Praying the Bible Against Human Trafficking

Psalm 10 (NIV)

Why, O Yahweh, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles Yahweh.
4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
he is haughty and your laws are far from him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me;
I'll always be happy and never have trouble."
7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent,
watching in secret for his victims.
9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover;
he lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
he covers his face and never sees."

12 Arise, Yahweh! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
"He won't call me to account"?
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.

16 Yahweh is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You hear, O Yahweh, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

Prayer Against Human Trafficking

Today is the start of The Salvation Army's special weekend of prayer for victims of Human Trafficking (September 29 - October 2). I want to go one step further and suggest prayer AGAINST human trafficking.

We have a VAST arsenal of weapons at our disposal through prayer and one of them is praying AGAINST the Enemy and his tactics. Perhaps you think there's not much difference, but in reality praying FOR someone and praying AGAINST the Enemy's plan is at opposite ends of the prayer spectrum. ALL prayer is war, but your prayer "stance" is certainly more aggressive when praying directly against the Enemy.

So this weekend, while you're praying for the victims, don't forget to take your stand and pray AGAINST human trafficking.

Field Notes

I added a new blog to the right- Field Notes, by Josh Lyle in Derry, NH. You'll want to take a look for a few reasons:

1) Josh & Cat have the 2 cutest kids in the whole world!

2) Josh & Cat have planted a corps the way it should be done. There's room for a lot of growth (as there should be), but they started by getting connected to the people of Derry. Josh took his love of sports and started coaching local teams. Through this venue, he met kids, people, families- practically everyone in Derry until he's widely known. And NOT just as Josh the coach, but as Josh the Salvation Army guy. Look for great things from Derry.

3) Josh has a unique perspective on things, so I'm betting this blog will get you thinking. There's already some good stuff there to get you started.

4) He's posted pictures of the 2 cutest kids in the world!

Of course sadly, he's a Yankees fan, so you'll have to put up with any of that you may see posted. Go Rays!

Thanks God!

Over the last week, I observed a friend as he discovered that prayer is all about talking to a friend, not some college elocution professor.

We were praying in my office and when he finished, I said something to the effect of: "Had some trouble there putting all those big words together, huh?" Then we started talking about just regular conversation with God- "you know, like we're talking right now."

At that moment, I watched a large light bulb go off over his head. It was awesome seeing that new understanding light up behind his eyes! He was so excited, he spent the whole week practicing.

This week in my office it was a whole new person speaking when it came time to pray. Nothing fancy, no big words or anything. Just real, live connection with God. It wasn't a long prayer either, but it had a simple power that can grab your attention- it did mine.

Thank-you God for allowing me to witness that. It made my day!

The Red Book Sessions

I'm listening to the new CD by The Singing Company called "The Red Book Sessions." Nice! Perfect group name; great Album title! The 13 new arrangements are fresh with a variety of interesting contemporary sounds. Keri Shay's strong, pure voice is a highlight for me.

However, I must tell you, after reading the article in YS Magazine about it, even though I wanted to buy it immediately, I couldn't, because they didn't tell you where to get it! Bummer! So I searched the Internet until I found it on ArmyBarmy.com. Cheap as I am and not wanting to pay postage from Canada (since the CD is from the USA), I kept looking, but came up empty. I must admit I was surprised! It MUST be available in the US, so if anyone out there knows where, please let us know.

I assume it will one day be available on www.thesingingcompany.com, but their site is still in development. Check it out anyway and when they do get up and running, you'll want to drop by for sure. Check out their flower logo with the 8 point Army star in the middle (I didn't miss it, guys)!

But until we do know where else to get it, don't wait (I couldn't)- get over to ArmyBarmy and buy it now! Of course if you're not from the USA, shipping is not going to be an issue anyway- buy it from ArmyBarmy and help support their awesome mission.

If you're a Salvo, you will want this album ASAP. Hey, even if you don't bleed Yellow, Red and Blue, you'll still want to get your hands on this one. It's fun, challenging to your spirit and a real blessing to your soul.

BloodNFire!

