Spiritual Warfare is real, dear friends.

And today, I was fiercely attacked by the enemy.

I can’t go in to the details about it, but let’s go back to this past Saturday where our story begins.

On Saturday, I went to a women’s mini-retreat at my church called “Rest in Him”. We talked about what real rest in the Lord looks like and how we spend our time. We learned about the ways that Satan tricks us into thinking that there are more important things to spend our time on than our relationship with the Lord. Real good stuff, a great catalyst for everything that happened the rest of the week.

Sunday I started a new Bible study with some friends about spiritual warfare and the armor of God in Ephesians 6. We talked in depth about why this study was important for us at this time, and how Satan attacks, and the things that he tells us to make us believe that a life with God is not a life worth living. Again, great stuff that really fueled me along with some good personal prayer time to get serious about my personal time and relationship with God.

Throughout the week, I have been waking up early each day to do my armor of God study and have been learning about the ways in which Satan tricks us and works against us and attacks us. At the end of the devotion for the day, we do what is called “actionable intel”. Basically it’s a military term that means to name what your enemy is doing to attack you and based on that to come up with a plan to combat it.

On Tuesday at my other Bible study (Bible Study Fellowship), the lecture was full of info about Satan and spiritual warfare and we called out Satan for being the father of all lies and that he is the root of the evil running rampant in this world.

So each day, I have been learning more about who the enemy is and how to fight against him. I am sure he’s sitting on his throne of lies (you’re welcome ‘Elf’ fans) waiting for his demons to come back and give him an update on me.

Demon 1: “Master, that Jami girl is learning an awful lot about you. Not only that, she is coming up with way to fight against you and your schemes!” 

Satan: “Curses! I will not have this! Let’s get her real good this week! Hit her right where it hurts the most – we know what that is!” 

God: “Go ahead and test my daughter, Fallen One, I know my child will turn to me and not give into darkness. She and I have been spending some quality time together lately, and I’ve equipped her for this.”

BAM! Thursday hits, and I feel like I had the spiritual wind knocked out of me. While in the moment, I might have given into the temptation to be frustrated and upset, in the end my actionable intel came in handy.

I did the only things I could think of to do. I prayed. I read scripture. I talked with my little army of believers. And because of that, I feel peace. Not because I know what the outcome will be, but because I’ve sought God in it and know that regardless of what happens, he’s holding me.

Do you know the other reason I have peace? It’s because I have the greatest news for you my friends – THE VICTORY HAS ALREADY BEEN WON THROUGH JESUS! That’s right? Even though Satan is a crafty, deceptive little sucker – he is not the winner in the end! He has no power over us! The same power that won us that victory over death and Satan’s reign on earth is the SAME power that lives in us and is given to us through the gift of the Holy Spirit! We have the power to say one simple word and Satan and his demons will run from the hills!

While we will face the attacks of the enemy here on earth, we know that we have the final say through Jesus Christ! Praise God! Holy Spirit, come!

 

I’ve spent a good chunk of the last two days of work writing thank you notes. I love writing thank you notes. It might because my primary love language is words of affirmation, or because my mother drilled (she might use the word ‘instilled’) into me the value of a hand -written thank you note when I was growing up. Whatever the reason I find joy in showing my appreciation for other people through writing – particularly thank you notes.

It’s easy to focus on the negative things happening around you. Our media doesn’t really make it any easier either with tragic news stories, one million different types of crime shows and with social media it feels like that’s all that you ever hear about.

Sometimes I wonder if God feels that way. That bad things are all he ever hears about. When we pray, we often pray in supplication (asking God for things). Don’t misunderstand me – God delights when we pray to him regardless of the content of our prayers, but perhaps with all of the things that surround us in the world how can we miss the point that God is GOOD.

I mean seriously.

He is the only one who is completely good. His Son came to us and lived as a human, just like you and I, yet he never sinned. He consistently keeps his promises and always has a plan to work out things to the GOOD of his will. Yes there are “bad thing” road bumps along the road to Good Thing Land (I prefer to call it Heaven), but in that doesn’t change the fact that God is GOOD.

If you were never thankful for anything else for the rest of your life (not a lifestyle I would recommend), can we agree that this is one thing that we can and should be thankful for – God’s goodness?

