2020

Enslavement Trap

Dr. Mike 2020, Traps ,

2 Peter 2:19

…For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

What shackles you?

Latest stat that I saw this weekend shows that 78% of smart phone users are drawn to pickup their device the very first thing when they wake up in the morning. This past year phone users surpassed TV as the medium of choice to connect with social media. In my early days of youth, our household was limited to one hour of television watching per day. The rest of the time we invested in exercising, reading, and socializing in person. Today’s smart phone users daily spend over three hours of their time connected with social media.

What shackles you?

About 45%-55% of us take time out each year to celebrate Valentine’s Day and Halloween. The candy and flower industries love these days. And then we wonder why approximately 75% of Americans are addicted to sugar.

What shackles you?

Addiction to pornography, prostitution, drugs, alcohol, sugar, gambling, sports, work, family, social media, are all symptoms of enslavement to one’s passions. There is a deep longing within us for satisfaction. King Solomon writes about the well of eternity within all of us. We want more of life but don’t know where to go for it. Instead of going to the Source of life, we dabble in physical sensations.

We long too belong, and social media gives us a small taste. So, we connect. Before long, we are ensnared into a time stealer taking us away from real connections with caring people.

What shackles you?

We desire intimacy but have difficulty communicating and relating with those who are most important in our lives. Therefore, the temptation plunges us into pornography and prostitution to quickly satisfy our desires. Before long, we are trapped into more and more without ever reaching the satisfaction we seek.

What shackles you?

We need to prove our self-worth and therefore join the competitive world of sports and business. We climb, sacrifice, and manipulate our way to the top of our field, only to find the itch still remains within us. We therefore chase after more and more thinking the itch will go away. But no, after accomplishing all we desire the emptiness is still there and the battle scars of broken families, busted relationships, and failing health makes one wonder was it worth it.

What shackles you?

Jesus Christ made the claim he came for all mankind. Not only to fulfill a religious promise, but to draw all humanity to him. He paid the ultimate price for you and me. So much so He received from His Father and God the title King of Kings. With that title, He also received all the land, resources, and people as His subjects. Yet God did more, He adopted humanity into His family. He chose you to belong with Him.

Our challenge is to surrender our passion and desires for Him. When we do, He replaces our misguided emotions with His attributes. His Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control begins to work within us.

When we acknowledge He owns us, we find fulfillment and satisfaction for life not in the physical commodities of everyday living, but in the relationship of knowing Him and sharing life with each other. He becomes the center of all our desires and passion. The end result is real freedom with the wisdom, truth, and teachings He leads us through. 

Whatever temporarily situation you find yourself currently battling, you don’t have to remain there. Acknowledge who truly owns you and ask Him to restore you back into His graces. Breakaway from the traps that surround you and let Him lead you to people who want to see you succeed in life rather than those who seek out to entrap you into their snares.

Jesus owns you and wants you to succeed. But you have to do it His way.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Prayer Trap

Dr. Mike 2020, Traps , ,

Mark 11:24

Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

One of the challenges we all face is reading Scripture on a stand-alone-basis. For example, when one studies prayer and God’s purpose and response to prayer, we can easily become dishearten when we rely sole on one scripture to provide us the assurance we seek.

Today’s Scripture is a good example. By itself, the words imply anything and everything you ask God from a position of total conviction will happen. Yet the many other lessons of Scripture provide a more wholistic view.

Those who preach a wealth and prosperity gospel like to use this Scripture emphasizing one’s lack of faith if your request doesn’t happen per your expectations. Yet when you look at the prayers of Paul, Jesus, and his disciples, there is a contradiction.

Paul prayed three times to have God remove the “thorns piercing his flesh”. God’s reply: “my grace is sufficient.” The prayer was answered, but not according to one’s expectations.

The disciples in their early ministry with Jesus prayed to have a child healed but failed. Jesus came over and completed the task with the remarks that some situations requires prayer and fasting.  Again, the prayer wasn’t answered according to the disciple’s desire because there was something else they needed to do. Yet the prayer was answered through Jesus’ request.

Jesus in the garden before his crucifixion prayed that his trial be removed from Him and they find another way to accomplish the goal. His request was denied by God who allowed the events to occur for fulfilling Scripture. Yet Jesus established the attitude we all need to display when praying…’Your Will Be Done.

