This morning as I was reading the Word in Leviticus 25, my heart soared from within. In the year of Jubilee, slaves were set free and properties were to revert to the families of their original owners.
I went back to the original text to look deeper into the word Jubilee. It is translated as the following:
Shout or blast of war
Alarm of joy
Alarm of war
Battle cry
Shout of joy
I don’t know about you but this is something that has been stirring deep within my soul for months now. The enemy has made us slaves to lies, fears, doubts and he has stolen many things from us including finances, family members, joy, peace, direction in the call of our life and the list goes on.
I believe it is time to sound the alarm of war, the alarm of joy, the battle cry from deep within our soul that for each of us, it is the Year of Jubilee where we are set free from the bonds of slavery and we are taking back what the enemy has stolen from us.
It is time for us to shout our battle cry to let the enemy know that we are not going to stand any longer for his lies and deception. It is time to sound the alarm that we are going to walk in the call that God Almighty has for us and nothing that the enemy throws at us will distract us from moving forward.
It is time to break out of depression and shout forth words of joy. It is time for John 8:32 to come to pass “Then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Dear warriors sound the alarm that this is your year of Jubilee and walk in it!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Identity by Kim Checkeye
Yesterday my Pastor preached an amazing sermon and it was a life changing message for those who had ears to hear.
As he preached from his heart, it reminded me of a Bible study I wrote many years ago called “Identity in Christ.” Taking in what I learned from my Pastor yesterday, reminding myself of the things I learned while I wrote that Bible study and taking into consideration what I have seen over the past few years, I can’t help but to share some of these things with all of you.
There was one area that Jesus had to continually combat while He walked on this earth. What was that area? His identity. It was something that time and time again He was questioned on.
The first place we see this is when Jesus is lead by the Spirit into the desert. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. At that time, Satan came to Jesus and said “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Next Satan took Jesus to the highest point of the temple and said “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.”
At His weakest moment, the enemy came in and tried to deceive Jesus on His identity.
After this, Jesus began His ministry and we see all types of miracles, signs and wonders. John the Baptist was in prison and he heard all the things that Christ had done so he sent out his disciples to ask Jesus a question. “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Once again Jesus is being questioned about His identity. But this time it was from someone He loved and was a family member on His mother’s side. Even His own family was questioning His identity.
The next time we see this is when He is hanging on the cross. People passing by Him are hurling insults and mocking Him. “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God.” The chief priests, the teachers of law and the elders mocked him by using His own words against Him. They laughed at Him because He claimed to be the Son of God yet God was not rescuing Him from this gruesome death.
As Jesus hung on the cross in pain and agony, the question of His identity continues until His last breath. One of the criminals being crucified next to Him mocked Jesus by saying “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us! Continually, time and time again, Jesus was being questioned about His identity. Even to this day, His identity is still being questioned.
Why is this so important to us? If the enemy tried to make Jesus doubt who He was, he will do it to us. He wants to distract us on who we are in Christ and get us full of pride.
I want to briefly go back to that Bible study I wrote. I went around to a bunch of children and I asked them two questions. The first one was “Who are you?” The second question was “What makes you Emily?” or whatever the child’s name was. Of course each child answered their name for the first question. When I asked the second question each child answered the same way except for one. Their answer was very simple, God.
When I started the Bible study with the group of women that I had come to love and cherish deeply, I had them sit in a circle. I asked them the same two questions, however; their answers to that second question were VERY different. Each woman rattled off what they did for a living, what they did at the church, how many volunteer groups they were involved in, who they were married too etc.
How do we get from that precious innocent answer of a child to some complicated answer based on titles, positions, careers etc.? The answer is quite simple, pride.
Look at Satan. He knows there is one true living God. He knows His son is Jesus Christ. He knows the word of God better than any of us here on earth. However, he allowed pride to completely get in the way and he was thrown out of heaven.
