Anxiety Series

Prepare For Battle – Day 4

In order to prepare for battle, we need to know what we are fighting against.

My desires led to living a selfish life. The words I spoke over my life were those of defeat and degradation. The lies that I believed about myself created my reality, telling me I wasn’t good enough. Temptations caused me to do things that weren’t good for me. I made many decisions that hurt myself and others.

I have always been my own worst enemy.

Enemy #1 Ourselves

My worldview has helped me to understand that there is also a spiritual battle happening, one between good and evil. While researching this topic I came across a “job description” that I thought was quite fitting. “The enemy is like a prosecuting attorney, calling attention to the unworthiness of mankind, collecting evidence to prove cases (source unknown).”

Now that we know the mission of the enemy, we need to know what to look for;

rebellion
distortion
darkness
disorder
chaos
death
stealing
destruction

How does the enemy work? Mostly behind the scenes.

hatred
division
temptation
lies
deception
working through our weaknesses

Enemy #2: The Accuser

Peter 5:8 says, “Your enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Now that we know what we are fighting against, we can develop our battle plan.

In what areas are you vulnerable to attack?

Identity

Not Ashamed

Hi, my name is Jaime and I love Jesus.

There have been times I’ve wanted to introduce myself this way, just to get it out of the way. My anxiety and people-pleasing tendencies come up when I talk about my faith with unbelievers.

I want people to like me for who I am, regardless of my beliefs. I don’t want to be lumped into a category of people that have misrepresented his name. Besides that, once you mention the name of Jesus an automatic line is drawn in the sand.

I’m placing the fear of opinions above my faith

This is not in alignment with who I claim to be.

No one likes to be judged. We all want to be seen and accepted for who we are as people, not by our choices or preferences. But the truth is we’ve all judged and been judged in one way or another.

Then there’s Jesus. The one who sees all my faults and mistakes. He knows my history of disdain towards him, yet he dies for me. I spit on him, brutally attack him and mock him, yet he dies for me.

How can I be ashamed of the one who gave his life for me, for the one who solidified my own personal “I am.”

I am making a decision;

I will not be ashamed

I can’t talk the talk and not walk it. I need to walk it. I WANT to.

I need to make sure that I’m keeping it real, which for me means not shying away from speaking about the one who saved me from myself. With that being said, I’m not trying to convert you (well maybe a little) when I talk about him. He is just so much a part of my life, I can’t NOT talk about him. It wouldn’t be authentic.

Now that I have made this choice, it seems appropriate to give him a proper shout out:

Give me a J….

Give me an E…

Give me an S…

Give me a U…

Give me an S…

What’s that spell?

JESUS!!! hoots and haws in the background.

What fears stand in the way of your truth?