say it once.

As I look back on things now, I think I did the one thing I never wanted to do – get in a rut. I had heard the Holy Spirit tell me to write a certain amount of articles per week and I took that very seriously, but I guess I forgot that God has the right to change that and be perfectly right in doing so. I had put Him in a box yet again.

Like almost everyone else on the planet, I tend to like staying in my own little comfort zone where I am familiar and comfortable with everything I am supposed to do. My brain rebels against stepping into the unknown without being able to always see the end result.

The Holy Spirit must continually be nudging and prodding me to step out into new territory.

Back to my story, I basically just sat and waited (very anxiously) for a couple more months until the Holy Spirit started to give me something to write about again. I did wonder at times if I had disappointed God so much that He wouldn’t give me another chance, but I kept asking Him for one.

His mercy and grace will always be greater than anything I can understand, and I certainly don’t deserve them. I am so thankful that I did get another chance. I don’t know where God will lead from here, but I want to do everything I can not to put God in a box any more. I want to be a useable vessel that is pliable and ready for however He desires to use me.

I challenge you to examine your life and make sure that you haven’t put God in a box by getting into the rut of doing things in the same way all the time, thereby leaving Him out even though you think you are including Him.

I have a huge interest in the latest tech gadgets that come out. I don’t always buy them, but I love to know what is available. It is called being on “the cutting edge” of technology when one is always trading a fairly new gadget in for the latest and best thing that has just come out.

I believe with all my heart that is where God wants His Children to live – on “the cutting edge.” When you live there all the time, you will never get in a rut because you will always be looking forward to the next thing God has in store. Living in this state requires walking each day in tune with the Holy Spirit, and making decisions based on the wisdom that He gives.

Sometimes God has had to make me very uncomfortable in order to get me to think about doing things another way. God continually wants to grow and change me in ways that I can’t imagine, and that does mean living on “the cutting edge.”

This has been a very hard lesson for me to learn, but I want to learn it well. I want to be continually open to what God has in store for me, knowing that I don’t need to have all the answers or see the big picture to trust the Holy Spirit to lead me down the right path.

At this point you might be thinking that it is no big deal what time of the day I choose to work as long as I get everything done, and maybe don’t even see the point of what I have written so far.

I think of how Joshua must have felt as God gave him specific instructions that would lead to a huge victory over the city of Jericho.

God told him to do something very unconventional – walk around the city once each day for 6 days, then on the 7^th day walk around the city 7 times and the walls would fall down. Not only were they to walk around, but the singers were to be the first in line. Now that is an unheard of way to do battle with the soldiers not even going first.

God’s way of doing things probably was not at all what they had planned, yet He expected them to be obedient and carry out every detail of His instructions. Because they obeyed, they had a resounding victory and the glory could only be attributed to God.

Won’t you make the decision right now to ask God to help you “think and walk outside the box” so that you can be open to whatever He asks you to do even if it is something you have never thought of before.

It won’t be an easy thing to do, but what an awesome way to live knowing that you are a completely useable vessel for His Kingdom.

Step out of your comfort zone and give God control. It might be scary at first, but what an awesome way to live – with no regrets.

Something To Think About

The Wolves Within

An old Grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, “Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.”

 

He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.”

“But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?”

The Grandfather solemnly said, “The one I feed.”

Interesting Bible Facts

ALABASTER –

from the Arabic al bastraton , a whitish stone or from Alabastron , the place in Egypt where it is found. The ancients considered alabaster to be the best material in which to preserve their ointments. The Oriental alabaster (referred to in the Bible) is a translucent carbonate of lime, formed on the floors of limestone caves by the percolation of water. It is of the same material as our marbles, but differently formed. It is usually clouded or banded like agate, hence sometimes called onyx marble. Our common alabaster is different from this, being a variety of gypsum or sulphate of lime, used in its finer forms for vases, etc.; in the coarser it is ground up for plaster of Paris. The noted sculptured slabs from Nineveh are made of this material.

ANKLET

This word does not occur in the Authorized Version; but anklets are referred to in Isaiah 3: 16, 18, & 20.  They were fastened to the ankle band of each leg; were as common as bracelets and armlets and made of much the same material. The pleasant jingling and tinkling which they made as they knocked against each other was no doubt one of the reasons why they were admired. They are still worn in the East.

APPII FORUM

(market-place of Appius), a well-known station on the Appian Way, the great road which led from Rome to the neighborhood of the Bay of Naples.  There is no difficulty in identifying the site with some ruins near Treponti .

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

A Powerful Story

The Power of Prayer

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan…

 

While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time witnessed to him of the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.

Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, “Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.” At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, 26 guards. “My five friends also saw them and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid, and left you alone.”

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day that this happened. The missionary told the church congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story: “On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?” The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn’t concerned with who they were — he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

** This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord moves in mysterious ways. If you ever feel such prodding, go along with it. Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of hell. **

My Favorite Blog Post For The Month

Go From Ordinary to Extraordinary

I don’t fit into your box.   –God-

Isn’t it amazing that we as humans can fall into a rut so quickly, even if we don’t like our situation? The most important thing seems to be that we get into a routine and feel comfortable about our lives. Most of us detest even the slightest change as we feel it throws us completely off balance.

Even though deep down we know we can’t control outward things that might happen we convince ourselves that as long as our life stays in the same unchanging rut, we have complete control over our little corner of the world.

The problem with that way of thinking is that many Christians have put God in a box and expect Him to conform to their way of thinking and bless whatever they decide to do.

God will never be able to work in our lives the way He desires as long as we have this way of thinking.

Even though it is a scary thing to step out into the unknown and trust God to lead you down a road where you can’t always see what the end result will be, that is the way He desires you to live if you are His Child. After all, He is God and always has everything under control down to the smallest detail. He already knows everything you will face in the future, where He desires to lead you, and He can see the road clearly when the fog threatens to completely envelop you and you can’t see to even take a baby step.

If you can learn to trust God in that way, you won’t be paralyzed with fear to step out into the unknown. He knows your strengths, weaknesses, and limitations much better than you ever could, and from His perspective all you can do is be victorious if you will trust Him.

When He tells you to do something, He doesn’t expect you to do it in your own power or with your own abilities. He wants you to lean on and trust Him to work through you, so you should never be afraid to trust Him with every area of your life. He loves you more than any other person ever could and only wants the best for you in every way.

Don’t stay in that “comfort zone” any longer. It WILL be scary at first, but God will meet you exactly where you are now and make you into the person He can use for His Glory.

Don’t spend another minute being ORDINARY when God wants to do something EXTRAORDINARY in your life. All you have to do is take the first step and walk in His Power instead of your own.

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

He Is With You by Mandisa

Video – He Is With You

That’s it for this newsletter. I don’t know which direction God will be leading for future newsletters, but I am very excited to find out. I know that God knows exactly what each one of you need to read, and He always has your best interest in mind.

May He bless you immensely this month!

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the December 2009 Edition

This issue includes:

2 of My Featured Teaching Articles

Quotes for Inspiration

A Bible Quiz Question

Something To Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Articles from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

7 Ways To Deal With A Selfish Person!

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live; it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
-Oscar Wilde-

This is an awesome quote, because it paints a true word picture of selfishness.

You can always recognize this kind of person by their actions, and it is easy to spot them because they will try to make you feel guilty if you don’t agree with or appease them.

One person with a giant ego can completely interrupt a gathering of family or friends to the point that others don’t enjoy being around them. They tend to think that it is everyone else who has a bad attitude and they are only speaking what they feel. Relationships can be damaged severely and sometimes do not recover.

As a Christian, you must not think that you always have to do whatever a selfish person wants just so things can be tolerable. If you do this, you will always live in a state of stress because you never know what detail (usually small) will be the one that triggers mayhem.

Have you ever thought that you might be called to be salt (gives good flavor) and light to that person? God might want you to show them what it truly means to be a good, solid, balanced person that others like, respect, and admire. Selfish people have a lot of anger and fear deep inside.

God might want to use you to show them how to handle everyday things in a way that is pleasing to Him. You don’t know what another has gone through in their life that makes them the way they are. God wants His children to look at others with much the same love and compassion that He does. Outside actions are just the symptom of a larger inner problem.

If you always give in to their way, how will they ever start to realize what they have become and be able to make a change? God is wonderful at making people very uncomfortable in their current situation, and you might be the person He uses to bring it about.

When you think about your own life, you very rarely have had the incentive to change something until you grew miserable or uncomfortable with it.

