LAM Newsletter, March 2004

Expectations

I’m becoming more insightful in the area of expectations. Just when I think I “know” all there is about a subject, I get to learn more. This is one of those times.

When my husband begins telling me something, I start asking him lots of questions on detail. He asked me one day why I did that, and I told him that I needed all the information I can get so I can form a clear picture in my mind of what he is telling me. This helps me “see” what he is seeing. He never quite understood that until I explained it to him and understands now why there are moments of silence when he is waiting for a response. I’m putting a picture in my head so I can respond better. I find myself doing this with just about everyone. As people are talking, it plays out like a movie in my head because I want to see it the way it’s being shared. This is good, however there is one problem.

If I form a picture in my head that isn’t what it really was, this can cause communication problems. I believe that is why we can be so judgmental and critical, because what we “think” it should look like or be, is measured by our own pre-conceptions!

One day I was going to a place to visit and really looked forward to it. I was told all about it in detail and had a picture formed in my head, but when I got there it wasn’t what I “expected” at all! Then because of that, I couldn’t enjoy myself as much.

The scripture found in the II Corinthians 10:5 says “Casting down all imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” I understand that the pictures I form in my head are not a bad thing to do, but it’s when I place more importance on the thought of something than the reality of something.

Since I understand that I have a habit of forming pictures in everything I do, I decided to pay attention and not do that as much any more. I found that when I didn’t, I enjoyed things better. I was able to accept what was going on because I had nothing “set in my mind” to compare it to. Of course, I’m still practicing this and have found more peace and freedom because of it.

I do know that this kind of mental exercise (forming pictures) is very exhausting and yet on the other hand, can be very rewarding too. It allows creative people to develop things in their mind without having to write anything down. I can write a play in my mind, have all the sets built, costumes designed, within a few minutes of thought time. But even in that, if I expect a set on a play to be what I imagined and it wasn’t, I have to be careful not to lose my peace.

The Bible says that a man may plan his ways but the Lord directs his steps. I can make a plan, but I have to accept what is at the end of that plan. I need to be able to adapt to things that may be unusual, different or unexpected. This is something that may be hard for people to do; to be able to bob up and down on the waves without getting wet. To adapt to everything that comes our way, in thought or deed.

I’m no longer expecting things to be like I imagined them to be, I’m expecting God to work beyond what I imagined, hoped, asked or desired things to be! That’s the more excellent way.

Fear of Sickness

Many of you have known of the fears that I’ve had to face in my life. I’ve shared them in seminars, in my books and on the website. It has taken years of faith to overcome many of them, and this is one that the Lord is still working on. This is why: I was called to minister to individuals who were sick, but I didn’t want to get near anyone who was sick for fear of getting it.

I knew from scriptures that what I feared may come upon me, as spoken in the book of Job. Even with this in mind, I still had a hard time not fearing being sick. It didn’t make any sense that I would be called into doing something that I feared! But that’s God.

I would purposely sit far away from people in church to avoid sitting next to anyone who was sick. But it never failed, just as the service would start a whole family of sick people would sit right next to me. I found myself holding my breath, breathing lightly so as not to contract their infectious virus. One day after this happened for the umpteenth time, I threw up my hands and said, “OK God, I give up.” I knew this was to help me get past the fear of sickness.

So the battle was on. I was continually in contact with individuals who had contagious illnesses. So I began beefing up my immune system. I knew that a compromised immune system was rooted in a broken spirit and unforgiveness. I teach this stuff! The Bible says that a merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. So I spiritually beefed up my immune system by identifying brokenness in my heart. I identified individuals in my past that hurt me, people whom I thought I may have forgiven, but I still felt the pain. (If we still feel pain or hurt about something, we haven’t really forgiven.) So I “figured” I was all protected.

Well the other day I had some visitors come by my house. We had planned this visit for some time and we were all looking forward to it. We met on the Internet via my website, and began talking to each other by phone. They had a great interest in the teaching from Pastor Henry Wright who teaches on spiritual roots to disease, knowing I was incahoots with him, and closer proximity than the State of Georgia, wanted to talk more about the ministry. The whole family was coming, mom and dad and three young children, 9 mo. 4 years and 6 years old.

The bell rang, and in they came. Snotty noses and all! The baby was filled with congestion and when he breathed you could hear whistles and rattles in his chest. He was very sick. His mother told me he’d been this way for 2½ weeks and really needs a healing. They had been to the church for prayer, but he was not improving. Then I noticed the whole family was sick. Aughhh!!! I thought to myself through smiling teeth “Why would they come to my house sick like this?” Then I heard a gentle prompt from the Holy Spirit – “Be not afraid.” With that, I spoke under my breath, still through smiling teeth, “I will not fear but only believe.”

I picked up the little baby, held my hands to his chest and was moved with compassion on him. The fear of getting his cold was nowhere to be found. I was ministering to the whole family without the thought in the back of my head “I better not get this” as I usually did.

It was a tremendous time and they stayed all day.

Well, it happened. A few days later I started getting a little stuffy nose. I said to the Lord, “Lord, you promised.” Then He said, “I told you not to fear, I didn’t say you wouldn’t get it.”

