Dreams and Crossroads

No doubt you have had dreams and wondered what the underlying reasons were for having them.  Many of my dreams seemed real, as if the substance of each dream was coming directly from the realm of reality, which, at times, were disturbing and a bit frightening…bad dreams.

Dreams give me pause to try and figure out what they are saying to me, personally, especially the ones that repeat themselves in various scenarios.  Many of them have elements that seldom vary in content and have the same, common denominator message.

I looked up the word, floundering, to perhaps use it in this writing.  The definition, shockingly, brought back memories of past dreams that I had before becoming a Christian.

In these dreams, my feet would bog down when trying to run as if they were stuck in thick, gooey mud that was holding me fast.  Most of the time I perceived that someone was chasing me, and I didn’t know who or why they were doing so.

In my efforts to flee, I felt a bit of comfort, in that my pursuer never caught up with me even though I was floundering when trying to run.  As I now ponder these thought-provoking dreams, I wonder if the one pursuing me was the Holy Spirit.

I was certainly determined to run in the opposite direction and get away from whomever it was.  I had no interest in finding out who they were, because my focus was on getting away from this assailant or stocker.

If it was the Holy Spirit behind me, the mud I was stuck in must have represented sins that were restraining me and controlling my every move. 

In the real world, where the rubber meets the road, my drive for enjoyment was top priority before I became a Believer.  My wayward lifestyle consisted of things that brought hurtful regrets, which caused frustration and pain.  I was on the wide road to destruction, which was a filthy, muddy avenue that I traveled.

When I was a teenager, I believe that God sent a godly man my way to tell me that if I chose the straight and narrow path, instead of journeying on the road I was on, it would lead toward heaven and provide real purpose and meaning to my unfulfilled existence.

(Ezekiel 34:11), “For thus says the Lord God: ‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.’ ”

One day, an unusual circumstance happened that brought me to a crossroads where I was faced with a life-changing decision that needed to be addressed.  Was this the path that the man was talking about so many years ago?

(Psalm 139:7,8), “Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?”  (v 8) “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”   

At this crossroads, I weighed my options and contemplated which way to go.  I wondered if this new direction could really be the answer to escaping the heavy burdens that were impacting me in negative ways. 

I was in my mid-twenties and finally ready to submit to the narrative that kept resonating in my mind of what the man shared.  His voice was encouraging me to make a change from the way I was headed and take the detour to an abundant life in Jesus.

No doubt it was the Holy Spirit bringing his message back to me.  Living was certainly too confusing and unpredictable on the road I was on.  I needed help.

The same person told me that happiness was just a prayer away, and all I had to do was make the decision and turn from my wicked ways.  He said that peace would be mine on the straight and narrow path that led away from the road I had been traveling.  He then shared the following scripture with me.

(Matthew 6:33), “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

I was running from God and tired of the unrest I was stuck in.  The Holy Spirit was urging me to detour from sin that brought confusion, but the choice was mine to make.

I am thankful that I chose to reroute and exit the road that was familiar to me and take the path toward heaven where real contentment would be mine all the days of my life.

God is sovereign, yet He gives us freewill to choose.  He does not horsewhip us into submission to serve Him, but lovingly draws us to Himself through the wooing of the Holy spirit.  God, in love, presents a better way to live by placing crossroads in our pathway that lead away from the wide road to destruction, away from the weary journey that entangles us in sin.

I received total liberty when God forgave my sins.  At the very moment I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, peace began to flow like a river through my entire being.  I was finally free from the bondage that I had suffered with for so long.

God gave me new life when I made the turn and invited Jesus into my heart.  Liberty to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth is now mine, because God loved me so much that He gave His only Son to die on a cross for my sins.  This act of love also included you.

Written by,

Papa Boyd

Disarming the Enemy

Living in today’s economy is hard enough without being attacked on every side by the adversary of our soul.  I am thankful that God’s Spirit dwells within me Who provides peace during the storm.

(Philippians 4:7), “…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

We can all experience this peace through Jesus.  Turmoil and unrest come from our enemy, the devil, that advances in different waves of 3D methods to vex one’s inner peace. 

Any one of the following three tactical maneuvers can have negative effects on the sanctity of life if we are on the receiving end of Disappointment, Discouragement, and Doubt.  But God is greater!

