Rebellion vs. submission. Everyone makes a choice when responding to authority in their life. There’s really no middle ground. Either you’ll choose to submit to God and the authority established in your life, or you’ll rebel. No middle ground means that you can’t choose to submit in one authority area and rebel against another.
So, what does rebellion look like? Let’s begin with the definition. Watch the Facebook Live here.
Lord Jesus, I repent for holding bitter root judgments against (name) for (event). I have believed (insert what you thought about that person) and held it against them. I release (name) to you, Jesus, and ask you to set me and (name) free from these judgments. I ask you to cancel all of the curses, assignments, and ground that gave to the enemy because of the judgments I’ve made against (name). Lord, renew my mind toward them. Please help me to see them through your eyes. I bless them and ask you to release blessings where I have held judgments. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Don’t stay bound up in judgment. Loose yourself and others with these steps. Remember, say them out loud.
We are the problem. In Thinking Christian, I suggest, “When we have not offered a faithful digital presence, it is, in part, because we did not have a good idea of what it meant to offer a faithful ‘analog’ presence.”
We have always had a problem with greed. We seem to want the wrong things for the wrong reasons, thereby losing any reasonable grip on what it means to choose God over greed.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that exaggerated spectacles like Vegas and the gossip-column-framed-as-investigative-journalism have something in common: they wouldn’t exist without us.
Our desires begin to form us spiritually through economic systems in which we are, to one degree or another, willing participants. Greed often results in the accumulation of wealth. The fact that greed often results in wealth, however, should not blind us to other objects of greed.
Greed, we might say, is about the incessant pursuit of something deemed so valuable that obtaining it pushes out gratitude and contentment. We no longer “seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness” but set it aside to chase what has become the object of our misdirected desires.
Our desire to be fulfilled by something other than God, overreach God-given boundaries in pursuit of our own aims, and set agendas for God that relegate him to second (or third, fourth, fifth, etc.) position reflect the sort of self-centeredness that allows greed to flourish.
While Paul may rejoice at the spread of the gospel even when it is motivated by selfish ambition (Philippians 1:15-18), he isn’t endorsing selfish ambition.
Greed is rooted in our unwillingness to take direction from our Creator so that as we identify the objects of our desire, we give ourselves over to reflect those objects rather than God’s glory.
Arguably, even our most legitimate desires, when left unchecked and redirected by God, can limit our ability to love God and neighbor.
If we (individually or collectively) allow our desire for virtues, such as truth, justice, accountability, holiness, unity, or love, to overshadow God, we offer a false picture of Him to the world.
In our portrayal of God, He begins to look more like us. We suggest that God conforms to our desires and serves our purposes.
When decisions about what to say and when to say it are conditioned less by slow, deep, Spirit-led discernment than on what will drive page views, greed rules the system.
When we consume such messages and, through our likes, shares, views, and downloads, request more of the same, greed becomes a natural logic.
They supply because we consume, and we consume because they supply. There is no particular end toward that which we are aiming for because “accumulating more” means we never have enough.
But what are we greedy for? It seems we are greedy for the security that comes from stories that confirm our beliefs, reduce or eliminate ambiguity, and remind us that there are people out there who are far worse than we are.
We are greedy for information that reinforces our experience, allows us to go about our day-to-day activities, and confirms our preferred understanding of God. Media, even some Christian media, can form us into the image of something other than Christ.
Christians seem willing to accept such an assertion when it comes to pornography, violence, or other such vulgarities, yet we don’t often consider the idea that other forms of media are capable of distorting reality and cultivating misdirected desires.
If we become greedy for such media, we may find that we have engaged in a sort of idolatry in which the god presented in the media becomes “real” while the real God is increasingly lost in the noise.
To put it differently, greed does not have to involve an increase in material goods. It can also involve the accumulation of information that allow us to live comfortably.
As theologian Jürgen Moltmann notes, while wanting to be like God is only one side of sin, “The other side of such pride is hopelessness, resignation, inertia, and melancholy…Temptation then consists not so much in the titanic desire to be as God but in weakness, timidity, weariness, not wanting to be what God requires of us.”
Pay attention to your thoughts and speech for “always” and “never’ statements and beliefs. If you find any, take it to the Lord and follow these steps.
Now that you have identified who and what you have believed, let’s lay it at the feet of Jesus and take back the ground given to the enemy.
Judgment and unforgiveness are different.
Unforgiveness is a private cell of torture, reserved just for one. The person you resent is not in that cell with you. He is free. Forgiveness is an act of our will, and when we do that, it closes an open door for demonic torment.
Judgment, however, is a cell reserved for two. Judgment by the power of your words condemns and imprisons you both. Luke 6:37 and Roman 2:1 say that we are opening the door for torment in our own lives when we judge someone.
You can forgive someone and still hold a judgment against them in your heart.
Are you bound up in judgment? If you catch yourself thinking or using“never” or “always” statements when expressing yourself, it’s a good indicator that you have formed judgments in your heart.
Do you say or think things like:
If you can answer “yes,” then you have some work to do. “Never” and “always” statements and mindsets are two extremes. They are very “me” focused. It means that your heart isn’t seeing both sides of reality and is bound up in judgment.
Take time to ask the Lord about the root of your over-explaining. Then pray this prayer.
“Lord, Thank you for showing me the root of my wounding and coping strategy. I repent for partnering with a spirit of control and trying to control how others see me or my choices by over-explaining. I reject the lie that I can protect myself through this trauma response. You are my shield and buckler, the one who covers me. I trust you with my heart.
I choose to forgive and release (insert names) for writing this lie upon my heart.
I reject the lie (insert lie you believed) and choose to believe the truth that you are my protection, and with you, I am safe. You protect me and defend me. Lord, you are my fortress whom I trust. Rewire anything that needs to be rewired in me to align with you. Holy Spirit reparent and teach me healthy ways of coping with life’s hurts.
I invite you, Jesus, to minister to this wounded part of me, to speak the truth, and bring healing that only you can give.”
Take some time and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to that wounded part of you. Then praise and worship Him.
Thank you for reading. If you found this helpful, please share and subscribe to receive new posts in your email. Sincerely, Erica
The root of this behavior needs Jesus to heal it. I’m still walking this out myself. But if this is you, too, repent of the need to control the narrative. Ask the Lord to show you the lie you believe in your heart that you have to explain yourself. Where was that seed planted in your heart? What is the root event it was planted in? Who do you need to forgive and release for writing those lies in your heart? Once Holy Spirit reveals it to you, invite Jesus into that wounded place to speak Truth.
Persecution Live 