I heard the most
astonishing story this past week. And as I’ve thought about it, I’m compelled
to share it with you. I was engaged in a discussion with a few people about
marriage. You can imagine this particular subject will come up often because I’m
so fascinated by God’s design for marriage.
The gist of the story
was about conflict in marriage. What was fascinating is what one woman said
about conflict with her husband. I’m going to share the story but I don’t
remember it word-for-word so here is my adaptation.
A husband and wife
were in the middle of an argument. (In the Donovan house, this would be called
a fight. A heated verbal exchange would be accurate around here.) Well as this
exchange began to elevate between this woman and her spouse, the husband and
the wife became completely at odds and couldn’t understand one another’s
perspective. The yelling heightened and then….. all of a sudden the wife could see something,
like a vision in front of her.
As she looked at her
husband who was angered and speaking strongly to her, the vision opened up and
she saw in front of her husband a demon who was grabbing and twisting the words
of her husband as they came out of his mouth. These twisted words then landed
on her ears. It was at that moment she realized she was hearing something
entirely different than what her husband was intending.
I stood there
listening to this story and it was as if I could see this happening in my own
life. It was like a slow-motion replay. Mike talking at me. Evil twisting his
words as they left his mouth and then the words landing on my ears twisted and
angry, carrying along with them evil intentions.
Can I just say, “YIKES.”
My friend went on to
say that she stopped the conversation with her husband and said, “I think I’m
hearing you say…..”
“No, that’s not at
all what I meant by that..” he replied.
That was the day they
realized how the enemy can deeply entwine itself in the conflicts of marriage.
That was also the day the couple agreed that in a time of conflict they would
begin to ask each other for clarification. They would say something like this, “I’m
hearing you say….. I think you are telling me….. I didn’t understand you
exactly can you tell me again….”
Wow, imagine if we
stopped and thought about what is happening around us in the supernatural realm
during conflict. I hope this story changes how you have an argument with your
pre-believer in the future.
On Monday, I will
share with you another thing we discussed. And it’s something that has happened
to me in the past. Now that I see it for what it is…. It ticks me off to know I
was manipulated in marital conflict. Stay tuned.
So tell me… What do
you think about this story and do you think this has ever happened to you in
your marriage? See you in the comments. Live in love my friends because the
devil is clueless to fight against you. BIG hugs, Lynn
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. — 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
My friends, how are you doing? How has your week gone? What are you struggling with right now? I shared last week that I would have to sell my car. I was sad to see it go, but after a few tears I was able to praise God for bringing us a quick sale at a fair price—exactly what I had prayed for. Now I'm praying for a little used car to get the job done. LOL! I'll keep you posted on that one. My God is the God who provides and He will come through!
God's heart is for us and He knows our challenges because He is with us. Let's invite His love to work through our amazing SUM community and bring peace and healing to our hearts. Leave prayer requests in the comments and let's pray for each other through this weekend as we praise God for His presence and the victories that are and will be ours! I will be praying for each one of you too.
As this amazing song says, we are conquering co-heirs with Christ. Belt this song out wherever you can as a statement of faith—a closet, a shower, in the car—I promise you will send the enemy quaking and end with a heart strengthened! I know my shower will never be the same either. ;-)
My heart and prayers are with you, my precious friends! I love you all so very much! Dineen
We're reaching the end of our spiritual warfare series, my friends, and I can't think of a better way to punctuate all we've learned than praying on our armor of God. Join me in prayer and then let's praise God for His outlandish and extravagant love for us.
Ephesians 6:10-18 Lord, we are strong in You and Your mighty power. We put on our full armor of God, so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes. Remind us daily that our struggle isn’t against our spouse, our children, our family, our friends, our jobs, our situations, our neighbors, the strangers we meet or even our government. The battle is truly against the rulers, authorities and powers of evil present in this world and in heaven, against satan and his demons working to steal, kill and destroy us.
So today and everyday from now on I put on my full armor of God and stand my ground against the enemy’s schemes against me and my family.
