Four words that could keep me from victory

Yesterday I talked about Elijah and how he wanted to die because he processed the wrong data. In other words, his THINKING was messed up. Proverbs 23:7 says “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” That is a verse that should make us pause for a moment and ponder it. If what we THINK is going to affect us so much that we become LIKE OUR THOUGHTS, and that IS what this verse says, then don’t you believe that we need to better examine our thought life? Looking back at Elijah, he wanted to die, because he was thinking the wrong way. In fact, not only was he thinking the wrong way, but he had the wrong information that he was meditating on.

Let’s look at another example in the Bible of people who processed the wrong DATA:

Numbers 13:27-33 Then they told the story of their trip: "We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit! (28) The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. (30) Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, "Let's go up and take the land--now. We can do it." (31) But the others said, "We can't attack those people; they're way stronger than we are." (32) They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, "We scouted out the land from one end to the other--it's a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. (33) Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers."

Moses sent the spies into the promised land to spy it out. Now think about what I just said. They went to spy out the “Promised Land.” Who promised the land to them? God! If He promised the land to them, then they could certainly possess it, because God would go before them. Anyway, the ten spies reported back to Moses, and they all said it was GREAT land, flowing with milk and honey, and wonderful fruit. They seemed to be excited about the land God was giving them. However, at the beginning of verse 28, the ten spies speak FOUR words that eventually brought them defeat. Because of these FOUR WORDS they wandered in the wilderness until they died, never seeing the Promised Land in their lifetimes.

What were the words? THE ONLY THING IS. Just like Elijah did, they processed the wrong data. This was God’s promise to them that they would possess the land. It was God’s inheritance to them. God would MAKE IT HAPPEN. He would create a way where there seemed to be NO WAY. They limited God because of these four words. Verse 30 shows that Caleb tried his best to get God’s people PAST these words, but he couldn’t do it. “THE ONLY THING IS” was like a cancer that began to spread throughout the faith of God’s people.

Notice the difference between words of FEAR and words of FAITH. The ten fearful spies said, “THE ONLY THING IS…” and they went on to explain the reasons why God COULD NOT or WOULD NOT be faithful enough for them to possess the land. Wow! However, listen to Caleb’s words of FAITH… “Let’s go up and take the land—NOW. We CAN DO IT.” Caleb refused to allow the WRONG DATA to change his faith in God. As is the case so many times, FEAR won out. They didn’t possess the land until forty years later, AFTER they had wandered in the wilderness and everyone of that generation had died out. God wanted to bring them into this wonderful land but they couldn’t get past ‘THE ONLY THING IS…”

My friends, do you have a “THE ONLY THING IS” in your life? Do you have faith that God can do anything, except that one THING? Does it seem too big for God because you have been praying for some time and haven’t seen the answer yet? These four words are very dangerous and serious. God’s will and purpose for the Children of Israel was not accomplished for forty years because of FEAR. They forgot the miracles that God had very openly displayed before the world to see. In fact, if you read this story to its completion, you will see that the world had more faith in God than His own people did. That is why it is so important that when we are making decisions that we ask ourselves the question, “Am I going with FEAR or FAITH?” Many times we make decisions without properly consulting God. The Children of Israel failed to ask God what He thought. Obviously Caleb and Joshua did, but the others did not.

So, again, do you have a “THE ONLY THING IS” in your life? What about the situation with your family? What about your finances? What about your stubborn spouse? What about the problems at your job? Do you have more FAITH or FEAR? Do you truly believe that God can do ANYTHING? Or is there a “THE ONLY THING IS” that you can’t seem to have faith for. If you are being dominated by this ONLY THING, then you have processed the wrong data. The ten spies said that the people of the promised land looked at the Israelites like they were grasshoppers. In other words, they had no fear of them or their God. That WRONG DATA kept the Children of Israel from going forward. However, listen to what Rahab, who lived in Jericho which was part of the Promised Land, told some Israelites spies:

Joshua 2:8-11 Before the spies were down for the night, the woman came up to them on the roof (9) and said, "I know that GOD has given you the land. We're all afraid. Everyone in the country feels hopeless. (10) We heard how GOD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt, and what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you put under a holy curse and destroyed. (11) We heard it and our hearts sank. We all had the wind knocked out of us. And all because of you, you and GOD, your God, God of the heavens above and God of the earth below.

