Love is Kryptonite to the Enemy

Tags

advancement, child like faith, Joy, kingdom of God, Parables

Love is Kryptonite to the Enemy

 

 

Have you ever had a frustration conversation with the Lord? You know one of those prayer times where somethings off, you feel stuck, heaven seems silent on an issue? I had one of those talks with the Lord just the other day. During this, let’s be honest, one sided conversation, I was doing all the talking, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Follow the yellow brick road”. Now for religious people that will be hard to believe God would say that, but to relationship people, they totally get it. God said, “Follow the yellow brick road.” I had just bought the movie the Wizard of Oz, as someone I met is doing a prophetic project in Kansas and asked me to watch it. I grabbed my pen and paper and sat down to watch the Wizard of Oz like I would a sermon. What I didn’t know was how prophetic that movie would be for me.

“Jesus called a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you, He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4). As I watched this movie the Lord began to speak to me from go. First of all, Dorothy was living with her aunt and uncle, so she was either orphaned or some other situation happened to her parents. Next, she had a dream, which is what put her into the land of Oz and she knew she had gone over the rainbow. Upon arrival in her house, which was the vehicle that took her to the land of Oz, she landed on the wicked witch of the East and killed her. With instructions from the leader of the munchkins, she took the ruby red slippers off of the wicked witch of the East and put them on her feet and was told these slippers would protect her, so just follow the yellow brick road. (There are so many prophetic things right here for you to consider).

The story goes on and she meets three men on her following of the yellow brick road, a scarecrow who needs intelligence, a tin man who needs a heart and a lion who needs courage. As each joins her on following the yellow brick road, to Emerald City to meet the Oz, she encounters along the way the wicked witch of the West. The truth that hit me like a tidal wave was, that because she was wearing the ruby red slippers, the wicked witch of the West could not lay a hand on her. When the Lord highlighted this to me, I remembered that in scripture rubies mean passionate love. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Lisa, passionate lovers are kryptonite to the enemy, because he has no love in him”.

Immediately, I began to weep, as I knew that love is the answer to victory in our lives as believers. When we are lovers, the enemy cannot touch us, love is kryptonite to the enemy. No wonder Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Our love for God and for one another is what keeps the enemy at bay, for if we are lovers of God and lovers of people, he has nothing in us to work with. No wonder the enemy had nothing in Jesus (John 14:30), Jesus was a lover of His Father and of us as people. This is powerful to me, for I knew love was the answer, but I did not realize how powerful it actually was.

As the movie came to an end, they arrived at the door of the Emerald City and finally met the Oz, who did not grant their requests as presented for a brain, heart, courage and a home, but he gave them more than they asked for. Not only did love keep the enemy at bay, love kept them on the yellow brick road that led them to the place where they were given more than they could have asked or even imagined (Ephesians 3:20). When we are wearing the ruby red slippers of passionate love for God and for people, the enemy cannot touch us, for love is kryptonite to the enemy.

Do You Want To Be Made Well?

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Disorder, Gratitude, healing, Joy, Wholeness

If you were to go up to someone that is sick and ask them if they want to be made well, in our society, some would get offended by the question, others would get sarcastic and some would oblige. It seems like a question that has an obvious answer, but is it possible the answer seems obvious, because we are not sure what the question means? In John 5 Jesus encounters a man sitting outside the gate of the temple called Bethesda. This man, has a deep seated and lingering disorder, of which he has suffered for 38 years. This is the context in which Jesus asks the question, do you want to get well.

Jesus noticed two things about this man, one, the man was helpless and two, the man had been in that condition for a long time. These are the things Jesus is thinking about when he asks the man, do you want to get well. What is not stated, but is implied, by the man’s response to Jesus’ question, is that he felt like he had seniority, he was entitled to be healed, because he had been in that condition for so long and had been at that gate for more time than others. Have you ever met people that feel like time in a certain condition, entitles them to be picked first? Some people have been in the wilderness for a long time, they have dealt with one disappointment after another. If we are not careful, we will think we deserve something, because of how long we have been in this condition.

