Beaches in Alaska are nothing like the beaches here in southern California. In southern California, the beaches have sand for miles and miles. Billions and billions of those tiny granules of sand. In Alaska, we have rocks and mud. Or is it clay? Or is it mud? Whatever it is, it has supernatural strength that will suck in your boots and there’s no getting through it with your boots on your feet. It will take one or both of your boots. There is no question about it.

I don’t know where this mud gets it’s strength, but it is powerful stuff. When you see it at the beach, you should try and avoid it. Once you step on it, your boot will sink in. You can try and try to pull the boot out, but more than likely, your foot will come flying out, and most of the time, your sock will be left in there as well. So then you have a barefoot, in the lovely cold Alaskan weather, trying to balance yourself on one foot, because you really don’t want your cold barefoot to land in the cold, clammy mud that has claimed your boot. But alas, your fears come to fruition, as your other leg is not meant to hold up a person all by themselves, and in a great grasp for balance, down goes the barefoot into the mud. The feeling is chilling, to say the least.

When I say this stuff has supernatural strength, I’m not exaggerating. It will grab hold of your boots and will not let go. Every summer, countless boots are lost to the great sucking monster of mud. You need to walk carefully on the beach to avoid the mud. Otherwise, you will waste too much time, trying to pull your boots out. I can testify to getting both of my boots stuck, then having to stand in the cold clammy mud in one sock and one sock off while I pulled with all of my might to yank my boots from the clutches of the mud. Then I had to walk on the rocks in my bootless feet, only to stick the muddy feet back into the boots. That’s another awful feeling, squishy mud in the bottom of your boot, that your feet have to feel. It feels like walking on fish guts.

Sometimes, the enemy brings things or people into our lives that have the same effect as Alaskan mud on boots. Those people or things sent into our lives grab hold of us and won’t let us go. When something has you strongly, that’s not from God. God doesn’t ever want to be second in our lives. He wants to be first. So if something’s got a hold of you. If you feel like you can’t live without it or them, you probably should let it go. The enemy binds. God is a gentleman. What do I mean by that? Like the cold mud of Alaskan beaches, the enemy binds us up with people or things. God never forces our hand. He never forces us to love Him. He never binds us to anything or anyone. He asks us, gently, like a gentleman would. And we can choose Him or not. It’s our choice.

So, as you walk this Christian life, be aware and careful of anything that binds itself to you. Like the cold Alaskan mud, that’s not a good thing.

My husband and I have a long standing argument. Here’s what’s going on. When I’m sick, I don’t want to be fussed over. I would assume to be just left alone. Let me crawl into bed and I’ll sleep it off until I feel better. I don’t need anything. I don’t want anyone fussing over me. I even hate going to the doctors. I’ll only go if I’m in so much pain, I can’t take it anymore.

Here’s the argument: my hubby wants me to need him when I’m sick. He wants to fuss over me. But that’s not in my nature. That’s not how I roll. Maybe, because I was raised in Alaska, we learn to be self sufficient. I don’t know, but it’s not how I’m wired. The hubby insists I should need him when I’m sick. But I don’t.

God wants us to need Him too. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He speaks and even the wind and seas obey Him. Because of His love for us, He died on the cross for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins. The Creator of the universe wants us to need Him.

Sometimes I wonder, why can’t life just be perfect: no problems, nothing to worry about. But if my life was perfect I wouldn’t need God. To be really honest, I would just ignore Him, if I didn’t need to pray everyday for some kind of need I had. I know it’s true for you too. A perfect life, and we would grow complacent. When there is no need, there’s no focus on the One who can satisfy that need.

God tells us in His word to hook ourselves to Him. “Take my yolk upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.” Matthew 11:29

God tells us to taste. “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” Psalms 34:8

He declares Himself to be the vine, and we are the branches. If ever something is hooked into something else, it would be branches on a vine. The branches couldn’t exist without the vine. The vine is vital to the branches survival. “I am the vine: you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

That’s the picture God gives us of our lives with Him. He can answer our prayers. He is bigger than any of our problems. He can satisfy our needs. He is bigger than any needs we might have.

