Taking every thought captive. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
What are the most important moments in the life of a growing Christian? Is it a powerful God encounter? Is it a fresh dedication to the purposes of God? Is it when we hear what the spirit is saying to the church?
While these are important, I propose that there is an- other “God moment” that will have a greater effect on our destiny than these. What is it? It’s when we fail or have ex- periences that do not line up with the promises of God.
In that moment, we have a choice. Do we keep our identity (and God’s identity) in His promises, or do we use experience to empower a negative identity for us and for God? We must remember that negative strongholds are created and strengthened when we put our experiences above God’s Word. When failure happens, we must think like this: “I may have sinned, but I am not a sinner. I may have had an accident, but I have a covenant of protection. I may be in lack, but I am a prosperous person. Healing may not have mani- fested, but I am healed and bring healing to others.” I don’t deny my experience, I just don’t create my identify from it. I may need help from others concerning the failure, but I resist the temptation to make negative conclusions from it.,
Today's Tip:
Those who passively rely on experience to identify who they are (and who God is) will greatly limit God in their lives. However, those who seize these crucial moments by taking thoughts captive will powerfully break down restrictive strongholds and enter into their promised land.
Today, Let's Declare...
Declare: I rejoice in apparent times of failure. These are my crucial moments in life. I am who the Bible says I am.
Checklist to Ignite Faith: ___ BR ___ RD ___ DD ___OD ___ NF
This passage makes me think of the song lyrics in Trading My Sorrows. I'm pressed but not crushed, persecuted not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. We are not the mistakes that we make. We're exactly who the Bible says we are and the more we embrace it the more we will feel and see it.
I struggle with this SO much. I feel like a failure pretty much every single day of my life, but thats exactly where Satan wants me. When it comes to my anxiety disorder, I cling to the verse about "taking thoughts captive." I have to practice taking them captive with this as well. Though I feel like a failure, that isn't the lense God sees me with, and I have GOT to grasp this.
What I take away from this is in moments of weakness or failure, sometimes you feel like you let God down so much that He turns his back on you. When in fact, those are the teachable moments when He is there with you more than ever. Your guilt will isolate YOU away from God, not the other way around. Allow the experience to pull you closer to Him, not draw you away. I have had my fair share of defeated moments, where I limit God's love for me. I will be praying for grace on this matter in my life.
Limiting God is what I'm taking from this. Countless times we read of the failures of those in the Bible and watch how long or little of time it takes them to realize His grace in their experience. In the past when I have failed, it was to easy for me to just throw up my hands in defeat and believe that there was no point of return or the road back to recovery was just to long and difficult. My understanding of God and how strong, compassionate and all knowing that He is, was limited. I still may have difficult times in these areas, but I pray that I can be encouraged in a better understanding of who…
One bad experience on top of another and soon we can find ourselves believing that they define us. Tearing down the strongholds of our experiences liberate us to the goodness of God and His identity IS freedom!