“I hear so many Christians murmuring about their imperfections and their failures and their addictions and their shortcomings, and I see so little war.
‘murmur, murmur, murmur, why am I this way?’……
–
MAKE WAR!-
This came over the headphones of my iPod as I ran yesterday. Right as the preacher screamed out “MAKE WAR” the eyes of God’s Spirit looked straight into the eyes of my spirit and my spirit cried out with great determination, ‘HUZZAH!’ (I feel like that’s a war term that communicates how sufficiently jazzed I am, right?)
So I keep running getting more and more PUMPED about this idea of making war against the ruler of this world. I am determined that he won’t have myself or my generation.
He won’t steal my hope, he won’t kill my joy, and he won’t destroy my passion for Jesus.
I love this idea of a generation who stops believing they are victims and starts fighting back. A generation who starts claiming the victory that is rightfully theirs through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A generation who lays siege to the prisons that bind and shakes those chains until they have no choice but to let go of their captives.
And I fully believe all of this! But at the risk of my own reputation let me tell you how the rest of my day went.
I get back from my run and go about the regular routine that I’ve fallen into.
-I shower and eat. -I talk with my mom a little. -I check Facebook multiple times. -I spend hours looking at pictures, some of the race. -I stalk some people, looking at pictures and seeing what they’re life has been like without actually connecting with them. -I play guitar for a little while. -I read ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ out loud with my brother. -I wait for somebody, anybody, to contact me and ask me to hang out. -All the while, I wonder if I really want to hang out with people right now. -I get a text. -I go to my friends house to eat sloppy joe’s and watch Hot Rod. – I go look at Christmas lights. -I think about God on my way home. -I lay in bed thinking about Him, and fall asleep.
Now if you made it all the way through that, what did you see? Was there any moment when I picked up the Word of God and sought out His thoughts?
I was thirsty, but I did not turn to the Living Water to quench my thirst.
How in the HECK do I expect myself to fight when I have no weapon? Or when my weapon is being cleaned and sharpened every once in a while instead of daily? How can I expect the Spirit of God to rise up inside of me when I numb myself all day long and cannot even recognize His voice when He does rise up?
So even as I write those things, I hear God’s voice interrupt and say
“I love you, Annie Rose”.
“OH, whew! Because I was about to condemn myself. Could you tell, Daddy?”
And then I FINALLY turn to His Word and see this
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger or threatened with death?
No, despite all these things, OVERWHELMING VICTORY is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
Romans 8:35 and 37
And now these three remain, faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love!
I Corinthians 13:13
Is that what you are saying then, God? Is love, like real-genuine-1 Corinthians 13-kind-of-love, the way that I fight?
“Yes, and you cannot love that way if you do not know the love that I have for you. And you cannot know the love that I have for you unless you read it, soak in it, claim it from The Book that I have given you.”
And so, dear reader, you have now come on this journey with me. What started as a “convicting” blog about fighting, turns into once again the voice of my Father speaking of a love that is much more effective at slashing the lies of Satan than anything else.
SO LET’S GO OUT AND LOVE SOME LIES OUT OF POWER
