In other words, all the women team up, the men team up, and the two married couples team up for ministry. Since I was already on an all-girls team, nothing really changed. Going into this month, we expected to partner with another all-girls team for ministry. However, due to miscommunication, my team is working alone. Things are exactly how God intended, but we were slightly disappointed when we discovered we'd be working alone.
In order to foster relationships with other women during WOMANistry month, we invited team Joyous Noise to spend the day with us this past Sunday. We planned to spend time in worship and studying the word through bible study.
The girls arrived around 9-9:30 after a dusty, one-hour Tuk-Tuk ride.
After we greeted each other, we transitioned – we were the church!
Earlier in the morning, Ashlee had asked me to put together a worship playlist; I obliged. After Kirby opened us in prayer, we began worshiping to the songs I put together. During our time of worship, the Holy Spirit fell! We felt his power, his refreshing, and heard his voice speaking to us.
The Lord stirred one woman's heart and she spoke out a lie the enemy has been using to attack her. In her head, she knows the truth, however, she was struggling to believing this same truth in her heart. Conversation flowed and we began speaking truth and were encouraging her. At one point, I felt led to share the following:
"The ONLY power Satan has over us is in the lies he gets us to believe. He's scared to death of the TRUTH. He doesn't want us believing the truth or spreading it to others. Choose to speak truth to yourself and others instead of spreading Satan's destructive lies."
I've heard a similar statement spoken this way, "The enemy's greatest weapon is getting us to believe lies – when we're focused on our weaknesses we cannot harness God's strength."
I also shared that there are times when we have to CHOOSE TO WALK IN THE OPPOSITE SPIRIT. For example, if you're not feeling joyful, walk in the opposite spirit by choosing joy. It's a choice. It is not an easy choice to make, but the more we choose joy (or something else), the easier it is / the more natural it becomes.
Then another girl said that we have the choice of accepting the lie the enemy speaks – if we accept it, we're agreeing with him! WHAT?
Many of the lies Satan speaks, are obvious lies – but for whatever reason, we accept them without ANY fight. Instead of accepting those lies, we should immediately renounce the lie and speak truth over ourselves based on God's opinion and His word.
(Pauleong joined me for my quiet time this morning – I prayed over him asking Jesus to water the seed planted in his heart and to fill his mind with the truth – he is loved and seen by the Lord!)
One truth we should accept without question is that we are overcomers simply because Jesus overcame!
I stumbled across some old sermon notes that describe the women God is looking to use to further his kingdom:
- Women who seek the glory and peace of God. When we do this, we are filled with his peace!
- Women who fight the good fight of faith
- Women who are planted in his word
The enemy looks for any and every stronghold in which to attack the children of God. A stronghold is anything that exalts itself in our minds that steals our focus and pretends to be God.
THE BATTLE IS IN OUR MINDS!!!
Satan plans and thrives on playing make-believe in our minds to keep us off course. Many times in my past Satan has even planted "good ideas" in my mind trying to keep me off God's BEST course. We can fight, though! God has given us several weapons – PRAYER and the WORD! He has also equipped us with his armor:
- The Helmet of Salvation
- Breastplate of Righteousness
- Sandals of Peace
- Belt of Truth
- Shield of Faith
- Sword of the Spirit
"Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers…" Epehesians 6:18
