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The key to being ready for marriage rests in your ability to solve problems biblically. Here are three things you need to solve conflict.

The first key to solving problems biblically is pretty obvious — you have to know the Scriptures. While that seems like common sense, it never fails to amaze me how little people know about the Word of God. I heard one friend say the other day, “I know the gist of the story.” Well, he might know “the gist” of what the Bible says, but he’ll never be able to solve problems God’s way with such cursory knowledge.

Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Clearly, the Lord is holding up knowledge as a desirable goal here, and He’s also saying that it is built upon a fear of Him. If all you know about the Bible is “the gist” of it, there isn’t much fear of the Lord in your heart. And that means your problem-solving skills are probably geared toward getting your way. That leads us to our second key…

You’ve got to have the desire to solve problems according to God’s Word. Whether they know the Bible well or not, many people simply aren’t interested in applying it to their personal relationships. Some don’t believe the Bible is relevant to personal relationships. Others are just naive. But for most, it’s because of their selfish desires, which leads us to key #3.

You’ve got to be willing to put your ego behind you. Conflict almost always starts because of a selfish motive. It can come from just one person or it can come from everyone involved in the argument. But the core problem in almost every conflict is someone is trying to satisfy a selfish desire.

How can I be so sure? James 4:1 asks us: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” And then in verse 2, James says: “You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”

But if you can put your selfish ambition aside, and act in humility, peace will reign in your relationships.

One final tip: Every time you get into an argument, remind yourself that at least one of you (probably both) is being selfish — then always look at yourself long and hard before trying to identify the selfishness in the other person. The quicker you submit your desires to God’s Word, the quicker your conflict will end with a God-pleasing result.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

Have you ever grown frustrated with your prayer life because it just doesn’t seem like God is answering your prayers? Does it sometimes feel like God just doesn’t hear anything you pray for? Maybe you even think He doesn’t care about your prayers. I know I’ve been there. Many of us have.

But what you’re about to read is what I believe is the number one reason our prayers fail. And what you can do to help bring success to your prayers.

Remember, your only priority is God. And that one priority determines how you treat everything else in life. When you love your spouse, it is because it’s God’s priority for you to love him or her. When you work hard, it is because it’s God’s priority for you to do so.

The same truth applies to prayer. When most of us pray, we have our priorities as the main topic of discussion. We ask for things that we want, that we hope for, that we need. However, few of us have learned to pray according to God’s priorities.

If you notice the Lord’s Prayer, the first request is for God’s name to be proclaimed holy (hallowed be thy name). And then it requests His Kingdom to come and His will to be done.

The key here is that the Lord’s Prayer is focused on God’s priorities. First, that His name be proclaimed holy. Second, that His Kingdom come. And, third, that His will be done.

All of those are God’s top priorities. And, so, they need to be our top priorities in prayer.

Of course, we are part of God’s priorities. We aren’t neglected in the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, we are told to pray for our basic needs, forgiveness and the ability to forgive, and our righteousness. These are all God’s priorities for us. And we should pray for these.

So any time you see a priority of God in Scripture, start praying that He would manifest that priority in your life. When you see that the greatest commandment is to love God, ask Him to enable you to love Him. You should also pray that He would enable you to love your neighbor. And, while you’re at it, ask for help to love your enemies.

God’s purposes will always succeed, and His priorities are based on His purposes. So when we pray according to His priorities, we are guaranteed success.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

Unfortunately, many Christians fail to succeed because they have their priorities out of whack. But if you can get your priorities straight, everything else will fall into place. Here’s your starting point.

How many times have you heard a Christian say, “My priorities are God, family, church, work, etc.”? I hear it all the time. It sounds spiritual. But the reality of that statement is that God is just one of many priorities. In other words, God is just one of many gods.

If God makes one thing clear in Scripture, it’s that He is God alone and expects us to make Him the priority of our lives.

So instead of making a list of priorities — with God as one in a list — here’s how your list of priorities should look: God.

That’s right! That’s all there is to it. God is your sole priority.

Of course, we have a lot of other things we must attend to in life. These include family, church, work, etc. So how do these fit into this new priority? If God is your only priority, should you avoid all the other things? Of course not!