Combat Faith

This is a book recommended by Chuck Missler on one of his teaching mp3s I've been listening to lately. I looked it up on AllBookStores.com and thought it sounded like I'd like it. I do!

I've been using it as my devotional book, so I read a chapter most mornings. Mr. Lindsey often talks about "cracking the faith barrier" and reminds us of many biblical instances of God teaching his children to have faith in his leading.

I am learning a lot about faith from his insights and have even gotten a good sermon (so far) from his thoughts. At the moment, I am thinking about today's reading where I highlighted most of the chapter!

Here's a quote:

"The deliverance at the Red Sea has a tremendous application to our lives today. Though the LORD may allow us to be led into a similar impossible situation, His will is that we boldly stand against the odds and claim His promises. When we do, He delivers us.

"In most cases, as soon as we react to a trial with faith in the LORD's promises, He removes it. If He doesn't, then we know that there is some greater lesson He desires to teach us concerning perseverance in faith. Remember that though God's leading may be unexplainable for the moment, His ultimate purpose is to teach us to believe Him so that we may have inner peace, joy and effective service for Him now and great rewards in eternity."

Good stuff, huh (or "good stuff, eh?" for our Canadian friends)?

Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore we should all be giving our best efforts to increase our faith. However, it seems God is so interested in developing our faith he "goes out of his way" to provide us with MANY opportunities to do so!

I could write much more based on my thoughts right now, but let's save some for future blogs and not make Travis too uncomfortable with a long blog! {heh, heh}

If you're interested in the book, click the title above (or the picture) to be directed to where you can purchase it. I highly recommend it.

BLESSING:
May you please God with the way your faith is growing. May you choose to believe he is leading no matter what happens in your daily life. May the tough situations you find yourself struggling through only allow God to prove himself you and to those around you, because you stand boldly on his promises and refuse to be defeated. And may God receive all the glory both now and forevermore!

Technorati Anyone?

Today Debbie gave me a page torn from a magazine titled: "How to Write a Blog Post." Gee thanks! Anyway, one of the 10 items listed was "tag it" and gave the reference of

www.technorati.com

So I checked it out (wanting to be able to post good blogs and all). What I found was a site that categorizes and links blogs from all over the place (I think).

So I signed up (again, hoping it'll make me able to write a good blog post). When finished, I discovered some bloggers out there who referenced a blog or two of mine and a few I didn't know have linked my blog on their blog. Cool!

Now I'm "officially" listed and I hope to figure out what else later. You can find my Technorati profile here:

Technorati Profile

The question still remains: "Is this a good blog post?"

Another Biblical Reference to Territorial Spirits

I've been doing some research lately about the Nephilim mentioned in scripture. If you're like most people, the word "Nephilim" doesn't ring a bell, so look up these references: Genesis 6:4 and Numbers 13:33 if you're interested. You won't get too much, which is why I'm having to do research!

Not intending to write about Nephilim today, I mention this to get your appetite whetted for a possible future entry on such. And it is the starting place for my musings today, because during this search I found the following which is ultimately providing information about Territorial Spirits/Authorities:

"The passage in Deuteronomy (32:8) reads 'When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided the sons of man. He established the borders of the peoples according to the number of 'the sons of Israel'.' The weird thing about this passage is how can the borders of all the peoples be established according to the sons of Israel when Israel hadn't already been established? The end seems to contradict the beginning. This contradiction doesn't appear in all Bibles, like the RSV based on the Greek Septuagint (dated from the 3rd century BCE), which state 'according to the number of the Sons of God.' This is also the wording in the Hebrew DSS version, which is now the oldest version of Deuteronomy we currently have, & what scholars now believe as the most authentic. "The implications are that the Sons of God are not just present at the beginning of the world, but also figure prominently in dividing nations. That implicates that while Yahweh chose Israel as his nation, each of the other Sons of God also received a nation to rule over."
(posted 12/25/02 by Krista on deliriumsrealm.com /delirium/articleview.asp?post=3)

[By the way, I don't agree with everything mentioned in this article and this is NOT a website I recommend. I place the reference information here only to give proper credit. One must realize that all Truth is God's Truth and sometimes we will find it in unusual places. It's really too bad that those who follow The Enemy know more about some things than we do. However, we can learn from them if we are careful in sorting out truth from lies. We must always be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater!]

