Steve Stahl

Purposefully: Hows your Journey?

Hey,

The new book I am reading is helping me to focus on a couple things that I believe shape a Christians life.  First , salvation is the start of a revolution inside us to find Gods mission for us.  Bottom line what is it God created you to do.  Jesus had a mission, John 10:10 I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.  So here is the question what’s  yours and  how is it going?

Second, no matter what our mission is it needs to fit in the context of bringing Gods Kingdom here on earth.  That’s right God did not choice us to wait until we are with Him to bring the Kingdom here.  Look for ways you can do this right were God has you.  What are some ways to do that?

Purposefully,

Steve

VACATION: Vicky's B-day week

Hey,

The family and I are enjoying a vacation we take in Orlando every year.  This is Vicky's b-day week.  This is the one week a year we are slaves to her and go over the top.  We are having an awsome time, we are appling the map to the lies we believe and it has been great how much fun you can have when you get past your own way and selfishness. 

I started reading a new book and it is very in your face.  " The Hole in our Gospel" is the name of the book it is on the side as a book I recommend. 

There aretwo things driving me right now.  1. A lie believed as truth is very dangerous.  So I am busting lies the devil has put in my life out of it.  It takes effort and a plan, and to want to do it.  2.  If I am going to get some where it has to be planned and worked through. 

Thats it for this week, I willl start blogging on June 8th on the new book I hope you are busting lies out of your life.  If not you may be were the devil wants you!!!!

Steve

How to Combat Lies We Believe

Ok we have exposed only a few lies that we believe and now I want to give you a way to combat the lies.  Again this information has been based on the book “The Lies We Believe”.  The book does have  scripture in the back of the book to combat each lie.  That is how we defeat lies with the truth.

First, we have to understand that the lies we believe are from the enemy of our soul, the devil.  Read the following scripture. 

John 8:44  You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.

Not only is the devil a liar he is the father of all lies.  This makes him our enemy not other people. 

Second, I believe how we combat the devil is with the truth of scripture and having a good offense to do that with.  Meaning we have to have a plan.  Trust me the devil has a plan.  1Peter 5:8  Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack. 

Now the scripture we use as are offensive weapon is this.  Rom 12:1-2  Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God.    Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. 
 This is very hard to do with out a map or plan to do it.  Meaning how do you change lies and worldly patterns of thinking?  I believe the book has a great map or method to help us change our thinking.

The map or plan works very well and can help us see through the lies that the devil is throwing at us.  So here it is A- Event, B - Self talk , C-Emotional Reaction, D- Truthful Self-Talk,  E- The appropriate emotional response.  Let me give you an example right out of the book. 
A- the event:  You have been in the doctors office waiting for an hour , and you are still waiting. 
B-Self Talk- The doctor does not value my time, you may be angry because you have other places to be. Etc you fill in the blank. 
C- Emotional reaction - This is not fair I was on time, Why can the doctor not be on time.  Here are some lies you are telling yourself, life should be fair, thinks have to go your way for you to be happy, people should be perfect.  
D- Truthful Self-Talk:  I do not like to wait, but getting overly angry about it only makes it worse.  I do dislike waiting but I could find something constructive to do while I wait, read a book etc.  Apply some truthful scriptures to help with any situation and make a choice to renew your mind. 

I know renewing the mind is a challenge, we have to have a plan, we have to understand who the enemy is, and we have to use truth to eliminate lies.

Randomly,

Steve

Lie #4 “It’s someone else’s fault”

This is the last self lie that I am going to blog about it is probable the most dangerous one.  The lie is “It’s someone else’s fault”.   This lie is played out as we blame others about how we feel or react to something.  I have a funny example that happened to me when I was moving about 5 years ago.  My brother John was helping me move in a very heavy dresser and we ended up with me falling off the truck.  He said he was sorry and all that and said he was sure it was his fault somehow.  Anyway I said ok then said but if you would have done it the way I told you I would not have falling out of the truck and I am not happy.  Now we laugh at that one all the time. 

