Oasis Well

“If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street (or to church, work or a  restaurant) and start grinning Good morning at total strangers.”
by Maya Angelou

Do we create an arid, hot desert place for people or do we create and cool and refreshing oasis?

I get so much personal e-mail every day. Some of it I subscribe to, like devotions and natural health newsletters. Most of it comes from friends or friends of friends. And not to be forgotten are those forwards with “now or never” subject lines that deal with doom and gloom, sordid information about the President, senators or senate bills, information that some non- Christian business supports something non- Christian and we MUST boycott that business. I’m sure one of these days there will come forwards about Worldview Weekend participants/Christians getting eaten by lions on the White House lawn if we don’t sign the attached petition! (I just wish everyone would check with the Snopes web site before hitting the send button for so much of the information is false and often has been circulating for years.)

What in the world are we doing as Christians? What are we allowing into our minds and hearts? Where are we putting our thoughts and our time each day? Do we need to wonder, when we make a steady daily diet out of doom and gloom, that we feel oppressed and even depressed…at the very least sad? And have we ever considered that all of this doom and gloom, or the people who just feel they are “called by God” to inform us, has the potential to become an idol in our lives…taking precedence over God and His will for our thoughts and focus? Exodus 20:5 “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve (work for) them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,”

First I would like to provoke our thoughts concerning what God says we are to follow and do for people:

Romans 14:19 “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”

1Corinthians 10:23 “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”

1Thesallonians 5:11 “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”
The word edify in the Greek means build up, confirm, encourage, bring out the best. This definition does not sound like it leaves room for us to bombard people with doom and gloom.

Secondly, I would like to remind myself and those who read this post that God tells us where to put our thoughts and focus…what to feed on:
Philippians 4
:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
:6 Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Psalm 34
:1 <A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.> I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
:2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
:5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

I could write volumes about my feelings concerning one more doom and gloom phone call…you know the ones where the caller asks how we are and before we get two words out of our mouth they ramble about every negative thing in their lives; people we don’t know who are dying of cancer or are victims a car wreck or the horrible state of America and the world…and never one word of praise for the Lord or a ” good report.” But I’ll spare you the volumes. Instead let me challenge us today to consider our behavior to everyone around us who is concerned about the economy, their job, their family, their health or the health of their loved ones, and choose…choose…choose to edify every person we can by following the actions of David:

Psalm 34 :3 “O magnify (advance, boast, bring up, promote) the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
:5 They looked unto him, and were lightened (sparkle, cheerful):”

I’m not promoting a new exercise dvd…although I am sitting here trying to imagine what the music on such a dvd would be. I don’t think ‘heavy metal’ would begin to define it. The words ‘sulfer’ and ‘flames’ come to mind. Stay with me, I haven’t really lost my mind…yet…really.

Last year I spent considerable time looking at the depth of the word ‘possessed’ in the New Testament. Recently I was prompted to revisit that study because I met yet another Christian who believed, because they could not be possessed/totally taken over by Satan, they didn’t really have to worry about him in their lives. Again, I found the results of my study enlightening to me and thought you may too.

“And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.” Matthew 4:24
The Jamison-Fawcette and Brown Commentary: “and those which were possessed with devils” — that were demonized or possessed with demons.
From the Strong’s Concordance “possessed” the word is 1139 daimonizomai; to be exercised by a daemon: – have a (be vexed with, be possessed with) devil (-s).

Exercised by a demon: We all know what exercise means and this phrase caused me to remember my exercising my horses on a lunge line….fast, slow—running in circles going nowhere, turning them in the other direction…whatever I willed for them.

Vex: From the Webster’s Dictionary: 1.a: to bring trouble, distress, or agitation to <the restaurant is vexed by slow service> b: to bring physical distress to <a headache vexed him all morning> c: to irritate or annoy by petty provocations: Harass <vexed by the children> d: Puzzle, baffle <a problem to vex the keenest wit> 2. to shake or toss about. Synonym: Annoy.