The secret is that you now work on these areas of your life as a priority given by God. It is, in fact, His priority, not yours. You are responsible to do certain things for your family — not as your priority, but God’s. You work not because it’s your priority, but God’s. And the same applies to church and every other area of life. Anything that is God’s priority is now your responsibility.

How does this bring success? First of all, it helps you keep the right priority in all things. If you have a list of priorities, it’s oftentimes difficult to determine which one is most important. But if God is your sole priority, then everything always comes back to Him. It starts and ends with Him.

Second, when you go to make up your list of priorities for the day or the week, you can now ask, “What are God’s priorities for me today (or this week)?” Suddenly, a lot of the not-so-important things you want to do will drop off the list. And you’re able to focus on your most important responsibilities.

For instance, God’s priority for Sunday is that you worship with other believers. So instead of working or sleeping in on Sunday morning, your responsibility is to attend worship. On Monday, however, attending worship is not God’s priority. Work is His priority.

And, finally, the greatest way this contributes to your success is this: You can have full confidence that God’s purposes will succeed (Prov. 19:21). And His priorities are geared to make sure that happens. When you walk in God’s priorities, you know they will ultimately succeed.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

Worry has a lot of power over your health. Unfortunately, it’s a lot easier to say, “don’t worry” than it is to actually follow the advice. That’s because a lot of people try to avoid worry without putting anything in its place. We discussed last week how dependence on the Lord is the first place to start. And doing so gives us two ways to refocus our attention — and radically change our health in the process.

The Scriptures give us two ways to keep our focus off of worry and onto far more Godly ways of thinking. Both of these concepts bind up much of what God calls us to do. And it just so happens that they can keep us far healthier until the day the Lord calls us home.

The two ways to stay healthy are simply discipline and purpose. You’ve undoubtedly heard the verse, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18). That verse is obviously talking about purpose. It’s referring to a plan for the future. And it also encompasses hope — hope that there’s something better coming down the road.

But there’s more to this verse than just purpose or vision. The rest of the verse reads: “but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” This part of the verse speaks to discipline. Its focus is on our living life according to God’s Word. If you read Paul’s description (in Galatians and elsewhere) of how he lived as a Pharisee, you see the description of a very disciplined man.

Even after Paul realized that his rigorous works had no power to save him, and came to Christ through faith, he remained a very disciplined man. Moreover, he called us to be disciplined, as well. In 1 Thessalonians 4:4, Paul says, “each one of you (should) know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.”

So how does all of this help your health?

If worry and stress break your health down, purpose and discipline help to build it up.

If you read a lot of the studies done on what brings good health, you’ll see that many of them have to do with these principles. You’ll see that exercise, eating right, not smoking, and living in moderation with regard to how much you eat and drink all are part of discipline. Even the disciplines of prayer, meditation, and fasting are great for your health.

There are also studies that show how people with hope, purpose, and vision will stay healthier. People who have these characteristics have fewer sick days away from work. They also have less depression and fewer chemical dependencies. And, frankly, they have a reason to live.

How many times have you seen people die shortly after they retire? They simply weren’t able to find any purpose beyond their work. But some people thrive after they retire because they find a new sense of purpose that gives them a reason to live.

So if you’re looking for great health, the place to start is not in a pill bottle. Start with your mind. Is your mind solely dedicated to Christ? Is your mind disciplined? Have you thought of your purpose? If you can find someone with a need, it’s easy to find purpose.

And a great gift you can give your children is to teach them discipline and purpose while they’re young. It’s a great way to help them live a healthy, long life.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

A luminous world appeared in perfect splendor. It was all a flutter with beautiful angels darting back and forth excitedly proclaiming the Greatness of God. Suddenly a Being more beautiful than all of the rest stood before the exuberate crowd dressed in clothes that shone like lightning. All activity stopped and focused on the words that flowed elegantly and persuasively directing the angels to important missions for God’s chosen children on earth.

The time had come for the harvest of the earth and each supernatural being was directed to their charge. Their mission was to gather together the faithful and position them for the great and mighty day of the Lord Jesus’ return. They were ecstatic with joy that the time of destroying the evil off the face of the earth had now come.

