Prayer Warriors

I have to post this. I have been reading "Prayer Warrior" by Stormie Omartian. I struggle with taking time for prayer and supplication, as do many of us, though we don't like to admit it. This book is an easy read and makes so much since. We are all called to be Prayer Warrior! Here is what she says...

Essentially she says that this is all it takes to know you are called...ask yourself this:

" Do you see people suffering and it bothers you?...
Do you recognize evil proliferating in the world?...
Do you experience any injustice in your life or can you identify it in the lives of others?...
Do you observe wrong things happening around you and you want to right them?...
Do you ever have a certain person heavy on your heart and it concerns you, but you are not sure why?...
Do you observe tragic situation happening to people and feel helpless to do anything to stop them?...
Do you become grieved in your spirit when you see blatant disregard for God and His ways?...

A prayer warrior has a heart of compassion for suffering people and bad situations, and desires to do something to make a difference."

We must recognize that we are in a war that has no end until Christ has come again. Period. We may win small skirmishes but every minute every where someone is in a war for their soul, even if they do not recognize it as such. prayer is intercession that we take on for others in this world. No purpose is too big or small.

As Christians, we are all supposed to be in prayer over all things that the Spirit moves us on. Not just our family, friends and close associates, but in all things. Stand with me and ask God to put you to work as a Prayer Warrior.

I haven't finished the book, but download it from Amazon or buy it. It is definitely worth the read.

Damaged Goods

                              

Do you ever feel as if you just can’t get a handle on the daily/worldly responsibilities and distractions that take you away from God? Do you ever feel as if you are constantly being tested and torn from His side, only to fall on your face? Do you ever tell yourself that you are just too imperfect and broken so you must be mistaken about God’s ability to use you? Do you feel like you are waiting forever for His direction for your life and that it isn’t happening because you just aren’t ever going to be ready? Yea. Me, too. That is exactly what the enemy wants to make you believe, too.

I have been working on Demolishing Strongholds and am at the point where I need to repent for all of my strongholds. At 50+ years old, I had developed a LOT of bad habits and sinful ways and thoughts. By the grace of God, most of the ones that I considered major have been defeated over the years, prior to the reading of Demolishing strongholds. You would be amazed at the miracles that God has performed to free me of the bondage I had been in.  

But now, I have been looking inward (Demolishing Strongholds). I have been analyzing my thought process and feelings. Digging that deeply into my thoughts and feelings makes me feel as if I am never going to get free of my humanness. I feel as if I am being tested in every direction to see how I will react. I also feel as if I am failing miserably, when I most need to succeed. But through the process, I have discovered even more strongholds than I knew I had. Fear & insecurity are one of the big ones… along with independence.  Go figure.

Many of you who know me would not think of me as fearful. But you see, just because I press forward and fight, that doesn’t make me fearless. Obviously, though I proclaim God’s great love, mercy and power in this world, I have believed that it is for everyone else, not for me. I felt that I will never be good enough to deserve His mercy and grace. Do you know how it feels to be orphaned, rejected and unwanted? Despite all that I do; reading, studying and encouraging others, I still felt less than, or on the outskirts of His blessing. Despite KNOWING all that He has saved me from, even when I was in sin, I still felt unworthy and disconnected! Yes. I am fearful and insecure. My independence keeps me from exposing it to others. I simply push past it and/or bury it. I see it and feel it, you never will. Get the picture? Sure you do. We all do it. We hide our weakness.

The enemy loves to use your weaknesses against you. He uses it to keep you feeling inadequate. He loves to convince you that you are unworthy and that it is pointless to pursue righteousness. He is forever telling you what you did, or what you were, but not what you can be. This keeps you defensive and negative in the world. If you buy into it and just keep pouring bad choices upon bad choices, he has succeeded. You are then unable to be used by God. But if we push past it, understand where it comes from and allow God to work it for good in us, we can use it to our advantage.

