Re: [revival-fire] It's time to "realign"

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I agree

 

this is something the Lord had me write as I pondered a lot of the things that I have been working thru.  hellen

 

 

 

 

 

The Way Thru The Maze

 

I have discovered that I am in a maze; we are all in a maze. This is a tangled web. It is a jumble and jungle of thoughts, preconceived notions, abstract paradigms, indirect truths, and bald face lies of the enemy, all sugar coated to make our swallowing of them easier. 

 

So, this is the nature of the trap, lies from the pit of hell, in all shapes and sizes.  And what makes them so insidious is that we have heard them or their like for so long that we accept them as truth.  We rehearse them, replay and reshape them over and over in our heads until they are the very foundation from which we live our lives.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, it to navigate out of the maze and into freedom.  I cannot over emphasize the urgency of your mission, for you, for your loved ones, for the sanity of your mind and the minds of those you love. 

 

I have been on this same quest this last year.  I had prayed for God to help me love unconditionally.  It seemed a harmless enough prayer, to love them as God would love them.  A simple, straight forward prayer, or so I thought.  The next thing I knew, I seemed surrounded by things trying to crawl out of the slime that I found myself in and they were all trying to get me!!

 

So, here it is.  Do not accept for truth anything that you have not held up to word of God and confirmed thru His Holy Spirit.  There have been literally hundreds of thoughts and things I thought I knew that, when put to the test, have been shown to be lies of the enemy.  It has been a hard road, especially as many of these 'facts' I had based my life on, had to do with my loved ones.  I have had to submit everything to God.   Every thought, concern, impression, feeling, emotion and direction that I thought came from Him. It has actually shocked me that so many of the things I was absolutely certain were hard rock truths were in fact a quicksand of lies and deceit.  I have learned to not trust my emotions.  Not to react but to respond AFTER I have sought the Lord and asked for His direction and guidance.  The answer is to keep my eyes on Jesus, to push into intimacy and oneness with Him!  To get my identity and value from Christ and Him alone, to let the Father love me and Holy Spirit guide and direct me!

 

And I have to ask, when one we love really does hurt and wound us, where do we go?  What do we do?  Do we go to sorrow and suffering like an old familiar friend?  Do we let the waves of pain billow over us and draw us down to the depths?  Do we step into rejection like a well worn shoe or this day, do we choose to stand and fight!!  To stand and see the salvation of the Lord in our lives marriages ministries  business and homes?  Who do we this day choose to serve?  Do we choose to stand in faith on God's word and promises.  Do we cling and cleave to Him or to the past and the pain? 

We have to step out of the box of our own making!!  We are in a maze but we have a choice how many items we go down the same dead end! Don't build a guest cottage on the wrong path and expect that God will not use the things of this world to 'blow your house down' in order to get you to safety. I read in an awesome book 'the Shack' that God does not create the evil of this world but He will use it to draw His loved ones to Him!!  Come to him as a child, with child like faith.  Trust in Him and lean into the intimacy of the bride.  Be the bride you were meant to be.

Do not be the maid but the mistress of the mansion, the beloved of the master.  Chose this day who you serve!  Wendy Backlund taught at our Aglow meeting recently that when we agree with what the devil is doing, we are fellowshipping with the enemy.  We are giving him tools to build death and destruction in our world.  When we pray and proclaim Gods promises, we partner with God to release his kingdom here on earth!! 

 

I have learned that wherever possible, I seem to be brilliant at taking offense.   They did this so this must mean, well, this. This seems to have been a lifestyle of protection for my soul that has dragged me into untold relational issues.  Also, it seems that those around me have seemed to be in the same place, being offended by my actions.  I have learned that in order to survive this world I have to choose to not be offended, to set my eyes upon Jesus! 

 

Ok, enough of the downer part of all of this!  The truly incredible thing is that the Lord has finally pulled out enough of the old wiring, ie thought processes that I actually can process things in a new way.  The first step was deliverance (I highly recommend the process-under godly direction!!) from the demonic forces that directly held me in bondage, that at least gave me a fighting chance to start over.  Then after the pests are evicted that are constantly enforcing the dictates of the evil one, it is time to rewire the "temple".  To ask God to pull out everything that directed the thoughts and actions that had become so tainted, to uninstall the old programs and install new software that is of Kingdom of Light.  After that it is up to us to not accept the garbage that the enemy will try to re flood over our airwaves!  I have literally had to put my fingers in my ears and no nananannana or something else childish to block out the stupid things the enemy is trying to replant in my brain.  Thru God's grace, I have finally learned to honor the unseen (sometimes) promises of God more than the 'lies of the enemy'  right in front of my face.  I can finally have a choice to believe the best of every situation

 

 

Oh and about the offense thing, I heard from a very wise teen something the Lord shared with her.  Those that choose offense are lonely and weary and are forced to wander the earth.  I can attest to that.  I have oft times felt like the loneliest person on the planet, in the midst of crowds and fellowship.  When you are offended by other humans or offended by God and your perception of His actions, there is no one left to be in a love relationship with.

 

Another thought, I heard recently about some wisdom from the Lord regarding timing.  It seems that it really is a bad thing to wait or deal slowly with a problem.  It seems that quick and effective (under godly direction) action is truly the key to our survival.

So, here are lots of nuggets, hope you were able to process them one at a time and start (or continue) your own path to freedom.  from a fellow traveler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Maureen Bravo

To: A forum for Revival Discussion and Posts

Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 11:18 AM

Subject: [revival-fire] It's time to "realign"

******* REVIVAL FIRE!!! *******    

It's time to "realign"

  Maureen Bravo

 

 

What I have realized in this "season" of my life, and recently begun to revisit in a whole new light, is that there are some things that I have previously agreed with / protected / defended / supported,  etc. that no I am no longer allowed to "align" with.  I am in a fresh process of reviewing and correcting any beliefs, words, actions, patterns, etc. that might be in any way "out of line" with God's intentions, in order to "realign" more perfectly with Him.

