God Wants You Happy! Lessons from Victoria Osteen, Stargate SG1, and the Ori, etc

Amazon Prime: Stargate SG-1 Season 10 (affiliate link)

How do the Religious Community, Stargate SG1, The Ori, and Joel and Victoria Osteen all relate? To find out, keep reading...

"Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say continually, "The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." Psalm 35:27 New American Standard Bible

* I want to be careful here to address the thoughts and ideas, and not the people involved. 

So often, when we begin to find mass disagreement (religious disagreements, political disagreements, etc), we find ourselves attacking each other, rather than discussing the ideas and concepts. Which is what has happened in the following instance. Let's examine the idea/concept/thought, not the person(s) involved.

Victoria Osteen is on people's hearts this week

Bloggers and News Media all seem have Joel and Victoria Osteen on their hearts lately. So before we get started, let us do what they are all hopefully doing too, let us pray FOR Joel and Victoria:

"Father, you are the One who has matchless Love for us, you are passionate about us, to the point that you sent your Son, Jesus, to suffer, die, go to hell, and rise again; so that we could be saved. He who knew no sin, became sin, so that we who knew no righteousness could be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Father, we only know how to love you, because you first loved us, and we thank you for wooing us as Your bride. We thank you for the life of Joel and Victoria Osteen. We ask that Your fruit in their life abound, and you continue to work in them to complete the work you started in them. So Be It!" (Prayer by Darrell Wolfe)

Religion

Hello, for those of you who don't know me, I feel compelled to introduce myself today. My name is Darrell Wolfe, and I am a Recovering Religiholic. I was raised in a #StainedGlassOrgans&Hymnals Church. Eventually I made my rounds through other styles, cultures, and backgrounds. I am very PRO Jesus, and very ANTI religion. As I look through history I define religion as:

"Religion is the by product left over after God's move, turned from movement to monument." (Tweet That!)

Religion really doesn't change at it's core, just it's make up and dress. From Pharisees to Priests to Pastors the titles change, but you can always smell the attitude. More addicted to their traditions than the truth of God.

A supposedly controversial statement:  "Jesus Wants You Happy!"

People are upset about a statement recently made by Victoria Osteen. ChristianNews.Net; tells how this YouTube Clip, shows Victoria Osteen making the following statement:

“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God (I mean, that’s one way to look at it), we’re doing it for ourselves. Because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really, you’re doing it for yourself; because, that’s what makes God happy. Amen?” Victoria Osteen

So what's wrong with that statement?According to some, the problem with this statement is that it focuses on self.

Apparently: "It is wrong to worship God for your own self benefit."

So let's examine this idea.

Worship God For Myself

I cannot, will not, pretend to know what SHE meant. I wasn't there. You can only properly interpret a statement in it's context. Not just the context of that 10 minutes, but the entire service, indeed the entire life of that person and all they've taught and said until that moment. However, what I can do is tell you what I hear out of that statement, and it's counter statement. 

As soon as I heard that we should not worship God for our own self, I'm left to ask:

"Who benefits from worship if it's not me? God?" 

If I don't worship God for my benefit, then it must be God who benefits from my worship.

God needs our worship?

The very next thought reminded me of a concept born out of one of my favorite Science Fiction television series: Stargate SG1. In the last seasons of SG1, they encounter a religion enslaved to a race of energy beings called the Ori.

This excerpt from RDAnderson.Com explains:

The Ori draw their power from the worship of the humans who devote themselves to the religion of Origin. There is a real, physical transfer of energy to the Ori that occurs simply through a human being's belief in them, however, for it to have a measurable effect, it requires massive numbers of humans relinquishing their will.

That sounds an awful lot like a doctrine about demons, not the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

Does God NEED our worship?

It's fairly clear, from a reading of the whole bible, that God does not NEED anything or anyone. However, God does enjoy, and take great pleasure in, his created Mankind. Mankind, is his offspring, so to speak. He loves us as dearly loved children.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.Colossians 1:17 English Standard Version

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’" Acts 17:28 English Standard Version

"Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say continually, "The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." Psalm 35:27 New American Standard Bible

Does God benefit from our worship?

Yes, God benefits from our worship in the same way that a person benefits when their spouse tells them how much they love and adore them. The bible tells us that He get's great pleasure when we prosper, and He throws parties for us when we come home, like the prodigal son. So yes, He get's pleasure from our pleasure.

