As I entered this month; my prayer was, "Lord offend me." I had no idea of the bigness of this prayer until this month unfolded. Day by day I just felt more and more offended. Three teams, 19 different people with different personalities, and a completely new culture really pressed hard on me. A lot of thoughts were skewed by the adversary. I was getting to a point of madness I had never experienced before. I couldn't believe I was allowing one person to persuade my emotions constantly to a negative mood. My thoughts stirred like two lions wrestling, I said NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I REFUSE to let someone have the power over me. It took me about 20 days in Romania to realize that I daily need to deny myself and how to take my thoughts captive. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "…we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Holy crud it is so freaking hard! Taking every thought captive is a continuous battle. I finally reached the point of where I could pinpoint the specific thing that was offending me. What now? I have to change my thoughts. I must rebuke the attacks to my spirit.
To those in the states:
Daily wake up and allow yourself to be clothed in the armor of God (Ephesians 4:14-17.) DENY YOURSELF!!!!!! Every selfish desire you have, get rid of it! Don't think that doing it once is good enough. Let me be the first to tell you it isn't easy! DAILY deny yourself! You may have to do it multiple times a day. Make it a lifestyle.
