battle cry (spoken word)

A gift from the Lord this morning to combat the attacks of the enemy. Thanks for your prayers & encouragement friends!

"I am not a weak-willed woman,
I am a fierce & ferocious woman warrior of God, my King!

I reject the lies & manipulations of the enemy,
I refuse to accept or believe the sly snake's whispers
that I'm worthless, helpless, useless,
forgotten, or abandoned.

See, Christ already paid the price of my sins,
so I'll throw off the harness,
put down the chains of the enemy that he's tricked me into picking up & whipping myself into submissive penance.

The enemy, he wants to crack me, distract me,
erase me, get me to place myself on the bench, out of the game,
away from declaring the Glorious Name of the One who has Saved me!

I say no to his games & throw him down as I turn to the One who is
Higher, Greater, Bigger, Stronger,
Eternal, More Glorious, Magnificent, & Worthy.

The One who calls me
Beloved, Beautiful,
Redeemed, & Radical.

I will take up His yoke because His burden is light,
and fight for His Light to release the chains of the others like me who are stuck in their guilt & shame with the freedom that there is no condemnation for those believing in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I declare His Name on the mountaintops,
in the valleys of complacency,
in a world that's gone to sleep, believing "it's all about me."

I will follow His Name anywhere, whatever battle & fight lies before me,
because the things of this world are empty,
like the promises of fulfillment from a pill, a person, a purchase, an image, or any other created thing you can turn to to numb out the pain & disappointment of this life,
like chaff, it will all...fade...to dust.

And so, I embrace the Truth & the Freedom I have in Christ,
I am not a brain-washed servant, but a gratefully freed captive,
pushing forward in the battle of life to throw off the enemy,
to free & redeem the other captives like me.

Turn your eyes to Christ,
you don't have to sit in your filth & the silt of this life,
there is someone Greater & more Tender than you've ever experienced,
One who will forgive & replace all the wrongs that you've done with His rights.

No good deeds will get you there,
every good thing you can do is like garbage, filthy rags before the King.
But He's made a way to Forgive & Redeem you,
and His Name is Jesus,the One who lived a perfect life to cover for our sins,
& took the beating & punishment we deserved so that we could be...Free.

Now accepted in Him, we are Mighty Sons & Daughters,
not yet perfected, but pushing & pressing onward & upward for the Call of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So I charge you to put down whatever vice you're holding or that's holding you,
and Seek answers from the One who Created All,
because those who Seek Him, Find Him, when they Seek wih all their Heart.

He is King,
He is Redeemer,
He died to Love You.

Amen."

the purpose of sin

Thought I would share a little something with you all that the Lord
gave me today, I hope you will find it encouraging!

I was wrestling with the Lord this morning, asking Him the purpose of
sin (particularly in the life of a believer), and I feel like He gave
me two clear answers:

1. to give us humble hearts of compassion for those who don't know the
Lord (and our brothers and sisters who do).

If even those of us who have been walking with the Lord for decades or
who have been dwelling in the Truth for a seemingly long time are
utterly incapable of going a day without sinning, how can we look down
on others who don't know the Truth in self-righteousness and expect
them not to sin?

The fact is, we are all human, and we will continue to sin and hurt
each other until the return of Christ. This is not a
get-out-of-jail-free card or a license to sin, but a fact that should
keep us humble, compassionate, forgiving, and repentant.

2. to make us ever-increasingly aware of our total dependance upon God
and ever-increasingly grateful for His abounding love and limitless
forgiveness.

Why would our Good, Creator God allow His children to keep sinning
against their God and hurting each other? Why doesn't He just sanctify
us instantly?

He wants us daily dependent on Him; not so that He can play
puppet-master with our lives, or demand our groveling submission, but
to give us a correct view of who He is and of who we are.

The truth is, if we were sinless upon conversion, we wouldn't need
Jesus - we'd all be our own little demi-gods without need of the
atoning work of the blood of Christ. And then, like Lucifer (and Adam
& Eve), we'd throw off the fatherhood of God and declare ourselves
righteous and holy. Our Father is wise, He knows us, and He knows what
is best for us!

The purpose of our sin is not to keep us hiding in shame and
condemnation, but to help us walk in the grateful freedom of
forgiveness, knowing that we could never modify our behavior or
control our sinful natures enough to save ourselves, yet we have the
FREE gift of life and forgiveness in Jesus Christ our Lord! What a
Mighty God we serve!

Praying for each of you, He meets us where we're at.

<3

Cindy