She said, "I KNOW that God has given you the land (that was more faith than God's own people had) “We’re all afraid. Everyone in the country feels hopeless. We heard how God…” This is what I was talking about earlier. The world that didn’t know God, had more faith in Him than the ones that He had performed miracles for. Why is that? Because of the FEAR that “THE ONLY THING IS” brought into their lives.

My prayer for you today is that you will no longer be dominated by these four words. You know what God says about your ONLY THING that seems impossible?

Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

All THINGS are possible to him that believes. All things includes your, “THE ONLY THING IS.” It is all about being very careful of the DATA that you allow to be processed in your mind. I would like to leave you with an acrostic that I pray will help you process the correct DATA in your mind today:

Daily place God’s Word in your mind to MEDITATE on

How do you meditate? You just simply dwell on or think on something until it becomes cemented in your mind. We do that with worries, frustrations and hurts to name only a few. If we would ever get to the point where we daily mediate on God’s goodness and faithfulness and His Word, then we would be able to get past FEAR and move over into the FAITH realm where all things are possible.

Attack FEAR with PRAISE

When fear attacks your faith, and that is what fear does, then you re-focus on God by praising Him. When the enemy speaks to you through FEAR, then you turn the table on him by allowing that to be a reminder to stop whatever you are doing and just begin to give God thanksgiving and praise. Name the blessings of God in your life, and just begin to thank God for them. Begin to think about God’s goodness and mercy and verbalize them, either through the spoken word, or by typing them into a journal.

Train your mind to think within the boundaries of Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8 (MSG) Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious--the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

If what you are dwelling on doesn’t fit within the boundaries mentined in this verse, then get it out of your mind immediately. Do like David did, and what Caleb tried to do, and that is get your FOCUS off of “THE ONLY THING IS” which represents your storm, giant, or problem, and re-focus your thoughts on God and His faithfulness.

Attach yourself to some godly people with the Spirit of Caleb

Numbers 14:24 (MSG) "But my servant Caleb--this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I'll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it.

I Corinthians 15:33 (NLT) Don't be fooled by those who say such things, for "bad company corrupts good character."

It does matter what you allow yourself to hear all the time. If you are around negative, fearful talk all of the time, it can’t help but get into your spirit. You may be married to someone who is constantly negative, or you may be in a work situation that is constantly negative. Even in that situation, it is imperative that you find some people with the spirit of Caleb, in other words, people of FAITH and not FEAR that encourage you in the Lord. There are many ways that you can do this: Sunday School, other small groups, attending church on a regular basis, reaching out to people (of the same gender) that you have wanted to get to know because they are faith-filled. Go ahead and do it…TODAY. Why wait?

I love you guys and pray daily for our church family. I call your family’s individual names out before God. I believe in you and thank God for you. Thank you so much for the comments that many of you have left, and please continue to do so. They serve as an encouragement to others. God bless!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day!

Pastor Rusty L. Blann

Wishing to Die while processing the WRONG DATA

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. My prayer is that you had a great day yesterday, and looking forward to the blessings of this day. God is faithful!

The past few days I have been meditating on a thought that God is developing into a sermon in my heart. I really felt directed of the Holy Spirit to share a little of this thought on today’s blog.

In I Kings 18, Elijah has just seen miracles happen through his ministry. He prayed for fire to fall from heaven and it did. He prayed for it to rain for the first time in three and half years, and it did. He was so anointed that he outran King Ahab’s chariot as they both traveled to a place named Jezreel. However, as we look in chapter 19, things have ALL OF A SUDDEN changed for him. He went from an extreme spiritual high, to an extreme spiritual low. Life is like that at times, isn’t it? Your situation can change in a moment, without any warning whatsoever. That is exactly where we find Elijah. King Ahab’s wife Jezebel has said that she was going to kill Elijah. So, literally in a matter of MINUTES he went from running in victory, to running for his life.