Does Mankind benefit from our own worship of God?

Yes, ultimately God doesn't need us to worship Him.

Unlike the fictional Ori, if every human ever made never worshiped God, it wouldn't change God for a moment.

However, when a man/woman worships God it changes the man/woman. So who REALLY benefits from worshiping God? We do! And when we spend time in His presence, worshiping God, we are changed, and become more like Him.

Now, in that context, read this again:

“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God (I mean, that’s one way to look at it), we’re doing it for ourselves. Because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really, you’re doing it for yourself; because, that’s what makes God happy. Amen?” Victoria Osteen

So...

God the FATHER, takes pleasure in His kids happiness? Yes.

You and I benefit from our worship of God, as we become more like him? Yes.

What's really being addressed here? It's religion. People often fall into a religious mindset in their worship of God. It's their duty, obligation, to worship God. Instead of being a powerful emotional experience, that changes the worshiper into being more like God, religion turns worship into an obligation that turns the worshiper into a self-righteous check list minded, slave of the religion. What I hear Victoria saying here, is that if you throw out all your religion, and just worship God because it changes you, and benefits you, and makes you more like Him... something paradoxical happens.

The worship starts as you needing the benefit, then as you worship Him, you become more like Him, and being like Him, you are no longer consumed with self. The very act that started as self-benefit did benefit self, and the overflow of that self-benefit is a benefit to others. Only people who are supplied can supply others, spirit, soul, body, financially, etc.

God doesn't need your worship, but you need your worship of Him, and others need your worship of Him.

Worship - For Your Benefit - The Ultimate Sacrifice


Will He also call you to sacrifice? Sure.

I OFTEN do not feel like worshiping God. It is not my flesh that wants to worship God. However, when I sacrifice that flesh and worship God anyway, I benefit, and so do other around me. The bible calls this:

A Sacrifice of Praise Heb 13:15

Paul and Silas were thrown in a prison for their life in God. But what did they do in that prison? They SANG (it's hard to sing depressed) and God busted open the doors. The religious minded person would have sat in that jail cell, and moaned about how they are "suffering for Jesus".

Paul and Silas sang, not for God's benefit, but for theirs, which turned into overflow and benefited the fellow jailed, the jailor, the jailors family, it even started a new Church in that city.

Worshiping God, for your benefit is the highest selfless act you can do.

And now I leave you with a question:

What do you think, who benefits from Worshiping God more, You or God?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

---

By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

This Weeks Resource:

• Amazon Prime: Stargate SG-1 Season 10(affiliate link)

Affiliate Disclosure:
I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

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Spell Casting VS Authority (Wicca vs Christian)

The Gathering Storm (Judgment Day version) by Dennis Wong

So I had this thought come to me:

How do Witchcraft and Christianity differ?

The devil has absolutely NO (ZERO) original ideas or abilities. Satan was not created to be a creator. Man was created to be a co-creator with God, in His image. Man is on a higher order than angels were created to be. Satan was not, is not, and never will be anything but a servant. The only thing he can do is take something God has created, and twist it for his own devices.

So when you want to understand something that seems evil/dark, look at it's light opposite. If you want to understand something that is light, you can always find a dark/evil opposite to it somewhere.

The word "Witchcraft", as found in 1 Samuel 15:23, in Hebrew is the word "Qesem". It can also be translated "divination". As I read, here, the break down of this word; divination, I find some interesting meanings. The essential root of divination/witchcraft, is to find out secret knowledge that man cannot know on his own. This may be in the form of "how to", which would be where spells come. It may be future related, which ties into fortune telling. Any attempt to gain access to knowledge beyond the reach of man's powers of observation through his five physical senses, could be called divination or witchcraft.

Definition#1: Witchcraft: Any attempt to gain access to secret knowledge (with using man's natural senses), without God. 

Witchcraft-Wicca vs Christianity

One of the best known forms of spell casting and witchcraft in today's society is called Wicca. Spell casting is witchcraft, often using a book of spells, spoken out loud, to obtain a desired end result. The spell caster may believe that he/she is doing this out of a benevolent heart to help other people. However, spell casting at it's base it about the power of the individual' therefore, by nature selfish: "Look at this power I have!" In fact, the motto of Wicca is: "an it harm none, do what ye will." In other words, it's OK to do whatever YOU want to do, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

Witchcraft Focus: Self Will/Self Pleasure

Christianity on the other hand is inherently self-less. Sure, you can find people calling themselves Christians involved in killing, murder, and all sorts of atrocities. However, this is where I draw another line. "Religion" is witchcraft. Religion is man's attempt to put God into a box, control Him, and make Him more palatable. When man attempts to gain access to God or Spiritual things on his own terms, this is again Witchcraft.