If you have a person in your life that needs help in this area, do the following things:

• Pray and ask God to show you how to deal with them in everyday situations.
• Pray until you know you have heard the truth from God; then you won’t be consumed with guilt or anger when you do stand for what is right.
• Ask God to show you what to stand for and what to let slide. After all, He wants them to change as much as you do and He always ministers with grace.
• Ask God to let you see them the way He does. He can show you why they have grown to act the way they do. Then you can pray for them in a more direct way.
• Ask Him to give you strength to love them, but yet stand up for your own values and not be swallowed by the values of the selfish person.
• Learn that you have to keep guard over your own character and personality and not let the other person determine who you will become. You are entitled to be your own person, so don’t lose your identity.
• Ask God to help you be salt and light to them and do it in a way that is Godly, with dignity, and shows mercy.

By Cathy Deaton

How To Keep Selfish People From Making You Lose Your Identity!

A person who is selfish only thinks one way: they are right in their actions and beliefs, and you are wrong if you don’t think the same way. Almost every person either knows or has come into close contact with a person such as this. Sometimes you might even have to live or work with them.

God wants you to love others and live in peace with them as much as possible, but He does not want you to lose your own identity, totally change your personality, or miss the calling He has placed on your life in order to please another person or try to keep peace at all costs.

You must remember that you always have a choice as to how you will respond to the way another person treats you. You can’t control what they say or do, but you can always control how you respond to their actions.

You must set boundaries for yourself, depending on the circumstances in your life, and make up your mind to follow them completely. You must have your mind totally set to carry out the plan of action you have already decided on; otherwise it will be easy for the selfish person to persuade you to come around to their way of thinking.

If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart, ask the Holy Spirit to show you the correct way to respond to situations that arise. Yours will be different from someone else’s, but the Holy Spirit can show you exactly how to respond to whatever you may face on a daily basis.

At first you might feel a lot of guilt and second guess your own motives or actions. That’s why you must make sure you are doing the right thing and that you are doing it for the right reason. You should never respond to another person with the intention of trying to make them “pay” for their actions toward you.

It is easy to fall into the pattern of thinking that you are very righteous and pious and the other person is the selfish one who is always wrong; then you start to think you are better. If that happens, you have brought yourself down to the same level of the other person.

Get direction from the Bible and seek God until He shows you exactly how to handle the situation you face. Then when you “know-that-you-know-that-you-know” (my phrase for being absolutely sure that I have heard from God), step out on the truth God has shown you.

You might be the one God has chosen to reveal truth to the selfish person so they can see what they have become. If you are not walking in truth yourself, you will react in the flesh to whatever words or actions they send your way.

If you live with the person you aren’t doing them a favor by enabling them to continue to live the way they are now. That’s why it is imperative that you be led by the Holy Spirit in your words and actions towards them. God truly might be able to use you as salt and light in their life in order to help them see the truth.

It probably will not be an easy job to stand for the truth against one who is selfish. That is why you have to know what God is telling you to do and have the confidence to do it. You can’t see the whole picture of what God has planned for your life or even for the life of the other person, so just choose to be obedient and let Him work in the way He desires.

He didn’t say it would always be easy to deal with difficult people, but He will bless your life in ways you can never imagine if you choose to be obedient to what He tells you to do. If you can look at things in this way, it will be easier to stand for the right thing in the midst of the other person’s selfishness.

Ask God to show you the truth and stand on it with every fiber of your being!

By Cathy Deaton

Quotes for Inspiration

He who thinks most of heaven will do most for earth.

Anonymous

Today’s decision will determine tomorrow’s destination.

Anonymous

Pride is the refusal to be vulnerable.

Ruth Duck

Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything.

Billy Graham

5 Ways To Be Gentle

Heaven’s Who’s Who will list servants only.

Anonymous

A Bible Quiz Question

Expecting to be king, this son of David rode in a chariot with 50 men running before him and plotted with Joab and Abiathar!

The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.

The answer to the 11-2009 newsletter question quiz is Elisha’s staff – II Kings 4: 29, 31

Something To Think About

How Eskimos Kill Wolves

The consuming, self-destructive nature of sin is like the technique used by Eskimos to kill wolves.

First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed in a block of frozen blood.

Next the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare.

Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night. So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue nor does he realize that his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own blood.

He just craves more and more until he drops dead in the snow.

We are consumed, the Bible warns, by our own lusts.

Interesting Bible Facts

FRANKINCENSE – An ingredient of the holy incense of Exodus 30:  34-35. The offering of sweet savor of Leviticus 2: 2. A yellowish gum of some tree which cannot now be identified, but probably indigenous to Arabia. The Hebrew originals clearly distinguish between “frankincense” and “incense,” with the former being an ingredient of the latter.

MYRRH – A gum resin obtained from a small, thorny Arabian tree, the Balsamodendron myrrha. It was used as an ingredient of the holy anointing oil of Exodus 30: 23, as a domestic perfume, with “aloes, cassia and cinnamon,” in the purification of the women of Esther, and as a burial spice.

HYSSOP – An unidentified plant furnishing the twigs used in the Mosaic purification and sacrificial rites; thought by some to have been a species of marjoram (origanum maru); by others the caper-bush. Some suggest the name of any common article in the form of a brush or broom.

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

A Powerful Story

Angels from the Realms of Glory

When the Morovian Christians of Europe launched Protestant missions, they did it at a cost. Many of them had to leave their children behind in boarding schools across England and the Continent.

And so it was that the Montgomery family reluctantly placed 6 year old James in such an institution as they shipped off as foreign missionaries to the West Indies. When they later perished, James, left with nothing, spent his teenage years drifting from pillar to post, writing poetry and trying his hand at one thing then another.

In his early twenties, he began working for a British newspaper, the Sheffield Iris, and there he found his niche. When his editorials proved unpopular with the local officials, he was thrown in jail and fined twenty pounds. But he emerged from prison a celebrity, and he used his newly acquired fame to promote his favorite issues.

Chief among them was the Gospel. Despite the loss of his parents and all his hardships, James Montgomery remained devoted to Christ and the Scriptures.

As the years passed, he became the most respected leader in Sheffield, and his writings were eagerly read by its citizens. Early on Christmas Eve, 1816, James, 45, opened his Bible, and was deeply impressed by Luke 2: 13. Pondering the story of the heralding angels, he took his pen and started writing. By the end of the day his new Christmas poem was being delivered to England in the pages of his newspaper. It was later set to music and was first sung on Christmas Day, 1821, in a Moravian Church in England.

Angels from the realms of glory,

Wing your flight o’er all the earth;

Ye who sang creation’s story,

Now proclaim Messiah’s birth;

Come and worship, Come and worship,

Worship Christ the new-born King.

His parents would have been proud.

My Favorite Blog Post For The Month

23 Elements of the Lord’s Prayer

As I was studying the Lord’s Prayer in my Dake Reference Bible, I came across this and thought it was very interesting. Jesus really packed a lot into these few words as He was teaching us how to pray.

**********

23 Elements of the Lord’s Prayer

1. Relationship: Our Father

2. Recognition: which art in heaven

3. Adoration: hallowed be thy name

4. Anticipation: Thy kingdom come

5. Consecration: Thy will be done

6. Universality: in earth

7. Conformity: as it is in heaven

8. Supplication: Give us

9. Definiteness: this day

10. Necessity: our daily bread

11. Penitence: And forgive us

12. Obligation: our debts

13. Forgiveness: as we forgive

14. Love and mercy: our debtors

15. Guidance: And lead us

16. Protection: not into temptation

17. Salvation: but deliver us

18. Righteousness: from evil

19. Faith: For thine is the kingdom

20. Humility: and the power

21. Reverence: and the glory

22. Timelessness: for ever

23. Affirmation: Amen

NOTE:

The first 3 petitions of the prayer make 7 points concerning God

The last 4 petitions make 16 points concerning man

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

I Give You My Heart

Video – Lord I Give You My Heart

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the November 2009 Edition

This issue includes:

3 of My Featured Teaching Articles

Quotes for Inspiration

A Bible Quiz Question

Something To Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Articles from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

Do You Have Self Discipline? It Is Like A Hidden Jewel!

Self discipline is like a hidden jewel you have to dig for. When you master it, though, you can really grow in your walk with God.

I don’t think there is a person on the planet that wouldn’t like to be more organized and efficient in everyday life. It is very easy to waste time doing and thinking about things that are unproductive.

You need to have a time of planned relaxation and recreation to give balance to your life; too much work can lead to frustration and burnout. There is a huge difference in purposeful relaxation and wasting time when you should be doing other things.