I buckle on the belt of truth, which is Christ dwelling in me because He accepted, adopted, blessed, chose, forgave, loves and redeemed me (Ephesians 1). This is the truth of who I am in Jesus and the foundation of my authority and power in Him. (Luke 9:1-2)
I put my breastplate of righteousness in place over my heart because your Word says to guard my heart above all else for it determines the course of my life. (Prov. 4:23) Lord, I pray that the eyes of my heart be enlightened so that I will know the hope that You have called me to, the riches of my inheritance in Jesus, and the amazing power for us who believe—the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in Heaven as our intercessor forever. (Ephesians 1:18-21)
I stand with my feet firmly placed in the gospel of peace because your word is lamp to my feet and light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
I take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, because He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4) The enemy cannot prevail for I am already the victor in this battle. (Romans 8:37-38)
I don my helmet of salvation because the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)
I lift sword of the Spirit, which is your Word that I will use faithfully to pray against the enemy and to faithfully live my life in accordance to for we live on every word that comes from Your mouth, Oh Lord. (Deut. 8:3/Matt. 4:4)
Lord, teach and help me to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. And keep me alert to pray for all my sisters and brothers in Jesus. In your mighty, powerful and holy name we pray, amen!
I love you so very much, my precious and beautiful friends. You bless me, inspire me and show me everyday the wonder of God in our lives and what it means to be unified in the Spirit.
Hugging you so very tight with the love of Jesus in my heart,
Dineen
I left you earlier in the week with a scene from our kitchen
table. My daughter had experienced a supernatural and scary encounter. But, you
know as I think upon this, my heart soars… You know why? This 17 year old kid
KNEW what to do. Somewhere, somehow, I’ve equipped her with enough to go into
battle.
What really bugs me is that I had to equip her when she was
five years old. “Mommy.” She came to me in her princess pajamas and rubbing her
eyes. “Mommy, last night on my bed I saw red eyes that were in my stuffed
animals. It scared me mommy.”
Good GRIEF!!!!!
I clearly remember this and I also remember that I believed
her. Our kids need us to believe them. Children are told there is no such thing
as the boogie man and sent back to bed, defenseless and vulnerable. They hid
under the covers and shake because we haven’t equipped them.
Now, I know I’m not alone in stories like this. Kris
Vallotton shares a similar story about his granddaughter seeing something scary
in her room. Kris’s son calls him and Kris tells his son to tell the little
girl to say out loud, “Get, out of here bad angels. Get out of my room.”
For me I calmly and with confidence said to my little girl,
“Caitie, you don’t need to be afraid because you have Jesus with you. The red
eyes can’t hurt you. But, they are only trying to scare you to keep from
talking to Jesus. So, you just pray and command them to leave in the name of Jesus.
You say, I bind you and you must get out in the name of Jesus. Say it over and
over until it leaves.”
Man I tell you what, my daughter prayed but I went to war. I
started praying like crazy, pacing the floor. Walking in her room. I roamed
throughout the house with arms raised and speaking aloud the words of a warrior
who is mad as a hornet and stirred with purpose. I prayed for legions of
powerful angels to be dispatched from the throne room to flood our house. I
prayed for warrior angels to stand at every door and window with swords drawn.
I prayed down power and I prayed defeat, binding this evil in the name and by
the blood of Christ. My friends, I STILL pray like this today. I seek constant
protection around my home, around my family. I ask for this for each of them by
name every single morning.
My prayers have changed in the years as I have learned more
about the spirit realm. What I know is that fear, emotion, manipulation,
bargaining doesn’t affect the demons. The only thing that will cast away an
evil spirit is authority. We have all authority to do this, read again Luke
9:1-2.
Before I leave this story I think there is something
interesting to be noted from my daughter’s recent encounter. Why did this evil
return after being gone for so long. Now that’s a good question. I asked my
daughter this question if you remember. Do you remember her answer?
She said, “It started the night when I watched that scary
movie at the theater.”
My daughter opened the door to this activity. She went to a
scary movie which gave permission to the enemy to enter her life. My daughter
knows that watching anything scary produces this kind to stuff in her life. She
has always been sensitive to the spiritual realm. After years and as she is
approaching High School graduation, she believed she could handle this movie.
After all it wasn’t even a horror or even a scary movie. It was a movie that
was eerie and disturbing. But that’s all it took to invite the demons back.
My daughter told me the night she sat at the kitchen table
that the shaking stopped, that she prayed. I was relieved. But she also said
something very interesting, “Mom, I prayed, rolled over and ignored it. After
all, really, what is it going to do to me? Stab me? It can’t.”
Out of the mouths of babes.
The power of ignore. Kris Valloton states it like this about
his red-eyed tormentor: After months of this, rebuking the thing in Jesus name
and reading scriptures to it, nothing seemed to faze it. Then one day the Lord
gave me the Philippians principle: In no
way be alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but
of salvation for you. He called this “the power of ignore.” (Phil 1:29) Read the book because this story
is much more in depth and filled with God's power.
