My relationship with the Lord...
There are times when I am so close that excitement fills my soul! Every thing I hear and read touches me so deeply that at times I feel like I might explode! My soul is so full that I want to tell everyone! I send e-mails telling about all the good things He is doing and write posts of what the Lord is talking to me about. In those times I can't get enough of anything having to do with the Lord! Overpowering love and excitement seem to fill the air! That's when I am fully and totally engaged. And that's where I am now...Fully engaged and excited about everything the Lord has done and everything I'm believing that He is going to do. Not just for me but for others in my life that need His touch today!
But...there are the times when I'm barely hanging on. I feel as if I'm on the edge of a cliff flailing about trying to keep my balance so I don't go over. There isn't any excitement when I think about the Lord...nothing seems to get through to me. My soul is empty. The walls go up and I don't talk to the people that mean so much to me. As for writing...a numbness fills my soul as well as my thoughts. Nothingness is all I have. Discouragement...
These are tactics of battle...spiritual battle...a ploy from satan himself. He wants to get us down and keep us down. He doesn't want us to feel excitement and joy from the Lord. NO! Satan wants us to feel emptiness and numb! He tries to keep us from engaging because he knows if we do that he will lose us.
I've thought a lot about this lately because I seem to be on the edge...just barely reaching in...a lot more than I should be. We all have times of discouragement but we aren't supposed to live there. When things are going bad for us we need to press in and engage more than when things are going great!
I can relate this to being blind. Not blindness of the eyes but...for me...a blindness of my soul and mind. Blinders...or walls...go up around me and I can't seem to feel or hear anything good that the Lord wants me too. When this happens I need to do something different before the numbness sets in. There is a story in the Bible that comes to mind...
Mark 10:46-52
New Living Translation (NLT)
Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus
46 Then
they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large
crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus)
was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.
Bartimaeus was blind but he knew that Jesus could heal him. When he cried out to Jesus what did Jesus ask him? "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus told Jesus he wanted to see! He had faith to believe that Jesus could make him whole. And instantly...he could see!
Isn't that how we should be? We don't have to be physically blind to call out to Jesus! For me...
Blindness of soul and mind is worse than a physical sickness. I know what it feels like to be made whole by Jesus. I know what it feels like to have Him touch me...clear to my soul...and heal me of things I never thought would be okay again! I also know what it feels like to be on the edge...afraid I'm going to go over. Because of this I have decided to call out to Jesus...to have the faith of Bartimaeus...whenever I feel the battle start to begin. Stop satan in his tracks before he has the chance to start pushing me off balance.
Fully engaged for Jesus and because of Jesus...that's how I want to live my life. Jesus is coming back soon. We don't have time to waste flailing about on the edges of our relationship with the Lord. We want to be as close as we can be. Living our lives fully engaged and devoted to the Lord doing what ever it is He wants us to do to further His kingdom.
How about you? Are you fully engaged today...despite the circumstances that you may find your self in? If not...there is no better time to get that way. Don't let satan win the spiritual battle. Have faith and call out to Jesus like blind Bartimaeus did for healing.
2 comments:
I, too, want to be fully engaged, always pressing in to His presence. I guess we can't live on the mountaintop, but I want the mindset that experiences His presence as strong in the valleys as I do on the mountaintop. I don't ever want loss of vision to be a hindering in my relationship. Many blessings!
Hi Chelle,
I know what you are going through, I too go through this and when it hits me I just want to crawl away into a deep, dark hole and sit.
Darkness cannot survive in the light, it just can't exists. When we come into the light of other believers and share the darkness burns away. It's hard but so worthwhile.
Last week, Satan threw an evil attack at me and I couldn't handle it. I jumped into my truck and drove away and cried. My husband was out of province at the time so I called him and he calmed me down and told me to go to our accountability partners and get prayed over. I didn't want to do this at all, thinking oh everyone will point fingers at me, yet I knew this was the only way to be freed from this attack. As soon as Grandma L started praying I felt release and saw the attack very clearly. There was no blame, only a clearer vision into how Satan will attack us.
Jesus is coming soon. Praise His name! Satan will do anything to knock us down and if he can trick us into silence or discourage us into depression he will do it. There is great wisdom in Scripture.
John 3:19-21
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
If under a satanic attack, which in these days I would say most Christians are, then run into the light, prayer, accountability partners and Satan must flee. He cannot stay, but when we hide then he festers his talons into us and the poison seeps in even deeper.
Blessings hon. We need to stick close together during these dark days.
<><
Post a Comment