What the enemy is up to...

I came across the following article the other day and felt I had to share:

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We
can't keep Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and
knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"
"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels.
"Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent unnumbered schemes to occupy their
minds" he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend then borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work six or seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work . Overstimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, VCR, CD's and their PC's going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and
break that union with Christ."
"Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail,
sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering, free products, services and false hopes. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive.
Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. And when they meet for spiritual
fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion."

Has the devil been successful at his schemes? You be the judge.

The bottom line here is not to expect the devil to come to us with a horns and a three-pronged fork. His favorite tactics include stealing your time and controlling your mind.
Reanalyze what you spend most of your time on and the subliminal messages and images etched in your mind. Above all, use your time wisely and try by all means to be conscious of what you look at listen to.
In terms of ungodly music, or music that unsettles me, my stance has always been to kindly ask whoever is playing it to turn it down (within reason of course and if possible) or to excuse myself from the room. I'd much rather be labelled as a weirdo for not listening to something that doesn't add life to me than "roll with the crew" and end up with a whole lot of junk clogging up my mind.

What's new in 2012??

Hey people!

Tashy-b.blogspot.com is doing something new in 2012. Presenting the "Zooming in on" monthly special feature.

Once every month, for the next 12 months, I will be featuring and "zooming in on" 12 of the greatest characters in the Bible. Each post will be put up on the 12th of every month so keep an eye out for them! This will be in addition to the usual posts I put up. First post will be up this time next week :) *excited*

I find that often, people, especially us young people look north, south east and west, in magazines and tabloids for role models when some of the greatest people that ever lived are right there in the Holy Book.

Feel free to leave a comment here, or contact me directly if you have any specific individuals that you would like to be profiled.

Enjoy the coming posts

--Tash

2011: Looking back

So, today's the 31st of December 2011. The last day of the year. And what a year it has been! From the trials to the triumphs, the tests to the testimonies, the pain, but above all the joy and inexplicable peace I feel to be where I am today. Because of the significance of the number 11, 2011 was dubbed the year of disorder, chaos and mayhem and I am so grateful to be still standing on this day despite all the chaos going on in the world around us. Throughout the year, one thing remained constant: GOD.

It's always great to look back on the year that's been and smile at your accomplishments, laugh at your silliness and mischief, and reflect on where you can improve. But it's an even better feeling to look back and be content with how things have turned out.

Yesterday I bumped into a post from T.D Jakes that was really profound. He said,
"You can’t spend your life in the graveyard of guilt dealing with the corpses of the past. Know when things are dead, know when to release them and bury them. If you continue to work with the dry bones of dead issues, you too will begin to decay. No amount of work will resuscitate a corpse. Sign the death certificate and bury the past."

I believe this word is so relevant and crucial at this time of the year. It is important to let the old, dead and dry situations GO. Don't drag them into the new year hoping they'll miraculously be resurrected. Let go of the old and be prepared for the new.
The Bible clearly states:
No one puts a patch from a new garment on an old garment; if he does, he will both tear the new one, and the patch from the new [one] will not match the old [garment]. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the fresh wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled and the skins will be ruined(destroyed). But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. (Luke 5:36-38 AMP).

I am expectant for the coming year. My God has been faithful throughout 2011 and I am excited for the coming year.

Thank you all for the support the past year. Especially for reading and giving feedback. I am grateful and looking forward to the coming year. Have a prosperous 2012 and keep reading.

--Tash

In Love So Deep

Love unfailing, overtaking my heart. 

I’m always in awe of HIS unfailing, unending, unwavering LOVE. Even in the midst of my imperfection, He still loves me. I’m amazed at Him, My God, who with 6,999,999 other people in the world to think about still sees me as the apple of His eye, His priced possession. He knows everything about and that concerns me. Every single hair on my head is counted. Every pain, affliction, joy and success in my life He is aware of. 

I am in awestruck at how He stands majestically in the heavens, more powerful than any of the Kings and rulers that have ever lived, yet I don’t need to make an appointment to speak to Him.

How deep is His love? As deep as the deepest ocean.as deep as my wildest dream AND THEN SOME!

As I decrease He increases. As I succeed, more glory and honour befalls His name.The more intimately I get to know Him, the deeper in love I fall. The more I get of Him, the more I want, and desire. 

I cannot fathom how others live like there is no God and question His existence. His existence is so explicit, I am surrounded by so many reminders of His awesomeness. 

Love unfailing has overtaken my heart...I'm in love SO deep.

De-clutter

 Never be afraid of letting go of things in your life that have reached their expiry date. Letting some things go makes space for something new!

Every month, I spring clean my living space. But every  2 or 3 months I do a major, all-out SUPER CLEAN.  I take out all my old boxes, get into the cupboards that haven’t been opened in a while and dig up all  my clothes which I haven’t worn in ages. I’m always amazed at the amount of stuff I accumulate over the months!

I used to have a lot of stuff I'd cling onto because it had “sentimental value”, or ‘just in case I needed it’ -- Clothes I KNEW I’d never wear,  things I knew I’d not use again and so on. But lately whenever I decide to do a major clean I become RUTHLESS with my clutter and anything not used in the past 6 months, and  not likely to be used again gets thrown out or given away! I’m always so happy at the end of my cleaning sprees at how much stuff I am able to get rid of and the amount of free space I create just but letting GO!

Often, we let great things pass us by because our “space” is fully occupied by illegal settlers and things that have passed their expiry date. Whether it's a wrong relationship, a failing friendship or holding onto a past hurt...whatever... holding on to clutter from the past limits your availability for new things. Sometimes we hold on to things with such a tight grip, and clog up our lives, often, holding onto things that really shouldn’t be in our lives. Just as we spring clean our living spaces every now and then, we also need to periodically evaluate and take stock of our lives and highlight the space-occupying non-benficial things in our lives.

Let some things go.You’ll be amazed at the wonderful things you’ll begin to experience because of the space created when you let go!