But how would we answer if someone said, "G.o.d wants to bless you"? We probably would say, "I don't deserve that."

How many of us believe we are ent.i.tled to G.o.d's blessings? We want the good things. We want G.o.d to love us, encourage us, bless us, and give us victory, but to say we deserve the blessings may be more than we are willing to accept.

Why do we struggle over the concept of deserving? Our tendency is to think that we have to do something to earn the blessings . . . that we have to be good enough or faithful enough. We miss the point of G.o.d's powerful, gracious love. Our blessings from G.o.d are not a result of our goodness. They are the result of G.o.d's goodness.

We are ent.i.tled to G.o.d's blessings for only one reason: because we are His children. It's just that simple. Those of us who are parents grasp that concept with regard to our children. We brought them into the world, and they deserve our love. We freely give them our love before they do anything good or bad. They deserve our protection and all the good things we choose to give them. They don't deserve those things because they've done something to earn them, but simply because they are our children.

Satan loves to trip us up on this one. As soon as we think it is right for us to be blessed, he points to our weaknesses or our failures. G.o.d points to our relations.h.i.+p. That's the difference.

Gracious and loving G.o.d, thank You for being willing to bless me. Even though the devil tries to make me feel undeserving, please remind me that I am Your child and You are my Father. My relations.h.i.+p to You makes me deserving, and I thank You for that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

28.

Evil Forebodings All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circ.u.mstances].

-PROVERBS 15:15 Shortly after I began to seriously study the Bible, I felt an oppressive atmosphere around me. Everything seemed gloomy-as if something bad was going to happen. It wasn't anything I could explain, just a vague, dreaded sense of something evil or wrong about to happen.

"Oh, G.o.d," I prayed. "What's going on? What is this feeling?"

I had hardly uttered the question when G.o.d spoke to me. "Evil forebodings."

I had to meditate on that for several minutes. I had never heard the phrase before. G.o.d had spoken to me, and I stayed quiet before Him so I could hear the answers.

I realized, first of all, that my anxieties weren't real-that is, they were not based on true circ.u.mstances or situations. I was having problems-as most of us do -but they were not as critical as the devil was making it appear. My acceptance of his lies, even though they were vague, was opening the door for the evil forebodings. I eventually realized that I had lived in the midst of similar gloomy feelings most of my life. I was expecting something bad to happen instead of aggressively expecting something good.

I felt a dread, an unexplained anxiety around me. I couldn't put my finger on anything specific-only that sense of something evil or terrible.

The Living Bible says, "When a man is gloomy, everything seems to go wrong." That's how I felt, as if something-maybe everything-was wrong or was about to go wrong.

As previously stated, I realized that for most of my life, I had been miserable because of evil thoughts and anxious forebodings.

As I continued to meditate on evil forebodings, G.o.d broke through and gave me a clear revelation. I was miserable because my thoughts were miserable-my thoughts were poisoning my outlook. My thoughts robbed me of the ability to enjoy my life. I should have been saying, "Thank You, G.o.d, for today. Thank you for Dave and my children and my friends and all Your blessings." But, instead of being positive, I found myself even dreading to answer the phone when it rang, for fear it might be bad news.

All of this gloom and doom that surrounded me began in my abusive childhood. I endured a great deal of misery, and most of my life was unhappy and filled with disappointments. I began to live in a vague fear and dread of the future. I had not been taught to let go of what was behind. I couldn't rejoice in what I had now and the good things going on in my life. I focused on the past and what might lie ahead-and what lay ahead was usually gloom and doom and chaos because that was what I was expecting. Satan had built a stronghold in my mind, and I was trapped until I learned I could tear down that negative, evil stronghold by applying G.o.d's Word to my life and circ.u.mstances.

I once had a friend whom I'll call Marlene. She lived in a state of constant chaos. One day she had health problems. The next day Marlene's son had lost his job, and they were going to have to support him and his family. As soon as that was over, another traumatic situation would erupt. Marlene was a Christian, but she lived in fear of bad news. Marlene would not have known how to live a life that was not filled with chaos. All of her conversation was negative and gloomy. Even her countenance was sad and gloomy.

