Thursday, December 28, 2017

"You are going to die today." NOT!

"You are going to die today." Those were the first words I heard upon waking up the morning that my wife and I were to head down to northeastern Atlanta to visit her family for Christmas. Oh yeah..... I did not actually hear this with my ears but that is what I heard in my head. So, I got up and went next door to the "prayer room" which once was a spare bedroom and is now a space dedicated to hang out with the Lord. I sit in one chair and my dog sits in the other.

I began to pray about whether what I had heard was from the Lord or not and I clearly got the response that it was the voice of the enemy NOT the voice of Jesus. Whew! I thought so but wanted to check nonetheless. If hearing from the Lord is not a something you are in tune with yet, I will recommend a couple of books** at the end of this blog post. Jesus said that His sheep (anyone that has invited Him into their heart) would know His voice (read John 10) and I believe that prayer is intended to be a two-way conversation, not just a relating of our prayer shopping list.

My wife and I prayed before we left our home, that the Lord would post holy, warring angels around our property to protect the contents but especially the cats (our dog got to go with us). Included in the content of that prayer was that we would arrive safely and without incident. As an added precaution, I asked a couple of friends to pray for our safety too. Once on the road, I told my wife what had happened earlier that morning. We had a great day traveling down to Atlanta and we always enjoy time in the car to talk and brainstorm.

But here is where this gets a little more weird or maybe this is already too weird for you?! Please hang with me a little while longer. Even though the taunt that I heard earlier was probably an attack to make me fearful, the more I thought about it the more excited I got. First of all, I had absolutely no fear about heading out of town and even though the enemy wanted to distract me from my game, I had even more confidence about leaving and going on the trip. The more I realized that I had no fear about whether I would actually die, the more empowered I felt.  Driving to Atlanta is one thing, but where you really risk your life is when you wander onto I-285. The chances of losing your life certainly increases! Also, I had total confidence that if I was to meet up with a proverbial Mack truck, I knew where I would wake up. "I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Now you can know you have life that lasts forever." I John 5;13 NLT

Next, I began to think of all the good things that have happened this past year in 2017 and questioned how I would feel about it if I actually did lose my life that day. I felt pretty good about the fruit (and the challenges) from the past year but it made me even more excited about the upcoming year of 2018. The Lord had done some really amazing things and He even let me participate in it a lot. I got to see and experience some really cool stuff.

So what about you? Do you struggle with fear? How do you respond when the enemy is taunting you or lying to you? Have you ever taken the time to categorize all the voices in your head? Yes, it is intended as a serious question! What is the source of what you hear? How do you combat the lies of the enemy? How do you test whether what you hear is correct or not? What kind of emotion does it conjure up at the thought of today being your last day on earth?

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 NIV

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

*There are a lot of good books on this topic and while I have read many of them, here are a few of my favorites: "Hearing God" by Dallas Willard, "Hearing God in Conversation" by Sam Williamson, "Extreme Sheep" by Timothy Jones. There are even special ones just for kids that are really great too.