When I looked at the vision and understood what it meant, truth flooded my mind with understanding. Our world had become so corrupted by evil that God had shorted the time of the end.

I was astonished at how simple minded people had become to their lives and how easily they were influenced to do bad. How could so many people be deceived? Why weren’t they striving to do right?

Matthew 24: 21-25, “For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days.
Then, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’-do not believe him. For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God’s chosen people, if possible. Listen! I have told you this ahead of time.”

We live in a world where deception is present in everyday life. For example, we are constantly bombarded with advertisements from fast food restaurants compelling us to eat fatty hamburgers and french fries. The media has persuaded our children to eat unhealthy cereals and beverages loaded with sugar by their favorite cartoons through TV commercials and advertisements on the boxes. As consumers and parents we have lost our ability to know what kind of food is best.

We sit and watch television all day. We are addicted to video games and the internet. We don’t clean our homes or exercise because we are way too busy with our electronic gadgets and working at our jobs so we can fuel our desire for things.

Our doctor offices are full of patients who are prone to constant sicknesses and major diseases because of unhealthy lifestyles from the indulgence of fatty fast foods and lack of exercise. People are taking pills for high blood pressure. They are filling their bodies with antidotes when the right medicine can be found by eating the right kind of foods.

Hospitals are springing up everywhere in order to meet the excessive demand of sick people. These people have lost there ability to tell the difference between right and wrong in what they eat and how they should take care of their bodies. These people rely on doctors and never call to God for help!

We fill our homes with big screen televisions and entertain ourselves with fast cars and expensive boats. Never thinking of anyone but ourselves. Always planning the next vacation that will bring excitement into our lives.

We don’t understand when floods come and sweep away our homes. “Why would God take our things from us?” “God must hate me.”

We don’t understand because we are so preoccupied with our own lives that we have abandoned our churches and we have neglected our faith so we can indulge in our luxuries. We have become children of the world taking care of our own needs while the poor become poorer and the rich build bigger and bigger homes.

A tornado wipes out houses and peoples securities and all the people think about is what memories they have lost, they console themselves with expectations of what new things they will buy with the insurance check. They don’t think about the poor in their community, who don’t have insurance, and have lost their jobs as a result of the storm? Who will help them?

Our world is a game. A battle between good and evil. A world where people are either for ‘God and good’, or for the great deceiver Satan and what they can get from the world. We must choose a side and fight! We must look at our world differently or we will lose ourselves in the activities of the world.

The seasons are changing, it is hot where it is suppose to be cool. It is cool where it is suppose to be hot. It rains when it is suppose to be dry. It is dry when it is suppose to be wet. Look at what is happening and you will begin to understand that ‘The Time Is Now’ and the ‘End of All Things Are About to Happen’.

Daniel 12: 1-3, “The angel wearing linen clothes said, ‘At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God’s book will be saved. Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace. The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars forever.”

Our world is a game meant to teach people the difference between good and evil. The wise will learn the lessons of the world and they will pray for help when the storms of life come. The wicked who have been deceived by Satan, will blame God and abandon their faith for their worldly pleasures.

Why are the people running to doctors and administering the medicine to their constant wounds? Why are they so preoccupied with making a living for their pleasures? Why do they build bigger houses and larger banks for their money?

We have given into evil and we are blind to our sins. We don’t care about our mother or father in their old age. We don’t care about the financial status of our children. We don’t think about the homeless and the poor. Our only interest is about ourselves and what makes us happy.

Mark 13: 32-37 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

When we are preoccupied with this world then we are at risk to storms, sicknesses and violence of all kinds. We are at war against evil and when we are sleeping on the job and not asking God to protect us and help us fight we have surrendered to the world.

God’s chosen children need to stop sleeping and start using their power of prayer to activate God’s angels. They need to put on the armor of God and fight Satan and the evil he has the power to inflict upon men. When we aren’t fighting for good then evil is given permission to dominate the world.

The Angels eagerly gathered together to fight. They no longer had to wait upon the call of God’s chosen people. Now they had the authority from God to stop evil in the world. They no longer had to restrain their will to fight against Satan and all people who choose evil over good. The End has Come!