I realized that I had started to become like Marlene-I was miserable because I had allowed Satan to rob me of the ability to enjoy my life. It took a while before I was able to be positive most of the time, but little by little, my thinking changed, and so did my life. I no longer live in evil forebodings, expecting to hear at any moment of a new problem. Now I purposely expect good things to happen in my life. I realize now that I can choose my thoughts. I don't have to accept Satan's lies.

Like everyone else, negative things do happen to me from time to time, but I don't become negative because of them. I remain positive, and that helps me enjoy my life even in the midst of the storms.

Dear Lord Jesus, through so many days in my life, I have been robbed of my joy and contentment by evil forebodings. As those feelings come to me, please remind me that You are in control. Help me to rest in You and rejoice in Your power in my life. Amen.

29.

Hold Your Tongue Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek, inquire for, and crave peace and pursue (go after) it!

-PSALM 34:13-14 "You really have the gift of gab," one man told me many years ago, when I first started in the ministry. He had pointed out something that I already knew: G.o.d had given me "a ready tongue," that is, I speak easily. Words are my tools. The Lord first gave me that gift, and then He called me into the ministry to use that ability to work for Him.

I have no trouble talking. That's my gift; that's also been my greatest problem. Because I seem to always have something to say, I have struggled many, many years over the right use of my tongue.

It has not been an easy battle.

Over the years, I heard various people saying things like, "Hold your tongue." "Do you have to speak every word that comes to your mind?" "Do you always speak first and think later?" "Must you sound so harsh?" Had I truly listened to what people were saying, I might have realized that G.o.d was trying to tell me something. But I ignored their comments and continued in my own stubborn ways.

I know I have wounded people with my words in the past, and I am sorry for that. I'm also grateful that G.o.d has forgiven me.

Several years ago, I realized that if G.o.d was going to use my life, I had to gain control of my tongue-not to just stop talking, but to keep my tongue from evil, and my lips from speaking deceit, as the psalmist David says.

I had a choice. I could hurt people with my words-and I could do that well-or I could bring my lips into subjection to G.o.d. Obviously, I wanted to be subject to the Lord, but it was still a battle.

Our words are expressions of our hearts-of what's going on inside us. If we want to know who a person really is, all we need to do is listen to their words. If we listen long enough, we learn a lot about them.

As I learned to listen to my own words, I also began to learn a lot about myself. Some of the things I learned did not please me, but they did help me realize that I had a character flaw that needed to be addressed. My words were not pleasing G.o.d, and I wanted them to. Once I confessed my failure to G.o.d, the victory came-not all at once and not perfectly, but G.o.d is patient with me. I'm growing, and part of my growth is keeping my lips from evil.

No matter how negative you are or have been, or how long you've been that way, G.o.d wants to change you. In the early days after my confession to G.o.d, I still failed more often than I succeeded, but every time I did succeed, I knew I was closer to G.o.d's plan for my life. G.o.d can do the same for you.

It won't be easy, but you can win. And the effort will be worth it.

Lord, help me use my mouth for right things. Put a watch over my mouth lest I sin against You with my tongue. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You. I ask it in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.

30.

Mind-Binding Spirits He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction.

-PSALM 107:20 I knew G.o.d had called me to a powerful, worldwide ministry. I didn't brag about it and didn't feel that I was special. I knew I was just a woman from Fenton, Missouri, whom no one had ever heard of. Yet I believed I would have a national radio ministry. I believed G.o.d would use me to heal the sick and to change lives.

In fact, instead of being proud, I was humbled. Who was I that G.o.d would use me? The more I meditated on that idea, the more I rejoiced in the goodness and sovereignty of G.o.d. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, the apostle Paul pointed out that G.o.d's choices often appear mysterious. He chooses the foolish to dumbfound the wise, the weak to shame the mighty. Paul concluded, "Let him who boasts and proudly rejoices and glories, boast and proudly rejoice and glory in the Lord" (v. 31).

I felt no cause to boast. I believed G.o.d's calling and promise to me. That's what I want to stress. And then I waited for G.o.d to open the doors that no one could shut. When He was ready, it would happen.