What truth I am interesting in today is that we have scriptural mention of God dividing up the nations among his angels (children of God). Whether or not they were each given rule over these nations or they were given charge to cover them, we don't know. But we do see other references to this allotting territories when we read of Michael being one of the "Chief Princes," the "Prince of Persia" and the "Prince of Greece" in Daniel.

When God set these princes in charge is not specifically mentioned in Scripture. But based on how many nations have turned out, we can assume there were angels who were given charge of nations who eventually revolted against God and fell from his grace- whom we now call demons. I seriously doubt God would have given them charge of nations after they had fallen. The fact that Michael had to come and help Daniel's angel fight to get through the Princes mentioned above, shows they were/are obviously against God.

We can see how these Territorial Spirits are in charge of certain areas of physical land. Where those lines are drawn can often be observed based on the obvious spiritual changes one can sense (someone gifted in discernment) when moving from place to place, thereby crossing these lines of demarcation. There are documented cases of people being violently opposed to hearing the Gospel on one side of a street, but wonderfully open on the other side!

These divisions don't have to be just countries, but can also be states, counties, cities, and even areas of cities, etc.

Bottom line: there are spirits assigned to the geographical areas we live in. It would be wise for us to discern who they are and what they do so we can better learn how to defeat them.

Teach Me To Pray

Today we learned about the power of prayer and how most Christians don't experience God's power because they don't pray. It's a simple truth that amazes me more every day! I mean, how can we claim to be Christians and not spend time with God?

In our corps, one of our mission objectives is "to Actively practice Intercessory Prayer for our community." One can easily see this if we look back over the years of what has happened here in Bangor. Over and over again, we see prayer as an important part of what we have accomplished for God. So we are now trying to get as many people praying as possible (not just the many intercessors God has placed here!).

Too many people don't know much about prayer, because they haven't practiced it (except when disaster strikes or they need something from God). So we need a simple way to learn. I just happen to know of such a simple way to learn about prayer:

I received an email invitation from Eddie & Alice Smith (I've read many of their books) to take a 52 week School of Prayer. The lessons aren't long, but over the course of a year (one lesson per week), you will move from being a non-praying Christian to one who experiences the power of God regularly! Assuming, of course, you follow through with all the lessons.

Today, 20 people signed up for this course! Even some who don't have Internet access will receive the courses printed out.

If you too are interested, I highly recommend this course. Just go to

www.TeachMeToPray.com

and give them your email address. You won't get on a junk email list, but you will receive a lesson on prayer every week.

Faith is . . .

I learned some interesting things while studying for last week's message. The subject was "faith" and I spent some time looking at God's promise to Abraham and Abe's subsequent faith in trusting God despite the LONG time it took to see it fulfilled. Did you know from the time God promised Abe a son (and a lot of descendants) to the time of the Famous Test (of offering his son as a sacrifice), was 50-55 years! YEARS!

Here's a time-line:

• Abram was 75 years old (Sarai was 65) when God first made his promise that he would have a son and many descendants. To prove it, God changed Abram's name (exalted father) to Abraham (Father of a multitude).

• Eleven years later Sarah took matters into her own hands and gave Abraham her servant to have a child with. The result was Ishmael, who became the father of the Arab people. This error on Abe and Sarah's part is still causing problems in the MidEast!

• Thirteen MORE years (Abe was 99), God repeats his promise. Sarah laughs at the craziness of the promise since they are both so old, but denies she laughed. God caught her lie.
  

• One year after that (Abraham was now 100), God names the child Isaac, which means "laughter." Imagine being reminded of your lie every time you look at your child!
  

• Almost 30 years later (Isaac is in his late 30s, Abe his late 120's), God tests Abraham's faith by telling him to sacrifice his son (the one of the promise).

