God is Sovereign, that means He knows everything, he knows what I think, He knows what I am going to think before I think it, He knows what I am going to say before I say it, He knows my heart, my motives.

Psalms 33:11 says, ”The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.” God plans my life; he plans the future, and because He is Sovereign, what He plans happens. So the million-dollar question is, ”so what do I do, is there any reason to do anything, God has it covered, just relax and enjoy the ride.”

It truly is a mystery, how the sovereignty of God and the free will of men fit together, how the Sovereignty of God works with my goals for the future, and how the sovereignty of God fits with my diligence and faithfulness. It sure would be easier just to let God do His thing, go along for the ride, and get off in heaven.

One of the words that God uses to describe His sovereign will for us is ”warrior, ” He wants us to be warriors, that is we fight against injustice, we fight against evil, we fight against the enemy of God and all humanity, the devil. God created the devil to do just exactly what he is doing, and gave him the title ”our adversary”. Fighting, resisting, standing firm, conquering, overcoming, are used often in the Bible to describe who and what kind of people God wants us to be. The story of David and Goliath is a picture of our life. The story of Samson is a story of us.

Some will say to me, Jesus is the Lamb of God, therefore we need to be lambs not warriors. Revelation 17:14 says,m”These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”

So, how do I wage war against our adversary, the devil now. God created us for days like the ones we are currently living in. Romans 16:10 says, ” we will trample satan under our feet”. How? Tomorrow.

The devil is a very real being. He is powerful, he is invisible, he has a host of demons serving him, and his goal is to destroy our lives by stealing every ounce of joy and peace out of our life. He does that by causing chaos, confusion, and conflict. He controls and shapes our culture by infiltrating it with lies. Jesus calls the devil ”the father of lies.” When we believe any of those lies, even just a few, even only one, we become his victim. Rules govern the entire universe. There are physical rules or laws, such as gravity, there are social or relational rules, and there are spiritual rules. It is sort of like playing Monopoly, the rules are on the inside of the lid, and everybody plays by the rules. One of the rules is that if you believe one of satan’s lies to be true and live by it, you become his servant, his slave. The result of that position is that now you will believe more and more, and you will become more and more in bondage to him. That is just the way it is. This rule ought to scare the heck out of you, if it doesn’t, you are naive.

The book of Proverbs in the Bible has a theme running through it, ”Seek Wisdom.” Those who are wise know what is true, really true, and they know what is a lie. When I am sitting in church listening to someone sing a song on stage and they sing a little flat, I have this little shiver go up my neck. People with wisdom have a similar reaction when they hear a lie; there is this discord inside of them.

There are several words used in Proverbs to describe a person without wisdom. One of them, obviously is being a fool, another word used frequently in Proverbs is being naive. Proverbs 14:15 says, ”The naive believes everything.”

Very little information on Social Media is true, but many believe it. Very little of the information given out by the News media is true, but many believe it. Very few of the popular and well known movie stars, sports stars, and politicians say anything remotely true but most believe it. Let me repeat the rule, ”when you believe a lie of the devil and live by it, you become his slave, and he will use you to further his cause.”

Seek wisdom like gold, silver, and precious treasure. Read the Bible everyday, it is the ultimate source of wisdom, memorize portions of it so the wisdom of God’s Word is in your mind and heart. Pray everyday and ask God for wisdom He loves to give His wisdom to those who seek it, and to those who ask Him for it. Listen to wise people, not fools, which means that we limit our time on Facebook and the News.

As you do watch or read the news ask yourself the question, what is causing this chaos? Is all of this just sort of happening without any force behind it or is their a powerful, intelligent, and evil being driving all of this evil, wicked anarchy.

As things go the way they are going and pick-up speed rapidly, it is so important that you know who you are following, and serving. Every morning I declare Jesus to be the Lord of my life, and that I will serve and follow Him. I do not want to be a dupe for the devil, furthering his cause. I choose not to be stupid, a fool, or naive.

I have been a pastor for 44 years, and during those years I have done a ton of counseling, most of it was marriage counseling and family counseling. Most of the families were dysfunctional , which simply means that there were a lot of conflicts. Every relationship and every family has conflicts to some degree, but in a dysfunctional relationship or family conflict is the norm. There are several common denominators in dysfunctional families that cause the culture of conflict to exist.

1. One or more members of the family regularly throw ”fits” or ”tantrums” to let it be known to all that they are not happy with a decision or situation. What makes the family dysfunctional isn’t the fact that someone throws a fit, but that the rest of the family makes concessions for the tantrum thrower, not because there is any validity to the reason for the ”fit”, but because ”fits” are so disruptive to normal life that the concessions given seem a small price to pay for some peace.