 

Whether because of environmental or circumstantial influences, due to a belief systems, old family patterns, acquired habits... whether through empathy or sympathy, or simply by making a personal decision...whatever...throughout my lifetime, I've made choices to agree with / "champion" certain causes / people / things.  Some of these were for a season, others are ongoing...and others simply "never even should have been" considerations.  (That awareness usually comes as one "matures" and "grows" through life...and is easiest when "wisdom, age and grace" interact together.)

 

The lives we live today are a composite of all that we have experienced in days past.  Life choices (both good and poor) have contributed to making us who we are today.  As we grow in relationship with the Lord, we begin to see that some of those things that we believed / learned / accepted in our "yesteryears" are no longer profitable for this hour.  We might not yet realize that they were harmful, or sinful, or represented "strongholds" in our lives; we simply begin to see that we need to either eliminate or revise them, in order that tomorrow might be more productive.  When we reach the point of "considering the possibility" that we might have been in error about some things, we often encounter "spiritual resistance"; if we do not know that is what that is and how it works, we may be thrust back into our former unawareness.  If we do persist in seeking the truth, and actually decide that something we upheld / endorsed was not good, the spiritual struggle can intensify greatly; darkness will try to continue to possess what it considers to be a "rightful home". 

 

Whatever the cause of sin in our lives was...however it took up occupancy...(whether we didn't know better, or had a nagging feeling we chose to override, or just willfully made a wrong decision), we can't continue in it!   Although the struggle might be intense, as the old patterns / beliefs (strongholds) fight and die hard, they must be eliminated...torn down...put to death!   We are called to live in freedom...in the light of God.  We can't go back...we must hear and see what God is revealing to us today.  The rest is history!  

 

We must begin to write a new story...in the light of true "His-story".  Jesus is the Light of the world...and His-story is that "He came to seek and save the lost"...those "lost" in patterns of thinking / belief / behavior that do not agree with God...(ie. sin).   When we begin to question the things we previously believed, and encounter Him, we learn the real truth.  We must acknowledge Him... and His truth that is revealed to us.  As we accept His loving conviction, and repent, we no longer want or need to justify / defend our old behaviors / sinfulness!   As we purpose to abandon our old ways and adopt His, we receive His forgiveness.  Only then are we restored to relationship with Him.  To believe less than this is delusion!

                                                                        

Before, when we were blinded by the god of this world, we were actually trying to make the ONE, TRUE GOD over...in an image that suited us / accepted our beliefs.  But no matter how earnest we might have been in our errors, they were still errors, and we could never "fool" God into believing that we were right (and He was wrong)!  He Who is TRUTH searches hearts, and knows and understands all!  The only ones fooled were ourselves...and others who were caught up in the same errant beliefs!  

 

Those old ways...our previous history...are now behind us.  All that counts is what choices we will make with Him today.  "If today you hear My voice, harden not your heart!"   If we are sincere in our desire to serve Him, to change our ways, even if we slip and fall again, there is forgiveness.  He is with us, pouring out His grace upon us...ready, willing and ABLE to help us write "His-story" through our lives at the present moment...and continuing on with us...taking us "from glory to glory"!  

 

In order to cooperate with Him in writing that, we need to know the Truth about WWJD...for Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.  In every situation... in whatever interaction we have with any person, ideology, circumstance...we must first know God's plan...purpose...and power...so that we can do things His way!  In order to do that, we must KNOW Him, His CHARACTER and His ATTRIBUTES...intimately...lovingly...freely! 

 

Once we know what He would do, we  no longer desire to align with / champion something that He would not.  We do not want to defend anything that would ultimately be harmful to another person.  We can no longer be a part of justifying that which would cause them to remain in bondage.  Instead, we begin to operate as Jesus would; we speak LIFE and hope of freedom from that which is oppressing them. We tell them of the TRUE CHAMPION Who can set them free!  

 

What a difference from when we used to refuse to see things from God's perspective, and operated from our own belief system!  In what we thought was an attempt to "protect", we actually harmed those bound in sin, by hiding the truth from ourselves and them!  We became part of their deception, as we encouraged them to believe the lie that they could hold onto and operate in their sin (in this case, homosexuality) and still be in a right relationship with God. How cruel!  

 

To have believed that they can have both was a lie!  When we supported that lie, we were, in effect, washing our hands of their lives and destiny, as Pilate did with Jesus, while thinking himself blameless.   When we did not know and share truth with them, in love, we were really agreeing to them remaining in bondage to sin.  When we said we wanted them to "be free" to choose how they would enjoy their (earthly) lives, we were really saying AMEN ("so be it") to their spiritual "deaths"...and their ultimate separation from God for all eternity!  That is not loving! 

 

We can see that we have a great responsibility for those we are in a position to influence!  We must no longer allow ourselves to agree with / defend any position that is "out of alignment" with God's plan... for when people do learn the truth, they will hold it against us for having "lied" to them (through the omission of failing to help them understand the reality of their condition, so they could "get free" of what held them captive!)  We must purpose to KNOW, LOVE, SERVE HIM, now and for all eternity! Any and all hindrances to that must go! 

 It is time to realign!

 

                                      (Originally distribution July 5, 2002 / reissued August 21, 2008 by Maureen Bravo / RUII )

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