to have Courage....In Family Life, In Spirituality, In Health, In Living Simply

I'm on a journey...... as we all are. Learning, remembering, re-discovering about health, spirituality, relationships, emotions and the mind.
Showing posts with label victory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victory. Show all posts

Monday, May 17, 2010

The Victorious Dandelion

" Why doesn't constant trampling defeat the dandelion? The key to its strength is its long and sturdy root, which extends deep into the earth. The same principle applies to people. The true victors in life are those who, enduring repeated challenges and setbacks, have sent the roots of their being to such a depth that nothing can shake them."  Ikeda

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Worship Part II

Look at some things that happen when we worship!!!

Isa 45:5
I am the Lord, and there is no one else; there is no God besides Me. I will gird and arm you, though you have not known Me

Acts 16:22-26
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.


Psalm 8:2
From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.


from Psalm 9
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish
before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously
.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.

The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice.

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
that I may declare your praises
in the gates of the Daughter of Zion
and there rejoice in your salvation.


Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.
Strike them with terror, O LORD;
let the nations know they are but men.
Selah


What kind of power is in our Worship?
Why do we not take it serious?????

This is part of my what I ask the Lord for. Note, 'the house of the Lord', 'his temple', 'the courts of the Lord', 'the house where you live', 'the place where your glory dwells'.....that's you and me!!!! That's not one physical place, for its where His Spirit is. His Spirit lives in each of His children. He takes up residence in His people. GLORY!!!

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.


Psalm 84:2
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God. 8 I love the house where you live, O LORD,
the place where your glory dwells.


Oh my, I am just so excited even reading these scriptures right now. What a priviledge I have to commune with Him, personally, wherever I may be. In spirit and in truth.

Psalm 5:11-12
But you'll welcome us with open arms
when we run for cover to you.
Let the party last all night!
Stand guard over our celebration.
You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
for decking us out in delight.


Psalm 148
Hallelujah! Praise God from heaven,
praise him from the mountaintops;
Praise him, all you his angels,
praise him, all you his warriors,
Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, you morning stars;
Praise him, high heaven,
praise him, heavenly rain clouds;
Praise, oh let them praise the name of God—
he spoke the word, and there they were!

Question for You: Where do you feel most free to worship?

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Victory!

The word came loudly as I was hanging up freshly laundered curtains in the living room. Victory in Jesus. Not by my own strength, but in Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross. Victory over my sin. Victory over sickness and disease. Victory over poverty.

Victory is mine. Not because of my own strength. Not because I'm a really nice person . Not because I was born to Bible-believing parents. There is nothing I have to do to be victorious really, except to believe that God's word is truth. When I believe it, then I will start applying those truths to my life.

I use these following scriptures to decree what the truth is, no matter how I am feeling or what my mind tells me. I accept the Word of the Lord to be truth, over and above what I might see happening around me. I know that He is Truth, and He cannot lie (Titus 1:2)

Rom 8: 37-39 Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Cor 2:14 (AMP)
But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ's victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,

2 Corinthians 5:17, 21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Cor 10: 3-5 (NIV)
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 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.

1 Peter 2:9(NLT)
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[a] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.


Eph 4:27 (NIV) (I) do not give the devil a foothold.

Eph 6:14 (NIV)
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

1 John 1:9(AMP)
If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].

1 John 2:1 (AMP)
My little children, I write you these things so that you may not violate God's law and sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father--[it is] Jesus Christ [the all] righteous [upright, just, Who conforms to the Father's will in every purpose, thought, and action].

Rev 12:11 (NIV)
They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;

Isa 54:17 (NLT)
But in that coming day
no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice
raised up to accuse you.

These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord;
their vindication will come from me.
I, the Lord, have spoken
!

Col 1:13 (NASB)
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

2 Tim 1:7(AMP)
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

Psalm 27:1 (AMP)
The Lord is my Light and my Salvation--whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?

Deut 28:13 (NIV)
The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

Psa 91:7 (NLT)
Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.

Luke 10:19 (AMP)
Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.

I am a big fan of reading or listening to Decrees. I use them to get my heart and mind onto what the Lord says pertaining my life. I know that satan is the father of lies, and loves to feed falsehood to me at every corner (John 8:44). But I refuse to listen to him. The best way is to defute those lies with the Truth, which is Jesus.

Remember, "I cannot afford to have a thought in my head about me that is not in His." Bill Johnson

To keep thoughts about me that are not in His, is to believe a lie. To accept and believe His Word about me, is to know the truth and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)


Question for You: Do you use Decrees?