Take a lesson from me and my husband, learn to need God. Lean into Him. He asks you to. Rely on Him. Together, you can move mountains.

The Christian life is all about learning to lean on God. To be in communication with Him, even for the seemingly little things in life. Pray to Him for the big problems too. All of it. God wants all of it. Nothing is too insignificant and nothing it too big. Give it all to Him.

 

When I was a little kid, growing up in bush Alaska, we learned to be very careful around bears. Bears in Alaska are great big creatures that can lop off your head with one swoop of their massive claws. You don’t mess around bears, period. They aren’t cute and cuddly. They aren’t going to stop by for a chat, if you happen upon them in the Alaskan wilderness. Bears are deadly and you need to be aware of them, before trumping off into the Alaskan wilds.

My grandma took us berry picking, often, in the fall. She usually carried a gun, when we went. My grandma also taught us some things about bears. Most of the time, bears didn’t want to meet you, as much as you didn’t want to meet them. But there were some precautions, just in case. You needed to know the signs of bears. One of the biggest signs of a bear is that they stink really, really bad. I’m talking rotten, smelling. For some reason, bears like to roll around in dead fish and fish guts. I haven’t investigated why this is true, but take it from an Alaskan-bears smell really, really bad. You don’t need to know why, just know that they do. That’s your telltale sign that “something rotten” is afoot, because, well, something rotten is afoot. So, it could be a bad idea if you go hiking in Alaska with a bad cold. Your sniffer could be the thing that saves your life.

I remember telling this to my overly sensitive five year old daughter. We went hiking one day, on a visit to Alaska, and she stopped every five minutes, swearing she could smell something rotten. She was over reacting and I kind of regretted telling her that.

The Christian life also has a telltale sign that the enemy is afoot. Like a bad smelling bear, there are signs that the enemy is near. And just like there are lots and lots of bears in Alaska, the enemy has lots and lots of demons working for the enemy, wreaking havoc in the Christian’s life.

Like the bad smell bears emit, the enemy has its signs. Know them, and you could save yourself grief. God is not the author of chaos. He says that in His Word. So if God is not the author of chaos, where does chaos come from? Take a wild guess. If God is not the author of chaos, then the enemy must be. And therein, lies your telltale sign, chaos. When you are a true believer, and things seem to go haywire in your life, know the enemy is near, causing the chaos. The enemy can cause disruptions in your relationships: husband and wife, child and parent, or sibling and sibling. The enemy causes disruptions in your relationship with God. You may have allowed some sin in your life or you aren’t spending time with God like you need to.

Strife and chaos don’t come from the Lord. The enemy breaks down our barriers and we let more and more sin in our lives. If you find yourself, doing things you shouldn’t. If you find there is discord in important relationships, something rotten is afoot. And like the bad smell from bears, once you smell it, get out as fast as you can. The same is true of the enemy. When you see the chaos or sin around you, flee whatever it is you’re doing, that isn’t right. Either you’ve let someone in your life that isn’t good, or you’re doing something that isn’t good. But know the signs, because the signs are there.

Happy Mother’s Day! I know it was yesterday, but I hope you mothers out there, enjoyed some well deserved pampering.

My son had a high school championship meet to go to this past Friday. He was supposed to swim two races and then swim two relay races. All the moms of the kids, decided to all sit together so we can cheer on our kids. I sat next to a mom I hadn’t met before. She introduced herself, then she thanked me, and told me how glad she was, that my son was swimming on the team this year. I was a bit confused. Why was she happy and grateful that MY son was swimming on the team? She proceeded to tell me, that because my son is a fast swimmer, his addition to the team, qualified their relay team to go to the high school championships. She said her son didn’t have a fast individual time, so the only way to make the championships, was to swim on a relay team. And my son on the team, gave them a fourth guy, and allowed them to qualify for the championships. I had no idea. My son helped another guy, without even knowing it.