Unfortunately for the people of the world The time is Now! Look at all of the deception forced upon all people through false advertisements! Look at the climate change! Look at all the sicknesses of the world! Look at the wars that are escalating and leading closer to a nuclear bomb!

Wake up sleepers and start preparing for the end!

Linda C Dipman author of THE GAME OF LIFE IT’S ALMOST OVER http://outskirtspress.com/gameoflife presents AND HIS LOVE SHONE DOWN my true life story! It describes all the persecutions I endured. It will put you on the edge of your seat as you read each vivid detail. You will feel terror and experience love like nothing you have ever read before. lovinghandsministry.com

Challenges to our faith come in different ways for different people, but I’ll admit to a decidedly lack of faith when it comes to creepy, slithering things that bite! That lack of faith comes from my belief that I’m wise enough not to tempt God with foolish activities.

Down here in the South, there’s a curious phenomenon that I call picking up snakes for Jesus. It’s definitely not for everyone and usually occurs in small churches that have very little, if any, affiliation with national organizations. Understandably they do not have a large following.

To those of the serpent sect, holding a poisonous snake is an outward expression of their faith in the Lord. Followers of this notion quote the New Testament in Mark 16:17-18, in which Jesus Christ says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe in my name; shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.”

Now, I have enough faith in Jesus Christ for two people, but my belief system is unbelievably small when it comes to being in the same room with a rattle snake! On the one occasion I’ve had to witness such a spectacle, I graciously bowed out, giving the sick grandmother excuse for not being able to attend such a gospel meeting.

Snake handling in the south was still alive a couple of years before the tragedy of 911. The ritual of picking up snakes in a church service was flourishing in some small congregations, even though there was a law banning the practice. For the most part the preachers involved in such unlawful dealings, gladly paid the fines of $150 to $500 if levied, rejecting governmental authority in favor of a higher command.

The last news I’m aware of about serpent handling in church was from my local newspaper less than ten years ago. There had been a death by rattlesnake in a town close to where I live. A week before, an acquaintance of mine told me about a visiting preacher coming to his church soon, with a truck full of cages that held rattlesnakes, adders, cobras and a couple of other dangerous reptiles. It seems that there was a circuit of churches in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee that welcomed such an event to prove their faith in Jesus. My faith in God is great, but I don’t believe that God wants me to cuddle a cobra.

Less than ten years ago this circuit riding preacher was holding a revival in a small church with only about 75 in attendance that fateful night. This reverend was billed as having been bitten over 20 times with his belief in Jesus so strong, that the serpent’s venom was not powerful enough to kill him. He must have had an off night in the faith department.

This night, after beseeching the Lord to keep him protected from the snake’s bite, he
Released a 4 foot timber rattler from its cage, picked it up and with great passion, began preaching of God’s great love and redemption. The timber rattler, obviously not impressed with the message, bit the preacher on a finger of his left hand as he was waving it in front of the snake.

Not allowing such a petty thing as a deadly snake bite deter him, the good Reverend continued to preach his message for about 15 minutes before collapsing in front of the pulpit. At this point it wasn’t clear as to how the rattler got back in the gage. Either the preacher had the presence of mind to get him back in the cage, a member of the church came to the rescue and trapped it or someone killed it with a shovel. This part of the story was never reported.

The congregation prayed over the man until the ambulance came, but to no avail. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Perhaps his faith was lacking that night, or maybe God expects us to use our brain and not purposely tempt a snake to act like a snake.

This is not my kind of faith. I have a belief that God will be with me through all kind of perils not of my choosing. If I choose to play with a snakeknowing the dangers, then I have to put my faith in myself. I’m much too smart to do that!

Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, fishing and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at:
http://www.redfishbob.com
http://www.bluemarlinbob.com

Langston Hughes creates a past experience into a true to life drama of guilt, deception, and grief, in “Salvation.” He reveals the story of how he was forced into receiving Christ by his peers, relatives, and preacher. Helpless and alone, he struggles against overwhelming odds. After a long-winded sermon the children of the congregation are asked to come forward and accept Jesus.