If your like me I catch myself in this lie every once in a while and have to remind myself that I have a choice on how to handle things and how I feel and respond is up to me. 

Rev 3:12  Everyone who wins the victory will be made into a pillar in the temple of my God, and they will stay there forever. I will write on each of them the name of my God and the name of his city. It is the new Jerusalem that my God will send down from heaven. I will also write on them my own new name.

Next will be a 3 step process on how to step out of the lies.

Randomly,

Steve

Self Lie # 3 “ I can’t be happy unless things go my way”

The lie I wanted to look at today is “ I can’t be happy unless things go my way”. Before I go an father, this content is coming from the book I am re-reading called “The Lies We Believe”. I have been exposing self lies that we all believe at times. This lie has played out in my life when I was younger, it still gets me though.

This lie says if a choice is made on something that is not my way than I can not be happy. Let me give you one right out of my life. When I would go to the movies with some friends in college if I was out voted for the movie, it was sometime tough to have fun. The movie that we went to was good, my friends were good, what was the difference? The difference was that I bought into the lie that I can only be happy if things go my way.

I think that sometimes is reflected in my walk with God, who is in control, not me. How do you count it all joy when so called bad things happen? How do you persevere when life looks out of control? Only with continued reliance on the Holy Spirit. Below is a scripture I lean on understanding that all things help me mature.

Jam 1:2-5  My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble.  You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested.  But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.  If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking.

Randomly,

Steve

Self Lie #2 “ I must have everyone’s love and approval"

Our next self lie is “ I must have everyone’s love and approval”.  This lie plays out in our life’s as we try to make everyone happy, becoming a social chameleon to fit every situation. 

We bounce between two emotions anger and guilt.  We get caught in a trap to either follow convictions and our own belief about ourselves or make others happy.  

This lie played out for a long time can leave one asking the question who am I. The truth is some people are not going to like us no matter how hard we try or what we do to gain approval.   Sometimes we are looking for praise from people rather than God.  The most important thing is to know who you are in God and understand He accepts you and loves you deeply.   Below is a scripture to hide in your heart to overcome this lie in our life.

John 12:43  For the praise of men was dearer to them than the approval of God.

Randomly,

Steve

Exposed self Lie- "I must be perfect"

I am re-reading a book called the lies we believe and I want to expose the self lies we tell ourselves that allow us to not be able to focus on what it is God is doing in our life. The first self lie is “I must be perfect”. This lie is played out in unrealistic high standards for one self that can never be meet, yet we hang on to this standards as if they are objects of worship or a goal we can obtain. This is a scripture I am going to memorize to bust through this lie.

Psa 119:96 Nothing is completely perfect, except your teachings.

I have found when I replace a lie with the truth it helps me to remove the lies I believe. Lies can make us chase things that do not exist, a lie believed to be true is dangerous. God bless and praise God for all the faithful people who call PNCC home.

 

Randomly,

Steve

40 Days of Love

Hey,

 

We are in the middle of 40 days of Love and it has been a GREAT thing so far.  This week in our small groups we will be diving into “Loving Like Jesus Loves Me”.   This should be a fun topic to dive into and see how to truly love others the way God loves.

 

Anyway enjoy your week, find a small group or a place to serve this week you will be glad you did.

 

Randomly,

 

 

Steve

Volunteer Pointe

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Who Is In Control?

Hey,

 

I feel a little uncertain about America’s future with the election, now having a very liberal government and then watching the Expelled movie with Ben Stein.  Wow, did that open up my eyes to some things.  Then God hit me right between the eyes with this word in my reading time yesterday:

 

Isa 41:4 (CEV) Who makes these things happen? Who controls human events? I do! I am the LORD. I was there at the beginning; I will be there at the end.

 

So, if you are a little frazzled about anything, remember God knows what you are going through.  After all, who controls human events?

 

Randomly,

 

Steve