Everywhere you turn, the world has a message for the women of today. Social media, fashion magazines, TV shows, billboards and movies use different words and images to convey the same message:

If you are truly a modern woman, if you are truly a successful woman, you must strive for physical perfection, professional success and independence.

However, if you are a mother who is investing time in caring for your kids, making them your life, then the world tries to make you believe you are settling for less. Children or family life hardly fit into the equation for success.

Despite what the world may tell women today, the Bible has the true message of a woman’s worth: God has elevated the position of womanhood and given every woman a place of honor and respect in the Christian home.

In Proverbs, God gives us a model of true womanhood for every woman, married or single.

The woman described in Proverbs 31 is a woman of inestimable value: “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her worth is far above rubies” (v. 10). In verses 30 to 31, Proverbs tells us that a woman’s value is not in her looks: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.”

Throughout the Bible, we find the narratives of godly women who God used to write the course of history—and they were by no means weak. Deborah was a prophet, warrior and the fourth judge of Israel in the book of Judges. Sarah was the mother of the entire nation of Israel in Genesis. Rahab, once a prostitute, was a vital agent of Israel’s conquest over Jericho as detailed in the book of Joshua, and ultimately a part of the bloodline of Christ as we see later in the book of Matthew.

In essence, the godly and redeemed Christian woman—married or single, no matter what her past was like—is a precious treasure.

What makes you valuable as a woman? It is your godliness and virtue. When you are a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled woman committed to following Jesus Christ, you will be the godly woman God desires you to be.

In contrast to the world’s view that your value is based upon your outward beauty, independence and professional success, God says your value is based upon the ageless inner beauty of your Christlike character and how you serve Him.

No one is more charming, more beautiful, than a woman who glows with the glory and the presence of God.

That is true womanhood at its best. {eoa}

Many people have no idea where to invest their money or really how to start. In fact, a large portion of our population still believes investing is for the wealthy, when in reality it applies to anyone who is planning for their financial future. Regardless of the amount of money you have in your bank, the information in this guide will provide you with some simple and basic tips to help you begin the investing process.

Developing Your Goals

A good starting place is to picture yourself where you want to be five, 10 or 20 years from now. Where will you live? Will you be working? In addition, ask yourself whether your motives for taking a risk to multiply your assets is based on greed. If that is the case, pray and ask the Lord for direction and peace before moving forward. Your goals may also be driven by a reliance on savings or hoarding for a false peace of mind. Once again, be sure to correct this before you begin investing. Instead, place your trust in God and remember the purpose of financial freedom is to serve Him. When we forget this objective and accrue savings for our own security or selfishness, all we have attained is financial independence, not financial freedom.

Evaluating Common Investment Risks

Once you’ve established a solid set of goals, take some time to make yourself aware of common investment risks. While investments can have the potential for huge gains and big profits, they typically carry a substantial risk of loss as well. But risk comes in many shapes and sizes. Some are quite obvious, while others are inconspicuous. Listed below are some investment risks which are often overlooked.

1. The risk of not investing: Believe it or not, the biggest risk to your financial security is to do nothing. It’s the same with your body. While exercise has the potential to hurt you, sitting still isn’t a healthy alternative. Don’t let a lack of knowledge or a fear of risk overwhelm you. Instead, take necessary steps to understand healthy investment strategies so you can exercise and build your finances.

2. The risk of playing it too safe: It is possible for investors who refuse to assume some level of risk to lose in the long run. For example, if you saved money diligently all your working years but insisted on investing in CDs, your savings may not have grown enough to surpass inflation and meet your needs. For this reason, diversifying your investments is a healthy alternative to putting all your eggs in one basket.

3. The risk of not planning ahead: Perhaps you invest faithfully for years, enjoying good returns from your investments. But when you stop to calculate your expenses, you find that you haven’t been saving enough money to realistically meet your financial goals. Investing should help you provide for your financial future, so make sure to do your homework and anticipate what your financial needs will be later in life.

4. The risk of extremes: Investors who refuse to diversify are taking a gamble, regardless of where they’re investing their assets. It’s a careful balance, however, because too much diversification can also be risky. When investors chase varying products from year to year, their investment portfolios become a crazy quilt of holdings with no particular pattern. As you study the market and consider varying investment opportunities, set some investing boundaries for yourself as well.