Where does he run to? Please read this verse carefully:

1 Kings 19:4 (MSG) and then went on into the desert another day's journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all--to just die: "Enough of this, GOD! Take my life--I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave!"

He was so upset, frustrated, depressed, disappointed, angry…you pick one, and that’s what he was. I’m sure he was even questioning why he had to go through this struggle. He had been faithful, so why all of this pain? Have you ever been there before? When you have been trying to do everything RIGHT, but things just keep coming up WRONG it seems? God’s Word is going to speak to you today.

Do you know WHY Elijah wanted to die? You will find the reason in following passage:

1 Kings 19:9-10 When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep. Then the word of GOD came to him: "So Elijah, what are you doing here?" (10) "I've been working my heart out for the GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies," said Elijah. "The people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I'm the only one left, and now they're trying to kill me."

Did you notice the problem? Elijah BELIEVED that he was the only one of God’s prophets left. Elijah truly believed that there wasn’t a GODLY man left on earth, but himself, and now the enemy was trying to kill him as well. This brought so much distress into his life, that he crawled into a cave and was just determined to stay there and not come out.

I believe that there are some today that feel exactly like Elijah. Where’s that cave God? I’m going to join Elijah. Or, maybe you are already there. Your thoughts are, “Just let me die God. My life is no good, so you might as well take it.” Do you know what the problem with that is? You are PROCESSING THE WRONG DATA. That is what happened to Elijah. Listen to what God tells him:

I Kings 19:18 (MSG) Meanwhile, I'm preserving for myself seven thousand souls: the knees that haven't bowed to the god Baal, the mouths that haven't kissed his image."

God tells Elijah to come out of the cave and go to work. He gave him instructions to go and anoint a young man by the name of Elisha as his replacement who would give him much needed help and encouragement. If he had stayed in the cave, or if he had DIED, God wouldn’t have been able to fulfill His purpose in Elijah’s life, and it goes further than that. It would have affected Elisha as well. The young prophet who needed someone to learn from and to look up to, would have been devastated and lost without Elijah.

It is so sad to me that Elijah wanted to die because he THOUGHT he was the only one left. He was depressed and ready to give up because he was PROCESSING THE WRONG DATA! He was messed up because his THINKING was messed up. God had to get the TRUTH into his mind and thoughts. It is amazing how godly men and women allow the enemy to deposit WRONG DATA in our minds, and then we allow that to become our driving force in life.

You feel like a loser because someone told you that you would always be a loser, and never amount to anything in life. Was the person that spoke that over you God? Were they a prophet of God? Could they see the future? They couldn’t see past that day, so how could they determine your FUTURE? They couldn’t! However, they have affected your future because you have been PROCESSING THE WRONG DATA. God doesn’t call you a loser, He calls you a winner, and you are MORE THAN A CONQUEROR according to Romans 8:37.

Someone reading this today may be saying, “This marriage is never going to work. I don’t DESERVE to be happy.” You are making a decision that is based on WRONG DATA. We must get our thinking straightened out. We need the MIND OF CHRIST (I Corinthians 2:16)

There have been people that quit church because their thinking says, “No one cares about me.” My friend, that is a lie that the enemy has deposited into your spirit, and you have been processing the WRONG DATA, so you are about to make a wrong decision. You don’t know the whole story. Ask God to help you get your thinking straightened out!

“Well, we will never get out of this financial mess.” Really? Who told you that? Where did that come from? Is that God speaking into your life? Or are you processing the wrong data. Don’t die in a cave, when God has so much more for you and your life.

Some may be thinking, “There really is NO REASON for me to live. No one will miss me if I were to die anyway.” When did God give you the ability to see the future? Do you really know what your life will be like in one year or two years? How about ten or twenty? You see my friend, you are processing the wrong data. The enemy has made a deposit into your mind just like he did Elijah’s. You have MUCH to live for, even if you can't see it right now because your thinking is skewed because of FALSE data.

Naaman in the Old Testament had leprosy and God told him through the prophet Elisha to go into the dirtiest river around, the Jordan, seven times and he would be healed. He almost didn’t do it because he was processing the WRONG DATA. Read the following and see how he responded:

2 Kings 5:10-12 Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: "Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you'll be as good as new." (11) Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, "I thought he'd personally come out and meet me, call on the name of GOD, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. (12) The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of the rivers in Israel. Why not bathe in them? I'd at least get clean." He stomped off, mad as a hornet.