Okay, let's go back to my daughter’s story. My friends, think
about this. We work so hard to reveal the lies, rid our lives of sin, bring
about forgiveness and we find a glimpse of freedom. But, then we turn right
around and invite the tormentors right back in.
So here is my question? What are you allowing into your
heart and mind that is an invitation to fear, deceit, lies and torment?
I’m compelled to tell you that if you are watching programs
like Ghost Hunters, The Ghost Whisperer, Long Island Medium, etc. this is a very real open door. Also, things like Ouija boards, tarot cards, palm reading,
even if it’s only just for fun, open-OPEN door.
Discernment is key in this area. We make hundreds of choices
daily that either slam the door on the enemy or leave us vulnerable. Keeping
the Dove of the Holy Spirit on my shoulder is a minute-by-minute surrender to
the love and discernment of our Lord.
God is not a God of withholding experiences or fun from us.
What the world tells you is fun, harmless and that you are an adult so you can
partake is often a beautiful but deadly gateway to oppression.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle—victorious. — Vince Lombardi
My friends, today I want to speak to those of you who are in the thick of battle and are tired. I've received several emails to this effect and I'm carrying each of you close to my heart right now, like a friend cheering you on from the sidelines.
You're tired—tired of the battle, the fight—tired of praying and seeing nothing change. Are you in this place, my precious friend?
What if I told you the battle is always fiercest right before the end? What if I told you your victory is just around that last corner that you can't quite see yet?
Would you keep fighting? Would you keep praying? Would you stand firm?
This weekend I took a walk with my husband and at one point, I broke into a light jog to cross a wide street. I don't normally jog but I've always wanted to, imagining how free I'd feel. Past attempts have left me too winded or with a hurt foot or knee, but I've been walking much more than I have in the past and as I reached the other side of the street, I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep going because I caught a glimpse of what I'd imagined. My husband, who was born athletic, joined me and encouraged me to keep going. He pointed out a stop sign at the end of the street and told me to make that my goal.
So I did. I kept my eye on that red sign. My knees started to protest so I adjusted my stance. My hips began to “whine” ever so slightly and reminded me that the word on that sign was stop. I kept pushing through the burn because I wanted the victory. I knew if I stopped before that marker I would wonder if I could have made it had I pushed just a little farther, hung on just a little longer.
I prayed for strength. Just a few more steps and I was there! Victory was mine! I don't know if this means I’m now a jogger but in this one moment, I was. Even though my body felt tired, I felt strengthened in my heart and spirit.
We've talked about many of the enemy's tactics, but there's one that hardest to see at times. He's a master plotter and knows when all else fails, he still has one area that he can attack.
That, my friends, is at the end of the battle when the fight is fiercest and our prayers take more strength than we think we have. Evil makes its assault when we are on the verge of a breakthrough or on the precipice of taking new territory.
The enemy turns up the heat just enough to make us think we are losing when we are about to have our victory. When you reach that point when you think you can't win, that's the enemy whispering defeat into your heart. When you think your spouse, your loved one, your life, even your very self is a lost cause, that is the enemy's panicked attempt to make you back off because he's about to lose.
Sometimes I imagine Jesus and the heavenly realms cheering us to that finish line only to watch us stop a mere few feet away, because we think we've lost. We buy into what we see and not what we know to be true.
Our victories come in moments that reveal a change not only in the person or situation we are praying over but also in ourselves. We too are changed as we step into new freedom and territory, stronger that just a few steps before and closer to God. Each and every step is a victory!
But it's not easy. The question is, will we struggle, fight, stand and persevere through those last few steps when the enemy is bent on convincing us to give up?
Victory never looks like what we expect and seems to always exceed our expectations when it does come. Sometimes it arrives through times of staying put right where we are or in the moments when God says let go so He can take complete control. What we may perceive to be failure may simply be the final set-up for a breakthrough.
My friends, please understand I am not tell you what to do. I'm telling you to do what God has told you to do. What did He speak to your heart when the battle began? What are the promises He gave you along the way? What is He telling you right now?
As I wrote this post, God put it upon my heart to share a battle I’m in right now. It may seem trivial, but even the smallest battles have a purpose, a desired result to add to the big picture of God’s Kingdom.
For the last year or so our financial picture has become more and more difficult. In January when I prayed for my husband, God gave me the word, “Prosperity.” I confess I struggled with it, wondering how God could prosper us when my husband is still walking his own path. Before I could even speak this doubt to God, He spoke so clearly, “I bless him through you.”
