“The Attack On Your Mind”

For we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Every attack of Satan involves the human mind. The battle for the mind is easily summarized: For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Romans 8″6-7). Satan wants to make your mind carnal (sinful, worldly, fleshly). God wants us to be spiritually minded.

Why Satan Attacks the Mind?

The greatest commandment includes loving God with all your mind. This is one of the main reasons why Satan battles for your mind: Jesus said unto him: “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. This is the first and great commandment (Matthew 22:37-38). Satan battles for your mind because it is closely tied spiritually to your heart and mouth. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts (Matthew 15:18-19). Satan battles the mind because the way you think affects the way you act. Satan knows if he can control your mind, he can control your body, your actions, and if left unchallenged, your spirit.

Deception was apart of the enemy’s strategy. When Satan confronted Eve, he was disguised as a beautiful serpent. Satan uses lies, cults, “religious spirits” to deceive millions in our world today. Seducing spirits of Satan attacks the mind to distort the truth of God’s Word: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4:1).Satan used this attack on Jesus in Luke 4:9-12. He tried to get Jesus to throw himself off a high point of  the temple since God had promised to give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee. Satan also uses the flesh to war against the mind. Satan uses your own mouth, your eyes, ears, and even your senses of touch and smell to foster wicked thoughts in your mind. Satan works in the minds of unbelievers to blind them to the truth of the Gospel. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

For the last past couple of months, Satan has been tryin to attack my mind as a believer. He does not want the truth of the Gospel to go out to tear down his kingdom. I have been struggling with my thoughts, but God has kept me sane through it all. The devil is DEFEATED, God is EXALTED!!! Satan will try to have a stronghold on you, if you let him. Don’t allow the enemy to come into your mind and take control. He has no control and he can only do what God allows him to do. I’ve learned that the enemy will come all kinds of ways to attack you. Your mind is the devil’s playground! He has no business there….

God gives us power to tread upon serpents, meaning, we have the power to stop Satan from entering our minds and our lives. Rebuke Stan in the name of Jesus. Submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee!  There are spiritual battles galore occurring all around us, that’s why there are so many verses in the Bible warning us about demonic struggles. So, keep your mind at peace, because God will give you the peace that surpasses all understanding.

#ConsultGodFirst  #The FAITHWALK  #ThePowerofGod  #TheSpiritualBattle  DELIVERANCEisMYTestimony

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“Jesus Turns Your Hopeless End Into Endless Hope”

“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us”- 2 Corinthians 1:9-10

Paul knew that God works in our lives according to our expectation. The purpose of the dead end is to teach us to trust in God. Why does God let things get so bad and so out of control? I had that same thought running through my head. But the answer to that question is so He can force us to learn to trust Him instead of trusting in our own ingenuity and cleverness. What’s the promise when you trust God? He has delivered you and He will deliver you!

God uses THREE different kinds of deliverance that I want to share with you:

• 1. God uses circumstantial deliverance. Sometimes God miraculously alters the circumstance and the Red Sea splits. That will happen many times in your life, but it’s not going to happen all the time.

• 2. God uses personal deliverance. Instead of changing the circumstance, God changes you from the inside. You get a new dream, a new vision, a new attitude, and a new perspective.

• 3. God’s ultimate deliverance is Heaven. God has not promised to remove all of our pain in this world or solve every one of our problems. Because we are on earth, there is pain and sorrow and suffering. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for all of our sins. The ultimate deliverance will be one day in Heaven where there will be no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, and no more heartache.

There is only on way to get to Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”- John 14:6. When you’re at a dead end, Jesus can take that hopeless end and turn it into an endless hope. Are you at a dead end in your life right now? Well, I once was at a dead end not knowing how I was going to make it through, but God turned my situation around for me. He will turn your situation around for you too! There is hope in God! The problems we face in this lifetime are only temporary. I invite you to take that problem, that situation, and your own life and give it to Jesus Christ. Jesus always look out for your best interest!

#ConsultGodFirst  #TheFAITHWALK  #ThePOWERofGOD  #TheSpiritualBattle  #DELIVERANCEisMyTestimony

http://www.lucretiacargill.com

‘How To Prepare To Share Your Life Lessons With Others”

“When you became a believer, you also became God’s messenger. God wants to speak to the world through you”

“Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word… The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore-you’re the message! (1 Thessalonians 1:8).

