The Holy One calls to me this morning. After a deep wrestle in what I call the “witching hour” of the night, the Holy Spirit calls for an important meeting. The “witching hour” is my title and description of the hour(s) on the clock where every sane person should be deep asleep but instead the enemy starts peddling his trashy lies and the carnal mind seems to be defenseless and most vulnerable.
The Holy One speaks a command I have heard before, “Don’t believe Satan’s lies or even your own eyes, believe only in My Word”.
The devil is a consummate liar. But even more, the devil can orchestrate signs and wonders to support the lies he spews into our lives to challenge and destroy our faith. God’s word says that:
“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders….” 2 Thess 2:8.
This condition is part of the great apostasy and the rise of the Anti-Christ in the world. The apostasy is the falling away or turning away from Truth and should serve as a warning for the Church to beware of progressive ideas that contradict the ancient Scriptures that are the basis of our faith.
My question of the Holy Spirit as I seek His wisdom is “I see that some things in the Word are circular like “without faith it is impossible to please you”, but then I know also from Your Word that apart from You I can do nothing”. Faith is the act of believing in a sense, so where does the truth lie?” Or rather, “what is the expectation of me in regard to faith?”
The Holy Spirit was sent to Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and to lead us into all truth. He has always been gracious for my deep questions and today is no exception. Because I am dull in my ability to grasp Divine perspective at times, I ask Him to paint pictures that convey the lesson or directive He wants me to understand. Today it is a picture He has given that helps me in my wrestle.
The lie the enemy posed this morning deals with an ongoing trial of deep emotional heartache and my faith in the midst of it. While God’s word speaks of victory, circumstances are stacked up in opposition. The enemy delivers a thought arrow that my faith (or lack thereof) is the reason the victory is out of my grasp. The Lord’s mercy provides a very powerful picture that relieves the confusion the enemy tries to cause:
The Divine structure of God’s authority and my life appeared like a circle. God, at the top of the circle, always initiates. God sent His Son to pay the price for sin and open the way back to a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. God also sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us and He is the One who provides for unity with the Trinity. I call that Trinity Unity. The Holy Spirit makes us complete in that circle. Jesus said we will come to see that: “I am in the Father, and you in Me and I in you” John 14:20. This makes up that circle of unity. Faith is a gift that flows in a circle from the Father to the Son through His Holy Spirit to me and I give it back to the Father.
The same can be said of the desires of our heart and the prayers we have been given to pray. The lies of the enemy are an effort to destroy our unity with the Trinity.
As I apply the truth, the picture reveals that God will supply the faith that I need to please Him. Just like He supplied His Son to pay the price for humanity’s sin and then supplied the Holy Spirit to be our strength in flesh weakness. My requirement in all of this is to remain in conscious Unity with the Trinity through surrender to the Holy Spirit and obedience to the Word of God. Simply speaking, I ask Him to supply the faith I need to please Him. As I pray for wisdom, the Word says, I have it and I am not to doubt. So the picture of the circle is truth.
There is no enemy within my circle of “life”. Whatever comes to me has been filtered through fingers of love. I may not always understand the plan, but the God ordained purpose is for my best: whether for this moment or for tomorrow or even further for my eternal future. The enemy and all his nonsense is merely a tool in the hands of the Master to hone the vessel. In that I can trust.
It is apparent to me that while the enemy was having me focus on the circumstances, his real target was my faith.
With this confidence, I reject the lies that tormented me in the “witching hour” of the night and declare (in faith) that I have been redeemed out of the hands of the devil by the Blood of Jesus and not he nor his lies have any authority over me or power within me. I stand in unity with the Trinity and know that the victory promised in God’s Word is certain, no matter how long it takes to manifest here on earth.
This morning I see that the challenge the enemy made to my faith was the very thing I needed to declare my faith. Interesting how that worked….
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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