The Bible says in (1 John 4:4), “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

3D tactics can deplete the joy that God provides to those that accept His Son as Lord if they surrender to these strategic attacks.  It is good to encourage those going through heartache and to pray for their deliverance.  God-given words, with meaningful substance, can encourage the heart of anyone suffering an attack from Satan.

The Spirit of the living God is our strength when the pressures of life and the attacks of the enemy try to invade and come between our relationship with God.  God will not hesitate to come to the aid of His sons and daughters.  He died for us on the cross of Calvary, because He loved us with a never-ending love.

In God there is all power.  We cannot forget that He is omnipotent and our advocate.  What concerns you, concerns Him. 

If hard times overshadow us, it is sometimes easy to forget who we are in Christ Jesus.  We are the children of Almighty God Who we can cast our cares upon!

(1 Peter 5:7), “…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

We can stand invincible through the power of the Holy Spirit when a trial raises its ugly head and tries to invade our comfort zone…the Godly position in Christ.  The name of Jesus will always defeat any incoming attack, because God is sovereign, and Jesus’ name is powerful. 

Even the demons believe and tremble at His name… (James 2:19).  We can resist the incoming flood of Disappointment, Discouragement, and Doubt when we plead the blood of Jesus and declare His name in the face of our enemy and the turmoil he brings.

The searching, negative questions that Satan tempts us to ask when facing opposition, are quickly extinguished before they become a raging fire of doubt.  God said that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  The Lord cannot and will not lie! 

The devil, on the other hand, would have you think that you are walking alone, and that God has separated Himself from you, because of this or that reason, but this is not true.  The devil is a liar.

(John 8:44), “…He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”    

 When we refocus our gaze upon Jesus rather than staring at the seemingly, insurmountable circumstance we face, we can close our ears to the devil’s lies and lift our chin high and know that victory is nigh at hand.

God provides strength as we cast our cares and discouragements upon the One Who loves us.  Jesus wants to carry our burdens.  He died on the cross not only for our redemption from sin, but to provide an abundant life, free from worry.

Jesus gives peace when we are attacked, because He disarms our enemy.  Be strong and of good courage, because Jesus is our ally and Savior when we face confrontation and attacks.  Total victory is ours when we speak the name of Jesus when facing opposition.

When we resist the devil, he flees from us.  This act of faith disarms Satan and eliminates the fear of his bite.  His teeth are removed, because of the blood that Jesus shed for you.  The Godhead prevents Satan’s advancements in his attempts to devour us.

(Philippians 4:13), “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

(Isaiah 59:19), “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd 

God's Plan or Past Memories

It’s fun to plan things and then look forward to those times of relaxation at a resort, on a beach, or camping somewhere in the woods.  It is always fun to get away with the family or friends and spend quality time with one another.

It is becoming a reality for people to live such a hustle and bustle lifestyle that some feel all they do is work and sleep.  Too many times I’ve said, “I can’t believe another week is gone,” as the hectic day I just had slips by and tomorrow comes too quickly.  Such is life if we fail to stop and smell the roses.

Planning vacations and having fun is certainly necessary, but we need to ask ourselves, “What am I doing for the Lord?  Where does He fit in my plans?”

I pray that the following thoughts will congeal enough to reveal helpful hints that can enlighten areas you’ve not yet explored.  Perhaps they can motivate you to challenge yourself to venture out into deeper experiences with the Lord.

I believe, number one and foremost, that God loves us beyond anything that we can comprehend or reasonably expect from Him.  A full understanding of God and His love is beyond one’s wildest imagination. 

No doubt the depth of God’s love is unfathomable and the breath, unmeasurable, because He gave His only Son to die for our transgressions.  What greater love is there?

(John 3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

I try to comprehend the intensity and majesty of God’s love, but the abundant capacity of His love escapes my finite thinking.  It is hard for me to understand just how much He truly cares for me. 

I have been saturated from my youth on that God’s love is the real thing and that I can count on Him for all my needs.  But in my limited thinking, I wonder at times how Almighty God, an infinite being who is full of mercy and grace, could love someone that spurned Him for years, while sinning and doing my own unrighteous things.

How is it that He knew me in my mother’s womb and had a plan for my life before I took my first breath?  I read in the Bible that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of humanity, yet it is hard to reason, logically, why He chose to suffer such a horrible death for this ole sinner boy.  Love is the bottom-line reason.