5. The risk of solid investment: Solid investments are good, but if they’re not liquid you might end up in hot water. If you put your all money in conservative investments such as CDs, and you suddenly need or want your cash back, you may trade your gains for prepayment penalties. Once again, diversifying your investment portfolio will help address this issue.

Strategies for Managing Investment Risk

You may be asking yourself, “How do I determine the difference between a good investment risk and a foolish one?” While there is no established set of steps for the perfect investment strategy, there are many ways to ensure you assume an adequate degree of risk. Here are three simple tips to help you manage investment risks in a healthy manner.

1. Diversify: Most types of risk can be managed by diversification—dividing investment dollars among different industries, countries, and asset classes (stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.). “Spreading the risk” through diversification helps cushion the impact from problems an investment might have on a portfolio. Savvy investors select a mix of savings and investment vehicles in order to meet their variety of objectives. Mutual Funds are also a popular investment vehicle, partly because they enable investors to instantly diversify. But depending on your short-term and long-term savings goals, different investment vehicles may be needed to reach each of those goals. For instance, if a portion of your savings is for college tuition, you should not select a bank savings account which is earning 2 percent interest or less and allows for extremely easy access to the funds. For most of us, this kind of access offers too great a temptation to draw the funds for a “great deal” on a vacation, sound system, or other major purchase with the good intention of paying it back later. A better plan would be to tie those education savings funds up in a long-term vehicle with restricted access and higher interest earnings, thus limiting your temptation to use the funds for true emergency purposes only.

2. Be patient: Invest for the long term to reduce risk. Very high stock market returns occur only over short periods. On the other hand, losses disappear almost completely over 10-year holding periods, and they vanish over a 20-year time frame. For this reason, investing early on in life—once again, regardless of the amount of money you currently have—can be incredibly fruitful. In fact, a 25-year-old who chooses to invest small amounts at a young age has the potential to accrue more money than a 65-year-old who invests a larger sum later in life.

3. Jump in gradually: Lump-sum investing can produce spectacular returns if your timing is right, but that’s a big “if.” Very few professional investors consistently “time” the market correctly, and individual investors are notorious for timing it incorrectly, buying at market tops and selling at market bottoms. For most investors, dollar-cost averaging—investing a fixed amount of money on a monthly basis—provides a disciplined approach which can reduce investment risks and improve long-term returns.

Seek Wise Counsel

If you don’t obtain guidance from one or more investment counselors who have more wisdom and experience than you before making a questionable investment, you may be in for a rude awakening. So before you begin investing your money, contact a qualified financial advisor about investment options and for advice on creating a budget.

Excerpt adapted from Financial Freedom: More Than Being Debt-Free by Patrick L. Clements.

Invest with Church Extension Plan

Recently, the internet has been filled with the discussion of the place and value of the Old Testament for believers in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Who it was that started the discussion is not nearly as important as the fact that the discussion is taking place. Honestly, I have to say I am thrilled to see so many of my friends in the Christian World having this discussion. It is a discussion that has been going on among my Messianic Jewish friends ever since I became a believer in Yeshua as Messiah.

As I said above I am thrill that this conversation is taking place and I hope the dialogue continues as more and more believers take the time to open their Bibles and reinvestigate the Old Testament and its implications upon the modern New Testament believer.

While as an outside to this conversation I have enjoyed the position of being the proverbial fly on the wall, reading, listening and watching as well-known and well-studied Christian leaders allow iron to sharpen iron. I wanted to throw a thought out for those discussing to consider as you work through the sacred texts to find the place where you stand concerning the Old Testament.

I would like to submit a viewpoint of a well-known series of verses from Galatians 3 to see if it helps you place the pieces of the Bible Old and New Testaments in their proper places in the puzzle so the final result is the clear picture the designer intended.

In Galatians 3:23-29 (TLV), we find the famous “schoolmaster” verses. (As a side note, please look up the word that is translated “schoolmaster,” because a proper definition aids in proper interpretation.)

Now before faith came, we were being guarded under Torah—bound together until the coming faith would be revealed. Therefore the Torah became our guardian to lead us to Messiah, so that we might be made right based on trusting. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For you are all sons of God through trusting in Messiah Yeshua. For all of you who were immersed in Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed—heirs according to the promise.