1 Peter 5: 6-11: “6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

I am reading a book that Pastor suggested called, ‘In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day’ by Mark Batterson. Oh my goodness, this book is so amazing and refreshing! The idea is that we should be bold enough to chase the lion instead of run from it; that the adversity which we face in life should be turned into ministry opportunities. Without adversity, we have less potential to help others.  Because after all, what experience can we draw from if we have had no experiences? He says it like this, “Almost like a broken bone that needs to be reset, God breaks us where we need to be broken. He fractures the pride and lust and anger in our lives, but He does it to remodel us into His image. And once we heal, we end up stronger than we were to begin with.” Batterson says, “…it is almost as if God is saying: Listen, I owe you a favor. Let me let you suffer.” Notice his choice of words? He said ‘let’ you suffer, not ‘make’ you suffer. Our choices, circumstance and the outside world make us suffer. God does not make us but he allows us to suffer.

Batterson used Paul as an example. Paul suffered so much adversity for his faith and yet, it made him more determined and faithful. He ministered to everyone. But it is up to us to USE the experience to minister to others. Batterson puts it like this, “…if you allow God to translate your adversity into a ministry, then your pain becomes someone else’s gain.”

One only needs to look at the highly effective Teen Challenge program to know that this is true. The same people who walk through those doors addicted, broken and with what seems like insurmountable odds against them, are transformed into beautiful examples of what God can and will do for those who love Him.  They become what He meant them to be! (I used to always tell Brandy that she is the only one who could not see what a beautiful person she was. And I didn’t mean her beauty in the way that the world does, although she is that also. I meant her heart. I saw who she was inside, the person that God meant her to be.) By the end of the 13-18 month program, their bondage is broken, their wounds are healed and they have a deeper understanding of the events in their lives that led them to sin against themselves and God. When they complete the program, their hearts are full of hope and love, so much so that they feel compelled to share it with others. Many choose to stay on as staff and minister to other broken souls, forgoing worldly lives and desires.

Don’t think you are different or less. There is NOTHING that God can’t heal. I have seen him remove bondage/addictions to drugs, alcohol, adultery, greed, sex and all manner of sinful behaviors. Don’t think of your adversity and pain as punishment. Don’t look at it from the ‘why me’ mentality. Thank God for His desire to allow the pain, to break you where you need it so that you can be humbled and useful to His kingdom… if you choose to be.     

So when you are facing adversity, when you are tempted to beat yourself up, STOP. You are worthy! You are being refined for God’s purposes. Turn it to His good and find blessing. Choose healing, choose ministry.                         

Demolishing Strongholds is messy

Now on part 2 of Freedom in Jesus Series: "Demolishing Strongholds." You either need the whole "Demolishing Strongholds workbook pdf"or You can download it by segments (pdf). You need the supplements as well because they provide more meat to what we are going to go through in this journey together.

It asks you to complete the questionnaire first. You need to scroll down paste the images to get to the questionnaires. There are two different kinds. One for Christians and one of Non-Christians. The Questionnaires are located here:
http://restorationministries.org/html/booksCD.html 


The Demolishing strongholds workbook and supplements are here:
http://restorationministries.org/html/DemStrVid.html 

I don't know about you but this is stirring up some major issues in my life. Before I started this is was trapped in my own living hell. It felt like I was drowning in poison and loosing the battle with satan. I felt abandoned to some extent by God. Not good enough. Unworthy.

I got to thinking about it the other night. A lake looks clear until you get in and start stirring the waters around. Your feet loosen the dirt and mud and yuck and the water becomes murky and filled with dirt. The more we stir it up, the worse it gets. The dirt and murk was always there, but it was just hidden beneath the surface. That is you and I before we start digging around in our wounds to find the cause and fill it with God's promises to heal us.

Well, I kinda feel murky now. I feel a little overwhelmed with the number of items I had to mark on the questionnaire. Don't get me wrong, the first segment made me understand the power that I gave over to the pain in my life. Essentially I allowed satan to defuse my passion and spirit by allowing self-doubt and fear to enter in. Now that I understand that, 80% of my self made turmoil is gone.