God has put a life message within you!

You may think you don’t have anything to share, but that’s the Devil trying to keep you silent. You have a storehouse of experiences that God wants to use to bring others into His family. The Bible says, “Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them” (1John 5:10).

We are God’s masterpiece for His Kingdom. Satan, our adversary does not want the Word of God to go forth. Mark 16:15 says, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”. We are Disciples for Christ. We are living in a dark and fallen world and we as believers need to be beacons of light for God. Someone needs to let their light shine in this dark world we live in.

We should be holy mouthpieces for God and spreading the Gospel everywhere. God wants all of His children to be saved. He doesn’t want any of us to perish. I knew that once I became a believer of Christ at the age of 13, I knew it was time for the battle of my lives. We are on the battlefield fighting daily. Living for Christ is not easy in this dark world. God wants us to let our lights shine before me, so they can see the power of God working through us (Matthew 5:16).

I want to share some things with you that helped me prepare to share my life lessons. I wrote down the major life lessons I’ve learned. We should be grateful Solomon did this, because it gave us the book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, which are filled with practical lessons on living. Imagine how much needless frustration could be avoided if we learned from each other’s life lessons.

Here are a few questions to jog your memory to help you get started:

• What God has taught you from failure? (Psalm 51)
• What has God taught you from lack of money? (Philippians 4:11-13)
• What has God taught you from pain, sorrow, or depression? (2 Corinthians 1:4-10)
• What has God taught you through waiting? (Psalm 40)
• What has God taught you through illness? (Psalm 119:71)
• What has God taught you from disappointment? (Genesis 50:20)

I have learned so much from God within these past years which have built my faith up to share my life lessons with others. I’ve learned to study the Bible and apply it to my daily life. I have answered those same questions and as I look back at my answers, it shows that God has really had His hands on me. When I ask God to use me for His glory, I knew I had to be ready for whatever He brought my way. When you are working for the Lord, it is a great feeling! When you ask God to use you, you better be ready to be used! Let God use you to share your life lessons with others!!!!

“In Difficult Times, What Happens In You Is Most Important”

God is with you in the storm, and He’ll help you get through it”!

‘Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved” (Acts 27:31).

Life is not fair. You will have problems, difficulties, and hurts that will make you better or bitter. You will either grow up or give up! Either you will become who God wants you to be or your heart will become hard. You have to decide how you are going to respond to the tough times in your life. How will you handle it? When you go through those difficult times, what happens to you nearly as important as what happens in you.

That’s what you take into eternity-not the circumstances but your character. In Acts 27, we learn 3 ways you shouldn’t respond in trials:

• 1. Don’t Drift. “The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along” (Acts 27:15). The ship carrying Paul and other prisoners to Rome was in the middle of the Mediterranean and hadn’t seen the sun for 14 days, so they couldn’t get any bearings, and they started to drift. In our lives, we start to drift when things don’t seem to go our way or work out when we want them to. In order to get to the sunshine, you have to go through the rain. When we face difficulty, some people start drifting through life. They have no goal, purpose, ambition, or dream for their life. Today, we call this “coasting”. The problem with coasting is that you’ve headed downhill. Life is snot a coast. Life’s tough! Don’t lose your ambition or your dream just because life gets hard.

 

• 2. Don’t Discard. “We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard” (Acts 27:18). The men in charge needed to lighten the ship, so they threw the cargo overboard, then the tackle, and the food. They were discarding things they needed because the storm was so tough. When you get in a storm and the stress gets unbearable, you tend to start abandoning values and relationships you would not let go of in better times. You say, “I’m giving up on my marriage, or I’m giving up on my dream to go to college”. God says, stay with the ship. Have you done that in your marriage? Have you said, “Divorce is not an option for  us, we’re goin to make it work?’ If you haven’t, you will always be tempted to walk out. If you don’t throw away the key, you’ll never develop the character God wants you to have. God can change situations and personalities. he changed you. I’ve learned from personal experience that it is never God’s will to run from a difficult situation. God wants you to learn, grow, and develop, and He is there with you all the time.

