have you ever had your character attacked? slandered even?
i think about that sweet scene in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe when the three siblings are standing before Aslan and are pleading Edmund's life. and Aslan so tenderly says "betrayal of family is of the hardest kind."
Jesus said that from our lips comes life and death. we have the power to build someone up and breathe life into them with our words, or we can continually to destroy them. it was He who literally spoke the world into life. Spirit is life.
what kind of life are you speaking?
encourage one another.
mothers, encourage new mothers. they are nervous and insecure with such a huge new job. and they are wanting to know that someone is proud of them. encourage them. don't tell them that their post-baby emotions are psychotic or that they need anti-depressants. hold them when they cry and pray with them and speak their destiny of motherhood back into them. be the life-giver that Jesus has created you to be. you may never realize how much your one comment saying "i am so proud of you" could impact a new mommy's tender heart.
because mothers need courage. courage of all kinds, for all seasons. so they need their sisters and other fellow mothers to stand with them. NOT against them.
and family, be kind to one another. rebuke with love and truth and grace. for goodness sakes, stop being so stubborn and angry and vengeful. we haven't the time to spend being so angry. elders, have grace for the youth and teach them the way. don't judge them of their anger, but show them that they are still worthy of love even if their parents' marriage didn't work. TELL them that you are proud of them, even if they are acting ungodly. it is likely that they don't know how to respond to the brokenness of their parents' marriage. and your shunning them just validates the reason why they don't respect the elders of the family.
remember what the Lord has said - that there is a time for everything. a season for all things.
so be slow to speak and slow to anger. the time may not be yours, yet, for speaking.
be gentle with your words and let them be full of Life.
and guard your hearts. oh sweet ones, don't be afraid. but guard your hearts and dig into the Promises of our Lord. and be ready to hold up your sword from time-to-time when the enemy raises his. but remember, his can't break the Lord's.
ask the Lord to show you where your enemy's weaknesses are. not to prey upon them, but to pray for them. it is likely that the one who is most unkind to you, who has attacked your character and the very essence of your soul, is lashing out at you out of a place of lack. not abundance.
because i know.
i know what it's like to have family take your name, devour it, and spit on it and then have no one stick up for you. it's then, in those moments of unbelief, that you deny the liar the right to advance another step. they were never granted permission to kill, steal and destroy.
remember to stand firm. that your walking this life out in love, with a repentant heart, will not be in vain. (1cor 15:58)
i pray for all of God's children who are in a season of change, who are in a position of vulnerability, that you would be knitted in tightly to the Body so that the lies of the enemy would be quickly extinguished with the Truth of the Word. Father, I ask that you pour light onto the liar and cause lying words to fall upon deaf ears so that they never take root into the hearts of Your people. i ask for a flooding of your grace and love to Your children who are deceived and perceive life to be less than your full Promises and that you would draw them so near to you that the idea of being unkind and deceitful would be a foreign process to them. Father, i ask that you protect your children - especially mothers - and teach them the full depth of your love for their ministry. in Jesus' name, amen.
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I pray that this video would stir up your spirit woman and bring you back to the place of confidence knowing how indescribably awesome our Jesus is!