This week we will have to sell my car—my 2010 Honda CRV. I waited at least fifteen years to own one of these. I love my car, but it’s just a car. The enemy, however, wants to make me resentful, which I could easily indulge in because I’m bearing the brunt of the situation at the moment, and he’s trying to make me doubt what I heard from God. But I wrote it in my journal. I reread it anytime the enemy tries his tactics, because I KNOW what my God said and I BELIEVE HIM!
I know it seems strange that selling my car would be part of God’s plan of prosperity for us, but I trust God and I know Him well enough by now to understand two things: One, I know whatever happens with this will be part of what brings my husband to faith. Every part of our lives can be opportunities to have Kingdom impact on a life and my guy’s soul is more important than a car.
And two, my limited thinking of what all this means only succeeds in putting God in a box. Just because selling my car seems counter to what God has spoken doesn’t mean it is. Remember, His ways are not ours. He sees the big picture, I don’t. Therefore I trust God for the outcome, because I know it will be better than what I would have if I held onto that car.
Whatever God calls us to do, we are guaranteed the victory. Wherever God leads us, we will succeed, overcome, or accomplish whatever that is. Our victory is guaranteed because we are in Christ and we belong to God. That is what we can hold onto and will never have to let go of or give up. The enemy can’t take it away from us either.
Trust God. Believe Him. This is our greatest form of worship.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. — 1 John 5:4
Praying for earthshaking, life-changing faith for each of you!
Dineen
My friends, I have just loved reading all your comments on Wednesday’s post! You are so fired up and ready for battle. I told you I had something special for you today. This is the other side of our warrior armor and is grounded in the heart of our Precious Lord, our Abba Father, who adores us.
First, I have to set the stage and share something that happened to me Monday because as I walked through it, God told me to share one part specifically with you. I woke up Monday morning and went into my quiet time a bit unsettled. I know God is working some stuff out in me but I’ll be honest, I wanted to run away and hide. God said clearly to me, “I have a work to do in you.”
Okay, when God says something like that to you, do you want to tell Him to hurry up? LOL! I know I did, but I didn’t think He’d take me so seriously!
So, out I went for my walk to worship and pray, obeying the nudge to do so because the next thing God said was, “I have much to tell you.”
Now my brain tends to get really overactive and the best way I know to quiet it so I can hear God is to play worship music. Finally after one lap of walking and fretting, God did “His work.”
My friends, I kid you not, I walked around that park bawling! Yep, wet faced and runny nosed. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I was “leveled.” God spoke to my heart and mind about the spiritual gifts He’s given me. And my name.
You see, about a month ago I listened to a podcast from a friend and in it He spoke about God’s name for us. Did you know God has a special name for each of us?
But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. — Isaiah 43:1
And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name. — Exodus 33:17
Scripture puts a lot of emphasis on names. Remember how God gave specific names to Jacob (Israel), Abram (Abraham—father of the Jewish nation), and Simon (Peter)? And we all know how important the name of Jesus is.
After I listened to this podcast, I asked God what His name for me was and kept praying for a few days. God first told me to know His names, so I began looking at His many names and the meanings behind them.
Then one day as I was walking and wasn’t even thinking about it, God spoke to me my name. I’ll be honest—I guess I was expecting something different, but I will say that it made sense based upon the ways God uses me.
But on Monday, God spoke to a deep insecurity in me that I hadn’t even voiced in relationship to my name. I thought my name and how I am called to serve came as a result of my past because so much of what we do go through winds up in His hands to be used to comfort others (2 Cor. 1), right?
God told me that my gifts and name are not a result of my past. They are part of my identity in Christ, part of who God created me to be before I was even born! I am not handicapped or impaired by my past, nor are my spiritual gifts. Here I was thinking that I was working in a limited way and God said, “My gifts for you are complete because they come from Me—from my strength and power.”
My friends, when God spoke to my heart this truth, I started praying for you, because I wanted this truth to come to light in your lives too. As I prayed for this, God said to me, “Tell them, Dineen, share it with them. Tell them their past does not define them.”
Whatever God is calling you to do or be, it’s because He planned it from the beginning. Not because of what you’ve lived or experienced in your past. Those areas will only enhance the spiritual gifts God has for you and only if you let Him. Let Him do that work in you!
So, my precious friends, I want you to pray and ask God what His name is for you. This is deeply personal, so write it in a journal and add to it as God shows you more of who He created and uniquely designed you to be. Do feel free to share in the comments anything that will encourage others, but only what you feel comfortable sharing.