This part 2 will help us identify what strongholds are keeping us captive and preventing us from living a life filled with joy and purpose. The key is being very insightful and honest with yourself about these strongholds. Because some of our wounds are buried so deep, have those closest to you fill out a questionnaire about you also. Don't hold it against them! Make sure you don't have a spirit of resentment for their honesty.They are literally helping you to find those dark spots you may have buried so that you can eradicate them and be free of your bondage.

God bless and happy digging.

Is your branch dead?

                           

I was reading my ministry class material for the last class and came upon a section that made me want to dig deeper. The idea is this: How do you explain that You are saved by faith not by works BUT if you don’t bear fruit then you aren’t of His kingdom.

Epheisians 2:1-9:  ”And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^a and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^b  But^c God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

Initially, upon being saved 3 decades ago, there was a major shift in my heart and I was on fire for God. But then something happened in the church that turned me sour and I fell away. Later over many years, I began reading books that sparked my desire to know Him again. You could say that He was calling me back. Those books referred to biblical passages. Then when my sister passed away, I picked up a bible for the first time and decided to read it for myself. I felt the embers burning as if the Holy Spirit was leading me but all I did was read. I wouldn’t commit to more. It was still kind of like trying to climb up a mudslide. I was doing it on my own, with little understanding, didn’t have the right tools and always kept my feet planted in the world. Maybe that is why they came up with the term ‘backslid.’ I kept trying and slipped right back down. I was stubborn and independent. I fight that to this day.

You see, you can think you are saved and show minor outward behaviors, when it is convenient, that you are saved but not truly be changed. Churches are full of unsaved people. For, literally, decades, I called myself a Christian, went to church, read the bible, spoke of His miracles, but did not bear fruit of my own. I was a Sunday Christian. I lived in sin. I selected which parts of the bible I wanted to live by and ignored the rest. I even had the audacity to think that I was encouraging others in Christ… and perhaps He granted me that for their sake but I was a hypocrite. I did not truly surrender my life to Him.

You see, you can read about God and claim to know Him. You could talk to Him in your head, out loud during your day and ask for favors all day long, but the fact is, you still are not in relationship with Him. He demands that you believe. When you believe you receive the Holy Spirit. When you receive the Holy Spirit, your heart changes. You cannot continue to live in sin. Why? Darkness and light cannot occupy the same space. Do you follow me?

1 John 1: 5-7: ^5 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

God/Christ/Holy Spirit is the Tree of Life. You are the branch that has been grafted in by salvation. You can be filled with light or darkness (sin/worldly desires). You have the power to choose. Light is nourishing to the tree. Darkness is bad for the tree (diseased so to speak). When you, the branch, are filled with light and without sin, you are thriving and the Holy Spirit can live in you because you are part of the tree. If you live in sin and worldly ways, then you are filled with disease and must be cut off from the tree. Does that make sense?

John 15:1-11: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

During my fall out from God, He had mercy on me and answered prayers and gave grace more than once. I recall when I first found out that I was living in a particular sin, I was horrified! I pleaded for Him to forgive me and help me escape the situation with grace. Though I was still not fully vested in Him, He granted my prayers. I have never sinned in that particular way again nor missed it. It was as if it wasn’t me. Unfortunately, I continued to live in other sin that I did not recognize as such or ignored.

1 John 3:6: ^6 “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”

True salvation will look AND feel so completely different than the surface/easy road. If you are truly saved, then you will have the Holy Spirit in you. You will no longer WANT sin in your life. You will not seek to do good works in order to be saved because it is not by works but by faith in Christ only, that you are saved. BUT with the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, your heart will change and out of the desires of your heart you WILL sin no more and you WILL bear fruit. God gives us all the power to do this when we are saved. The result is peace, love and joy.

Galatians 5:16-26: 16”But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy,^d drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

[If you are missing peace, love for others or joy in your life, you should go to http://restorationministries.org/ and do part 2 of Freedom in Christ Series called Demolishing Strongholds to find out what wounds/demons may be darkening your soul. If you need help navigating through it, let me know.]

