2 Corinthians 10: 4-6 (NIV), “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.”
I woke up this morning with a dream of talking to someone I work with. I was fixing a liquid lunch and the woman from my work that I was talking with was helping me get it into the microwave. However, it seemed that she wanted to talk to me about life and I needed to be more available and less distracted. Then, as I woke up, I heard words about tearing down everything set up to hinder itself against the knowledge of God.
Dismantle everything set up to obstruct the knowledge of God.
What this spoke to me about was in pressing in, what I really needed to focus on was being patient and available for others. This is what is needed from me for them. They need to be seen and encouraged. And in doing this, opportunities will arise to speak into their lives and help them with their areas of struggle about the right way to go.
When my mother was preparing to go home to heaven, she said she saw three of her sisters who had came to visit her. The discussion came up later about her having four sisters and not three. When I prayed about this, what I felt was that one of her sisters may not have come to heaven. There are forces in this world that would try to keep people from following their destiny. It would try to hold them back and hinder them and keep them from heaven. It is devastating that some people do not chose to receive Christ.
Knowledge of God, as spoken of in 2 Corinthians 10:5, is the word gnosis and is about having personal knowledge and experience of the Lord. The arguments and pretentions are human reasonings, high walls of pride, and emotional barriers that keep people from genuinely knowing and having a relationship with Christ.
We have divine power to break the strongholds that hold people back from knowing Christ. Every thought that is in opposition to Christ can be taken down when we share Christ with others. Even in being present and sharing the lives of others, we have power to impact others for Christ. Romans 14:17 says that the Kingdom of God is life of goodness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. As we serve Christ with a desire to honor Him, building others up around us, there is divine power available to us to break people free from their bondages.
I struggle sometimes with small talk. I love to get things done so small talk just seems to be a distraction that sucks up time. I want to be in a meaningful conversation about Christ or having a conversation that feels impactful for transformation. Otherwise, my mind starts listing all the things I have to get done in the background while shooting the breeze. I start devising how to get out of the conversation and move on.
In being patient and available to others, even in small talk, we make room for them in love. Romans 13:8 says that if we love others and spend time just listening to them, we fulfill the requirements of the law. It is not always in witnessing that people come to know the Lord. Rather, in just being with them and doing ordinary life that they can be set free.
Romans 12:9-10 says not to just pretend we love others but really love them with genuine affection. Take time and enjoy conversation with ordinary people, living in harmony with everyone and taking delight in honoring others.
We do this by living by the Spirit. We are to let him guide our lives (Galatians 5:16). In letting Him lead in every part of our lives, our lives emanate His love and His presence. The Spirit’s leading is in complete opposite of the sinful nature which leads us to craving, want, fighting and offense.
Galatians 5:17 tells us that these forces are constantly fighting within us. As we follow the flesh and sinful nature, we are not free to carry out our good intentions. Galatians 5:25-26 says, “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”
It is the Holy Spirit that bears fruit in our lives of loving others. Tearing down strongholds and everything that gets in the way, we need to also nail the passions and desires of our own sinful nature to the cross, being determined instead to follow the Spirit. Paul also lists out these fruits from our sinful nature of, “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.”
On the other hand, the fruits of the Spirit, Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22-23, are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” If we are following the Spirit of God or the spirit of the age, we will know it by which fruit we bear in our lives.
And in our own lives, as we root out thoughts that are human reason, compromise, prideful, easily offended and lead to division, we will naturally flow in more love, joy, and peace of the Holy Spirit. We have power by the Spirit to overcome our offenses, ambitions, and cravings. And we will be more and more led by the Spirit as we do not follow the ways of our own fleshly desires.
I had a dream a few nights ago that I leaned over to a friend and listened to their thoughts. I could hear the Holy Spirit resounding in worship music in their mind and thoughts. What we let dwell in our mind and thoughts is up to us. We can create an atmosphere of worry, strife and doubt or anger, offense and dissatisfaction, or we can create an atmosphere of worship, thanksgiving and praise in our thoughts. What we allow to dominate our thinking will project out from us.
For me, in my dream, I went up for prayer to have my nose adjusted but it had already been healed some time ago so the person wondered why I kept coming back up for prayer for it. I think this has to do with sometimes feeling out of alignment or that I need to be fixed. This mentality and way of thinking is in opposition to the mind of Christ. It is not what is true about me. As Paul says in Galatians 6:7, “You will always harvest what you plant.” We need to make sure that what we are planting is true and what God wants us to believe. We do not want to entertain wrong thinking and find that it has planted itself in our mind and outflow of actions as a result.