Definition#2: Witchcraft: Man's attempt to gain access to God/Spiritual things, on his own terms, apart from God's terms.

Therefore, Religion is Witchcraft.

Christianity, at it's heart is not a religion. 

People have made into one, actually they've made into thousand of religions. The vast majority of labels we've chosen have become religious witchcraft. What started as a move of God, turned into a movement, as that stalled it turned into a monument. The Holy Spirit moved on, and a stale religion was left in it's wake.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that all people going by a title are bad or evil. You can be saved and be a __Fill in the blank denomination_. It's just that the form is old, crusty, and broken. Many of the methods and traditions used by these forms have long since lost their meaning.

For the true Christian, regardless of the label/denomination they choose, Christianity is about Jesus. What I do is not for me, it's not even for you, it's for Him. I love Him; because, He first loved me!

Christianity Focus: Jesus Christ/God

Source of Power: Spell Casting VS Authority

 

The only way for any human to obtain real spiritual power is to be connected to the spiritual world. As mankind died spiritually at The Fall, there is no natural connection to the spiritual realm. The only way to tap into it is through connection to a spirit being. Therefore, in order for Wiccan's, or any other non-Christ based religion to tap into that world, they must invite spirit's in. This may be called "Guides" in their vernacular, You and I will call them demons.

Christian's are different. Born again people are alive spiritually, but that life doesn't derive from them, it derives from being possessed by another spirit: The Holy Spirit.

Kingdom people walk in Authority. If you are on assignment from God, and you have his instruction on where to go, what to do, how to do it... you are walking in His Authority. With that Authority comes the power to accomplish the assigned task. However, this power is not resident within me as though it were mine, this power is resident within me because I have yielded to the one the Authority Giver.

One friend of mine watched the first Harry Potter movie before he'd let his son see it. This friend was a former Warlock turned Christian. He said that many of the spells used in Harry Potter were the ones he'd used, and therefore the root of that movie was evil and he refused his Son to be exposed to it.

As many know, J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian, and friend to CS Lewis. The root of his writing, although the concept of Wizard is used, is a different root. So the look an feel of his writing is much different. 

LOTR: The Two Towers - Gandalf breaks Saruman's spell over King Theoden

Now compare the Harry Potter movies to the scene where Gandalf releases King Theoden.  Potter uses spells that he has remembered and Gandalf uses authority. It's a subtle but profound difference. One cannot generalize and say that all movies and books using a particular title or typology is bad/good. One must look to the root.

Being Led

And of course, this all comes back down to #BeStillBeLed.If you are submitted to His leading, on His assignment (and not your own agenda), than you are not only able to be Led by Him, but empowered by Him to do what He assigned you to do.

We ALL have an assignment here on this earth, one that is very specific to each one of us.

And now I leave you with a question:

What is YOUR assignment, at this point in your life, right now?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

---

By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

This Weeks Resource:

• Finding God in The Lord of the Rings, by Kurt Bruner (Author), Jim Ware (Author)

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I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

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Midnight

The pavement sings as it's pelted with wetness. The. Midnight song of a Fort Worth summer.

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Midnight

The pavement sings as it's pelted with wetness. The. Midnight song of a Fort Worth summer.

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Wilderness Before Promise: Entering the Promise Land

Desert Hills by  Jose Maria Cuellar

Being Led Into The Wilderness

It's hard to search the bible for being "led" without coming back to the story of Israel in the wilderness, or references to it.

Deuteronomy 8:2 NKJV
And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Is it possible that we create our own wilderness experiences; or, is it that we prolong them by our defiance?

The Wilderness Precedes the Promise

Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

So we can see a pattern emerging. From Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Israel the Nation, Elijah, to Jesus himself, wilderness times precede the promise. These are times of testing and proving. I don’t think God needs you to prove anything to Him. He knows what you are capable of, more than you do.
What God wants, is for you to experience the proof yourself. It’s as though, the very proving ground, training ground, testing ground itself, is where hero’s are made.

