Overcoming a Rough Day

I find myself today, once again, wrestling.

It cannot be said enough:               

Ephesians 6:12 New King James Version (NKJV)
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The Holy Spirit has imparted upon me His wisdom, that is true heavenly wisdom and not earthly wisdom (James 3:13-18), such that I am entirely cognisant of the season in which I am in.

Not through reasoning, but by the power of revelation.

I have taken up my cross, and entered into a period of sacrifice, yet this knowledge does not prevent my struggles. For underlying this larger struggle, is a battle fought on more intimate grounds:

Galatians 5:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

So though I am cognisant of the season I am in, though I want to count it all joy for the trials (James 1:2) my flesh is incapable of such. My flesh remains wilfully in a place of anxiety, focused upon the temporal "truth" of my situation, not the eternal truth that God is in control.

Despite my best efforts, I cannot escape these thoughts.

Faith confessions to the contrary, seeking counsel and conversation have all added to my struggles. People draw from the well within me, at a time when I desperately trying to avoid running dry.

God is silent when I pray, for whatever reason, I am not hearing from Him. His outstretched hand seems to have pulled back from me. I am without direction when I read the Bible, not therefore just praying amiss, but reading amiss.

So why then am I writing this post? Regular readers would have heard enough of my struggles, and I am certainly sick of writing about them!

So far this is not encouraging, this is not edifying, so....why? Simple:

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 New King James Version (NKJV)
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

See my anxious thoughts left alone would lead to my disobedience, going to work despite God telling me not to do so, taking matters into my own hands.

Thus, not surrendering to God's will.

So it may seem strange, but my service is a weapon. But why?

James 4:7 New King James Version (NKJV)
Humility Cures Worldliness
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Because the devil is trying to bring me out of submission to God! If I am in God's presence, doing His will and His work, in His strength I can resist the devil and he will flee from me!

So instead I choose to draw closer to God that He may draw near to me (James 4:8), through this blog. For every anxious thought that is in my mind, telling me to stop, telling me to disobey, telling me to forsake God for He is keeping me a place of anguish; I defy those voices with my service.

If the enemy thought that they could disable me, I shall use this attack as fuel. The weapon formed against me to turn away from God, I instead turn to Him to frustrate the enemy, and further God's kingdom.

I will instead tell all who listen that God is in control, feeding the Spirit by doing the will of the Father (John 4:34), such that the internal battle is won in this day by the Spirit, that the flesh is brought into submission. Allowing me to access those fruits of the Spirit that well help me endure unto the promise: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

I will submit to God, resist the devil such that he flees from me (James 4:8). Using the precise spiritual attack that the enemy sought to turn me away from God, thus not submitting to Him, I choose to use that to serve God. Glorifying God, that even such an attack can be used for my good, and in turn for whomever reads this post. I can assure you I feel much better writing this sentence, then the one at the beginning.

Brothers and sisters in Christ. Do not put God in a box, I am learning to draw closer, and experience, Him in several ways. One of your greatest weapons is to surely reconnect to the source? An all powerful eternal God, whom makes the demons tremble (James 2:19). Bring yourself into submission of His will for you and draw closer to Him. Do so in any way that you can.

This has helped me, and I pray that post helps you. Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Do not entertain those thoughts in your head, do not engage, rebuke them! For every thought telling you to turn away from God, silence them and turn to Him.

As for me? Abraham endured unto his promise, so too shall I endure unto mine.

I have bad days, yet these bad days are set backs not defeat.

Christ already obtained the victory. Detractors may mock you, the enemy may get in a blow here or there, but it is written:

1 Kings 20:11 New King James Version (NKJV)
".....‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’"


Follow @WalkByFaithBlog

A Covenant Through Sacrifice

Psalm 50:5 New King James Version (NKJV)

5 “Gather My saints together to Me,

Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

For those of you who do not know in this season of my life God has shown me a glorious and prosperous future, yet, has brought me to a complete to a standstill. My current circumstances do not communicate victory, nor that a future as bright as He promised is possible. Upon His instruction I am not working, I now have less money in my bank account than when I was a child, I face bills I cannot pay which seem to be increasing daily.
I am in the midst of spiritual battles and warfare, with painful revelation upon painful revelation because He has said "the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32), and despite all of this God has told me "be still, and know that I am God".

As many others I am sure, I had wrestled with the apparent notion that immediately I truly accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior of my soul, things seem to have gotten worse, and not better. I have scrambled looking to verse upon verse, of God's promises and despite my pleas, despite my prayers will all supplication and thanksgiving I am still in the midst of my troubles. 