But isn’t that true for all of our lives, as believers. Our presence, alone, sometimes, fixes situations or helps others out. I remember when my husband first started out as a teacher. I had decided to stay home to care for our new family. But my husband’s starting salary was painfully low. I mean, we had to count every single penny. There were times I would put off laundry for the rest of the family, and only wash the hubby’s clothes with the very last of the laundry soap, since he was the one who had to go out into the public. The rest of us stinky people could hide out in the house, looking sad and raggedy. We would pray like crazy for God’s financial help during this time. As always, God was faithful to answer us through raises or something like that. I told my hubby, God answers our prayers, and other get blessed too. If the school district got a raise, it was an answer to prayer for us, but a blessing for everybody in that district.

You want to live near true believers. You want true believers in your communities, near you. We have the Holy Spirit living within us, therefore, bringing the Holy Spirit with us wherever we go. We pray, and God answers our prayers. We follow God’s commands which are beneficial to those living around us. We resist murdering people, committing adultery, stealing, hurting people in any way shape or form. We aren’t perfect, but true believers follow God’s commands for our lives, for the most part.

You might not be aware of it and might never be aware of the ways in which you have helped others out. You, Christian, may be affecting people’s lives, around you, for the good. It could just be your presence alone. You may not ever know what you have done, but God uses all of His children to effect change or answer prayers. It’s said, that believers are the Bible with skin on them. That’s true, but I think it goes beyond that. We effect the circumstances and people around us through the presence of the Holy Spirit, through God answering our prayers, and through our very lifestyle of following God’s commands.

It’s like the ripple effect. Ever watch water, when you toss a rock into it? Waves of ripples extend out from the point at which your rock collided with the water. All those ripples are caused by the one rock getting tossed into the water. We Christians are the rock. And our very presence, often creates ripples that effect others.

So if you are going through something, or feeling down, just remember, your very presence could be positively effecting other people, that you just aren’t aware of. And God is always a two for one God. While He’s answering prayers for one of His children, He is using that circumstance or person to effect change in other people’s lives. He never misses an opportunity to get several things done at the same time. Watch how God works and be amazed.

People have a misguided view of who God is. Have you ever heard someone say, “Oh, I’m having such a hard time right now, God must me trying to tell me something…” Or when something goes wrong in their life, God must be up to something. Why is it when something bad happens, we blame God? We get criticized, “Oh, God must be trying to tell me something.” We get physically hurt, “Oh, God’s trying to get my attention. Natural disasters happen all the time, and God gets blamed for it all.

When we are hurt, antagonized, physically hurt, emotionally beat up, criticized, accused, that isn’t God acting in your life. God doesn’t work that way. God’s not like that. He doesn’t set out to hurt us, kick us, beat us up, emotionally or physically. Hurting us, is straight out of the enemy’s playbook. That is how he works and operates.

Satan is the great accuser. He points his finger at us and accuses us of sin. He whispers in our ears: you’re bad, you’re no good, God can’t possibly love you-you’re just no good, you’re awful, you ugly. When you have thoughts like this, know from where they come from.

They’re not of God. What comes from God?

–All good things come from the Father of Lights. James 1:17

-God is gentle. He says to take His yoke upon Him for His yoke is easy and His burden, light. Matt. 11:30

-God says to come and taste and see He is good. Psalms 34:8

-He is the Hound of Heaven, chasing after us to bring us to salvation.

-He is the Good Shepherd, leaving His flock to chase after the one lost sheep. John 10:1-14

–He loves us. John 3:16

I could go on and on. People tend to forget, even believers, that there is an enemy out there and he wants to get us. God says the enemy is a roaring lion, seeking who he can destroy. God warns us that the enemy is organized. Think about that. The enemy has an organization for the sole purpose of destroying believers. These aren’t lone wolf attacks. These are attacks by an enemy set out to utterly destroy the believer any way he can, in an organized fashion.

So, know the enemy. When you are feeling attacked, you aren’t paranoid, you are being attacked if you are a believer. If you are feeling down and criticized, know that doesn’t come from God. Remember, that’s from the enemy’s playbook.

God will use the enemy’s attacks to teach us or guide us. But attacks on us, are not from God. God comes to us and He provides the balm for our soul. He sews us back up again. He heals our bodies and our minds.

“I hear the accuser roar, of ills that I have done. I know them all and thousands more, Jehovah findeth none.”