Being saved literally changes your heart so that you no longer live in sin. That isn’t to say that you will never slip here and there. But it does mean that you will not be a slave to sin. You will not purposely seek it out. You will not be in bondage to anything: drugs, alcohol, sex, vanity, greed, etc.

When I came to realize what a hypocrite I was being, and kept struggling with the same sin, I repented, not lightly, but with serious remorse, for my past sins and present sinful ways. I begged God to take them from me and help me make better decisions regardless of the worldly cost. I can even say that I asked Him to eradicate the part of me that was the weakest to make it less desirable or beneficial to sin. He certainly had mercy upon me and took it from me.

What followed was miraculous. God drew me in. I found a deeply spiritual loving church (Assemblies of God). I saw the selfless service they provided to the Teen Challenge Program and wanted that kind of love and service in my life. I stepped away from the worldly sins, some more difficult than others, and began to really see what I needed to do to keep the Holy Spirit in my heart. This isn’t always easy folks. We come with years of wounds and damage and misconceptions to remove and heal.

For example: It is amazing how you can think that the need for a certain income is practical and not enslaving you. People will take all kinds of evil doings just to bring in that paycheck. In reality, I fought the Spirit when I was compelled to leave my job and knew that my job was detrimental to my health. I chose to listen to a ‘false prophet’ claiming to be Christian, and held on to my job until it was no longer an option. I lived in bondage to my income and material way of life. You would have thought that I found out I had a disease, when I was going through that Hell on earth. And frankly it was all my own doing. But God saw me through it. In a very short span of time, my car, which was brand new, was paid off by an error in taxes, I paid my credit card debt and I was able to receive retirement for that same job. The bitterness that followed took some time to eradicate. Slowly the veil of darkness began to lift and I realized how healthy I felt. How freeing it was not to be in bondage to that diseased part of my life. The daily dread was gone and I was full of joy and peace. But it all started with sin and disobedience! The natural consequences were my own to bare. We must choose to trust God and follow Him! We cannot be in bondage and be free in Christ.  

If you need help breaking these bonds, Demolishing Strongholds is for you (see above). You might also want to go to http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/three_stages_bondage.php read the bible study here.

Understand too, the reason we connect with others (fellowship) is because we need more mature Christians to support, empower, educate and mentor us, if even from a distance while you get closer to God and learn what your purpose is. Restoration Ministries has wonderful resources on how to evaluate your wounds and rid yourself of strongholds that our pasts have planted in us. Also because it is biblical as well.

Hebrews 10: 24-25: ^24 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

One other thing: Notice I didn’t talk about works? Because, and to me this was a recent revelation, you can work in the church and overload yourself with Christian responsibilities until Christ comes back but if you are not right in the Spirit and/or if you are still a slave to sin, He will not know you. On the other hand, you can be filled with such a desire to serve that your servitude comes from the heart and not from obligation. While that won’t get you into heaven, it is part of the fruits that you could bear. So along with the essential fruits such as those mentioned in Galations 5, you could be producing all kinds of fruits from the heart as well. J

The Law

7-24-14                                              The Law

Last night, I reflected on the ‘law’ versus faith. I laughed at myself while thanking God that He has shown me the light once again. What fools we become when we try to do good by following the law.

Control, unworthiness, inadequacies, insecurity are simply the result of trying to follow the law and failing. Don’t get me wrong, I follow my heart and the leading of the Spirit too. But you see, satan’s demons know that I have built my career on ‘the law,’ rules, and procedures.  My nature is so organized that I make time for ‘due diligence’ in doing my job, teaching parenting classes, reading the bible, studying my homework and reading the Freedom in Jesus series. I feel overwhelmed and frustrated sometimes. I become stressed, then defeated, then unworthy, then abandoned… that is exactly what satan counts on from all of us. My stress level was so high that I could not read my book for this semester of ministry classes. It seemed like a foreign language and it didn’t make sense.