Then, in the depths of my despair on the 20th May consumed by all that seemed to be against me, God brought me to a stand still with Psalms 50:5. (because of the opposition I faced in sharing this with you, it is only today, 3rd June, that I have composed and shared this with you all.).

I wrote at length about being saved, but not born again, these two things: the covenant through sacrifice and taking up your cross, are interwoven and so I direct you to my other post where I detailed this at length.

Struggle is often about perspective and understanding. My struggle was rooted in not being able to reconcile the multitude of places in the Bible whether its: Deuteronomy 28, Malachi 3:10, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalms 35:27 and so much more, saying God wants to prosper us and more so, he delights in doing so, with the fact that I am at my worst.

I was ecstatic when He shared with me a vision of my future, a prosperous one, yet I struggled with sorrow day to day. Why was this happening to me?

There are so many examples within the Bible of this exact thing happening. Did God not make David a king, yet look at all that he had to endure before he could access the promise: Saul tried to kill him relentlessly, he was in the wilderness and exile for a time, he had to reside in the land of the enemy, all his things were stolen, basically a civil war and so much more. Then there is Job, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Joshua and more recently we can even look to TD Jakes the experience he suffered in his "crushing".                     

In Psalms 50:5, God says that He establishes a covenant through sacrifice. This establishment of a covenant, or agreement, is effectively what allows us to benefit from the goodness of God:
Hebrews 11:17-18 New International Version (NIV)

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
Abraham gained access to the promise through his sacrifice. Imagine his despair, this was his legitimate son, the son of promise whom God called his only son and yet God was asking him to allow him to die...(Here is a revelation from the Holy Spirit. Does this not sound like what God did for us when He allowed Jesus to die on a cross? This one moment kick started the redemption plan for all mankind, the lamb that was slain in substitution was Jesus in eternity (this may well be spiritual hard food! So if you do not believe then continue to seek God and test all things!!))

Such is the consistency of God, that through the Bible we we may test all things.

We establish a covenant with God through a spiritual crucifixion which is to die and be born again with Christ (Colossians 2:12), for:

John 4:23-24 New King James Version (NKJV)

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

So we must come to God in spirit not the flesh. So in confessing with the mouth that Christ is Lord and he overcame death through resurrection (Romans 10:9-10) we are saved, but if you want to establish a covenant with God that allows you to truly benefit in his promise this requires sacrifice (Psalms 50:5).

Again test this, is it not written:

Romans 12 New King James Version (NKJV)
Living Sacrifices to God
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.


Why Does God Do This?

1 Peter 1:6-7 New King James Version (NKJV)
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been [a]grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 

Our faith is all about relationship with God. God wants to know that you are serving Him not because of the promises of abundance, but out of love for God, for God is love (1 John 4:8). 

So if like me you were wondering, why is this happening to me? For what is this season of suffering. Take heart knowing you are not alone, that your suffering has a purpose and a blessing at the end of it. That God loves you and knowing all things wants you to endure that renew your heart and mind towards Him. 

That when you come to serve it is for relationship and not for reward.

                                          

Saved...But Not Born Again

This may seem somewhat odd, given what is widely accepted by the term "born again". People often, including myself at the beginning of this journey, ascribe being born again as the moment in which they are saved by Christ. Why then, have I concluded that I am saved but not born again?

And so what is this moment? It is written:

Romans 10:9-10 New King James Version (NKJV)

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For those of you who do not know in this season of my life God has shown me a glorious and prosperous future yet, has brought me completely to a standstill. My current circumstances do not communicate victory. Upon His instruction I am not working, I now have less money in my bank account than when I was a child, I face bills I cannot pay which seem to be increasing daily.

I am in the midst of spiritual battles and warfare, with painful revelation upon painful revelation because He has said "the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Despite all of this God has told me "be still, and know that I am God". (Though this revelation came at the same time I wrote about the covenant of sacrifice separately, as this topic would become so big that you would not have the time to read it!)

As with many others I am sure, I had wrestled with the notion that immediately I truly accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior of my soul, things seem to have gotten worse. I have scrambled looking to verse upon verse of God's promises and could not reconcile my experience with his word.

Days, weeks and months had passed, and by grace and not works, sitting in a public library in the midst of my sorrow, on the 20th May the Holy Spirit took me on a journey. This journey encompassed so many things but it is this which I must share with you.