 

• 3. Don’t Despair. “We finally gave up all hope of being saved” (Acts 27:20). After 14 days in total darkness and after giving up their cargo, tackle, and food; the passengers finally gave up hope. But they’d forgotten one thing: Even in a storm, God is in control. He hasn’t left you. You may not feel Him, but if you feel far from God, guess who moved? God is with you in the storm and He’ll help you through it. He is testing you to see if you’ll trust Him. No matter what you face in life, trust God and the process!

 

#ConsultGodFirst #TheFaithWALK #ThePowerofGod #TheSpiritualBattle #DELIVERANCEisMyTestimony

http://www.lucretiacargill.com

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“God Uses Your Problems For Good”

There’s something more important than your pain. It’s what you’re learning from that pain-God is in control”

“Even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This no accident-it happens to prove your faith , which is infinitely more valuable than  gold’ (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Life is not a series of random, freak accidents. Life is not totally unplanned. Life is not without meaning. God knows what’s going on. He’s weaving the tapestry of your life and it has light and darkness threads-happy and sad times-to give richness and texture and color to your life. Nothing can come into the life of a child without God’s permission. Everything is Father-filtered. Don’t misunderstand. I am not saying that everything that happens to you in life is God’s perfect will.

That’s just not true. There are a lot of things that are not God’s will. If somebody sins against you, that’s not God’s perfect will. But God does have a permissive will. If I go out and I overeat, I pay the consequences. God does not cause evil and suffering. But He allows them because they have a purpose. God permits them, and then He uses them. God is an expert at bringing good out of bad. He could have kept Paul out of prison in Phillipi, but instead He let Paul go to prison and the jailer became a believer as a result.

God could have kept Jesus from the cross, but He let Him go. He let His own Son suffer and die. Did He bring any good out of that? I’d say He did!  God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. The things you wish were most removed from your life are often the very things that God is using to shape you and make you into the believer He wants you to be. He wants to use that problem for good in your life.

There’s something more important than your pain. God is in control. So, what’s the key? What’s our response? Our response is to look past the pain. “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small compared to God. Yet, they may produce for us glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).

No matter what life brings, remember to stand fast in your faith. Don’t let the problems of this world weigh you down. Everything we go through in life is to build our faith in God. Can God trust us? There are so many ways that God wants to trust us when He allows bad things to happen in our lives. If things went so good in our lives, we wouldn’t have a need to have faith or trust God, right? Those tough times we face, will mold and shape us to be the true women/men of God we need to be.

#ConsultGodFirst #TheFAITHWALK #ThePowerofGod #TheSpiritualBattle #DELIVERANCEisMyTestimony

http://www.lucretiacargill.com

 

“No Weapon Formed”

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace“-Exodus 14:14

Sometimes I question myself why am I going through so many difficulties? And where is God through all of this?

Unfortunately, following Christ each day, living a Godly life does not mean you are immune from the trials and tribulations of life. In fact, we may face them more than others because the enemy wants to destroy our relationship with Christ. You have to understand that there is a very real enemy named Satan, who is actively trying to disrupt the work of God. In addition, Jesus told us what Satan’s goal is concerning You in John 10:10, to KILL, STEAL, & DESTROY.

These past few months have been hectic for me. I lost my job, had health issues, financial problems, etc. and the list goes on and on. I found myself trying to integrate my prayer life throughout the day as usual. As things got stressful, I tried to find ways to calm myself with prayer, songs, and effective bible reading. It seemed like the more I prayed, the more I was being tested. The enemy has been coming at me lately, every way possible. The more he pressed, the more I pressed back. Let’s just say….he got tired of pressing!

What would you do if someone began to push against you, attempting to throw you off a position that is rightfully yours? How would you respond? Most people would lean into the weight and push back. That’s a posture of resistance. And as believers, we must know when it’s time to lean with all your might against evil. But how?

Prayer is the believer’s great privilege and powerful weapon against Satan and his plans. The apostle Peter wrote: Resist him steadfast in the faith; (1 Peter 5:9) James echoed this teaching: “Submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8)

As we get closer to God, the enemy will do anything and everything in his power to pull us away. Sometimes he’ll use the people we love to do so! Have you ever noticed that when you’re trying to kick a bad habit the enemy will send someone in your life who has the same bad habit? or when you’re trying to be celibate, here comes Mr. wrong all packaged up to look like Mr. Right? The more the enemy will tempt you to do wrong!