When you use your time doing things that are not productive, it stifles your creativity to think out-of-the-box and let God give you ideas you could never think about on your own.

Self discipline is one major thing that sets apart a person no matter what field they are in. They have a passion for what they are doing and seem to be able to zone in on what is important. They have a goal and don’t let unimportant things distract them from achieving it.

When you apply self discipline to the Christian walk, it means learning how to hear the Holy Spirit and letting Him lead you in everything you need to do. He knows the truth about everything and can see the long range plans God has for you.

You will likely have to give up some things you are already doing so that you can concentrate on the fewer things that are the hidden jewels in your life. When you start to do this, the Holy Spirit can work in ways you never thought possible.

Your life will then feel fruitful at the end of each day. It is a great feeling to know you are in the center of God’s Will.

With the Holy Spirit as your Guide, you can live this way on a daily basis. You know you have concentrated on worthwhile things and have really made a difference in God’s eyes.

Yes, you will probably have to give up some things, but the ones that are left will be fully satisfying. It vaguely resembles the good feeling you have when everything is checked off your to-do list for the day.

Don’t let the hidden jewels stay buried in your life. Let God have total control and see what He uncovers. It will totally amaze you at how He starts to peel away the layers to find in you a person who can be molded into what He desires.

By Cathy Deaton

Today Is Ready Cash – Use It Well!

Yesterday is a canceled check: Forget it.

Tomorrow is a promissory note: Don’t count on it.

Today is ready cash: Use it!

-Edwin C. Bliss-

It is easy to let regret from yesterday and worry over tomorrow become a reality; then things start to crowd in and create chaos in your everyday life. When this happens, you don’t enjoy the present day that stretches out before you like a blank slate. It is easy to fall into the trap of doing one thing but also be thinking of a myriad of other things you need to be doing at the same time.

You don’t enjoy the present moment, and it is easy to get overwhelmed and let fear start to take control. The fear cripples you so you cannot look at things in a logical or creative way.

Even if you have a job that you must perform, there are still many opportunities each day to make a good impact on others around you.

When we are children, we are always waiting for some future event to happen. We can’t wait until we turn the legal age to drive a car; then we can’t wait to turn 21 so we can be a “legal adult.” Then when we have been an adult for awhile, we tend to dream about a time when things will be better than they are at the present moment and everything will miraculously fall into a perfect place.

The truth is that most of our days are filled with ordinary and routine things no matter our occupation. We grow so used to doing them that we think nothing of it and consider them boring, but necessary. Our mind seems to coast until we come to something we feel is important enough to demand our total concentration.

The trouble with this way of thinking is that God works in the small things as well as the large ones. He wants you to give your best to everything you do. When you start to develop this kind of attitude, you will find that everyday life is much more enjoyable. God desires your obedience, because you never know when He will turn a small thing into a large thing.

Don’t allow yourself to worry about what will happen in the future or try to relive the past. It might not be an easy thing to do, but you always have a choice as to how you will spend the gift of the present day God has given you.

• Use your time wisely to think on good things.
• Have an attitude of thanksgiving.
• Seek to get closer to God each day.
• Take a step forward and just trust Him.

Determine to live in the present with everything you do. The Holy Spirit will always lead you in the right direction. God has great plans for your life, and He wants you to allow Him to carry them out.

You can have much more peace for yourself and live in harmony with others, and that is always a good thing!

By Cathy Deaton

Don’t Forget To Discard The Rubbish Between Your Ears!

While discarding the rubbish today, don’t forget the bit lodged between your ears.

-Anonymous-

Every person has a belief system that took years to become firmly established. Some things are based on truth and others on myths and lies. I’m sure we don’t know they are lies, though, or we would never have believed them in the first place. Once a certain way of thinking gets established, it is very hard to change it whether it is right or wrong.

It is amazing how people can think so differently about a certain topic. God made us with a free will, and sometimes that can be a huge detriment to our spiritual growth.

Our mind can be like a steel trap when it comes to someone presenting a new idea to us for the first time. Our first thought is usually that this new concept would never work or could not be true. You can bury yourself in tradition so much that you are never open to anything new that comes along.

Change is not always a bad thing like we sometimes think, but it is not always good either. You must learn to have discernment to know if the change is something you should follow or something you should stay away from.

Get into the habit of being open to what God tells you to do, even if it is something you have never thought of before. One puzzle piece looks very insignificant until it is the only piece missing from the finished work. Then it really stands out and the puzzle can never be complete without it.

God has something for you to do that you are exactly suited for, just like one piece of the puzzle fits into the rest. He is depending on you to do your part so that He can make everything fit together perfectly according to His plan.

Don’t be afraid of change if it is God who is telling you to do it. He knows how to bring out the best in your life and wants to achieve things through you that you have never imagined. Don’t be content to live only in the tradition of how things have been done before. Open your mind and heart to hear God and follow His leading, even if it means venturing into the unknown. You can’t see where you are going, but God always can and He will never lead you in the wrong direction.

By Cathy Deaton

Quotes for Inspiration

He that enjoys aught without thanksgiving is as though he robbed God.

St. John Chrysostom

Most people are willing to take the Sermon on the Mount as a flag to sail under, but few will use it as a rudder by which to steer.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

When you know what your values are, making decisions becomes easier.

Glenn Van Eckeren

Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

John Watson

5 Ways To Be Gentle

• Actively seek to make others feel at ease. Be sensitive to other’s opinions and ideas, welcoming them.
• Show respect for personal dignity of the other person. When you need to change a wrong opinion, do so with persuasion and kindness rather than domination or intimidation.
• Avoid blunt speech and abrupt manner. Be sensitive to how others react to your words, considering how they may feel. When it is necessary to wound, also include encouragement.
• Don’t be threatened by opposition; gently instruct, asking God to dissolve the opposition.
• Do not belittle or degrade or gossip about a brother who has fallen – instead grieve and pray for his repentance.

-Jerry Bridges-

A Bible Quiz Question

What did Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, use to try to revive a dead child?

The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.

The answer to the 10-2009 newsletter question quiz is Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

Something To Think About

MUD

Why did Jesus send the blind man to the Pool of Siloam to wash his eyes? Jesus could have just said, “Be healed,” and the man’s sight would have come to him on the spot. But he wanted the man to do something, to exercise obedience, so he sent him to the Siloam Pool to wash his eyes.

But there’s an interesting little detail to the story. Before sending him off, Jesus smeared mud on his eyelids. The intriguing question is: Why? Have you ever seen anyone spit it into the dirt, twirl it around his finger, then take the mud and smear it over someone’s eyes? How would you like it if someone did that to you?

It’s obvious. The mud made the man want to obey. It was a nudging, an additional motivation for the man to go to the pool of Siloam to wash his eyes. The mud provided the motivation for the obedience Christ required.

We don’t always understand why mud gets in our eyes, but sometimes if it weren’t there, we would never bring critical areas of our lives into obedience to Jesus Christ. And without obedience, the work of God can never be displayed in us. God, in his infinite grace and wisdom, sometimes uses mud to restore our sight.

-from a sermon by Robert J. Morgan-

Interesting Bible Facts

FLAX – Very few plants are so beautiful and so useful as the slender flax with its tall taper leaves, large purple flowers, and its strong fiber from which the most delicate lawn or coarsest canvas is made. The holy garments of Aaron, and the curtains of the tabernacle were partly of linen. Its whiteness, in linen, was a symbol of purity. The ancient sculptures represent the manufacture of linen.

FLIES – Common house flies swarm in great numbers in the East. The peculiar gray fly which comes with the rise of the Nile is productive of disease in both man and animals. The arob was the fly, or swarm of insects of one of the plagues in Egypt.

Flies in the East are very persistent in settling on persons, never quitting until dark, and are the means of carrying diseases from one to another.

The Philistines had a god, Baal-zebub, whose special duty it was to take care of flies. Judging from their number they are well cared for. The “ointment (perfume) of the apothecary” was attractive to flies, and their dead bodies spoiled its odor, and so would little follies spoil the reputation of a wise man. The man is the perfume, his little folly the dead fly, his disgrace the bad odor.

FITCHES – Isaiah 18: 27 – “The fitches are beaten out with a staff.” The fennel-flower, a coarse kind of pea, hard, but nutritious. In the great famine in England in 1555, wild fitches saved many people from starving. It grows all over Europe and Asia. The “fitches” in Ezekiel’s symbolized bread was spelt, a grain something like wheat.

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

A Powerful Story

When J. C. Penney Worried

James Cash Penney, coming from a long line of Baptist preachers, grew up with deep convictions. He was unwaveringly honest. He never smoked or drank, and he was a hard worker.

