Greater is He who is in me, than he that is the World!

I am so angry right now. I hate seeing the devil move and work in and around God's beloved and my beloved. In the midst of our troubles and the storms, we need to remember that God is in control as long as we GIVE HIM control of our hearts, our minds, and our souls. He is Lord. We must abide in Him. We will only walk and live in peace, and be able to eat at a table in front our our enemies with ease, if we trust Him. The devil gets entry into our lives by distracting us, by dividing us which leads to our destruction. Here's something we forget in our terror and our fear. The devil is someone who has been kicked out of heaven. The devil is someone who does not own the keys to his own house. Jesus, before his resurrection took the keys of sin and death from Satan. The devil is toothless and mute...if we invoke our authority over him. Because of the resurrection of Christ, we are joint-heirs with Him. He has given to us all authority in Heaven and Earth, in His name. What does this mean for me and for you? It means EVERYTHING. Besides the ultimate gift of Salvation and an eternity of love and peace and Oneness with God, we also have here and now have the ability to experience God's love, His peace here on earth. It also means we do not have to take the devil's crap and we can shut him up.

In the name of Jesus, we can tell the devil and his minions to get out, to shut up and to leave us alone. We do not have to listen to the poison he pours into our ears. We do not have to act on the fear and confusion he tries to distract us with. We keep our eyes fixed on the mark of our higher calling. We confess our sins. We praise God for all He has done for us, and the work He is continuing to do in us. We give Him control. We give Him the glory. We praise Him for all of it. Remembering, that the devil is nothing. This world is nothing. It is only a shadow land.

Ephesians 6:10-18

¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹²For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Be encouraged. Don't listen to poison. Tune your ear to the Lord. Stay strong. Push back. Don't take the crap the devil is trying to dish out.

Yours in His strength,

Miss M.

Let them eat Poison...said the Devil!!!

There is a surge in my spirit these days. My spirit glows hot with the Holy Spirit. All these trials of 2010 have tempered me, shaped me, pruned me. Oh, the pruning. It's not pleasant, but the end result is for God's glory, and isn't that what we are here to be and to show? It's all for Him. I thank God for the work He is doing in my life, and I thank Him for the Grace He has provided while waiting for the total surrender of my heart. Have I gotten there? I really have no idea. I thought I was there before, but then the great renovation of 2010 happened, and God showed me places where I wasn't 100% giving up control to Him.

That's the funny thing about surrender. We fight it because we are afraid of the loss of control and because God might take something away from us. We are afraid of the unknown. What is really sad, is that this is a lie straight from the pit of hell. Yes, God might ask you to give up spiritual arsenic. What's so terrible about that?? It's a new way of thinking. God only wants what is the absolute best for us. He wants to give us the first fruits. He wants us whole and truly complete in Him. However, we insist on taking the rotten fruit and stand firm in thinking it's awesome. We continually eat poison and tell ourselves that it's healthy. What a lie. What a distortion of what is truly real.

So, we fight. We resist. We hold fast to our rotten and poisonous ways, and all the while God is standing there, hands held out with the most amazing scrumptious food and we resist it. Sometimes we are really stupid. I mean stooooopid. When it is broken down to us first grade style, then we see the ridiculousness of the true reality.

So, I exhort myself and you. Give up the poison. Give up sin. Give up rebellion. Oh, what? You don't think you are being rebellious? Au contraire. Read Deuteronomy 11 and then search your heart again. It's a commandment from God. Love Him and serve Him with ALL your heart. ALL. That means everything...not just what you feel like giving up to Him. He wants the whole, not the part.

Ask God to search your heart and reveal to you the places where you have not given Him access and control. Repent...knowing that repentance means turning away from. Ask the Holy Spirit to make your soul good soil so that the fruits of the Spirit can bloom and grow in your heart.

If you do this, then you are giving up the rotten and the poison and are being GIVEN the best and the healthy. God removes things from us, so He can restore us to how He intended us to be in the first place, and to give us good gifts.

So, relax. Sit back. Surrender. Enjoy the Good life!

Yours in surrender,

Miss M.

Without Resolution

Each year, the only resolution I make is to not make a resolution. I feel that resolutions are a little trite, and making them generally just sets you up for failure. Over the years, I do have a pattern that I do follow. I have a prayer for the coming year. Depending on how this blog turns out, there may be a prayer yet to come. I'm just winging it...oh wait, that's what I always do when it comes to writing. Open computer, start typing. I don't exactly, put together outlines or thoughts. It's more stream of consciousness than anything. So I'm sitting here with a stuffy head and a swollen throat. Way to ring in the New Year, I grumble...and then, I think. Hmmm. That's weird. I want my head to be stuffy...with the Word of the Lord. I want my throat to be swollen from speaking His words. I want to ache all over for His righteousness. I want to be desperate to blow out of my own self will and to drink in the Holy Spirit. Out with the virus of self control and in with the vitamins of the Fruits of the Spirit. Only my mind would correlate God and a cold. In the old days, I would apologize for my weirdness, but I am very confident that God made me this way. For what purpose? Who knows. I sure don't, but I don't care anymore!!

The word that God is breathing into my spirit is "present". In the past, I have over-thought every decision, over-analyzed each move, and tried to think 5 steps ahead. However, God has shown me, this is my way of trying to control. Even if I am praying over things, in a way that's control. Let me keep praying. Let me keep doing. Let me keep...I see you have probably noticed the possessive in those sentences. Me. Me. Me.

I am in no way saying we should not pray, we should not seek, and we should not ask. What I am saying, is that God showed me that I was trying to do it all. Works, even in His name, are still works. God is calling me to be present. To present my requests to Him, to talk to Him, and then, shut up and just exist in each moment. He doesn't want me running ahead. He doesn't want me lagging behind. He wants me right there, beside Him.

The supposition I was working under was that I WAS doing the right thing, but asking to follow God. However, He was telling me, follow me, always, but also, have faith, when you don't see me in front of you. Trust me and walk beside me. Beside??? Really??? What if I go in the wrong direction, what if I go left and you go right?? Beside? No. You go first, I will follow. He gently told me, no. Beside, for now. In this season. Listen well. Attune your ear to my words, and to my pacing. Be aware every moment. Be awake. Be present. It's a leap of faith to be present. To let go, and to just revel in each moment, minute by minute. It also requires the utmost God control. Allow Him full control over my body, soul, mind, spirit...and mouth!!

So, as I sit here as my natural body is fighting off this virus, my prayer is that my supernatural body fights off the virus of self-control.

Dear Lord, as I sit beside you, and lean against you, may your strength seep into the very marrow of my bones. Father God I ask that you meld your will to mine. I ask that you search me deeply, leave nothing overlooked. I give you full access into every part of me. If there is something that is impeding your ability to work fully in me, remove it. Bring it to my attention so that I may repent and draw closer to you. Holy Spirit, till the soil of my spirit, so that your Fruits grow and bloom in a bumper crop. Let me be good soil for your Word. Father God put a watchman on my lips so that the words that come our are Life giving. I ask, Jesus, that you permeate every part of me. I thank you for the work you have done in my life, and for the work you are doing. I look forward to looking backward at the end of the year to see how you have walked me through what is to come. I trust you and I know you love me and want only the very best for me. I ask that I accept with Joy whatever you have in store. In Jesus name I pray, amen.