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

You wanna talk about God’s WILL? (Most people do.) Here it is – plain as day, my friends. Give thanks! Thankfulness can change a person. It can change your attitude about your life and the people in it, give you contentment, and give you new perspective.

My parents joke about our family being the annoying “thank you” people wherever we go, they are always thanking people left and right. When we go out to eat we thank the server for every tiny thing that they do – filling our drink, taking our menu, taking our order, taking our plates when we’re done, etcetera, etcetera. Yes, of course they are “just doing their job”, but what happened if you were never thanked for anything you did all day? Wouldn’t that change you? Wouldn’t you grumble about being in a thankless job?

God wants to hear us say thank you as well. I would say he has the most thankless job that exists. I mean he created us and everything that surrounds us so that the earth could sustain itself – everything perfectly designed all they way to our Salvation through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. And here we are piddling around moaning and groaning about this or that and forgetting the amazing things that he has done! Let’s thank him!

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. – Colossians 3:17

Note: This isn’t meant to be guilt inducing or me telling you how you do or don’t or should or shouldn’t pray. I am speaking in generalities and hoping and praying that you and I can focus on what really matters and create a culture of thankfulness. 

 

***Disclaimer: Two of my loves, musicals and history have collided to form this blog. If for any reason you have trouble sticking with me during the reading of this blog, it is likely because I have begun to excitedly “nerd out” about one of these two subjects. 

Lately, I have been listening to a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of Hamilton the Musical. If you have not heard of it or have been thinking to yourself, “I should check that out”, you should really check that out. This particular musical is a hip hop take on the life and achievements of Alexander Hamilton. They also follow along with his friend turned rival, Aaron Burr.

Two of my favorite songs, Satisfied and Wait for It represent one of the themes threaded throughout (how about that for alliteration!) the story. Hamilton is never satisfied and Burr is always waiting for something to happen to him. I have listened to each of these songs probably over 100 times each (I wish I were exaggerating) and both songs make me reflect on the different ways in which I approach life.

I look at Hamilton who is never satisfied with what is happening and where he is at in life – he is always wanting more. He is a rebel with a cause and he isn’t afraid to tell people how he feels about something, and as Burr claims in Wait for It, “Hamilton doesn’t hesitate, he exhibits no restraint, he takes and he takes and he takes, and he keeps winning anyway – he changes the game, he plays and he raises the stakes…”. This attitude brought Hamilton a lot of success in life. He was innovative, and people got behind him because he was passionate and believed in something strongly. But it also brought him and his family a lot of pain, and eventually cost him his life through a duel with Aaron Burr.

Then I look at Burr who lived a safe life always waiting for things to happen to him, and never taking charge of his life or reaching for what he wants. He does however, stick to his principles and goes about life with respect for other people and boundaries. This causes pain for Burr as well, but it also earned him respect and got him to the place of being a honored lawyer and military leader that he was during this time period.

I think that I can relate well to both Hamilton and Burr. I believe that there is always room for change and that some things just need to be said regardless of whether or not people want to hear it. But with other situations in my life, I am patient and willing to wait as long as it takes to get what I want out of life, or remind myself that sometimes the thing that you want is not necessarily the thing that I need. I really tend to be one way or the other though. Often at work, I feel that I am never truly satisfied with the way things are – I am always wanting things to improve, or be different, or get better. I often find myself in extreme bouts of passion for certain causes in the work place and as I reflect, I wonder, “Was that the best way to approach that situation? Can’t I just be happy with things the way they are for now?” But the thing is – I desperately don’t want to be satisfied.

In my personal life I am way more willing to take things as they come and “wait for it”. I just let things happen and pray that they might be different one day, but am accepting of the fact that they probably won’t be. This is how I am, but I really want to never be satisfied with the way things are, and want to be a catalyst for change in my life and in the world around me.

I don’t know – as I have been writing this post, I have been thinking about some really cool way to connect this to God, or to scripture in some way, but nothing is clicking in my mind. I think that this was more about me reflecting on who I am, and taking the time evaluate my life.

I do know though, that at the end of the day that I am glad that God ultimately has control over my life and what happens to me, and to the rest of the world for that matter. There is nothing that is more comforting to me than that. So many things happen that are out of my control that I want to change or that I am waiting for, but knowing that God is sovereign over all of that is an incredible realization. Sorry King George – my God is sovereign over the WORLD – sorry ’bout the American colonies and those darn patriots. (See how I tied all of that up real nice-like?)

For your listening pleasure here are the two songs mentioned in this post: Satisfied and Wait for It. But really you should just download it on iTunes and listen to the whole things.

I know what you’re thinking, “Jami! The last time you posted was in 2014…why? Why now?”. Well friends, may you rest assured that I honestly do not know.

Last year, my New Year’s resolution went so well (giving up soda for all of 2015) that I thought I might try to make a new one – blogging once a week for all of 2016. That’s 52 blogs with which you will have the opportunity to grace yourself.

When I first began this blog, it was because I had felt a strong calling from God to start it. I have never really like the idea of blogs, and when I would have to do them for school, or as part of my Youth Encounter ministry team, I never knew what to write, or why anyone would want to read anything I had to say.

I was thinking about what my New Year’s resolution might be, and when my friend said that she was going to be vlogging for the whole year, I remembered my blog. I started thinking about my blog and when the last time it was that I has posted (which is apparently July 31, 2014), and I began to reflect on the time when God called me to start the blog.

I started to think of God’s calling on our lives as a covenant, something he asks us to do and we either agree to it, ignore it, or say no. When he called me to start this blog, I agreed and for a small bit of time, I kept up my end of the bargain. But then, I stopped writing blogs. I don’t remember why – probably because I got busy, or couldn’t think of anything to write about, or some other terrible reason. I never really stopped thinking about it though. It kept popping up for me time and time again, and a feeling of guilt swept over me because I had let down my Heavenly Father.

I don’t believe that God guilts us in to doing anything, but I do know that when I was reflecting on God’s call for me to start this blog, that I began thinking of why it was so easy to stop following that calling. Why was I able to do 2 years of day and night ministry and never question my calling to do it? Why was it so easy to give up on the simple task of blogging where I can literally write about anything?

Time and time again throughout scripture, God proves to us that he upholds his end of the deal 100% of the time. He consistently does what he says he will do, and he never forsakes his people, even when they turn away from him. I mean just look at pretty much any story about the Israelites, and you’ll think, “Sheesh! What’s wrong with these people – get it together, fools!”. Yet, here I am constantly letting him down like a big Israelite slap in the face, and he is always there to say, “Let’s try that again, my child” with no judgment because he sees us through the lens of the cross.

For me, it was easy to stop blogging because for some reason, I find it easier to let God down, then to let down the people around me, which makes me think, “Really, Jami!?” During my volunteer ministry with Youth Encounter, I felt a responsibility to my teammates, and to the staff of Youth Encounter and to my sponsors who were making it possible for me to be on the road. I didn’t want to disappoint them.

But with something as simple as keeping up with blog, I was okay with letting down the only one who has never let me down? Then, I was convicted. Not out of guilt, but out of a challenge from God to grow. To grow in my ability to hold up the end of my covenant. I don’t know why God asked me to start this blog all that time ago, or what His plans are for it or the people who may or may not read it, but I do know that I need to work on upholding my end of the deal. Not only with this blog, but also with everything else.

God has placed us to be in community with one another. So I ask that this tiny blog community of whoever of you chooses to read, help me stay true to this calling. I don’t think it was a mistake that God surrounded me with those people on team – friends, family, sponsors, teammates, YE staff. I know he was using my relationships with each of those people to help me stay true to that calling so that His work would be done in the people that I ministered to, and in myself.

The word ‘resolution’ is typically defined in two ways(according to Google dictionary) and I feel both apply to my current relationship with God and with his calling, big or small, in my life:

1. A firm decision to do or not do something
2. The action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter

So, friends, I invite you to join me in this journey of 2016 with my resolution to remember God’s calling and blog at least once a week. As you can see I have already waited until the last day of the first week to blog (but hey, I did it!) and I pray that I grow in this time, and that God uses me to speak truth and love into your lives as you journey through this year and this insane life we live.