Because of the tremendous responses from those who received this month's Partners and Friends Letter, we decided to make it available to friends and followers of the TTM Blog and Facebook page. Be blessed as you are a blessing.
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February 2014 |
 Dear Friend of Toward The Mark, |
It's a war of "WORDS... During the Second World War, as our troops were fighting to gain control of the islands in the Pacific theater, the Japanese unleashed a rather unconventional and very deadly weapon. They used a number of English-speaking Japanese women, collectively dubbed by the Americans "Tokyo Rose", to broadcast messages intended to undermine the American war effort. As the American troops were listening to their radios, "Tokyo Rose" would break in and read from a script that the Japanese military composed for the purpose of inflicting devastating psychological damage. She would say things like: "Boys, while you are suffering for a lost cause in these hot jungles, your wives and girlfriends are back home in the arms of other men" or, "Your government doesn't care about you, so they have sent you here to die in this fight that they know you can't win." Like my own grandfather, anyone who was there can tell you that those poisonous messages inflicted torment that resulted in physical casualties. The Japanese understood that the opposite of what we've all heard in this childhood proverb is true, "Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
I had NO idea! Listen to this statistic that I learned from a Pastor friend of mine some time ago. He said that he read a study where, on average, it takes 17 words of affirmation to negate the emotional damage of just one negative word in the life of a person. In some cases, he said, it takes more than that, and some people never even recover at all. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue:" (Proverbs 18:21a)
Desperate darts... Have you ever struggled with thinking that you are the one rare case - that one mistake - that slipped past God? Or have you ever thought that there is no good thing in you? I can tell you that I certainly have. When I realized, however, just how insanely jealous the devil is of God and His loving family, a light went on in my spirit. Those thoughts, those lies, are what the Bible refers to as "the fiery darts of the enemy." They serve as the devil's desperate attempt to keep us from discovering who we really are.
Two realities infuriate the devil! If you have studied the Scriptures, you know these two undisputed facts: "God has never made a mistake;" and "Anyone who believes in Christ Jesus, is an heir to all of The Father's promise, the very thing the devil knows he'll never be." Knowing that attacking God directly is not an option, he turns his rage toward God's children, following an old mafia practice, straight from the devil himself, that says, "If you want to hurt someone worse than killing them, torture their children." We, as God's children, are a devastating threat to the devil, but only when we realize it. To keep us from realizing the truth of our identity, the devil employs tempting spirits to try and lure us into making poor life choices, ultimately, to bind us in chains of sin. To avoid this trap, and the sin that separates us from God, we must follow these words by James, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
Know your enemy! Subtle, but deadly, word seed, like those spoken through the radio by "Tokyo Rose", can yield a death crop, as Paul makes clear where the battles of this life are actually fought, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers ... the rulers of the darkness of this world ... spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12) Being equipped with this Truth, and the knowledge of God's Word, you will be able to immediately recognize any condemning thoughts for what they are, and for what they have come to do. They are the enemy's attack to try and strip you from knowing who, and Whose, you truly are. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) It is crucial that we take every thought captive in the Name of Jesus Christ, rebuke the crippling lies of the enemy, and stay focused on the Truth that God is ALL things GOOD, MIGHTY, and LOVELY. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, ... and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
What the enemy says about you, the opposite is true! We must fix the truth in our heart that the devil is not just a habitual liar; he is the father of lies! His words of condemnation ring in our head, trying to convince us that we are worthless, weak, unloved, etc. By the Lord Jesus Christ affirming to us who the devil is and from where his spewing lies come, we know that, "... he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44) So, when thoughts come, like, "you are worthless," the opposite is the truth! If you hear, "you are weak," the opposite is the truth! Hearing, "you are unloved, and rejected," the opposite is the truth! And when you hear, "you are illegitimate, an outcast, a person of no importance," the opposite is the truth!
Last ditch effort... Since the devil and his minions lost the war at the cross, the only hope they have for keeping you from your identity and inheritance, is through deception using his one and only weapon: "words!" This is basically the same hopeless predicament the Japanese found themselves in during World War II. The enemy's ploy, trying to distract and deceive you with offensive "words," ultimately ENDS once you realize that you are God's Child, that your home is IN Christ, and that your Life is secure in the loving arms of your Father. Paul says, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you." (Romans 8:11)
What the devil DOESN'T want you to KNOW... God, your Father, loves you so passionately that He sent His Only Son to provide the way Home for you. The moment you asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart, your name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You were grafted into God's Family. You are a joint heir with Jesus Christ to all that is God's! You are a child of The King of all kings! The blood that flows in the veins of Jesus Christ, now flows through yours! The next time the devil comes to rob you of knowing who, and Whose, you are, pull out this letter, and read these TRUTHS:
--> "Because of Christ Who is in me, I am strong;"
--> "Because of Christ Who is in me, I am accepted;"
--> "Because of Christ Who is in me, I am compassed about with the cheers of a great crowd of witnesses who know that I am greatly cherished;"
--> "Because of Christ Who is in me, I have been equipped for greatness, being made in His likeness and image!"Amen!! Amen!!
We never want to do you a disservice by not offering you the opportunity to sow into what God is doing in and through this ministry. We invite you to become a financial partner today. Using PayPal Secure Donations, your seed gifts help us help others, and literally changes lives. If you would like to see how your regular support would help make a difference in the lives of others, please check us out at TowardTheMark.com. Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions about what you just read or about any part of our mission... Enjoying our journey of faith as we are helping others to find... LOVE, LIFE, and TRUE FULFILLMENT that only Jesus Christ provides. This is an exciting new year of opportunity, and we hope you will join in, follow us, and become a partner with us.
Go now, and do the great things that God put in you to do!
IN Christ Jesus,
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