You may not hear Him right way. It may take a few days or even a few months. Don’t despair. In God’s time, He will speak your name to your heart and don’t be surprised if it’s also indicative to whatever area you find yourself serving Him or a direction or place you sense Him tugging your heart toward.
God made you, created you and named you. He loves you that much and KNOWS YOU THAT WELL (Psalm 139).
Rest in His amazing love and truth, my friends. God has called you by name!
You are in my heart and prayers! Love you all so very dearly!
Dineen
My friends, how has your week been? Did God speak to your heart about who you are to Him? Did you discover more lies the enemy has craftily embedded into your life? That last week I have sense God’s plans for this SUM community more strongly than ever before.
He is getting us ready, the next step is coming and He wants us ready, willing and able! Our Great Redeemer is equipping us for victory and it is so exciting to watch and see how is working in all of us!
This week I want you to see where the enemy attacks us and the truth that sets and keeps us free. Be sure to read to the end because I have something special for you to do. I promise, it’s really cool and so very much the heart of God for you.
1.Our Body (Physically and our Emotions): Food is a huge issue today. Look at how much time we spend on diets, on changing our appearance, and generally being dissatisfied with how we look. I know this has been a huge area of grief, distraction and bondage for me for years. Food has almost taken on a god-like persona in our world and in our lives, as has an obsession with how we look and how others perceive us. This even goes back to the Garden of Eden, the very first temptation used under the guise of food. And only after they’d sinned did they become aware of their appearance (nakedness).
But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. — 1 Samuel 16:7
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. — Proverbs 4:23
2.Our Mind (Mentally): The enemy wants us to question our beliefs and create doubt—doubt in our faith, our salvation and the truth. If we are uncertain of what and why we believe, then we lack confidence to speak God’s truth for own benefit and the benefit of others.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. — Romans 12:2
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. — 1 Peter 3:15-16
3.Our Trust (Spiritually): Again and especially to doubt who God is. That He is good and always works for our good. To doubt God’s provision for us, even when His Word says He is our provider.
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:19
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28
In his book Spirit Wars, Kris Vallotton points out five places that the enemy attacks:
Identity (who we are)
Motives (why we serve God. Notice how satan tries to tempt Jesus with power by appealing to His pride. The enemy does this to us, then condemns us for our pride.)
Our relationship with God (Do we even have one? Does God even want one with us? The enemy loves to make you think you are unworthy to stand before God. But you are because you now wear the righteousness of Christ. This is your birthright!)
Our ability to accomplish our mission (Our calling)
Our quality of life and ministry (Our testimony and message)
Kris also makes two great points. One, when we are in the wilderness, the enemy and God wants us there but they have different reasons. The enemy wants us there to destroy us. God wants us there so we can destroy the works of the enemy (Woohoo!). And two, when we know who we are and whose we are, we’ve won the battle (Woohoo again!).
Remember the Belt of Truth? We’ve talked in the past about our armor, but God showed me something last week that just tickled me beyond words (for just a moment). Ephesians is a powerful book that is so much about who we are in Christ. In Paul’s desire to show both Jews and Gentiles that in Christ they are no different, he clearly points out over and over again who we are in Jesus, and there are not boundaries there. Only unity for the body of Christ.
I often wondered how he got to the end and brought out this analogy of armor. Notice how he starts with the belt of truth? That’s because this is the very first piece of armor that Roman soldiers put on. Why? Because it supports all the other pieces of armor. Look at what the Expositor’s Bible Commentary says:
First, the "belt" tied tightly around the waist indicated that the soldier was prepared for action. A soldier slackened his belt only when he went off duty. It served to gather in the short tunic and helped keep the breastplate in place when the latter was fitted on. From it hung the scabbard in which the sword was sheathed (v. 17).
In Isa 11: 5 the Messiah is depicted as wearing the belt of righteousness around his waist and faithfulness as the sash around his body. Here "truth" is said to be the soldier's belt. "Truth" is to be interpreted both objectively as the truth of the gospel (1: 13; 4: 15) and subjectively as truth in one's inward being. Because Christians have accepted the truth of revelation and are now indwelt by the risen Lord, who is himself the truth, their lives have truth as its basis, and they display the consistency of character that springs from it.
Our belt of truth is our identity in Christ! How we believe (faith), how we understand the Bible (our sword—did you notice that it hangs from the belt?), our helmet (our understanding of our salvation), feet shod in the gospel (how we share or even have courage to share)—all starts with our identity in Christ.
