“The Lord is my strength and my might; He has become my salvation.” Psalm 118:4
“My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” Psalm 121:2
The next weapon to use is the lean on God. God will guide you and strengthen you but you have to draw closer to Him. The Bible is critical in this, how can you understand the teacher if you don’t listen to His words. The Bible is truly Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The key point to remember with this study is the teacher gives you all the answers and will guide you through the test(s).
The one desire I had for many years was a true love of reading Holy Scripture. I tried many times, but it never became a joy. I’ve read the Bible end to end a couple of times, I’ve read through a Psalm a day, I’ve read the Gospels, but reading the Bible always seemed to always become boring or a chore after a short time. Last year, I went to a Victory in Spiritual Warfare workshop conducted by my friends Patrick and Joy Campbell and all of that changed. They do workshops all over the US and have had great healings take place. Their workshop focuses on breaking chains that bind us, our past soul ties, occult, unforgiveness, fear, unhealthy family sin patterns. Somewhere in this amazing workshop, I was set free. I have thoughts of where the chains were that held me back from fully accepting God in my life, but since these chains are destroyed, they are in my past and not worth mentioning. Any way, after this workshop, I found a strong desire to read the Bible. I figured that I would start with Romans and go from there. Before too long I found myself with the ribbons marking several different readings I was doing each day, the New Testament letters, the Gospels, Psalms and Old Testament books, I couldn’t get enough. Then, I started reading the Gospels again, this time focusing not on what Jesus did but specifically on the words in red, what He said. I was sitting at the feet of the Master, getting one on one lessons from Jesus Himself.
I’ve loved spending time in St. Faustina’s diary (Divine Mercy in my soul) and other books about her, hence my devotion to my Patroness. But, now, the words from the Bible started to intermix with the Divine Mercy and everything came alive and into full focus for me. That was a year ago, I still can’t get enough of Sacred Scripture and the other books, not the least of which is Divine Mercy in my soul, but include many others like “The Story of a Soul” by St. Therese Liseux, spiritual discernment of St. Ignatius and many others. I make a mini-retreat often during the week to spend time with Jesus. Just pick a day to ‘sit at His knee’ and ‘listen’ to His words.
My wife and I did a silent retreat at the beginning of Lent, just a short 24 hour retreat, but it was very impactful. We decided that we would do our own ‘silent retreats’ and shut off all distractions, including talking so that we could listen to Jesus and focus on what He was saying.
For me, journalling is very important to hear what Jesus is saying. My blog is one ‘journal’ I use, one that is open to the world to read. But, I have other journals that contain very personal interactions with God. Very few have full access to these. Some of my journalling can be read in my book, “I knew His Voice” (available through the Catalog on my home page).
So, all this is a long winded way of saying to stand strong against the enemy’s attacks to your new freedom from sin, your open conduit to sanctity, you need to get to know the Defender. If you struggle to find time to spend with Him, make extra time available in your calendar. If you are hearing a voice telling you any words but love and mercy, that you are worthy and adored, its the enemy. Cast him out! Renounce his powers and stand behind God, your shield. “my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me.” Psalm 144:2 Jesus will defend you and the ‘peoples’ He will subdue are the enemy and his demons. If you are afraid to engage in this battle, trust the words Jesus told St. Faustina, “you are united to Me: fear nothing” Divine Mercy in my soul # 412
You have to spend time listening to the Master so you can hear His voice.
Tomorrow, the key to unlocking freedom.