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Soft Targets

2/24/2021

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But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
~2 Timothy 3:1-7


Pause!

Before I talk about this passage and what God has placed on my heart, I feel like I need to clarify something spoken of here. Verse six says this: "For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions," I can almost hear the comments section raising in uproar over this. Though it clearly says 'women' in this passage I believe it is speaking of all people, only owing the wording to the first century notion that women were weak because they were for the most part uneducated. The truth is that we are all weak and susceptible to the influence of the Enemy and those under his sway. 

What makes us 'weak' as it says in this verse? Well, when we allow ourselves to be compromised by living a sinful lifestyle and putting our earthly passions before God and His kingdom. So if we look at it from this perspective, then all of us are in equal danger and can be crept upon by those with ungodly intent.

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Since the first day in the garden we have been threatened by an enemy. I know it is easier to think of what we fight against as a concept like 'temptation' or 'evil', but the truth is considerably worse. This enemy is the fallen angel Lucifer, yes the one depicted on TV as a romantic anti-hero. Satanists call him the ultimate rebel fighting for his rights over the oppressive establishment. And those unfamiliar with Scripture might picture a little red man with horns and a pitch fork, or the equal and opposite of God. All of these depictions are poison wrapped in candy, misinformation coated in glossed truth. Like the TV show, Lucifer was cast down from heaven when Lucifer chose to betray God. And he is a rebel against God, not for some grand or righteous purpose, but because he wants to overthrow God and take his place for his own power. Finally, Lucifer is the opposite of God. God is about love and serving others; while Lucifer is about hatred and taking for himself without regard for the well being of any others.

Satanists and some priests would say that Lucifer wars with God over the souls of man but I do not believe he cares in the least about you or I, not about our happiness not about our pain and he gains nothing from our 'souls'. He has one big beef and that is with God. Lucifer hates God with an unending passion, craving God's power but unable to obtain it. Unfortunately for Lucifer, there is NOTHING he can do about it. He cannot hurt God, he is not even on the same playing field as God. God is as far about Lucifer as he is above us! So if Lucifer (whom we call Satan which means 'adversary') is after God, then why does he come bothering us?

He would not, seeing us as specks unworthy of his attention except God loves us, making us His one soft target. God loves us and we are fleshy little things with big old targets on our foreheads. Lucifer knows how much God loves us, how deeply God seeks after us and works for our betterment. If he wants to hurt God... all he has to do is hurt us and our relationship with Him. Lucifer does not even care if we worship him, as long as we are looking away from God he is happy. And every time one of God's children is turned away from Him it is like a knife in God's heart.

As important as this is to know, why are we talking about it today? Why go over the motives of fallen angels? This is important to know because of 2 Timothy 3:1-7:


But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Which do you think would hurt a parent more; to have a child ripped away and killed, or to convince one child kill their sibling? This is Lucifer's strategy, this is his goal. We could go through each of these things listed at the beginning of 2 Timothy chapter three and see them at work in the world today. Proud, arrogant, greedy, brutal people living for themselves at the expense of others. Am I saying we are in the end times? I have no idea, maybe, but even if we are not, we are living in a world where we are becoming more obsessed with personal gains and what we think we deserve then what is truly important.

The worst part, the thing that breaks my heart and makes me weep, is that we do this and teach our children to do this and more. They are the 'weak woman' spoken of in this passage. They are burdened by our sins and led astray by the various passions we teach them to pursue. We teach them in grade 3 to question who they are, what they are. A child is not able to make decisions for themselves until they are 18 years old but we tell them they can decide their gender when they are 7. Is it a wonder why body dis-morphia and gender identity issues are sky rocketing?

Lucifer has been manipulating the narrative for generations, adjusting our perception of him. So how do we turn this back, how do we fight against a power that has literally had thousands of years of practice? We can't. Let us be honest with ourselves, if it was us versus him we lose 10 for 10. BUT! We are not the ones who have to fight him, God is with us and through Him we will live. By putting God at the center of who we are and what we do, we take on God's spirit and confound the plans of Lucifer. We become beings of love, of self-sacrifice, of joy and of peace leaving no place for the taint to take root. It is an ongoing process that requires vigilance and commitment and will at times hurt, this is a war after all. When we side with God there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is an eternity with Him filled with His love and peace. The light we see when we follow Lucifer either knowingly or not... that my friends is fire at the end of the tunnel.

I hope you take this as an encouraging message today. Being a follower of Christ is not easy but it is worth it. Remember, you are loved, you are cherished, you are awesome. God bless.

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Yesterday, Today and forever

2/17/2021

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The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful--
for he cannot deny himself.
~2 Timothy 2:11-13

I have been looking at my life and where I put my priorities, and as I have been looking I cast my eye on my relationship with God. This self assessment has brought me to a very important realization; there is one and only one definitive unchanging and immovable variable in my relationship with God. This is not just in my relationship with God but yours too, and that is Him.

He is the same yesterday

The situations we are going through, the so called 'facts' in our day to day lives change constantly; do not believe me? It is a fact I have to go to work today; if I lost my job, got sick or the church I work at blew up then those facts would change. Beyond this, what is important and relevant to us changes even faster then the facts. Think about a year ago and what was important to you then. Around this time last year I had 30+ kids in the after school care where I was the director and I was building up steam to start our first ever Spring Break Camp. Now the world has changed... I had to step down as director and because of illness I am only working about 15 hours a week. My life and what is important and relevant to me has MASSIVELY changed.  There is only one thing that is unchanging, always and forever relevant to me no matter where I am and that is God.

He is the same today

Regardless of what I am going through God has always been there for me, that singular knowledge, that God has never left me even when I have turned my back on Him,  insulates me from the fear my current situation tries to instill in me. I know He has my back because He is the same today as He has ever been. Can you imagine the security and safety that knowledge fills me with? Do you have that security? You should you know. This is not just MY GOD, He is OUR GOD, He is there for you as much as He is there for me because there is no end to His love for all of us. Love is something that defies physics. The more love you give to others fills you with even more love, it is a never ending flow that continues as long as you are using it. And here is the kicker many of us forget, GOD IS LOVE. As love itself God will never run out, never be too busy or not have time for you. God is the unchanging, undeniable everlasting gobstopper of love and will never leave nor forsake you. Chew on that for a minute.

He is the Same Forever

So take then the things of God and hold them tightly to you. For though the winds and tides of life ebb and flow; He has been, is and ever shall be our rock. God is the one thing we can cling to when all of our facts and situations shift leaving us hurt or broken. He is faithful and eternal desiring nothing more then to have a real and everlasting relationship with you right now.  I look back on my life from before I opened my heart to God, wondering how I survived.... and I see Him. Even when I refused Him, denounced Him, hated Him... still He was there watching over me and pouring His love on me patiently. Even then He was unchanging.

I love you all, please remember that during this painful and exhausting period that you are loved, your are cherished and your are perfect. God bless.

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A Good Soldier

2/11/2021

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 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. ~2 Timothy 2:3-4
I have wanted to write an article talking about social justice for some time, explaining what 'virtue signaling' is and how the media and supposed 'social influencers' are using hot button topics as weapons against people groups they have a problem with. I had a rant all locked and loaded ready to go as these people reeeeeally irritate me... (takes a long deep breath and lets it out slowly.)

Then the Holy Spirit led me to this passage in 2nd Timothy and it has made me reevaluate how to handle this. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. ~2 Timothy 2:3-4. Make no mistake, we are at war, but it is not against who you might think. We are not at war against the government or big business, not against racists or intolerance; our war is not against 'people' at all!

The best way I can think to explain it is this, think about the Keanu Reeves classic The Matrix. If you have not seen this movie you need to go and see this movie. It is one of the best allegories for spiritual warfare I have ever seen. In it, people are living their lives either for good of for ill; some are working in offices and others are criminals. It is our world with churches and media outlets and night clubs but underneath there is something else. There is a war happening all around them and they don't even know it, a war about the truth.  The truth is, what they are experiencing as reality is not truly real and is currently under the control of a force that sees them as little more than a means to an end. Mankind enslaved to this force. The people in the matrix are not the enemy, they are blind to the real fight and who the protagonists are fighting against.  This is spiritual warfare in a nutshell. Seriously, I could write all day about how you can find similarities between Christian spiritual warfare and this movie series but I think I will save that for another time. We are not at war with people but with a worse more devious enemy and our fight is not in the physical but in the spiritual.

My point here takes us back to 2nd Timothy: No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life I have opinions and feeling about today's media and 'social justice' issues, ohhhh do I have opinions! But for me to get in there and sling stones about these issues not only splatters me with the same mud, but pulls my focus from what is important and puts it on what is of this world. The earth is temporary and in the grandness of the universe my short hundred years or less is an infinitesimal speck; the kingdom of God however is infinite and spectacular. That is where my focus needs to be, on growing God's kingdom, and I do that not by fighting people. You want to identify as a rainbow unicorn? Go right ahead, but I can only pray that by watching me and seeing the way I live my life, accepting, loving, compassionate and deeply deeply in love with my God that you will become curious and follow this white rabbit to the truth, Jesus Christ.

When followers of Jesus get wrapped up in fighting for our earthly 'rights' and see ourselves as better then others we become just another voice yelling into the abyss. We become no better then the plethora of special interest groups that clamor for attention, neutering our credibility and our ability to effect growth for the kingdom of God. We knew persecution in this world was part of the package deal, Peter tells us: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. (1 Peter 4:12-14) We as followers of Christ experience persecution and suffering all over the world, is it fair? No. Is it right? No. Does it deny us what others receive freely? Yes. Should we be surprised? No. But we need to be beyond these things, looking to God instead of what is fair.