When we have negative beliefs and faulty thoughts about ourselves, it projects out from us in the form of insecurity. We doubt ourselves, judge ourselves harshly, and think we are not good enough. On the other side, when we think too much of ourselves and are focused on us rather than Him, we may feel we are too important to help others and share their burdens, sin or struggles. In these cases, we are also not thinking rightly (Galatians 6:3).
I had a dream that there was this star football player who loved to play football. He put his all into it and was recognized to the extent that the NFL was paying him a visit and he started getting media attention. However, then he just laid on top of his car and started drinking. He became a total failure and couldn’t get up. I went to visit him but the guy cleaning the bathrooms said that unless I was looking for vomit, I wouldn’t find much. He still hadn’t moved and was drinking a lot a year later.
The Lord later spoke to me about this dream that we think that being a superstar is living the dream and going to fill us. Only to get there and find the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall. We discover it is all an illusion and none of it fills us. We end up empty, discouraged and hopeless rather than full. Rather, it is as we follow Jesus with our whole heart and give away our life for Jesus that we find it. It is in giving that we grow in abounding joy.
All that to say that God loves us in our vomit. Like Lot from the Bible, He still loves us when we fail. He loves us when we can’t get out the door and when we are discouraged. We don’t have to meet other’s expectations or perform for others. He still very much loves us. But at the same time, we have tons of potential. Our real potential lies when we look to giving, not to winning. We have the ability to make a difference while finding great joy in making a difference. Why would we want to live in less?
What can hold us back from our full potential in God is our thinking. If we beat ourselves up or hold ourselves back, we will become immobile. If we measure ourselves by the world's success, we will end up falling short. If we let the voices of those who are negative about us define us, we lose momentum. If we let the voices of too high expectations define us, we also lose momentum as we become discouraged and feel inadequate.
I heard one of the BLN leaders, Steve Backlund, speak this week on mindsets. He noted, among many things that if our thoughts do not bring hope, they are not from God and not truth. Where do we lack hope?
These lies that hold us back is why it is so important to recognize who God says we are and walk in His truth with our eyes upon Him (not ourselves). We are amazing, capable, hand-crafted and deeply loved. As we embrace who we are and who He created us to be, we operate out of courage and confidence that is rooted in Him. We can trust that we are good and that all that we touch is going to be impacted with His goodness.
Drop what we believe that holds us back, was a mistake, or didn’t work out. God gives you supernatural favor and delights to help you correct your mistakes. He works all things for your good. Just let go and get back up and start running. You are not defeated. You are not defined by your mistakes. You are His radiance. Let go of baggage that would make you radiate the stench of vomit like grudges, offence, or lack. You are abundantly loved and carry opportunities for doors to open, not failures and closed doors. Just leave these behind. New doors are being opened for you as the past doors are shut. Leave what didn’t happen or work behind and step into the wonder of the plans and purposes He has for you today. You are enough and God will meet you.
You are a witness of His glory and reflection of His radiance. Shake it off! Don’t let what happened yesterday, or even this morning, poison your thinking or your day. Like Paul shook the snake that bit him into the fire, show that Your God is the one who has the final say in the matter. Chasing down an offense will poison your own heart. Forgive as you have been forgiven and love as you are so loved. Hold your criticism and do not devour your brother. When you fast, look at the fist you hold and stretch out each finger, blessing those who curse you. Count your blessings on the same hand. Love will win.
Don’t fret when evil gets its way and people take advantage of circumstances. Fretting about it only leads to evil in trying to control it by doing evil oneself. Look at Jesus who did not fret about Judas stealing but just loved on him. Ultimately, it will not last and God will have the final say (Psalm 37:7-9).
As for the football player, I heard someone say recently that it was not a surprise that Lazareth got up out of the grave when Jesus called his name, but that everyone did not get up out of the grave when he called as He is the living God. Join me in praying that all those laying on the top of their car in vomit rather than in it, would hear Jesus call their name and come forth into freedom today. That they would rise up out of the lies that hold them down and get into the car and start driving forward.
Lord, forgive me for being inpatient with small talk. Forgive me also for fretting. I want to trust and rest in you for your goodness to come forth. Give us the mind of Christ so that we can see rightly and be led by Your Spirit in all that we do. Fill us with your love and goodness. May it project out from us on all who we talk with. Let our lives be faith expressing itself in love. (Galatians 5:6).
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