I was listening to a podcast by my all time favorite author/speaker Leslie Ludy. The message of this blog is inspired by her message of sacred cultivation. I’ve been learning a lot about the character of God, and also have been much more aware of spiritual attack. Here’s a sum up of everything I’ve been learning…
Once upon a time the Christian life meant something more than just a blasé daily struggle. Nowadays the Christian life is constantly trying to explain why we don’t have triumph, why we don’t have peace, why we don’t have victory. The point is: it’s not God, God is not the issue, we are the issue!!! There are loads of Christian books trying to redefine God to be something different in light of our own experience. We like to look at God by experience, not by fact. But we cannot change the Bible to match our experience; we’re supposed to align our experience with the Word of God. We need to stand on fact, on the Word of God, on His truth, on His promises. When God promises something, He cannot lie. I think many Christians don’t truly understand the character of God or study His Word to know the facts; we don’t cling to His promises, we don’t believe they are really for us personally, and that is why so many people are disillusioned when all their problems aren’t miraculously solved and everything doesn’t always go their way. And so they blame God. This is where the whole emergent church movement comes in and says we have to redefine what Christianity is just so people will feel more comfortable – that truth should change with culture, that we should just interpret the Bible so it makes sense to each of us personally. The Bible means exactly what it says and we can’t change truth because truth is unchanging. We can’t even comprehend how enormous our God is, or how much He desires to do in and through our lives. We need to approach the Word with childlike faith. We can either look at His promises as fact and lean on them and make them the reality of our life by the power of God that works in us, or we can look at them as only poetry and stories and not expect anything from God and totally miss out on all the wonders He has for us. Leonard Ravenhill said, “One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Word of God, read it, and believe it.” I’ve been learning that there is no room for doubt. All the amazing promises of God actually apply to us now, in everyday life – they’re truly meant to be ours. Sometimes it’s so hard to have childlike faith. We try to be practical and we don’t lean completely into God’s wisdom. God is yearning to give us everything we need to live a victorious life, we just have to ask and believe, and stop stumbling around in doubt and in guilt every time we mess up. When a little child is first learning how to walk, when it takes a step but topples over and falls onto the ground, its father wouldn’t punish it and beat it up. He would pick it up and say well done, my child, you took a step, keep going, keep trying! That is how our Heavenly Father sees us. The way that a loving, Christ-centered father works with his children is he delights to give good gifts; he wants to win his child’s heart through tenderness and love. When a father disciplines his child it’s not to beat and to bruise and to break his child’s spirit, it’s done only to the measure that is needed and it’s done in love. As soon as the child repents there is a complete delight on the father’s part to hug his child and speak words of love. A father doesn’t walk around wondering how he can discipline his child and send something difficult into their life to break them down, he walks around wondering how he can show love to his child and cultivate a relationship. Not discipline, but love is on his heart. And so it is with our Heavenly Father. He longs for our heart and devotion.
Lately I’ve become aware of spiritual attack. I think that when you’re living a life that is lukewarm, the enemy isn’t attacking you because your flesh and the selfishness within you keep you in bondage to sin. The enemy doesn’t need to bother attacking us because our flesh does the job. It’s really when we are stepping out in faith and discovering more of Christ and His truth and building our life around it that the enemy attacks because he feels threatened. When we enter into a life with Christ we die to our flesh and our selfish desires. We no longer rule our life, we let God, and that is where the enemy steps in to harm us. When we step out in faith, the enemy tries to hit us with discouragement, with sickness, with trial after trial. If I didn’t know the character and nature of my God, it would be hard to trust Him when attacks seem to hit me every time I step out in obedience. We have to know the nature of our Father so we can tell when we are being attacked and know what is not of Him. When there’s vicious, all-out war and attack against our life, it’s not coming from God. God doesn’t bring harm to His children. He has promised to be:
My Portion, My Maker, My Husband (Isaiah 54:5), My Well-beloved (Song of Solomon 1:13), My Savior (2 Peter 3:18), My Hope (1 Timothy 1:1), My Brother (Mark 3:35), My Helper (Hebrews 13:6), My Physician (Jeremiah 8:22), My Healer (Luke 9:11), My Refiner (Malachi 3:3), My Purifier (Malachi 3:3), My Lord, Master (John 13:13), My Servant (Luke 12:37), My Example (John 13:15), My Teacher (John 3:2), My Shepherd (Psalm 23:1), My Keeper (John 17:12), My Feeder (Ezekiel 34:23), My Leader (Isaiah 40:11), My Restorer (Psalm 23:3), My Resting-place (Jeremiah 50:6), My Meat (John 6:55), My Drink (John 6:55), My Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), My Peace (Ephesians 2:14), My Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30), My Righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30), My Sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30), My Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30), My All in All (Colossians 3:11)