But in 1929 when the Great Depression hit, Penney found himself in crisis. He had made unwise commitments, and they turned sour. Penney began to worry about them, and soon he was unable to sleep. He developed a painful case of shingles and was hospitalized. His anxiety only increased in the hospital, and it seemed resistant to tranquilizers and drugs.

His mental state deteriorated until, as he later said, I was broken nervously and physically, filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for. I felt I hadn’t a friend left in the world that even my family turned against me.

One night he was so oppressed he didn’t think his heart would hold out, and, expecting to die before morning, he sat down and wrote farewell letters to his wife and sons.

But he did live through the night, and the next morning he heard singing coming from the little hospital chapel. The words of the song said:

Be not dismayed whate’er betide

God will take care of you.

Entering the chapel, he listened to the song, to the Scripture reading, and to the prayer.

Suddenly – something happened. I can’t explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into warm, brilliant sunlight.

All worry left him as he realized more fully than he had ever imagined just how much the Lord Jesus Christ cared for him. From that day J. C. Penney was never plagued with worry, and he later called those moments in the chapel “the most dramatic and glorious twenty minutes of my life.”

My Favorite Blog Post For The Month

Don’t Leave Yet – Read My Story First

The church has always played an active part in my life. Sunday has always been and still is a special day that is reserved for going to the House of God. When I do miss, I feel like my whole week is thrown off and I start it all wrong.

Over the years I have had some great pastors, and some that all they seemed to do was manipulate and control circumstances and people like they were puppets without any mind of their own.

There have been numerous times when I wanted to leave and go to another church that I felt might be better. After all, who wants to stay in a church where there are numerous problems and you have a lot of people acting in the flesh trying to accomplish their own agendas?

This was several years ago, but at one point the only thing that did keep me from leaving was God spoke to me and said these words: “You are not to leave, but you are to stay and pray and fast for this church.”

I can truly say that these were words I didn’t want to hear. I was not in a church where error was being taught outright, but there sure was a lot of stuff going on that had nothing to do with God. I really don’t think He was included very much at all in plans that were made even though it was said they were done in His Name. Anyway, things were a real mess and I wanted no part of it.

I couldn’t understand why God would want me to stay in a situation like this, but I had no choice if I wanted to be obedient to Him, so I reluctantly told God that I would stay.

It would have been much easier (at least I thought at the time)  to have left and gone to a church that had it all together and where I could just sit back and receive the wonderful word from the pastor, without me ever having to dive into the Word deeply for myself. That is what I thought I wanted, but God knew so much better. I really was seeking His Will for my life, but I didn’t want that Will to take me out of my comfort zone.

Because of the situation I was placed in, I had to dig into the Word for myself and find out what it said. God was working in my life and placing in me a desire to truly know Him. What I thought was such a terrible time turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. When I started to study the Bible, God met me right where I was and started to show me things I had never seen before. I started to get excited about God and everyday He showed me more and more.

It was still hard to go to church because of all the mess, but I knew that I was doing the will of God. If I had gone my own way and left the church, I would have missed so much from God. In fact, I would have been out of the Will of God since He had told me to stay.

You might be reading this and find yourself in the same situation I was in or something similar. Maybe you can’t see that things will ever get better and you just want to leave and go to another church.

I encourage you to not make a decision based on the way you feel, but to ask the Holy Spirit to show you the heart of God on the matter. Don’t ever make such a crucial decision without consulting God, because you will end up making a decision based on feelings alone.

Looking back through history, there are many people that God used greatly even though they had to minister in terrible circumstances. If they had looked at things around them and made a decision based on that, their name would not be known today as someone who was sold out to God enough to let Him use them in such a mighty way. After all, they certainly couldn’t see the BIG PICTURE of what would happen in the years ahead. In some areas of the world, God was able to use just ONE PERSON who was completely sold out to Him to impact that whole area, and sometimes that impact was felt worldwide.

I’m sure if you could go back in time and talk to some of those mighty warriors for the Kingdom of God, they would tell you that sometimes things got so tough they wanted to give up and take an easier way out. They couldn’t, though, if they wanted to be stay the Will of God.

Sometimes God just wants you to stay where you are and pray until things start to change. You might be one of the few people who sees the truth about the situation, and God might be planning to do an “impossible” work that you wouldn’t have thought of in a million years.

Instead of complaining the next time you feel you have been placed in such a position, feel honored that God sees something in you that would make Him want to use you to carry forth His Work. You never know how God can use just ONE PERSON who will be completely surrendered to Him.

Right now make the decision that YOU will be that person who is fully surrendered and waiting to walk in total obedience to His Word – even if it doesn’t always make perfect sense to you.

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

God is truly with you no matter what is going on in your life. He loves you like no other person on earth ever could, and only wants to give you His Very Best. If you are hurting right now, run to Him and let Him give you comfort. He wants to be there for you in the worst of times and also in the best of times.

It is the natural response to run away from God or blame Him when things start to fall apart. If you have done this, fall on your knees, repent, and get back into a right relationship with Him. Let Him steer the boat through the rough waters until you get to the other side of the storm. It is an awesome feeling to know that you will never be alone if you give God control.

Video – He Is With You

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Like

Unlike

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the October 2009 Edition

This issue includes:

3 of My Featured Teaching Articles

Quotes for Inspiration

A Bible Quiz Question

Something to Think About

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Articles from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

Don’t Let Anything Or Anyone Steal Your Joy!

Genesis 15: 13-16

And he (God) said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance,

And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Hundreds of years before it happened, God told Abram in great detail that he would be the father of a great nation called Israel. He told him what would happen to them down through the years as they fell away from Him, and then how they would be restored as they repented of their sins and turned back to God. At this time, Abram did not even have an heir, so it was probably hard for him to picture the fact that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. It must have been a comfort to him, though, to know that he would live to a ripe old age and be able to die in peace.

God had to get Abram out of the bad influences of the heathen nations that were around him. The only way to do that was for him to leave the place he was now living and go to a place that God had chosen for him. That way He could start to work in Abram’s life and in the lives of the people around him to change their hearts and make them a people who loved and worshiped God alone.

As we focus on verse 16, we see the Amorites would be spared until their perversity had come to a place where God finally said enough-is-enough. He specifically told Abram that the Amorites would be allowed to stay in the land until their iniquity had been fulfilled, or completed.

God already knew their heart and knew they would not change, but He still had a set time before He would pronounce judgment upon them. What a merciful God He is!

The Amorites were a heathen nation who worshiped all different kinds of idols, and probably never even recognized the One True God at all. Yet God gave them much more mercy than they ever could have deserved.

Many times it looks like evil people get away with things indefinitely, but God always has a timetable for everything. When the right time has come, the evil will be judged and God’s justice will prevail.

If you have been done wrong, you must let it go and concentrate on constructive things instead of dwelling on revenge. If you make yourself do this, you will have a much more peaceful and joyful life. You only have a short time on this earth at best, so why not make the very most of it.

Don’t let anything or anyone steal your joy! It will never be worth it in the long run.

By Cathy Deaton

Who Do You Go To For Advice?

Never ask another person’s advice about anything God makes you decide before Him. If you ask advice, you will almost always side with Satan.

-Oswald Chambers-

The Holy Spirit has a very important job in the life of every Christian. It is to lead, guide, and direct you in every area so that you don’t make major mistakes or get deceived by Satan and have to pay heavy consequences for something you have done wrong.

John 10: 10

The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

These are the words of Jesus. He wants you to know about the true motives of Satan. His plans are always to do as much damage as possible in your own life and in the lives of your family.

The wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to each person who has accepted Jesus as Savior, and He wants you to allow Him to reveal truths you need to know in order to live in victory.

God may tell you to do a certain thing and others don’t understand because He has not revealed the same thing to them. Many times they look at the situation through fleshly eyes and come to the conclusion that what God has told you to do is impossible; therefore, they try to discourage you from even starting it.

God did not speak to them and tell them what to do – He told you. It is in these circumstances that you should not go to others for advice.

God wants you to learn to be obedient to Him and get to the point that you are dependent on Him for the answers, not someone else all the time.

In order to do this, you must have tunnel vision and seek His Guidance until you know you have the answer. God can give you plenty of confirmation without you depending totally on the advice of another person.

He gives you Christian friends to hold you accountable and to pray with and for you, but they should never take the place of you seeking answers from God. You should never just depend on the fact that they may have sought Him for something when you haven’t done it yourself.

