Power in Humility

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭10:3‭-‬4‬ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

Last week I was praying that the Lord would work in the life of someone close to me when I stopped and realized that it's not my place to point out the faults of others to God and ask Him to fix them.  I need to focus my attention on what I need to do to be the woman God wants me to be regardless of how the people around me are living.  I've adjusted my prayer life to only ask God to protect those around me and to show me how to be His servant in every circumstance.   I pray He will show me how to love, comfort,  help, obey, serve others, pray... in His way - not mine.  And I leave the work He is doing in the lives of others to His wisdom and in His capable hands.

And as a seemingly unrelated theme but not really, there has been troubling, open demonic activity recently in someone one of our children knows and it is something the school is struggling to understand and deal with.  I was reminded of the story in the Bible of the demon that the disciples couldn't cast out -  only Jesus could.  He said that the reason was that kind could only be cast out through prayer and fasting which was obviously something that was His habit - and should be ours too.  Do we regularly fast and pray for our our spouses, children, schools,  churches,  leaders, etc?  Probably not.  I am convicted by this.  Going without food is hard - but if it's to focus our prayers and make them more effective,  we should be willing to commit to fasting for a day and devoting that day to earnest prayer.  Whether obvious or not, demonic activity is going on all around us all the time.  It's important to keep our minds constantly alert and occupied with the Lord.   He is the one who equips us for spiritual battle and we need to take that very seriously. 

We have gotten into this culture of doubting accounts of personal experiences with angels or demons.  We don't see it ourselves so we don't believe it when others DO.  I think the reason we don't see the battle is that we are often ineffective for the Lord - living comfortable lives and avoiding anything that gives the appearance of taking a stand against sin in the world around us out of fear.  We don't pose a threat to the enemy so the enemy doesn't waste resources on us - we're doing a pretty effective job of being ineffective for the Kingdom of God.

I am not advocating for force-feeding our Christian beliefs on our neighbors, co-workers, unbelieving family members, etc. but we shouldn't AVOID spiritual conversations either.  We should express our thoughts and give scriptural opinions where there is a conflict with our faith.  We should not be afraid to respectfully and lovingly take a stand for truth.  We should not be ashamed of Jesus or the gospel message!  ‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭2:15‬ ‭- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

Here's where humility plays an important role.  If we are prideful,  arrogant or selfish, we aren't going to attract anyone to Jesus and no one will want to hear what we have to say.  There's a saying I have often quoted:  "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."  There is so much power in humbling ourselves in the sight of God snd others.  It's like a faith magnet - drawing people to a loving God.  Because when we empty ourselves of pride, it's like cleaning the dirty windows and letting Jesus love shine through us to others.  And THAT'S beautiful and attracts people to us to learn more about the light they see in us.

I finally decided to buy some shirts with verses on them to wear out in public.   I have felt for a long time that the Lord wanted me to take that leap and be a more visible testimony but I was a little afraid to.  Once again though, the Spirit nagged at my heart and wouldn't let the idea fade from the forefront of my mind.  I felt Him reminding me of my commitment to do whatever He asked of me and I was feeling very guilty for not having taken action.   I mean, how hard is it to put a shirt on?  I have Amazon gift cards that have accumulated since last Christmas so I finally decided to buy four "testimony" shirts (as I called them) and I have been excited (not fearful) ever since.  The first one arrived today!  It is pictured above.   It's so fitting that the first one to arrive combines my MS fight with the spiritual fight.  I can't WAIT to wear it grocery shopping and at my son's school!