We need to position ourselves to be in God's will but not in His way. He doesn't need your input, opinions, or advice in order to accomplish what He wants to do in your marriage. Nothing has happened to you, to your spouse, or between you and your spouse that He doesn't already know. He needs you to follow closely behind Him, suited for battle, and when He gains the victory you will be there as well.
However, many times we are unable to follow closely behind God. We may be suited for battle and ready to go...so we think. Quite frequently (especially if we are not accustomed to doing this) there can be hidden, unknown, or forgotten things in our past, in our homes, in our previous generations, or in our lives currently that hinder us from being able to follow closely after God. Excess baggage is what it is. And its hard enough to stand without having to carry extra weight.
There's a story in Joshua 7 about Joshua and the city of Ai. We encourage you to read it for yourself but we will hit the highlights. Joshua has led Israel in the utter destruction of Jericho. He proceeds on to Ai, which is a very small city. He sends a small contingent of his forces to battle them. And they get spanked! Joshua tears his clothes and is distraught as to why they failed so miserably. God reveals to him that there is an accursed thing in their midst and that they need to be sanctified. As it turns out, a man named Achan kept some of the loot from Jericho, which was supposed to be destroyed, for himself. Once the sin of Achan was dealt with, Joshua returns to Ai and destroys them.
Question to us is this: What is it that is hidden from public view (maybe even from us) that is causing us to be defeated? This is a serious question that cannot and should not be answered quickly.
We need to a hard look at our life and ask God to reveal what we have lingering our lives that is stopping us from living in the victory that He is accomplishing. It might be a significant item or moment that immediately comes to light; it might be something that would appear to be innocent but holds some deadly soul-ties for you. Whatever it is it must be dealt with hard and fast. Let's throw out some examples of things that could be hiding in and around our lives.
Pornography would be at the top of the list of things that could be lingering. This is a topic that should be addressed all on its own. But, for the moment, let's just throw this out there as something that will definitely hinder the hand of God from working in our lives. Porn is a sin and an addiction that can grow to a deadly proportions very quickly. It could be full-blown hard core videos and magazines or simply the revealing of more than is appropriate flesh scenes in movies and TV or even what we see when we as we walk around the local mall.
Zodiac signs, astrology, and other forms of fortune telling are some other things that may be evident in our life that we may be unaware of. In the Old Testament (according to the laws of God), the people that practiced these things and those that consulted with them were worthy of death. All of these things are considered witchcraft.
Other religions becoming mixed in with faith in Jesus Christ will stop us from tasting in the victory that God desires to win on our behalf. This was one of the things that God told Israel specifically when they were crossing into the Promised Land. We are told not to practice the customs and rituals that the pagans in the land practice. The power of the Gospel is that it is Jesus Christ and Him alone!
Generational curses can be a serious source of bondage for us. The things that our father, grandfathers (and on and on) did before we got here can trickle into our life. Do some digging and learn what happened in your family tree years ago. It might just be a shocking revelation for you. You may find a history of divorce, adultery, fornication, drug use, alcoholism, abandonment, abuse, witchcraft to name a few. What you find in your history needs to be brought before the Father and spiritually broken off of you and your family. Research your spouse's history, too.
Some other things that hinder us would be rebellion (to authority, parents, God), drug use (in Hebrew the word for witchcraft is the same word that we derive our word "pharmacy" from), and alcoholism. There could be something that is tied to pieces of clothing. I (Josh) have thrown out lots of clothes that were tied to my running from God and my wife. We have a friend that threw out dishes, suits, shaved his head, and broke his glasses in order to completely remove the association with the sin that crept into their marriage.
Our list here today is not all inclusive. You need to do some serious soul searching. Look at your life with a fine-toothed comb. Question everything and its relevance to your life. If it comes back with a sordid past or painful memories of failure, get rid of them. You don't want some skeleton left hiding in your closet to derail the plans of restoration that God has for you. You can't follow God carrying all that excess baggage. That is exactly what sin is....excess baggage that keeps you from enjoying the victory and freedom that is in Christ.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
This is us positioning ourselves for God to do His greatest work!! This is warfare!! This is our life!!
Josh and Serena
Ready to follow God into the fight?
1 comment:
Thank you so much for this post... it is exactly what I needed and have been praying about. Putting on & keeping on the Whole Armor of God, breaking generational curses..
You both are doing a wonderful ministry with this blog.
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