A Little Bit of Heaven on Earth

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another...even as Christ forgave you." (Colossians 3:12-13)

Living in a home filled with the love and the peace of God Himself is almost like living in heaven right here on earth. We all know that's true. And we long to live in such a home. Yet, time and time again, we shortchange our families. We spend our kindest words and our most winning smiles on those beyond our front door.

Have you ever wondered why?

The answer is simpler than you might suspect. Spiritually speaking, your family is under attack. You see, it is not only one of your most precious gifts, when it's operating in harmony, it's one of your most powerful resources. Satan knows that even if you don't--and he's out to destroy it.

His battle plan is simple. He will do everything he can to create strife in your home. He'll stir up feelings of self-pity and jealousy. He'll encourage you to nurse resentments and harbor bitterness. And through it all, his purpose remains the same, to divide and destroy your home.

When God's people get in harmony with each other, miracles start to happen. Their agreement creates an atmosphere in which God's supernatural, miracle-working power is free to flow! So Satan is constantly tempting us to spoil that atmosphere, to foul things up by being at odds with each other. All too often we fall prey to his tactics simply because we don't realize just how dangerous strife really is. One close look at the Word of God will solve that problem, however. James 3:16 says, "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."

Don't open the door of your home to Satan by allowing your family the "luxury" of a few quarrels.

Stop the destruction before it starts. Anchor yourself to God's Word. Find out what He has to say about the power of agreement. Stop looking at your family from your own limited perspective and start seeing it as God sees it--as a powerhouse! That way you won't drift helplessly into an argument every time a gust of emotion blows through your home.

Determine right now not to let the devil have your family. Instead, pray for them, support them and love them. Bring them together, so you can all enjoy a little bit of heaven on earth.

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:12-25

A Carefree Christmas

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Philippians 4:6)

Can you really have a merry Christmas even when you have a thousand and one pressures bearing down on you? Yes, you can--and you don't have to leave the country to do it. No matter how intense or how trivial the problems are that you're facing right now, you can have the most wonderful, most carefree Christmas season you've ever had in your life; and you can start having it today.

As a believer, you're probably familiar with that scripture that says to be anxious for nothing. But, have you ever taken it seriously enough to put it into action? There's a good chance you haven't because you haven't understood just how dangerous those anxieties are. You probably haven't realized that they're a deadly part of the devil's strategy against you.

That's right. Worry is one of the chief weapons of his warfare. If he can get you to worry about them, he can use the financial pressures and family pressures and scheduling problems that are just a "normal" part of everyday life to weigh you down and drag you into more trouble than you think possible.

Medical science tells us that a high percentage of the people hospitalized in the U.S.A. are there with ailments caused by worry and tension. Yet, a great many believers worry without even thinking about it. They'll worry about being too short or too skinny. They'll stew over this and that and not even realize they've been sinning.

"Sinning, Brother Copeland?"

Yes! For the born-again, Spirit-filled believer who owns a Bible--worrying is a sin. So, even if the Christmas cards are late and 45 people are coming to your house for Christmas dinner, don't worry.

Instead, do what the Bible says to do. Pray, making your request known to God...and praise Him for the answer. Then you'll have peace.

Now, go ahead and have a truly merry Christmas, you carefree thing you!

Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:24-34

Don't Worry!

"Therefore do not worry and be anxious." (Matthew 6:31, The Amplified Bible)

God is vehemently against worry. Jesus preached against it. Paul preached against it. The whole Bible preaches against worry because it was designed by Satan to produce stress, strain, and death.

Yet many of us still act as if it's an option, as if we're free to worry if we want to. But we're not! Worrying is a sin. It's one of those things the Word of God directly commands us not to do.

What are you supposed to do then with all the concerns you have about your problems? In 1 Peter 5:7, God says you should "cast them all upon Him." All. Not 75 percent of them. Not all of them but the ones about your kids. All of them!

Your confession every morning should be, "I do not have a care in this world because I've cast every one of them onto my Lord."

Let me illustrate how that works. Let's say you were standing about 20 feet away from me and I tossed my car keys to you. If someone else were to come to me and say, "Brother Copeland, I need the keys to your car. I need to use it." I would say, "I can't help you. I cast my keys over on him. I don't have them anymore."

That's what you need to do with your worries. You need to cast them over on the Lord and not take them back. If Satan brings a worried thought to your mind, saying, "What if this terrible thing happens?" then you can tell him to talk to God about it. It's in His hands, not yours!

Once you do that, changes will start to take place in your life. Problems you've been fretting about for years will start being solved. You'll no longer be tying God's hands with your worrying. His power can begin to operate because you've acted in faith and cast your cares on Him!

Remember, though, God will not take your cares away from you. You have to give them to Him. Then you have to replace those worries with the Word. You are the one who has to keep your thoughts under control. But you can do it. The Greater One dwells within you. He is able to put you over. Commit to it. You'll never have to worry again.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 55