The first thing you need to do is make sure of what God has told you to do – be absolutely positively sure. Then when you know, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in the direction you need to go and walk in obedience.

It is not easy to step out on faith when you can’t always see the end result, but God is looking for someone who will trust Him to work on their best behalf in all things.

If you KNOW God has told you to do a particular thing, don’t ask for or believe another person’s opinion on the matter; they will never be able to give you advice about something they can’t possibly understand.

By Cathy Deaton

Don’t Ask God To Order Your Footsteps If You Are Not Willing To Move Your Feet!

Anyone who has made it their purpose to really walk with God knows that He will constantly keep you on the move towards achieving His purpose for your life. It is impossible to plant your feet in one spot and walk in His Footsteps. He can always see the big picture where you can’t, so sometimes the things He tells you to do are not something that make total sense, at least to you at the time.

God wants your life to be one that you have consecrated to Him to do whatever He wishes. He wants you to be like a lump of clay that is pliable and ready to be made into something beautiful, functional, and perfectly suited for use.

If you follow in His footsteps, your life won’t be boring. You might feel challenged, totally overwhelmed, think that what He told you to do is impossible, or a myriad of other things, but boring is not a word that will come to mind.

If you grew up in church with a religious attitude of thinking that God is pleased with you if you participate in everything the church has to offer, then you might be like me and have to make some radical changes in order to get on the same page with God.

Don’t ask Him to be in control of your life if you don’t like change. He wants to grow and stretch you like a lump of clay the potter molds into whatever he desires. First the clay is a large, formless lump that looks like nothing recognizable. The potter carefully and lovingly molds and shapes it, and then he places it into a kiln to bake until it is hardened enough for use.

Just as the clay must go through certain stages before it is completely usable, so must you. God wants to remove all the impurities in your life and have the end result be a person He can use to further His Kingdom.

Let Him take the lead and see where He takes you. I can promise it will be a magnificent ride!

By Cathy Deaton

Quotes for Inspiration

Prayer for Strength

This is my prayer to thee, my Lord —

Strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.

Rabindranath Tagore

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Eleanor Roosevelt

It is much easier to be critical than correct.

Benjamin Disraeli

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.

Thomas A Kempis

A Bible Quiz Question

Who were the three prophets who communicated God’s will to David?

The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.

The answer to the 9-2009 newsletter question quiz is Matthew. The women are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Mary.

Something To Think About

Three Gates

If you are tempted to reveal

A tale to you someone has told

About another, make it pass,

Before you speak, three gates of gold.

These narrow gates: First, “Is it true?”

Then, “Is it needful?” In your mind

Give truthful answer. And the next

Is last and narrowest, “Is it kind?”

And if to reach your lips at last

It passes through these gateways three,

Then you may tell the tale, nor fear

What the result of speech may be.

-From The Arabian-

Interesting Bible Facts

SALUTATION – (Hebrew Shalom Lekha) Peace be with thee. By this term is meant the friendly greeting, which, in ancient as in modern times, takes place between persons when meeting or parting; also when sending letters.

At parting the form was much the same as at meeting. The letter of an Arab will be nearly filled with salutations; and should he come in to tell you your house is on fire, he would first give and receive the compliments of the day before saying your house is on fire.

Salutations are also given by kissing the hand, the forehead, cheek, the beard of a superior. The long, ceremonious greeting which occupied so much time, was deemed unfit for the use of the preachers of the gospel, and they were directed to salute no one by the way.

It is not unusual for two ceremonious gentlemen to inquire carefully after every male relative, especially ancestors, of each other, several times over, at each meeting; smoking and sipping coffee during the one or two hours required for this very friendly greeting.

Custom does not permit inquiries after each others’ female relatives, it being equal to a decided insult to even allude to another man’s wife. If a man speaks of his wife he apologizes for the discourtesy.

SAND – The sand of the desert of Petra and Sinai is very light, easily carried with the wind, and penetrates even the cases of a watch so as to stop the wheels. Some of it is a whitish yellow, hard and shining, and some is red.

TARES – A noxious plant, of the grass family, supposed to mean the darnel. It grows among the wheat everywhere in Palestine, and bears a great resemblance to it while growing – so closely that, before they head out, the two plants can hardly be distinguished.

The grains are found, 2 or 3 together, in 12 small husks, scattered on a rather long head. The Arabs do not separate the darnel from the wheat, unless by means of a fan or sieve, after threshing. If left to mingle with the bread, it occasions dizziness, and often acts as an emetic.

(Taken from Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

A Powerful Story

It’s You

A woman left her house and went down to the plaza to do her errands. To her disgust, she found every shop malodorous. “Phew,” she said to the clerk in the grocery store, “it stinks in here.

Going next door to the dry cleaners, she frowned at the odor. She stepped into the bank to make a deposit, and found a sewer-like smell, which she complained about as she cashed a small check.

Returning home, she discovered she had stepped in something earlier in the day, and she herself had been carrying the smell around with her everywhere she went.

My Favorite Blog Post

What Will It Take For You To Step Out Of The Boat?

It’s easy to walk on the water if you know it is frozen underneath you and there is no chance of you falling in.

When Peter asked Jesus to let him get out of the boat and walk towards him, he was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. The minute he took them off, he started to sink.

When Jesus asks you to step out on faith and do a particular thing, make sure you keep in mind that you might be in uncharted territory, but He never is. As far as He’s concerned, the ground is very solid and stable underneath you because He will guide you every step of the way even though you can’t see the road yourself.

Hebrews 11: 6 – But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

You can’t truly please God if you are too afraid to step out into the unknown, because He has plans for your life that you have never imagined. Don’t stay in the boat, play it safe, and miss what God wants to do.

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

Amazing Love

God has such an amazing love for you and me that He willingly sent His Son to die on the cross so that we could have access to the Father. I don’t think any human can comprehend Jesus dying on the cross for those who hated Him and for you and I who hadn’t even been born.

Oh that we could really understand the scope of what He accomplished through His death on the cross. It would radically change our lives forever. I pray that God will truly help me understand!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dooif2-yAoI

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Like

Unlike

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the September 2009 Edition

This issue includes:

3 of My Featured Teaching Articles

Quotes for Inspiration

A Bible Quiz Question

Just for Laughs

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Articles from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

Can You Let The Potter Mold And Use You As He Desires?

The Potter’s Hand by Darlene Zschech

Take me, mold me, use me, fill me;
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.
Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me;
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.

Do you as a Christian really want God to shape, mold, fill, and use you in whatever way He desires?

It is a huge undertaking for most people to place their whole life into the hands of another, even if it is God Himself.

For many years, I was terrified of giving God every part of my life to control and do with as He desired. I felt that He would probably make me go to a far-off place doing something I really disliked. I thought I would hate every moment of it and have to force myself to make it through each day with my only consolation being that I was following His plan.

Thank goodness I came to realize what a distorted view I had of my wonderful Heavenly Father. The more I got to know His Character, the more I realized that if it is really my desire to do His Will, I will truly be excited to do whatever job or calling He has for me. He will bring my desires into alignment with His when I give him total control.

If you are a Christian, God has an awesome job for you to do. You will have to do a few things in order to be used by Him, though.

1. You must be willing to step out of your comfort zone and tread into the unknown. You might not be able to see the way, but God can and He won’t lead you astray.

2. You must be willing to trust that God will always have your best interest at heart and that He wants to give you His Best.

3. You must be willing to obey Him in whatever He tells you to do. God is truly pleased when His Children desire to walk in total obedience to Him.

4. You must be willing to let the Holy Spirit convict you of things in your life that are not pleasing to God; then you must be willing to do whatever it takes to get rid of those things even though it might not be easy to do so.

Don’t be afraid to place your life into the Potter’s Hands and let Him mold and shape you into a Christian who can do great and mighty works for God’s Kingdom. This kind of Christian life will never be boring or mundane because you will continuously be able to see God’s Hand at work in your life.

It won’t always be easy, but step out of your comfort zone and give Him control. He always wants to give you His Very Best.

By Cathy Deaton

Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone –

What Is The Difference?

The difference in stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.

Have you ever noticed that a huge obstacle stops one person, while another person climbs, goes around, or pushes through it and comes out the other side victoriously?

Your mind set has everything to do with how you handle setbacks that come your way. You must force yourself to look past your present circumstances and toward a good ending even if the current situation looks bleak.

This a great word picture of the Christian’s walk with God.

It is Satan’s plan to trip you up as much as possible and put so many obstacles in the way that you feel it’s not worth it to continue. He wants to make you tiptoe, climb, crawl, etc., through all kinds of muck and mire in order to make a small amount of progress.

