Today in my morning discussion with the Lord, I found something amazing. 3 basic truths that I know I can claim for myself. Any time I start to waiver, or feel fear and the prick of the enemy I can remind myself of these truths found in 1 John 5:18-21..
1. Anyone born of Christ will not continue to sin (meaning, it's not something we want to do)
2.GOD KEEPS US SAFE (doesn't that bring a sense of security? It's written right there!)
3. AND, THE EVIL ONE CANNOT TOUCH HIM. ( Christ wins!)
The other night, I was laying in my bed literally feeling the oppression of evil in my mind and heart...trying to sway me and get me discouraged. The enemy is strong, and persuasive and if we do not fully understand the truth that Christ has for us, we will believe his lies.
My friends, let this be a warning for you, the lies you hear in your minds about the truth of your circumstances, are just that lies. The truth is what you know about Christ, not the flitting fears that you hear in your heart and mind.
If what enters your mind is fearful to you, it's not from the Lord.
So, in that moment of fear the enemy had me in the other night, I literally prayed against the temptations of the evil one and told the enemy to be "gone in Christ's name." And you know what friends? The fear ceased instantly. I mean instantly. It was just gone. Now that my friends, is the power of the Christ. He is your protector and as 1 John 5 tells you, He keeps you safe, and evil cannot touch you.
Now don't you feel comforted? I do.
We can tap into all kinds of heavenly peace here on earth, we just have to do it, and in order to do it, we need to first and foremost, confess our sins before the Lord, claim Him is our Lord, and then believe on His promises for us.
We cannot claim these luxuries of peace if we do not claim our sin first though. I stand guilty before the Lord, but the gift of forgiveness is just that, forgiveness, all we must do is ask. So, as I ask, and He washes me clean, I in return receive His Holy Spirit, and with the guidance of this being in me, I now know where to step next.
The phrase "wanting what HE wants.." has continually swarmed my thoughts the last couple of days, you hear the words in 1 John 5 also "asking anything according to His will, He hears us.." vs 16b and your mind instantly goes to the thought of all wants being fulfilled...am I right?
Those verses have continually confused me throughout my walk, and I found myself almost skipping over them because I thought, "either I don't have enough faith or those verses are somehow being read out of context, because nothing I ask for ever happens." Anyone with me?
Well, let me tell how flawed my thinking was. Asking within His will, is different that asking within our will. Catch my drift? I'm new to this to, so don't think that I'm speaking above you. His truth is this, that when we confess our sins, lay down ourselves, also we lay down our will. Ouch but necessary to understand, because then what we ask for will be different in the light of Christ's will and desires for us...
And as I spoke above, what I asked for in Christ's name was instantly answered...because I feel for quite possibly the first time in my life, I asked for something that was in Christ will for me in a given moment. I felt very loved, and also I felt the power of Christ. I believe that is what His answering our requests is all about, not just because He loves us and wants to give us what is best for us, He wants us to have our faith increased and see His mighty power.
In these things that I have learned here the past couple of days, I have learned a few basic things I wish I had learned 20 years ago. But now that am getting a grasp on it, I wanted to share it with all of you...
The enemy wants to drag you down with fear, but by leaning on the saving grace of Christ, we can experience heavenly gifts of peace and protection right here on earth. I am learning so much about the God I serve and I am so humbled that He cares for me in the way that He does. How could I even consider Him not giving me what is best for me? It's just that all these years I have been asking for things according my desires and my will...but I'm really just getting the point where I find myself saying, " Lord, I want what you want, so allow me the wisdom to know what that is," and then, ask for it.
It's been a long time in coming and I feel the peace of the Lord wash over me as I begin to pray prayers according to that format...
I think that this is why the Lord's prayer has been so influential not only in the life of Christ himself as he was on earth, but also for us as we are to imitators of Christ.. so as we start our days saying, "our Father, who art in heaven, I praise your name, your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.."
And as we utter these words of praise and recognition of His power, we are then given our daily bread. I feel so nourished, quite possibly for the first time in my life, and it feels so good.
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