Abraham believed God's promise to him for more than 50 years! And we grouse and give up when we have to wait a few days!

Faith is secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance in his will- always.

Can I do that? Can you?

BLESSING:
May you have a secure faith in God that trusts him no matter what. Even in the tough days you experience, may you continue to believe God is your salvation and your protection. May he be pleased with your steadfast faith and may you be an example to others as Abraham was (and still is).

Anyone Wanna Buy an Awesome Car?

With a heavy sigh, Jenn's decided to sell her car. She bought it a little over 3 years ago, drove it for a few months, then put it in storage while she headed to Canada for The War College. Little did we know then that she'd not return, but would get married and end up living in Canada.

So we've been getting the car spiffed up, insured and registered with the hopes of finding a buyer soon. The car's in beautiful shape and we're looking for $6,000, right within in the Kelly Blue Book range. It's a 1999 Saturn SC-1 with 51,000 miles (KBB says it should normally have 80,000).

Anyone interested, let me know. Oh, by the way- the pretty girl DOESN'T come with the car!

Stress Relief

If you've had a tough week, click on the link below and enjoy some needed stress relief. Or for that matter, bookmark this one for any future tough week!

Stress Relief

Dear God Make it Stop

The Salvation Army is starting an annual international prayer week-end for victims of sexual trafficking. On Friday September 29 through SonDay October 1, Salvationists all over the world will be praying corporately and individually against this blight on humanity.

Ever since I saw the special movie "Human Trafficking" (get the DVD HERE) my awareness of ST has been heightened and my gut has been twisted. I honestly did not know the extensiveness. The fact that it exists is extremely frustrating to me and I have a desire to do SOMEthing about it.

If this sounds like feelings you've noticed in yourself, here are a couple of sites that might get you started:

http://www.humantrafficking.org/

http://www.traffickinginpersons.com/

http://www.catwinternational.org/

http://www.rapeis.org/activism/sextrade/sextrade.html


For more information on The Salvation Army's prayer campaign against human trafficking, go to:

http://www1.salvationarmy.org


Please pray with me: "Dear God, make it stop!"

Intimidation 3

The best counter to simple intimidation is confidence. But I'm not talking about a puffed-up false bravado, rather the confidence of who we are in Christ.

When I was younger I had some issues with self-esteem. Most people do- especially in those peer-intensive teenage years! But at some point I moved beyond caring what "other people thought" about me and began trusting more in what God thought about me. Somewhere in the midst of that, I found I was not easily intimidated by other people.

Here are a few promises that are helpful in seeing clearly who we are in Christ:

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight . . . because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. - 1 John 4:4

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. - 1 Peter 2:9

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. - Ephesians 5:8

You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, - Ephesians 2:19

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. - Galatians 4:6

You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. - 1 Corinthians 12:27

If you find yourself often intimidated by people or in a specific situation right now, take hold of these promises from God himself. Better yet, look a few up for yourself- they'll be even more powerful for you, because Holy Spirit will guide you to specific things he wants you to know.

I love it when he does that!

Intimidation 2

Years ago, my brother told me a valuable story that has stayed with me. I offer it here for you to think about.

"I got to a particular appointment and within a few weeks, the YPSM (Young People's Sgt-Major; lay youth leader) came to my office to resign her commission. She sighed heavily and said:

'I've been doing this job for a long time and I'm tired. There's just too much to do and with all the new ideas you've been talking about, I can't see myself being able to handle it any longer- I resign. I don't know who in the world you'll be able to find to fill my shoes. Guess you're on your own. Good luck!'

"My first thought was: 'O no! What am I going to do? We need this lady {doom, gloom, disaster, failure and other such thoughts go here as they flashed through my mind}!' Then, in a moment of Holy Spirit inspiration, I said: 'Okay. I accept your resignation. As a Christian, I'm sure you've prayed about this and if God is leading you to this conclusion, then who am I to stand in his way? Please hand in your commission. We'll begin looking for someone else to be our YPSM right away.'

