A New Creation/Warrior Princess: Teaming Up with Jesus to Take on Lies
Well, I'm back. More than a month has passed since I've added anything to this blog. And God has taught me a lot since the last entry. Really. A lot. However, I'm not going to go over everything He has taught me in this one entry. But I will talk about one of the main lessons I've learned from my Heavenly Father.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
God has been showing me the reality of this. The power behind this. And it's been a hard lesson to learn. Because the enemy doesn't like this. So Satan, who wants to devour you (1 Peter 5:8) and take you away from the Lord, is going to do anything and everything to trip you up. Satan's the father of lies (John 8:44). I had been believing those lies. Lies that sound like this, "Your past is too messy and horrible for the cross to have done what God has promised. There's no way you're forgiven for that sin." And then he would keep bringing certain things from my past up. And I'd spend a lot of time dwelling on my past. While Isaiah 43:18 says "remember not the former things; nor consider the things of old", that's exactly what I was doing. And Satan was having a field day!
It took a couple of dear friends to remind me that I am a new creation in Christ: "Just look at where God has brought you!" And I needed to remember my own mother saying she was overwhelmed at how different I was. I had to re-read some of my journals. Clearly, the way I view everything has changed drastically. No longer do I go around pretending to be happy to please others. I truly am happy. I no longer am on anti-depressants. I no longer contemplate how better off this world would be without me in it. I believe that Christ is who he claims to be and I believe the Bible! Which is something I never thought I'd say. So obviously, I'm different. In fact, for my Memoir workshop class, I'm writing my memoir on what coming to Christ has done in my life, and focusing on the change that took place.
Now, I can claim victory in Christ (1 John 5:4). I have been reminded of just how real spiritual warfare is, just how crafty the devil can be. And Satan wants us to think that the spiritual battle isn't that big of a deal. But it is. And so, as silly as it may sound, before getting dressed in the morning, I've started to carefully put on the whole armor of God. In front of the mirror, I recite Ephesians 6:10-20 while "putting on" the armor, and I pray that the Lord will help me in doing so. While at a women's retreat, I learned that there is a reason why the "full armor of God" doesn't include armor for the back. God doesn't intend for us to retreat from fear. He doesn't want us to run away, as cowards. We were made to stand firm, facing our enemy head on. And He will be right there with us.
And instead of focusing on the past and dwelling on lies, God wants us to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). And as hard as all of this may sound, I know that through Christ, anything is possible (Philippians 4:13). The cool thing is that God knew in advance that we all would stink at doing this perfect life thing. He knew we'd be born sinful creatures who would do awful things. But He loves us so incredibly much that He sent His only son and He died for us. The blood that was shed on the cross was the only way we'd ever be washed clean of our dirty sins. And by believing in his name, we are adopted as daughters and sons of the King of Kings and promised eternal life (1 John 5:11-12, Galatians 4:4-7). [P.S. As a daughter of the King of Kings who lives in a world with a spiritual battle going on 24/7, I'm called to be a warrior princess] And we were blessed with the help of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:3-14). And because of what Jesus did on the cross, we were FORGIVEN (1 John 2:12, Colossians 2:13-14). And it gets even better. Jesus didn't just die for us, he was buried and then he rose again (Luke 24:5-7, 1 Corinthians 15:3-6)! He is alive and well. Praise God!
This is what I want to dwell on. Isaiah 26:3-4 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Perfect peace sounds lovely to me, and it's true. Whenever I'm thinking of the Lord and His perfect love for me, I can be in any situation and be at peace. It's when I lose sight of the cross that I start to worry and believe the lies of Satan.