Abundance Despite The Lack

Both Israel, and Jesus himself, were led into wilderness times. It seems that God actually does this on purpose in the lives of people who have submitted themselves to him. So when wilderness times come, let us learn from them, and grow through them. We can see where Israel failed here.
Israel murmured and complained the entire time they were in the wilderness. Even though God met every need, to the abundance, to the overflow, they still murmured. They lacked food, He rained down bread. They lacked meat, He gave them quail. They lacked water, He brought forth a river from a rock.
At each turn, they had the opportunity to ask and receive, instead they complained and took. Eventually, they disqualified themselves from the promise. At any time, they could have repented as a nation, and they could have entered that promise. However, it took another generation to rise up, one that would respond differently.

Leaving Egypt Behind

 
Israel was either begging to go back to Egypt, the land of their slavery…

Is there some Egypt in our heart still calling us back?

Or, Israel was making golden calves, and deals with the enemy they should have been conquering.

Do we seek God's will our own way? Are we willing to compromise with the devils that stand between us and our promised land; rather than do the harder work of trusting God to purge them?

Joshua's generation proved that the Giants weren't preventing Israel from taking the land. Longing in the hearts of their fathers for the past, mistrust in the present, and fear of the future, kept Moses's generation stuck.
And yet, it was Joshua’s generation that faced the fiercest battles, and most challenges. The wilderness is there to train you in safety for the real fight that it takes to obtain your promise.

If you don’t win in the wilderness, you’ll never make it in the promise land.

Here my question today:

Are you using the wilderness time to hone your skills, deepen your relationship with God, and train for the real battles ahead?

Or are you simply walking around in circles never quite out of sin or into victory?

By Darrell Wolfe
About This Blog, and Darrell.

This Weeks Resource:

• Jeremy Pearsons Ministries

Affiliate Disclosure:
I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

And now I leave you with a question:

What are you preparing for the promise, or barely enduring the wilderness?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

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Romans 8: In God We Trust!?

"In god we trust" by Aaron van Dorn

Romans 8 is PACKED full of good stuff! 

Who knew all this was in the same chapter!?

Why do I find it so hard to believe God? I mean over, and over, and over, He has proven himself faithful to me, in very real and practical ways. Just recently, the favor He's shown in moving me to my new job position, has been nothing short of miraculous.

Nevertheless, as soon as the next trial comes along, I start doubting again. After awhile, if the same problem is coming up over and over, the only place to look is in the mirror.

ME? You mean I'm the problem? Well, yes, I am. But that's not the mirror I'm referring to. 

 James 1

22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

When I spend time in the perfect Word of God, it shows me things I couldn't see. Just as  mirror shows my how crazy my hair really is in the first minutes of morning, the mirror of the Word shows me how crazy my thoughts are before I washed them in His Word.

I had one such mirror moment reading Romans 8 this past week.

-Romans 8 Study-

Yield to HolySpirit

6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11But 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 dwelleth in you.

I've always used vs 11 as a healing scripture, which is just fine, nothing wrong with that. But today I saw it in a new and fresh light. If I have a carnal mind, I'm envoking the curse/death. If I engage the spiritual mind (mindsets) I am envoking blessing/life. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is in my body, quickening (making alive) my mortal flesh.

That INCLUDES my mind! HolySpirit is inside of my, assisting in the renewing of my mind. I don't have to strive for a new mindset, or work hard at it.

I need only yield to what He is processing in me.

How do I engage this spiritual mind?

16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

--

26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

27And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

HolySpirit bears witness to my Spirit, first of my adoption, and then to any truth I need, because he is here to lead me into all truth (according to John). Likewise, he helps me in my weakness by interceding for me and praying out the Will of God in my life.

I can tap into this during my times of prayer, meditation, and silence.

28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This process of allowing him to pray through you, specifically through times of silence and praying in tongues, is how he works all things together for Good!

Believing God for provision...

31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

If God is for me, WHO can be against me?

NO ONE!

He didn't spare His own Son...

So why, here on earth, would I doubt His desire to give me freely ALL THINGS?!!?!?!?!

Once I get that straight, and really accept God had my best in mind, I'll be able to freely trust Him for all things. 

I must yield to how much he loves me!

Take away's

• Yield to HolySpirit's instruction/leading.
• HolySpirit bears Witness to me.
• Yield to the Love of God. 
• So it really is all about #BeStillBeLed! (Tweet That!)