"The woman was stunned; her jaw almost hit the floor. That wasn't what she thought would happen! She assumed I would beg her to stay on in the position and she would then gain control over us. Any time she was unhappy with what we wanted to do, she would just cry 'I quit!' and we would give in and let her have her way. After all, it had worked all those other times she had long used the same ploy.

"That day that woman left my office stupified, but we stuck by our guns. We never did find anyone to 'fill her shoes,' but her control over our corps and the officers died that day and a new freedom grew in it's place."

- - - - -

I have taken this story to heart and used it's wisdom many times. I have come to realize there is no employee, no soldier, no volunteer (et al) you can't live without. If they're out to wrest control, then we're always better off without them. God will always provide someone to fill that void. IF it's needed in the first place.

Now don't take me wrong here. I'm not happy to lose people and I don't intentionally chase anyone away; it breaks my heart. In fact, I agonized over every one we've seen walk away over the years. Every last one. I'm still praying for the return of some to this very day. But to then see the freedom that rises up in place of the old control is absolutely awesome!

God is NOT happy with anyone controling his children. In fact, he's so much against it, he doesn't do it himself even when the act would save their eternal lives! He's given us free will and he'll never take it back even when he knows some will choose to walk away from him.

It breaks his heart more than mine.

Intimidation 1

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Heather Dolby had this quote at the bottom of an email she sent me recently and it jumped out at me because I've been thinking a lot about intimidation lately. Here are some of my thoughts which will probably be spread over a few blog entries.

There are 4 kinds of intimidation: 1) Intimidation by people, 2) Intimidation by demons who operate through people, 3) Intimidation by people who unknowingly agree with and use the demonic intimidation coming through them, and 4) Intimidation by people who agree with and knowingly use the demonic intimidation coming through them.

It's important to differentiate between these four, because each one in the order above is more powerful and how you overcome each of them is different.

People intimidate others because they want to feel superior and thereby make others feel inferior to them. Perhaps they've got some underlying issues in their life with their self-image or how others have treated them, but control is their ultimate plan and when you look at it that way, witchcraft comes to mind.

Witchcraft is trying to make someone else do what you want (by the way, people who try to control others are probably doing that to compensate for their past experience of being controlled by someone else- it's all they know). Witchcraft is not just practiced by witches, in fact, there is a whole LOT of it happening in the church. You know- people working politically or socially to get the pastor to do what they want. Or it could be the pastor toward the people. Or people to other people; leaders to other leaders, etc. It looks something like this:

Pastor Whitney (the leader) decides to start a new program. She comes to that conclusion through God's leading and begins the process of sharing that vision with the people to get their advice and support. Caspar, a member, doesn't like the pastor or the new program, so without seeking God's will, he begins to subvert the new plan to make the pastor do what he wants instead (whether it be a different program or just keeping things the same as they always have been). Ultimately, if the pastor does something without Caspar's approval, he loses control of the situation. And most likely, Caspar has worked long and hard to gain control of his church; he's not about to give it up to anyone.

How Caspar goes about his subversion could be any number of ways. Maybe he becomes vocally aggressive, maybe he starts a behind-the-back campaign against the new plan or maybe he plays the "poor li'l ol' me" card (the stereotypical Jewish mother routine). Either way it produces the same results. His purpose is all about self; to get his own way and remain in control. Intimidation is all about control.

The bottom line? Eleanor Roosevelt was right. People can only intimidate you if you let them.

My suggestion for now? Don't let them!

Giant Lobster Attacks the Coast of Maine

I got this picture from Michael today and just HAD to put it up here. Mike went lobstering (is that what you call it?) the other day with his uncle. Check out the lobster that's almost as BIG as he is! Yowser!

Looks like some good eating ahead. Oops- Michael doesn't like lobster! Go figure.

Bring it my way any day Mike- I'm always good for lobster!

Put up or Shut up . . .

. . . as they say. I'm working on my own MySpace!

It's not as easy as I thought it would be- or at least I haven't figured it all out yet. I'll keep you posted and when I get something worthwhile, let you know what it is.