Isaiah 54:17 says that, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper”. When prayer is your weapon, you will never lose a battle. Every time I felt like giving up, I prayed. I prayed after I opened my eyes in the morning and before I closed them at night. If you stay dedicated to God, He will not allow the enemy to have victory over you! He will give you strength and courage you need to resist temptation. Stand firm, stay in the Word, and start praising God for what He is about to in your life!

I know sometimes you want to crawl up in a corner and pray to God that your problems just go away. But, that’s not exactly how it works! Problems are meant to be defeated. We should not be defeated by our problems. If God took away every problem that we encountered, every time we prayed, we would never know how it feels to overcome them. You can’t have the victory without winning the battle. Just as you can’t have a testimony without passing God’s test. Instead of praying for God to take your problems away, pray for Him to give you strength to conquer them.

TODAY, get in the mindset: “I will not be defeated….I may have a big problem, but MY GOD is BIGGER! Ask God to protect you and fight your battles for you. I assure you, the Battle is already won because God never loses a battle!!!!

#ConsultGodFirst #TheFAITHWALK #ThePOWERofGOD #TheSpiritualBattle #DELIVERANCEisMyTestimony

http://www.lucretiacargill.com

 

 

 

“The Walk of Your Life”

I see God raising up a remnant of believers, those He knows will be obedient. He is looking for those with clean hands and pure heart, those who will choose obedience even if it costs them everything this world must offer. He is looking for those who will throw caution to the wind, believe that He has an abundant life waiting if we follow His ways. He is looking for those whos hearts have been purified, whose faith has been strengthened by the trials of this life. He is looking for those who will cling to His promises even when it seems there is no hope.

Be strong and courageous in the Lord my friends! God has specifically chosen you to be a part of this remnant that will allow Him to take your life and mold you into what He wants. He has chosen you to have your faith tested and tried and He promises that the fire will only purify you, not burn you. He has promised that He will be with you every single step, walking with you, carrying you, and supporting you. He promises that He is still in control even when life seems to be spiraling wildly out of control. He is teaching you to trust Him so He can do something BIGGER and BETTER than you ever dreamed possible. He is teaching you to let go and trust Him with your heart, your soul, and your life. He is teaching you to walk every single day in the Spirit so that He do even GREATER works in you and through you. He is preparing you to be a beacon of light and hope to a world which desperately needs to see Jesus.

I don’t know where you are on this journey of walking by faith, but I encourage you to wave the white flag of surrender. Let God take your life, your pain, your loss, and use it for His glory! Ask Him to do an amazing work in you and through you. Get out of that boat and step onto the water and never take your eyes off Him. It is a decision you will never regret! I know trusting Jesus is hard. It requires following the unseen into an unknown and believing Jesus words over and against threats we see or the fears we feel. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied with Him. Learning to walk by faith, not by sight, help us view the events of our lives from an eternal, rather than a time limited or temporal perspective.

I encourage you to allow God to have full control of your life. When you live this way, and have faith allowing Jesus to lead you, then life will feel like an adventure; full of hope, joy, peace, and love! So, walk by faith, and not by sight!

#ConsultGodFirst #TheFAITHWALK #ThePowerofGod #DELIVERANCEisMyTestimony

http://www.lucretiacargill.com

 

“Every Storm Is a School, Every Trial is a Teacher”

“God’s purpose is greater than your problem and your pain”

“This small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

When we go through difficulties in life, the first thing we often try to do is blame somebody else. But it doesn’t matter where your problem came from-God still has a purpose for it in your life. Even when you do stupid things, God can use it. Even when other people hurt you intentionally, He can use it. Even when the Devil plans bad things for your life, God can bring good out of it.

I remember when the enemy thought he had me but Jesus came and grabbed me. I was in a dire need of God where I felt like throwing in the towel and giving up. I was at a brick wall and had no one to help. It felt like God was not there, but in reality God was there! He has never left me nor forsake me. Even though we don’t see things happening for us in the natural, just know that God is behind the scenes working on your behalf!

When I was at the end of my rope, God showed up right on time! I felt myself falling by the wayside, but God picked me up and placed my feet back on SOLID ground…Don’t let the enemy trick you! God has a purpose and plan for our lives! God’s purpose is greater than our problems and our pain. He has a plan! You need to look past the temporary pain and look instead at the long-term benefit in your life.

Romans 5:3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that…they can help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady”.

