And the greatest of these is Love ...

And the greatest of these is Love ...
1 Corinthians 13:13

Love Song - Third Day

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Holy Spirit, YOU are Welcome Here ...

I have wrestled mightily with the enemy in my thoughts today.
When it has been ME, I have failed miserably. When I have captured them and given them to God, the outcome has been much better! This is not a 'one time' thing for me. It is REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT ... see, sometimes, I bring sin suffering on myself when my big ole "I" gets in focus instead of having my focus where it should be - not on myself, but on God! It's a flesh battle - a mind struggle and it's spiritual warfare. If the enemy, who IS NOT omnipresent like my God, can get his minions inside my brain with fear and doubt and anxiety and depression and comparing my life to others or my worth to anything other than HIS LOVE for me .. my own sin nature will kick in and we've got us a big ole' WAR between emotions, untruths, and THE TRUTH that I KNOW!!!
Let me just give you a couple of examples:
Enemy: You are a horrible parent ... look, your child isn't 'perfect' - it's because you divorced and worked and she wasn't raised with both parents and you were never home, and and and and and... you've read Proverbs 22:6!
The Holy Spirit: That is a Proverb. A Proverb IS NOT a PROMISE! However, you did TRAIN her ... and I gave her free will. I created her and lent her to you for a time; along with everything else, she is mine.
Enemy: Your days are purposeless. You don't 'do' anything to glorify God - you sit in an office all day. You're fat. You're clothes are old and you don't look look like your 'friends' with their pretty stylish clothes and perfect houses and perfect kids. You have wrinkles. I mean, to have all the 'stuff' going on in your life, you can't be a disciple for the Lord! Who are YOU?! To be 'useful' in the kingdom of God, you have DO more!
The Holy Spirit: YOU ARE CHOSEN! YOU ARE (MY) CHILD! YOU are justified, sanctified, redeemed. YOU are an heir with an inheritance in Heaven! IN CHRIST, YOU ARE COMPLETE! Nothing can take you away from ME! IT IS YOUR HEART THAT I LOVE because I AM the LOVE IN YOUR HEART! MY WORD IS TRUTH and I DESIRED YOU AND CALL YOU BY NAME ... YOUR WORTH IS IN ME AND YOU ARE MINE!
This is my relationship with The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. It is intimate. I talk to HIM all the time .... home, work, car, shower, grocery store ... I don't go anywhere without Him! When I say "Holy Spirit, YOU are welcome here" - 'here' is everywhere and anywhere that I am, doing whatever it is that I am doing, with whomever it is that I am with! HE IS THERE! His Word promises me that HE WILL NEVER LEAVE ME and I believe it! I depend on it!
If you don't know Jesus, you may think I'm crazy and that this post is insane. That's OK, because Jesus' family thought he was crazy, too. The Word of God, His very breath breathed into it, clearly tells me that this world will think that I, too, am crazy because I follow Him and live my life according to His Word. Unless a person's heart, eyes, and ears are open to God, they will not understand. Though I try, I fail daily, but I am not utterly cast down because HE holds me in HIS righteous hands.
Ephesians clearly defines who I am in Christ. It describes in detail the armor that I need to fight the battle of spiritual warfare just like I described above! The more I stay IN HIM, the more aware I am of the enemy attacks. Make no mistake, I can't defeat the enemy on my own, but my REDEEMER and SAVIOR already has! I have a WAR ROOM where I go for strength and wisdom; guidance and understand; knowledge and rest because I am fully aware that the enemy is not resting - he is plotting, manipulating, lying, deceiving and waiting to pounce because he knows which buttons to push to get my attention!
I praise God for allowing me to love HIM and for being my ARMOR in these battles! YOU ARE HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!