Anticipated Assumption

Sunday’s Monday 3-3-19

I have had a very joyful week this week (in spite of Satan). I delivered Meals on Wheels twice this week and can’t start to tell you of the joy it brings to my heart. This Facebook page also brings a lot of joy to me as it allows me to share a little bit of me with you, plus I get to receive some really great comments from you. It’s a win / win! Caution! “God at work!"

I had to have some medical test run this week in which I was told to avoid caffeinated drinks and it included decaf brands. When I asked why decaf, the lady answered, “decaf contains caffeine.” No way I thought, decaf means the caffeine has been removed. Wrong! I looked it up on the internet and this is what I found. Decaf coffee: virtually all decaf coffees still contain around 7 mg per 8-ounce and the rule for tea is, “decaffeinated” must contain less than 2.5% of its original caffeine. Truth is, “no decaf coffee or tea is actually caffeine free.” Which led me to search fat free food only to find again on the internet; According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), food manufacturers can label their foods as “fat-free” only if they contain less than 0.5 grams of total fat per serving listed on the label. “Which is not completely fat free!” The point God made to me is, how easy I assume something to be true and real. The bible warns in; Matthew 7:13 (ESV), “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. Because of my preference, I chose to blindly believe and trust the government, the manufactures and the retailers that their products are what they’ve led me to believe. The truth is I allow the people responsible for the products to adjust my thinking enough, that I would assume their marketing campaigns to be truth. Don’t get me wrong, these products are better for you (I think) but their claims are misleading. I felt an awaking coming on! God reminded me this tactic was created by Satan thousands of years ago and is still going strong today. With this in mind, I visualized Pandora’s Box opened a long time ago, infecting the world. God showed me 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV), Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour and then God ask me if I was on the menu. Think about it, it’s a valid question for all of us. How much do I trust the church, the leadership, friends and family? Enough to “biblically and spiritually” test them under the guidance of God? God tells us in, Romans 12:2 (ESV), Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I can’t tell you the times growing spiritually that I’ve received a revelation on something I had been taught growing up and believed it for years, only to find it was not biblical truth. It was a combination of bible (truth) and wives’ tale (fiction) which made for a comfortable, watered down, easy living saying or story, which sounded perfectly believable and I believed it with all my heart. Until God lit the candle! He broke my heart when He destroyed my all-time favorite lie, “God helps those who help their self.” Sounds real-spiritual but I know personally it’s not of God! Jesus has helped me a ton, when I didn’t know how to help myself. It is in these moments of confusion that Satan will attack our weakness of assumption, knowing full well our deep desire to find a quick and easy way to resolve the situation. He uses false promises, half-truths, well-meaning misguided Christians, loving family members and even our enemy’s, all with good advice to get us through it. This is when we must stop assuming and start testing, “search for God’s truth!” Colossians 2:8 (ESV), See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Jesus freed us but it only works if we allow it! God protects us but it will only happen if we allow it! The Holy Spirit helps us, but He can only help if we allow it! We must not assume that our church is God’s church, that the leaders are being led by God, that that our friends are God chosen and we are pleasing in the sight of God. Neither should we assume that Satan is not within our midst and temptation is not always in front of us. Satan would like for us to assume that we are spiritually above all this. “Don’t!”

I’ll not give you the red neck definition of assume, as I’m sure you know it, however I will say that I think God’s definition is probably not far from it. 1 John 4:1 (ESV), Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. Stop allowing Satan to anticipate your assumption!

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

COMMENTS WELCOME…pal249@hotmail.com…03/03/2019