Revelation to Revolution

I spent the majority of my growing up years trying to please everyone. When I couldn’t, I became depressed, often closing myself up in my room and existing in a make-believe world that I created. Inside this world, everything was perfect. Like Alice in Wonderland I lived “in a world of my own.” I created this world when I was very small.  As any little kid would do, make-believe was something that was okay to do. All little kids use their imaginations and it’s wonderful. But my world grew up with me. I made my own rules, I lived in this world whenever I didn’t have to perform in the real world.

This may not make any sense to you at the moment. You may be thinking that I’m a bit weird, or that I’m crazy. On the contrary. You see, in my make-believe world no one put me down. No one made fun of me. No one laughed at me. No one said hurtful words to me. In a world of my own, I was pretty. I was funny. Everyone loved me. Everyone wanted to be my true friend. I had control.

This is exactly how the enemy keeps us in slavery to ourselves, our sins, and his lies. And yes, he does lie to us! If he can keep us down, he keeps us from progressing and from moving into the ministry and the relationships that the Lord wants to place us in. Many, many times we believe those lies and it keeps us from the happiness that God wants to see us in. But let me tell you something I’ve learned: Satan only has the power that YOU give him! Did you know that? It’s true! Here’s how I know:  

In Isaiah 14:12-14 it talks about the fall of Lucifer (yes, that’s his name!). It talks about how he fell, and it talks about how he wanted to be higher than God. But he fell. Yes, FELL. In verse 16 it says, “Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble…” What does that mean? It means that one day we’ll realize, wait a minute, is THIS the man who made us shake with fear? Is THIS the one who caused us so much pain? Satan is lower than we are. He was one of the angels in heaven, but he got “too big for his britches” and God cast him out!

So Jesus is higher than the angels, has more power than they do. And when we accept Jesus as Lord & Savior, we become joint heirs with Him. So that means that Satan, the enemy, has NO POWER over me! Hallelujah! There it is! When I realized this, I had a “revelation.” It’s as if a light bulb went on in my head. When that happened, it began a “revolution” in my heart! No more will anyone drag me down with unkind words. No more will I be told, “That’s stupid!” or asked, “What do you want to do that for?” when friends or family hear about the ministry God has called me into. No more will the enemy drag me down with negative thoughts, or my past failures, or my past in general. That is gone! Now I use my past to show how God brought me OUT of it! Yes, I lived that way for years, in a constant state of oppression. Because I thought I wasn’t worth the salt I put on my french fries. But you know what? I’m worth MORE than that!

I have begun to resist the enemy. I stand up and I say, “Get behind me Satan!” And he HAS to leave. He has to! The moment you say NO, Satan has to stop. He cannot stop you. Take an active role in your life now and actively oppose the enemy. When you feel you are being dragged down and you think you have no way out, you are becoming a slave to whatever you choose to obey. For years I chose to obey those who told me that I’d never amount to anything. I was destined to be fat, I was destined to be just like my mother and grandmother. Well let me tell you, my mother died from cancer and my grandmother sat in a rocker/recliner getting larger and larger, and more and more bitter and hateful. Did I want that? NO! I refuse to become that! I am NOT my mother. I am NOT my grandmother. I am ME. I am Shelley! I am a daughter of the Living God and He has called me out, and set me apart for His service and with all the breath that is in me, with all the strength He puts in my fingers to type, I AM GOING TO USE IT!! And my revolution has begun! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! (Can you see me jumping up and down, waving my arms?)

God has been calling me into this ministry for years. I could hear him, faintly across the waves of my turmoil. Faintly in the depths of the pit I was in. But Glory to God, He pulled me out of that pit and placed me in the spot that He wanted me to be in. It was as if He were saying to me, “Okay, you’ve been in there long enough. You’ve made an effort to come out, but couldn’t quite get there, so I’m pulling you the rest of the way out. Now…go do what I’ve been calling you to do.” And then He nudged me in that direction and away I went!

Yes, I have moments of doubt. I have moments of stress, when those ugly, imaginary arguments crop up and those people in my head try to tell me I can’t do that. But those arguments aren’t real. Those arguments are straight from the pit that the Lord pulled me out of! And I say, “NO!” And they leave. It’s a constant battle, but let me tell you something….the Lord is with me and we are winning! You can win, too! Make your decision to get out there. Have a revelation so that you can have a revolution! Don’t be afraid! I spent too many years being afraid. You don’t have to be, either. Don’t give the devil any more authority. He has none. YOU have the authority! By the power that God gives you, you have the authority to cast out the enemy, too! Use it!