Serpents, Doves and Devils!

Enjoy the moment….be encouraged and laugh a little. Laughter is good for the immune system that the treason artists are painting full of ugly shades of doom, gloom, despair, and fear! And then after you laugh….

Remain calm and observe all things, and do not allow the devils of fake news to trigger you into bad decisions. Remember in the end righteousness wins and evil loses. They will reap all the evil despair, fear, doom and gloom they have tried to project into your mind! They do not have the Holy Spirit, they are led by minions from hell. These minions are subject to the Lord and the Holy Spirit can cast them into swine or back to hell itself.

Focus not on fear, but on how to have faith as a grain of a mustard seed in order to say to this mountain move so it will move and be cast into the sea!

PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR…AND SELF PROTECTION

By observing the other person’s behavior…we see their patterns. Patterns are big clues as to whether a person has your best good at heart or does not. So, how do we protect ourselves from falling prey to users of ill intend or just sheer selfish motives when we are so trusting? We learn to use discernment with the guidiance of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord told us to be wise as a serpent and Gentle as a dove. Let’s break that down. The serpent he was referring to, metaphorically speaking…has to be the wily devil in the garden who uses the mind control tricks…and the nasty goading to get you to think the way he does. Now that is pretty cunning…pretty darn tricky to be wise enough to know how to trick the thinking of the one you are after. So, I say he’s talking of the enemy here who is cunning, and to be just as cunning as he so you are not deceived.

Then he said to be gentle as a dove. Well, the dove is the symbol of peace and freedom and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord as a dove. So, the dove absolutely represents the gentleness of the Lord in his approach to sinners and his mission in the world. The lord used this analogy to give his disciples a visual as to what he was preparing them to do. He said they would be sent out as sheep in the middle of wolves and therefore they needed to be wise as serpents so they would not be tricked or deceived and yet to do no harm, so be as a dove being peaceful and doing no harm. He told them they will be put through all sorts of ill treatment but to be well in it for it was to be a testimony against those who did so wickedly. He told them when they were delivered up in these situations to stand and He would give them the words to say, so don’t worry about preplanning anything. He promised when they spoke against such evil ones it would not be their words but the words of their Father, God which spirit would speak in and out from their mouths.

He spoke of the awful times coming and did all to prepare the disciples of the nature of the mission they would be sent out to do in ushering the Kingdom of God on earth. Even all who are called, chosen and faithful up unto the Son of Man come again. He was preparing them to be sent out into the world and the message to the first disciples is the same message for us. Jesus gave us a road map to go by. We need to read it and heed it and pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to live it. Knowing these are evil days and knowing we must outsmart the enemy and yet, remain as doves. That is seek peace first by all means, but that does not mean we cannot make a whip of cords and defend our Father’s house as Jesus did, and or allow innocent lives to be slain before our eyes. To do nothing to help the little ones and those who cannot defend themselves is the reward of a millstone hung around your neck and tossed into the sea.

Matthew 10:16-23

⁶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

¹⁷ But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

¹⁸ And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

¹⁹ But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

²⁰ For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

²¹ And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

²² And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

²³ But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

It’s pretty clear that this teaching was timeless for both those in his days and for all days…especially to those of this present day. It is clearly identified as matching this exact moment of time we are maneuvering through.

How do we be wise as serpents?

Where times have changed since the disciples…the wickedness of man has remained the same. Patterns of evil repeat themselves and there is nothing new under the sun. Therefore….let me apply some basic common sense as we are all on the same journey to do what is right and to learn to stand in a way that is lawful in the eyes of God. And that is not to bend the commands of God to fit our ideas. We must allow the spirit to show us what cunning thing we are to do at that moment we are to do it. As the Lord will show us things we could never have imagined…and put words in our mouths that we could have never thought of. We are to pray unceasing and be still and wait upon the Lord and yet, to live our lives. So whereas that sounds complicated…it is simple. Just talk to God in all you do, in your thoughts, or outloud…in all you do…unceasing. Wait upon the Lord for him to tell you want action to take if it is a big one…otherwise go about your life and remember keep the Lord in your thoughts unceasing and ask him what this means, or that…and ask what to do when you have a thing that needs direction. He will answer you with his Words or send another to help you. That is as simple as it is. All you have to do is be willing to do His will.

