this week we did ancestral sins. i've always been aware of generational curses and the Bible mentioning "sins of the the fathers", but call me crazy, i never realized how SERIOUS God is about ancestral sin!
God is serious about this subject! i'm not going to type out my defense, because i know it to be true, but so many times in the Bible, God addresses this subject. our supervisor shared many stories, but one of them was about a women who had trouble stealing, and that was linked to one of her parents being in an occult or doing occult like things. the sins we deal with now, may not be the exact sins of our ancestors, BUT we cannot rule out that what we deal with daily could be a generational curse. i have also never fully comprehended that, with JESUS, we have the power and authority to claim legal ground back from satan that he took from our ancestors. the ground that he had with them, we can claim back in the name of Jesus!
there is a great chance that the sins you deal with today could be linked to your ancestors. my prayers for a family member have been powerful lately. its been so wonderful to be reminded of the legal ground we can claim back in the name of JESUS!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
{breaking free-wk 2}
right now i have every reason to be joyful, but gosh...satan does not want that.
what i learned at the class this week:
-satan needs permission to work in our lives. sometimes, that permission comes from our own free will
-we as Christians come to Christ with a lot of baggage, which leads to bondage if not dealt with
-we need to make sure that our relationship with Christ is experiential, not just theological
-idolatry is anything we depend on to bring good into our lives, besides depending on God to bring the good (aka rabbits foot, crystals..etc)
-in order to have authority over satan, we need to know our position with Christ
-"we are walking landfills of lies that we believe"
-"how did i get here? by 1 false belief and 1 bad decision at a time"
this scripture has been my safety net this week:
what i learned at the class this week:
-satan needs permission to work in our lives. sometimes, that permission comes from our own free will
-we as Christians come to Christ with a lot of baggage, which leads to bondage if not dealt with
-we need to make sure that our relationship with Christ is experiential, not just theological
-idolatry is anything we depend on to bring good into our lives, besides depending on God to bring the good (aka rabbits foot, crystals..etc)
-in order to have authority over satan, we need to know our position with Christ
-"we are walking landfills of lies that we believe"
-"how did i get here? by 1 false belief and 1 bad decision at a time"
this scripture has been my safety net this week:
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
{the degree to which i believe and act on a lie about God
or about myself, is the degree to which satan has
some control over me}
{sara}
Friday, January 18, 2013
{breaking free-wk 1}
i'm taking a "breaking free 101" class at Vineyard. and i'm sure there will be weeks i dont want to share about, but this first week blew me out of the water.
i have always been very aware of spiritual warfare. and many of my friends and family have not. which is fine, but the older i get, i wonder what it will take to make them realize how REAL and ACTIVE the spiritual world is.
here are a few points that blew me away in the class. pretty sure i yelled out "YES! so true!". to have these as bullet points made me so excited. here they are:
- This is a God-created world. God stustained world. If we do things God's way in God's world, God will be responsible for the results. If we do things our way, we have to be responsible for the results.
- People may not live what they say they believe; they will always live what they really believe. Therefore, if you want to change the way a person lives, you have to change what they believe.
- Satan's primary tactic is deception. He tries to cause us to believe lies--especially about God and who we are as the children of God.
- People are not the victim of their circumstances, but they may be the victim of their perception of their circumstances.
- In order to chang the way a person feels about his/her circumstances, lies must be replaced with truth, and that truth is most effectively communicated by God Himself. It is the TRUTH that sets us free.
- The Christian life is the exciting adventure of trying to keep your balance. (submitting to God, resisting satan- James 4:7-8)
the scary thing is, is that over the next 10 weeks i'm going to be realizing the lies that i am believing. is my life balanced? am i resisting the devil as much as much as i can? what lies are holding me back?
i was reminded that satan likes extremes. he likes to distort the middle/happy/GOOD stuff. some people i know make God out to be the "evil" one. that scares me.
even as Christians, we can give satan permission to do his work in our lives. which is making me extra cautious from here on out.
{sara}
i have always been very aware of spiritual warfare. and many of my friends and family have not. which is fine, but the older i get, i wonder what it will take to make them realize how REAL and ACTIVE the spiritual world is.
here are a few points that blew me away in the class. pretty sure i yelled out "YES! so true!". to have these as bullet points made me so excited. here they are:
- This is a God-created world. God stustained world. If we do things God's way in God's world, God will be responsible for the results. If we do things our way, we have to be responsible for the results.
- People may not live what they say they believe; they will always live what they really believe. Therefore, if you want to change the way a person lives, you have to change what they believe.
- Satan's primary tactic is deception. He tries to cause us to believe lies--especially about God and who we are as the children of God.
- People are not the victim of their circumstances, but they may be the victim of their perception of their circumstances.
- In order to chang the way a person feels about his/her circumstances, lies must be replaced with truth, and that truth is most effectively communicated by God Himself. It is the TRUTH that sets us free.
- The Christian life is the exciting adventure of trying to keep your balance. (submitting to God, resisting satan- James 4:7-8)
the scary thing is, is that over the next 10 weeks i'm going to be realizing the lies that i am believing. is my life balanced? am i resisting the devil as much as much as i can? what lies are holding me back?
i was reminded that satan likes extremes. he likes to distort the middle/happy/GOOD stuff. some people i know make God out to be the "evil" one. that scares me.
even as Christians, we can give satan permission to do his work in our lives. which is making me extra cautious from here on out.
what lies are satan telling us? and what are we believing?
how much work is satan doing in our lives?
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
{like a tree}
"but blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. it does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
{jeremiah 17:7-8}
only 9 days into 2013 and i can already tell you that this year is going to be a year of major spiritual growth for me. major offerings, a breaking free class and job changes seem to be things that can either put a damper on my heart, OR things that i can allow God to use to chisel me. which is really hard to admit. and say out loud like i am now as i type this.
chisel me.
it hurts just to say it. im stepping up. my job as a child of God is only going to become more serious this year. and honestly, i'm terrified! but this is why i love the verses above. its really a simple equation, that is really hard to make my life equation.
Jesus loves me
I love Jesus
Jesus has promises for me
Jesus does not lie
Jesus fulfills His promises
hard part!! I need to allow Jesus to do just that!
i cannot fear when heat comes. i cannot worry. i cannot stray from my Jesus. i need to cling more than ever.
the song that i have been singing lately is "beautiful things" by gungor. especially the phrase, "you make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust. you make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us"
here is the video: {beautiful things}
may you know Jesus' love for YOU.
may you know that He wants to fulfill His promises in YOUR life.
cheers to 2013 and loving Jesus better!
{sara}
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