He knows if your progress is impeded enough, you will probably just give up by thinking it is too hard to keep going forward at all. You will settle for being right where you are at the moment and think that is the best you are ever capable of accomplishing.

The reason you can’t go further is because you are looking intently at all the barriers that seem to stretch endlessly before you. Eventually you will start to think that life is nothing but obstacles that must be overcome, and you will get very frustrated and want to give up.

When Jesus died on the Cross, He made a way so that you wouldn’t have to live under a huge burden of sin. Yes, Satan will always try to find ways to bring you down, but Jesus became your stepping stone to a victorious life in Christ.

You must train yourself to look at every obstacle as a stepping stone instead of a stumbling block. Jesus did all the work on the cross, but you have to claim what He did and live it each day.

If you make it a point to follow Him, He will take you from stepping stone to stepping stone and you can walk skillfully and confidently in the direction He would have you take.

Romans 8: 28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God will take every circumstance in your life now and turn it into something that can honor Him if you will just give Him control. Don’t let Satan keep you from living a victorious life in Christ.

By Cathy Deaton

Have You Learned To Really Hear?

Many people listen but few people actually hear.

-Harvey Mackay-

Suppose you give a speech on something very important; you have prepared well and at the end of the speech you feel that you have done an excellent job at getting your point across. Then you sit down with a great feeling of accomplishment thinking that your audience has totally understood what you just said.

If you could poll each person individually, you would probably have several different interpretations of the material you presented.

When a person hears something, it goes through their own belief system that is made up of everything they have learned their whole life. What you presented as truth must filter through it and be digested; then everything that is left is what makes an impression on them. This is how others may completely misunderstand what you said on a particular subject.

When the time came for Jesus to start his 3 years of ministry, He had to overcome this very thing. He was dealing with people who had certain truths embedded into their hearts. He had a completely new way of doing things, and had to make sure He got His point across to them so the truth could sink in and truly change them.

It helped that they were in a desperate situation and were looking for change, but they were looking for something totally different than the truth He had to give. They were looking for a “savior” to come in the form of a strong leader who could help them fight their way out of the crushing bondage they had been in for so long.

Many of the people believed Jesus, but many did not because they already had a mindset of what their deliverance would look like.

God wants to reveal truths to us every day when we read His word, but we have to be in the frame of mind to really “hear” what He has to say to us. He doesn’t do things in the same way we would, so we must have an open mind to hear and obey His instructions.

God is never limited by the things that limit us, and He chooses to use many different ways to accomplish what He desires.

You can listen intently to another and not be changed by their words, but when you truly hear them you let those words sink deep into your heart and spirit. They pierce through and are able to make a change that is lasting and good.

From now on make the choice to truly hear and obey God and follow His instructions gladly. He always has your best interest at heart, and wants to use you to do a marvelous work for His Kingdom.

By Cathy Deaton

Quotes for Inspiration

All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quiet in a room alone.

Blaise Pascal

Some people have just enough religion to make them uncomfortable.

John Wesley

When one door is shut, another opens.

Cervantes

Lord, thou madest us for thyself, and we can find no rest till we find rest in thee.

St. Augustine

A Bible Quiz Question

Only one gospel includes women in the genealogy of Jesus. Which one and who are the women?

The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.

The answer to the 8-2009 newsletter question quiz is the marriage of Herod Antipas to his sister-in-law Mark 6: 18, 22-28 Matthew 14: 4, 6-11

Just for Laughs

There’s an old sea story in the Navy about a ship’s Captain who inspected His sailors, and afterward told the Chief Boson that his men smelled bad.

The Captain suggested perhaps it would help if the sailors would change underwear occasionally.

The Chief responded, “Aye, aye sir, I’ll see to it immediately!

The Chief went straight to the sailors berth deck and announced, “The Captain thinks you guys smell bad and wants you to change your underwear. Pittman, you change with Jones, McCarthy, you change with Kwiatkowski, and Brown you change with Schultz. Now get to it!!”

THE MORAL: Someone may be promising “Change,” but don’t count on things smelling any better!

Interesting Bible Facts

HYSSOP – The Arabic zufa is a plant growing on a slender square stem, free from thorns, or spreading branches, ending in a cluster of heads, having a pleasant aromatic odor, growing on the walls in Palestine. No plant in the East is better fitted for purposes of sprinkling. Its leaves are often eaten (like summer savory) with bread.

HUNTING – The Hebrews were not given to hunting, except for the protection of their fields or families from wild beasts. The names of many places indicate that wild game was plentiful, even to a degree of danger. Game is still plentiful in some places, especially in Galilee.

HERD – HERDMAN The herd was one of the chief sources of wealth, and the ox the most precious, next to the horse and mule. The herd yielded the most esteemed sacrifice. Its supply for sustenance was most important, in flesh, milk, butter and cheese.

The cattle were broken to service in the third year, after which they were rarely killed. The ox eats grass and browses on foliage also. The harvest is gathered and threshed by the help of cattle.

Pharaoh made some of Joseph’s brothers overseers of herds, and David’s herdsmen were among the chief officers of his court.

A Powerful Story

William James’ Advice

William James, philosopher and pioneer Americna psychologist, wrote about habits in his classic book Psychology: Briefer Course.

In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, there are four great maxims to remember:

First, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong an initiative as possible.

Second, never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. Each lapse is like letting fall a ball of string which one is carefully winding up; a single slip undoes more than a great many turns will wind up again…

The third maxim is: Seize the first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make. It is not in the moment of their forming, but in the moment of their producing motor effects that resolutions communicate a new “set” to the brain… A tendency to act becomes effectively ingrained in us only in proportion to the frequency with which the actions actually occur, and the brain “grows” to their use…

As the fourth practical maxim, we may, then, offer something like this: Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day. That is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little unnecessary points, do every day or two something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh it may find you nerved and trained to stand the test.

My Favorite Blog Post

What Would You Do If Jesus Were Beside You?

This is from the writings of S. B. Shaw in 1893. It really made me stop and think about what I would do and say if Jesus were standing right beside me. We as Christians many times don’t think about the Holy Spirit living inside us and that He sees everything we do. Because he is invisible, we don’t think as much about His Presence as if a real fleshly person were standing beside us.

Please take the time to read this whole story.

************************************

I had had a very busy day, and experienced a very delightful feeling of restfulness, as I settled myself in a comfortable arm-chair, after having said “Good-night” to my children. Just before going, they had sung their evening hymn. As their sweet childish voices had joined with that of their mother, one verse had made an impression on my mind.

I was familiar with it, but it came to me with a new beauty and force. It was:

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord
Familiar, condescending, patient, free,
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.”

My wife went away with the little ones to see them to bed, and I was left alone with this verse of the hymn repeating itself in my memory; and the thought came to me, supposing He were to come as He came to his disciples, am I altogether prepared to receive Him into my house, to abide with me? And as I meditated on the subject, I fell asleep, and dreamed, and, lo the door of the room opened, and in walked one whom I knew at once to be the Christ. Not the glorified Redeemer, as seen by John in the Isle of Patmos. No, he had answered the prayer of our hymn, and had come in humble human form:
“Familiar, condescending, patient, free.”

I knelt before Him, but He laid His hand on me and said: “Arise, for I have come to tarry with thee.”

My recollection of my dream here grows somewhat confused; but I remember it again when the next morning seemed to have arrived, and I was gathering my children around me, and telling them that Jesus had come to stay with us in the house. The little ones clapped their hands for joy, and my dear wife’s face beamed with rapture that seemed to transfigure her.

Just then the Lord Himself entered the room, and we took our seats around the breakfast-tablet.   What language can I use to describe the wondrous peace which filled all our souls, or how our hearts burned within us as He talked with us?

But when the meal was over, and we had family worship, which was that day a foretaste of heaven itself. I was ailed with perplexity. What should I do with my strange visitor? It seemed disrespectful to leave Him behind me at home yet it would mean serious loss to me to stay away from my place of business that day. But I could not take him with me, that was certain who ever heard of taking Christ to a counting-house?

The Savior surely knew my thoughts, for he said, “I will go with thee. How didst thou ask me? Was it not:
“Come not to sojourn, but abide with me?”

So whatever thou art doing, henceforth I will be beside thee. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

It seemed rather strange to me, but I could not, of course, question what He said, so I started for my office with the dear Lord by my side.