These verses tell us the Torah was given to guard us until we were led to Messiah and were made “right” by trusting. Verse 25 tells us that now that we have come to faith, we are no longer under the guardian, which is absolutely correct. We as believers are redeemed completely and only through faith in the atonement of Yeshua. The problem with the understanding of these verses is that most people discussing them are viewing them through the lens of “Can one be saved by legalistically observing Torah?” The answer to that question is made clear in the text: absolutely not. However, Torah was never a matter of observance, it was a matter of covenant. Torah was a covenant promise made by G-D to Israel. It was never about how to be saved! Israel was already saved from Egypt when they arrived at Mount Sinai. Torah was a covenant made by G-D with Israel to that Israel would through it lead people to Yeshua. Every commandment, judgment and statute was designed to point all those who witnessed Israel walk out the covenant towards the one who died for all mankind Jewish and non-Jewish.

Once those early Jewish believers came to faith in Messiah, they had found what they were looking for: redemption through the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But their finding the eternal treasure didn’t complete their mission. They were to fulfill the Great Commission.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20, TLV).

Notice that the commission is go into all the world and teach all that was commanded until the end of the age. These words are similar to

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. Amen, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or serif shall ever pass away from the Torah until all things come to pass” (Matt. 5:17-18).

The laws were not abolished or done away with it was the curse of the Law that was removed or nailed to the cross. In other words, the believers had followed their guardian to Yeshua and were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. But because they had now found their way does the purpose for the guardian end. I submit to you the answer is no emphatically no. Why? Because those who do not yet believe in Yeshua still need the guardian (The Torah) to lead them to Messiah.

As we read in Galatians 3:17-18, once G-D makes a covenant a new covenant does not cancel the previous covenant or make it ineffective:

“What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise. But God has graciously given it to Abraham by means of a promise.”

The purpose of the Torah was always so that Israel would be a light to the nations and that Torah would lead Israel and the nations to Yeshua. As long as there are still people in Israel and nations who have not been led to Messiah, the Old Testament is still necessary, and Torah is still guarding and guiding people to Yeshua.

A happy church … one that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable … one that will never offend you … one that will always tell you how much they love you and how much God loves you.

They change their church name for branding an image. They change their church culture for wooing the masses. They assemble cool young bands that play cool uplifting music and songs. They adapt their message for itching ears and unknowingly take away the power of redemption.

This is the current trend of many churches.

The happy church will entertain you. They say they exist to give people hope. They have fun programs for all your children. All their music and songs will make you feel special and soothe your guilt-ridden emotions. And they’ll do whatever they can to keep you coming back for more.

This is the church who is flirting with Delilah. If they stay there too long, their conscience will be seared, and they will be prime targets for deception and destruction. They won’t be able to shake themselves free because they won’t know that the anointing has departed from them.

Delilah lulled Samson to sleep on her knees and called for a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to humiliate him, and his strength left him.

She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.”

Then he awakened from his sleep and thought, “I will go out as before and shake myself free of them.” He did not know that the Lord had left him (Judg. 16:19-20).

Samson flirted with Delilah until the secret of his power was cut off. Like so many churches and leaders today, he didn’t realize he had lost the anointing until it was too late. The secret of Samson’s power was his long hair. The secret of the church’s power is the mighty Holy Spirit.

Delilah bewitched Samson. Popular voices and popular concepts are bewitching today’s church.

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? … Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:1, 3).

A Disturbing Dream

A disturbing dream was given to my wife. She was driving to a church service amidst great devastation. Roads had been damaged. Cars blown up. Trees were down. Destruction was all around. As she approached the front door of where the church was meeting, the doorkeeper directed her to enter another way.

She had to walk behind the venue and crawl through a low porch window. Once inside, my wife saw carpenters working, people smoking and swearing, coarse conversations and tales of adultery. Farther below, she entered the room where people gathered. In the dream, I got up to preach, burning with the fire of holiness, and immediately an assassination attempt was made on me by an instrument that shot out strange fire.

On the way home from that meeting, my wife ran into a very weary and spiritually depleted member of this church who was being affected by the deadness of this once life-giving church.

Just as there are evil alliances in the world, so there are in the church. Both are subtle. Both are demonic. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. They are seducing spirits promoting doctrines of demons. It’s rampant and worse than you think. Nice people who have been deceived are engaged and involved in these unholy alliances.