Instead of moving forward, Langston waits for the Lord to come to him. When nothing happens, Langston goes forward anyway just to please his aunt and the church. In the end be is not only grief-stricken, but has Lost all belief in God.

Group pressure forced Langston into doing something that was totally against his good judgment. When Langston’s friend Westley went forward the pressure increased twofold. Not only was he exposed to the persuasion of the church, but he realized that if Westley did it, it might be admissable. A similar situation might be Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

When Adam saw that Eve had taken of the fruit and was unharmed, he too ate of the tree of knowledge. Westley certainly hadn’t been struck dead, so why not give in to save further trouble? If he didn’t get saved everyone would turn against him. In a sense the congregation became his God because they pushed him into going to the platform.

The author gains the respect of the reader by telling the story from his point of view and in his own voice. He tells the story truthfully as accurately as he can remember it.

The highly vivid descriptions of the church, the preacher, and his aunt, help keep the momentum of the story rolling. Langston provides the main character an audience and the reader a bit of human excitement. He recreates the true drama of facing an opposing force without any outside help.

Although Langston Hughes believed in the reality of Jesus, he was deceivingly forced into doing something completely against his will. He fooled everyone by making an insincere decision. His emotions and feelings come out in the end of the story. Langston could hear himself thinking during the ordeal and he knew that he was alone. His final decision was based on what was sufficient for the congregation, not himself.

“Salvation” is an awesome portrayal of what true salvation is all about. It is a heart decision, not just walking down an aisle. It was Keith Green, the Gospel Artist, who once said: “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, anymore than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.” Endquote!

It is my sincere desire that those who don’t know the Lord who read “Salvation” may understand what it really says in I John 1:9: If we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.”

Notice, confession is from belief in the heart, not out of peer pressure or submission to what everyone else wants you to do. I sincerely believe “Salvation” by Langston Hughes makes those who have merely walked down an aisle, not because they wanted to find Jesus, think twice.

When one truly finds Christ, it’ll be from the heart, not from anything else…

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The atmosphere darkened bringing a creepy chill of expectancy to the land. The tornado sirens sounded warning all residents to immediately take shelter. Fear dropped into my mind as I realized that my daughter, son and their families were in a severe storm watch where tornadoes were sighted.

Turning on my television set a news anchorman within moments broke into regular programming breathlessly announcing that Greensburg, Kansas was devastated by a tornado that was a mile and a half wide. I took a deep breathe as I realized that my daughter and her families town was just twenty miles from Greensburg.

Immediately the weatherman highlighted the direction of the gigantic storm and how it was closing in on all of the surrounding towns. Tornado’s were springing up everywhere and torrential rain and hail was pelting everything in it’s path.

Outside my own home a wave of tornado sirens began to sound. Hammering rain mixed with hail pelted my home bringing an even more eerie feeling to the night. My satellite television went out and I grabbed a radio and flashlight as I headed for my safe room. Quickly I learned that a tornado was headed straight for my own city of Great Bend.

1Peter 5: 8&9, “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings.”

Our world is more than what it seems. Each of us are players in a supernatural world game of tug-of-war. A battle of good versus evil. A complex life game that demands that we choose a side and fight or give up and die! A game that can devour whole towns if you don’t understand why tornado’s are released to cause devastation and loss of life.

Each difficulty we face has a goal to bring us to our knees and make us deal with the consequence of living in a imperfect world. Each brings us to a valley of decision that is meant to test us and perfect us for the eternal perfect world God has prepared for those who conquer evil and choose to do good.

I have been tried and tested in this world through everything I have experienced in my life. Everything I have personal gone through just makes me more keenly aware of the struggle that all Christians face when they choose to do God’s will. When you hold onto Jesus Christ and His teachings, you will come under attack by Satan and his demons.

The Bible tells us why our world is destructive and menacing to the very existence of all human kind. Satan is the god of this world and his desire is to destroy all people’s faith in God. The devil doesn’t want anyone to understand why tornado’s exist, because if they knew the truth they would fight back and win their own personal struggles against evil.

Ephesians 6: 11-13, “Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil’s evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God’s armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy’s attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.”

