Waging war

 

We can't fight our spiritual battles the same way we do our physical ones. We need special weaponry, like the full armor of God described in Ephesians 6. Take a moment to read the commentary for 2 Corinthians 10 by clicking here.

     On a more personal note, when I feel overwhelmed in spiritual warfare, I pray about it, asking for guidance and endurance. I try to listen for God's direction and also research what the Bible says about what I'm going through. 

     So, if I'm having trouble not hating someone, I can google, "what does the bible say about hatred?" I usually end up clicking on the openbible link, and the first verse is usually the most relevant. In this example, it's 1 John 4:20 which says, "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." This makes me realize that hate separates us from God.

     Whatever your spiritual battle, don't just endure it. Pray about it. Talk to someone whom you can trust. Delve into scripture. Trust in God. You will come out of the battle triumphant.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are battling spiritual forces of evil. Let's pray that our Father gives them strength and encouragement to fight the fight. Pray that they persevere. Let's also pray that they come out victorious and conquer the demons who torment them.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

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#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #battle #spiritual #warfare #evil

Slow to anger

Know this, my beloved brothers: 

let every person be quick to hear, 

slow to speak, slow to anger; 

for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

James 1:19-20 ESV

The darkness

But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness 

and walks in the darkness, 

and does not know where he is going, 

because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:11 ESV

Do not say, “I will repay evil”; 

wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

Proverbs 20:22 ESV

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger 

and clamor and slander 

be put away from you, along with all malice.

Ephesians 4:31 ESV

The sword

You've heard the saying, 'Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.' It comes from the Gospel of Matthew:

Then Jesus said to him, 

“Put your sword back into its place. 

For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Matthew 26:52 ESV

I'm not sure we'll ever know for certain why the shooter killed all of those innocent people in Dayton. Not that the answer would make things better. Some of us from my office went to lunch at the Trolley Stop yesterday, driving past Ned Pepper's for the first time this week. It was sobering.  A chill shot through me. Seeing it on TV was one thing, but being there, even just for a few seconds in a moving car filled me with so many simultaneous emotions. I felt anger at the killer for bringing this darkness to our city, for doing this heinous crime that will change so many lives forever. I felt sorrow and fear and grief. And I do want to know 'why' even though it can't possibly make sense to the average person. The victims and survivors didn't deserve this; no one deserves to die in this senseless manner for whatever senseless reason the killer made himself believe. It breaks my heart.

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Please join me this week in praying to stop the killing.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Step One

Last night I was watching yet another show about mass murders and what we can do, what we should do, and what our lawmakers need to do to prevent this from happening again ("America Under Assault: The Gun Crisis"). The host/moderator (Chris Cuomo) said something I hadn't thought about...There's no one thing that can be done to stop this. It will take several different measures, but since we can't implement all of the measures at once, no one (in government) wants to do just the one or two things that they can do right now because it will be ineffective. I'm greatly paraphrasing what he said, but I believe that's the gist of it. Why can't we phase in all of these measures one by one, or two by two? At least if we take that first step, then someday, maybe, we'll be like other countries and not have mass murders be a common occurrence anymore.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, 

adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Matthew 15:19 ESV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. 

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you

James 4:7 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying to stop the killing.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Weapons of mass destruction

Police photos of weapon used in Dayton shooting

Why are these types of weapons available to civilians? The common excuse is that if they weren't, people would just modify other weapons to do the same thing. That tells me that they're only needed for mass shootings.

During the Assaults Weapon Ban (1994 - 2004) the number of mass shootings was an average of 1.5 per year according to several online news sources. "There have been 2,128 mass shootings since 2013, roughly one per day."

Nine states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and the District of Columbia have banned large-capacity ammunition magazines. We'll see if it makes a difference, although, without it being a federal ban, a determined person would just go to a neighboring state.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV

Now, who do we know who uses "harsh word(s)" and "stirs up anger"? Who do we know who is in the news every single day calling people names, spreading lies, promoting racism? This has got to stop!

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Please join me this week in praying to stop the killing.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Thank you Greg Zanis

This man, Greg Zanis, is on his way to Dayton, bringing crosses he made for each of the victims of Sunday morning's shooting in the Oregon District. Yesterday he was in El Paso.  He's been doing this ever since his father-in-law was murdered in 1996, delivering his first mass-shooting memorials to the victims of Columbine. I remember seeing him on the news back then and had no idea that he would be making 1,000s of these in a decade's time. It turns my stomach that so many have died and still, nothing's been done. Nothing's changed except for the fact that these shootings have become common-place. I feel like our government is more concerned about themselves than the people they were hired to serve. They don't care about us. They can't relate to us and what we go through.

Thank you Greg Zanis for caring. Thank you for your memorials; they mean something to us as a community as well as to the victims' families and friends. We need to see this selfless, giving act in the wake of such a horrible demonstration of what hate can do to a nation. We need acts of love.

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: 

We should love one another. 

Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one 

and murdered his brother. 

And why did he murder him? 

Because his own actions were evil and 

his brother’s were righteous.