The Titanic Is Sinking, but We’re Still Playing

The Titanic is sinking, but the band keeps playing, and the singers keep singing. Warnings have been issued of the impending danger and devastation. The ark is being built, but people are going about their business with great indifference and unbelief.

When people are about to drown and die, you don’t plan parties. You don’t entertain the masses. You don’t need to hear monotone voices telling you everything is alright. That’s cruel. It’s like telling a lost sinner on his deathbed that everything’s going to be all right when he’s about to split hell wide open.

It’s telling church goers that homosexuality is all right—that eventually everyone goes to heaven—that there is no hell. It’s dumbing down on the vital necessity of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power of God. It’s remaining silent about controversial issues that affect the church and laws and legislation being passed to rob us of more of our liberties. How can we keep silent during such an onslaught of evil on the church and our nation? Cultural conditions have been changing for a number of years now, and with it the rules have also changed.

A demonic culture with unimaginable addictions needs to meet a church and a people full of power and unapologetic fire. In a time of mass murders in public gatherings and in the halls of our schools and churches—in a time of hurricanes, earthquakes, flood and fires and volcanoes on the brink of deathly eruptions—we don’t want to see Noah swinging his hips from the platform of the ark and telling you how wonderful you are and how God will make all your dreams come true. It is not a time for pastors to display their wealth, talk of their multi-million dollar airplanes and grant people mild cures for their life-threatening diseases and lustful addictions.

I don’t care how large your church is if it is not a threat to Satan’s kingdom and the encompassing darkness. I don’t care how popular a speaker you are if hell doesn’t know you. If all people do is sing your praises, God hasn’t sent you. If you only make people glad, but never sad or mad, you’re probably doing a bad job. It means you’re not impacting the culture of sin. In fact, worse than that, you’re inoculating your own people against the real Jesus, the real gospel and the real salvation.

If you’re in a happy church where the cross, the blood and hell are never preached, where there’s no real power to redeem from sin, and no warnings are ever given, you might be flirting with Delilah.

You had better exit now, before your strength is cut off. {eoa}

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Over the weekend we learned that the Irish voted to legalize abortion. They join other Europeans and the U.S. on the path to demographic collapse.

Just the week before, the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics announced that the 2017 U.S. fertility rate hit the lowest level in history and the number of births sank to its lowest level in 30 years. Now the fertility rate is half of what it was in 1960, before the sexual revolution and 60 million abortions, and the birth rate is falling below the population replacement rate. At the same time, the population is aging, leaving fewer young workers to meet the needs of society. The process, which is further advanced in Europe, is known as demographic collapse.

Demographic collapse, in addition to being a spiritual and human tragedy, is an economic disaster. A shrinking population means that economic growth is reversed, causing stagnation and then contraction. Economic contraction means lower tax collections and a reduction in national finances and power. Even worse, the decrease in young workers means that social welfare programs such as government funded retirement and medical benefits become unsustainable. So societies which murder their own children are actually killing their own future.

Unlike Europe, the U.S. has the opportunity to avoid demographic collapse for one simple reason: immigration. Immigrants tend to be younger and therefore productive, adding to economic growth and paying into our government welfare systems. Skilled immigrants have helped the U.S. maintain its technological edge, while unskilled immigrants form the backbone of our agriculture, construction and other industries. As far as America is concerned, increased immigration is the price we must pay to replace the 60 million babies we have aborted.

As we hope and pray for a revival of family values, we must look at America’s immigration problems from the perspective of the kingdom of God. After all, the world’s mission fields are coming to our neighborhoods, and we will have the opportunity to love them into the kingdom. Many Latin American immigrants are already Christian, with strong family values, and we should reach out to them to help them assimilate and strengthen the kingdom in America. God may have sent them to help save America.

Let us never forget God’s command to treat the aliens among us fairly and love them (Leviticus 19:33-34). This is especially true for the “dreamers,” the innocent children of illegal immigrants who have known no other home.

Let us pray that God will save America from demographic collapse, and ask for His wisdom to solve our immigration problems. {eoa}

Ron Allen is a Christian businessman, CPA and author who serves in local, national and international ministries, spreading a message of reconciliation to God, to men and between believers. He is founder of the International Star Bible Society, telling how the heavens declare the glory of God; the Emancipation Network, which helps people escape from financial bondage; and co-founder with his wife, Pat, of Corporate Prayer Resources, dedicated to helping intercessors.