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Choose Life

Shortly after we arrived on Cape Breton in the fall of 2007, it seemed like Everette and I entered into our own kind of Discipleship Training School with God. We had all of our previous support gone and we had begun a new journey. The process had started at some point before we left BC, but it was very clear and intense when we were here on Cape Breton and especially once the cold eastern winter set in. We were home much of the time, engrossed in the Word, online teachings thru podcasts or videos, and reading books. We each had our own journey, but they were overlapping quite often.

I was seeking to know God better, and to clear my mind and heart of all the religious things I'd grown up with. I had put God in a pretty small box, and had limited Him pretty much to my experience. I was wanting to serve a powerful BIG God. I was on the search to find Him.

I started to hear a voice. I don't know how to explain it, but it was clear and precise. I suppose it was in my head that I heard it, but it wasn't like the flurry of thoughts that seem to be constantly going around in this females head. It was loud, and everything else stopped. It got my total attention, although it was just one single word. It stood out like a beacon amidst a storm.

LIFE!!

How simple was that? Of course, I choose life. I wasn't considering suicide. I don't agree with abortion or euthanasia. Of course I choose life.

But then God brought me to Deuteronomy 30:19 "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live."

As I pondered this verse and started looking into blessings and curses, it became more apparent to me that through ignorance and/or naivety I was living with a form of death and with curses in my life, considering it a normal part of living in a fallen world. But when I became aware of the life and the blessings that God has for His children, and I recognized that as a citizen of the Kingdom I don't live under the rulership of this world (unless I'd choose to), then I really started to LIVE!

I started to evaluate my thoughts, and wonder if they were bringing life to my soul and spirit. If they weren't, then I would "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor 10:3-5
I would reject lies for I recognized that "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

Jesus came and died for me, that I would not only have life, not only eternal life, but abundant here-&-now life. He sent His Spirit in fullness to live in me, that I can have a very different life than those that are without Him. But I must constantly be choosing life, not death and the ways of the thief.

I started to see things more simply. Life....or death. Blessings......or curses. No brainer, of course I wanted the Life and the Blessings. So, how did that look in my daily life? (You can check out Deut 28 for a list of blessings and curses)

I would choose to think thoughts of Life. This isn't the same as being a positive thinker. This is thinking thoughts or words that originate from God, and from Jesus, since He is the Truth and the Life. (John 14:6)

Bill Johnson says, "I can't afford to have a thought in my head about me that is not in His." Chew on that for awhile. That was a biggie for me. It was a turning point, actually.

So, by choosing Life I was definitely choosing Jesus who is the Life, and I was choosing His thoughts about me. Thoughts like.....

I am a new creation in Christ; old things have passed away and all things have become new. (2 Cor 5:17)

I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him. (1 Cor 6:17)

I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. (2Cor 5:21)

I am righteous and holy. (Eph 4:24)

I am hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:3)

I am more than a conqueror through Christ. (Rom 8:37)

I am a child of God who always triumphs in Christ and releases His fragrance in every place. (2 Cor 2:14)

I am a recipient of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (Eph 1:3)

If I sin and confess it, I now stand righteous before God. (1 John 1:9)

When I started to decree the truths God gave in the Bible, I was choosing words of LIFE over the lies of death that my spiritual enemy tried to feed me. I was working at doing what Bill Johnson said......not having thoughts about myself that God doesn't have. I find LIFE the more my thinking truly lines up with God's Word. There is really no other way to have LIFE than from the Life-Giver.


Question for You: Have you ever audibly heard the voice of God?

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Occupy

I was listening to Lance Wallnau (from lancelearning.com) thru xpmedia.com and have been thinking about something he said. He loosely quoted Napolean Bonaparte by saying "The objective of a war is victory, but the objective of the victory is occupation." Then Lance said "If you can't occupy til He comes, then the enemy actually takes back more in coming back then he had when he got driven out."

Occupy. Follow the job thru to completion. How easy it is to get excited about the win, but can we push thru to occupy and keep our victory!!

Jesus talked about a person getting delivered from evil spirits, but if the house wasn't swept and then filled, the spirits would come back in greater numbers and the person would be worse off.

In simple terms, I can get the whole house victoriously spring-cleaned, but if I don't constantly work at occupying and keeping order.......well, most of us know what happens!!

Occupy! Occupy! Occupy all the territory the Lord has given, all that is within your influence. Let's push back the darkness and flood it with LIGHT! And keep on shining!!!!


Question for You: What or where do you feel God is calling YOU to occupy?