All children throw fits and have tantrums, that is what kids do, that is the only way they know to have some control over those around them and get what they want. As we raised our 8 children there was always immediate consequences to fit throwing. There wasn’t any discussion, there was no counting to three, there were no warnings, just an immediate consequence. It didn’t take very long before our kids didn’t throw fits because it didn’t work. Once we were a ”fit free” family we were a family of peace, joy, and unity.

2. Members of dysfunctional families exaggerate an event to make their point and to control the other members of the family. Dysfunctional statements such as ”you always”, or ”you never”, are common. When I do counseling, I will point out the use of these ”dysfunctional statements,” and we then outlaw them from being used.

3. The name of the game in dysfunctional families is controlling the other members so that I can get my way, my wants. A major tool for controlling others is ”blame and shame.” No one ever takes responsibility for anything, it is always someone else’s fault. The ”blame and shame” practice is not merely pointing out mistakes, but it is character assassination, it is attacking the motives of others. The goal is to hurt others with our words, to shame them, to punish them so that they will think twice about going against our wishes. If you were able to observe a dysfunctional family function for very long you would see many ”fist fights with words”.

Many marriages are dysfunctional, which leads to their families becoming dysfunctional as well. Companies and work places are often dysfunctional which has a huge impact on performance and productivity. Many churches are dysfunctional which obviously will result in a loss of blessing from God.

Probably most of you would agree that for the last couple of weeks we have watched a major display of dysfunctional behavior in our country. It takes a lot of work and time as a counselor to move a dysfunctional family to the point of healthy. I can’t imagine much of anything working in our nation except a major work of God as a result of prayer on the part of many disciples of Jesus so that many dysfunctional people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

Last night and today we had 5 services, 2 on Saturday night and 3 today, with 4 different locations on campus in each service where 25 people gathered. The preaching and worship were live in the main sanctuary and “piped” to the other 3 locations. We had designated “hosts” at each location who helped people fill out prayer cards, get sermon notes, collect stuff for their kids to do during the service, to offer hand sanitizer and bottled water if they wanted it. We also had the 9:00 am service live online so those who still preferred worshiping at home could watch it on You Tube, our Church Website, or on Facebook, and be part of what was happening at JBC. This last week I was thinking that this was going to be a very confusing and chaotic event, and I was frustrated that we even had to do it, but the whole thing went off very smoothly and successfully, and I am sure all who came had a blessed time. I was so impressed with all the volunteers who worked so hard on planning, setting up projectors, WiFi systems, hosts, cleaners, greeters, and those who prayed for the weekend to be blessed by God. Even though it was labor intensive, it was an adventure and the new format was a challenge that now that it is over was fun. It always amazes me what a group of people who love the Lord and want to serve Him well, and who love each other and know how to work together in unity, can accomplish together. We probably are going to be able to expand the number of people meeting together this next week so this weekends event of 25 people in multiple sites will be a one time event and a story we will tell for years.

Tonight we had a worship service at 5 pm and 7 pm, and each of the hours was made up of 4 locations with 25 people in each spot. We will do the same at 9 am and 11:30 am tomorrow morning and again at 6 pm. This whole thing is a major logistical nightmare. What made me irritated is to read that our Oregon Governor, Kate Brown is encouraging the thousands of protesters who are packed together like cordwood, and who certainly are not practicing any kind of social distancing. That bit of injustice had me irritated all evening. Then I thought, most of the people that I have gotten irritated at over the last couple of days are not believers and are going to be facing “eternal destruction” in the “Lake of Fire”, away from the presence of the Lord.

One of my favorite fishing experiences each year is the Shad fishing on the Colombia River below Bonneville Dam the first week of June. There are over 2 million Shad that go up the fish ladder at the dam and the peak of the run is usually the first week of June when 100,000 fish a day are going through the place we are fishing. I fished with different people Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 4 each day and the total fish we all caught was 500.

Most people use Shad for crab bait, but I filleted 50 of them, brined them, smoking them now, and then I am going to can them. I hope they turn out good, that is a lot of fish to feed to crabs!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were such good days. When I am fishing I don’t read the news, think about the news, or care about the news. As far as my mind knew there was no virus, no riots, no shut down, no politics, just a beautiful day on the river catching fish.

For some reason the link to my blogs on Facebook don’t seem to be working.

If you want wisdom find some wise people and listen to them. In the midst of all the racism accusations taking place now I have found a number of black people who are very wise, intelligent, communicate well and are believers and followers of Jesus. I have been listening and learning from them. Try listening to some of these wise people on You Tube.