As I read and re-read the aforementioned definitions many situations flashed through my mind with the knowledge that God’s Word says I could have stopped them by asking Him to deliver me and by using His Word to cause the devil to flee from me. This caused me to think about the Strong’s Concordance definition of the word “possessed” and about years ago my exercising my horses. I thought about how they could stop the exercise/lunge-line work-out by rearing up or getting stubborn and agitated…or try to jump the paddock fence. It was a good word picture of what I should have done in so many ‘vexing’ times in my life: Those times when Satan demonized me by exercising me to run in circles and go nowhere, turn around, brought trouble and agitated me, brought physical distress, provoked me by petty/little irritations, harassed, puzzled, baffled me and tried to shake or toss me off of my foundation…turn to Jesus Christ and His Word.

As a child of God I don’t believe we cannot be totally taken over by Satan. However, as a child of God I can be demonized. In fact, the more we seek God and serve him the more Satan works to vex us. I believe we all have stories we could tell about his doing so.

(For more Scripture references, word definitions and the whole article please read the page listed in the column on the right: Satan’s Exercise Program.

So, will God work on our behalf to deliver us from demonization? I want to let God’s Word answer this. (Definitions from the Strong’s Concordance.)

Psalm 71:4 “Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.”

Deliver: 6403 A primitive root; to slip out, that is, escape; causatively to deliver: – calve, carry away safe, deliver, (cause to) escape.

The word ‘deliver’ is used 281 times in the Bible. However, I believe these verses, and the ones you will find in the whole article, leave no room for us to ever doubt that God is waiting to deliver us from all evil…the devil included.

After completing this short study a year ago I had a quiet time with God. I asked God to search my heart and my life and deliver me from every evil way that was caused by my giving in to my sin nature. I then asked God to deliver me from every evil way Satan was exercising me…vexing me…demonizing me. God is faithful…He opened my eyes to things I had to repent of and set right, and He did as He promised to do…delivered me/set me free from Satan’s personalized exercise program…his unnoticed/unseen presence and strongholds in my life.

Recently I snuggled under a blanket on the couch for one of my ‘need to zone’ moments which usually slide me into a power nap. As usual I had turned Home and Garden Television on and an image on the screen quickly ‘un-zoned’ me: A woman was looking at a house to consider for purchase. As she looked out onto the back yard, just beyond the edge of the patio, there were several very large boulders in a small back yard. She voiced her concern to the realtor by asking how she was going to remove those stones to make the back yard usable?

As I’ve thought about this moment that robbed me of my power nap I’ve thought about large rocks in my life that once needed, and those still needing, to be removed to make me more usable as a Christian. Two passages of Scripture have heavily ‘sat’ on my heart:

John 11:38-40 “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” I’ve sat in a desert cave many times in my life stinking…being a “sweet savour”/ordor/fragrance to no one…not even attempting to move the stone from the entrance to let in the fresh air of God’s love and grace permeate my situation.

Mark 16:3-6 “And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.” I’ve crawled into so many caves in the desert places of my life choosing to sit in the dark seeing only my sins that brought my sentence of death that nailed Christ to the cross…refusing to live in Christ’s light and victory over sin and death so I can abide in His resurrection power. This is what provides me with His ability to enable me to live empowered by His Holy Spirit to experience a victorious Christian life.

What large rocks can we use to seal our caves/our strongholds; rocks that keep us in a state of decomposition having a rotten odor to God and to others? Bitterness, addictions, anger, gossip, unforgiveness, rebellion to God’s will, unhealed abuse issues, domestic violence kept silent, sin not repented of, etc.

John 11:43-44 “And when he (Jesus) thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”

I learned in many hot and arid desert places of my life that I needed to do my part from the inside of the cave while trusting God Himself, or His sending of another, to roll the stone away that I may “come forth” to be unbound/loosed to go onward to the oasis, bathe in the water of his Word and be refreshed in His Holy Spirit.

I encourage you today to move the rocks and be refreshed in God’s love and grace.