Although I don't know when the problem began, one day I heard myself ask, "I wonder if G.o.d really does want to use me?" Instead of holding on to the promises of G.o.d, I looked at myself and my lack of qualifications. I started to compare myself with other servants of G.o.d. When you compare yourself with others, that's always a mistake, because you usually end up on the negative side.

Doubts began to creep in. Maybe I just made that up. Maybe I wanted something like that to happen, but it probably won't. The longer the predicament went on, the more confused I became. I questioned G.o.d and the promise. I realized I no longer had the bright vision G.o.d had given me. I was filled with doubt and unbelief.

I began to pray and plead with G.o.d to help me. "If I just made up the things I have believed that You called me to do, then take the desire away. But if You've truly called me, help me. Restore the vision."

When I paused, I heard G.o.d speak in my heart, Mind-binding spirits.

"What's a mind-binding spirit?" I asked. I had never heard the term, so I didn't think anything more about it.

The next day when I prayed, I heard the same words. In fact, every time I prayed for the next two days, I heard, Mind-binding spirits.

I had already done a lot of ministry, and I had long realized how much trouble many believers had with their minds. At first, I thought the Holy Spirit might be leading me to pray for the Body of Jesus Christ to stand against a spirit called Mind Binding.

I prayed and I rebuked that spirit-and then I realized those words were for me. A mind-binding spirit had tried to steal my vision, destroy my joy, and take away my ministry. A tremendous deliverance came over me.

The oppressiveness was gone; the questions had vanished. I was free, and the vision of the national ministry G.o.d had given me was central in my thoughts again. I read Psalm 107:20: "He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction." That was it!

An evil spirit was attacking my mind and preventing me from believing the promise of G.o.d. I asked G.o.d to help me, and He set me free.

That mind-binding spirit attacks many today. They know what G.o.d wants and are eager to serve. Sometimes they even announce G.o.d's plans to their friends. When nothing happens immediately, the mind-binding spirit sneaks in. It is as if a band of iron snaps around their minds and they find it hard to believe that their dreams can come to pa.s.s. Satan whispers, "Did G.o.d really say that? Or did you just make it up?" Hold fast. If G.o.d has spoken, G.o.d will perform it. Remember that Abraham waited twenty-five years for G.o.d to give him Isaac!

True and faithful G.o.d, forgive me when I allow doubts and confusion to creep into my thinking. Those are not Your tools. Through the powerful name of Jesus, enable me to break the power of every mind-binding spirit. Amen.

31.

Decide to Believe Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be a.s.sured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

-JAMES 1:2-4 Too often people stare at me with a blank look when I urge them to decide to believe. It's as if I'm asking them to do something they can't do. Faith comes from hearing the Word of G.o.d (see Romans 10:17), but it also involves a decision.

We enter into a relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d through believing in Jesus Christ, but that's only the beginning.

Believing doesn't end there. As I understand the realm of the Spirit, if we follow the Lord, we live with a growing faith. That means we learn to believe for bigger things. We learn to trust G.o.d for things we would never have thought of in our earliest Christian days.

When we become Christians, the Bible says we are adopted into the family of G.o.d: ". . . but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sons.h.i.+p] in . . . which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!" (Romans 8:15b).

That's the beginning. That's also where too many Christians stop. The Spirit keeps reaching for your hands so He can pull you forward. That's when you must decide to believe-or you resist and stay exactly where you are in your Christian experience.

Read the verse at the beginning of this topic. It says your faith will be tested, but you must hold onto it and move forward. The testing may come when the devil attempts to make you doubt the promises G.o.d has given you.

There is never a stopping place in your spiritual growth-G.o.d wants to take you onward. But you have to make the choice to believe. Sometimes that takes courage, but that's how the Christian life functions. We grow by taking steps of faith.

When G.o.d speaks to your heart-to your inner being-you need to learn to say without hesitation, "Let it be so, Lord." You have to learn to agree with whatever the Spirit of G.o.d says or wants.

Instead, many tend to resist. They don't say no. Satan is too subtle to nudge them to do that. He puts questions in their minds, urging them to ask, "How can that be?" They start asking G.o.d to help them understand. If your boss wants you to do a task, you can ask, "Why?"or ask for an explanation.