My friends, we've run out of time and blog space again. I have so much more to share with you, but it would make this post twice as long. Lynn has graciously given me her day, Friday, to put up the next part of this post. PLEASE don't miss it. I have something very special to share with you and something specific that I want you to do—something that is very precious between you and God, and is part of your identity in Christ.
Until Friday, remember WHO YOU ARE and WHOSE YOU ARE and the battle is yours! We are, day-by-day, becoming more confident and competant in our Lord God Almighty! (2 Cor. 3:3-6)
Amen? Amen! Love you with the passion of Jesus! Dineen
I have so much to share with you that I feel like I’m going
to bust open. Firstly, those of you who have already registered for the
conference and those who are considering going and have written to me, I’m just
doing the Snoopy Dance to know that I will meet you face-to-face, this side of
heaven. This conference is going to be so filled with God’s presence that I’m
expecting healing of hearts, marriages, and physical bodies. Dineen and I are
committed to lay our hands on you and pray with you if that is what you want
and need. Even if we stay up all night long in order to do so. If you have
registered, email me so I know you are attending.
Second, do you remember Maria who I met at the conference at
Bethel. She and I spent 15 minutes talking that day and it utterly changed so
much about my faith and how I pray (read that story here – see the video here).
Well on Friday I had lunch with Maria. We met at noon and
three hours past like it was 10 minutes. My friends, we talked about our Great
God, His Kingdom, our authority and some astonishing stories of deliverance…
You may remember that Maria has a ministry where she works with women emerging
out of the porn industry into faith. Maria said to me that many of these women
are demon possessed. Much of what Maria does is deliverance. She shared a story
with me that gave me shivers. Hope to tell it here soon. But after all of our
discussion two things came up over and again.
Rejection! Maria and I talked a great deal about rejection
and how our rejection by others is at the core of much of our spiritual
bondage. Rejection by our earthly fathers profoundly impacts the way we view
God (Our heavenly Father). Rejection by parents, friends, spouses…… So much
pain and at the utter core is this: Identity
We misplace, crush, disbelieve and surrender our God-given
identity as an heir, a child, a prince or princess of the King of the Universe.
It is our lost identity due to rejection which empowers satan and his demons. We don’t
know who we are so we listen to the liar. We agree with the lies and hand over
our power to him.
What I’ve come to understand and even “feel in my soul” is
my identity in Christ is my power. I absolutely believe what the Bible tells me
about who I am. NOW THAT terrorizes the devil.
Understanding who I am in Christ has profoundly affected for
the positive my mismatched marriage, my parenting and every relationship that I
have. So as I sat in church Sunday morning, God spoke to me and I was
overwhelmed by the words I’m about to share with you. I believe that God was
speaking to every single person in this community. I don’t know much about
prophetic words and such but my friends, I think this could be exactly that for
all of us. Prophetic! So, grab a cup of coffee and take these words in. They
were spoken to me and now to you from the Lord our God.
Child,
You are mine. I know the pain of your rejection and the lies
born out of that fear and hurt. But hear me now, YOU ARE ADOPTED.
Child I will tell you every day that I love you. You are my
family. And I have given you a community. You belong. You are adopted and loved.
THIS DAY, I declare for you New Beginnings. You will be strengthened, the road before
you will be smoothed out. I have prepared riches for you and a life of the
divine. I am your joy in what could be sorrow. I’ve called you out of the
ordinary to experience the supernatural. Your home in this place is a community
of healing, restoration and wholeness. I now place my identity in you. Do not
despise small beginnings because your foundation will sustain you.
This house was a secret but today it is open for the orphan.
It is ready for the outpouring. The rain, the Holy rain is falling upon this
house and upon my children. I’m strengthening your home, your marriage, your
family and your individual ministries. So come into this house, let it rain –
for my hand is upon you and my Presence rests within you.
Step into your royalty and stay the course. The road ahead
is filled with triumph, miracles, signs, wonders, healing and salvations. The
best is yet to come.
My friends, I don’t know who needed these words today from
our Abba, Father but I know I was to share them. You are fully His and when we
KNOW this at our core, the devil can’t touch us.
With all of this said on Friday, I have a few stories to share
about warfare. So get your Royalty on because you will need it.
We are Kingdom people destined to live in His Presence, love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. I love you all so much. I can’t wait to look deeply into your
eyes and thank God for you. Love, Lynn
Identity in Christ PDF. Follow the directions in this exercise and let your freedom shine forth.