At my counting-house I found a man waiting my coming with a good deal of impatience. He was a stock and share-broker, who transacted considerable business for me. To tell the, truth, I was not greatly pleased to see him there, as I was afraid that he might bring forward matters which I would not feel inclined to go into with Jesus listening to our conversation.

It was as I feared. He had come to tell me of a transaction he had arranged, which, whilst perfectly honorable according to the usual code of morals of the share-market, meant the saving of myself from the fear of loss by placing another person in the danger of it. He laid the whole scheme before me, without taking the slightest notice of the Lord; I knew not if he even saw Him.

I cannot tell the bitter shame I felt. I saw how impossible it was to square such a transaction with the Golden Rule; but I could not hide from myself the fact that the broker told me of it with a manner and tone that meant that he had no doubt whatever that I would applaud him for his cleverness, and eagerly close with the offer. What must that mean to the Christ? Would it not tell him that I was in the habit of dealing with one thought in my mind-how I could benefit myself?

The broker was astonished when I rejected his proposals, on the ground that they would be prejudicial to the interest of the other party in the transaction; and left me abruptly, apparently thinking I had developed a mild species of insanity.

Humbled, I fell at my Savior’s feet, and cried to Him for forgiveness for past sinfulness, and strength for time to come.

“My child,” said He, in tender accents, “thou speakest as if my presence were something strange to thee. But I have always been with thee. I have seen and seen with grief, the way thou hast dealt with thy fellows, in business, and marveled at thy unbelief of My promise that I would ever be with thee. Have I not said to my servants, Abide in Me, and I in thee?

Just as He said these words, another gentleman entered the office. He was a customer whom I could not afford to offend, and I had uniformly shown a cordiality to him which I was far from feeling in my heart. He was vulgar, profane, and often obscene in his talk.

He had not been many minutes in my office before he made use of an expression which brought a hot blush to my cheek. I had heard him speak in a similar way before; and, although I felt repelled by it, I had, for fear of offending him, met it with faint laughter. But now I felt as I should have had it been uttered in the presence of a lady; only this feeling was intensified by the realization of the absolute purity of the Divine One who had been a hearer of the speech.

I gave expression to my feeling in a word of expostulation , and he exclaimed: “You seem to have suddenly grown very prudish,” and left me in a rage.

Again, I turned to the Christ with a cry for pardon; and again, I learned that he had beheld all my former intercourse with this man.

I was now called into the adjoining office, where my clerks were employed, and found that one of them had made a foolish blunder, which would mean a considerable complication, and perhaps loss. I am naturally irritable, and at once lost my temper, and spoke to the delinquent in unmeasured terms. Turning my head, I saw that Jesus had followed me out of my private office, and was standing close beside me.

Again I was humbled, and had to cry for mercy.

Through all that strange day, similar incidents occurred; and the presence of the Master, which I thought would have been a joy, was a rebuke to me. It showed me, as I had never dreamed before, that I had framed my life on the supposition that He had but little to do with it.

But, on the other hand, there were times during the day when my soul was filled with rapture; times when He smiled on me in loving approval, or when He spoke words of pardon and absolution, or when He opened out before my wondering gaze some fresh beauty of His character and person. Such a time was the moment when, on my return to my home, the children came crowding around Him, and wanted to show Him their toys and pigeons, and a brood of newly-hatched chickens, and I rebuked them, and said to them “Run away, children! Trouble not the Master with such trifles.”

And he seated himself and took my curly-headed little boy on His knee, and called my two little girls to His side, and said to me: “Suffer these little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

I awoke, and lo! It was a dream. — The Ballarat Christian Union.

Reference:————————————————
“Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayer”
By S. B. Shaw
Copyrighted by the author 1893

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

You Are God’s Masterpiece!

This video made quite an impact on me. I am just an ordinary person like you. It sometimes is hard to believe that the God who made the whole universe looks down upon me and sees me as a unique person that He wants to mold and use in a mighty way to do the work of His Kingdom here on earth.

We are each unique and God has specific plans for our life. He has everything planned down to the last detail, and is depending on us to carry forth His Work.

Are we afraid to step out into the unknown and walk towards Jesus on the water, knowing that if He doesn’t hold us up we will sink? He can see exactly where we are going, but we have to put our trust in Him knowing that He will lead us every step of the way.

It’s time that we as Christians take a mighty step into the unknown, knowing that we can trust God with everything in our lives. If God tells you to do something, He will guide you every step of the way even if you might have to go through some rough waters.

It’s time to SEEK HIS FACE and find out WHO HE IS and learn what real faith is!

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOIBnExlrw

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Like

Unlike

Victorious Christian Living Newsletter

Welcome to the August 2009 Edition

This issue includes:

3 of My Featured Teaching Articles

Quotes for Inspiration

A Bible Quiz Question

Just for Laughs

Interesting Bible Facts

A Powerful Story

Favorite Articles from My Blog

Links to My Other Sites

Video of the Month

Do You Let Others Keep You From Soaring?

As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might.

-Marian Anderson- Concert and Opera singer

In order to truly soar you must let go of everything that has become a hindrance to you in any way. A kite would never be able to get off the ground if several heavy things were attached, much less be able to soar high in the sky. It is certainly a thing of beauty when you see it being carried to and fro by the wind high above your head without anything to weigh it down.

The world tells us that we should look out for Number One, and try to crush any person who stands in our way. We spend more time looking at the people around us and what they are doing rather than concentrating on things we know we should do.

God has a unique plan for you and every other person on the planet, so there is no need to ever feel you are in competition with anyone else. No other person has your exact personality or character, and the only way you will be truly happy is to be in the center of God’s will.

It is a waste of energy to be jealous over what you might think is the success of others. Use your time and energy to concentrate on God’s plan for your life. That is the only place you can find the peace, joy, and fulfillment you have been seeking.

Don’t ever let Satan tell you that if you give God control, you will be settling for second best. It might seem hard at first, but once you see what God has in store you will know you can trust Him fully and completely to bring about the Very Best for you in every way.

Trust, try, and prove Him to see what He will do!

By Cathy Deaton

Are You Getting Blessed By Helping Others?

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.

-Sally Koch-

Many times we go through life waiting for some huge opportunity to do something on a grand scale that could possibly make a huge difference in the lives of many people. We then get in the habit of saving all our energy for the grand thing, and completely overlook all the many ways we can help others on a daily basis.

In order not to miss the small things, you must have an open mind to look for them. Don’t allow yourself to get in a rut, thinking it is all about YOU and YOUR NEEDS.

First thing each morning, ask God to help you have an open mind to realize opportunities as they come to you. Some things happen quickly, and if you are not in the right frame of mind you will miss them.

Here are some examples of simple things you can do each day that might make a huge difference in the life of someone else:

• Be aware of others around you who might need an encouraging word or maybe even a hug.
• Make it a point to be courteous to others at check-out counters, standing in line, or anywhere you might find yourself in your daily activities. Even a small compliment can change a bad attitude, maybe even for the whole day.
• Show others they have true value by being a good listener and truly caring about what they have to say. Ask them about their life, and you will be surprised at how they will open up and share things with you. Everyone truly wants to know that others care about what is important to them. Just listening to someone else can change their whole outlook on things.
• Treat others the way you would like them to treat you – with true respect.

Start today and find out that it truly is a joy to spend your life doing small things to help others. The dividends will also be rich in your own life because of it.

Then WHO KNOWS, maybe one day you will get that really great opportunity to help others on a grand scale.

By Cathy Deaton

Worry Is Interest Paid on Trouble Before It is Due!

Worry is interest paid on trouble before it is due.

-Anonymous-

You would never go to the bank and get a loan until you need the money for something important. The interest then starts when you actually borrow the money – never before. You would not dream of paying interest to the bank before you actually got the loan, but that is what many people do where worry is concerned.

Some people worry about things that might happen in the future, even though there is no indication that what they are worrying about will actually come to pass. This is a huge waste of time and energy when both could be spent on much better things.

There are also people who spend countless hours worrying about how they will solve a particular problem.  They lie awake at night trying to think of a solution. This usually makes the situation worse because it affects both their physical and mental state.

The Bible has some profound things to say about spending time worrying about things you cannot control.

Matthew 6: 31-33

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

God knows your every need and already knows how He will supply it before you ever ask. According to the above verses, He plainly tells you to seek Him first in everything you do and He will supply everything else that you need.

He is on call for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days of the year. There will never be a time when you need Him that He will not hear you and answer, though the answer might not be exactly what you want to hear. He is very capable of solving any problem that might arise and wants you to get to know His Character so well that you can trust Him completely to handle anything. Then He wants you to leave the problem with Him and be patient until He works everything out for your good.