1 John 3:11-12 NIV

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Please join me this week in praying to stop the killing.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Mass Shootings

We need to talk about this, but I'm speechless. I was born in Dayton and have lived here my entire life. This sort of thing doesn't happen here. How naive of me to think so. I want to write something of substance about this but the words just haven't been coming, and I don't want to rush it. It's taken a while for it to even sink in. Tonight I'll try again to transform seemingly chaotic thoughts into sensible words. Until then, continue to pray.

And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. 

I will demand an accounting from every animal. 

And from each human being, too, 

I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. 

“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; 

for in the image of God has God made mankind.

Genesis 9:5-6 NIV

This was the Google homepage this morning; being from Dayton, I appreciated the ribbon.

It says: Our hearts are with the victims, families, and communities of El Paso & Dayton.

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Please join me this week in praying to stop the killing.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
Instagram @archadia27
Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Angry words

A soft answer turns away wrath,

But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1 NKJV

David Jeremiah tweeted this and I thought it was perfect as we close our week of prayer for the healing of an angry heart:
 "Our world is filled with angry words, and if we're not careful, it's angry spirit can seep into our marriages, homes, and churches. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can remain calm in angry situations and end up solving much more than an argument is capable of."

Pressing anger

For pressing milk produces curds, 

pressing the nose produces blood, and 

pressing anger produces strife.

Proverbs 30:33 ESV

Talk it over

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, 

but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, 

lest you incur sin because of him. 

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge 

against the sons of your own people, 

but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: 

I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:17-18 ESV

     I get very frustrated with people who get angry or hold a grudge when they never attempt to talk it over with the person. We conjure up situations in our minds that are twice as bad as what would really happen if we just were open and honest with the person causing us grief. If that doesn't work, though, talk it over with a friend. Sometimes, just getting the situation out in the open helps to unburden our hearts. And, of course, pray about it. Ask God for guidance, strength, patience, a softened heart. He hears you and will help you always.

Slow to anger

Know this, my beloved brothers: 

let every person be quick to hear, 

slow to speak, 

slow to anger;

James 1:19 ESV

I think the world would be such a better place if everyone followed this advice.

Put off anger

     I found this slide as a part of an online power point presentation by Dr. Chloe, May 27, 2009, "Those Ugly Emotions, Responding to them in a Biblical way."
     Each situation is different, but I've found that the best remedy for anything that has me upset or angry is to talk to someone about it; better yet, to talk to the person who's made me angry. Resolution is the best medicine. However, if you've tried to reach out only to be shut down, it becomes more difficult to deal with and may even make it more difficult to deal with a similar situation with a completely different person. Trust in the Lord. Give all of your troubles up to Him. Let Him guide you through life.

Don't go to bed angry

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Ephesians 4:26 ESV

This is the advice my first husband and I received during our pre-marriage counseling. We adhered to it for 25 years, so I believe it was the best advice we ever received. It works well for other relationships, too. Have you ever gone to bed angry, had angry dreams and thoughts that kept you from sleeping well, and then, woke up even more angry than when you went to bed? I have. If I go to bed angry, not only is that anger multiplied by the next morning, but I usually have additional negative feelings as well. My heart is heavier. I've gotten so worked up that I'm frustrated, emotional, obsessed (replaying the problem over and over again in my mind), and the anger can turn into hatred. I believe the best remedy is communication. Try to talk to the person and try to work out the situation. If that doesn't work, as with my specific problem, about all you can do is try to let it go. Forgive. No matter what the outcome, give it all up to God. He will help you through it like He's helping me through my anger.

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Please join us this week as we pray for the healing of an angry heart. I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
instagram @archadia27
facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

An angry heart

     Yesterday morning, the anger I was feeling toward someone woke me up. I have struggled with my emotions for this person for over 25 years and most of the time am able to subdue extreme feelings but over the past several months it's become more difficult. For some reason, yesterday seemed to be the peak of that anger and I could feel it in my heart ... it had turned into pure hatred. I thought that going to church would help, that the music would soften my heart and the message would speak to me, but what happened was the evil feeling overwhelmed me. I felt especially guilty feeling like that in church. So I sought out a dear friend right then and there. We went in the prayer room and talked and prayed and I could feel the anger and hatred leave my heart. It's so easy to let a bad feeling sit and fester and grow into something dark that takes over. As Christians, we can take these evil thoughts and emotions to God in prayer. Give them up to Him as you would any burden and He will take care of it. Seek out help from someone in your church family, too. Don't keep everything internal. Don't walk alone.
     When I woke up yesterday morning with those negative feelings, I prayed right then and there. When I turned on my computer, I opened Twitter first for some reason, and at the top of my feed was a post by David Jeremiah:
"Have you ever noticed that your anger isn't contained in your circumstances but is contained in your heart? When dealing with anger, let God use His words to bring healing to your angry thoughts. Ecclesiastes 7:9 and James 1:20 are great places to start."

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NKJV)

for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

James 1:20 (NKJV)

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Please join us this week as we pray for the healing of an angry heart. I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
instagram @archadia27
facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power