Jesus asked the question, do you want to get well, He did not say, do you want to be healed. Healing is different that wholeness. Many people get healed, but they are not made whole or well. Jesus knew He could heal the man, but He wanted the man to know He could also make him well. I believe the Lord’s desire is to make us well, which includes healing, but requires partnership between us and God to take place. Remember the story of the 10 Lepers in Luke 17, how all 10 got healed, but only one was made whole? The one was made whole, because he partnered with God by coming back and saying thank you.

3 John 2 says, “May you prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers.” For our souls to prosper, we need to partner with God by having a grateful attitude. Paul tells to give thanks at all times for all things; James says, consider it pure joy when you face trials; David said, give thanks to the Lord; and Jesus said, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name! For us to be made well, to be made whole, we need to partner with God in giving thanks to Him, no matter the season of our soul.

The man in John 5 meets Jesus in the temple after he is healed, and Jesus says to him, stop sinning or something worst will happen to you. This statement offended the man and he reported Jesus to the Pharisees, which began their witch hunt to catch him doing something. People that are not grateful will never be made whole. Gratitude is the key to wholeness, which leads to prosperity. So, the question remains, do you want to be made well?

Not First…Only!

Tags

Christianity, Contentment, Empowerment, grace, healing, Jesus, Joy, maturity, prosperity, Truth

When we as people hear the word first, it denotes order, priority, some form of list. We see first as there is something that comes second. Most of us, when we read Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33, it says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”, we take that as an order of way to prioritize our lives.Therefore, what we do is our quiet time first, pay our tithe first, give God our first, whatever. Then once we have done what we were supposed to do first, we do whatever we want, second, third, and so on. While I was fasting and praying with a group of people last week, the Lord began to speak to me that first does not denote there is a second, first actually means only. To God, when He says, seek first, He means seek only. We are called to seek only the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not first, but rather only. As I began to meditate on this idea of only, rather than first, it made me realize how many idols we have in our lives and we do not even realize it.

If we pursue anything in addition to the Father, it is an idol. An idol is anything we look to, we pursue in order to meet a need we have. Look at Matthew 6 again, it says in verse 1, “Take care not to do your good deeds publically or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward  with and from your Father Who is in heaven”. The good deeds Matthew is referring to are noted in the following verses, he says, when you give, when you pray and when you fast, do it in secret, why, because you need affirmation and if you seek approval or affirmation from men, it is an idol and the Lord does not compete with idols, so you lose your reward. 

In the former age of Christendom seeking God first was acceptable, it was expected, but we have crossed over into the kingdom of God age, and in this new normal we have entered, we are to seek the kingdom of God only. That is why the call to secret is so critical, because our affirmation needs to come from the Lord only. If others affirm us, it is appreciated, but it is not needed. This is powerful, because if you need the affirmation of man for what you do, you will eventually do what man expects in order to get their affirmation, instead of what God wants and then man becomes an idol.  

Seeking the kingdom of God only, means the only one in front of us is the Father and everything else is behind us. It can be likened to driving a car, if you spend your whole drive looking over your shoulder behind you, you are going to crash, but if you are facing forward, looking forward and your focus is forward, then if you glance in the rear view mirror now and then you can see what is following you, but you are not focused on what is behind you. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first (ONLY), the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (your needs) will be given to you.” Your needs are behind you, when you are seeking the kingdom of God only, they are not in front of you as something you pursue. When we seek only the Father, everything we need, want, desire, dream about will pursue us, as we pursue the Father.

To seek God only takes a lot of trust, you have to put all your attention on Him only. No pursuing your career, a spouse, a promotion, prosperity, nothing. Everything must be literally behind your back and the only thing in front of your eyes is the Father. Most people cannot do this, many will not agree with this, some will not have the courage to try it. But to those who have ears to hear, the Lord promises you, if you pursue Him only, obey His voice always, your reward will blow your mind. Because when our worth is found in the love of God, when our fear is swallowed up in the presence of God’s perfect love, when our trust is in the heart of God, we will find the rewards of God taking us over. The Father is looking for those who only want Him, not in words, but in hearts desire, because then whether we are in a job or without a job, whether we are married or not, our needs our met in God alone.

I close with the words of the Apostle Paul, “I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me!” (Philippians4:12-13)

The Key to Inheritance

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Christianity, grace, Humility, Inheritance, Joy, Kingdom, love, maturity, Meekness, Teachable

Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the meek…for they shall inherit the earth.”

The desire to inherit something is a God given desire, because inheritance is like grace, it is something given that is more than what we earned. An inheritance only goes to those of whom there is a relationship established. People do not leave an inheritance to strangers they have never met, rather they leave it for people of whom they have a relationship. Some people leave an inheritance to their children, so their children can go farther than they went, do more than they did and see more than they saw. An inheritance is meant to be built upon, added to, and given away over and over again. However, there is a key to unlocking inheritance, you must be in a relationship with the one giving the inheritance, not out of getting the inheritance, out of genuine love for that person.

Many of us have read the passage in Matthew 5, where Jesus unlocks all the blessings for those who are in a relationship with him. The best part about it is, the Lord reveals what He is looking for in a relationship with us and what we will receive from having that character quality in our relationship with Him. Each blessing has its own unique aspect of the relationship. Just as in families, based on our relationship we receive certain aspects of an inheritance, it is not something we can demand, but rather is given based on relationship. So, the master key to all inheritance is relationship, but each individual inheritance has its own key as well. Today, we are going to look at the key to unlocking the inheriting of the earth.

The Bible is clear that to unlock the inheriting of the earth, you must possess the key of meekness. For many years, I was unclear as to what meekness really was, but I heard a definition that struck a chord in me, because I could be this definition. Meekness means to be teachable. This encompassed the word for me in a way that revolutionized my desire to inherit the earth. Being teachable is directly related to be humble and I understood that word, so this correlation made sense to me. Then as I began to dig into this idea of being teachable the Lord began to reveal some truths that are transformative in nature.

As people we have thoughts that are solidified in our minds and for many of us, apart from an earthquake from heaven we have no intention of changing the way we think, whether those thoughts are right or wrong. Growing up, our culture, our families, our experiences all cement thoughts and ideas about life into our minds. Some of our thoughts have been there for so many years, the idea of thinking differently is not even an option, for some people. And to think our thoughts might be counter kingdom and that the Lord would want to change them, does not cross many people’s minds. I know, because I have been there. Yet, the Bible is riddled with invitations to change the way we think, from the ever so popular Romans 12:1-2 to the not so familiar Psalm 7:9, which says, “For You, Who try the hearts and emotions and thinking powers are a righteous God” (AMP). From Genesis to Revelation, the Lord has been in hot pursuit of revolutionizing the way we think.

In my meditation and prayer around this subject, the Lord said, “If you weren’t so stiff-necked about some of your views on different subjects, you wouldn’t get so bent out of shape when people see it differently than you do.” (Ouch, Selah, Truth) The key to inheriting the earth is meekness, to be meek means to be teachable, to be teachable, you have to be open to other viewpoints on most subjects. I have come to believe that the only subject in my life that is not open to change, is the character of God, everything else, needs to be flexible, bendable, moldable, changeable if I am to inherit the earth. I also believe that if we heed the call to meekness, humility, teach ability, we would see arguments end, splits stop, division diverted and unity prevail. The head of the church is Christ, the body and the head are not to be doing different things, they are to be unified and even though we may express a different aspect of who God is, His unchangeable character, we can be unified if we are willing to be meek. Then we will see the church be the true reflection of the kingdom of God on earth. It starts with me committing to be meek.