His thinking was messed up. He THOUGHT that Elisha would come out and “wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease.” Because of wrong data in his mind, he stomped off angry and almost missed out on the miracle that God had for him. He would have DIED because or what he was processing in his mind. If it hadn’t been for his servant girl that talked some sense into him, he would have missed out on victory. I could go on and on, and I might share a few more examples tomorrow.

My question for you today is, “Is there an area of your life where the enemy is trying to TALK YOU out of a victory that God has for you.” Have you had thoughts like, “it’s never going to get any better” or “I don’t deserve things to get better, I’ve made too many mistakes.” How about, “No one cares about me.” These are just a few examples of how the enemy works hard at getting us to PROCESS the WRONG DATA.

My prayer for you today is that you come out of your cave BY FATH, and remember what God says about you. He calls you the apple of His eye, more than a conqueror, the head and not the tail, He also promises that He will never leave your or forsake you. He sees you today, even in that cave of discouragement and despair and he is asking, WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE? Will you answer His question today, like Elijah did? When you do, ask the Holy Spirit to show you the WRONG DATA that you have been processing and change it TODAY.

Meditate on Jeremiah 29:11 for a little while today. Meditate just means to dwell on, and to think on. I have it in the Amplified and the Message version. This verse is God talking directly to you:

Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP) For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

(MSG) I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

God bless you all. I love you and thank God for you (Philippians 1:2-6). Please feel free to comment on this blog if you would like. Also, if you need to talk with someone about this blog, please email me. I would love to talk and pray with you!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day!

Pastor Rusty L. Blann

The Unsearchable Blessing of Rain

Job 5:8-10 But as for me, I would seek God, And I would place my cause before God; Who does great and unsearchable things, Wonders without number. He gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields.

Is rain a great and unsearchable wonder wrought by God? I guess it depends upon your perspective.

Picture yourself as a farmer in the Near East, far from any lake or stream. A few wells keep the family and animals supplied with water. But if the crops are to grow and the family is to be fed from month to month, water has to come on the fields from another source. From where? Water will have to be carried in the sky from the Mediterranean Sea, over several hundred miles and then be poured out from the sky onto the fields. Think about that, the water has to be CARRIED. Have you ever wondered how much that would weigh? Well, if one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that would be 27,878,400 cubic feet of water, which is 206,300,160 gallons, which is 1,650,501,280 pounds of water. That's heavy.

So how does it get up in the sky and stay up there if it's so heavy? Well, it gets up there by evaporation. That's a nice word. What's it mean? It means that the water sort of stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down.

Then, it has to get down and that is called condensation. What's that? The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles between .00001 and .0001 centimeters wide.

There’s only one problem, the Mediterranean Sea is salt water. That would kill the crops. So, the salt has to be taken out. So the sky picks up a billion pounds of water from the sea and takes out the salt and then carries it for three hundred miles and then RAINS the billion pounds of water on the farm. God couldn’t just DUMP it because it would overflow everything and everyone. The raindrops have to be big enough to fall for one mile or so without evaporating, and small enough to keep from crushing the wheat stalks.

How do all these microscopic specks of water that weigh a billion pounds get heavy enough to fall? Well, it's called coalescence. That means the specks of water start bumping into each other and join up and get bigger. And when they are big enough, they fall.

My friends, now you can see why Job said that rain on the earth is UNSEARCHABLE. Now think about this for a moment. If RAIN is an unsearchable blessing of God, how many other blessings has He poured out upon us without us even realizing it. Whatever you may be battling today, please know that the same God that sends rain can send victory your way TODAY!

On this Monday morning, at the beginning of another work week, why don’t you take just a moment wherever you are, and think about the blessings of God that you may have taken for granted. Even though we are in the midst of a drought right now, I have often taken rain for granted, and failed to see it as an unsearchable gift from God. Meditate on that for a moment. I told my Sunday school class yesterday that whatever you chew on in the morning often will eat at you all day. That is so true! If I start the day off worrying about STUFF, then STUFF will eat at me all day. However, the opposite is true as well. If I start off the day thinking about the God who sends rain to the earth in a miraculous way, and mediating on His Holiness and Worthiness, that will eat at me all day.