In Acts 27 (AMP), there’s a great story about the apostle Paul. He was travelling by ship with some people when “a violent wind…[a northeaster, a tempestuous windstorm like a typhoon], came rushing down from the island” (v. 14).

For days they were caught in the storm, and at one point it was so fierce, they were “violently tossed about by the storm” (v. 18) and had to throw the ship’s equipment overboard. They ended up without food, hungry, stranded—seemingly without hope.

In that moment, Paul stood in the midst of the survivors and said to them, “I urge you to keep up your courage and be in good spirits, because there will be no loss of life among you” (v. 22). He then shared that an angel of God told him this, and said in verse 25, “So keep up your courage, men, for I believe God and have complete confidence in Him that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.”

How could Paul, in the middle of a horrible storm, ask the people to “be in good spirits” and have a good attitude? Because he believed in his heart—without a doubt—”that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.”

I love that! It’s a great picture of the power of faith in God when all hope seems lost. And we can have the very same faith that Paul had if we will overcome doubt.

We all face storms in life. Some are more difficult than others, but we all go through trials and tribulation. That’s why we have the gift of faith. Ephesians 6:16 (NIV) calls it “the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

Doubt is a type of “flaming arrow” that the enemy uses to attack our faith and cause us to get caught up in fear and anxiety.

We usually experience doubt after we’ve made a decision. In James 1:6, the Bible says having doubt is like being tossed about like the wind, which feels like you’re trying to go in two different directions at the same time. And it’s miserable to be torn between two places, not able to decide what you really believe.

It’s in those moments we have to choose whether we are going to believe God or the or our or what people tell or our circumstances.

When doubt comes against us, we have to lift up the shield of faith. We do this by opening our mouth and saying what God’s Word says, rather than grumbling and complaining about the problem. Our faith is released as we say, pray and do the Word. So in those times, open your mouth and say, “I believe that everything God has told me will come to pass!”

Maybe you’re doubting whether you can hear God’s voice or not. This happens because we usually doubt ourselves more than we doubt God. Now I’m not talking about actually hearing a voice; I’m talking about that knowing we have inside our hearts about what is right or wrong. That’s the still, small voice of God. Believers in Jesus Christ all have it, but many don’t have the confidence to trust it.

The Bible says in James 1:5 that when we need wisdom, we “should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault” (NIV). This means that even though we aren’t perfect, God will be faithful to us and give us what we need if we will ask Him for help. He loves us, blesses us and uses us in spite of us, because He is faithful! And we never have to doubt that.

I’ve learned through my own relationship with God that He’s not expecting me to be perfect; He wants me to do my best to be in His will and take steps of faith as He leads me, through His Word and the promptings He speaks to my heart. Remember, He wants us to put our confidence in Him.

God really does want to speak to you personally and lead you in His great plan for your life. So don’t be afraid to step out and do what’s in your heart. If you make a mistake, you’ll learn from it and go on. And if you get off track, He’ll help you get where you need to be.

I want to encourage you to study God’s Word every day and pray His Word over your life. Make declarations based on Scripture, like, “God loves me. He wants to speak to my heart. I can hear from God. He is faithful to me and will lead me in His will for my life. And I believe it will be exactly as God has told me!”

By God’s grace, we can be bold in faith and overcome every attack of doubt during the storms of life.

Life is full of peaks and valleys, pits and pinnacles. Sometimes it feels like you’re on a non-stop roller coaster ride. Whether it’s your job, school, marriage, church, family or just life in general, everything is a mixture of bitter and sweet. Emotions fluctuate like the stock market—up one minute, down the next. Of all the Bible characters who experienced life’s ups and downs, Joseph comes to mind. Paul Evans wrote, “Adversity is God’s university.” If that is true, then Joseph had a Ph.D.

Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son by his favorite wife (Rachel) whom he sired in his old age. The age disparity made him more like a grandson to Jacob, who showed his favoritism by making him a multi-colored tunic. His 10 older brothers were not amused by Joseph’s fancy clothes or his absurd dreams. If Joseph had a fault, it was being a blabbermouth—he couldn’t keep his dreams to himself.

God gave Joseph two prophetic dreams that provided glimpses into his future and propelled him to his destiny. In the first dream, the brothers were bundling wheat in the field when all his brother’s sheaves (bundles of wheat) bowed down to his sheaf. In the second dream, the sun, moon and 11 stars bowed down to him. Even Jacob rebuked him for such an outlandish idea.