Don’t let Satan rob you of time that could be spent doing work that could advance the Kingdom of God. It is your choice as to how you spend your time, so make sure it is spent on doing something productive.

By Cathy Deaton

Quotes for Inspiration

You have not lived a perfect day unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

Ruth Smeltzer

Stewardship is not leaving a tip on God’s tablecloth; it is the confession of an unpayable debt at God’s Calvary.

Paul S Rees

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.

David Starr Jordan

What a man does for others, not what they do for him, gives him immortality.

Daniel Webster

A Bible Quiz Question

What marital scandal led to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist?

The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.

The answer to the 7-2009 newsletter question quiz is Ephesus. Acts 19: 24-34

Just for Laughs

The pastor of a local church had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove away so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.

He did all this, checking his progress in the car frequently, then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went BOING and the kitten instantly sailed through the air – out of sight.

The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they’d seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,” and went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. Now this woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, “Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?”

She replied, “You won’t believe this,” and told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, “Well if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.”

She told the pastor, “I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won’t believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.”

Interesting Bible Facts

LADDER OF TYRE – A high mountain 10 miles north of Acre, which stands out into the deep sea without a beach, and is only passed by a zigzag road but in its face.

The cape 6 miles further north is passed by a similar way, which was built by Alexander. Simon was made governor of the country from the Ladder of Tyre to the borders of Egypt.

HANDKERCHIEF – Larger and longer than ours, and of stronger cloth, fit for various uses, as a girdle or turban.

CARPENTER – Since wood was always too scarce and precious in Palestine for any use besides for doors, windows, etc., and for decorations, the carpenter was probably a carver of such finishing as is now seen in the best rooms of the East.

A Powerful Story

I Must Tell Jesus

Elisha A. Hoffman was born May 7, 1839, in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. His father was a minister, and Elisha followed Christ at a young age.

He attended Philadelphia public schools, studied science, and then pursued the classics at Union Seminary of the Evangelical Association. He worked for 11 years with the Association’s publishing house in Cleveland, Ohio. Then, following the death of his young wife, he returned to Pennsylvania and devoted 33 years to pastoring Benton Harbor Presbyterian Church.

Hoffman’s pastime was writing hymns, many of which were inspired by pastoral incidents. One day, for example, while calling on the destitute of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, he met a woman whose depression seemed beyond cure. She opened her heart and poured on him her pent-up sorrows.

Wringing her hands, she cried, “What shall I do? Oh, what shall I do?” Hoffman knew what she should do, for he had himself learned the deeper lessons of God’s comfort. He said to the woman, “You cannot do better than to take all your sorrows to Jesus. You must tell Jesus.”

Suddenly the lady’s face lighted up. “Yes!” she cried, “That’s it! I must tell Jesus.” Her words echoed in Hoffman’s ears, and he mulled them over as he returned home. He drew out his pen and started writing.

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! / I cannot bear my burdens alone; / I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! / Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.

Hoffman lived to be ninety, telling Jesus his burdens and giving the church such hymns as What a Wonderful Savior, Down at the Cross, Are you Washed in the Blood?, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, and a thousand more!

My Favorite Blog Post

Do You Have “Real Power” To Fight Against Satan!

This post is rather long; in fact it is 1200 words. I usually try to make them much shorter, but God really put this on my heart and I wanted to share it with you. God is always trying to show us Who He Is and we usually don’t seem to get it. Please take the time to read this post in its entirety. It is a powerful truth that God has shown me.

***********

Mark 6: 32-45 tells the story of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men plus women and children.
Jesus and the disciples had been so busy teaching and ministering to people that they hardly had time to eat. They were all weary and needed to get away to rest, but when the people saw them leaving, they were so desperate to know more truth that they followed them. When Jesus saw this, He couldn’t help but have compassion on them because the Bible says that He saw them “as sheep without a shepherd.” They were desperate to find someone who could tell them the truth.

The people had left what they were doing and followed Jesus without even thinking about food or provisions. It was getting late in the day and the disciples started to worry that they wouldn’t make it home because they hadn’t eaten.

Naturally, they tried to think of a fleshly solution to the problem. They told Jesus to let them disperse and go to the villages nearby to get something to eat.

He answered by saying to them, “Give ye them to eat.”

They tried to find their own solution to the problem and came up with only two small fish and five loaves of bread. Naturally, they couldn’t see how that small amount would accomplish anything, but Jesus had something else in mind. He wanted to teach them about the provision of God.

They saw a miracle of huge proportions and saw Jesus take care of an impossible situation. He fed five thousand people by multiplying the small amount of food until everyone was filled. Then the disciples took up twelve baskets that were left over.

What an awesome miracle the disciples had just seen. You would think that it would have made a huge impact on them and their lives would have been radically changed, but that was not to be the case yet.

After the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus went to a mountain to pray while the disciples got in the ship and sailed to the other shore.

Later that night, a huge storm came up with the disciples out in the middle of the sea. They were rowing as hard as they could, but making little progress against the huge waves and mighty winds.

Jesus decided to go to them by walking upon the sea. When they saw Him, they were very afraid until He told them who He was. As soon as He got into the boat, the wind ceased and the water became calm.

The disciples were amazed at what had just happened, but Mark 6: 52 says “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”

A few hours before, they had just seen an awesome miracle, but now they did not remember or think about the “power” which Jesus had shown in feeding the five thousand. They didn’t consider that He could use this same power to save them from the storm, so they didn’t even ask for His help.

They were not opposed to what Jesus had done, but their mind was too dull to perceive the powerful implications of it. They never connected the two things together as being from the same “power source.”

Two chapters later, we find pretty much the same thing happening. The crowd was anxious to be around Jesus and hear what He had to say, so they followed Him again out of town. This time they had been there three days with nothing to eat, having at least four thousand men plus women and children.

Jesus went through the same routine, telling the disciples they needed to provide food for the people.

Again, they only found a small amount of food, but Jesus blessed and multiplied it so the people could eat until they were full. This time they had seven baskets left over. After everyone had been completely filled, he sent them away to their homes.

Right after that, he and the disciples were getting ready to depart when the Pharisees started asking Jesus questions. He wouldn’t answer them because He knew it was a waste of time. They were not looking to understand, but only trying to find a way to trap him.

He finally got away, and they boarded the ship. Keep in mind that this was only a few hours after another miraculous feeding of thousands of people using only a few fish and loaves of bread.

Jesus told them these words in Mark 8:15, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”

Again, they had no clue what Jesus was talking about. He was trying to warn them that the Pharisees were only concerned with rules and regulations. They didn’t want to lose their power, so they were fighting against the truth that Jesus had been teaching. As the disciples discussed it, they felt that Jesus must have been upset with them because they didn’t bring along any bread to eat because He had talked about leaven.

Jesus then recounted the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men, plus women and children, and how they had twelve baskets left over. He also reminded them of the four thousand men, plus women and children who had been fed with seven baskets left over.

He not only reminded them of His sufficiency, but also of the overage that was left each time. He had done over and above what was required.

Then in Mark 8: 21 He says, “How is it that ye do not understand?”

The disciples had been with Jesus constantly and watched Him do all kinds of miracles. This had become a part of their everyday life. They didn’t seem to understand the power that Jesus had to perform these miracles and where that power came from.

As Christians, we see miracles performed in our lives or the lives of others, but many of us don’t seem to understand either?

Jesus has given every Christian the authority to use the POWER of His Name in order to fight off the advances of the enemy Satan, but you must have a close relationship with Him in order to be able to use that power.

Let the Holy Spirit show you about the Character of God, and let Him open your heart, mind, and ears to find out the truth and walk in it.

You must want to know the truth before you can really understand it. Grasp onto the promises and truths God has given you in His Word and you will find they will completely change your life.

God wants all His Children to be able to walk in His Power and live a victorious Christian life. He not only wants us to defeat Satan, He wants us to make huge advances for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.

God wants people who are sold out to Him and want to learn about His Character. Then He can use them to do mighty works for the cause of Christ.

Make the choice right now that you will be this kind of person!

I leave you with the words to the chorus of this song by Matthew West:

The Motions

I don’t want to go through the motions

I don’t want to go one more day

Without your all-consuming passion inside of me

I don’t want to spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything

Instead of going through the motions

To check out my blog go to Who God Is

Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Video of the Month

Amazing Love

What an awesome God we have who would send His Son to die on a horrible cross for our sins.

URL    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dooif2-yAoI

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.

It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

In Christ,

Cathy Deaton

Like

Unlike