The Warrior Bride with the Heart of a Child

When I was born, my parents called me Wendy, because they wanted me to always have the heart of a child. Their rabbi called me “Devorah” because he wanted me to be like Devorah in the Bible, a judge/prophet/warrior,  a “mother of Israel.” Both names imprinted me. I have the joy, celebration and freedom of a child, AND I have the heart of a warrior bride.  Praise God! A friend recently challenged me to write a post from “the heart of Deborah.”  Here it is.  I pray you enjoy it!  Shalom!

Praying …

Dear Lord, thank you for helping us, as individuals and as a species, go to the very roots of our issues where damaging problems were first born, where challenges to your name and your truth first emerged. Thank you for helping us erase those influences from their very foundations. Amen 

God Sets-up His Playing Field …

Yesterday, I was challenged. Something happened that triggered a string of memories back into my early childhood. As I enjoyed my day, I still held its pain firmly, but lightly, in my hands, waiting for the night when I could hand it fully back to the Lord. During the night, God worked through the issue with me. Much of the work was painful, but God gradually broke the entire structure apart, back to its infancy, until nothing of it remained. In the morning, I repented of a number of things, forgave a number of people, and it was gone. God’s spirit, God’s love, God‘s presence, God‘s truth, took its place, a manifestation of Jesus’s/Yeshua’s victory for me at the cross. And as I gained the victory, my “no” became “no” and my “yes” became “yes.”  The issue could no longer breach my choice.

But why, if Jesus/Yeshua “finished” the work upon the cross, did I need to gain the victory? And what does that have to do with the state of the world today?

God’s Scripture, His Story, explains it all.  We’re all on His playing field. (For instagram … click to continue …)

God Trains His Players

When God gave the Israelites the Promised Land, in Joshua 1, He told them that every place they stepped was theirs. He was giving it to them. Then, He commissioned them to go in and conquer the Land.  (Are you catching the oxymoron? Why would somebody have to fight for what they have alreadynbeen given?) Likewise, when Yeshua won His victory over satan upon the cross, He gave believers the Promised Land of His Spirit.  Afterwards, they/we have learned how necessary it is to “fight the good fight” for our God-given promises.  Our salvation is free, but our sanctification costs us everything. Every place we step in the LORD is ours, but God has shown us we must defend the Land to receive it.  We must learn to steward it well.  Why?

It’s like giving a child a pony, then telling them they can’t ride it till they’ve learned the skills to care for it. Then later, if they misuse the animal, taking it back from them until they’ve corrected their ways. Or giving a child a bank account, but not giving them access to it until they know how to steward their money.

The Israelites needed to learn to both obey and be strong, to be completely submissive and valiant, to both trust the LORD and themselves in the LORD. They never conquered all their God-given land, they never became completely obedient upon God, and their faith often faltered, but David and Solomon came closest both in acquiring the Land and standing in faith.

What maturity are we needing in the LORD to come out from under all demonic interference, and live fully within Yeshua’s Gift to us upon the Cross? As Christ’s Body, under “His Headship,” what He purchased is ours as much as it is His, but we do not reflect that truth. Similarly, if a part of my body does not live according to “my headship,” it will not reflect my health.  It will create chaos in my body, and the gifts “I” want to give it will be wasted.

So … how much are we willing to surrender to God? How obedient and submissive and trusting are we willing to be? How strong and valiant and confident within Christ are we choosing to be? Yeshua completed his entire work upon the Cross. He ate the whole enchilada. Nothing was lost. It is time for Him to see the full manifestation of His finished work. It is time for our “not yet” is becoming our “now.”  That is what this current moment is all about.

Game Time: Game On 

The enemy is on the battlefield.  Multiple Goliaths, each more deadly than the next, are staring us down. We are grasshoppers compared with them. If we fight from our own strength, from mixture, part us and part God, we will fail. If we use God’s weapons, and fight within God’s Grace, we will win. 

How do we do that? What are our stones of faith? In my own life, I need to surrender my entire game to the living God, down to my very core, to win my spiritual battles.  As Christ’s Body, we need to do the exact same thing: surrender our entire game to the Living God, down to our very core in Adam and Eve, to win this spiritual war. That will remove all fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, eradicating all levels of demonic interference from our lives. What impact will that have upon the earth? Taste and see that the LORD is good! 

Let’s commit to it! Let’s ask God to help us keep our commitment! Our five stones of grace are faith, faith, faith, faith, and faith. Our slingshot is knowing the One God sent.  Our straight shot is our willingness to surrender our lives and our deaths to Christ.

When we fight from the surface, fighting over issues, fighting against flesh and blood, we miss the principalities in high places.  We attack the wrong target. We die for lack of knowledge, and we wilt for lack of faith. But the potential for victory is there… 

When we fight from the depths of who we are in Christ, we win. Our cue cards are submission, faith, trust, joy, celebration, love, tenacity, courage, peace, truth, righteousness, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, a sound mind, self-sacrifice, goodness, kindness, gentleness, laughter, not-counting-our-lives-even-unto-death, plus, plus, plus. The One who created everything is counting on us, and so is the world. There is only One God, and there is only One Truth. We stand with Him, in Him, for Him, and through Him.

Game Won

Dear Lord, we fight with you, from Your Victory to our victory, and we declare that we are learning Your Lessons with eager, open, hearts, minds, souls and spirits, and the truth of Your Victory is already within us.  Thank YOU, LORD GOD, for giving us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to know what You are doing, and to partner with You in that.  We trust You fully with the world, and acknowledge Your Victory in all the High Places, and everywhere on earth.  Have your complete way with all the earth, the seas, the skies, and every single thing, no matter how small or large, no matter how intelligent or not, that dwells on earth or in the heavens. In Yeshua’s Holy Name I pray!  Amen and amen.