LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD

First off, Happy New Year family! I am so excited and expecting with open arms the blessings of God this new year! Upon pondering over my life regarding relationships, I’m so thankful for God’s faithfulness. I’ve been badly scarred and wounded by past relationships, as many of you. Albeit, God transforms the soul through a process of pain and suffering, purging and breaking. It is indeed painful, but at the same time liberating, spiritually renewing; and contrarily refreshing. Refreshing because though your soul wounds are deep and far reaching, God’s love is ever reaching down, laying His Sovereign hands on your soul, and healing each one seriatimly.


When I’m cut, I want to heal someone else.


Beloved, your hurts, wounds, fear, and pain are all hidden behind pride, ego, self-reliance, and self-preservation. We are all wounded animals. When we feel threatened, we viciously attack; whether the attack is physical, emotional, or silent. Silent attack is the worst because you shut down, cut others off and build a heart wall. The more hurt you experience, the higher you build a wall of protection. The problem with walls is that although you’re protecting your heart from pain, you’re also preventing the love you most desire to reach you. More, you’re preventing God’s love: Agape love from penetrating your soul.

You won’t know this is hidden in your soul until God divinely ordains situations and people to illuminate them. And that often occurs through channels of arguments, disagreements, disrespect, and rejection. Ahh… now the heart work can begin:says the Lord Almighty! But sadly, we often reject the work that’s required to heal our soul. We turn to others, run away, shut down emotionally or drown our sorrows in outward stimuli. All the while the soul is still bleeding. Most think conflict is a bad thing. Everything has its duality. In life we must always look for good in the bad. Conflict forces you to know more about the other person. It forces you to learn their love language, communication style, needs, wants, desires, values; and most importantly, it forces you to learn more about yourself: your strengths, weaknesses, resilience, and faith in God. And, if you value the relationship, conflict will recalibrate your inner man to compassionately, lovingly, and humbly make adjustments for the betterment of the other person. Ahh… that’s true love! The Bible says by doing so, you’re fulfilling the law of Christ, Galatians 6:2; and He commands us to love one another how He loves us, John 13:34-35. Sadly, 40% of marriages end in divorce. Even Christian ones. Beloved, we must put on our armor and fight for God’s divine love: Agape love in our relationships. And that is putting down our pride, ego, control, and stubborn will; washing others feet in humility-Like Jesus. We are all wounded soldiers, but by all means, we are to lift up our brethern on the battle field and carry them to safety. Suffering long with them. This is the epicenter of a Godly relationship. When you’re fighting for love, the devil is losing!

Continue reading “LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD”

When praying, reading your Bible, and fasting isn’t good enough.

Beloved, sometimes we are overcome with a certain emotion or feeling regarding things we may want, circumstances in our lives, or a decision that needs to be made. But how do we know it’s from God, or are we being mislead? A fervent Christian will pray, read the Bible and fast in order to better understand what God may be speaking. But, what if you have done all of that, waited a sufficient amount of time, and still haven’t received an answer? What do you do?

When praying, reading your Bible, and fasting isn’t good enough.

Beloved, the action you take thereafter is critical to the outcome. The problem many people face today is being mislead by their emotions, but thinking that God told them to act. That’s what I want to talk to you about today. What I have observed is, many claim to hear God’s  voice, but do not wait on His hand. I’ll amen myself to that! Thank you! If a leading in your spirit is indeed from God, He will give you concrete evidence to confirm what He has told you without a shadow of a doubt! James 1: 17 says:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

That means when God gives it to you, there will be no desperation, no questioning, no gray areas, and no confusion! What I’m noticing is the problem lies in the waiting. Many people feel in their spirit that “God said” that this was from Him; the key word is feel, and that’s where a lot of people get confused. They act on feelings as opposed to waiting on God. They are mislead because this situation is what they want, and in their own strength, they  try to force God to agree with their decision, so they move prematurely. They then swear it was God’s leading, and when a disastrous end is the result, they blame God and are angry at God.

“God, how could you let this happen, you told me this was from You! How could you let me go through this so long if this wasn’t sent from you? Or, how could this be impressed so heavily upon my heart if it’s not from you?”

Sound familiar? Here’s the answer to why most people fail in hearing God’s voice:

You act on your feelings instead of waiting on God to reveal if indeed what you felt in your spirit came from Him!

The hard part is waiting. Beloved, the enemy is a machiavellian, he is manipulative, crafty, and cunning. That’s why the Bible says in Matthew 24:24:

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

That’s why God admonishes us to diligently trust Him and not our emotions.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not depend on your own understanding (ISV).

As you have read, even pious Christians can be greatly mislead. If there’s doubt: wait! If something doesn’t seem right: wait! If there’s confusion, don’t make excuses: wait! Don’t take action, but wait and at the divine time God will lift the veil and reveal everything! You know, sometimes God allows you to go through these things in order to sharpen your spiritual weapons. He’s teaching you how to categorically discern His voice from the enemy’s voice. The answer to your situation may take years, but don’t allow your emotions to cause you to make a wrong move; wait for God to confirm what you think He has told you.

If you are willing to wait until you get a clear answer, it will show up!; either through a person, a revelation, a dream, or God will reveal it to you in front of your very own eyes! Beloved, before you make a devastating mistake that may take years to recover; wait for God to emphatically reveal His will before you take action.

-Puah Neiel

 

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