As we navigate through the early part of this autumn season, the Lord has impressed upon me to address the spirit of condemnation. No matter how experienced we are in the faith, there comes a time when we have to deal with flashes from our past. Satan is doing everything in his ability to amplify your mistakes on a loudspeaker and ultimately paralyze you from any momentum that you gain in the Lord. You may be dealing with a series of painful, excruciating obscenities that are constantly hurled at you from a supervisor that deems you unfit to fulfill your job assignment. Perhaps you're contending with accusations from a former spouse reminding you of how you failed as a parent and a provider. The layers of condemnation can create streams of radioactive waste in our lives, and it will require more than religious activity and will power exercises to overcome this.
In Psalm chapter 24:3-4, David establishes a very crucial qualification regarding the sanctity of entering into the presence of the Lord. There is still a major requirement for us to abandon the idols in our lives and seek the Lord with a pure heart. I often find myself doing a critical needs assessment of my life in response to seasons of heaviness. Do I immediately seek the presence of God at the inception of my pain, or do I conjure up ways to deal with the problem in my own intellect? Do I have the ability to pray for those who criticize me, or do I spend the entire day writhing in frustration towards those individuals? There have been times that I have been reprimanded at my place of work for displaying a certain behavior that didn't meet the expected standard. My natural instinct was to become extremely defensive and state my case in order to defend my honor. I was determined to prove that no one had the right to falsely accuse me of anything! My spirit of pride would allow me to develop a disdain for anyone that accused me of something that I didn't agree with. In a matter of time, I would hold these people in contempt of my little personal court of condemnation.
When we don't surrender our will to Jesus Christ, we can start to reciprocate the same spirit of condemnation that is coming against us. At the height of my frustration, I have the ability to replay every negative experience that I've faced in my life. Satan loves to flash screenshots of false accusation so that we ultimately remain in the past and cease from praying. In order to decisively break from the curse of condemnation, I made a declaration to launch a sixty day prayer journey that started October 16th. During this time, I'm asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the deficiencies in my life. It's time to deal with the idols that we cling to when we face an injustice in our lives. It's time to resolve relationships that have been severed by accusation and idle words. Let us continue to look to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith!
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