Well it’s been a riveting series so far. I have prayed for
all of you who left your lies at the foot of the cross on Monday. Thank you for
your courage and for defeating the enemy’s power in your life. Stay diligent and
work to place God’s truth into your lives, hearts and minds.
The demons are relentless and will try to come back. Take
every thought captive immediately. Say out loud again, I reject that lie in the
name of Jesus. I believe I am a child of the Most High God. His truth is my
truth. I will obey Him. I will trust Him. I know I am loved, valued, and I have
authority over all demons, their works and effects. In Jesus name and by His
blood. Amen
Okay there’s another area where believers can sign over their
authority and become captives. This is also an area where not only can you
become a prisoner, the tormentors come.
Are you ready?
Unforgivness.
Kris writes: Unforgiveness imprisons our souls and opens the
door to evil spirits in us. In my experience, unforgiveness is the number one
reason why Christians are oppressed.
Unforgiveness and its cousin, bitterness wields a great
power over our lives. You can be consumed by these two. And for our community
here at SUM, some of us here have endured marriages that are not kind, but hurtful,
even harmful, we are so utterly vulnerable to this area of torment.
I remember reading a story that Kris shared in one of his
books about a woman who was at church. She was wreathing on the ground as
people were praying over her for deliverance. Kris was summoned and as he got
down to pray for her, he sensed unforgivness was her captor. This woman was in
bondage to hatred. She was raped as a child by her father. She spewed out, “I
will not forgive him. I hate him. I want him to burn in hell.”
Kris responded, “I can’t help you then.” He began to walk
away. She lay in the floor with the demon continuing to torment her.
She screamed to him, “Okay, I will forgive him. Just help
me.” They prayed and worked through her deliverance and she became free. Free
indeed. (Paraphrased)
My friends, living in this kind of bitterness will destroy
you, your relationship, your life…. Your very soul. Was this woman perhaps
justified in her hatred? Maybe. But her hatred ONLY served to empower the
devil.
One other area that the enemy works like magic is
unforgiveness of our Self. I will share one more story with you of Kris’
dealing with a young girl who lived in shame and utter torment. She appeared
before Kris scratching at herself. He began to pray but realized this wasn’t going
to be an easy one. They prayed and began working through her shame. She lost
her virginity to a man who left her ashamed, alone and abandoned. The thought
of her ex-boyfriend would send her into a rage. Unable to escape the shame she
began to punish herself by having sex with other men. Self-hatred,
self-loathing and unforgiveness had become her closest friends. She was a
powerless prisoner of her own demise.
Kris walked her through a process of forgiving herself. And
the theology of what Christ did on the cross. She said to him, “I want the
punishment to go away. I can’t stop punishing myself,” she cried.
He took her by the hands and had her repeat, “I love myself.
I love myself.”
These stories are brief recounts. My friends, if you are
struggling in any of these areas or you know someone who is, you need to read
the entire book. The examples are real. They have truth and power and offer
understanding of the spiritual realm without fear. Buy it. Spirit Wars by Kris
Vallotton. (See the sidebar)
Are you asking me why we must go through this basic
training?
It’s crucial to understand how the enemy gains captives and prisoners.
Through sin, unforgivenss, and lies. When we understand this and obtain our own
freedom then we can help our spouse and our children. It’s vital that we find
our freedom first.
So I ask you, do you have unforgiveness, bitterness or
self-hatred in your heart. Can you share with me who you need to forgive? Can you
begin this day to say to yourself every single day, I love myself? Let me and
Dineen and this entire community walk together toward healing. We will all pray
for one another. And if you need counseling, search today for a counselor, a
pastor, Celebrate Recovery group that can walk you through this healing.
Okay, we are nearing the end of our boot camp. But we still
have ground to cover and then this terrorist training camp of Spirit filled
believers is going to let loose on the devil and his minions. With all authority
and in the name of love, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The world is looking for something worth dying for so that
they have something really worth living for. ~Kris Vallotton.
My dear friends, I want you to know that I am praying for you all through this series. I truly sense God is moving us to new places, to take new territories in our lives and regain territories we have lost too.
Last week I talked about the enemy’s tactics, namely his attempts to keep us fearful and ineffective. Lynn’s post on Monday brilliantly showed us how the enemy uses lies to keep us in these places of defeat. Again, it’s all lies!