I love you guys, believe in you, and prayed today for you! I feel so blessed to be your Pastor! What an AWESOME day we had yesterday. God met with us in all three services in a great way. He is so FAITHFUL. Thank you for being a part of what He is doing in HIS church!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day!

Pastor Rusty L. Blann
First Assembly of God
West Memphis, Arkansas

Small Potatoes

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice (spin) and be glad in it!

I awakened this morning thankful that today is Friday. I love the weekend. I get to spend time with my wife and children, and I also have several opportunities to spend time with my wonderful church family and share with them what God has been pouring into my heart.

As I begin to contemplate about this weekend, I began to think about the many fine, Godly people that are facing difficult situations in their lives. As we go through difficult times, it is easy to lose our perspective in life. We can forget what our main purpose in life is. I would like to share something from God’s Word with you:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day. (17) For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!], (18) Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.

Verse seventeen in the Message version of the Bible says, “these hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us.”

I love that! The hard times that you may be going through today are just SMALL POTATOES compared to the coming good times, and “lavish celebration prepared for us.” “Us” is referring to the children of God. Sometimes we just need to think about heaven. Listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us about this:

Colossians 3:2 (AMP) And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

Meditate for a moment on the words of this old and powerful song:

“It will be worth it all when we see Jesus, Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ; One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase, So bravely run the race till we see Christ.”Sometimes just the truth about heaven can change our perspective.

Now, if you will, please read this excerpt from Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven:

“In 1952, young Florence Chadwick stepped into the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island, determined to swim to the shore of the mainland California. She’d already been the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways. The weather was foggy and chilly; she could hardly see the boats accompanying her. Still, she swam for fifteen hours. When she begged to be taken out of the water along the way, her mother, in a boat alongside, told her she was close and that she could make it. Finally, physically and emotionally exhausted, she stopped swimming and was pulled out. It wasn’t until she was on the boat that she discovered the shore was less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day she said, “All I could see was the fog…I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.”

My prayer is that as you go through this weekend, you won't be overwhelmed by the FOG of your troublesome situation, but you will be able to “see the shore” and remember that there is so much more to life than just what you see in the here and now!

2 Corinthians 4:18 There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.

Now that’s not SMALL POTATOES.

I hope to see you Sunday morning as I preach an illustrated message entitled, “The Road of Regrets”. Please invite your friends and family! Blessings and I love you! This is my commitment to you as your Pastor:

"You will never knowingly suffer at my hands. I will never say anything or do anything knowingly to hurt you. I will always, in every circumstance, seek to help and support you. If you're down and I can lift you up - I'll do that. If you need something and I have it, I'll share it with you. If I need to, I'll give it to you. No matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens in the future - either good or bad, my commitment to you will never change. And there is nothing you can do about it."

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day,

Pastor Rusty L. Blann
First Assembly of God
West Memphis, Arkansas

The Temptation of Saul's Armor

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice (spin) and be glad in it! This is a wonderful day that the Lord has given us, isn’t it?

The past couple of days we have been discussing a BEWITCHING spirit that the enemy tries to bring upon the church through people. Listen to this warning from Acts:

Acts 20:29-30 "I know that as soon as I'm gone, vicious wolves are going to show up and rip into this flock, people (30) from your very own ranks twisting words so as to seduce disciples into following them instead of Jesus.

Once again we see that Bewitching spirit mentioned: Wolves in sheep’s clothing secretly entering God’s family for the purpose of harming the family of God. How? By seducing or bewitching people to follow them. When people begin to follow them, the influence leads the group away FROM Jesus and TO the CHARMER. God warns us to beware.

Now, I want to discuss a very real temptation that is associated with this BEWITCHING spirit. Today I want to look at the story of David in I Samuel 17. Please allow me to summarize briefly. The Israelites are in battle with the Philistines. The Philistines have a ten foot tall giant who is named Goliath. Every day the challenge is given. The Israelites are on one hill, and the Philistines are on another, with a valley between them. In the mornings, Goliath would come out and ask for the Israelites to send someone out to fight him. Whoever won the individual battle, would win this particular war and the losing nation would serve the winning one. This went on for several days, with the Israelites scared to death, and no one willing to fight Goliath.

