Oh the many times I've been prompted to write this one, and honestly, out of fear, I have resisted. But my eyes were opened big yesterday morning, and I thanked God for helping me to see things in a different perspective. As I stood in the kitchen yesterday morning in the very early hours of the morning, I honestly was having a bit of a pity party. My monthly visitor doesn't help me in these moments either rather makes it worse, but praise Jesus! His Holy Spirit is much more powerful than any emotions and hormones:)
I have this HUGE nagging issue on my heart which has been there for quite some time but seems to keep getting more and more amplified around me.
I cannot understand for the life of me why there has to be ugliness!
One of the first things I remember teaching the boys to say is "Life is not a competition" because it seems as though they fought over everything... even whether the sky was blue or light blue. It didn't matter... they were going to fight about it! It's amazing how many times that little phrase has been brought to my mind! It seems that insecurities, jealousy and lack of the Holy Spirit has taken things...and most of the time little things made big in my own mind... and caused some serious ruckus in many relationships.
Whether it be in marriages, parent to child, child to parent, coach to teammate or teammate to teammate, teacher to student, co-worker to boss, cheerleader to cheer sponsor, parent to teacher, church member to church member, family member to family member, friend to friend, we are all involved in many relationships in our lives. Those relationships are important! & guess who knows that and wants to destroy them...destroy us!
If you'll bare with my stick figure drawings, I think it will help explain exactly what God has shown me for months. In our minds, when some kind of conflict arrises, we like to think of it like this....
When in reality, it is quite the opposite. See, OUR BATTLE IS NOT WITH ONE ANOTHER! Let me say that against... OUR BATTLE IS NOT WITH ONE ANOTHER!! EVER!! EVER!!!
Ephesians 6:11-12 says "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms."
What happens when my happy gets bumped? Or when someone doesn't agree with what I think? Do I begin to lash out at the other person? Even if it's not visible, it still says a lot about what is going on in my heart. In John 10:10 Jesus says "The thief comes ONLY to steal, kill and destroy: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." So if satan can twist things in my mind to help me justify my stance or my own opinion, he certainly will do just that because he doesn't want me to understand that we are all one team fighting against him!!!
In reality, it's supposed to be
me + Jesus +all other believers ALL TOGETHER
on one side of the seesaw helping to keep satan from knocking me off the full life!
Here's where I miss out...
I leave Jesus out of the situation which makes me all unbalanced.
Ephesians 6 gives us the answer..."Be strong IN THE LORD and in HIS MIGHTY POWER. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keeping on praying for all the saints."
Always keep on praying... for all the saints!
The time I spend with Jesus is the most important thing if I want to keep satan from throwing me all off balance. It is HIS promises and HIS presence that helps me remember that when someone is ugly to me, it really isn't about me. There is something going on in their heart that I need to pray for them instead of getting mad at them for being ugly to me. Oh how very backwards this is from our natural...but won't you join me and live in the super natural! Some of the biggest miracles I have witnessed is God helping me to release something that satan has had a grip on for WAY too long! Won't you join me in truly living the abundant life!
