You Shall Know Them by Their Fruits
>> Thursday, September 4, 2008
Eldredge talks about three major "awakingings" - 1) That there is a God, 2) That we have to deal with Him and 3) That Satan exists and we have to deal with him, too. Eldredge asks us to be honest: Have you experienced this third major awakening? Do you factor that into the way that you evaluate yoru daily events? Do you ask your self "what is the fruit of what I am experiencing? What is the effect?"
3 comments:
When I began truely walking with Christ just a couple of years ago...my mentor warned me...warned me that the closer I drew to HIM the more the enemy (Satan) would fight back. I remember thinking....WOW! It was certainly believable, but a little weird.
But it has changed the way I look at my daily life. Just recently when we found out that my husband did not get a promotion I know I was under "spiritual attack." I found myself under a cloud and very discouraged. Everything bothered me...I was not pleasant to be around. My son was acting up more than usual at that time. I was invited to another woman's house, who just so happens to be the wife of a cardio surgeon. Her home was one that many only dream of....I was envious, I was jealous, I was beat down from a week of being terrorized by a two year old!
This was not a coincidence! What saved me was being able to recognize the "fruit." God has another plan for our family....and the job promotion was not in His perfect plan. Satan took the opportunity to try to break me while I was weak.
Immediatly I began praying....praying against the enemies...banishing them from my presence. It took several times of this, but it worked! I am not sure how I would feel right now had I not been able to recognize the work of Satan's hands.
OK - That was weird. I posted something here earlier, but now it is not here. Hopefully I can remember everything that I said before....
I noticed a long time ago that the enemy was real and that I would have to deal with him. I was fearful though, and thougth that if I ignored this realization that I could somehow NOT have to deal with him. That just left me living in fear, which is where the enemy wanted me. So, there I was, living in fear, and running from it, sometimes literally.
As I grew in Christ, I became more of a threat to Satan and the attacks became more evident. At one point my oldes son was having terrible nightmares, along with other things, that made it evident that our family was under attack. The fruit was not of God, fear is not of God.
It wasn't until this point that I had had it. I confided in some friends, who comforted me by telling me and shared similar stories that they had gone through. They talked to me about how to deal with it, but I still lived in fear. Soon after this God spoke to me through a sermon that broght me so much peace. He said that the enemy was already defeated, the only power that he had was power that I was giving him. The full power of Christ lives in me and I have the authority to use it. All I can say is WOW.
I am not going to lie and say that I don't struggle with fear anymore. I do, but I am now better able to recognize the fruit of it and then deal with that fear with the full power of Christ!
I think I'd spent most of my christian life knowing that Satan existed but not really comprehending the battle that wages each second of each day. When we lived in Oklahoma, a good friend kind of "awakened" me to this. I got it a little more then but it wasn't until after my heartquest that I really "got it."
I've mentioned this quest before, but it had such an amazing impact on me that I wanted to share another story from it. After my fast day I was talking with my mentors and they were asking me about fear in my life. They had heard this common thread of fear in a lot of what I was saying. I remember being prone to nightmares and I've been afraid of things most of my life. As I talked with them, they encouraged me to begin praying and asking God to reveal the fear and to get rid of it. They also encouraged me to tell Satan to leave me alone. I must say it was the most powerful prayer I can remember. I started praying very timidly and then I could feel myself getting louder and more intense. By the time I was done I was shaking from the whole experience. I can honestly say that I have much more peace more of the time now. I still struggle but I know that I can call on the name of Jesus and he will rescue me. I love the verse "never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you."
I do have to look at the fruit in my life constantly to see if I am honoring God or if I am being led astry by the enemy. It's an exhausting battle but it always feels so great when there's a victory!
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