This week I want to show you how the enemy targets us. Let’s go back to Matthew 4 and read the first eleven verses. I’ve bolded some key areas that I want you to pay attention to:
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The very first thing I want to point out will probably be the most difficult for you to understand and accept. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. God was in control of this time of testing just as He’s in control of our times of trial and testing. I reference the book of Job last week as a good example of this.
Please understand that we live in a world with good and evil. The stage was set right in the Garden of Eden. So think of it this way. God gave man and woman the power of choice. They chose poorly and now God is working in all of it to bring the ultimate good to all humanity. That means He takes what evil intends to harm and brings good from it (read the story of Joseph starting with Genesis 37). This is also our promise in Romans 8:28.
God also designed us to have purpose in our lives, just as He gave Adam his purpose to maintain the Garden. As Rick Warren often says, God is more concerned about our character than our comfort. Cushy and easy lives do not build our character. And the only way our spirit will bear fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) is by exercising our spiritual muscles.
I’ve heard a saying that I think is dead on: God either delivers us from trials or through trials. Some trials He will remove because they don’t serve His purpose and calling for us. Others He walks us through them because there is something to be gained—these can be blessings, freedoms, spiritual gifts, etc., with the ultimate goal of deepening our understanding of who we are in Christ, our relationship with God and our trust in Him.
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Remember what I said last week that the enemy attacks us in our weakness. What he hopes is that we will forget that in our weakness God is strong (2 Cor. 12:9)! Jesus fasted to prepare Himself for this time of temptation. I find that the times I’ve fasted because God is calling me too, I become clearer in my thoughts and understanding, and I often hear God much clearer. So Jesus may have appeared weak physically but spiritually, He was more powerful than ever!
The key here that Jesus prepared. That time set aside each day to spend with God is part of that preparation. Reading the Bible, praying, listening to praise music, going to church, etc.—it’s all preparation to make us strong in our weakness.
3 The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.
If you look at the line I bolded, you’ll see a subtle question there. The very first thing the enemy attacks is our identity—who we are in Christ. Notice how the enemy says, “If you are the Son of God.” Some translations lose this intonation but the original Greek has it. It’s a subtle plant of doubt that the enemy uses to make us doubt our salvation and place in God’s Kingdom. This by far is the first and most crucial place that we must pay close attention to.
Remember the story in Matthew 7 about the wise builder? The wise builder is the one who built his house on rock instead of sand. When the storms (trials, tests, temptations, etc.) came, the house didn’t fall. This rock foundation is our identity in Christ. Read Ephesians 1 and notice words like adopted, accepted, blessed, chosen, forgiven, lavished, predestined and redeemed. Our inheritance in Jesus is WHO WE ARE.
Don’t confuse your calling or ministry or service as who you are. Those are things you do. They come from your identity in Christ. All that we do to serve must be held loosely because we really don’t know the full picture of where God plans to take us next. We can’t identify ourselves by things that have the potential to change. Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. That’s a foundation of rock that will never fail you! And remember, our identity in Christ is where our power and authority come from. When we build our identity on things that change, fail, shift or disappoint, we risk losing our power and giving our authority to the enemy.
4 Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down.
For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
7 Jesus answered him, It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
(and see how Jesus counters him with God’s Word too? With the truth.)
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me.
10 Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Study these lines and notice how one, Jesus counters each attempt of the enemy to implant a lie with the truth of God’s Word. Satan even uses God’s Word (don’t think he hasn’t studied it well and will use it against us—legalism is a good example of that.) in a direct quote from Psalm 91:11 to try and convince Jesus to hand over His authority. This is why it is so important to know God’s Word. One, because we need to know the truth, and know it clearly—not just what someone else has told us. And two, so that we can counter the enemy with the truth so we don’t allow these lies into our lives—that’s when we make contracts with our enemy and hand over our authority.
Okay, I'm going to stop here for now. Next week I will show where the enemy targets us and how to counter those lies with God's truth. Until then, I want you to ask God to tell you who are to Him. Ask Him to show you whatever lie or lies have taken the place of His truth for you, because He loves you, my friend, with a passion and a fervency that goes beyond comprehension. This has been a HUGE area of healing for me and I want you, my precious friends, to walk in that same freedom!
Here are two downloads for you to take advantage of. Read them and speak them out loud!
Share in the comments so this amazing community can rally around and pray for you! Or share how God speaks to your heart so that others can be encouraged too.
God is here! God is HERE. GOD IS HERE! Let's walk forward in confidence together knowing who we are.
Hugging you all tight with love and prayers! Dineen