Joseph’s jealous brothers resented him for his bright clothes, his big dreams and his big mouth. “‘So you want to be our king, do you?’ his brothers derided. And they hated him both for the dream and for his cocky attitude” (Gen. 37:8, TLB). Then they conspired to kill him to ensure that none of his fantasies ever materialized.

The opportunity came when Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers who were grazing their flocks. Reuben, the oldest brother, intervened and spared his life. Instead, they stripped Joseph’s coat off, threw him in a pit, brought their father his torn tunic covered with goat’s blood and let him assume the worst. Meanwhile, they secretly sold Joseph to a band of Midianite merchants bound for Egypt.

When Joseph arrived in Egypt as a slave in shackles, perhaps he wondered if he had misinterpreted his dreams. He was purchased at auction by Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Joseph worked hard, proved himself trustworthy and quickly rose through the ranks to become his top manager. God’s favor on his life was obvious.

When Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Him, Joseph fled the scene, leaving another coat behind. With scant evidence and no witnesses, she claimed he tried to rape her and had him thrown into prison. There, God gave him favor with the warden and soon Joseph, an inmate, was running the joint as the jailer’s assistant. As time passed, word spread that he had a keen ability to decipher the meaning of dreams.

Before long, he interpreted the chief butler and baker’s dreams, which had fallen out of favor with Pharaoh. Just as Joseph predicted, the butler was restored to his post, serving the king’s court while the baker was executed. Two years later, Pharaoh had a nightmare about seven healthy cows that were eaten by seven sick cows. Awakened, he dozed off and dreamed again about seven plump ears of corn being devoured by seven scrawny ears of corn. When Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t interpret the dreams, the butler suddenly remembered Joseph and had him summoned from prison.

God gave Joseph the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams. He predicted seven years of plenty would be followed by severe famine and proposed a plan to stockpile 20 percent of every harvest to sustain them through the drought. Pharaoh appointed Joseph over all of Egypt as his right-hand man to implement the plan. Ironically, Pharaoh placed a royal robe (another new coat) on Joseph, gave him his regal signet ring and a golden necklace, and paraded him through Egypt in a chariot. Imagine that—a prisoner promoted to prime minister!

Pharaoh renamed Joseph “Zaphnath-paaneah” (quite a mouthful), meaning “giver of the nourishment of life, or savior of the world.” God used him to literally save the ancient world from starvation. Joseph was 30 years old when he was promoted. He was 17 when he had his dreams, a 13-year interval. Then there were seven years of bounty plus two years of famine before his brothers showed up in Egypt looking for food. So a total of 22 years went by after Joseph dreamed his brothers would bow down to him, and it finally came to pass. Don’t give up on your God-given dreams.

Joseph is a fitting type of Jesus. Notice the striking similarities:

• Both were favored by their fathers.
• Both were rejected by their brothers.
• Both were betrayed and sold for silver.
• Both were tempted to extreme measures.
• Both were falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit.
• Both forgave their enemies.
• Both became leaders at age 30.
• Both were exalted to positions of honor.
• Both saved the world.

When Joseph revealed his identity to his guilt-ridden brothers, they expected him to kill them. Instead, Joseph forgave them, was reunited with his grief-stricken father and moved their clan to Egypt to take care of them. Here’s how he summarized his difficult journey: “ But as for you, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good … to save many lives” (Gen. 50:20).

That is the essence of redemption—how God brings good out of bad. God can take the bad things that happen in our lives and turn them around in our favor. He can lift us out of our pit and put us on the pinnacle. So, when life gets you down, remember how God used a slave to save the world. Then imagine what He can do through you. {eoa}

Ben Godwin is the author of four books and pastors the Goodsprings Full Gospel Church. To read more articles, visit his website at and take advantage of his four-book bundle for $25.

Soundless prayers are often our most powerful ones. Voiceless utterances where we connect spirit to Spirit with the Lord become some of our deepest encounters. Maybe it’s because all of us is poured out before the greatness of all of Him. We’re completely open. Raw. There’s no pretense or desire to impress Him with our eloquent words or lists of memorized Scripture. We simply exist. Fully yielded to the one who already knows.