Throughout Scripture, Jesus’ prayers were always answered. But His prayers were to serve others and glorify God in the process. Even His request to change the events of the last torturous 24 hours finalizing at his crucifixion was Him complying with the desires of His Father’s heart. Though He desired not too, He yielded to His Father’s Will.

We likewise need to be careful when praying. Instead of falling into the trap believing all unanswered prayer is due to a lack of faith denies Scripture and who God IS. All prayers are answered; may not be according to our timeline, nor according to our expectations, nor according to our words. Instead, we make our requests relying on our high priest Jesus and Holy Spirit to intervene on our behalf for the best outcome of the situation we want changed.

At times God will immediately grant you your heart’s desire. Other times you may have to wait 20, 30, or 40 years for the answer. Some times God says no. And we may never know on this side of eternity if it was for our sake He said no, or for the sake of others. What we do know, God is good and loves to answer prayers so you may come to truly know Him more and more each time.  

Yes, we believe God can do the impossible since he is the author of impossibilities. But taking into account all possible outcomes if my desire is granted, He is better at that than I because he sees the future.  I appreciate His involvement and watching out for our best. And we have also come to appreciate praying with Him for the sake of others rather than constantly asking Him to fill my cup. He does that anyway because He is Good. He is just teaching us how to be more compassionate and caring for others through our prayers.

When we pray, we touch the heart of God. The real purpose of prayer is a means of communicating and building a relationship with your Father. We experience the inner character and attributes of coming to know who He IS. When we come to realize He is not a vending machine, genie, nor Santa Claus, but the God of the universe who wants to be your loving and caring Father, prayer takes on a whole new meaning.

The basis of prayer is belief. But a belief built upon a trustful, relationship with the living God, not only for your sake, but also for the sake of others, and always for the sake of His glory.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Belief Trap

Dr. Mike 2020, Traps , , , , ,

James 2:20

Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

You begin to experience salvation when you start to believe Jesus Christ is who He claims to be is how theologian Karl Barth expounded in his writings.

Belief is more than a wish or superstition. Real belief is built on facts, logic, and experience. Yet some people, after battling and working through the reasoning process, think that is all there is. Why? Didn’t Jesus himself say that if you believe on him you will receive eternal life?

From what I remember my psychology classmates telling me, belief is the centerpiece of action. Belief leads to action. We act upon what we believe. From our central belief system lies our values and worldview. But if we believe and do not act upon those beliefs, then do we truly believe?

James writes in his letter that belief without action is dead. He likens it to the body without a spirit: dead.

Belief is demonstrated through its fruit. An orange tree may have hundreds of green balls (the real color of oranges before the factories paint them for resale to the public) hanging on its branches, but when you take one from the tree and begin to peel it only to find dryness in the inside, don’t you throw it away? It may look like an orange hanging on the tree with other oranges, but is it a healthy orange?

Belief in Jesus Christ is like taking an escalator in a high-rise shopping mall. We start on the first floor and the moving steps take us higher unto other floors with more stores to discover. After we experience the 2nd floor, we take the escalator up to the next floor, and the next floor, and the next floor, where we discover more. Belief in Jesus Christ is, in a poor analogy, the escalator that takes you to places where you can experience real life.

Real life begins with believing Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised to the Jewish and Gentile nation back when Adam and Eve were discharged from the garden. When that fact hits us in the head and heart, our values and worldview begin to change and leads us to action which demonstrate our belief in Jesus Christ as King and Savior. Yet inaction may not tell the whole story on some who believe but are frozen from doing good work. Some may believe but be lazy; a character flaw. Others may believe, but are ensnared by the world’s glitter. And others may believe, but be angry with God and like a 2-year-old still pouting in the corner until lesson learned.  So, we need to be extra careful and not condemn the heart of others. Instead, let’s first pray for our brothers and sisters and let God lead us how best to relate with them. Maybe God will open a door for you to discuss the situation and help restore your sister/brother into a closer relationship with Him. Or bring another solution for their struggle. Either way, if God makes you aware of a problem, He will lead you.

Is that not what turning belief into action all about? Therefore, doesn’t our actions demonstrate our beliefs?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!

Copyright 2013-2020 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved