It seems as though so much of our day is spent fighting earthly battles mustering up enough strength just to make it through. We get to the sunset ready to kick up our feet, veg out, and hide from the world for awhile. We may feel quite defeated, weary, and dreading the next day only to do it all over again. Bills, sickness, car problems, drama, bad attitudes, mean boss, tedious work, long hours, traffic, disappointment, failure, abandonment... the list goes on. We may even find ourselves either giving up and settling for that routine or desperately in need of change.
This may or may not be where you are at... but i can pretty much guarantee most of us have been there at some point. The most exciting news is that it doesn't have to be like this forever!!!
The speaker at camp this week started one session by asking the kids if they knew who all these famous people were and of course they cheered and jeered their fav's. Then he asked if they knew of a certain sergeant's name. No one did. He then talked about the war that's going on that no one seems to know a thing about. How easy it is to forget about things that are not right in our face or effecting us in any way. This is just like all of the injustice that goes on in the world. There are hundreds of thousands of people dying in slavery every day, many more dying from hunger, and even more from diseases... and we don't even know it. So how then do we begin to bring that world into ours without becoming overwhelmed? When do we start to see that there is much more going on out there than just our little sphere? What is God's heart for us, the world, and us connecting with the world?
In Ephesians 6 The Lord tells us to be strong in the strength of His might, wear the armor, and stand firm. He also says again that we DO NOT fight against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. There is THIS battle going on every day and we don't even know it. Every single day we must go out prepared. If we knew we were going into battle tomorrow, we would not be spending our time on frivolous things... instead spending time with the one who makes us strong in Him by His love. We have no real battles with earth, but in things we cannot see. And we conquer not by fighting but by standing in His presence declaring His goodness, praising Him for who He is, and seeking His beautiful heart for us. According to my irish friend Phil, this is exactly how we send the devil to therapy. Haha... funny thought. Time to break out the harps and lyres perhaps?
While we rejoice in Him... our enemy is defeated and our life becomes a little bit (ok, a lot) more exciting. I have a completely different view of daily challenges now that i've had this revelation. Now when someone cuts me off, or cheats me on something, or is being negative, or embarrasses me, or simply hurts my feelings... i can look at that situation and see how somewhere along the way they've believed some lies, have some toxins stored up, and haven't had a full revelation of God's love for them yet. So instead of me holding on to the pain or returning the favor, i can easily let go and start praying for that love encounter for them.
If we invite the WHOLE trinity to rest wherever we are... then we will fully be able to walk around in that kingdom of heaven on earth where His love is in a constant flow. My day is so much more adventurous when I put my spiritual goggles on and see the battle for what it is. Even more so when we know it's not ours to fight, but stand and praise!!!
We are the very intersection between heaven and earth :)
B90: (1 Chron. 4:13- 15:29) One of my favorite verses in this book is Ch. 12:8, "there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were swift as gazelles upon the mountains." Wow... this is so rad. Can I have one of those please? Ok, in all seriousness though... what a cool picture of what we are actually called to be in the spiritual realm. Experienced warriors, expert with shield (of faith) and spear (of spirit), courageous and fast! Again, important to remember that it's by our praise to the Lord that our real enemy is defeated. David knew this well and even appointed people to do this very thing at times of struggle and celebration. "David commanded the chiefs to appoint their brothers as singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals to raise sounds of joy!" Ch.15:16
P90: Still keeping up with the workout pretty well, just not really seeing a need to blog about it as much anymore. I'm finding it's always good to mix it up a little looking for fun creative ways to get a workout in... like rock climbing, swimming, kayaking, sports, yoga, surfing, etc.
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