The Bible says that we must worship God in spirit and in truth, because our natural thinking and ability to understand the depth of His love struggles.  It is hard to receive and comprehend His sacrifice when we try to logic, why.

(1 Corinthians 2:14), “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

This is where faith must rise to the top and allow God’s love to manifest itself, like enjoying the cream that rises to the top of whole milk.

(Hebrews 11:1), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

As we read more about Jesus and His compassion for mankind, we will more so understand this love.  I hope one day that I can comprehend, in full, God’s love for me.  But wait!  I have experienced His bountiful love when He saved my soul from sin and is now fulfilling His plan in my life.

To understand what He did for us on the cross can only be realized when we surrender our life to Him and experience, for ourselves, the joy, peace, and hope that comes through the born-again experience.  I believe a new birth takes place in a person’s soul when sins are forgiven.  This miracle will only happen through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

An understanding of God’s grace reveals itself as we get to know Him on a personal level.  It becomes a One-on-one relationship with our Creator.  Even with this knowledge, I am sometimes bombarded with guilt of my past sins that can deplete the joy inside me if I allow my mind to dwell on such things.

It is difficult to realize the full relationship we can have with God when our heart and mind are divided with worry of past sins.  When we surrender our heart, mind, and soul to Jesus, there is no reason for memories to haunt us, trying to come between God and us, because God set us free from the bondage of our negative memories.

Yes, I am very much aware of my past failures and shortcomings, and I know that Satan tries to capitalize on them.  He tells me that I am not worthy to be called a child of God, because He is righteous in every way, and I am nothing more than a pile of rags to Him.   

The devil reminds me of my history of running from God, which makes it difficult for me to think or justify that a holy God could love a wretch like me, but the Bible says, unequivocally, that He does!

At times it is hard to kick the memory of past sins out of my mind even though it has been reformed with a new sense of worth at the very moment I invited Jesus into my heart.  Satan would have me live in past degradation and self-condemnation if I allowed him to do so. He uses fearmongering to keep children of God on the defensive, defeated, and feeling inadequate now that they are in the family of God.

Satan is seeking whomever he can devour with lies, deception, and intimidation.  Fear is the result of not forgiving ourselves of things we cannot change.  This is when the Holy Spirit reaffirms who we are in Christ Jesus.  He encourages us to stand fast in His strength and reminds us that God is omnipotent (all powerful).

As we sense God’s presence when we call upon the name of Jesus, He brings victory to a vacillating mind and casts out all doubt and fear.

The devil is not only an accuser of the brethren, be is an accuser of you and me, because of past sins that God has thrown into the sea of His forgetfulness when we asked Him to forgive our sins.

(Isaiah 59:19), “…When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”

When our adversary, the devil, buffets us and tries to bring up our past by cruelly shoving it in our face and accuses us of being hypocrites, we can rebuke him in the name of Jesus and resist his accusations and claim victory, because of Jesus in us.

(James 4:7,8), “Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (v 8) “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…”

You and I cannot do anything within ourselves to merit God’s forgiveness and eternal life in heaven.  It is only by the grace of God, through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for our redemption that true and complete salvation is ours.

(Zechariah 4:6), “… ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

(Acts 4:12), “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Please allow these thoughts and Bible scriptures to impact areas that will help you to forgive yourself of past wrongs that you have done, and believe that Jesus saves completely, without any residual sins to bind us from worshiping the true and living God.

As I have said, there is nothing we can do within ourselves to be saved…not our good works lest we boast of self-sufficiency.

(Ephesians 2:8,9), “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (v 9) “not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

It is only through the name of Jesus that God recognizes us as His sons and daughters.  Forgive yourself and don’t dwell on the past, from this moment forward, because Jesus paid the full price for your salvation.  We must believe and accept only Him, otherwise His sacrifice for us was in vain.

Be strong in the Lord!  Be of good courage and thank God for His forgiving power that sets us totally free from a heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh.

To put it simply, we can continue with self-destructive condemnation or surrender our all to God’s plan.  This means we can release our grip on sins that God forgave, and close the door on reserved, hidden areas that Satan keeps replaying in our mind.  We can forgive ourselves.

God has a perfect plan for each of His children.  Believe it and live it!  I leave you with this thought.  The next time Satan attacks and tries to condemn you with past sins, plan on resisting him and turning his accusations over to Jesus.  God’s plan for you will continue as you allow Him to reign supreme in your life.

Written by,

Papa Boyd