Have you ever watched somebody put a ball under a cup and then swap several cups around and then you have to pick which one the ball is under? Is it not so frustrating when you can't pick the one with the ball? So you keep watching those cups intensely until you get it right!!! If you are like me, you will not be outwitted!!!

Think about satan, the father of lies. He is much like this game we play. He lies to us and has us trapped under his cup, moving us all around by his lies that have affected our minds and thus our actions. Ever found yourself feeling like that? Because you are unaware of his schemes, you are operating in lies that you didn't even realize were there. Anybody?

Think about this: maybe you are one who realizes that satan lies and have discovered some of them and even gotten free from them, and now you stand on the outside and are alert to his games; yet sometimes, he still is able to absolutely outwit you and it so frustrates you!

How can we make the declaration that we will not be outwitted?And then, really NOT BE OUTWITTED?

"But you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." We read it, have it memorized, and sometimes apply it....but the way we are truly set free from being outwitted by the devil is to KNOW THE TRUTH! You cannot detect error without a full understanding of the truth.

Have you ever known people who push the limit? Have you ever had a child who pushed the limit? For instance: you instruct them not to go outside and talk to a stranger. Then, they go to the threshold of the door, stand within the doorway and talk to a stranger. You ask them why they disobeyed and they exclaim, "I didn't disobey! You told me not to go outside and so technically, I didn't go outside."

You know what the problem is with this? The child heard the truth....the rule. But the child missed the parent's heart that was trying to protect them. And make no mistake about it: the enemy takes full advantage of this by whispering to your child, "Well, you're not technically disobeying them".

If we are going to keep from getting outwitted by the enemy, we will have to do more than know the truth as in knowing the rules. If we are only looking at God's Word as rules, we can always find loopholes or ways to "technically not be disobeying them".....when we do that, we have totally missed God's heart in it. That word "know" in knowing the truth, is not only knowing what God said, but knowing intimately His heart about it....His full intentions for it. You miss that, and satan will outwit you every time.

Join me in a new kind of game....seeking God's heart in all that He says in His Word, so that I not only know what He desires for me, but I know the heart behind why He is desiring this for me. Then, when satan throws his error at us, trying to get us under his cup of control, we'll be able to yank that cup up and expose him for the liar he really is.

God help us to do this in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord I ask, amen and amen.

"Train yourself to be godly"

I have a sweet friend who I have watched go through rigorous training for an athletic event. I heard the struggle and the stories, and I saw her courage and tenacity. As I watched her, I realized that training takes diligence.....it takes intentionality.....it is purposeful......it takes determination.....and it takes great resolve.

When was the last time you trained yourself in anything? What did you have to do?

I heard it once said that if you want to train yourself in godliness, place yourself in situations so that the thing you are trying to learn is forced to be exercised. The truth is that as you walk with God and He begins to show you Himself, He will actually place you in situations where you can practice each new truth. Your part is to train yourself to walk with Him moment by moment so that you recognize His workings in the things going on a round you.

The best way to train in godliness is to be in God's Word and learn from Him.....learn His ways....His truth....what He has to say about things....about you.....and then begin to live in those truths and train your mind to walk in them even when you don't feel it....in doing so, you will find that you are training your mind to be able to walk confidently in that area so God can then move on to other areas in need of His truth.

I pray that we will all become deliberate in taking off this old perspective of our bodies and grasping in full and with confidence the truth that God made all of who we are to draw others to Him.....

You are loved, Jena

I hope that today brought freedom for some women just to be free to be themselves....

For so many churches, there seems to be this stigma that you have to be a certain way, look a certain way, have the same taste as everyone else, like the same music, etc. etc.....the truth is that God created us differently with different giftings for a reason! He doesn't want uniformity but unity in our diversity!

So be free to be yourself! Surrender your body to be used solely for the lifting up of Jesus and watch God draw people unto Himself through your authentic life! God made you the way you are for a reason....to try to be anything other than that would say that God didn't do a good enough job when He created you....nope....He made you with very specifics purposes in mind....so be yourself....and like who God made you.....you're a very special person!

Today always hits home to me....I never want to get over being saved. I never want to get over what Christ did for me in His indescribable sacrifice on my behalf for my sin.

There was a story I heard one time about a young pastor who feel in love with a young lady who had a sordid past. She was labeled as a sinful woman like that in the Bible. But God had saved her and changed her life and she was now seeking to live for Him. The pastor feel in love with her and announced to his congregation that he was going to marry her. Many in the congregation were shocked and very unhappy with this "sinful" woman the pastor had chosen. Yet, when shamed for his choice, his response was simply "When you say that she is not good enough for me, what you are really saying is that the blood of Jesus was not enough to cover her sin".....

My friends, wherever you are today, know this with great certainty: Jesus' death was enough to cover and cleanse you of your sin....IT WAS ENOUGH....you stand forgiven....don't let anyone on this earth nor the evil one himself tell you otherwise.

Our family has been out of town and I have so missed being with you guys! When we arrived home I found some bananas that I left hanging on my banana rack, now un-peeled and hanging onto their peeling by a thread! Those bananas peeled themselves! As we study this week's lessons, we are going to be challenged to peel ourselves....to get to the root of some of our wrong thinking.

Hebrews 4:12 says it like this: ¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

The Word of God cuts down to the root....if we can get the wrong root out, we can replace it with God's seed of truth.

Ephesians 4:22-24 ...."put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds"....

Have you ever thought about that for a bit? My fleshly, carnal perspective of my body (that my appearance, abilities, attributes, attitude, and assets give me my value and acceptance), my old self, is constantly being corrupted by my own deceitful desires. So, as the world we live in sends us the wrong messages, it appeals so greatly to our own fleshly desires!!!

1 John 2 says it like this: ¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

So let's do some self-un-peeling: what do you crave? what do your eyes lust after? what do you find yourself boasting about? Are they "appealing" to the life and ways of Jesus Christ or to the world?

If we are ever going to change our perspective about our body, we will have to peel back the layers of desires that drive us there and then set ourselves some boundaries to guard ourselves against those. In other words, if there are places I go, things I watch, things I listen to, that turn me toward those worldly desires, then I might need to stay away from those things. We might also need to begin finding God's truth in His word and memorizing His perspective about those things....

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you quickly when you are being drawn away to worldly desires (cravings, lusts, and boastings), and ask Him to help you have His perspective and only desire Him and His truth and only boast in Him alone. This will be so "appealing" to those around you, as they see Christ displayed in you.