UPDATES from LAM:

We continue changing as the Lord leads, and one area is that I'm no longer helping develop corriculum for Be in Health. This doesn't mean I'm not a part of the ministry as I will continue to help where I can, it just means I'll be spending more time on LAM now that the project was completed. I look forward to assisting Pastor Henry in the days ahead as the Lord leads. I am planning to visit there again at next years Pleasant Valley Days, and I hope you all have an opportunity to attend one of the FML or FYL week long teachings. They will bless you immensely. But for LAM, there are some new things on the horizon for you to participate in.

• Teleconference teaching - Cell groups to start September 26th for a 6 week period. Teaching on "6 Basic Principles for Freedom." If you are interested,please contact me so I can schedule you in one of the meetings available on Wednesdays or Thursdays. I am offering morning and evening sessions.
  
  Email your request to: truthfrees@mindsync.com.
  Or visit the Website for more information - mindsync.com/lam
  
  

Be sure to visit the LAM website to take advantage of the teaching materials provided to you. Books and DVDs are also available, along with live teleconference teachings on a variety of subjects.

TOM's TIDBITS by Linda Lange

"You are helping people go home."

One morning I was reading the Bible and came across the word "Gospel." The Bible says to go out and preach the gospel. Well, I wanted to understand what that really meant. So I began looking up the word Gospel in the Bible, and within a couple of scriptures it was clear. Here is where I started: Galatians 1:4 "Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.... I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel."

This clearly tells me that Jesus saved us from sin to deliver us from this world so that we can have a relationship with God our Father. The gospel is all that Jesus represents and since the Bible is the Word, and Jesus is the Word, the whole Bible is the Gospel! This confirmed to me that what I do in ministry is preach the Gospel. I help people get to know Him and His love. Help people understand how to get free from sin and bondage.

As I was sharing this with my husband, which by the way took a good deal more words than what I'm sharing with you now, he responded with one line saying, "Your job is to help people go home." How simple is that!

FRIENDSHIP by Linda Lange

One morning my husband and I were talking about people that we know. There are several people that have stopped contacting me even though I have tried numerous times to contact them. I had to finally realize they didn't want to be my friend any longer. My husband turned to me and said, "They were never your friend in the first place then, a friend stands by you no matter what, they are always there." As I pondered on that, there aren't that many that I have that I can say that about. Then I asked, "How do you know who are friends then?" He said, "Friends don't want anything from you, they are there to love and accept and be there for you. They stick with you no matter what." I began to weep as it hit me that I don't have very many friends then. Most of my acquaintances are those who need something from me, and that's when I hear from them. Then there are those who have judged me wrongfully and have ended our friendship. I had to come to the reality these weren't my friends in the first place. Then my husband saw my sadness and said, "All you need to do is be a friend to people not wanting anything in return." And I said that is scripture, "If you want to be a friend, you must show yourself friendly."

Perhaps friendship starts with me! Perhaps I've put restrictions and demands on people without me even knowing it. Perhaps I'm not being a friend to them?? Hey, we all need to do some self examining from time to time, I just get to tell you because that is the call on my life, to help you. So I will take my husbands advise, and show myself friendly to all people, without respect of persons, without thinking what I think I can get or who they are in society. Jesus was a friend to all, and all he did was give... And that is my best example.

To add another side bar to this friendship stuff. I wonder if we are a friend to God? Selah

MOTIVES by Linda Lange

This article goes along with the article on Friendship. If we are friendly to people, what is our motive for being friendly? For the sake of being kind or do we want something? Do we have a deep desire to change people and get them to do things for us? What are our motives? Are our motives to truly help someone without the need to be accepted, praised, recognition or approved, respected in return? Or are our motives from a heart of love and sacrifice - which are really works of righteousness. Now I'm not saying that doing everything right is righteousness, I said when we love people, that is works of righteousenss.

I believe most of us, without knowing, work from the first motive, wanting others to do what we want them to do. To be what we want them to be so we are comfortable. This is rooted in fear, control and manipulation. If you see yourself doing these things again, take them to the Lord and confess your sin. Because truthfully, in this attitude when you "try" to get others to do things (which is control and manipulation) you are only making things worse and even alienating yourself from them with the complete opposite outcome you desire.

God says He looks upon the heart of man - He sees the intents of the heart. It's time we took a look at our intents (motives) as well. Jesus came to set us free, not only us but others, so why are we trying to put others in our little box?

It's time to set others free from our own selfish desires, just as much as you want to be free. Do unto others as you would have them to unto you. This scripture has somehow gotten lost.

Return and "do" those first works, Revelation speaks of. What are the first works? Believe.

PRECONCEPTIONS By Pete Plitt

Years ago a well know company had members who would invite friends and neighbors to their homes for a "dinner party." At some point a flip chart with a business plan came out and for the next hour or so, the captivated, and somewhat obligated audience would listen. Though some went on to be quite successful, the approach had no redeeming value and most were quite offended. But rarely would one give any thought as to why people would use such a tactic. Quite simply, they were trying to avoid the preconception that most people have, a predisposition to judge a person or idea before knowing the facts, not even hearing them out.