But that is not how the Holy Spirit works. You say, "Lord, if You'll help me understand, I will believe and obey." G.o.d says, "Just obey. If I want you to understand, I'll make it clear to you." G.o.d doesn't have to explain anything to us.

It frequently happens that believers know something down deep in their hearts-in their inner beings-but their minds fight against it. They may consider themselves unworthy. They may ask, "Who am I that You would use me to change lives?" They waste a lot of energy by telling G.o.d why they can't do what He wants them to do. G.o.d already knows everything that is wrong with us or ever will be wrong with us, and He is willing to work through us anyway. G.o.d requires availability not ability.

G.o.d asks you to do something quite simple: Believe. That's all. If G.o.d speaks, you need to learn to say, "Even though I don't understand, I'll do it." One of the best examples I can think of in Scripture is the story of Ananias of Damascus. G.o.d told him that Saul (later called Paul) was blind and in a particular house. He was to go and lay hands on him, and G.o.d would heal him (see Acts 9:10-19).

Ananias was afraid. Saul was the great persecutor of Christians, but G.o.d told him to go because the blinded man was a chosen vessel. Despite his fear and inability to understand why G.o.d would choose a great persecutor to be a chosen vessel, Ananias went and prayed for Saul, and the future apostle was healed.

That's how G.o.d wants us to behave. He wants us to choose to believe Him even if what He's asking us to do doesn't compute in our thoughts.

Holy Spirit of G.o.d, help me always to believe Your promises, even when I don't understand Your purpose. I want to learn to trust You more, as I move forward in faith to accomplish what You have for me to do. Help me always to be obedient, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

32.

Be Careful What You Think But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of G.o.d) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

-PSALM 1:2-3 Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You . . . I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law].

-PSALM 119:11, 15 In the early days of computers, they used to say, "Garbage in, garbage out." That was a way of explaining that the computer only worked with the data put into the machine. If we wanted different results, we needed to put in different information.

With computers, most people have no trouble grasping that concept, but when it comes to their minds, they don't seem to get it. Or perhaps they don't want to get it. So many things demand their attention and beg for their focus. They're not just sinful things. The apostle Paul said that although everything was lawful for him, not everything was helpful (see 1 Corinthians 6:12).

If you are going to win the battle of the mind and defeat your enemy, where you focus your attention is crucial. The more you meditate on G.o.d's Word, the stronger you'll become and the more easily you'll win the victories.

Too many Christians don't realize the difference between meditating on the Bible and reading the Bible. They like to think that whenever they read G.o.d's Word, they're absorbing the deep things of G.o.d. Too often people will read a chapter of the Bible, and when they get to the last verse, they have little idea of what they've read. Those who meditate on G.o.d's Word are those who think-and think seriously-about what they're reading.

They may not put it in these words, but they are saying, "G.o.d, speak to me. Teach me. As I ponder Your Word, reveal its depth to me."

On the previous page, I quoted from Psalm 1. This psalm begins by defining the person who is blessed, and then points out the right actions of that person. The psalmist wrote that those who meditate-and do it day and night-are like productive trees . . . and everything they do shall prosper.

The psalmist made it quite clear that meditating on and thinking about G.o.d's Word brings results. As you ponder who G.o.d is and what He's saying to you, you'll grow. It's really that simple. Another way to put it is to say that whatever you focus on, you become. If you read about and allow your mind to focus on G.o.d's love and power, that's what operates in you.

The apostle Paul says it beautifully in Philippians 4:8: ". . . Whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]."

It's sad, but most Christians don't put much effort into their study of the Word. They go to hear others teach and preach, and they may listen to sermon tapes and read the Bible occasionally, but they're not dedicated to making G.o.d's Word a major part of their lives.

Be careful what you think about. The more you think about good things, the better your life will seem. The more you think about Jesus Christ and the principles He taught, the more you become like Jesus and the stronger you grow. And as you grow, you win the battle for your mind.

Lord G.o.d, help me think about the things that honor You. Fill my life with a hunger for more of You and Your Word so that in everything I may prosper. I ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen.