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SHIFTING PARADIGMS
3:30am, I woke up to a vision of a banner that simply said, PS: VOTE. I knew, from previous experience that it was the Lord, but I didn’t have a clue why He would wake me up to remind me to do something that I wouldn’t be able to do for a LONG time! Plus, I always vote. So, as is my usual response, I tried to go back to sleep. Well, true to form, I couldn’t. I dragged myself up, using my iphone as a flashlight, went to the bathroom where the window was lit up with a clear, bright, Big Dipper. I was suddenly excited, and wide awake, as I KNEW this was from Him.
I went downstairs, grabbed my bible, pen, and paper and wrote: PS: VOTE I looked at it a moment, then proceeded to write: Personal Safety: Victory Over The Enemy As I wrote, the Lord brought to mind the first slogan I learned as a kid: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, (come on, say it with me) but words will never hurt me.” I wasn’t quite four and the enemy was already embedding his lies in my mind- and I was repeating them over and over until they became my truth. But what does God say? Let’s look at Proverbs 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Hmm. Let’s contemplate this for a minute. Even if we’re blessed to know God’s word, and we agree that God’s word is true, what’s the danger in that little slogan? Well, let’s think about when we first heard it. For most of us, it was right after our brother called us a mean name, and we went crying to Mom, right? But the next time was when we said something mean to our sister and she went crying to Mom. Ahh, progress! Then we went on to use it on our friends. Let’s follow this through. Maybe in your case, the first time you heard it wasn’t from your brother or your sister… or your friend. Maybe it was right out of your Mother’s mouth? Or your Father’s? That little slogan became our license to tear people down with words. It’s embedded in our thoughts… as truth. Then one day we become parents. Who knew children could be so frustrating? We wouldn’t think of beating our little monster like dad did… but, we can use words. Oh boy can we use words! After all, sticks and stones, as they say. So we start with little things. Embarrassed that we have to change his diaper, we tell our friend, in front of our 2 year old, “Oh, he’s a little slow. Our daughter was potty trained at 13 months!” Then in front of our 9 year old, “He isn’t smart like his sister. But think of the money we’ll save on college!” We progress to, “Why are you so lazy?” and “You’re such a slob” and “You’ll never amount to anything!” and on and on. And that’s just from the people who love us. The world out there isn’t nearly as kind. By 16, your son gets it. When asked about future plans he says, “Me? (clearly you can see I’m an idiot) I don’t know. I’m not smart enough to go to college.” At 17 he displays signs of depression and you say, ‘Be careful honey, depression runs in our family.” If you’re really spiritual, you call it a generational curse and send him to Life Skills. But God’s word says, in Ezekiel 18 that there is no more generational curse! It also says “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” Proverbs 12:25 And, “The tongue of the wise promotes health.” Proverbs 12: 18. And, I realize this is sensitive territory, but it also says, “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” 1Corinthians 3:19 We’ll get to that later. What I want to do through this blog is to change your paradigms and, hopefully, your thinking. God says, in Hosea 4:6, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” We have been a generation of Christians who are bombarded with unbelief and the traditions of men. If we truly want to change the world, we need to change our stinkin thinkin- and believe God. Are you with me?
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