The Law of Opposition
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7
Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life.
Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health.
The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought.
Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.
And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation . . .” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “. . . but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.
Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.
Ok, this spoke to my heart in a big way this morning! I feel like all I have been doing the last couple of weeks is battling the “Law of Opposition”!! Physically I am fighting to recover from the crud, trying to figure out how much I should work out to keep from relapsing, trying to balance my eating so that during this down time I am not over-eating and gaining…
Morally I don’t struggle so much, but mentally the battle rages night and day! I guess that could also be considered “spiritual battle” since the enemy is constantly challenging my thoughts on my marriage, children, ministry and situation.
Thank you Jesus that you have “overcome the world”! Help me Lord to “learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness”… so that it will become a delight to meet opposition.
10:45pm – The Lord is so faithful to answer our prayers!! I continued to struggle today with these stupid mental battles and I kept thinking I needed to talk with Tom about what a lame husband he has been lately (the distorted views projected by the enemy). I have a habit of isolating and avoiding him when I struggle which does not help matters. Tonight my group didn’t meet and Tom’s meeting canceled so I asked him if we could spend some time together.
But, before that, I picked up a book that L showed me a week or so ago by Beth Moore called Praying God’s Word. I started reading it tonight while Tom was working on something and I felt like the Holy Spirit led me to it because I was reading exactly what I needed to hear. It is so sad that you can “know” something and “teach” something but not necessarily be able to apply it to your own life on a consistent basis.
Beth was talking about the full armor of God and how all but one piece of the armor was “defensive” in nature. The one “offensive” weapon the Lord gives us is the “Word” of God, but she notes that 2 Corinthians 10:3 states that we have “weapons” of warfare, and then points out that the scripture right after listing the armor says that we should “pray in the Spirit on all occasions…”
Ephesians 6:17–18 – “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
So, our weapons are the Word and Prayer, and she likens them to sticks of dynamite (to demolish strongholds in our lives). When two sticks of dynamite are wrapped together they are more powerful than two placed in separate places.
This seems so silly because I already “know” these things, but tonight the Holy Spirit showed me that I was not applying the information to myself and using the weapons properly. I have been praying A LOT and repeating scriptures that I know, but I have not been praying the WORD. Thank you Jesus for helping me in this daily battle in so many ways! Not only do you supply the weapons, you give me the strength to use them and Your Holy Spirit guides and teaches me when I forget. I feel so lame!!
Anyway, I ended up emotionally and spiritually throwing up all over Tom tonight, but I feel so much better :) I told him that I really needed his prayers and support to help me get through this battle, so he prayed for me and we spent more time reading and praying God’s Word. Thank you Lord for being so faithful even when I am so weak and pathetic. Father, please forgive my arrogance, pride and self-idolizing and help me to be more like you. Holy Spirit thank you for your guidance, encouragement and strength to do the will of my Father. In Jesus name, amen.
Here are a couple prayers from Beth’s book that I combined:
"Father, I acknowledge that You are the Lord Almighty. You are the first and You are the last, and apart from You there is no other God. Make me witness to the fact that there is no other Rock but you. Enable me to say with full assurance, ‘I know not one.’ (Isa. 44:6, 8) You are my Lord, my Holy One, my Creator, my King. You are the One who made a way through the sea, a path through mighty waters. (Isa. 43:15–16) My Father, You are the Lord my God. I desire to love you, listen to Your voice, and hold fast to You, for You Lord are my life."
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