The Lord encourages us to rise up over our circumstances and onslaughts of the enemy by praising Him. He reminds us that we are seated with Him at the right hand of the Father far above all powers and principalities (Eph 1:20-21). We are to stay in this realm, because this is where our victory presides. The Lord conquered the enemy at Calvary, and anything that the enemy puts in front of us is a lie. Therefore, we are to take our authority over the situation and cast down vain imaginations that set themselves up over having the mind of Christ (2 Cor 10:5, KJV).
When we dwell on the negative circumstances, we believe the deceiver. We need to get a hold of ourselves; immediately cast down the thoughts the enemy feeds us before they build a stronghold in our hearts. The battle is in the mind, and at times we fail to walk in victory in our thoughts. But if we repent, cast the enemy out of our hearts, and claim our hearts totally for the Lord, the victory will be restored in our lives. The Lord is faithful to manifest His victory in us. Holiness is our calling, and the Lord prepared the way for us to walk in it. All we have to do is to trust Him and cry out for more grace. (Heb 4:16).
The enemy seeks to rob us of our joy. One way he tries to take our joy is by fiercely attacking us in our thoughts until we forget our position in Christ. Not only do we forget who we are in Christ, but we also forget about praising Him. The enemy wants us to walk in the earthly realm, never looking up to see the victory, but looking down only to see the negative circumstances. But, praise the Lord! He has delivered us from that realm into His victorious kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy (Rom 14:17). No longer will we portray the image of a chicken scratching in the dust. We will rise up as eagles and soar far above that realm with healing, love, and victory in our wings (Isa 40:31). Remember that all things work for good to those that love God and are called according to His plan and purpose (Rom 8:28). Our calling is to rise above the circumstances and praise our God. Halleluia!
I know what it is like to give in to the enemy and walk in the earthly realm. The writing of this chapter came after an attack where I felt like I could not rise up over the circumstances. After kicking and screaming, and confessing things I shouldn’t, I finally cried out for grace and repented for not trusting the Lord. One thing we need to be aware of is that after mighty victories, the enemy is right there ready to attack again to rob our victory. This is where most people fall short. They become laid back and at ease and neglect to keep up their guard against the enemy. In the battle there is never really true times of peace. We are always at war, but not in actual combat. If we seek Him, the Lord will give us discernment of the schemes the enemy uses to try to rob our joy and praises to God.
No matter what faces us in the natural, we need to stay centered on God’s promises. Prosperity and divine health, two of His many promises to us, are ours as we grow and prosper spiritually (3 John 2). Everything contrary to this is a lie. This is our inheritance. We should praise Him for it, no matter what circumstances lingers before us. Be diligent to look forward, through the eyes of faith, to the victory – His will established in us.
The Lord allows us to go through seasons where we don’t feel like praising Him. There may seem that we have no praise in our hearts. Be assured that this is when the Lord does a deeper work in us, through our praise sacrifice (Heb 13:15). God gives us the ability to praise Him even when it is so hard in the natural to do so. No matter what we feel, we are commanded to praise Him. It is by faith (2 Cor 5:7). It is an act of sacrifice. Sometimes we don’t feel like praising Him, because we don’t feel His presence. But He is always with us. Draw close to Him. Despite all feelings and circumstances, believe that He is with you.
The way the Lord stretches our faith is similar to the way an eagle trains its eaglet to fly on its own. The Lord allows us to not feel His manifest presence at times during trials, and we might feel tempted to believe that we are on our own. After experiencing this dry season, the Lord will restore His presence. Then He might allow a trial more severe and allow this same testing. He is strengthening us in spite of the way we feel during this process. Always be patient knowing that He is doing a perfect work in us; preparing us for the calling He has on our lives (Phil 1:6).
We are assured that we can always rest in the faithfulness of the Lord. Remember that tests occur in order to purge out of our hearts all that is unlike Him. His ways of doing things are not like ours (Isa 55:9). Never grow weary in the battle, because we fight from a place of victory in Christ. We can rest in peace knowing that the Lord allows each trial to conform us into His image (Rom 8:29). No matter what we face in the natural, no matter what we are going through, we need to dwell on the truth that He is worthy to be praised.
The Lord wants us to draw close to Him; to come to our destined place in Him. It is a place of victory, love, fulfillment, and joy. A place where we allow Him to have His will and way. We must cast off the wrong attitudes and mindsets that distract us from staying in His presence and from praising God.
This is a fight for your life in Christ. The enemy wants to keep you from drinking from the wells of everlasting joy, peace, and anointing in Christ. Don’t become discouraged. The enemy seeks to rob your hope. But don’t let him. Remember that in the battle, the Lord will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear, and He will provide an escape (1 Cor 10:13). Fight to keep your place in Jesus. Fight to stay strong in His power. Fight, by praising Him always.
The Lord wants us to know that He is always with us and that we are to be encouraged that as we walk in His perfect will, we are in a place of safety. He says in His Word not to fear because He is with us; not to be dismayed because He is our God. He will strengthen us; He will help us; He will uphold us with His righteous right hand (Isa 41:10). With this in mind, we are to rejoice always for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us! (1 Thes 5:16).
TRIUMPHANT THROUGH DYING – THE CRUCIFIED LIFE
Chapter Seven
Most Christians desire to break through all bonds of slavery and allow Jesus to live His life through them unencumbered. This can only come through the process of emptying out of ourselves, the kenosis experience, also known as the crucified life. The flesh is our greatest enemy and most difficult to conquer. But our souls will find it easier to allow this process if we remember that dying brings life.
