In early December I hosted a men's retreat at a camp near my home in Georgia. We hiked four miles, enjoyed great Southern food, enjoyed fellowship around an outdoor fireplace, slept in bunkhouses, worshipped and prayed together, and listened to several of the younger guys share short sermons. Because of the relaxed atmosphere, many of the guys opened up and shared that they were feeling battle-weary.
A Word of Comfort to those who might have entered a place of stagnant waters to bring you into the refreshing streams of God's Grace. "There comes a time in one's life where they become determined to cast all their cares upon Me and trust fully resting in My faithfulness to preserve their life. Casting all cares upon Me gives the strength needed to go on no matter what they face in their way.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:7 The moment you invited Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior, all your sins were forgiven—your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins. Once you are born again, you are in Christ. You do not have to try to get forgiveness. You have the forgiveness of sins through His blood, and this forgiveness of sins that you have is not according to what you have done, but according to the riches of God's grace—His unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor!
Loving your enemies isn't a concept that comes easily. In fact, it feels counterintuitive. The natural response to someone who has hurt or betrayed us is to distance ourselves or, at worst, to seek revenge. But what if I told you that loving your enemies can lead to a sense of inner peace and freedom that you never thought possible? The idea of loving your enemies has deep roots in many spiritual and philosophical traditions. In Christianity, for example, Jesus calls his followers to "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Luke 6:27).
"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow, the Lord will do amazing things among you." Joshua 3:5 In 2 Samuel 23:20, there is an extraordinary story. The passage says, "One snowy day, a man named Benaiah chased a lion." Normal people don't chase lions. Lions chase normal people. But God wants you to have a bold and courageous mentality that will allow you to chase after what has intimidated you in the past.
Regardless of what all natural appearances may depict, our true enemy is that which is of the spiritual realm. Lucifer and his clan are the real enemy we are at war with. All of humanity is at war with them, although some people do not recognize it because of the deception they are ignorant and blind to. When the people who have been blinded to the truth of the enemy's deception fall prey to becoming pawns to Lucifer's agenda they too can appear as the enemy in which we are at war with, but the reality is, our true enemy is merely infiltrating the heart and mind of that person/people and they have become unknowingly a victim of the enemy.
One of the foundational elements that we need to stand firm in faith is an understanding of our spiritual legal rights. Without this revelation knowledge it is difficult to take ownership of God's promises and confidently believe. Many people are suffering from broken marriages, financial difficulties and incurable sicknesses and disease. They desire a miraculous touch from God and do not understand why it is not happening. They have not been taught that they possess a title deed called "faith" that gives them covenant rights with the Father to make their hopes a reality.
It's so simple we miss it - the key to hearing God is truly wanting whatever He wants! We've developed such a pragmatic, even transactional approach to the prophetic realm over the years that we have arrived with 'us' at the center of the equation. But really, although God is ALWAYS wanting to reveal Himself to us through an authentic experience and intimacy with His Spirit, since He is God, the issue is really what He wants to reveal much more than it is what we want to 'know.'
Do you feel that the devil has a hold on your life in some way? Is there a struggle in your life that seems to repeat itself over and over again? You could be dealing with spiritual bondage. As God releases the King-Priest anointing–empowering His people to lead with both heavenly authority and earthly governance–the enemy will attempt to increase spiritual bondage and oppression. He knows that when we are free and filled with God's Spirit, we are dangerous to the dominion of darkness.
I want to start out with a story. I was raised on a ranch in Montana, and my dad had a cow-calf operation. We had horses and often gathered or moved the cows. A boy on a good horse was as good as a 40-year-old man if he knew what he was doing. My dad came from a ranching background and was really good with horses, as was his dad. He took pride in teaching me everything he could. He also liked to do things the right way because he had done it before and hated having to do it over if we screwed it up.
