This is an article from the Daily Meditations written by Ken and Gloria Copeland that I wanted to share with everyone.
It is especially at this time of year during the Christmas season that our thoughts turn to family and how we can all have a happy home. But truly, this should be a priority for all year long. Our homes need to be a haven and a fortress away from the secular world in which we live.
True peace, harmony, and love inside of the home and expressed always to our loved ones, is not easy to achieve - as the below article will show. But it is the goal!
The family is God's plan for us. It is our source of strength in a fallen world. As such, it comes under the attack of our enemy - the evil one. If you don't quite comprehend that, or maybe don't even believe in satan and that you have an enemy, then look around you at the destruction that is going on in families -and to familes- today.
And have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I believe this article maybe one the most important articles that we will ever read, and so I offer it here.
(copywrite: Copeland ministries)
A Little Bit of Heaven on Earth
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another...even as Christ forgave you."
(Colossians 3:12-13)
(Colossians 3:12-13)
Living in a home filled with the love and the peace of God Himself is almost like living in heaven right here on earth. We all know that's true. And we long to live in such a home. Yet, time and time again, we shortchange our families. We spend our kindest words and our most winning smiles on those beyond our front door.
Have you ever wondered why?
The answer is simpler than you might suspect. Spiritually speaking, your family is under attack. You see, it is not only one of your most precious gifts, when it's operating in harmony, it's one of your most powerful resources. Satan knows that even if you don't--and he's out to destroy it.
His battle plan is simple. He will do everything he can to create strife in your home. He'll stir up feelings of self-pity and jealousy. He'll encourage you to nurse resentments and harbor bitterness. And through it all, his purpose remains the same, to divide and destroy your home.
When God's people get in harmony with each other, miracles start to happen. Their agreement creates an atmosphere in which God's supernatural, miracle-working power is free to flow! So Satan is constantly tempting us to spoil that atmosphere, to foul things up by being at odds with each other. All too often we fall prey to his tactics simply because we don't realize just how dangerous strife really is. One close look at the Word of God will solve that problem, however. James 3:16 says, "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."
Don't open the door of your home to Satan by allowing your family the "luxury" of a few quarrels.
Stop the destruction before it starts. Anchor yourself to God's Word. Find out what He has to say about the power of agreement. Stop looking at your family from your own limited perspective and start seeing it as God sees it--as a powerhouse! That way you won't drift helplessly into an argument every time a gust of emotion blows through your home.
Determine right now not to let the devil have your family. Instead, pray for them, support them and love them. Bring them together, so you can all enjoy a little bit of heaven on earth.
Scripture Study: Colossians 3:12-25
