a post from November 4, 2015
Yesterday I asked the Lord for a word.
Last night was a bit of a struggle, not so much for me (I haven’t felt “strife” really since I accepted the Holy Spirit) but for my husband. In between the sleep and wake (which seems to be happening to us a lot lately with a 3-year-old and being 7 months pregnant), I just kept praising the Lord and thanking Him for all the glorious things He has done for me, and binding Satan in the areas of struggle.
Then the word came to me.
Super Natural.
It wasn’t a spoken word, or even a whispered word like I hear other people say when they talk about God speaking to them. It was just a word that was suddenly there – and I knew it came from God.
I kept it with me, thinking and meditating on it through-out the night. But it still didn’t mean anything, it was just a word.
I woke up to our 3-year-old pattering down the hallway to “snuggle in our bed” and I remembered the word. I asked God what it meant and received my answer almost before I finished asking him.
Holy Spirit is Super Natural.
YES!!! This was the answer to so many of my questions. It’s only 8:30, but so much has come through my mind since I woke up at 6:30.
The Holy Spirit is Super Natural. The Holy Spirit parted the red sea, The Holy Spirit fed the Israelites in the dessert, The Holy Spirit closed the mouths of the Lions when Daniel was in the den, The Holy Spirit was with Samson, The Holy Spirit descended over the Egyptians with the plagues when they refused to release the Israelites, The Holy Spirit is how Mary became a virgin mother, and How Jesus healed the sick, the blind, rose the dead, cast out demons, forgave sins, etc. The Holy Spirit is in us!!!
WHAT!?!?! The Holy Spirit is in us. When we accept that Jesus was the Son of God, that he was crucified so that we may receive forgiveness, and that God raised him up from the dead – we have the Holy Spirit in us.
So for the last I don’t know – 15+ years of my adult life I have struggled to be a Christian – trying to make sense of it all – because it really just didn’t make sense. I had so many questions that couldn’t be answered – and just kept thinking – well I have faith that God has a reason – and if I’m supposed to know, then He’ll let me know. I have struggled unnecessarily because Satan has lied, deceived and stole from us!! Perhaps the biggest lie that I have seen is that we think God causes us to go through struggles – as Christians we become passive and do not “resist” the devil – because we think that God is putting us through a time of “strife” so that we might grow. It’s a lie. God’s word is good, and it’s living!! God loves us – so much that he sent His only Son to die so that we could have eternal life. God is good – he wants to see us prosper – Jesus died on the cross so that we could receive the Holy Spirit (which by the way was in us in the Garden of Eden and was stolen by Satan when he deceived Eve). Jesus dying on the cross meant that he TOOK BACK what was rightfully ours. The Holy Spirit is in us – the moment we receive Jesus – but if no one tells us, and we are only hearing the lies that Satan has spread through our churches, then we become passive. We don’t fully receive the Holy Spirit. PASSIVE – I hate that word – PASSIVE – just accepting that God is responsible for what Satan is doing. Nothing can be farther from the truth. God wants nothing but the best for us. We know that when we pick up the bible – put our nose in it and study it.
UPDATE
In regards to this post, there is a portion that I would like to add an update to. I mentioned that God is not the author of “struggle”. Since writing this I have grown in my relationship and my understanding of God. I do believe He absolutely is the author of all things, I believe he can work all things out for the good of those who believe. In regards to struggles though, I would clarify my original thoughts, although I believe God is the author, and He allows us to go through these things, it is ultimately for our good, and because of our own choices that these things happen.
I had some verses come to me in multiple ways this week, and I can’t help but think they were meant to expand on this post, and I encourage you to delve into them.
1 Kings 22:13-23. In this specific instance we are seeing that ‘all the host of heaven standing beside the Lord on his right hand and on his left’ (angels, both good and bad stand before the Lord). God is the author of all things, but He has laws surrounding what can and can not happen, and all creation is bound to those laws.
When we operate within the boundaries (laws/rules/commands, etc.) that God has set for us, we are ‘safe’. When we operate outside of those boundaries, legally we open doors that allow the enemy to influence our lives.
I do fully believe that true repenting Christians can not be possessed, but oppression is a very real thing and the devil goes to great lengths to keep us from knowing God’s truth and sharing that with others. In short. It is our own choices and actions that will allow oppression in our lives. When we operate within God’s boundaries, we can rest safely in His arms. I also believe that we should be dressing in the armor of God, because although it is safe in His arms, deception is huge and we are all sinners living in a spiritual battlefield.