With no words left, when we forget how to ask, how to petition, and the sword of the Word feels too heavy on our lips, we come. We thrust ourselves before His grace and mercy, and He meets us. With the strength and gentleness of arms that can only belong to our Lord, He scoops us up and allows us to rest. His strength undeservedly becomes ours, until we can once again wield that sword with accuracy and power. Although we may not hear Him say a word, we feel Him—filling our most toxic places with the light of His glory. We experience a tangible knowing far greater than natural understanding.

This is the place of abandon. It is also the place of great empowering. Though we feel shattered and undone, it’s in this place of pain that we discover how real Jesus is. Pain becomes the surgeon’s hand that opens us up to receive the new. The healthy. The unmistakably miraculous. Jesus, our healer, knows how to turn what is meant for harm, into something beautiful. The enemy cannot steal what we receive in these moments. These snippets of eternal bliss that overflow into every facet of our being, become heavenly manna for us to eat from. Feast upon. Serve others from.

Today, the Lord wants to remind you that He sees. He knows. He’s with you. You may feel as though darkness has swallowed you whole, but for every lie, He is the truth. Light comes on the whispers of His breath. Lean in. Rest now and receive. His love always finds a way. His strength is yours. Selah.

“Surrender your anxiety! Be silent and stop your striving and you will see that I am God” (Ps. 46:10a, TPT). {eoa}

Gretchen Rodriguez recently co-authored Prayers on Fire 365 Days Praying the Psalms and The Divine Romance: 365 Days Meditating on the Song of Songs with Brian Simmons. Their newest devotional, Ever-Present Love: 365 Days Discovering Jesus in the Gospels will be released September, 2018. (All three books published by BroadStreet Publishing.) She is a writer, dancer and ballet teacher. Her heart burns with one main message: intimacy with Jesus and discovering the reality of His presence. She and her husband invested nine years as missionaries in Puerto Rico, along with their three daughters, and now make Redding, California, their home.

You can find Gretchen here:

It’s not just Donald Trump—Jews have compared three men to the biblical King Cyrus, Perry Stone tells Jim Bakker. “This is what people in the rush of media controversy don’t understand,” Stone says. He claims that dating back to Harry S. Truman, Jews have seen similarities between American leaders and the king described in Isaiah 45. Take a look.

Does your daughter, son or grandchild struggle with an addiction? Are you weary, losing hope for their future? Would it help to hear from a former addict who has overcome and been in recovery for three years? If your answer is yes, you came to the right place. Today’s blog is an anonymous interview with a former drug addict. This person wanted to help brokenhearted, exhausted parents by sharing a little of what they’ve been through.

In this series of questions and answers, you’ll have the opportunity to gain insights about why they started to use, what they think their parents might have done differently, what they’re glad their parents did, what opened their eyes to their drug problem, in what ways recovery has been difficult and how a relationship with Jesus Christ has made the difference.

If you’ve almost given up, I believe you’ll find some fresh hope in this candid interview.

1. Why do you think you started to use drugs? What got you started? Can you trace it back?

I first started using (pot) when I was a junior in high school because my friends offered it to me and I wanted to fit in.

At first, I only used in social settings, but it quickly became a way for me to escape on my own. It wasn’t long thereafter that I began experimenting with harder drugs. I’m honestly not sure what I was trying to escape from, but I struggled with depression at the time and had been since I was about 12. I thought the drug use was helping me with my depression, but it really just made things worse. Ironically, I began to depend on the drugs to keep me from feeling powerless.

2. Is there anything you think your parents could have done differently?

My parents probably thought the depression I was going through was a normal phase for teens (I was their first). I don’t believe they saw any red flags early on. The only thing I think they could have done differently was to take me to a psychiatrist sooner, to medicate me before I tried to self-medicate.

3. What are you glad they did? What helped?

I am truly grateful my parents never gave up on me. They loved me through all the years of my usage and helped me as much as anyone could have. In the end, they were able to give me what I truly needed, which was boundaries and to allow me to get to the point where I was willing to accept help.

4. What is your relationship with your parents and siblings now?

Our relationship is better than I could have hoped it would be. After a long process of rebuilding trust, I am now closer to my parents and younger siblings than I ever was before I developed an addiction. I love them more than I can express and am forever grateful that they love me back. I know I’m very fortunate to still be in their lives. I pray other families can be mended by God’s love the way mine has.