I have seen it time and time again. Someone get so full of pride that their downfall occurs because of their own ego. I have seen pastors, preachers, teachers, gifted worship leaders and the list goes on and on so on fire for God but pride gets in the way and they fall. They allow the enemy to distract them and cause them to doubt where their identity comes from. They begin to forget that who they are is wrapped up in who God is and not what they do. That seed of pride is planted and because it was not dealt with, it grew.
The enemy wanted Jesus to doubt who He was so He would not fulfill the call on His life. The enemy wants to do the same thing to each one of us and his main tactic is pride. Beware. Be combat ready. Recognize when it is pride and kick it out of your heart.
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Proverbs 13:10 “Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.”
Proverbs 21:24 “The proud and arrogant man “Mocker” is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.”
Proverbs 29:23 “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.”
As he preached from his heart, it reminded me of a Bible study I wrote many years ago called “Identity in Christ.” Taking in what I learned from my Pastor yesterday, reminding myself of the things I learned while I wrote that Bible study and taking into consideration what I have seen over the past few years, I can’t help but to share some of these things with all of you.
There was one area that Jesus had to continually combat while He walked on this earth. What was that area? His identity. It was something that time and time again He was questioned on.
The first place we see this is when Jesus is lead by the Spirit into the desert. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. At that time, Satan came to Jesus and said “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Next Satan took Jesus to the highest point of the temple and said “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.”
At His weakest moment, the enemy came in and tried to deceive Jesus on His identity.
After this, Jesus began His ministry and we see all types of miracles, signs and wonders. John the Baptist was in prison and he heard all the things that Christ had done so he sent out his disciples to ask Jesus a question. “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Once again Jesus is being questioned about His identity. But this time it was from someone He loved and was a family member on His mother’s side. Even His own family was questioning His identity.
The next time we see this is when He is hanging on the cross. People passing by Him are hurling insults and mocking Him. “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God.” The chief priests, the teachers of law and the elders mocked him by using His own words against Him. They laughed at Him because He claimed to be the Son of God yet God was not rescuing Him from this gruesome death.
As Jesus hung on the cross in pain and agony, the question of His identity continues until His last breath. One of the criminals being crucified next to Him mocked Jesus by saying “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us! Continually, time and time again, Jesus was being questioned about His identity. Even to this day, His identity is still being questioned.
Why is this so important to us? If the enemy tried to make Jesus doubt who He was, he will do it to us. He wants to distract us on who we are in Christ and get us full of pride.
I want to briefly go back to that Bible study I wrote. I went around to a bunch of children and I asked them two questions. The first one was “Who are you?” The second question was “What makes you Emily?” or whatever the child’s name was. Of course each child answered their name for the first question. When I asked the second question each child answered the same way except for one. Their answer was very simple, God.
When I started the Bible study with the group of women that I had come to love and cherish deeply, I had them sit in a circle. I asked them the same two questions, however; their answers to that second question were VERY different. Each woman rattled off what they did for a living, what they did at the church, how many volunteer groups they were involved in, who they were married too etc.
How do we get from that precious innocent answer of a child to some complicated answer based on titles, positions, careers etc.? The answer is quite simple, pride.
Look at Satan. He knows there is one true living God. He knows His son is Jesus Christ. He knows the word of God better than any of us here on earth. However, he allowed pride to completely get in the way and he was thrown out of heaven.
I have seen it time and time again. Someone get so full of pride that their downfall occurs because of their own ego. I have seen pastors, preachers, teachers, gifted worship leaders and the list goes on and on so on fire for God but pride gets in the way and they fall. They allow the enemy to distract them and cause them to doubt where their identity comes from. They begin to forget that who they are is wrapped up in who God is and not what they do. That seed of pride is planted and because it was not dealt with, it grew.
The enemy wanted Jesus to doubt who He was so He would not fulfill the call on His life. The enemy wants to do the same thing to each one of us and his main tactic is pride. Beware. Be combat ready. Recognize when it is pride and kick it out of your heart.
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Proverbs 13:10 “Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.”
Proverbs 21:24 “The proud and arrogant man “Mocker” is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.”
Proverbs 29:23 “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)