What’s the purpose of your problems and difficulty? God wants you to learn something. Every storm is a school. Every trial is a teacher. Every experience is an education. Every difficulty is for your development. Most of us are slow learners. If you don’t learn something, God will bring it back up again in your life. It will come back, because God is interested in seeing you become more like Christ than He is in making things easy for you.

Maybe you are facing a major difficulty right now. It may be an illness or guilt or a financial problem or strain in a relationship. Does God have a word for you while you’re going through your difficulty? Absolutely! God is saying to you, ” Don’t give up. Grow up”. Fulfill the purpose of your difficulty-becoming more and more the person He created you to be.

#ConsultGodFirst #TheFAITHWALK #ThePowerofGod #TheSpiritualBattle #DELIVERANCEisMytestimony

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‘The Right Attitudes for a Quiet Time”

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”-1 Samuel 16:7

You may understand that a daily quiet time is necessary for spiritual growth and be motivated to do it, but how do you go about having one? You have to start with prayer and the proper attitudes. In God’s eyes, why you do something is far more important than what you do.

On one occasion, God told Samuel, ‘Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 KJV). It is quite to do the right thing but with the wrong attitude.

When you come to meet with God in a quiet time, you should have these proper attitudes:

• EXPECTANCY: Come before God with anticipation and eagerness. Expect to have a good time of fellowship with Him and receive a blessing from your time together. That was what David expected: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You” (Psalm 63:1).

• REVERENCE: Don’t rush into God’s presence, but prepare your heart by being still before Him and letting the quietness clear away the thoughts of the world. Listen to the prophet Habakkuk: “The Lord in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20; see also Psalm 89:7). Coming into the presence of the Lord is not like going to a football game or some other form of entertainment.

• ALERTNESS: Get wide-awake first. Remember that you are meeting with the Creator, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Redeemer of men. Be thoroughly rested and alert. The best preparation for a quiet in the morning begins the night before. Get to bed early so you will be in good shape to meet God in the morning; He deserves your full attention.

• WILLINGNESS TO OBEY: You don’t come to your quiet time to choose what you will do or not to do but with every purpose of doing anything and everything that God wants you to do. Jesus said, “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:17). So come to meet the Lord having already chosen to do His will, no matter what!

TALK IT OVER

If you were really eager to have a quiet time, what would you change about how often and how much you spend time with God?

What is the best time and place for you to be reverent and alert before God?

How do you find out what God’s will is and what He wants you to do?

#ConsultGodFirst #TheFAITHWALK #ThePowerofGod #TheSpiritualBattle #DELIVERANCEisMyTestimony

http://www.lucretiacargill.com

 

“You need an Outside Power Source”

Have you figured out yet that a lot of times you are your own worst enemy? It’s your own reactions, your own fears, and your own inadequacies that cause you to act in foolish ways. I know that’s true for me too. I am not exempt! I knew I needed to be save from myself because there were things  I didn’t like about myself-things I wish I had done differently, things I’d like to change. But I couldn’t change them, at least not on my own power. I needed and outside power source- JESUS!

You may be saying, “I can change.” I hate to say this, but you can’t! Every New Year, you make a list of resolutions, and by the end of January, that list will be in the dumpster. Why? Because you can’t change on your own; you need God’s power. You need a Savior, someone who can make the changes you can’t make yourself.

The truth is if you are honest about it, sometimes you feel like your life is out of control. That’s a pretty common feeling. Welcome to the human race! The apostle Paul felt the same way over 2,000 years ago. He says in Romans 7:24-25, ” Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin”. That’s the answer!

You may be looking for that one thing that’s going to give you fulfillment and meaning and peace in life. But if you’re not looking to Jesus for salvation, then you’re looking in all the wrong places, and that’s why you’re frustrated. Some of us think that if we could just  get married, or get a certain job or a promotion, or attain a certain level of wealth, or have a baby-or if our babies would grow up and graduate!-things would be great. A lot of people are looking for salvation in a self-help book, therapy, a fad, diet, or a vacation.

If you’re doing that, you are looking in the wrong places!

The answer is not in your circumstances. It’s not in a place or a program or a pill. The answer is: Jesus Christ. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life is never going to make sense.

#ConsultGodFirst #ThefAITHWALK #ThePowerofGod #TheSpiritualBattle

http://www.lucretiacargill.com