If we are being spiritually body slammed we can know for fact that it's not coming from the Prince of Peace, but from the Prince of Darkness. Often times, when the enemy attacks us with darkness and confusion we assume that the Lord is causing it or allowing it. We must learn how to be strong in Christ and put on His armor, and resist attacks instead of just accepting them. When we resist the devil, he will flee. “Rise up on the strength of God and resolve to conquer.” – Catherine Booth. We must be able to recognize attack. God does discipline and refine us, but not in a harsh, cruel way. God’s ways bring light, not darkness – life, not death. Anything of confusion, fear, or darkness is not from God. Christ came to give abundant life: happiness, health, wholeness, strength, purity, spiritual success, and multiplication of blessing. Satan gives: disease, sickness, blindness, deafness, muteness, disorder, and feebleness. God is the father of light, the giver of good and perfect gifts, merciful, gentle, quick to forgive, strong to protect, able and eager to rescue us, and a tender deliverer of all that would snare us. The enemy is the father of lies, a snuffer of life and hope, a condemner, a whisperer of a fault, a doubter of God’s ability, a persecutor of the spirit, an advocate for the flesh, a constant diminisher of God’s fatherly nature, anything that causes us to lose hope or diminish our confidence in God is not from our Lord. There is a pain that comes from God, but it’s a pain that curbs our flesh. It strengthens our spirituality. Things like walking away from a harmful relationship, giving up worldly popularity or applause, reaching out to people who are difficult – it’s like an athletic pain, you have to train, you have to discipline, it’s hard on the flesh but it produces positive results.
Fortification. We all need to build up a strong wall of protection around our life to keep the enemy out. If there is a breech or a gap in the wall, a sin or a lie we continually give way to, it gives the enemy access to come into our life. Fortification is a process that God must lead you through. You have to identify what the breeches in your wall are, how you continually give the enemy access, and put a stop to those habitual sins, wrestle through them in prayerful dependence. Prayer is the secret to living the miracle life. When you make prayer the foundation of your existence, everything else falls into place. Through a foundation of prayer, you can transfer your burdens to Christ who will carry them for you; you are free to run and not grow weary. We access His strength through prayer. When we are fortified and have a clean heart, the enemy can’t have access to us and power over us because we are built up and whole and make strong in Christ - we are walking in light. Breeches could include: selfishness, unforgiveness, pride, self-pity, depression, unhealthy relationships, any participation in darkness, anything that we’ve made an idol of and put before God – whatever doesn’t reflect the glory of Jesus Christ. Fortification is a constant, consistent, ongoing, life process. We must always be working on fortification because if there is a breech in our wall the enemy can come into our life and do what he wants to harm us. Also, if we don’t have a clean heart, our prayers will be hindered. God is ready and willing to help us build a wall of fortification around our life, and it is only through His enabling strength that we can. If we have areas of sin and rebellion that we aren't willing to give up, we can’t expect God to come to our aid, but if we are humble and are earnestly seeking Him and allowing Him to strengthen us and shape us, He will hasten to help us. He will give us everything we need to defend our self against Satan’s schemes as well as storm the very gates of hell and win. If we stand firmly in the power that Christ has given us, then no weapon formed against us can prosper. God loves making the weak strong. Our weakness is made perfect in His strength. Be watchful against enemy attack; as soon as a lie forms, instead of meditating upon it and yielding to it, resist it so you don’t give into temptation. Be in constant prayer. Be offensive rather than defensive. God does big things in and through us when we yield our self to Him, when we build our life on the foundation of prayer, when we have a clean heart, when we have no room for doubt, when we stand firm on His promises and say He will do it and we cannot be shaken by lies.
You're My Beloved
You're My Bride
To sing over you is My delight
Come away with Me My love
You're Beautiful to Me
So beautiful to Me
Under My mercy
Come and wait
Till we are standing face to face
I see no stain on you
My child
You're Beautiful to Me
So Beautiful to Me
I sing over you My song of peace
Cast all your care down at My feet
Come and find your rest in Me
I'll breathe My life inside of you
I'll bear you up on eagle's wings
And hide you in the shadow of My strength
I'll take you to My quiet waters
I'll restore your soul
Come rest in Me and be made whole
You're My beloved
You're My Bride
To sing over you is my delight
Come away with me my love
My Beloved – Kari Jobe
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