the arch-nemesis.

Every Christian has two arch-nemesis...

Discouragement and condemnation.

Every other sin can be redeemed and forgotten, but if either of those two are creeping around like a monkey on your back... Well, let's just say that everything that was ever did will not be forgotten.

Nevertheless, Scripture tells us that we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37). In the Greek it says that I overwhelmingly overcome. Therefore discouragement is really a lie. Yet I eat it up like a yummy piece of tres leches cake. Well, that cake darlin', was made with sour milk.

My Bible also says that there is nothing I can do that can cause Him to love me more, and there's nothing I can do that can make Him love me less. It also tells me that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). So, once again, condemnation is a lie. It's how the enemy keeps us away from God. But once again I eat it up like a starving child who doesn't see the feast before her.

So, what is going on with me? Why do I buy into this garbage?

Truth is, personal circumstances often overshadow the Word of God within us, and it causes us to worry and become discouraged, anxious and condemnation that we are just not good enough.

But I have become convinced that what is really missing is an aerial view of what the Spirit of God is really saying and doing. We tend to look at our circumstances through carnal eyes instead of having the eyes of Christ; we view life with our mind and our knowledge instead of having the mind of Christ (1Cor 2:16).

If only we would set our eyes on eternity and on things above we would not be tossed to and fro by impossible circumstances (Col 3:2). If only we knew that our God was truly bigger, we would not even bat an eyelash at the task set before us. And if we knew that He took on our nature so that we may take on His, all obstacles would be made flat before us, and we would believe Him to be our Conquering King (Songs 2:8).

I read a quote this week, and I believe it is a key in defeating the arch-nemesis of our souls.

"How incredinle and humbling that Jesus would take our nature upon Himself, and by the Ressurection would give us His!"

So, this is a challenge to put on the mind of Christ, contend for the eyes of Christ and defeat that mean old pair that seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

lessons learned from fiction novels

I am a Francine Rivers fanatic.


I have read just about every book she's ever written. And I.love.them.


Fiction is a topic of minor controversy amongst friends and myself. In the light of studying Scripture and serving in our God-given ministries (whether at the House of Prayer, in the marketplace, or at home) one can only spend their remainding energies on very little and fiction just doesn't feed the spirit like non-fiction does.


Well, Francine Rivers' fiction absolutely feeds my spirit. And here's why...


Francine Rivers is a Spirit-filled believer who asks the Holy Spirit what He desires to say before she sits down to write a novel. As you read the pages of her books, it is filled with Scripture references and godly characters. At the end of the day, she gets real.


I just finished re-reading her "Mark of the Lion" series and I have to admit, it stirred me.


The trilogy follows a wealthy Roman family, a small Jewess who believes Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, and a captured German warrior. It is set around 40 years after the ressurection of Christ, and persecution is at every corner. As I sat and read of this Christian young lady (because, she was after all but a teen at the start of the book) I saw myself imprinted all over Hadassah.


She was a young girl who loved the Lord, but struggled with fear.


Fear has always been my Goliath. Hadassah struggled with fear. All the while she witnesses incognito, fear consumes her for her very life. And then I got to thinking...


Persecution like that could very well be on the way for American Christians. How will I react in the dawn of that day? Will fear consume and paralyze me? Or will I rise up boldly and forget the word fear is even in our vocabulary?


Sitting and pondering about this, I realize that fear has gripped the American Church in a very subtle and yet so obvious way. We fear failure, we fear poverty, we fear heartache and pain. "Perfect love casts out all fear." Being yoked with perfect love causes fear to run from within our grasp.


I desire to be yoked ever closer to this Perfect Love.


And I believe the American Church needs a good reminding of who Love is. The fullness of who He is...

So, then from a fiction novel that some would cast off as wasted time and wasted paper, I have come face to face with my Goliath. The beauty is, I turn and see my David has already loaded his sling and has won the battle.

He's declaring war!

"To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?"
- Isaiah 40:18

The last few days during my time with the Lord I have gained a sense of His ever-faithful Jealousy. I believe the Lord is highlighting His Jealousy at this time in history. In Isaiah 40, there is a stunning description of Almighty God, the Creator and the mighty One. He is unwilling to share the reward of His suffering with anything. That includes entertainment, money, material possessions, our various relationships, comfort, romance, Muhhamed, Buddha or any other self-proclaimed god in our lives. This is the time to pursue and to seek the Lord. His jealousy will not go unfulfilled, and He will strip us if we do not repent now.

I have embarked on a journey to lay waste everything and to see that "all is loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:8) The time is now to lay aside and to dwell in radical communion with the Spirit of God. He is Jealous and He will not relent! He will be exalted and He will finish the work He began in us. I exhort you to seek Him, to give yourself wholy unto Him. Fast media for this year and see if the Lord doesn't reward you. Remove yourself from distraction, live simply and see if the Lord doesn't come near is made manifest in your life ever more. He desires you and longs for me in an intense way, and He is declaring war against the worthless, dead idols that have stolen our hearts for way too long.

"But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing." -Ezekiel 16:15

Nahum declares severe judgement over Nineveh, "all because of the many harlotries of the harlot." (Nah 3:4)

Wholeness as the worst enemy

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."


So often, wholeness, the very reason we come to the Lord, becomes our greatest enemy. As human beings, I've noticed a trend, where we come to know, to serve and to surrender to Jesus in our pursuit of wholeness. When we first come to know Him our entire lives are broken, empty and fallen apart. And much like in Psalm 34:4, we find that we seek Him and He delivers us from all our fears; we become whole. Which is a good thing if we remain an attitude and a heart of brokeness before Him, understanding that He alone is the one who saves, restores and brings any good thing unto us. But, all too often, what happens is we begin to boast upon our wholeness and in declaring our testimonies, we lose our reverent, wanting heart and begin to stand on our own two feet. I am beginning to understand why God sometimes doesn't answer our prayer and leaves a "thorn on our side" so to speak. Though His desire is that we know fullness and wholeness in Him, our incredibly selfish nature prevents us from doing so, and therefore He witholds of Himself to the purpose of a hungry and seeking heart for man. But what about those who have already stopped being brokenhearted, and refuse to be crushed in Spirit? Well the Lord spoke in the Proverbs that He will oppose the proud, which can be translate to destruction, and swift dealing with a heavy hand. Ironically, this produces brokenheartedbess again and a crushing of our spirits. After all, what can be so devastating as the realization that we are not a fraction as whole as we thought we were. It's all His pursuit of us. To show us His unending goodness, He must first break us. It's the beauty of this inside-outside-upside down kingdom. In the meantime, I will use this verse as a prayer point to those close to my heart who have embraces and gripped their illusion of wholeness, while forsaking and letting go of the One who makes whole.