Certainly one should be prudent when it comes to that really "good sounding" idea, but sadly, we have all fallen victim to the con elsewhere. We have conformed to the world in many ways and not even realized it. Case in point, most sodas have no food value for the body and in fact, can be very harmful, yet are consumed by the millions of gallons. [1Corinthians 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"]. Credit cards create mounting debt resulting financial slavery to the lender. [Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law"]. The point here is not to brow beat or Bible thump, but to expose how and why we end up nutritionally and financially bankrupt [just to name a couple], even though we can quote Bible verses all day long. Nor is it to say that we can't enjoy an occasional soft drink or use credit cards, but a wise person counts the cost. [Luke 14:28]

From an advertiser's perspective, to favorably affect the bottom line for the company they work for, it's not just about the funnier or more dramatic the commercial, but it's about knowing how the human mind works. They know, for instance, that around 95% of the reason people buy something is because of emotion, the rest on logic. That is why they hire people who study psychology for their direction and focus on the scenes and phrases in commercials that stimulate your emotions. For instance, you'll notice that a credit card company does not try to sell you on the color scheme of their card over another's, but emotionally tug their viewers on all of the exotic and fun getaways this little piece of plastic can take them. The long term impact of that trip is for you to figure out, as most do eventually. Repetition of ads is another process of their mind games. They even have it down to how many times they need you to see an ad before it is burned into your long term memory. Because of these ploys, most people act, buy and spend from conditioning, not by the Spirit. Why is it that our preconceptions have us doubt a friend with a new idea, yet those same preconceptions will allow a stranger's TV ad to be our guide without objection?

To avoid the world's entrapments, transformation into God's Kingdom thinking is key. Introducing the thought patterns of God's Word [Romans 12:2] through study of His Word [2 Timothy 2:15] is huge. But oddly enough, just knowing that our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit does not always change our eating and drinking habits. Paul demonstrated this truth in other ways before his conversion. He knew the teachings of the prophets who proclaimed the Messiah better than most anyone of his day, yet threw the followers of Jesus into prison.

Another step to fix preconceptions is spending time with the Lord in worship, getting to know Him as Father and God. It helps us adjust our focus from the problems of life to the One with the answers. We actually live in a day where we can fulfill the ultimate worship, in spirit and truth, [John 4:23-24]. But some worship God with all their hearts, yet believe that He causes illness or accidents to get our attention. They've heard it so many times, it has become entrenched in their belief system. So as liberating and intimate as worship can be, like any building project, we need more material.

Fasting, that is, going without food for a time, declares our "positional truth" of being dead. Galtians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Colossians 3:3 "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Our bodies are what allow God's residence in this earth. When He heals, it's by His prayer through our lips, His touch through our hands, His will through our actions. But not always do our bodies provide the vessel or vehicle of His direction. The fast, the very act of denying flesh sustaining materials, implements this truth [Romans 8:10], setting aside body/will wants for true life giving needs. [Matthew 4:4 "Man does not live by bread alone . . ."]. It is analogous to being seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This is, obviously, a positional truth. We can further see the impact of the fast for us by considering the effect on an unbeliever. Though they may experience a good detox to their body, they have no position in Christ, no death and life to share in. According to Matthew 9:14-17, the fast makes new our old wine skin so the new wine, our new nature, has a compatible home.

Short of becoming a Monk or Nun, we are still bombarded by the TV, radio and internet brain teasers that vie for our money, ultimately, our souls. So we must venture into a most important foundational time of praying, that is, praying in the spirit. This revelation gift gives insight to the Nature of God. For instance, the Word tells of what Jesus did on the cross, but the Holy Spirit reveals the impact and scope of that act of love, personally and globally. 1Corinthians 14:2 "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." The more we pray God's mysteries and ask for the understanding of those mysteries, the more we realize that there is truly nothing we can do to get God to love us any more or any less. His revealed Nature of ultimate and unconditional Love makes it plain that He could no more test us with tragedy than a normal thinking parent could put their child's hand on a red hot burner to "teach" them about the dangers of a stove, or to punish them for a wrong.

We learn from the Holy Spirit, our Teacher, that Grace is not a license to get away with sin, but is an empowerment to say "NO!" to sin. The revelation that accompanies our heavenly language puts a spotlight on the lying coward who hands us a line of justifications so slick that we don't even appreciate the magnitude of our mistake until the Holy Spirit gets opportunity to convict us during our time with Him. The unveiling of how he sneaks in to deceive is a part of the "edification" process that I Corinthians 14 is speaking of as we pray in tongues.

Again, what we do to this Temple and to our finances is not about finger pointing, but about recognizing the enemy's devices in our preconceptions. If he can talk us into consuming junk for foods, by the very law of "sowing and reaping," when the body begins to fall apart, the accuser has a shot at testing our faith, our doctrine, and certainly our "by His stripes we are healed" testimony. Is it any wonder that the organic farmers that are "of" this world laugh at our irresponsibility and hypocrisy? If the devil locks up our funds though the spirit of covetousness and convenience, how do we avoid those times when we want to give to a cause so bad that we just ache inside? Just the other day I heard a man in his 70's say, "I remember when I made $300 a month, had a house, a car and savings." All that means is that this world's system cannot be trusted when it comes to our overall health and stability. Build your countermeasures to deception: study the Word, worship, fast, pray in tongues, etc. Know what they are, know what they accomplish, recognize the gain when you apply them, and who it is that will do anything to get you to stop seeking the Kingdom of God first.

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