Every time we face tests of all kinds we do spiritual warfare that demands that we use the word of God in order to fight. These verses make us aware of what we are fighting against. Every bad thing that comes up against people from ferocious storms, to pestilence of all kinds, to wars being fought near and far is meant to defeat the followers of Christ.

Ephesians 6:14&15, “So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace.”

Understanding the consequences of living in a war zone made me understand why my own family was in the path of a colossal storm. I personal chose to fight for God and because I clung to the word of God and to the principles taught in the Bible my entire family, community, and state were under siege.

I was not alone in my struggles against Satan, all Christians in Kansas were under attack for believing and placing their trust in God! Only together were we able with God’s help to defeat the continued destructive path of the storm. God heard the voices of the faithful pleading on behalf of their brothers and sisters and God dissolved Satan’s will to destroy additional towns.

Ephesians 6: 16-18, “At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people.”

When you understand the battle between good and evil you begin to realize that the ominous storm did not happen as a punishment sent by God, but rather as a test that is meant to make us strong! It reveals what kind of soldier’s we are in the battle against evil. It builds our character and gives us the ability to become stronger people.

James 1: 2-4, “My brothers, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Satan attacks every community that strives to do God’s will. He battles against the good in order that his own evil works can be accomplished. He wants to destroy people’s faith and make them blame God for what they just suffered.

God takes the evil Satan inflicted on man and turns it into good by showing Christians everywhere what they are capable of overcoming. He gives them testimonies that they can share with all people. He gives good and faithful people the opportunities to be on national television and tell everyone that with God’s help, Greensburg will rebuild again!

Nothing can prevent Christians from praising God, because the love God produces in our hearts shine forth when we face tragedies of all kinds. Our hope in a powerful God helps us to function even when we have just lost everything we have ever owned.

1Peter 1: 3-5, “Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God’s power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the proper time.”

Everything that we go through has a reward. A reward that is waiting for us in Heaven. A reward that is measured by the amount of tragedy we overcame in our worldly lives. Together we share in the richness of a perfect heaven where nothing can spoil or ware out.

Everything about our world is temporary. Food has a shelf life. Vehicles can be destroyed. Weather can destroy an entire community. People have an appointed time and then they live no more in this temporary imperfect world.

When we place our hope in God, we are different from the people of the world. Because we know that our suffering will make us stronger people and change us into better people. We feel for the homeless people of the tornado. We care about those who lost someone they loved during the tornado. We have compassion for people who have no work, because their jobs were destroyed in the tornado.

Romans 8:28, “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.”

Jesus Christ gives our lives purpose. We never give up no matter what happens because we know that our present situation cannot defeat us because we have Jesus on our side. We are like super hero’s who have been given the ability to stand up to evil and fight!

This is the reason why we must understand that when you are in a world game of good versus evil, you will see the differences it makes in people. People who are good will rise above the destruction of a tornado and testify for God, but those who have given into the world will run away and hide and blame God for their pain.

Our world has an appointed time and then the world game is over. Be patient as you endure Satan’s rampage of evil and remember Jesus is coming in the clouds to bring all his faithful hero’s home. A perfect home where we will live in peace and in the perfection of Heaven.

James 5:7&8, “Be patient, then, my brothers, until the Lord comes. See how patient a farmer is as he waits for his land to produce precious crops. He waits patiently for the autumn and spring rains. You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord’s coming is near.”

My family, friends and community stood strong against the storm and escaped with very little damage. We understood our fight and we called upon Jesus’ name and He rescued us from the tornado’s that wanted to take our lives and end our battle for Christ.

Linda C Dipman author of THE GAME OF LIFE IT’S ALMOST OVER http://outskirtspress.com/gameoflife presents AND HIS LOVE SHONE DOWN my true life story! It describes all the persecutions I endured. It will put you on the edge of your seat as you read each vivid detail. You will feel terror and experience love like nothing you have ever read before. lovinghandsministry.com

Isn’t learning that a woman is pregnant with an unborn baby one of life’s most beautiful events? Pregnancy is a time when mom and dad share a marvelous task to bring their child into the world feeling appreciated and wanted. And this miracle starts even before conception begins.