In the ministry we find that a virus doesn’t have a spiritual root, so anyone who comes in contact with it can get sick. However, if a person is chronically sick in this area, then there is most likely a spiritual root causing the immune system to be compromised. It’s not time to go into fear, it’s time to ask God.

Sure I may be fighting off a cold, but I do it with joy and without fear! And I know for a fact, as in past experiences, that when I stay in an attitude like this, it doesn’t get the better of me and that’s exactly what happened. I may have had a virus, but it didn’t have me! I kept a good attitude and rested and I was still able to function as though I didn’t have one. “A merry heart does good like a medicine…” Smile….

My Precious

In last months article I alluded to a movie I saw that gave me insight on Jesus as my King. Now I want to share with you the other side of the coin. This movie also showed me the evil that can take everyone who is not aware of the evil, and it’s called “my precious.”

In the movie there is a ring, an all-powerful ring, that actually has power of it’s own to cause men to desire it. But when the ring is put on, it takes complete control of the ring wearer to do what it demands.

The Lord used this movie to show me that as long as the ring stays off of me, it cannot control me. It is the same thing with anything we put too much importance on. When it becomes so strong in our lives that it controls us, it is our precious.

As the story goes, anyone who cam in contact with the ring that had the “desire” for power within them, drew them to put the ring on. But the person chosen to carry the ring didn’t have any intentions of the sort, so he was able to carry it much easier, however, it was searching for weaknesses in the person to cause it to put it on. It was becoming a temptation. I realized that even though something isn’t a temptation for me now, it could be come one if I keep the thing there for too long.

In the story, there was an evil spirit also searching for the ring to claim it as his own, but what stood between him and the ring was the “will of man.” As long as the will of man did not give into the seduction of the ring, the enemy could not live through that person. He would patiently and eagerly wait for the person to put it on, and the moment he did the enemy had them. But he couldn’t have them until the ring was put on by their own free will. Once that ring was on, the person was now controlled by the evil that seduced him in the first place.

I wanted to look into my own life and see if there is anything that could be considered a precious. A precious is anything I crave or cannot do without.

The Lord brought my attention to addictions. We can only get addicted to something if we habitually do it, then it takes control over us. It is true that anything we cannot put down controls us. Paul from the Bible says that we should not let anything control us. It controls us when we desire it so much that we do anything to get it, even give up our own will. We end up taking it in, and it becomes our own. I know that I cannot have one chocolate chip cookie. If I eat one, it’s more than likely I’ll eat them all.

Paul says that all things were OK for him, but not all things were beneficial to him. He knew that there were some things he just plain stayed away from, even though it may be OK to have them. He knew himself very well and knew what he would do if he allowed himself to partake.

When people are sick with cancer and they are at the end of their life, I hear the term “succumb.” They succumbed to the cancer. In other words, it took their lives. I believe this is what happens when we put too much importance on something. It succumbs us. It takes over. It begins controlling us. We begin making excuses to keep it. We begin making provisions for it. It becomes our precious. It becomes more precious than the precious giver – Jesus. A scripture comes to mind found in Romans 1:25 “You worship the creation rather than the creator.”
This movie helped me to take responsibility and take back my life of control from the enemy by choosing not to become habitual in anything. If I begin to eat ice-cream after dinner every night, I recognize it as a potential precious and on purpose stop or eat something else. I understand that the body craves what is habitually given, and in order to break the habit I have to “do” something else. We cannot successfully give something up without replacing it with something. And that something is the real precious. The movie about the passion of Christ has been a big hit. It’s God’s way of calling the people back to His precious Son, forsaking all others and substance, and putting him forefront in our lives as the most important thing we desire and nothing to stand in our way of obtaining Him.

I pray that each person who has any sort of drive or addiction reflect on what I just shared. I put it into practice myself after I wrote it. I “know” that I can eat anything I want. But in my case, I was truly addicted to chocolate. It’s medically proven that it has an addicting agent in it, a chemical that causes us to desire it. So, with that in mind, I decided to put it down. It controlled me! Everywhere I went, I had to have some chocolate. When I would take a bite, my eyes would roll back in relief of tasting that wonderful morsel. I was satisfied, but only momentarily, because not long after, I craved more. It’s as the addict to a narcotic. Once it’s taken, they are satisfied for the moment, but more is needed. Yes, I can eat chocolate and will again when it has no control over me. But for now, I CHOSE not to partake. Once I made the decision because I wanted to “do” the word of not letting anything control me, I’ve been able to!

I have had it in my heart for years to give up chocolate, I heard it in my heart, I knew it was from God, but I just couldn’t! It had a control over me that I couldn’t let go of. I obeyed it rather than God. It was my precious. Today I can tell you that it has been nearly 3 weeks – and even though chocolate has been set before me, I have said no to it, because I knew it would control me IF I put it in my mouth! As with the ring; as long as I didn’t put it on, it didn’t control me. So as long as I kept the chocolate out of my mouth, it can’t control me. The temptation is still there, and as long as it is still there, it has a potential to control me. One day when the temptation is gone (which I know will happen), then I can eat it again without idolizing it.

Quote:

I came up with this quote as I was going through the teaching I shared in this newsletter. Anything that we see as our “precious” is an idol.

“Show me a packrat and I’ll show you someone who is in idolatry and fear.”