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Is there
any encouragement from belonging
to Christ? Any comfort from his
love? Any fellowship together in
the Spirit? Are your hearts
tender and sympathetic? Then make
me truly happy by agreeing
wholeheartedly with each other,
loving one another, and working
together with one heart and
purpose.
Don't be
selfish; don't live to make a
good impression on others. Be
humble, thinking of others as
better than yourself. Don't think
only about your own affairs, but
be interested in others, too, and
what they are doing. Philippians
2:1-4
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The TLCC
Ladies Winter Tea will not be
held this year. The Women's
Ministry Team has a new, exciting
special Spring event in the
making to CELEBRATE the 5th
anniversary of TLCC Women's
Ministries!
If you
would like to be involved in
helping with this Spring
production, please notify one of
the leaders. Thank you ahead of
time.
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The
Wednesday evening DLT groups are
a hit. If you are IN THE KNOW
then you know what TLCC women are
doing on Wednesday nights! Hearts
are being healed, evil spirits
being broken, new lives
beginning, new friendships made,
learning to walk with God and
occasionally some good food!!!!
The DLT
group has averaged about 40 in
attendance each week. Regina
Green leads the groups on many
subjects such as:
Walking
with God:
Being
vs. Doing
Joy and Submission
Agreements with the
Enemy
Anger:
Recognizing
Anger
Causes of Anger
Dealing with Anger
Come join
us as Doing Life Together on
Wednesdays at 6:30 PM
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If you have
not gotten plugged into a Sunday
School class each week, consider
joining the Women's Sunday School
Class which meets each Sunday at
9:00 a.m.
Class
participants will be encouraged
to share with one another on a
level that is comfortable but
challenging. Features of the
class include applications
appropriate for women, and
emphasis on prayers and answers
to prayer, and opportunities for
outreach activities. Teachers are
Regina Green and Rhonda Dunham.
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What is it
about stepping out in commitment
to Christ that draws a huge
target on our chests for the
enemy to begin pounding on us?
Somewhere in the mid 80’s my
husband and I surrendered to
ministry, not having a clue what
that meant. We felt sure that is
what God told us to do after my
serving in a part time ministry
position with our church in Texas
and both of us having gone on
overseas mission trips. We
actually felt like God has called
my husband into full time
ministry so he went to seminary.
But we made it public and there
the story truly
begins….
Almost
immediately we faced road blocks
and discouragement. We began to
question the call. But as we
continued to pray, we felt like
we’d truly heard and must
respond and that it was the enemy
who was making us doubt, not
God.
Did it get
easier, no! Harder! First of all
small things happened, my husband
lost his job, lost his company
car with the job, most of our
appliances were falling apart
(we’d been married about 15
years so it was time for them all
to wear out at the same time!),
and our car fell apart. My mom
would call me and ask,
“well, what broke
today?”. It got to be
somewhat funny and painful all at
the same time. Then we began
having a family relationship
issue that was so very painful.
The enemy tried to take our
possession, when that didn’t
defeat us he began to work on our
family. But God….
If not for
His power and strength, we’d
have given up many times a long
time ago! But He provided all we
needed continually. For eight
months we had no income (except
for a small stipend I received
from my church for my position
there). Not once did we do
without food or clothing, and we
always paid our bills. I
can’t tell you how that
happened. As I tried to put it on
paper, income and outgo did not
match up. God told me to stop
trying to figure it out, just
trust Him. It was a huge
stretching time for us
spiritually, but it was very
difficult to stand strong in the
face of the devil daily. I
remember actually digging my
heals into the carpet and saying,
“I refuse to allow the enemy
to have victory!”. And some
days, that’s all I had to
make it through the day. Luke 4:
8 goes well here: “Get thee
behind me, Satan: for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt
thou serve.” (KJV) But
God….
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How
powerful He is. We know He’s
more powerful than the devil. We
read in 1 John 4:4, “You are
from God, little children, and
you have conquered them {evil
spirits}, because the One who is
in you is greater than the one
who is in the world. “ Do we
really believe that? If so, DIG
YOUR HEELS IN! Do not allow the
enemy victory in your life, your
day, your heart.”
(HCSB)
Our job it
to know Him, follow Him and obey
Him. God’s job is to fight
the enemy. He told the Israelites
this in Deuteronomy 28:1, 7,
“Now if you faithfully obey
the Lord your God and are careful
to follow all His commands I am
giving you today, the Lord your
God will put you far above all
the nations of the earth. The
Lord will cause the enemies who
rise up against you to be
defeated before you. They will
march out against you from one
direction but flee from you in
seven directions.”
(HCSB)
Pretty
powerful commander we have! I
love what Beth Moore says in
Esther: It’s Tough Being a
Woman. “Some of us with
little previous battle experience
have no idea why God is allowing
us to go through such difficult
times in a place we thought was
His will. He’s trying to
make warriors out of us,
Girlfriend! Rise to the occasion!
But we aren’t meant to fight
unseen forces alone. You and I
have the God-given right to lock
arms with our sisters and
brothers in Christ and defend
ourselves with the sword of the
Spirit and the shield of faith.
Here’s the best part: When
we do, we are guaranteed the
victory. I said
guaranteed.”
We gain
more strength by understanding
Deuteronomy 31: 8, “The Lord
is the One who will go before
you. He will be with you; He will
not leave you or forsake you. Do
not be afraid or
discouraged.” (HCSB) The
best part as a Christian is that
we never fight the enemy alone!
We have the best army there is,
God leading, Christian sisters
alongside us.
When you
are struggling, be willing to
reach out to those around you for
prayer and guidance. More than
once I’ve called my
accountability partner to pray as
the attacks became obvious and it
dawned on me, it wasn’t just
a “bad day”. It was
Satan in my face! Outright
spiritual warfare. We have to
recognized it and face it in His
strength.
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