Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for this day! Thank You, Jesus! Thank You for this day. Thank You for all the blessings You continue to pour out on me and my family. Thank You for all the amazing ways that You are making me aware of Your presence, making me aware of Your Spirit within me. Thank You for leading, guiding, and directing me in all that I ask. And, I ask that You continually show me what to do and how to ask for Your direction in everything that I do. I ask that I am fully aware of Your presence within me as I write today’s entry. I ask that You clear my channel and quiet my brain so that I can hear directly from Your Spirit, Lord. Thank You for allowing us to connect with the mind of Christ, to know the truth, Your truth, Lord. I ask that You use me as a tool to help make others aware of Your presence within them. Thank You, Jesus! Praise You, Lord! Bless You, Lord Jesus! I ask that everything that happens today, that all we do today is glorifying to You. I ask this day for my daily bread and that I would put my full trust and faith in You, Lord. I trust that You will provide for me exactly what I need for today and to rebuke my enemy that wants me to be anxious for tomorrow, next week, next month, next year… I trust in You and Your promise that when I submit myself to You, and through immersing myself in Your Word as I learn the art of spiritual war, with the armor of God as my defense and as I arm myself with the sword of Truth, that my enemy will flee from me. I ask all these things in Your mighty, holy, and precious Name, Jesus, Amen.
Yesterday as I am sitting in church, listening to the sermon, taking notes on the pastor’s sermon I found that I couldn’t help myself, I had to write something and it didn’t seem like it had anything to do with that particular sermon, but I had to write it. What I wrote, was written from a definitive standpoint, but as I’ve said before, I’m not speaking from any position of authority. I’m just a guy that is trying to be less of who I think I am in order for Jesus’s love to be shown to others through me. I’m certainly not perfect, and I don’t claim to have it all figured out, so I’m going to write here what I wrote yesterday, as a question rather than a statement; What if the Spirit of God is within EVERY human being, whether they are aware or not? Do those that are aware call Him by the correct Name? Is Christianity the only religion He reveals Himself to us? If the Spirit of God is within each and every person, why are we not aware? Is the Spirit of God within each person hidden by the ego, perhaps? What if when we sacrifice our ego it allows God’s Spirit to take over and allows us to be more accurate tools for Him to use to awaken the awareness of His Spirit in others? And, that is where the writing ended, but only where the thinking began. I believe God can work through anyone, whether they are aware of Him or not. However, it seems like it is easier for us to see God working when we surrender our will to His. Our will or our ego could be how we experience this world, our friendship with the world, but according to the Bible, friendship with the world is enmity with God. While I’m not convinced that we are God, what if we are? If His Spirit lives in us, in His temple, then when we sacrifice who we are or who we think we are, what remains? But we only fully realize this truth when we have died to ourselves and sacrificed our ego for His will to be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. If our ego thinks we’re God, that’s when we’re in more trouble than normal. Before I started to wake up and become aware of His presence in my life, I didn’t know the word ego other than hearing the saying that someone has a big ego, or the explanation that e.g.o. stands for Edging God Out. As I’m typing this I decided to look up the definition that best explains what it is that I think I mean in using this word. According to http://www.merriam-webster.com this is the definition of the word, ego: “the self especially as contrasted with another self or the world.” The way I’m coming to understand this word is the way that we see ourselves, the way we’ve been shaped through education, beliefs, and experience. Now let’s go to the Bible for the verses that came to mind when I was writing yesterday. “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7 ESV) So, according to the Bible, “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” From what I understand the words breath and Spirit can sometimes be interchangeable. If that is indeed the case, and this could be one of those times, it could be read that God breathed into his nostrils His Spirit. If all of that is true, then the notes that I was writing yesterday would not be that far off. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 ESV) What does Paul mean by this? It’s not that his physical body had been crucified, he wasn’t dead physically when he wrote this. Could he have meant that he had sacrificed who he thought he was in this world, his ego and his will, and he sacrificed it all for his Heavenly Father so that through the Spirit of Jesus, through the Spirit of God within him, his Father’s will would be here on earth as it is in Heaven? Does the Spirit of God only reveal Himself in Christianity? I believe that nothing is impossible for the God that I serve. In fact, I believe He is the God of the impossible. With all of that said, who am I to say that He doesn’t reveal Himself in other religions? I know more about Christianity than any other religion currently, so that is the way He has revealed Himself within me. “‘When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!'” (John 21:21-22) I don’t know about you, but it is pretty clear to me that I am to follow Him and not worry about what anyone else is or isn’t doing. My job is to do His will, and sometimes I listen, and when I do it turns out more beautiful than anything I could have planned. However, often times I don’t, my ego still creeps in and gets in the way of listening to Him and putting Him first in all I do. While I could label myself as a failure when I don’t listen, I believe having an awareness that this battle is even going on is going to lead to success, thank You, Jesus! Having that awareness allows me to see that I will succeed, but I have more learning, more of life’s experiences that need to happen yet for Him to mold me and for me to allow Him to chip away at my ego so that all that is left in the end is Him. So, why the title of todays entry, “The Game?” To me, it looks like a game where God sent Himself out into the world, but He hid Himself in each and every one of us so that the enemy, our ego, and our will, can see all the amazing ways that the Spirit of God reveals Himself to us. And each time one us becomes aware of His Spirit inside of us, it is another opportunity for more people in this world to be exposed to the idea that the Spirit of God is within them as well. The world is doing its best to make sure that it feeds our flesh with a smorgasbord of temptation to keep us from thinking about the Spirit of God. We don’t have to worship satan to get off or stay off track. If the world can keep us consumed and addicted to the physical world, giving us the feeling that if we only had more of… whatever it is that you think you want, then we will truly be happy, only to find that when we achieve whatever that is, we realize we need more. That, my friends, is how we become and stay slaves to the system. The only way that I have found to be free is in what I shared above. The freedom that Jesus offers us from the fear, doubt, and worry that this world is constantly pushing on us. I really don’t think it is necessary to push Jesus on anyone, and I believe in doing so we can actually be pushing others away from realizing the Spirit of God within themselves. I do believe that when we sacrifice our will for His, He will lead, guide, and direct us to those that He places in our path, to show them His love, through us and reveal the Spirit of Truth within them as well. So, I guess what I’m trying to say, is all of the previous entries about storming the gates of Hell and destroying the Kingdom of satan with the help of the Holy Spirit, may not be what it looks like in the spiritual realm. I believe that when one makes themself available and becomes a humble spiritual warrior, they would ask for the Father’s will to be done and show the love of Jesus to those He puts in their path. Perhaps, the spiritual war looks nothing like physical war, but until now the physical war was the only way I could comprehend any type of war. So, I challenge myself this week to continue to practice sacrificing my will for His will and loving the people He puts in front of me. -A humble warrior in God’s army
“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” -Matthew 6:26 ESV
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdome come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those that have sinned or will sin against us. Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen. -The Lord’s Prayer
Destroying the kingdom of satan with the Holy Spirit 