I am not saying that not reading the bible is okay. Matthew 22:29: “Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” It is important that we know the Word so that we can share it with others and prepare our children and ourselves for what is ahead. I am saying that when we make it a ‘must’, a law and attach fault to it, then we do it out of obligation and not out of the desires of our heart and we set ourselves up for failure and the resulting emotions that satan can use to keep us from right relationship with God.

Do you see? Think of it like this: If I tell my spouse that I need more affection, then what I get is contrived, forced and insincere. Even though he loves me deeply, he now feels stress over how much love that he must show me and when. It becomes a sense of obligation rather than natural desire. But if I choose to just show him more affection, from my heart, then I naturally receive it in return. We both win; we both have peace and we are both successful. When we live from our hearts, not our heads, following the Holy Spirit and His wisdom, then we succeed. But when we look upon it as the law, then we fail and give satan a foothold into our lives.

If you want your children to get to know God, read the bible and go to church then don’t drop them off and leave or tell them to go read the bible. Call the whole family for a family meeting and start bible reading as a family first. Wake up early, get ready with joy in your heart and take them to church. Be the example. Don’t show them that it is an obligation. Express a deep desire of your heart to sing His praises and learn about what the bible says. When you get home, as you sit around the table over a meal, discuss what you learned and ask what they learned. Encourage their sharing, support their ideas and explore the bible together.

Once I made the connection of control, inadequacy and the like with trying to follow ‘the law’ instead of living by faith and my own natural desire to serve Him, it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I don’t HAVE to do anything but have faith in Him, love Him and follow His will for my life. The rest comes naturally.

So, I prayed to Him for clarity and to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that I could do what He has led me to do. I reminded Him of His promises to allow nothing to get in my way when it is to serve Him. I opened the ministry book again yesterday and I understood it. I absorbed it like a sponge and could not put it down.  We must live by faith, not by law or any contrived obligation that we create in this world. TRUST God to lead you and the Holy Spirit to fill you with the desire of God’s will.

Romans 3:31: Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

Where feet may fail

Oceans-Where feet may fail

My mantra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw

Our Unseen Battles

I want to share with you a journey that has darkened my path for about six months now. I imagine most of you have seen darker days and don't know where it is coming from or how to fight it. Well, neither did I until I reached out once again to Pastor Diane on what seemed like an insignificant matter. As usual, God placed her in my path and she led me to the Light. I just started my new bible study that has already begun to lift the veil of ignorance and darkness from my heart and mind.

Restoration Ministries (restorationministries.org) has free in depth bible studies that they provide. One is the Freedom in Jesus series. Part 1 is "Certain of what we do not see." The more popular part 2 is "Demolishing Strongholds." This is a 3 part series, but many of you have jumped into part 2 without laying the most essential foundation of part 1. This whole series in vital in helping you understand why we struggle for normalcy and feel so completely abandoned and inadequate. Trust me, you are not. It is just the dark unseen world trying to keep you from the light.

If you are broken, feel defeated, have chaos surrounding you, cannot seem to get a break and keep believing negative things about you or your circumstance, draw near and do this study with me. I am on segment 5 of "Certain of What we do not see" part 1, but let's walk through this together and get the healing and truth that we need to fight and win. I am here if you need me.

SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW SO THAT WE ALL BECOME STRONGER AND MORE AWARE OF HOW THE UNSEEN FORCES ATTEMPT TO KEEP US DOWN. 

Ephesians 6:12 
12 For we[a] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

There are all kinds of people that are used to keep you down, cause you to stumble and confuse the truth so that you stay in sin and discontentment. Even our own family members can be used to defeat our thinking and thwart our goal of being sinless warriors for Christ. Learn to recognize the battle that exists around you.

Here is Part 1, with its supplemental reading materials to get you started. I will post a new one when you have finished this one. http://restorationministries.org/html/CertainOfVideo.html

The next part is an amazing journey that will help remove strongholds from your life so that you can stay in sync with the Holy Spirit and serve your purpose. Happy reading.