I was recently shocked and saddened by the death of Whitney Houston, perhaps the greatest female vocalist of our time. I was even more shocked to learn that for much of Whitney’s career she struggled with thoughts of inadequacy, such as “I can’t sing good enough,” or “I’m not pretty enough.” Someone tell me how that happened.

As a singer and choir director who barely makes the grade—that would be me—I can’t even go there. Those thoughts are absurd. Whitney Houston had a voice to die for! You know what I mean. It’s the same thing those of us who are cheesecake lovers say about cheesecake—cheesecake is to die for! We say that about something we really desire. I can’t help but wonder how many young girls around the world would give their two front teeth to sing just half as good as Whitney Houston, me included.

A Whitney-Houston-kind-of-voice will come along perhaps only once or twice in our lifetime. Her perfect pitch, sharpness of tone, incredible range, and the soothing melodious sounds that came from her voice were unmatched. It was angelic in many ways—perhaps the greatest vocal gift God ever bestowed on a human being. And it was truly that—a gift from God.

Why then did Whitney think she couldn’t sing good enough? Good enough for what? When you are the best, who is there to compare yourself to? Would you like to know who told her she couldn’t sing? There is simply one answer to my question:  a gross lie of that magnitude could only have come from the father of lies—Satan himself. Yet, it seems impossible that someone as talented and beautiful as Whitney Houston could have doubted her amazing gifts. If we do not yet grasp the power of Satan’s lies, we need only to look at the tragedy of Whitney Houston’s life.

Remember that we are in a war—a war of words. God speaks words of love and life to His created sons and daughters, and Satan comes along and announces that God is not believable. As it was with Eve, the resulting outcome of our lives depends on who we choose to believe: God or Satan. When we choose to believe God, we can have the abundant life Jesus promised to believers. When we choose to believe Satan, our lives can be difficult, troubled, and eventually taken from us. The Bible says that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). His tactic to take us down always begins with a lie.

Please don’t miss my point:  It is critical that we know which voice to believe, because that is the voice we will act on. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:12, “I know whom I have believed.”  Do you know who you believe? As our beliefs and values are currently being shaken to the core, it is essential that our lives are built on a solid foundation—a foundation of truth. A life built on sinking sand has only one destiny—destruction. Whether we realize it or not, every life is built either on truth or on a lie. There is no neutral ground. If you do not know God’s voice today, you have a great deal of homework to do. The day of testing is upon us, and we must clearly know WHO to believe.  ~Janie Kellogg

Note: If you have questions or desire help in knowing God’s voice, please feel free to contact me through the comment feature on my website. Your comments can remain confidential.

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a war going on:  a war in the world, in our nation, in our communities, schools, churches, marriages and families. Like all wars, it is the good guys against the bad guys. Of course, I am certain that I’m always on the side of the good guys. But whether you know it or not, there is an even bigger war going on—a war in the heavenlies—and you guessed it, it is the good guys verses the bad guys once again.

In reality, the war in the heavenlies is the main war, and our scuffles here on earth are merely side-wars of the bigger war. It all began before the earth was ever created—Satan had a jealousy problem and started a rebellion against God. But being mightier than Satan, God threw him out of heaven, along with a third of the angel-army Satan coerced to go with him. The war between good and evil has been on ever since.

Because Satan is no match for God in wisdom, power, authority, beauty, and character, he uses one single strategy to fight this war. Know what it is? It is lies, lies, and more lies. You might recognize this tactic in the political debate of the day—one party accuses the other of doing what they themselves are doing. Let me explain how that works. If Satan doesn’t tell the truth, he accuses God of lying to you. Because Satan doesn’t keep his word, he accuses God of being unfaithful to His Word. Since Satan is a thief, he accuses God of taking things away from you. When Satan doesn’t have power, he accuses God of not being powerful enough to solve your problems. If Satan doesn’t care about you (and trust me, he doesn’t), he accuses God of being indifferent and not caring about you either. Sound familiar? The first deceptive lie was sold to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and this war of words continues today.

Because Satan can never match God’s magnificence, he attempts to discredit God by tempting people to disbelieve God’s character—who God says He is and what He says He will do. God speaks to people in many ways—His written Word, the Holy Spirit, creation, and through other believers—and immediately Satan begins his subtle attacks of calling God a liar. Think about it. What did Abraham, known as the friend of God, do that pleased God? He believed what God said! Abraham believed God so much that he packed up his family and followed Him, not even knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8) Do you want to please God? Do you want to be God’s friend? It all starts with believing Him and not the lies of His enemy. (Hebrews 11:6)

You might be wondering what we are going to do about this colossal war that is going on in the world. Things appear to be headed south, and one might think the world is going to implode any day. First of all, we aren’t going to do anything about that war. Here is an insight that might help you come to grips with the world situation and the outcome of this greater war. It is going to come down exactly the way God said it is going to come down, as told in the book of Revelations. There’s nothing we can do to change or impact that war—God doesn’t even need our help. He is very capable of fighting His own battles, and He is going to come out on top! God will win the war! In the end He will put all of His enemies under the feet of His Son, Jesus! (I Corinthians 15:24-25; Psalm 110:1) Satan’s days are numbered! If you don’t believe me, read the Book!

Rather than worrying about a war we can do nothing about, we can be engaged in a war much closer to home—the one inside you and me. That is the war we can do something about and the war we will talk about next. You don’t want to miss my next post: “Who said Whitney Houston couldn’t sing?”  ~Janie Kellogg