If you want to listen to the ultimate in foolishness, stupidity, and deception, then listen to the media.

Condoleezza Rice, David J Harris Jr, Candance Owens, Dr Ben Carson. Go to YouTube and put their name in ”search” and you will find many speeches, interviews, and podcasts by them. What they say is wise.

The media has become the ultimate source of demonically driven lies, stupidity, and divisiveness. If you regularly listen or read the garbage that is being poured out into our country today through mainstream media you will become confused, depressed, and ultimately a fool just like them.

Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

God gives great joy in spite of circumstances and events. He gives an incomprehensible peace that takes away all anxiety, fretting, and worry. He gives His strength to manage life well, and to carry out all responsibilities successfully. God loves to give to His children what they need if they ask.

The average Christian’s prayer life is very weak, meaning it won’t result in much joy, peace, and strength; God won’t do much in response to their prayers. Let me suggest some things that will increase the power of our praying, and increase the volume of joy, peace, and strength into our life.

2. Increase the frequency of our praying.

The Number one suggestion yesterday was to increase our intimacy with God through the discipline of regular prayer. Spending time with God in a regular time of undistracted, focused conversation with God. The closer we are with God the more power we have with Him in our prayers to Him. The suggestion was to have a regular date with God at the same time and place every day even for 15 minutes.

Number two suggestion is to pray all day long. Prayers that last a few seconds, usually in our thoughts, prompted by a personal need or the observed need or problems of others.

When I am feeling weary I come to Jesus and ask for strength. When I am feeling discouraged I come to Jesus and I ask for His joy. When I am feeling anxious I come to Jesus and ask for peace. When someone asks me a question that is important and I don’t know the answer I come to Jesus and ask for wisdom. when I drop a screw while working on a project I come to Jesus and ask Him to help me find it. When I see someone struggling in life I intercede for them. When I see someone sinning or making a poor choice in life I pray and ask God to convict them, and to deliver them from the devil. When I am fishing I ask God to help me to catch a fish. All day long every problem, every question, every fear, every encounter with another person, every news article, every feeling whether positive, negative, physical or emotional prompts a prayer.

I am also careful to thank God all day long for every blessing, for answers to my myriad of prayers all day long.

Psalms 103:1-2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;

Most believers don’t practice this kind of praying without ceasing because as weariness, discouragement, temptation, anxiety comes into their life; they simply don’t think about praying and asking God for help.

Train yourself to come to Jesus all day long. Memorize Matthew 11:28 and meditate on it, think about it all-day long, especially first thing in the morning and just before you fall asleep.

God gives great joy in spite of circumstances and events. He gives an incomprehensible peace that takes away all anxiety, fretting, and worry. He gives His strength to manage life well, and to carry out all responsibilities successfully. The time that we spend with God in prayer is what brings joy, peace, and strength into our life.

The average Christian’s prayer life is very weak, meaning it won’t result in much joy, peace, and strength; God won’t do much in response to their prayers. Let me suggest some things that will increase the power of our praying, and increase the volume of joy, peace, and strength into our life.

1. Increase the intimacy of our praying.

Patty and I live in the same house, we go to the same church, we usually eat at the same table, at the same time, we often ride together in the same car, and we sleep in the same bed. Does all that guarantee that we will have intimate conversations with each other? We can say ”Hi” as we pass in the house, we can exchange information about appointments and events during chance encounters, we can say, ”I love you” as we come and go. Talking is not the same as conversation, and just because we are married doesn’t mean our conversations will be intimate.

For me to have an intimate conversation with Patty requires that I focus on her only, and not be distracted by doing something else at the same time or listening to someone else, or even thinking about something unrelated to what we are discussing. Intimate conversation requires discipline, I have to discipline my ears, my eyes, and my mind.

Having an intimate conversation with God is difficult because we can’t see Him, we can’t touch Him, and we can’t hear Him, at least not in the way I hear Patty. Which means that the discipline required to have an intimate conversation with God is greater, much greater than it takes to have an intimate conversation with Patty. This discipline or the lack of it is what separates powerful prayers from weak.

You can increase the intimacy of your prayer time with God by;

– having a date with God for the purpose of talking to Him. Have a specific place and time as a regular routine when you focus on God alone in your thoughts and words.

– making a goal for a specific amount of time. Some people resist this suggestion thinking that it makes our time with God mechanical, legalistic, and obligatory. Making a goal for 15 minutes or whatever we want, is designed to overcome our forgetfulness, our business, and our being distracted by a hundred other things in our life. Making a goal is a commitment to seek God that He loves and honors.

James 5:16 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.