I hope you do not find this message today discouraging, we do not live for God so this life will be easier, but because we love Him and want to be with Him in the next. Remember, you are loved, your are cherished and you are perfect. God bless.

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Fighting the Good Fight

2/3/2021

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Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ~1 Timothy 6:12
When the lock down started almost a full year ago things got hard. I knew child care was recession proof as their are always people that need there kids picked up after school, but did not know I was in what would come to be called an 'essential service'. Just after spring break, the schools where I live were shut down and two week of full day care turned into six months. Parents were either terrified of what was happening or in denial and I struggled with learning how to become a full time teacher as parents asked me to teach their children and help them set up for their online class times. 

I worked hard to be a good teacher and a good boss, fighting to make sure my center stayed open even though we had a lot less kids then normal. All the while I was seeing people staying at home and collecting financial aid from the Canadian government. Wow that was tempting... It would have been so easy to close up, the government was even giving an amount to centers that did close and the aid offered was more then I would normally make in a month.  Even more tempting, I could have gone to the bank and deferred my mortgage, paying next to nothing for up to six months! 

Instead of doing any of this however, my staff and I pushed through and managed to limp to September, thankful schools were back in session giving us a break from the 8am to 6pm days of childcare. I am not trying to brag or pat myself on the back for not going for the assistance, only give some context for what was to follow.

I got sick in October.

It started with a mild discomfort behind my left shoulder blade, but progressed quickly. Just after Thanksgiving, (In October, which is the proper time for Thanksgiving. ^^) my wife convinced me to go to the hospital as it was starting to hurt to breathe. Thank you Lord it was not COVID! They could not see anything on the x-ray and told me it was most likely something called viral pleurisy, which I guess is something common enough that spell check knows what it is but I sure did not.  A couple weeks they said... I would be fine in a couple of weeks. There are no medications for this but I was I should take lots of pain meds and a couple weeks off, instead I went back to work. We were already short staffed as no one seemed to want to come back to work as long as the government was paying them to stay home, and the work with the kids was worth the pain.

A few weeks turned into a month and soon the pain became too intense to work effectively, now the doctors were saying four to six weeks and I would definitely be all better, just be patient. I could not work, I could barely talk as every breath was like being stabbed in the back and I finally submitted taking the last of November and all of December off. I would be fine by January... right? Thinking this and still needing money to pay the bills I went on the new government assistance, significantly less but it covered enough we could squeak by.

January came but I was not really better. I could speak, but even light activity still hurt. Working more then three hours was like a marathon and spoilers; still is. I had to go back to work though, we were falling further and further behind financially and I could not expect the after-school care to hold my job indefinitely.  My hours were half of what they had been, but between that and what the government was giving me it was just enough to give some breathing room, (no pun intended).

All of this led up to what happened a few weeks ago. The financial aid stalled, they wanted proof I had worked enough last year to qualify to receive the rest of the government assistance keeping us just in the black. Funny thing is, if I had shut down the after-school care back in March and gone on assistance then there would have been no hiccup and I would still be getting the funds we need. Instead I needed to submit paperwork and wait. At the time of this article I will have been waiting three weeks to hear if I even sent them enough information. 

Yesterday the bank called.


It was a massive relief! They were calling to see if we were doing OK and if there was anything they could do. I had never heard of anything like this and was deeply touched that they were concerned. The lady told us that we could have four months of our mortgage deferred and that breathing room was exactly what we needed. She transferred us to a specialist. The specialist told us about the lengthy time it took to try to qualify, letting us know about the massive hoops we would need to get the assistance, warning us that it was a one time thing for the life of our mortgage even if we did somehow qualify. Our hopes were quickly dashed and I could not help but ask her: "If we had asked for the help when the lock down started, would we have gotten the help?" She assured me we would have gotten the aid without question. Six months mortgage free.

The level of frustration in that moment was insane. If I had looked after my wants first I would have had six months mortgage free sitting on my bum playing Minecraft and made substantially more then I had working hard and pushing myself. My credit cards nearing their limits and in a place where I am struggling to see where I will be in the next few months, still waiting to see a specialist and find out why I am still sick. If I had hair I would be pulling it out.

If I had played the world's game my life would be easier, instead I "Fight the good fight of the faith". I do not do what I do because it is easy or lucrative; I do want I do because it is right. My actions are not to get your praise, I am not telling you this to get your acclaim. My actions are because I love my God and He tells me that doing what is right gains HIS favor, HIS praise, HIS acclaim. I will see my rewards when I go to heaven.

That is the take away here. It is hard sometimes to do what God calls us to do, especially when we see others getting rewarded for being self-serving. We have to remember though that the things of this world are fleeting and temporary whereas the things of God are eternal. I will continue to do what is right above what is easy, for God's way are better then man's ways. Have a wonderful week, and God bless.

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    Walking With God

    Walter Blackwood

    Director of Out of School Care at Sunridge Community Church in West Kelowna BC, Canada

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