Dying to the flesh was even difficult for our Lord and Savior. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane and struggled with it before His final walk of victory over it at Calvary (Matt 26:39). He is God and He experienced every temptation the flesh had to offer (Heb 2:17-18). Yet He was completely victorious over it (Heb 4:15). Jesus kept the flesh under subjection to His Father’s perfect will by continuously drawing strength from the Father. How much more we need to consistently draw strength from our Lord!
We need to know the schemes and tactics the enemy uses to ensnare us to our fleshly ways. Victorious living comes only from abiding in the power we receive through grace as we walk with Jesus in the crucified life. He made it possible for us to walk in this victory because of His own death and resurrection. The veil has been torn in two (Matt 27:51). The way is now clear for us to enter into the throne room of grace.
Jesus has made it possible for us to come before the Father and receive the anointing of God. This anointing is the strength we need to overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Oh, such freedom, when we get a hold of the victory in dying to ourselves and reigning with Jesus through His love. Living according to the carnal nature allows many traps of bondage to our soul and spirit. We need to break away from the hindrances so we can freely run the race (Heb 12:1).
Jesus is our victory and our liberty. But we must allow His Spirit to do this work in us. Pride is our greatest enemy. It will control us completely if we give into the carnal nature. We are warned; where pride is comes a fall (Prov 16:18). The Lord will not allow anything to come against His rule and reign in the throne room of our hearts. We must determine to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts, causing us to completely and continuously die to the flesh.
We need to contuously humble ourselves before the mighty throne of God and not allow the flesh to rise up and control us. There are many deceptions that we face daily that try to ensnare us into areas of legalism, self-righteousness, control, and manipulation. Grace is the key to life and it frees us as well as everyone with whom we come in contact.
One tactic the enemy uses to ensnare us to pride is independence. It causes us to believe that we are becoming more righteous through our own strength. Independence leads us to death by ensnaring us into the bonds of slavery, keeping us from drawing close to Jesus. The Spirit of God brings life. Oh, we need to hold on to this truth and experience the freedom in allowing Jesus to live His life through us.
The resurrected life can only come through a daily crucifixion of the flesh. We need to receive a revelation of this truth so that we will be aware of this deception and overcome this error in every area of our lives. We can only receive life as we abide in the vine: Jesus (John 15:4-5). Independence causes us to fall into the deception that we can receive strength in ourselves to walk the crucified life. Jesus is the only person able to overcome sin. We need to draw strength from Him.
In reality our righteousness comes by our daily act of total dependence upon the Father for His grace and mercy. We must be sensitive to His Spirit so that we recognize anything tainted with this error of independence before it takes a stronghold in us. The enemy wants to destroy our walk of love and grace. He wants division between us and God, and us and our brethren. Therefore, our hearts, actions, and words must be sanctified by God’s purifying grace: the cleansing blood of Christ.
Even in relationships with others, our ways are not God’s ways; His are so much higher (Isa 55:9). We cannot understand them with the carnal mind. For an example, if we try to figure out a plan to help someone, it will often be the opposite of what God wants us to do. But, if we would just get quiet before the Lord and examine our hearts, we could discern whether we are moving in the flesh or by His Spirit concerning the situation. The Lord wants us to be completely pure in our motives, thoughts, and actions so that His love can freely flow through us to touch others.
Be assured that the Lord is working in us, enabling us to yield to Him so that He can truly move through us (Phil 2:13). It is a process of learning and discerning what is right for our lives; a process of us growing smaller while He becomes great in us. He must increase and I must decrease, as John the Baptist portrayed the example in God’s Word (John 3:30).
One secret to a victorious relationship with others is humility. We need to be able to admit when we have failed to walk in the spirit of love with others. When we discern that the enemy has attacked, and we have given into the ways of the flesh, we need to immediately confess it and repent of it. Pray for grace to be able to preserve God’s love among the brethren. We need to be closely knit, one to another, and this can only come through humility through God’s love.
The enemy loves to control and manipulate to eventually destroy relationships. We need to be so free in God’s grace so that we can allow others the same freedom. Only the Lord can bring freedom and change into another person’s life. Only He can convict others of sin and liberate them. When we try to be the Holy Spirit in someone’s life, we fall into a great deception. If we had such a burden to see them walk in freedom, then we’d get on our knees and travail for them. When we see fault in others, it is usually because we have criticism and judgment, which are sin.
Just because we don’t have the same convictions as others doesn’t mean that the Lord isn’t working in their lives, or that they aren’t yielding to His Spirit. He does not work the same way in everyone’s life. We are all so unique, having completely different needs. The Lord has a special plan to conform everyone into His image. Let us abide in Christ; only then will we be able to walk in love with others, because of His grace and truth (John 1:17). Only by His Spirit will we be able to walk in this balance of love. Remember, freedom can only come by dying and walking in the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and only by His grace can we walk in this revelation of truth.
Never become discouraged or believe that you will never be able to die to your old ways or that the pain in dying will be too much to bear. Be assured that as you obey the voice of the Lord and bring your flesh into subjection to His Spirit; that His joy, love, and grace will far exceed any struggle that you face. You truly will be going from glory to glory as the Lord transforms you into His image (2 Cor 3:18).
It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). We can never glory in our own strength, for it is only by His grace that we overcome. He started the good work in you, and He is faithful to complete it (Phil 1:6). So rest assured this day that the Word is working mightily in you!
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Section Four of Book