Friday, February 14, 2014

GOD'S DISCIPLINE AND REBELLION

Good morning, Mighty Woman of God.  I pray that you are all blessed and highly favored of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Hebrews 12:5-8), And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as daughters: "My daughter, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a daughter.  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as daughters, For what daughter is not disciplined by her father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true daughters. (New Int'l Version) (I changed words sons to daughters).

Okay, today's lesson may sting a little bit, but you know me, it's never to hurt you but to help you. I don't know about you but when I was a child, I often heard, "If I didn't care, I wouldn't punish you.  Or if I didn't love you, you wouldn't be getting this whipping right now".  As a child I didn't see that as a sign of love or caring at all.  As a child, my thinking was more one the lines of, "If you care or love me, you would leave me alone and forget about what I just did to be getting punished."

I am going to throw myself under the bus for this one, but my prayer is that, in me doing that, I will touch someone's heart and mind to push you a little farther in your spiritual journey.

I have been dealing with something for the past week.  Just as Paul says, I know that I should do what is right, but the right thing I do not do.  There is a struggle in the spirit realm and just like Paul, I am struggling.  I don't know whether or not if struggling means that I am at least fighting to do what I know to be the right thing to do or not.  I have often laughed at cartoons when I see the devil on one shoulder and Christ on the other shoulder, both petitioning their point to that character.  That's what it's like when we are struggling.  Suddenly that cartoon doesn't seem so funny to me, especially when I am dealing with the spirit realm.

I asked my Heavenly Father, "Why don't I do what you want me to do? This should be very easy, just pray and the struggling will be over."  My Father's answer to me was, "Because you are dealing with a spirit of rebellion and disobedience."  That was a hard pill for me to swallow.  When my Father said the word 'rebellion', that stuck with me and it hit me hard.  It hit me hard because I never looked at my not doing what I know to do, as 'rebellion'.  My Father didn't sugar coat His answer to me and therefore it hurt.  The reason why it hurt me so much is that I really love the Lord and being 'rebellious' to Him, made me feel horrible.  My next question to my Father was, "Forgive me, what do I do?"   My Father's answer to me, "ENDURE HARDSHIP". 

I have a book that I used as a reference when dealing with stronghold's.  This book gives you the root of the problem (spirit) and what to bind and loose in prayer.  The Holy Spirit had me to go to that book and look up 'rebellion'.  Under 'rebellion' there were 11 demonic spirits.  Being honest with myself, I was dealing with 5 of them: Idleness, Contentious, Rejection of God, Self-Deception and Rebellion.  God says, "These are all works of the flesh".  How do I fit into those categories?  I am idolizing that thing that I keep doing wrong; I am rejecting God because I am doing wrong, I am deceiving myself into thinking, I can handle it on my own; therefore 'rebellious'.  LET'S PRAY!

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for my sins.  Everything that I say, do or even have in my heart that does not glorify You in Heaven.  Father, forgive me for being rebellious in the things that I know to do right, but don't.  Father, I ask that you strengthen me as I endure hardship, I speak over my life by the power of the Holy Spirit, that is within me, greater is He that is in me than any demonic spirit.  I will no longer seek the things of the flesh but the things of the spirit.  I speak that no weapon that is formed against me shall prosper and no spirit will rule over my life but the Spirit of the Living God, in Jesus name, Amen.