I heard an excellent sermon a few weeks
ago (well, I've heard many recently too, but you know what I mean).
It was on a subject I have written about before, lived out and fully
embraced, but too often, or repeatedly, fail at. It is the subject
of giving everything over to God. Hopes. Dreams. Purpose.
Giftedness. Happiness. Everything. Because unless we do, we are
not yet truly embracing the Giver of all those things, but the things
themselves.
How to do this without killing desire? Well, we call it sanctified desire. But even that is not good
enough, as I have discovered. Sanctified desire is desire that has passed through the
refining fires of surrender to God's will, God's purpose, God's
dreams for us, those dreams and hopes and desires within us that are
good and God-given. How can something placed in us by God fall short
of His glory? How can something designed by God still bring us to
destruction?
I know that I have not been immune to
inadvertently placing my hopes, dreams, and purpose in between God
and I. I know how it all feels. It can be very raw. However,
thankfully, pouring my brokenness at His feet has put me in a
position to recieve His grace in time of need. I suppose what I have
percieved to be one of my weaknesses has turned into my strength.
Because when I'm honest with Him about my weakness, He shows Himself
strong. And it happens in the context of relationship, relationship
that keeps having the roadblocks I dump into it removed (by Him) when
I lament what they do to me. Sounds really bent, but we all do the
dumping, few of us do the lamenting. I think it's because we don't
percieve that our pain is from us dumping things between us and God.
We think it's caused by our circumstances that are out of our control
and in God's control and so we have a big question mark about God's
goodness (though we Christians may rarely admit it). Which reminds
me of a tree God planted in the beautiful garden He made for us in
the beginning, the tree we were warned not to touch because it would
bring death. The first couple doubted God's goodness when they were
denied something that looked good to them, something, in fact, that
God had made. They were led down a garden path of thinking that they
should have this good-looking, God-made fruit that would give them
something that seemed beneficial in their eyes. We look back and
think they should have trusted God, they should not have listened to
the deciever. But we fail at the same thing on a constant basis. I
have learned my lesson on this topic over and over and over again.
And it's not because I'm un-intelligent (did an IQ test for fun
once). I think it's because life is a series of tests, and a
battlefield. Being tested in battle. The battle for worship.
Satan knows that what we worship
actually owns us. He knows most of us are too smart to overtly
worship him, so he provides substitutes, whatever it takes, to keep
us from actually worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Son
of God, the only way to the Father. Because then we would become
like Him and that is life to us and death to satan's power. When
Jesus said that “you will know them (true believers/false
believers/immature believers/unbelievers) by their fruit” He was
not kidding. He was talking about what forms in us and in our lives
as a result of what we worship. And we all worship. The fruit of
the Holy Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,
Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self Control. As we grow in our
relationship with God, our worship being purified, our inner self
being healed as we spend more time with Jesus, we will exhibit this
fruit of the Holy Spirit in increasing measure (it doesn't happen
overnight).
There is a danger zone, however, one
where the spiritual battle gets fierce. As we become more like
Jesus, satan becomes agitated and afraid. As we begin to understand
how the keys to God's Kingdom, the Kingdom of Light, work, satan
sends an all out assault to try to stop and reverse this
transformation and promotion to new levels of spiritual authority.
Satan knows who has authority over him and who doesn't, who can begin
to take back what he took from humanity and who can't. This may all
sound like science fiction, especially if you're from North America
or Europe, but that's because we think science has the answers, but
the rest of the world knows better, hopefully N.A. and EU will start
catching up. I know the thought of occult activity is unpleasant,
but their power has a source, his name is satan, he has an army of
spirit beings that do his bidding to keep humanity in bondage and
ignorance. God also has an army. Evil spirits are cast out of
people in the name and authority of Jesus Christ and they are healed
of whatever bondage or illness that spirit was enforcing in them (not
all illness is caused by evil spirits necessarily, but is a result of
a sick and dying planet), I've witnessed it in Canada and it happens
all over the world too. In Africa the Christians are raising people
from the dead. In China imprisoned Christians with broken feet
“somehow” walk out of locked prisons and their feet are healed.
But secular media won't publish that, because everything in this
world is controlled by spiritual powers and so, to keep things in
doubt, satan controls what information gets out to the populace and
discredits, where possible, the media that would print the acts of
God. Powerless churches full of hoopla that cater to the thirst for
entertainment and comfort, but fail to teach personal relationship
with Jesus, obedience to His voice, and repentance from sin, and
loving your neighbour as yourself, don't help either.
True Christianity is wonderful and it
is also very hard. Because dying to yourself, to allow His life to
be formed in you, is painful at times. The wonderful part can only
begin to be described. God is love. He loves us, unconditionally.
He always loved us, even before we know Him. He cares about the
details of our lives, about our hearts. He knows what brings death
to us and in order to save us from that, He goes after the virus in
our souls. The various idols that we worship. He goes after them,
one, by one, by one. He challenges the idol, he exposes it's
ugliness and the level of it's grasp on us, often by thwarting it.
The common response is grief or anger as we feel the sting. Which,
ironically, we blame on God, but if we had God in His proper place in
our lives (on the throne of our heart), we would have peace and joy,
not angst and grief. This is how God exposes the idols that have
power over us.
This is how He heals us from mental
strongholds too. Strongholds are ways of thinking that hold us in a
death grip of destructive patterns that gained access through
emotional wounding and sin, these can even be passed on through
family lines to consequent generations. He removes all the shoddy
dressings we've applied, He challenges the stronghold, exposes it's
true identity, so that we can confess it for what it is, repent of
it, and be healed. He does the healing. It's like magic. I am not
kidding. I can testify to it in my own life. There is one prayer
God always says yes to, and it is this: “Lord, remove any
strongholds in me and heal my wounds.”*** Then brace yourself, but
don't worry it will turn out well, and it will be worth it. I've
survived and went on to thrive after several such encounters. God is
good. Despite what you feel at the moment.
Love,
M
*** Before you pray this prayer, if you
haven't yet invited Jesus into your heart/life, as your personal
Saviour and Lord, you need to do so first. If you're not sure how,
you can use the following as a guide:
“Lord Jesus I need you to cleanse me
from my sins, I choose to believe you are the Son of God, as the
Bible says, who came to die as an atoning sacrifice for all sin, so
that I can be reconciled to Father God. I now surrender myself, and
my life to you, come take your place in me as my Lord and Saviour.
Thank you God for loving me so much that you sent your Son for me, I
recieve your gift of life and love. Thank you for this fresh start
in life. I welcome you Holy Spirit, to be my counsellor and
comforter, as promised by Jesus. Amen.”
If you've just prayed this prayer to
recieve salvation, welcome to the family! To learn more about your
new life in Christ and to help keep you strong, ask Holy Spirit to
guide you to the church that is right for you at this time, make
contact with someone in leadership there and let them know of your
new found faith, they will love on you and help you grow as you get
to know Jesus for yourself. God bless you!
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