Enter David! He is at home tending his sheep when his dad sends him to the battle with food and to check on his brothers. Fast forwarding to the battle line, David walks up just as Goliath is making his blasphemous challenge to the Israelites and cursing Jehovah God. David wonders why no one will fight this champion, so he asks what will be given to the person who defeats Goliath. David’s older brother Eliab hears David talking and begins to mock him and make fun of him. I believe you can see the BEWITCHING spirit at work here. Eliab begins to talk against David and stir up trouble for him. Eliab ask him, “Where are your FEW sheep? I know your heart. Your motives aren’t right. You just want to see a bloody battle.” David was falsely accused and made fun of. You know this had to HURT. When someone falsely accuses you, makes fun of you, questions your motives that is very painful. One thing that I have learned is that “hurting people, HURT people.” But how do we react when we have been hurt? Remember the Word of God tells us to “come out from among them and be ye SEPARATE” This phrase, “Be ye separate” means to be marked by a BOUNDARY. So God is telling us to have boundaries in our life’s that are so different from the world that people will be able to tell the believer from the unbeliever by the way we respond, especially when we have been hurt or betrayed. The unbeliever strikes back, and tries to hurt the person that hurt them. Their motto is: “Do unto others AS THEY DO UNTO ME” That feels good to the flesh. However, that is not how the believer responds. We strive to “raise the bar” and live and respond the way that Jesus did and taught us. Our motto should be: “Do unto others AS I WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO ME.”

Now, let’s talk about the temptation of Saul’s Armor. Can you imagine what David felt like being questioned by his brother? He ignored him, and ended up standing before King Saul. King Saul heard that David wanted to fight Goliath. Listen to what happened next:

1 Samuel 17:38 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. 39 David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off.

Can you imagine the temptation that was going on in David’s head? “Look at me now Eliab, big brother? You talked about my FEW SHEEP, but how do I look now in the Kings armor? You were WRONG in your thoughts and comments about me” I believe that was a very real temptation for David. However, he resisted the temptation and took off the armor and depended upon God to deliver him, and to VIDICATE him.

You see, whenever we are hurt or wronged, the Kings armor is very tempting. The Kings Armor represents vindication or validation.

What is validation? An act or process of proving one is valid, real, strong or powerful. What about vindication? The act of disburdening, discharging, or freeing morally or legally. To FREE FROM ANY QUESTION OF ERROR, DISHONOR, GUILT or NEGLIGENCE.

The temptation is to talk, discuss, email, and do whatever we can to prove the person that hurt us is WRONG and EVIL for hurting us. Down through the years as a Pastor, I have had people try to blame me for their problems, or even family problems. It is a very strong temptation to put on the King’s armor and vindicate myself. I am tempted to share the BAD STUFF that I know and have heard. However, with God’s help, I resist that temptation and allow God to give me vindication and validation, and He HAS NEVER FAILED TO DO THAT.

We are tempted to wear Saul's armor by taking matters into our own hands. We make statements like:

Let me tell you what the real truth is...
Do you know what she has been doing...
Let me tell you how big a hypocrite they are…

God has shown me something the past couple of days. I love Isaiah 54:17. It is a powerful verse. Listen to it again:

Isaiah 54:17 (AMP) But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.

I have always quoted this verse and believed that God would show those harming me to be in the wrong. But that’s not what this verse says. Look at it again. God says, “YOU shall show (the words spoken about you) to be in the wrong. Wow! The responsibility is put back on me to show that the harmful words or gossip spoken about me are WRONG by my actions. When I get angry and lash out I’m not proving the words wrong. Quite the contrary, I may be validating the accusations.

God help us today, to do what David did as he went out to face Goliath. He declared, “The battle is not mine, Lord, it is yours.” That is why he resisted “The temptation of the King’s Armor”. My prayer is that we will all RESIST this temptation today, and allow God to fight the battle for us! He really can handle it and will do a better job than we can. Our part? Show the accusations to be wrong by the love of Christ that flows from us.