Yes, before conception begins. Prior to the sperm cell and egg cell joining each other for a life long journey that commences in the mom’s womb. An infant’s right to life is born when parents start thinking about having a child.

A famous cellular biologist, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Ph.D, wrote an evolutionary volume, “The Biology of Belief.” In his book, Dr. Lipton contends that the parents’ love and intention before “the twinkle danced in mom’s eye” affect the well being of an unborn infant.

This is how. Researchers discovered a link between a fetus’s health and the support well being, and mood of its parents. After conception, a fetus develops and grows. The degree to which the baby develops is related to the attitudes of the parents. Positive loving attitudes - positive infant growth. Fearful, unhappy attitudes - sickly child.

An unborn baby senses the feelings, thoughts, and actions of its mother. Since a baby’s father can affect the baby’s mother through his actions, feelings and thoughts, the dad also affects how a baby develops. Scientists have shown how a baby absorb steroids like cortisol from its mother, when mom experiences high levels of fear and anxiety.

When stressful times occur, the stress hormones in the mother’s bloodstream pass right through the unborn infant. This has a negative change upon the developing body of the baby. Italian researchers observed a fetus jump inside its mother, when an argument between parents used harsh, loud words.

Every human being grows and develops the same way. An umbilical cord in the mother’s uterus connects the baby to its mom like a lifeline. Oxygen, blood, nutrients, vitamins and everything needed to grow and be healthy flow to the baby through that cord. The umbilical cord consists of three strands - two arteries and a vein, surrounded by Wharton’s jelly. Second by second, every minute, day after day for nine months, the line line of the umbilical cord connects mom and baby with health and life.

A pro life way for moms and dads to bring emotional and spiritual health to their baby is through the three strands of faith, hope and love. These virtues are a lifeline for the unborn baby’s healthy development. The three strands of hope, love, and faith help parents relate to each other better.

Faith is the first strand of the spiritual life line. Mom and dad receive the gift of faith from God. Parents unwrap this gift when they believe and trust each other and that God is present to them and their unborn infant.

Dads and moms use the second strand — hope - when they persevere and endure the nine, long months of pregnancy. Parents envision and hope their child as healthy and growing up to contribute positively to life.

The third and most important strand is love. When the parents draw upon God’s love for them, they can love each other and pass their love to their child.

Pregnancy has its difficult moments: body pain, uncertainty, changes in moods and habits. Moms and dads can work through those times by being kind to each other, finding joy in the present moment, witnessing the miracle of new life forming within them and trusting that everything will turn out well.

Moms and dads deliver the three strands of virtue to their unborn baby through a spiritual umbilical cord. The right to life of the unborn infant is healthy in emotion, mind and body. The life line of three strands of faith, hope and love connect parents and child to God and each other.

Married for more than 24 years, Dave Pipitone advocates the use of encouragement, kindness and love in lasting and meaningful relationships. To learn more about how to care for an unborn baby’s welfare, visit www.my3strands.com.

Stormy clouds of darkness parted as a pure white dove descended from a vibrant ray of light with a small olive branch clasped in it’s beak. One person and then another accepted the Holy Spirits message, but most shook their heads unable to believe in anything more than what they could humanly see.

I stood in shocked silence questioning why it was so hard for people to believe the simple message of faith in God. The Holy Spirit was my friend and I eagerly longed to hear it’s comforting voice. A whisper that gave me the strength to fight and win my life game for God.

Everyone is asking the question, why God? Unfortunately after the question they go about their business living life for themselves and never really wanting God to reply. This is not what happened to me! I had a powerful, life changing, awakening to the Holy Spirit.

I was an average person going through life just like everyone else. The only thing that set me apart was that I was a committed, bible believing, Christian. I was a mother with three children, who was concerned about giving my children the proper education in God to help them in their own lives.

Nothing about me was any different from the millions of people who attend church. Until the Lord revealed in me the Power of the Holy Spirit! The Spirit changed my physical body making my hands turn red and become very warm. The inside of my body felt a surge of vibration that filled my entire being from my toes to the tips of my fingers.

