Faithbase

So, guys, about three weeks ago, the Lord put it upon my heart to put together a team of prayer warriors to lift up this new project, 7 Minutes with God, which Lord willing, will start on January 1, 2022. And also to lift me up in the process. Well, what happens, I put together a team of about 13 people, this is on Tuesday, and an hour later, bam, I get this numbness on my left arm, numbness on my face. And I'm going, okay, great, you know, what is going on? So the enemy is starting to throw stuff at me. I didn't think too much of it because it happened about five years ago and there was nothing. So I kept going, but my energy level just dropped dramatically, which is strange. That was a new thing. So after a couple of days, I was talking to my general practitioner and she said, you better rush to the ER. And I said, well, I'm in the middle of meetings and you're not going to have any meetings. So go. Well, I went, they did blood test, CAT scan, MRI, no signs of anything, no stroke, no TIA, no heart attack. And they were scratching their heads because they said, well, the symptoms are the one of a stroke and yet there is nothing that was registering. And you know, I was thinking of Wizard of Oz. I was thinking about when Dorothy went in, you know, with the three goonies and they find behind the curtain, this little man that has been doing tricks all along with smoke and mirrors to make himself look so big, so great, right? But in essence, he was just a con man from Nebraska. And our spiritual enemy often is that way. You know, big voice, smoke and mirror, this whole thing. But at the bottom of it all, he's still a deceiver. He's still a liar. John tells us that he is the father of lies. And he started that way in the Garden of Eden. And he's still doing that nowadays, you know, feeding us lies about our future, our identity, our bodies. And he wants us to believe those lies. Why? Because he's seeking after the destruction of you and me. The Apostle John tells us to test the spirit so as not to be deceived. And then Paul, when he is praying for the Philippians, he's saying, I'm praying that you may gain more depth of understanding, that you may gain more insight, more discernment. And then Christ himself in John 14 says, peace I leave with you. And then he goes on to say, do not let your heart be troubled or afraid. And fear, dear friends, is a very, very powerful tool that often the enemy loves to use. And I know if you remember the story of Nehemiah, when he was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, so many people were trying to put fear into his heart. He had death threats. He had lies and deception coming from all different directions. And there was one particular passage in Nehemiah 6 that I want to read to you. When the prophet went to him and said, hey, these people are coming after you. They want your life. So you better go and hide in the temple. Well, he didn't go and rush to save his life. But this is what he says, verse 12 to 16. And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, you know, the prophet, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me, because Tobiah and Sambalath had hired him. For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, so that they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Remember Tobiah and Sambalath, oh my God, according to this thing that they did. And also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. So the wall was finished on the 25th day of the month Elul in 52 days. And when all the enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. And that is my desire that this work will be blessed and be accomplished by the power of God. So in the midst of it, though, we got to be alert not to be deceived. And that is my question to you and to me, am I a discerning believer? And if we are not, let's pray for that spiritual discernment. Until next time, may God bless you. Have a great weekend. Ciao.