5. What happened that opened your eyes and made you realize you had a problem?

My drug use got to the point where it completely controlled every part of my life. My addiction caused me to lose my job because I called in “sick” too many times. I lost my driver’s license after I got a DUI. I had no real friends and my family lost any shred of trust they’d had in me. I was even enrolled in an Intensive Out Patient (IOP) program that gave me drug screenings on top of the ones given through probation. Yet, I could not stop using. I always found a way to get more of my drug of choice (DOC). The counselor at the IOP program highly recommended I put myself in an in-patient facility because I really did want to be clean. I had wanted to get clean for years by that point, but I didn’t listen. I believed I could get clean on my own. I was wrong. I ended up overdosing and was taken to the same hospital where my IOP program was located. At that point, I recognized I needed serious help if I really wanted to get clean. I detoxed in-patient and then went straight to rehab to begin my recovery with that head start.

6. What did you do to get clean and sober? What do you do to stay that way?

God’s grace gave me the help I needed. He is the one who gave my parents the wisdom to know what that help for my addiction needed to look like. I was at the point where I could accept that help to develop a plan for a solid recovery. Rehab was the first step; it gave me the time and resources to figure out my plan. After rehab, I attended the same IOP program I had been in before, only this time with enough distance between me and my drug use that I could do the work. I could apply what I was learning to my new life.

I attended NA and AA meetings and formed friendships with other people who were working towards the same objective—clean and sober living. I had to cut all ties to the people I used with who I knew wouldn’t help me stay clean. To make that easy, I got a new phone number. In rehab, I started receiving Vivitrol injections and continued to receive them every month for the first 14 months. I also started to see an addictions counselor regularly.

7. What was most difficult about your recovery from addiction?

Recovery is a long and difficult road. Nothing about getting clean was easy, but every moment was worth the effort. Everyone is different, so everyone’s recovery will look different.

Seeing the pain and suffering I caused my family, or anyone who really cared about me, was extremely difficult. Family therapy was crucial to rebuilding relationships with my parents and sisters. I have never been so emotionally shaken up than when I heard and saw how my actions caused them all so much pain. Also, there is a very real aspect of spiritual warfare that anyone who is trying to make a real change in their life will encounter. Walking into rehab and finally giving up the fight was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

8. Has faith or a relationship with God had a part to play with overcoming your addiction? If so, in what way?

My relationship with God is what I’m most grateful for. It’s something that has changed the most since I got clean. I used to feel hopeless and unworthy of God’s love. I felt like I wasn’t on his radar anymore. I knew deep down that wasn’t true, but after some of the things I’d done and seen, it was hard to believe he could still have a plan for me. There were certainly days I didn’t think there was a God. Since I got clean, however, I can look back and see God was always with me. He always had a plan. I believe He’s going to use the things that happened in my life in ways I can’t imagine because He has given me the desire to walk with Him and use my story to help others, even those I may never even meet.

9. What’s the main thing you want to say to other hurting parents about addiction?

Don’t lose faith that God is with you and your family.

Detach with love.

What I mean, is to set boundaries and keep them, then you won’t do more damage by enabling; instead, let them find their bottom. Natural consequences are not their enemy—they are necessary for anyone who is ready to make a serious change.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for this former addict who shared so honestly about his journey to help others. I pray this interview about addiction will encourage every person who reads it. Help them never give up, hold on to their faith, set boundaries and keep them. Remind them they are not alone. You are with them. As long as their child is still breathing, there is still hope. Thank you that it’s possible to break free from the bondage of addiction. Restore lives and families. Give them fresh hope. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

*I’d like to say a big thank you to the person who answered my questions for their candor, honesty and caring heart for hurting families. You’re making a difference!

For more help understanding addiction go to:

Al-Anon, Nar-Anon or Celebrate Recovery

A book we recommend is: Addict in the Family: Stories of Loss, Hope, and Recovery by Beverly Conyers. Available here on our website under the “Books” tab or by clicking on the title. {eoa}

Dena Yohe is the author of You Are Not Alone: Hope for Hurting Parents of Troubled Kids (2017). Co-founder of Hope for Hurting Parents, she is a blogger, former pastor’s wife and CRU affiliate staff. She and her husband, Tom, have been guests on “Family Talk With Dr. James Dobson,” “Family Life” with Dennis Rainey” and “Focus on the Family” with Jim Daly. A proud mom of three adult children, she loves being Mimi to her grandchildren. Find out more at .

This article originally appeared at .