Watch this space!

3 Things God Cannot Do

Ever heard of the question, "Can God make a rock so big he can't lift it?" That's an example of ridiculous thinking! It leads people to saying things like, "If God can't make a rock that big, then he can't do everything" or "If God can't lift the rock he made, then God can't do everything." Therefore, God has limitations; if God can't do everything he's not God.

Rubbish! Why does God need to be able to do everything anyway?

O! I just realized I might be stepping on a few toes out there! I bet there's at least a few who DO think this way about God! Actually there are a LOT of things God cannot do- sin, die, make a rock so big . . . but he's STILL God!

Our definition of God should not be so small as to limit God to OUR understanding or how WE think! So I'm not interested in setting limitations on God, rather I just want to look at 3 things he cannot do.

God gives us a good place to start with this in Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT):

"My thoughts are completely different from yours," says Yahweh. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

I'm not doing this to see how cute I can be. These 3 things tell us a LOT about God and give us something solid to hang our hats on. Because of these 3 things, you can COUNT on God! And if you can count on God, then you can give your life TOTALLY to him without worry.

1) God Cannot Lie.
We have this tendency to make God in our own image. In other words, we think he's just like us and we try to define him that way. But don't forget Isaiah 55 above- God is NOT like us. He doesn't think like us. God is TOTALLY good; there is NO darkness in him. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. His motivations are pure. Anything attributed to evil is NOT found in God (as opposed to us).

Hebrews 6:18 "It is impossible for God to lie." Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man that he should lie." Titus 1:2 "He (God) cannot lie."

Therefore if God says it, we can count on it. No waffling. No doubt. If we find it in God's Word to us, it's as good as fact.

You know any scriptural promises? You know, the kind you may have written out and posted on your refrigerator or put in your Bible? Some of my favorites are: Galatians 6:9; Isaiah 41:10; John 14:12; Psalm 81:10; Jeremiah 33:3; 1 John 1:9 (you'll have to look them all up!).

Take a look at some of your favorites. There should be NO doubt in your mind about what the Bible tells you. It is truth. There promises are certain facts because God cannot lie.

2) God Cannot Learn.
Ever thought of that before? If God knows everything, what is there to learn? There is nothing out there he's not completely aware of. Isaiah 40:14 asks the question:

"Whom did Yahweh consult to enlighten him and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?"

1 John 3:20 says "God knows everything." 1 Samuel 2:3 says "Yahweh is a God who knows." Psalm 147:5 says "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit."

So if this is all true (and we already know God cannot lie!), guess what follows this?

• God never says "oops!"
• God is never surprised.
• God knows everything you think.
• You can't hide from God.
• God knows every outcome.

Give a run around with this one for awhile: Can God be disappointed?

The more you think about God not being able to learn, the more you see how awesome he really is! God cannot learn, because he already knows all there is to know!

3) God cannot make us love him.
How many movies are out there about unrequited love? Hundreds? Thousands? Isn't it a sad thing; when someone loves another who doesn't love them back?

In the movies, you can get inside the person's thoughts and you can see with them that the other person SHOULD love them; they would make a good couple, etc. But the other person goes on traipsing after someone else who always seems to hurt them!

How sad the greatest love story in the universe includes millions of people who do not love God back! And God can do NOTHING about it. It's their choice.

It's YOUR choice.

God loves you and BECAUSE he loves you so much, he gives you the freedom to choose. God cannot make you love him.

It's interesting that while God cannot do these things, YOU can! Stop lying to yourself, learn to trust God and love him with all your heart.

Because you now know these 3 things God cannot do, here's 3 more sets of 3 things:

3 Things you can be certain of:
1) There IS a God and he is utterly faithful.
2) God knows EVERYthing about you.
3) God loves YOU immensely!

3 Things you cannot do:
1) You cannot distrust God.
2) You cannot hide from God.
3) You cannot continue to control your own life.

3 Things you MUST do now:
1) You MUST believe in God and trust him.
2) You MUST Stop trying to run from God.
3) You MUST give him everything- TOTAL control of your life