God bless you all! I love you and thank God for you. If you would like to comment on today’s blog, please do so below!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day,

Pastor Rusty L. Blann

P.S. Please allow me to add a comment that I read from a Pastor friend of mine. I love it, and plan to use it from here on out. It is a commitment that he makes to the people that he Shepherds (Pastors). I have asked God to help this to be my commitment to you, the people that I am priviledged to Pastor:

"You will never knowingly suffer at my hands. I will never say anything or do anything knowingly to hurt you. I will always, in every circumstance, seek to help and support you. If you're down and I can lift you up - I'll do that. If you need something and I have it, I'll share it with you. If I need to, I'll give it to you. No matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens in the future - either good or bad, my commitment to you will never change. And there is nothing you can do about it."

Becoming Careless with my Heart

Yesterday we talked about the danger of a “Bewitching spirit in the Church.” Paul, Peter, and Jesus warn the church that in the last days there would be “Sheep in wolves clothing” that would infiltrate God’s church. These “wolves” portray themselves as HOLY and ABOVE REPROACH. In fact, the deception of the enemy is so strong upon them, they will have a following…for a time. However, as time goes by, the more discerning of God’s people will begin to figure out that the SUPER SPIRITUAL side of the “wolf” was only a covering to hide what was really in their heart. For you see, God knows the heart of men and women. But that is not an excuse to sin. Quite the contrary!

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:8 that only the “pure in heart will see God.” Then Solomon tells us in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” In this text, God is showing us the importance of making sure that we do everything possible to keep our heart PURE. Then David shows us the danger of becoming CARELESS with our heart: Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. (11) Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. (12) Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. David had sinned greatly, and now his heart was corrupt. You see, my friend, that’s what sin does to your heart. It is a dangerous thing to allow sin to remain in the heart and spirit for the child of God without REPENTING of it, and changing! Repentance does no good if you just say “forgive me Lord”, but keep doing the same things over and over again. What will happen to someone that keeps sinning and justifying it, without leaving that lifestyle through TRUE repentance? Well, listen to some of the saddest, yet most revealing Words in the Scriptures: Judges 16:20 She said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free. For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

As I sit here in the Sanctuary typing these words, my heart is tremendously saddened and troubled by those words. Samson had become so CARELESS with his life and RELATIONSHIP with God, that he honestly thought that God would UNDERSTAND his situation and allow SIN to continue in his life with no consequences. He was deceived into believing that NOTHING would change between him and God, because he was a SPECIAL, ANOINTED man of God. He would just do what he had always done…allow the power and Spirit of God to come upon him, and win the battle when he needed to. However, he learned a lesson that I hope we all learn from him. The lesson is that you may get by with cherishing sin in your heart for a season, but mark my words, friend…NO, mark God’s Word…there is coming a season in your life, when everything will crumble around you if you continue in the careless way that you have been living. You won’t even realize that the Lord’s Spirit has departed from you, until much damage is done. Listen to Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me; What a powerful, yet sobering verse. This word “regard” means to cherish, or to see the sin in your heart, but think it’s not a big deal. Of course, iniquity is sin, breaking God’s Law (Word). So God makes it plain that if we allow sin to remain in our heart, the ONLY thing He understands is that HE WILL NOT HEAR our prayers. Continued, habitual sin damages our relationship with God. That is very evident and plain in the Word of God.

So, what can we do to rid our HEARTS of the sin? Well, just saying “God forgive me” is not what repentance is. 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].

Then John the Baptist gives some insight about repentance as well: Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 3:8 Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart];

So, to truly guard our heart, we must stop being CARELESS with our heart, and start striving to be BLAMELESS with it. To do this, we must make sin our enemy. As long as sin is a FRIEND that we justify then we will NEVER be victorious over it. God never promised to give us victory over our friends, but over and over again, He promises to make us victorious over our ENEMIES. My prayer is that all of us will begin to hate sin so much, that God can help deliver us from that ENEMY. When David sinned, it broke his heart, not just because he had been caught, but he began to realize what his sin had done to his relationship with His God. He asked God to please, not take His Holy Spirit from him, and he then asked Him to create a new, steadfast spirit within him. And above all else, he asked for a CLEAN HEART! Even after he sinned, because of his true repentance, God was able to call him a “man after my own heart.”