That being said, what can we do physically to prepare ourselves for the days ahead. How do we become cunning as a serpent? What is good to do is to change up our patterns and be less predictable…destroy their data mining algorithms. People who think they know you….will find they no longer know what you will do? When people who know you begin to say…”You never know what you are going to do”….you will be like a Trump or a sly fox, definitely a cunning serpent. People will sit back and wait to see what you do. In other words you have the ball and they can’t trick you. No one will be able to judge what you are up to. You will become the one that is hard to figure out. By being hard to figure out, you will have the edge.

President Trump is and has been the perfect one to observe to learn how this art form of being wise as a serpent is applied. Most all have seen his hit show “The Apprentice” where everyone is in the board room and someone gets fired. His decision on who to fire is based on facts, not emotions. He presents his observations or the observations of others then allows the person to explain him or her self. He listens and observes as the person rattles on to explain their actions. Some people take blame that is not theirs to take, and at those times, Trump would note that and ask them point blank why they are taking the blame for someone else’s actions. He then let’s them know that he hates that worse than anything. That’s weak and then…BOOM! “You’re Fired.”

One of the key enjoyments in watching the show was to guess who Trump would fire. To see if they could think like Trump. What made it fun was to also catch the mistakes of the apprentices to see which ones were headed toward the front door to exit for good. The many ways of doing the worst things among the worst things to be fired.

That being said, during this time of everything right is wrong and what is wrong is right…it is the perfect time to learn more about human behavior, starting with our own. We all want to be strong, patient, independent, vigilant, courageous, right, smart, and be able to see through lies.  How many have what it takes to be even a few of these traits consistently?

If you are like most people, you can honestly say… you have what it takes, but don’t always do it.

And why is that?  What happens when you aren’t on your “A” game and you are fooled by someone’s smooth talking? Or when someone you trust decides they are now going to mess with your head? And now, that doesn’t always mean mess with your head to hurt you…just mess with it to make you decide to do what they think you should do. Generally, this will be from someone who actually does care about you and they will tell you it’s for your own good. They may well mean it to be taken that way, but, you have free will. So, how strong are you in keeping true to owning that?

Truly using your free will to make your own decisions and not be swayed by another’s pressure and or ultimatums is not always an easy thing. Especially when it is someone you love.

This is the situation many are having right now. Family and dear friends are varied in opinions on many things during this COVID WAR SEASON. Many conversations are escalating into words being SHOUTED back and forth, each believing they have the others best interest at heart. Hot tempers, hurt feelings, anger, frustration….and DIVISION.

Many are now experiencing how the caring mother has become the enemy of the loving daughter and the grand kids are the jab victims. The family unit has become a science experiment for the government and the jabbers are there to jab…not only with syringes but also with toxic lies and mind control propaganda. In the end…no one is there to hold your hand when the jab goes south and the one who wins the last word and is able to say, “I told you so…” has no joy in it. That type of winning has become useless, cold, sorrow filled and unrewarding.

Remember Matthew 10:34 ^” Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”

In these trying times the most important one to be true to is to yourself. There is only one to confide in for the truth in the way you should go, and that one is the Lord. We do that through prayer and asking the Lord to show you through the power of the Holy Spirit the discernment you are seeking. Not your pastor, not your spiritual advisor…only the Lord. There is no earthly mediator only the Lord. Remember Job and his well meaning highly religious friends. Their advice was awful and the Lord fully reproved all their words for being useless and lacking wisdom. Matthew 10:37-39 “37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.“

If you are unsure what to do…do nothing. Be still and know that God is there and be still until you feel his presence in you. Be still and listen. Quiet your mind and be still until your own racing thoughts, slow down and drift away, one by one…breathe in and out and be still. Ask the Lord to come to you for you are seeking him. He will come. He always does.  Just be still and wait.

