The Making of M.O.M.

I know it's been over two months since I've gotten back from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. And I know the three, measly posts I've written about my 10 days on the other side of the world, hardly do it justice.

I've written this post in my mind at least a dozen times. In fact, I have two saved posts regarding this aspect of my trip, each of them containing 2 - 3 sentences and copious amounts of empty space.

I'm having this conflict within myself. Do I tell you all exactly what happened, laying out there the logistics of the supernatural experiences I had or do I just give you bits and pieces, palatable excerpts that I think the majority of our American Church culture can tolerate?

Because the truth is, y'all, I faced some serious stuff. Stuff that American Christians generally don't talk about. Stuff that we should talk about because it's real, but it invades on our comfortable American lives, making us uncomfortable with the fact that there really is a spiritual realm that for the most part we don't even acknowledge.

For those of you who are regular readers, honestly, I think you can handle it. But my worry is that anyone new stumbling by may read that post and go, "Woah. This Christian lady is whack. Thanks but no thanks, Jesus." Then click away, even more turned off from the Christian faith.

But the truth is, Paul didn't hold back. Neither did John in writing Revelation. I'd wager a guess to say that none of the authors of the Bible held back the truth. And while I am certainly not putting myself in the same boat as the authors of the Bible I do know that God revealed specific truths to me about the Spiritual realm. In fact, He didn't just reveal it to ME, he revealed it to my friend Wendi and the others on our trip as well.

But, on the flip side, I don't want to give myself that much credit. The truth is, if the Lord desires to draw someone to himself, how arrogant of me to think that if they read one of my blog posts that they'd be turned away for good! I'm not that important.

So I guess what I want to know is:

Do you want me to lay it out there?

It's heavy stuff, y'all. And I don't tell about it lightly. I've only shared it with specific people. But it is truth. And not just truth from my perspective, but truth as confirmed in Scripture. The spiritual realm is all around us and God brought it to the forefront of my life while I was half a world away from everything and everyone I loved. I'm not talking about fat, fluffy angels with harps and bow and arrows. I'm talking darkness.

Do you think this is the space to share that? If so, why? If NOT, why? I value your input so much.

**I wrote this post for the Summer Session blog our church is hosting this summer. Are you reading along with us? If so, how's it going? I pray you're getting depth and richness from God's word as you read through the New Testament with us over the summer! I'd love to hear from you!**

Satan is the author of lies. John chapter 8 tells us that he is the father of lies. So why should we expect any less from him than distortion, abuse and misuse of the truth?

Isn’t that how the enemy works, his very nature? He takes what we know to be true, noble and good and twists it just enough so that it distorts what God intended. He did that with Eve in the garden when he asked her, “Did God actually say, ‘You must not eat of any tree of the garden”?’ (Genesis 3:1) Of course that’s not what God said, but the enemy twisted the truth just enough so that Eve began slipping down the slippery slope of half truths.

So when I read Luke Chapter 4 and of Jesus’ temptation, God opened my eyes to see that often when the enemy attacks, he uses half and partial truths to twist the the beauty of God’s protective and loving nature.

In verses 1 - 12 of Chapter 4 we see the enemy take the Scriptures and use them clearly out of context to tempt Christ and submit to Him that the character of God isn’t quite what the Scriptures portray. In verse 9, Satan takes Jesus up to Jerusalem and sets him on the pinnacle of the temple. Satan taunts Jesus, scoffing that if He really is the Son of God, flinging himself off of the ledge is acceptable because God will command the angels to guard Him.

He takes the intention of the Scriptures (Psalm 91:11-12) and distorts it just enough that it seems plausible. Surely God wouldn’t allow His only Son, the Savior of the world, to die just from jumping off a ledge? Right?

Jesus retorts with an accurate use of Scripture and it silences the enemy, at least for that moment.

But do you want to know what the scariest part of this passage of scripture is for me? The fact that Satan knows more scripture than I do.

I learned so much from the 10 days I spent in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa in April of this year. But the overarching theme that I believe the Lord wanted to show me is that the enemy is powerful. As Americans, we are so quick to claim the power of God. We are quick to claim that God is still the God of the Bible, He can still perform miracles, He can still heal the sick and wounded. He’s still all powerful. Those statements are undoubtably true.

But you know what else? Satan is still the enemy of the Bible. He’s still sneaky and deceptive. He still whispers lies to God’s people. He has power over the demons and all things evil.

The thing I was convicted of most in this passage of Scripture is this: What am I actively doing to contrast the power of the enemy in my life?

Quiet time, reading and studying the Scriptures is crucial. Prayer is essential. But an important aspect that many Christians, myself included, tend to gloss over is Scripture memorization.

If our very enemy knows the Scriptures and is prepared to twist them like jagged arrows then launch them at us in his attacks, how can we defend ourselves unless we know the REAL truth of the Scriptures?

As I laid in a dark hut in Guinea-Bissau, feeling the presence of the enemy like never before in my life, feeling overwhelmed with the power of darkness, the Lord quickly brought previously memorized Scripture to my mind.

As the enemy whispered to me, “I’ve got you. There’s nothing your God can do now. You’re here all alone. Be afraid. I will win.” the Lord instantly reminded me that Satan was whispering to me half truths. And God brought His word from the recesses of my heart to confirm Himself. Resist him, Jessica. Stand firm in your faith. I will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. I have the glory and the dominion forever. (1 Peter 5:6-11)

Are you actively storing up God’s word in your heart? If not, how else can you or I expect to fight the enemy when he begins his language of lies? The Word is our only offensive tool.

Arm yourself.