1 John 1:9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].

What a promise that I John 1:9 is. Thank God, that we can come to the Heavenly Father, through Jesus’ blood and have forgiveness and deliverance from the bondages and strongholds in our lives. My prayer is that we will all guard our hearts, and strive to be BLAMELESS through the blood of Jesus Christ!

God bless you, and thank you for reading this blog. I had planned on writing about “The temptation of Saul’s Armor” and even had that title above, but as I began to type, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to talk about the Heart. If you would like to comment on this blog, please do so below.

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day,

Pastor Rusty L. Blann
First Assembly of God
West Memphis, Arkansas

A "Bewitching" Spirit in the Church

As I sit in the sanctuary this morning during my devotion, I just sat and meditated for a moment on a truth that Paul often wrote of, but it hardly ever gets mentioned from the pulpit. This truth is mentioned in Galatians 3:1-

"Of foolish Galatians, who hath BEWITCHED you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?"

Paul asked the Christians in the church, who has betwitched you? What does this word mean?

The Greek word is baskaino and it means to speak ill of one, to slander, TO CHARM.

The word CHARM means: to influence or control through deception, to subdue or dominate or hold under a spell.

Guys, I am troubled this morning by this verse. Paul was writing to the CHURCH about a BEWITCHING spirit that was charming good people and leading them astray. We have warning after warning in Scriptures about the ease at which God's people can be deceived. We must be aware of the enemies tactics and devices. Listen to some of the warnings in the Bible:

2 Timothy 3:6 (AMP) For among them are those who WORM their way into homes and captivate silly and weak-natured and spiritually dwarfed women, loaded down with (the burden of their) sins (and easily) swayed and led away by various evil desires and SEDUCTIVE IMPULSES

Paul warns that there will be people who WORM their way into lives to cause division. You know what the word WORM means in the Greek? To hide their true self or identity. In other words they come among us, looking spiritual, but truly they are bring division and leading people AWAY from Christ and not to Him. They are sheep in wolves clothing, using deception to cause division. Listen to what Jesus said about this:

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as a sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves.

The message version says this in the same verse: "Don't be impressed with CHARISMA; look for character."

Then Simon Peter says this:

2 Peter 3:17 But you friends are well-warned. Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers.

Again Paul warns in Galatians 5:7

"You were running the race nobly. Who has interfered in (hindered and stopped you from) your heeding and following the Truth?"

Then Paul gives direction of where this hinderance comes from in Galatians 5:8

"This evil persuasion is not from Him Who called you (Who invited you to freedom in Christ)"
It is as if Paul, Simon Peter, and Jesus are pleading with us to be aware of this BEWITCHING spirit that is in the church and will become more and more prevalent the closer we get to the Rapture of the Church.

I heard a former Pastor of mine say several times while I was his youth pastor, "Everything that sparkles is not gold" Just because someone looks and sounds spiritual and full of integrity does not mean that they are genuine. We need discernment in the day that we live in. We must BEWARE of who we allow to influence us. If you aren't careful you can find yourself being BEWITCHED. I was talking with someone yesterday that admitted that she had been BEWITCHED by someone who she looked up to greatly. She didn't realize until the past few weeks that she had fallen for the CHARM of this person. We prayed and rebuked this BEWITCHING spirit and believe that she is FREE FROM IT.

One sure way of discerning whether someone is of God or of the devil is by their words and attitudes. If someone is constantly tearing down (maybe in a deceptive way) everyone, including the church and its leaders, then you need to understand quickly this BEWITCHING spirit that is trying to CHARM YOU and to do harm to you and GODS CHURCH.

I love you my brothers and sisters, and will continue on this point tomorrow morning, when I will discuss, "The temptation of Saul's Armor."

My prayer is that you have a wonderful and blessed day! Walk in the Spirit, living by His nudge so you can expose and rebuke this BEWITCHING SPIRIT! God bless!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day,

Pastor Rusty L. Blann