(Side note: It is the 3rd June 2019 and this is when I have been able to write this. I wrote about the cause of the delay in composing this post here, the enemy did not want me to share this with you, so if you too find yourself under attack for your service to God, take heart, because if I can make it so too can you!)

I do not feel capable of truly communicating the gravity of this revelation and so I apologise, yet it is this which God has told me to share. So I offer you an extract from my notes which I took when this happened:

Matthew 16:24-28 New King James Version (NKJV)

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Matthew 24 - Something somewhat obvious has struck me about the timing of this verse. Jesus had not been crucified yet, it would actually be quite some time before this would happen. This is extremely powerful. Jesus has just spelled out this principle here. Jesus had to carry the cross on the way to being crucified - meaning He had a burden to bear before, the pain, glory, eventual resurrection and promise (that He was given all authority in heaven and earth Matthew 28, and will reign as the one true king). All of that sequence was done for our benefit. He said "take up his cross", not the cross, implying it is your cross.  We have to carry our own cross to crucifixion. He was basically saying "come let us go and die".

Matthew 25 - God said we have to willingly sacrifice. Christ is saying the same. We have to willingly follow Christ to die, endure the pain and any humiliation. Therefore not only should we not question why we suffer, but we must endure by looking to the author of our faith (Hebrews 12). This is literally what God meant!!!! He meant all of Christs example, not just the ministry, but dying too. This is part of the mystery Jesus spoke about in John 3:5-8.

Matthew 26 - He is saying, your soul is priceless. If you have to endure a little suffering to free your soul what's the big deal? Because if you gain this material world and everything in it, but lose your soul in eternity you have wasted your time!

Matthew 27 - We will be rewarded according to what we do whilst here on earth, of which we cannot reach the fullness of our potential without entering into this covenant relationship with God.

End of notes

So considering all of the above am I truly born again? No. I can truly say I am in the season where I have taken up my cross, but not that I have been crucified just yet. Now, test all things, though this revelation came to me by the Holy Spirit you may be sceptical, as you should, discernment is necessary in these uncertain times full of misinformation.

And so, go back to the Romans 10:9-10

Romans 10:9-10 New King James Version (NKJV)

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Why do you think God specifically asked you to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead? Because the true redemption is in the resurrection:

Colossians 2:12 New King James Version (NKJV)
12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

God is saying if you do not believe I could raise Jesus from the dead, neither can I raise you from the dead. And is it not written that "he who has died has been freed from sin" (Romans 6:7)? That you may be dead to sin and alive unto righteousness (Romans 6:11)? Frankly, you must die.

In fact these references are all over the Bible about your "death", there are so many verses that this post could become a series. In my own life this is the one that resonated the most:

Colossians 3:1-3 New King James Version (NKJV)
Not Carnality but Christ

3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

This is important. It is written. IF then, "not that you are". One of the tenants of truly being raised with Christ is that I should be able to focus on the things that God is concerned about, and not worried about things as those without God, such as food, shelter, clothing, bills for my heavenly Father knows I need these things. (Matthew 6:25-31). That I should seek first the kingdom of God and the rest will be added unto me (Matthew 6:33).

Truth be told. I am not there....yet.

If you have spent any time in church, then you may have heard the term "carnal Christian". Combined with the commonality with which we hear the phrase born again, and yet do not hear with the same degree of commonality this breakdown, means there are a lot of carnal Christians.

Why is this important?

John 4:24 New King James Version (NKJV)
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” &

John 3:6-7 New King James Version (NKJV)

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

So when you die this death, which is of course a spiritual death, then you can be born again truly capable of operating with all the fruits of the Spirit and walking by faith.

 And yet Hebrews 5 & 6 describes the very same as the elemental principles of our faith, that this is the spiritual milk and not the hard food.

So I implore you ask yourself, as I have done, are you truly born again?

When Faced with "Pride"

Brothers and sisters in Christ. Though you may be attacked for your views, in this month be as bold preaching of Jesus, as those who walk and march with "pride".

For the author of our faith, Jesus Christ, came to call sinners to repentance, (Luke 5:32) so too should we; with faith, hope and love, share the gospel of Christ that they too may come to know Him, and the gift of salvation.

Though our faith is built upon the bedrock of humility, do not mistake humility for meekness. For is it not the God whom we serve, all powerful and whom we should fear, who called us to approach His throne with boldness? Were those in the book of Acts not bold to preach the gospel, though facing death and persecution?

I pray for those who blog, share their content, verses of the day, evangelize on the street, or serve God in any capacity. Do not be ashamed this month, nor intimidated, for God is with you.

Follow @WalkByFaithBlog