We learn to see what truth is by questioning all things…and listening to the Lord and observing what He is telling us and showing us. In so doing, we see the human nature…and we look for the good in all….and become aware of the faults in all without judging and look past those, but never ignore those. If that makes sense…because we all fall prey to whispers from the dark side to lure us away….and many do this without thinking twice about it. Why is that?  Mostly because we have not been taught to be still and hear the Lord. We have been taught to live by reacting in a stimulus response cycle…instead of observing and listening. You do this, and I react by do that. We are used to following rules and if not clear on the rules, we know we had better ask what they are…and of course waiting for permission for all things. Raise your hand to ask to go to the bathroom. Hopefully permission will be granted, but if it’s not you will have to hope that waiting is a viable option. It often times isn’t.

We now have to get permission to do almost everything in society…and even learn the rules on how to get permission. Many things require being tested on the thing you want to do….like driving a car, or having an occupation that the government deems you need a license for. Which that list is very long. And if you are opening a business, you need to find all the rules for your business and licensing it requires. You will need many permissions and diverse licenses; even if you are just going to sell your own hand made crafts you need a license and permission. If you want to go fishing…well, you need a license and permission for that too. If you need to repair your home….you need permission from the city to do that too. Add a fence? Permission.

So, how free and independent are we? We have to follow rules of the state in raising and educating our children…they want to regulate how many we can even have. But first we have to get a license and permission to get married by the government at the county court house.

So when we sit down and are still… we begin to see what God sees and what we have become. There is no way to see the hamster wheel we are on while we are running as fast as we can on the way to no where.  We have to stop running. And sit quietly and be still. Then we see…as we slide off that we indeed were on a wheel running as fast as we could….going no where.

Isn’t it time to find a place to be still and observe your life with the Lord and listen to where he will lead you?

We are not here in this life as a soul to please others. We are here to seek God and when we find him, he will show us the way to His Son, and His Son will show us the way to His Father, God. Either way you do it, be it finding God first or His Son, when you connect with the Son, you shall receive His Holy Spirit who is filled with all Wisdom who shall teach you all things and comfort and strengthen you. The Lord shall truly dwell in you and you in Him. Then you will learn how to serve the Lord by serving others in need. Which is an entirely different thing than pleasing others. You will feel the difference between pleasing others because you have to, and the heart felt reward in serving others in need for the Lord.

This is the kingdom that is within you. And the kingdom that we are ushering in with the Lord and the Holy Spirit inside of us with every beat of our heart. Daily, the Lord is showing and teaching us as we learn to do this new thing. This marvelous thing.

This new journey is exciting as we learn to see what truth is by questioning all things…and listening to the Lord and observing what He is telling us and showing us. In so doing, we see the human nature…and we look for the good in all and are also aware of the faults in all, but we learn to look past those and not judge them for their faults. That is not to say we ignore their faults, far from it, but rather in knowing what they are, we might be more able to help them to find a better way and not fall victim to being harmed ourselves.

We can learn to understand by listening and having empathy which is not feeling sorry for someone…but understanding what they are feeling and the torment of their trials. Sometimes having someone listen is all a person needs, other times they may need some help in direction and support.

If that makes sense…because we all fall prey to whispers from the dark side to lure us away….and many do this without thinking twice about it. Because we have been programed by the system to live our lives reacting in a stimulus response cycle…instead of observing and listening.

We are in the world but not of the world, so now we must learn how to live as the Lord asked us to and follow in His way, and not the way of the world. He made it simple for us with two commands. The first is to love God with all of our heart, mind and soul. The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. In so doing, we will bring about the Kingdom of heaven here on earth.

We have a lot to learn on how to go about this great mission, but the Lord has sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us how it all operates. We do that by being still, and waiting upon the Lord, praying unceasing and by learning to be slow to speak, slow to anger, and by observing and listening. You are never alone, and you have the power given to David if you will accept it and ask how to use it. The same Holy power, that was with him when he went up against Goliath. That same power to stay focused as he swung his sling round and round over his head, as the giant laughed at him and his little stone.

And we know the rest of that story. God is not mocked, no, not ever.

Keep pressing forward…we are almost there!

Dianne