LET’S TALK THE WORD OF GOD
Inviting God’s Presence in Our Study
Anytime we discuss the Word of God, we need to invite His presence and wisdom so we can glean what He would have us understand. Join me in the following prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for who You are and all that You do. We thank You for Your grace and Your mercy. We are in awe and utter amazement of Your goodness and Your heart towards us. You love us and know us deeply. We ask that You increase our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as we read and interpret scripture. We are in expectation of a fresh revelation of You and a deeper understanding of what You want to do in our lives now. Allow Your Word to take root and bear fruit in our lives. Thank You! We love You! In Jesus' Name, Amen!
My Introduction to Spiritual Warfare
When I was a little girl, wet-faced and in pain, tapping on my parent’s door at 2 am was the only remedy I knew. Enlisting my mom as my protector and peace-giver worked most nights, but there were nights when it didn’t. I laid awake, too afraid to move or turn my head because I didn’t know what was there. Even with my sister a couple of feet away, fear gripped me so tightly I couldn’t get out of bed to ask for help. I didn’t sleep well or often, and that brought its own set of issues. As I reflect on that time in my life, I can confidently say that was my introduction to spiritual warfare.
Physical Solutions Will Never Solve a Spiritual Problem
My mom wouldn’t sleep in the bed with me the entire night. There were nights I couldn’t keep myself awake, so I would inevitably fall asleep with a nightmare waiting for me. I was trying to fight for myself in my own strength. I was doing what a 7 or 8 -year-old who knows nothing about spirits or demonic torment would do—until my mom had had enough. The dreams had intensified with no evidence of leaving anytime soon. I was dragging in school and not sleeping much at all. One night, I woke her up, and she had a different expression on her face. She’d usually sit with me in my room, but that night we sat at our living room table with her Bible and her notepad already waiting for us. She looked at me, eyebrows pinched and fingers curled around her Bible, and said, “This is how we fight.” At this point, my understanding of fighting was punching or kicking, so seeing her clutch a Bible that I had very little experience with just made me more scared. She then wrote the following scriptures for me to recite:
Deuteronomy 31:8: “He will never leave you or forsake you.”
Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.”
Ephesians 6:11: “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against the strategies of the devil.”
2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.”
The immediate faith and trust attached to the mind of a child was my saving grace. I had no life experience or frame of reference that my mom or God was a liar. I trusted my mom with my whole heart, so when she looked me in my eyes and said, “If you call on the name of Jesus, He will save you from whatever is hurting you!” I went to bed with a different tool in my box. All I had to do was say “Jesus!” and all this would be over? It seemed easy enough. I laid in my bed that night, chanting His name over and over, fully believing that when I closed my eyes, He was going to save me from whatever was waiting for me. Ask me if I had a bad dream that night.. You’re right, I didn’t! I woke up the next morning with increased knowledge of His character and His power. So, on the random night that the spirit of fear would try to revisit me in my dreams, I woke up, snatched those scriptures from my dresser, went to the bathroom, and read them over and over. Fully believing that when I got back in bed to close my eyes, Jesus would be there waiting to save me.
Life Experiences ImpactED and ErodeD MY Faith DUE TO MY LAZINESS IN MY PURSUIT of God and Truth
When life happens and disappointments pile up, it is easy to forget those moments God showed you His heart. Growing up in the household that I did, I was going to get the word of God every day. My mom or one of her siblings found a way to work the goodness of God into the conversation. Whether I wanted to hear it or not, God was being revealed to me consistently until I left for college. By the time I graduated, the disappointments of missed opportunities, failures, failed relationships, unhealthy friendships, and lack of confidence had been chipping away at my faith in myself, others, and God. New and more powerful demonic spirits like insecurity, unbelief, and rejection walked into my life due to my lack of sustained and active knowledge of God, making me an easy target for deception. Once I went to college, no longer under the spiritual headship of my parents, it felt like I didn’t know God at all anymore. This lack of knowledge became the open door for so many situations I was in and beliefs I formed to be the barrier between me and the God that saved me from my nightmares. At 6 years old, the God that I experienced was faithful, trustworthy, powerful, and a good listener. By 17, He became a God that didn’t keep His word. By 21, He was a God that didn’t care about my pain. By 23, He was a God that didn’t create me the right way and couldn’t love me the right way.
The Truth of God’s Character Has to Be Fixed in Order for You to Withstand the Attacks of the Enemy and the Situations in Life
When I thought about the misconceptions and misaligned beliefs that I had related to God’s character, I had to trace things back to the root. When I struggled academically in college or had to end a romantic relationship I wanted, I decided that He did not care about me. At this point, I associated His care or goodness with Him fulfilling what I wanted. I used Psalms 37:4 to justify my stance: “If I delight myself in Him, then He will give me the desires of my heart.” At the time, I felt justified, like I caught Him in a lie, giving me further ammunition to be disobedient to Him because He wasn’t who He said He was. There is so much danger in reading the Bible with selfish and self-centered ambitions. There are so many verses in scripture that we can use to get a misrepresentation of God. Consider the following scriptures:
John 14:14: “You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.”
Mark 11:24: “For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received them and they will be given to you.”
By reading these scriptures apart from context, what do we learn of God?
He wants to give me what I want.
If I ask for things in His name, I will get them.
He will give me whatever I pray for.
Let’s look at some more scriptures:
Philippians 2:13: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”
Matthew 6:33: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”
Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
When applying these scriptures and the former scriptures together, what do we learn of God?
God has to give me the power and desire to do what pleases Him.
If God has to work to give me that power and desire, what does that say about my human nature apart from Him?
Furthermore, where does the absence of His spirit leave me, and how does that impact what I ask Him for?
My connection and submission to God directly affect the desires of my heart, which directly impacts what I pray for.
The guarantee of my needs being met is directly correlated to seeking the kingdom of God first.
Living righteously is an automatic byproduct of seeking God and His kingdom.
Needs not being met is an indicator that God’s kingdom may not be being sought first in that area.
God causes and actively participates in my situations, achievements, and trials, working for my good.
In order to get access to this promise, I have to love God. How do I display love to God? What is the evidence that I have in my life to show that I love God?
God is working everything out for the good of HIS purpose.
Scripture confirms, reveals, and establishes other scriptures. Deciding who God is based on your misuse or misunderstanding of the scripture is a disservice to Him and yourself. Read the Word for understanding and out of curiosity about who He is, not for affirmation of the God you made up in your head.
Creating a False Character of God and Asking Him to Step Into That Will Leave You Disappointed and Alienated from Who He Truly Is
God is who He says He is, and He wouldn’t be God if He shape-shifted into who we tell Him to be based on our understanding at a particular moment in time. To know Him is to know truth, and truth doesn’t care anything about wants or feelings.
Truth corrects and sharpens, convicts and disciplines, prunes and molds us into the people He has called us to be.