I had never had anything like this happen to me before! Up until this time I had longed for a closer relationship with God so that my prayers for my family and friends would be answered. But now everything was different, I experienced a supernatural power that changed my average human understanding and made me see how I was living my life all wrong!

The Holy Spirit became my constant companion and friend. A helper who opened my eyes and made me see the Spirit world. A friend who talked to me in a gentle whisper as He instructed me on the right path for my life. A supernatural messenger who even during a period of time gave me typed messages to encourage and inspire me to think for myself separate from how I had been taught to believe from the Christian world.

Hebrews 8: 10-12, “Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. None of them will have to teach his fellow citizen or tell his fellow countryman, ‘Know the Lord.’ For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs.”

From the time the Holy Spirit came into my life to this very moment, I had to learn to believe His voice and let go of the ways of men. I had to change in order to believe what the Spirit was telling me to do in order to obey God in my life.

If you live in a corrupt and evil world then you must understand that everything we have learned up until now is wrong! That is the reason why we need only the Spirit directly teaching us on the inside. We must listen and obey the Spirit of God and let go of how the world tells us we are suppose to live.

1 John 1: 15&16, “Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father. Everything that belongs to the world-what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of-none of this comes from the Father; it all comes from the world.”

The Holy Spirit within me opened my mind to understand the scriptures in a whole new way. When I looked at my life, I saw how I had been corrupted by how the world tells us we are suppose to live.

I had a plan that conformed to the American dream. A future where I would raise my family, pay off my house and once my children were gone, I would go on lots of vacations. And of course, I would retire early in life and then sit back and enjoy my prosperity.

Everything about my life and the way I thought conformed to how society told us we were to live. I paid taxes and obeyed the law. I voted and conformed my thinking to what other religious people taught was right.

Everything changed when the Holy Spirit took control of my thinking and taught me the truth about this world. I no longer believed every pastor who had a so called message from the Lord, instead I sought God on my own. I allowed the Holy Spirit to take over my thought life and teach me the real, honest to God, truth.

My life took a radical change, because before the Holy Spirit befriended me, I was not a threat to Satan’s evil world. Now I was equipped with the supernatural voice of the Spirit. Now I had within me a messenger of truth. A spirit guide who was about to open my eyes to how I had been corrupted by the structure of this world.

Romans 3: 10-12, “As the Scriptures say: ‘There is no one who is righteous, no one who is wise or who worships God. All have turned away from God; they have all gone wrong; no one does what is right, not even one.’”

My friends at church began to look at me differently, because I didn’t just cave into their religious thinking on homosexuality. They no longer praised me or cared about any words of wisdom I might have to say, they only judged me for loving a woman. My family deserted me while questioning why I no longer was committed to living the perfect Christian lifestyle married to a man. A Christian lifestyle that demanded constant, unquestioning dedication to the doctrine and belief system of the church.

A flash of light illuminated my thinking and made the once innocent lamb change into a defying lion, who refused to allow others to tell her how to think and act. The Holy Spirit took my life and made me stand up to everything I had once believed was how a Christian woman was to behave.

1 Peter 4:14, “Happy are you if you are insulted because you are Christ’s followers; this means that the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God, is resting on you.”

When God’s Holy Spirit comes into your life everything you think you know changes. Because now you begin to see the world you are in for what it really is. A corrupt evil world filled with judgmental, selfish, greedy, people whose only desire is to make all people like themselves.

Until I received the Holy Spirit, I fit perfectly into our present day world. After I received the Holy Spirit, I was under attack, because now the clouds were lifting and I was walking into the light of Jesus and His secret wisdom of love. A wisdom that is only revealed to those who choose to listen to the whisper of God.

I accepted the olive branch from the Holy Spirit with joy and gladness in my heart. Revelation flooded into my mind and within a period of years God taught me how to listen and how to pray so I could see!

Linda C Dipman author of THE GAME OF LIFE IT’S ALMOST OVER http://outskirtspress.com/gameoflife presents AND HIS LOVE SHONE DOWN my true life story! It describes all the persecutions I endured. It will put you on the edge of your seat as you read each vivid detail. You will feel terror and experience love like nothing you have ever read before. lovinghandsministry.com