By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

*My apologies for posting a day late.

This Weeks Resource:

• Blessing Of The Lord: Makes Rich And He Adds No Sorrow With It, By Kenneth Copeland A study of "The Blessing" through the Old and New Testament, from Abraham to Jesus. 

Affiliate Disclosure:
I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

And now I leave you with a question:

Have you struggled believing God will provide natural things you want/need?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

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$0.74 vs $3.96 - How does your perspective change your decision making?

Thermal Cutoff: $0.74 fix for a $75.00 problem

Have you ever got something in your head so strong... that you failed to see the bigger picture?

How I refused to pay $3.96 to fix a $72.41 problem, all because it wasn't $0.74.

I hate heat! HATE it! Passionately hate it. I grew up in 125*F summers and I would rather live in snow than heat. Apparently the one thing I hate more is spending money on something I cannot eat. So, I've driven around in 80-90 weather with the windows down, so I could save less than $5. This is SO sad looking back on it.

$0.74 vs $3.96

I've known since BEFORE summer arrived that the air conditioner in my 2001 Honda Odyssey was broken. Worse yet, I've known exactly what to do to fix it. This video, here, describes the issue in perfect detail. It describes the part, a "Transistor Assembly", as a $72.41 part. At my current budget, that's a LOT of money.

But wait, the third time I watched the video I noticed a link that I'd been ignoring to this companion video, here, describing how to fix the Transistor Assembly for less than $1. Yes, that's right, a $72.41 repair becomes a $1 repair. So you can go to to DigiKey.Com and order this Thermal Cutoff for $0.74, yes 74 cents. I got that "less than $1" part stuck in my head.
 
However, the part will require $3.22 shipping...

So... I'm excited to find a $0.74 fix to a $72.41 problem, then thrown off by $3.22 shipping. My mind could not get over paying $3.22 to ship a $0.74 part. Even though, if shipping were free, I would have been happy to pay $10.00 to fix a $72.41 part. I even would have been satisfied to pay $3.22 shipping for a $10.00 part. However, I couldn't bring myself to pay $3.96 (total with shipping) for a $0.74 part.

Delay. Procrastination. Fear. False Perspectives:

These are all too familiar companions in my life.

I know... I know... that sounds ridiculous.

And it is.

It's now August and I'm finally bringing myself to buy it. There are 100 other reasons I've had not to buy it. Maybe not 100, but at least 10-20. But they all amount to excuses, procrastination, fear of loss of money, fear of being wrong about the fix, etc, etc.

Isn't it worth $3.96 to attempt the fix with the possibility of comfortable driving? Sure, when you put it like that?!

Change Your Perspective

So, today I realized I was also doing this in bigger areas of my life. I was treating my kids as a chore, rather than a blessing. Spending time with them was an obligation to be endured, not a privilege to be cherished. It was a internal emotion, not a reasoned thought. But it was affecting my decisions, and creating a poor atmosphere for their growth.

I was choosing TV or Facebook, and brushing them off to "go play". The underlying message they were getting was: "You are not worth my time, go away".

I would have said it was stress, or being tired... but is the result for them any different based on my reason or excuse?

Maybe I could choose gain a new perspective, on purpose. Maybe I could choose to see my family from a different light, and then I would be able to participate in their growth... rather than observe it from a distance.

The Solution

As I continue to learn how to #BeStillBeLed, I'll become a Father more like My Father in heaven! (Tweet That!)

And now I leave you with a question:

What portions of your life could use a new perspective?

To Respond Leave A Comment on This Post

*PS: I got this message after I ordered, so it ended up being cents cheaper!

Your total cost is $3.70 in U.S. currency, including $2.68 postage.

*PSS: It didn't work; however, I tried! It's better to know than wonder.

By Darrell Wolfe

About This Blog, and Darrell. 

This Weeks Resource:

• Supernatural Prayer Life, By Nancy Dufresne

"Christians create great difficulties for their own lives when they don't take time to speak in other tongues and gain clarity from God in their own spirits before moving forward in a particular direction. They marry wrong people, get into bad business deals, make wrong career moves, allow wrong people around their children, and create a host of other problems for themselves, all because they don't take time to know the mysteries of God about their own lives through speaking in other tongues."

Affiliate Disclosure:
I earn commissions off of some of my suggestions. Full Disclaimers (Click Here)
See my Store for more suggestions (Click Here)

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