Back in March, I discovered a new author, Staci Stallings. She has an incredible talent for weaving God's truths into her beautiful stories. I devoured all of her books in a matter of a few weeks. All of the books had amazing messages, but the message in one impacted me a lot. I wrote down quotes from the book, but I neglected to write down the title. I'll find it and post it, but for now--read the message.
1. None of us can live worthy of the call we have received without first giving God the permission to transform us into something we have not yet become, to create in us and with us something completely new.
2. He gave up Heaven for you. He went to hell to get you. And He wants nothing more than for you to choose to follow the path He has set out for you into Heaven. God's grace made that path an option, and it is freely given to you. The only question is, will you accept it?
3. People are valuable not because of their intrinsic perfection but rather because no matter how cracked we get, God refuses to throw us away. He refuses to give up on us.
4. When signs start all pointing in the same direction, you can know without a doubt that God is in the middle of it.
5. Once you have a God calling on your life and you really "get it", your calling becomes your place in the world where God wants to shine His light.
6. You ask Him to come into your heart and your life. It is the hardest thing you will ever do because when you really mean it, the next step is total surrender to His way of doing things.
7. Once you go all-in with God, none other than Satan himself is going to step up to take you out. You've probably been playing with some of his demons--fear, greed, jealousy, frustration. But if you decide to go all-in, hell will be brought against you--to make you quit, to get you to give up, to get you off the field. Satan doesn't just want to convince you (to give up). He's out to destroy you, to eliminate you, to annihilate you. He doesn't want you off the field, he wants you out of the game permanently.
8. There is a battle, a spiritual battle, being waged for souls everywhere we look. God has been in a pitched battle for your soul for some time now. Satan wants you to think you are a "good person" with a "good life". He wants you to stay in that nice, safe, "good" life. He wants you to believe there is no battle so you will have no real reason to fight. God, however, has different plans.
9. You cannot face Satan on your own He is Goliath. He is the Egyptian army. He is Death. And he will take you out if you let him.
You are no longer you. God is in you. He is working in your life, and He will fight if you let Him. This is life-and-death important. If you try to do this on your own power, the demons don't recognize your power and you'll be at their mercy.
There's more going on here than you can see with your natural eyes.
10. What you have to know is that you are not helpless in this battle. You are not. Never, ever think you are. In fact, the victory has already been won. It came on a Jewish hillside 2,000 years ago when Jesus broke the chains of sin and death. When He died and rose, He conquered death, the grave, and hell. What we have to do now is, claim that victory. But if we don't know how, if we don't know we have that power, we will never use it--much less use it effectively.
11. The demons and even Satan himself have no power that we don't willingly hand over. They can mess with us but they cannot make us do anything that we do not choose to do.
They have absolutely no power when it comes to the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ. They must do what you say when you command them by the Blood of Jesus and also with the Name of Jesus. When you do this, you are not acting as yourself. You have chosen to put Jesus in front of you, to let Him fight the battle. The demons hate that. They will flee. They have no choice.
"Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army....You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." 2 Chronicles
You just have to agree and cooperate with Him in the battle. You are a child of the King, and with that comes certain privileges and also some responsibilities. One of these is to take up the Word. This is your weapon. You learn this, and you will see ever more deeply that God has a plan, and His plan works.
12. The more you decide to take the battle to Satan, the more he will come after you--work, family, home life--wherever he can get a foothold to know you off your game, he will. He wants at all costs to convince you that you can't do this, that it's pointless to try, that you might as well give up. He knows if he can plant those seeds of doubt in your mind and division in your heart, his plan is all but done.
13. What you do, what you decide to do will make a difference, one way or another. In fact, it can't not make a difference. If you choose X, you choose the consequences of X--good and bad. If you choose Y, you choose different consequences. In fact, even choosing nothing at all will make a difference in what ultimately happens. You choose, and you choose the consequences.
14. Your choices matter. They will take you where you will ultimately end up. If you care about where that is, then you have to be making the choices, the decisions, now that will lead you there.
15. "Satan and all your minions, you are hereby cast out and away from this place by the HOLY Blood of JESUS CHRIST and you are sent to the throne of the Most High God to be dealt with as He sees fit.
"Dear Jesus, be with us in this situation. Guide us with Your wisdom. Help us with Your strength. Give us Your peace and Your love, Your mercy and Your grace. We ask this in Your Holy Name."
