Reaping What You Sow

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 10)

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap."  (Galatians 6:7)

"Do you see what your response is to be [to the enemy's deception and lies about the seriousness of our sin]?  God is calling you to surrender your sins and turn from them.  You are not to be deceived by the lies of the devil.  If you continue to make  excuses for not surrendering and repenting, God will eventually say to you, 'I will not be mocked!'  When you choose to sow for yourselves the seeds of denial of your sin and its corrupt influence, you will reap a bitter fruit of defeat.  But if you sow for yourself the seeds of repentance and surrender, from a heart that is broken and contrite, you will necessarily produce a different kind of fruit.  That fruit is victory over your sin and a powerful life in the Spirit that you will never know unless you turn from your sin and allow Him full control of your life.  Victory and power lie just around the corner for the one who will lay down the boastful pride of life for the purpose of surrendering to God's authority.  Persevering victory and power are the gifts of God for the truly broken-hearted, surrendered servant of the the Lord."

Are you interested in gaining victory over your sin?  Do you want to see what God can do through you?  Then God asks only one thing of you:  Remove all excuse to sin and replace it with real, heart-wrenching repentance and surrender to Him!  This response to your sin moves the heart of God.  In this, He will never feel that you are mocking Him!

Beginning next week (I am on retreat this weekend with my Women's Group) I will begin to explain to you what happens to the Holy Spirit when He enters us the moment we are saved, and what will be required of us in order for His power to be released out of us.  I will be using an Artesian Well to describe it to you.  The correlation is incredible!  You won't want to miss it!

Sacrifices The Delight God

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 10)

"What will happen if we do surrender our sinful hearts to God?  Our surrender will lead to victory, perseverance, and power!  If we lack power and victory in our daily walk, we can most assuredly know that our personal surrender is lacking.  Psalm 51: 16-17 sheds some more light on just what kind of sacrifice God requires of us when we surrender.

For You do not delight in [animal] sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

 God wants our hearts and spirits to be broken by our sinfulness.  He is looking for a broken and contrite heart in the one who comes to a place of total surrender.  This brokenness and contriteness must be so intense that it leads to real repentance, the turning away from that sin and toward the God of our heart.  This kind of brokenness is a deep sorrow and remorse for our sinfulness that is followed by the desire to never fall prey to that sin ever again. 

To be broken literally means to 'break or crush into pieces' and the word contrite  means to 'collapse'!  Is that how you have taken full vengeance on your sin in the past?  Have you ever been to that place?  Have you been broken to pieces by your sin?  Or have you ever collapsed from following after your sinful flesh,  your sins, your gods?  It is difficult in our pridefulness to get to that place of contriteness and brokenness.  We will try every form of evasion to avoid being ground to pieces, won't we?  Believe me, I know that from my own experiences!  True surrender and repentance are rare in the church today, it seems.  Yet we cannot offer God the correct sacrifice if we are never broken and contrite about our sin. 

Have you ever found yourself saying any of these things to yourself, as I have?

• "I don't need to do that because I'm already forgiven."
• "I am not all that affected by my sin."
• "Who cares anyway?"
• "I don't want to be labeled a radical Christian."
• "I am afraid that if I fully surrender, God will make me do something that I am uncomfortable with."

Maybe the enemy has spoken things to you that are different than these.  It doesn't really matter what has has spoken to you; they are still excuses if you listen to them and use them, and worse, believe them. 

Do you know what all these excuses are?  They are lies and deception from an enemy who would love for us to remain unyielded to God.  He stands to gain territory in our hearts if he can keep us from submitting to God's call to surrender.  If the enemy of of our faith  can make us believe, for any reason, that we don't need to take our sin seriously, then he will be thrilled to keep us from the power that is available to all who do surrender to God's full control.  He would love for us to never surrender anything to God!  He would love to continue to hold us captive in our sin!  He wants to keep us from the victory God has for us!"

For the believer, spiritual healing is all about the surrender that brings us victory over sin.  If you want to lead a victorious, holy life for Jesus, you must come to grips with the idea that it only flows from a heart that has been utterly shattered by its sin, and is now fully surrendered to Him.  There are no short-cuts on the way to the victory that Jesus can bring to our spiritual lives.

The Mind Protectos

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

(Excerpted from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)

"So that our minds will be protected, we are called to put on the helmet of salvation and put the sword of the Spirit to use.  It is critical that we use these two together and necessary that we see the connection between the two.  To me, to use them together is to join the two major parts of the life of every Christian--our salvation and our sanctification.  To put on the helmet of salvation is to protect the mind from satan's lies by standing on the truth of our adoption into God' family by the forgiveness of our sins that Jesus offers us.  But we are also supposed to wield the Sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God, against the enemy and his lies.  It is by the Word itself that our minds become transformed, as we are washed by the water of the Word.  Then we can begin to walk in the Spirit, instead of conforming to the world and its ways.  Overcoming sin in our life is the result of our constant study of the Word and our surrender of those sinful parts of our lives to the rule, authority, and control of the Holy Spirit within us."

