Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Alignment Brings Power

   Good morning Ladies! You know, there are very few things as powerful as praying women. The tenacity of a woman praying for those she loves is a force to be reckoned with! Today I would like to address something that can hinder this force.
    Do you ever feel like you are praying and praying to no avail? One of the most powerful forces in making sure your prayers bring change is to make sure your heart is properly aligned with the Lord. I'll give you an example! For years I have prayed that my husband's priorities can be lined up with God, that he can keep God first, me second, the children third, etc. But for years this has been an area where the enemy keeps attacking our family in one way or another, bringing much frustration and hurt. Now, you would surely think God would honor such an amazing prayer, wouldn't you? But God hit me square between the eyes when He reminded me of the scripture which says, "Seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness, and all the rest will be added to you as well". Not only did iI have my focus on getting all my work done and beautifying our home (both are really good things in their own place), but I did not give my husband the priority that was rightfully his in my heart and in our home. You see, how can God move to answer my prayer to help my husband with his priorities if mine are not lined up to His Word? Many times I become frustrated and angry that I as the wife need to be the strong one and do what is right first, but really, if we can change our viewpoint just a bit, and see that when we make sure our hearts are properly aligned first, we RELEASE God's hands to begin to do the work we wish to see done in our husbands as well! Alignment always releases God to do the work. It releases us from needing to fight our own battles. It releases us from victimhood!
   Today, as women, let's be OK with being strong. Let's be OK with first lining up our hearts with God's Word, because it will release Him to pour out His favor and blessing on our lives! It may seem unfair and hard, but it will create an open heaven above us, which is totally in our favor! God bless you today!

Monday, May 9, 2016

We Don't Fight Flesh and Blood

   Relationships...are a huge part of life. We are surrounded by them...in the workplace, at schools, churches, in our homes. Many times throughout life, unless we avoid people, we will experience difficulties in relationships to some degree or another. If we don't know how to handle these, we may become very uncomfortable, and respond in ways that make the situations we face far worse than they were to begin with.
   There are many ways people respond to sticky situations: some run, some deny there is an issue, some explode, some laugh. Some situations require different responses, too. Sometimes it is the best thing to let it rest and move on. But sometimes its best to face it and openly communicate by asking questions, such as, "Is this what you meant to say", or "Can you rephrase that so i can make sure i understand", or some other non-threatening question that opens communication. But that's not really what i came here to talk about today.
   The thing i want to discuss is what can be behind some relationship issues. Before i go there, i want to make sure you know i don't believe we should focus on the dark side. I believe the more we invite light and love into our lives, the better off we will be. However, if you are facing a really big relationship issue that seems to keep popping up or refuses to find a resolution, you may be facing something more than a relationship problem. What i want us to remember is we don't fight 'flesh and blood', but rather against spiritual forces in heavenly realms, etc. (Ephesians 6:12). Sometimes it is very important to remember this when dealing with problems.
   If there is someone in your life who consistently misunderstands you, and it appears as though they want to twist your words, it could be it is not them at all but perhaps a spirit who is getting between the two of you. If that happens, you can quietly pray and take authority over spirits that may be coming against you or twisting your words before you meet with that person. Keep in mind that these spirits could be doing the same to their words before they come to you. Fear is an example of a spirit that will cause us to hear things people are not saying. I experienced this recently, and was amazing when i got rid of fear, how differently i perceived the words spoken to me after that.
   This morning, i was having an issue with one of my sons, and it was escalating out of control, and he was behaving badly, and i was becoming angry too, which caused him to feel even more unsafe. So we all took a deep breath, i had another of my sons come over and we talked gently with him to help him calm down, and we asked each other for forgiveness for some things, cleared the air, and asked if we could pray with him. It took some more gentle explanations before he was open to it, but then he allowed it and we invited the light of Jesus in and took authority over division and some other things we felt were at play, and BAM! He was a different child and immediately recognized he had been influenced by spirits that had been twisting my words.
   I want to share this story with you to empower you if you face situations like these.You do not want to imagine evil spirits everywhere, but you do need to be aware of them.I believe we need to focus on inviting light in as opposed to casting out darkness. You cannot openly deal with all situations as i did with my son in the privacy of our home. Sometimes you need to pray quietly alone. God can still move in those situations. Many times making sure our hearts are in the right place can take care of problems, but it is so important to realize we do have an enemy who doesn't want us to have good relationships or to succeed in life, and he will mess with us if we get too close to what he considers his territory! So please, take away with you today, that we are not fighting people, but rather, spiritual forces, and remember to fight those forces rather than those you love!