Before my alarm even went off I was tossing and turning, a bit restless and still feeling very sleepy. Instead of finding peace before getting out of bed with a prayer I got up, walked to the coffee pot to start the brew – I stood there watching the coffee trickle in wishing it would go faster! I ‘needed’ coffee.
With my, finally, full cup I sat down to do my morning bible study and my husband started sharing stuff with me that was making him feel anxious, his anxiety caused a rise in my own so I quickly cut him off. I told him I needed to set a boundary and stop hearing about it because I ‘couldn’t’ handle it so early in the morning. That did not start our day off all that well and I didn’t end up doing my morning reading anyway…
God is more interested in our character than He is in our comfort. Sometimes my flesh wishes it was the opposite. my soul, however, loves that He is always using all situations to bring me into more alignment with His character and His ways.
After my husband left for work I was lead back to my old thought patterns of which I’d believe the lies from the enemy that I wasn’t a good wife, a good christian, and that I was a failure as a follower of God. I was quick to recognize these as lies from the enemy this time and took them captive and went for a run.
When we allow these lies from the enemy to become our thoughts and beliefs we end up in a lukewarm – knowledge only- relationship with God and don’t go deeper into the intimate love relationship ABBA calls us to. When we believe the lies we live in shame and unworthiness that keeps us hiding from God instead of stepping into His presence with repentance and receiving love to develop our character and teach us to become more like Him in what we think and what we say. We need to follow 2 Corinthians 10:5 and take our thoughts captive.
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. – 2 CORINTHIANS 10:5
We all have battles and we meet them head on every single day. We have a choice in each battle to either take our thoughts and emotions captive and make them obedient to God or let them rule over us, defeat us, and keep us lukewarm.
God is strengthening our character in every moment as we commit to time with him and setting our minds on His ways and His character. Just because we spend time in the word and dedicate our lives to serving God, doesn’t mean everything will be comfortable – no, God wants so much more for us than comfort, He wants us to know Him, become like Him and to make Him known. Character Development.
So, keep your head up as your battles come and anchor your worth and value in Christ. Knowing that in each situation God is calling you closer, calling you to develop and grow more to be more like Him so that through your thoughts and through your words His light will shine.
Not only so, but we[a] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. – Romans 5:3-5
This morning’s character development for me was that I was believing I needed coffee before I could handle life, but the truth is I need ABBA before I need coffee. Starting my day with prayer before my feet even hit the ground is how each day should begin, not watching the slow drip of the coffee pot.
So, what lies are you believing that you need to take captive? What lies are you believing regarding your worth and relationship with God? Let’s commit to taking our thoughts captive and anchoring ourselves in God. Let’s not be lukewarm but be on fire for God and allow him to develop our character, our minds, our thoughts and our lives!
Shalom, friends