The true battle with our enemy takes place in our minds. The helmet of salvation is the protector of our mind, but the only weapon we can use in battle is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The helmet and sword are vital in waging war against our enemy, satan. The helmet alone leaves us vulnerable because it cannot be used to attack the enemy.   It's time to dig out that dusty Sword and be armed with it!

Peaceful Feet

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

(Excerpted from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)

"Moving down to the very bottom of our armor, Paul introduces us to the shoes prepared with the Gospel of peace.  As Jesus was going through His final teachings to the disciples, He told them this:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.  (John 14:27)

All that Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 13-17 was critical information if they were to be successful in carrying the Gospel to the world in His physical absence.  He knew that His peace would be necessary for their victory over an enemy who would stop at nothing to destroy them and the Gospel.  Jesus' Gospel was one of peace with God.  He was telling His disciples of their need to settle the issue now.  They were never again to doubt, nor fear, their position with God ever again.  Jesus was calling them to be assured of their salvation and to walk in it.

Isn't it interesting that God used the word picture of a sandal or shoe to illustrate how we are to 'walk out' the Gospel?  Because we are God's children, our journey is to be traveled with our shoes of peace and assurance tightly tied on.  Our peace with God that flows out of our understanding of God's love for us is something that must be settled in our hearts before we try to overcome our daily sin.  Walking in the knowledge of His love for us is what our peace is based upon, and it is critical to our belief system, as well.  Without this peace in our hearts, it will be difficult to overcome the lies the enemy will tell us, especially when we fail by falling to sin.  Without the peace of knowing that God loves us, even when we fail Him, we might just believe the lie of satan that it is impossible to belong to God if we do sin.

Also critical to our walk of peace is the manner in which we walk through the terrifying times of the journey.  When Jesus said, 'Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful, ' He was just hours away from His arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death.  He knew that His disciples would face a time of despair and heartache.  He knew that in their flesh they would be fearful of what would come next.  But isn't it amazing that He also left these words for us, knowing that we, too, would face our own dark days?  His peace was the answer then, and it is still the answer for us today.  Jesus is calling each of us today to walk out our spiritual battles by standing firm in the peace that has been given to us by God."

The Most Powerful Belt You Can Wear

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

"Let's begin to analyze the armor of warfare, piece by piece, and learn what can be accomplished by each.  Paul, the author of the letter to the Ephesians, begins with the belt of truth.  Why would the Spirit lead him to start there?  I doubt we can know for sure, but I do know this:  nothing is written in the Word without His touch.  So, I will offer just one suggestion.  Do you recall what satan's only weapon is?  It is his lies.  There is only one thing that I know of, for sure, that has the power to overcome a lie--THE TRUTH!  Our ability to know and grasp the truth is of great value to us in this fight!  When we begin to stop believing the lies, victory is just around the corner.  No matter how strong a Christian you are, satan's lies have infiltrated your heart, your mind, and possibly even your actions.  But the battles always begins with a thought in your mind.  Spiritual battles, more often than not, begin with a lie from satan that you choose to believe.

Do you pay close attention to your thoughts?  I have begun to, for this very reason.  I know that when I want to say something to myself, I phrase it somewhat like this: 'Now, why didn't I think to stop and pick up milk on the way home?'  But there are times when in the same situation I hear it more like this:  'You are so dumb.  It's just like you to forget.  You always forget.'  Do you see the difference?  I don't talk to myself with the second-person pronoun 'you'.  I talk to myself with the first-person pronouns 'I' and 'me'.  Second person pronouns are used when someone else is talking about me, to me.  This is an important point.  Who is talking to me, about me, if I am not talking to myself?  It can either be the Spirit or the enemy.  But it is the enemy for sure if your thoughts are using the second-person pronoun ('you') and also have an accusatory tone.  The enemy accuses the saints.  The Holy Spirit never does.

The Spirit's words might sound more like this, 'You have been very distracted today.  Fix your eyes on Me when you are distracted.  I will help you remember, if you will do this.'  The Spirit convicts us; the enemy accuses and whispers his lies to us every chance he gets.  Remember, his lies are his only weapon, so it is critical that we learn to discern the words in our head and to do combat with the lies by using the truth.

So just how do you handle this in battle mode when it happens?  The best way that I know is to speak the truth out loud to satan immediately.  Speaking out loud is important because satan is not all-knowing.  He has no ability to read your thoughts.  Saying something along these lines seems to work:  'It is not dumb of me to forget to stop and get milk.  I have been preoccupied and distracted today, thinking about other things.  And by the way, I rarely forget.  This is not my usual habit!'

I know that this example is very simplistic, and many of you have experienced the lies of the enemy regarding some very deep and hurtful things from your past.  This is still practical and useful to you, though you may have to work very hard to identify the false belief system and its associated lies.  Once identified and accepted as a lie, you still have to replace the accusing and false thoughts with truth.  Sharing with a Christian counselor, your pastor, or a close Christian friend might be beneficial, as they might be helpful in pointing out  thoughts that are lies.  And of course, the Word of God is your biggest source of truth!  The Sword of the Spirit is the most important weapon you can use!

No matter to what degree you experience false beliefs, fighting the lies with truth is always your best answer.  We are to strap on the belt of truth in order to overcome the lies that the enemy will always tell us."

(From Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory)