PICK UP YOUR WEAPONS AND FIGHT!...A TESTIMONY

A Testimony of Love
               As a young teenager the Lord Jesus Christ placed in me a heart of worship. I would attend Sunday services, and though I was a very shy person, I wanted to worship the Lord with the confidence that the others had around me. My passion for his presence was personal. I longed for him to manifest his presence upon me. I hungered and thirst for his righteousness. However, the worship I kept secret. I was heavy laden in sin and I didn’t want anyone to see my wretchedness. So, when I prayed, I found a secret place where I could pray to the Lord. Most of what I did was in secret. It wasn’t just because I wanted to hide my faults and shortcomings, but I also walked with the perspective that no one love me or cared about me one way or the other.
            On the outside things seemed to be alright. However, on the inside was bottled up hurt, pain, loneliness, frustrations, and misunderstandings. I misunderstood my purpose in Christ. I misunderstood the role that Jesus Christ was intending to have in my life as King, Father, and Savior.
             I cried unto the Lord in my secret place. I must admit, however, that my prayers were somewhat selfish. I was a tattletale. I would tell on everyone and how they treated me. Then I would transition into telling the Lord how to bless me and to make this person and that person love me. I was rather comfortable with sharing my will with him. However, I didn’t stick around to listen for a response or to even attempt to understand what his will was for my life. I would repent only to repeat in the same lustful activities the following week. It had become a pattern of sin and feigned repentance. My heart willing to surrender, but the foundation of my faith wasn’t complete. I lived off of the testimony of others. I did not have my own encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, though my heart yearned in desperation for the pouring of his Holy Spirit.
            One evening I cried unto the Lord God with my whole heart. In this particular occasion I was done with everything. I didn’t hold onto anything. I laid aside every weight and sin, every care and concern. I gave the Lord Jesus every burden and my whole life. I was convinced that the way I was doing things was wrong. I was not in control of my own destiny, Jesus was. As I cried to the Lord, I asked, “What is wrong with me?” and again I asked, “What is wrong with me?” then the Lord began to respond and share his will for my life when I completely surrendered my will to his. He said the most comforting words to me “There is nothing wrong with you” and then went on to share I needed his Holy Spirit to lead and guide me in the path of all truth and righteousness. He stated that the world system operated on covetous practices which is to say that they do not pray for things according to the spirit, but to obtain things according to the flesh. Then he poured his Holy Spirit upon me so that I could pray in his Spirit and his Spirit would lead and guide my decision making!
When I received the Holy Spirit, my perspective changed concerning my life in Jesus Christ. My desires changed as well. I hungered and thirsted for spiritual things. I desired to know more of the Lord, so I read the Word often. I prayed more often for others and for a spiritual understanding of things I had read. I began to compare spiritual things with spiritual. I wanted others to see him as I had seen him. I wanted them to have his Spirit as well. I had a great desire to see his miracles, signs, and wonders performed in the lives of others so they could have faith in him just as well. With his Spirit came zeal that I couldn’t get rid of. I just wanted to do his will. I wanted revival in the community and everywhere I traveled. I knew that it wasn’t me. The Spirit and I became one. I was moving by his Spirit and the flesh was under subjection. It was then I really understood that love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Pet 4:8)
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover a multitude of sins.
            By his Spirit the Lord Jesus Christ cleansed me from the inside and out with his refining fire and made me new. He cleansed me of my faults and sins. He said he would remember them no more. He cast them into the sea of forgetfulness. All that Jesus had done in me, I carried as a testimony of the power of his grace and mercy. That love that was shown toward me; I knew if he did it for me, then he could do it for anyone else willing to surrender to his will and purpose.
             There was a designated time noted in the Word of God where his disciples began to ask him, “Who loves you the most?” and the response was, “The one whom I have forgiven the most!” I must carry the same purified love with me everywhere I go. Sometimes I sit and think on the goodness of the Lord and his tender mercies and his loving kindness and I say to myself, “I am the one he has forgiven the most.” Then, I ask “How can I love him more?” Though he has already given us the answer on numerous occasions. He stated that he has given freely and we, too, should do as we have seen our father do.
Luke 7:42-43 & 47
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him thou hast rightly judged. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
             There is so much power in forgiveness and mercy. There’s more than we can fathom in the natural sense. The power that comes in forgiving another does the heart like medicine. That kind of love works wonders in the spiritual realm. That kind of love had Jesus Christ die on the cross for our sins and rise again with all power in his hands with the keys of death and hell. That kind of love heaps coals on the enemy when you would rather show longsuffering and mercy rather than use carnal weapons.
 John 15:10-13
If ye keep my commandment, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things which I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
              Jesus made it clear to us in his Word that we didn’t choose him, but he chose us first. He loved us first. He loved us in a way that we couldn’t comprehend. When he laid down his life for us, he called us friends. He loved us in advance. He saw the possibility of friendship and servitude in advance. He did all of this before we even knew him or knew how to love according to his Spirit.
 Ephesians 3:13-19
Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and, the length, and the depth, and the height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled will all the fullness of God.
               As I was reading the account of Moses on the mount one day, I dared to ask the Lord Jesus the very same question Moses did which was, “Lord, show me your glory.” My prayer was that the Lord Jesus would glorify himself in me. However, I didn’t realize that the answer to such a request could bring test and trials upon my life that I couldn’t imagined. I suppose the quote “Be careful what you ask for…” didn’t resonate in my mind until long after the request was made, and numerous times, I might add. The Lord says through the Apostle Paul that we shouldn’t faint at the tribulations. These tribulations bring forth the glory of God in our lives. So, the Lord is sharing that the more we overcome the tribulations, the more glory is established in our lives. There is a requirement that we faint not. Then Paul prays on our behalf that we are strengthened by his Holy Spirit and might within our inner being. That by doing so faith is established in our hearts and we are rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus Christ. This is the recipe given to us that we may be able to know the love of Jesus and to somehow comprehend the breadth, length, depth, and height thereof. The Word is confirmed here through Paul that this kind of purified love passes all knowledge and therein we are filled with the fullness of God. That kind of love is the power of God unveiled. That purified love is the anchor of our faith. To see the Lord glorified in our lives much is required. In speaking scripture the Lord reminds us that to whom much is given, much is required. The zeal of the Spirit of God had me petition the Lord Jesus Christ on several occasions with request to “Take me up higher heights Lord Jesus.” “Take me deeper depths in you O’ Lord. I always commanded the more of his Spirit. There was much tribulation and continues to be troubles because of the passionate pursuit. The enemy doesn’t want you to reach your destiny of righteousness in Christ Jesus. He doesn’t want you to get your inheritance. The adversary cannot stand the glory of God. So as the faith and the glory are established through enduring these tribulations there is spiritual warfare to overcome.
               Through every test and trial was the shedding of flesh. The higher heights and deeper depths required loss of self. The humility was established more and more. There was (and still is) great necessity to be completely saturated in his Holy Spirit. The Word says to live is Christ, to die is gain. I took up my cross and the self, had to die. With the loss of self, Jesus Christ reigns completely in unity with you by his spirit. Therein is the purified love of Christ. That kind of love is certainly worth fighting for.                                                                                                                                                                                        1John 5:4-7
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, The Father, The Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
                To experience the overcoming power of God and achieve the victory in battle you believe only and surrender completely to his will and purpose. Oftentimes, troubles come simply because we love. There is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must trust him completely. If we love the Lord, then we will obey his commands.
               All of this love that the Lord Jesus Christ has poured upon our lives and the lives of the children of God was to lead and guide us to our expected end. The reward and the victory is in the finish. We must endure to the end.
              The more that you seek the face of God and all of his righteousness, the more warfare the enemy will attempt to bring upon your life. However, God is the author and finisher of our faith. He is in control. He will not allow more than we can bear. The more we draw closer and know the Lord Jesus, the more the enemy will attempt to make us think we don’t know him at all. That’s where we walk by faith and know that we’re in the Lord’s hands. With the revelation of Jesus Christ there is much resistance from the enemy. However,welovetheLordmorethanourownlife.                                                                                                                                                                                  
Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death.
                Through Jesus Christ we have overcome the world. The victory in battle is given through the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony, even unto death. We know these things because we are believers. Therein is the love of Christ and the power of God unveiled. That kind of love…that kind of victory is worth fighting for. So, PICK UP YOUR WEAPONS AND FIGHT!