Planning to Win

Matthew 26:41 NKJV

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

When we want to win, it takes planning. When God gives us a goal, directly or indirectly, it is the devil’s job to try to stop us from succeeding. One way he does that is through temptation. There are temptations all the long the pathway to victory, on the path to our prize. We need to think about this and prepare for it. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. We cannot deal with temptation as it comes. We must talk about, think about it, pray about it in advance. Jesus gave 3 of his disciples advice about the subject of temptation. He said, “Watch and pray so you do not fail.” “Watch” indicates that we must be on the look out.” “Pray” indicates we need spiritual strength to overcome. Jesus points out that there are 2 parts of us that are in opposition to each other - the spirit and the flesh. The part that is the strongest wins. So if we want to risk losing the war against temptation, in addition to being careless about it, we can feed our flesh more than we feed our spirits. On the contrary, if we want to guarantee winning, we must be sober and vigilant and feed our spirits more than we feed our flesh. When we know what our goal is, we need to ponder the possible challenges that may come to hinder us and plan with much prayer what we are going to do to win.

Fellow Workers with God

1 Corinthians 3:9 NKJV

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

We have an opportunity to work with God - on His team! That is not something to take lightly. What an honor! The scriptures reveal what God is working on. We do not have to try to come up with something. It’s not our work, it’s His. So, we just need to find out what He’s doing and join Him. Psalm 10:14b tells us that God is the helper of the fatherless. So when we help children with no fathers - practically or literally, we are on God’s team. Psalm 72:12 tells us that God delivers the poor and needy. Verse 4 of that same psalm says that God will bring justice to the poor and save the children of the needy. Not only should we be involved with good works that help those less fortunate, but we should be excited about it, knowing that we are working with God, on His team!

Mysteries of the Kingdom 5

In the 2nd part of the dream, Robyn had left the suite and I was going to use the bathroom. One bathroom was close to the entrance/exit which had glass doors that led to a hallway. I noticed 2 men inside the suite, just past the entrance. One was seated while the other was standing and on the phone. I started to walk away and go to the other bathroom. Then I told myself I shouldn’t be doing that. I should make the men aware that they were in the wrong room and tell them to leave, then use the bathroom I intended to use. I turned around and approached the men and said, “Excuse me, sir.” I could not see the end of the dream because, while saying “Excuse me, sir” I spoke aloud in reality and woke myself up with those words.

Ephesians 4:27 NKJV says, “nor give place to the devil.“ I realized that this part of the dream was revealing to me that I needed to tighten up in my “zero tolerance” of evil. I was about to inconvenience myself to accommodate an intruder. That does not make sense. Not long after that, I felt a new pain in my body and responded by saying something like, “Excuse me. You have the wrong address.” Instead of adjusting to what the enemy brings, we must be aware that whatever does not belong in our lives is trespassing. Then we must not accommodate it, but cause it to evacuate from our territory.

Mysteries of the Kingdom 4

While taking a break out of town recently, I had a dream in which I was in a suite away from home with my husband. It had 2 bathrooms. There were 2 parts to this dream. I will share them separately. Here is the first part:

I went into a room where Robyn was and he was on the phone. I noticed a place that had fingernails and debris. As I was trying to get his attention, I was stumbling in a clumsy manner, knocking over large items, a couch and other pieces of furniture. I sought for understanding. What was the mystery being revealed here?

The disorder and mess was symbolic of areas of my life that needed to be turned around. 1 Corinthians 14:33a says, “For God is not the author of confusion…” That word can also be translated “disorder.” 1 Corinthians 14:40 says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” Chaos and disorder cause confusion and hinders our ability to function efficiently. When we are disorganized it causes us to forget where things are and run into delays or inconveniences due to trying to figure out where we put something. It can cause other problems such as missing a bill payment, forgetting an appointment, etc. It can create a mess and unnecessary stress. This does not mean we are disorganized in every area of our lives. It could be that one or more areas need to be addressed. I realized the dream was revealing that I needed to pause and examine my life to see what areas needed some or more organization. I immediately began to turn things around where needed and am enjoying the benefits. In order to do this, I had to spend time being quiet and allowing my spirit to illuminate my mind. Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.” 1 Corinthians 2:11 says, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” After searching and finding out what I needed to change, then I drew on the Anointing that lives in me to come up with a plan to correct things. 1 John 2:27a says, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things…”

Mysteries of the Kingdom 3

11/30/18

The night of November 29, I dreamt that a young man who had a miraculous recovery said he had contacted a gang to bring retribution on the person responsible for his accident. The gang agreed to do it. I gave him a strong warning that what he did could come back to haunt him. I asked him to think about what he would do if the gang came to collect from him. He looked as if he had not thought about that. He looked like he just thought he was finished with them after they agreed to mete out vengeance on his behalf.

This dream revealed how foolish people can be when God shows mercy on them. Instead of focusing on the goodness of God and expressing gratitude to Him, they look for how they can punish the person the enemy used to hurt them. If in the court of Heaven we had to suffer punishment for everything we did wrong, we would not survive. When we receive mercy from God, we must show mercy to others as Jesus taught us, and leave vengeance to God. Furthermore, we must never seek help from wicked people. The devil might “help” you but it will come with a price you may not want to pay or even be able to pay.

Mysteries of the Kingdom

In October 2018, I dreamt that I was in a room where Christians were being persecuted. I escaped and outran a man. I kept running and was not getting tired. When I awoke, I thought of the scripture in Isaiah 40:31 NKJV that says, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” I like to think of waiting on the Lord as taking time to fellowship with Him and let Him know we are available to assist Him with anything He needs. When we spend time with God and commune with the Holy Spirit, it helps us to be able to do what we cannot do in the natural. Let us not get so busy until we do not have time to wait on the Lord.