Monday, December 31, 2012

New Year, New Season

A move is coming for the Bassett family. We are slowly looking at what is needed and what is no longer needed.

I had just returned from an errand and had our youngest, Lilly Faith, with me. As we pulled into the driveway, we both noticed a couple of car seats at the curb. She wanted to know why her car seat was being thrown out. "Well, you can't fit into your car seat anymore," I said. "You're in a booster seat now and we don't need car seats." Lilly Faith was not happy. "So we're just going to throw them away?" she asked. We got out of the car and I began to unload the car. I turned around to find Lilly Faith with her baby doll in her arms at the curb next to the car seats. She had put her baby doll in one of the car seats and she had commenced to sitting in the next one behind her doll. She was having a conversation with her baby doll the whole time. It was obvious Lilly Faith was not thrilled with the idea of putting out the old and moving on with the new!

We just recently ushered in a new season of Winter. Seasons change. They don't last forever. And just as seasons change with the weather, seasons change in our life as well. But letting go of things, people, habits, hurt and circumstances isn't easy. Although we may be miserable with them, it always seems harder to do away with them. The way the Lord knows whether we move into our new season with faith in Him or in unbelief, because of our worry of a change, often happens with our mouth.

Zechariah was a priest and a man of God. When the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him his wife Elizabeth would be having a son, Zechariah couldn't believe it. He asked in Luke 1:18, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." It's almost like Zechariah was saying, "I hear what you're saying, but I can't see it happening." Even after Gabriel explained how it would happen, Zechariah seemed doubtful. God was ready to move Zechariah into a new season, but doubt was clouding the picture. The angel was trying to tell Zechariah, "This is going to be bigger than you are!"

When God brings a new season into your life, you can't talk the language of the old season. You've got to learn to speak a word in the season you're in. That comes by faith. That comes by cooperating with the Holy Spirit. Because of Zechariah's doubt, the angel had to put his mouth on hold until he could speak a word in due season (verse 20). Zechariah began to speak a word in due season in Luke 1:68. This time around, Zechariah didn't question God, he didn't scrutinize the word, but he praised God!

Sometimes you may wonder why the flow of the Holy Spirit may have stopped for you. It could be because your mouth isn't cooperating with the Holy Spirit and what God is wanting to bring you. Many times, God will give you hints or tokens of what He is wanting to do for you next before He even does it. It's like God is saying, "I'm so anxious, I just can't wait any longer! I've got to show them what's coming!"

God is getting ready to move you into a new season. Curb your tongue, your emotions, and your personality and know angels are listening to you. Seize the moment so that you can become resourceful for God and so He can use you to accomplish His plan. God will show you things that haven't even been conceived yet as He gets ready to move you to a new season with Him!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Is He Trying To Stop You?

It's "the most wonderful time of the year"...or so the song says? But even through the pageantry, lights, gift giving and Christmas carols, the devil's devices are alive and well. In many cases, they are multiplied. The more time people spend together, the more words can be spoken and more hearts can be broken. The devils of discouragement are at work even at the most glorious time.

Being in the public eye I'm always receiving emails, voice mails and anonymous letters from viewers who have an opinion about me they need to share. Over the last few weeks, viewers have told me I'm "fat", criticized my growing out my hair to donate it, and have even accused me of "tempting godly men who are trying to stay pure" (whatever that means).

What good is a spirit-filled Christian if they aren't going through adversity?

Before the devil can quiet your voice for God, he will try to stop you through other people. Most often times, the devil uses professing Christians to do his dirty work. When the opposition comes, you often feel like you're running through quick sand---you are having such adversarial conditions that your forward movement is slowing down. The winds of opposition blow and you gradually shut down and stop. The devil doesn't necessarily want you to go backward in your Christian growth, but he does want to stop you from going forward. God is about progress. Satan is about sitting still, caving into the pressures and doing nothing.

The Galatians were a people who used to be on fire for the Lord. But the devices of Satan came in and began to infiltrate their minds and their emotions and eventually slowed them down in their spiritual growth and influence. Paul told them in Galatians 1:6, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion..." The devil will have other people to misuse you, confuse you, and abuse you.

When the comments, critiques, trials, and accusations increase, don't stop moving forward. Just pause. Ask the Holy Spirit to touch you with a fresh word. Psalm 46:10 gives great advice: "Be still and know that I am God."

Occupying the blessings of God isn't going to come in a day. It's a process. Spiritual warfare is necessary.

(Barbie is the guest speaker tonight at Oakland Baptist Church's ladies night out in Corinth. She will be speaking and signing her books this coming Tuesday, December 11 at the Walthall County Library in Tylertown at 11am.)