I allowed an attack by the enemy to bar me from writing this past month. I faced a struggle between Pride, Humility and Greed. Their names are capitalized because I want to remember that these aren’t merely emotions that we feel but are enemies bent on separating us from Christ. Thankfully as the Bible says in Romans 8:35 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” This question is answered in Romans 8:37, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Look closely at the first word of Romans 8:35. The word is “Who” not What or When or Where or Why or How, but “Who.” The examples that follow are enemies of Christ not just emotions or events or occurrence; enemies. When God first shared this epiphany during my morning prayer time I thought that I must have misunderstood but as I read Romans 8:37 I began to understand what He meant. Romans 8:37 says “…we are more than conquerors…” Strong’s dictionary defines conqueror as; to vanquish beyond, that is, gain a decisive victory: – more than conquer. Who do we conquer? There is that word again, “Who.” God has given us the power through His son Jesus Christ to have power over these enemies, but sometimes we don’t recognize them as enemies. Satan does his best to convince us that they are just our own emotions. He doesn’t want us to recognize that they are his minions trying to ruin our lives. Here is how they managed to worm their way into my life this past month. Continue reading
At Home
These are topics that I feel God has prompted me to write about describing my daily Sojourn as I attempt to walk along the narrow path that leads to Him.
Listening for Opportunities
Why do we walk past or ignore people who are obviously hurting or need someone to talk to? I know that there have been a number of times in my past when I was just too scared to talk to someone who was crying or upset. After all I’d tell myself, “I’m not a counselor or therapist; I won’t know what to say” I’ll even admit that there were times when I flat out thought “That’s not my ‘responsibility’ someone else will take care of it.” Continue reading
Doubting God
Have you ever felt that God has called you to do something, but then started to doubt whether that calling was really from God? To be honest… I have. I know that the enemy is always there trying to get inside of your head. His name means “The Accuser” and he’s always prepared to try to convince you that we are failing; particularly when we are trying to do something that God wants us to do. This past week has been that way for me. I’d actually started to wonder whether this blog was really what God wanted me to do or whether my fleshly self was trying to win God’s favor through works. Doubts kept coming into my mind every time I began thinking about it. All week long I’d been praying to God about those doubts, but the more I thought about them the stronger they seemed to get. Yesterday in frustration I cried out to God saying, “God, You have to show me what to do to get rid of these doubts!” As soon as I asked He answered. Continue reading
Sowing Seeds
I was blessed by an interesting insight into the parable of the Sower of the seed and it came from a completely unexpected direction. Yesterday I mowed the lawn and when I was finished I went inside to get cleaned up and eat supper (my fantastic wife made Asian Tacos YUM!) I got so distracted by the food and other household chores that I forgot that I’d planned on putting out some new grass seed. Since it wasn’t quite dark yet I went back outside to sow the grass seed around the lawn. While I was spreading this seed the parabale of the sower who sows seed in the different soils kept running through my mind. I fantasized about what it would have been like to be a farmer who had to spread his seed by hand. Every time I felt the seeds leaving my hand as I strew them across bare patches of ground I felt a sense of satisfaction, peace, and accomplishment. Unfortunately, the local mosquitos obviously felt that it was their duty to interrupt my peace of mind since they called all of their friends and descended upon me in hordes; or at least that’s the way that it felt when I started to get bitten by them. Continue reading
My first step at returning to posting
I really felt called to write a blog regarding the stories that I learned about while I was on the road. Unfortunately, at the time that I started this blog I wasn’t able to dedicate the time necessary to achieve that goal. Thankfully that season of my life concluded and the stressors and things that were sucking away my time have been greatly reduced through the bountiful blessings that our Lord has given me; new job (with two promotions in the last 6 months); financial windfalls; and a much stronger prayer life (thanks to a small group bible study.) Despite these blessings; for almost a year now I’ve felt like I’ve been coasting and needed to take action. Lately during my prayer time I’ve felt God pointing me back towards writing about people’s testimonies again. Continue reading
Worthless Idols (Struggling with our desires)
What is an idol? As a youngster idols are usually thought of as objects from the past or things seen in a Hollywood production. Scenes of the hero taking a golden idol out of an old temple, or a view of a group of “ignorant natives” bowing down before their deity are easily found in movies or on TV. Even the Bible teachings guide us toward thoughts of a similar image. Exodus 34:17 says, Do not make any idols. and Leviticus 19:4 tells us, “Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.”
Idols are obviously a very important subject in the Bible. A quick word search using the word “Idol” in the Bible brings up 223 different references regarding Idol, Idols, or Idolaters. Why is it so important that we recognize what Idols are? Continue reading
Do prayers really work?
15 Aug 2013 by Marcus Mallette in Sojourner’s Tales
The 5th of August seemed to close in inexorably on me like a man trying to hold back the sea’s tide with a tablespoon. I’d scheduled that date to take my CompTIA Security+ certification examination. No matter how much I studied I felt this sinking feeling that I just didn’t have enough time to prepare for the test. I was nervous about the exam and prayed about it asking for God’s help every day as the date drew closer and closer.
When the date arrived I was strangely at peace knowing that if God truly wanted me to pass this certification process then He would help me through it, and yet there were these occasional doubts that kept popping up in my mind. No matter what I did those doubts kept appearing. When I prayed about those doubts I got a very strange answer, Continue reading
Sex, Adultry, and the Good Wife
07/28/2013 by Sojotales
The subject of yesterday’s post (Are We Good Samaritans or Satan’s Tools?) was about a woman in need. On the other hand there are women who actively cause distress. The Bible talks about the kind of woman who causes distress and the type of woman who is her antithesis. The first is not just a gossip or a backbiter (though the Bible address those types of women as well) she is a willing adulteress; actively searching for unwary men. Her counterpoint is the virtuous woman, the treasure, the Good wife. So what is the difference between these two types of women?
The Bible is pretty clear in the words that are used to describe an adultress. Continue reading
Build Your Kingdom Here — Rend Collective Experiment
07/23/13 by Sojotales
This song has been running though my brain and pulling at my heart for the past couple of weeks. The first time I heard it I’d turned on the radio a little over halfway through it and only heard the end of the song. Something about the words that I heard that afternoon just seemed to reach inside my chest, grab hold of my soul and pull. When the song finished that longing pulled on me so hard that I ached to hear it again. The thoughts that this song evoked in me were all focused on Christ and his return; how glorious that day shall be. Those feelings welled up in me and everything else that came out of the radio after that just seemed to be white noise. I was focused on Christ, His kingdom, and what His return would mean for mankind. Continue reading
Fear, Depression, and feeling Alone 1 Kings 18:17 – 19:18
07/22/13 by Sojotales
This morning I read a blog post by secretangelps911 entitled Fear no more part 3 of fear Isaiah 41:10 NKJV which started me thinking about fear, depression and feeling alone. One of the Bible stories that I find most inspirational in dealing with my own depression is the story of Elijah being fed by an angel. The events that led up to that moment are pretty amazing. Continue reading
Sojourner's Tales 