Below are lyrics of a Sanctus Real song that really spoke to me:
Well the past is playing with my head
And failure knocks me down again
I’m reminded of the wrong
That I have said and done
And that devil just wont let me forget
In this life I know what I’ve been
But here in your arms I know what I am
I’m forgiven
I’m forgiven
And I don’t have to carry
The weight of who I’ve been
Cause I’m forgiven
My mistakes are running through my mind
And I’ll relive my days, in the middle of the night
When I wrestle with my pain, struggle with my pride
Sometimes I feel alone, and I cry
When I don't think and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere
When I don’t measure up to much in this life
Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ ‘cause
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
God has been showing me the reality of this. The power behind this. And it's been a hard lesson to learn. Because the enemy doesn't like this. So Satan, who wants to devour you (1 Peter 5:8) and take you away from the Lord, is going to do anything and everything to trip you up. Satan's the father of lies (John 8:44). I had been believing those lies. Lies that sound like this, "Your past is too messy and horrible for the cross to have done what God has promised. There's no way you're forgiven for that sin." And then he would keep bringing certain things from my past up. And I'd spend a lot of time dwelling on my past. While Isaiah 43:18 says "remember not the former things; nor consider the things of old", that's exactly what I was doing. And Satan was having a field day!
It took a couple of dear friends to remind me that I am a new creation in Christ: "Just look at where God has brought you!" And I needed to remember my own mother saying she was overwhelmed at how different I was. I had to re-read some of my journals. Clearly, the way I view everything has changed drastically. No longer do I go around pretending to be happy to please others. I truly am happy. I no longer am on anti-depressants. I no longer contemplate how better off this world would be without me in it. I believe that Christ is who he claims to be and I believe the Bible! Which is something I never thought I'd say. So obviously, I'm different. In fact, for my Memoir workshop class, I'm writing my memoir on what coming to Christ has done in my life, and focusing on the change that took place.
Now, I can claim victory in Christ (1 John 5:4). I have been reminded of just how real spiritual warfare is, just how crafty the devil can be. And Satan wants us to think that the spiritual battle isn't that big of a deal. But it is. And so, as silly as it may sound, before getting dressed in the morning, I've started to carefully put on the whole armor of God. In front of the mirror, I recite Ephesians 6:10-20 while "putting on" the armor, and I pray that the Lord will help me in doing so. While at a women's retreat, I learned that there is a reason why the "full armor of God" doesn't include armor for the back. God doesn't intend for us to retreat from fear. He doesn't want us to run away, as cowards. We were made to stand firm, facing our enemy head on. And He will be right there with us.
And instead of focusing on the past and dwelling on lies, God wants us to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). And as hard as all of this may sound, I know that through Christ, anything is possible (Philippians 4:13). The cool thing is that God knew in advance that we all would stink at doing this perfect life thing. He knew we'd be born sinful creatures who would do awful things. But He loves us so incredibly much that He sent His only son and He died for us. The blood that was shed on the cross was the only way we'd ever be washed clean of our dirty sins. And by believing in his name, we are adopted as daughters and sons of the King of Kings and promised eternal life (1 John 5:11-12, Galatians 4:4-7). [P.S. As a daughter of the King of Kings who lives in a world with a spiritual battle going on 24/7, I'm called to be a warrior princess] And we were blessed with the help of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:3-14). And because of what Jesus did on the cross, we were FORGIVEN (1 John 2:12, Colossians 2:13-14). And it gets even better. Jesus didn't just die for us, he was buried and then he rose again (Luke 24:5-7, 1 Corinthians 15:3-6)! He is alive and well. Praise God!
This is what I want to dwell on. Isaiah 26:3-4 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Perfect peace sounds lovely to me, and it's true. Whenever I'm thinking of the Lord and His perfect love for me, I can be in any situation and be at peace. It's when I lose sight of the cross that I start to worry and believe the lies of Satan.
Below are lyrics of a Sanctus Real song that really spoke to me:
Well the past is playing with my head
And failure knocks me down again
I’m reminded of the wrong
That I have said and done
And that devil just wont let me forget
In this life I know what I’ve been
But here in your arms I know what I am
I’m forgiven
I’m forgiven
And I don’t have to carry
The weight of who I’ve been
Cause I’m forgiven
My mistakes are running through my mind
And I’ll relive my days, in the middle of the night
When I wrestle with my pain, struggle with my pride
Sometimes I feel alone, and I cry
When I don't think and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere
When I don’t measure up to much in this life
Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ ‘cause
Hey Ashley - this is my 3rd comment!!! Let's hope it doesn't disappear before you read it. It's going to be short now because I already wrote a long one, tonight...anyway...Thank you so much for sharing - what a blessing - Thank you Jesus, for speaking to and through my Sister - the New Creation-Warrior Princess! *Ephesians 3:14-21 - love d
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