God is calling us out to be set apart from this world and the world's culture. We are to be shining lights exposing the lies of the enemy and the hypocrisy around us.
We are not supposed to cower in the darkness or in the background of life. Instead, we are to step out in faith and what God has called us out to do. We cannot lose sight of God's calling on our lives. And we must not forget God created us to be light, not dim lamps under blankets.
Looking back now at years prior I did not realize how much of walking through fire to get where God has called me to would include letting go of my expectations of what my voice would look like. And I did not realize what kind of rejection that I would face being refined by the fire of God.
For instance, going from the little girl who broke out the cassette player karaoke machine that had Shania Twain, Natalie Grant, and sang along with the tapes. I had this dream of being a singer and worship leader. Then learning to sing in high-school with a hearing loss, and then relearning to sing after the hearing was restored was one thing.
Then being in my early twenties starting in several different colleges including going from secular to Christian colleges and having other people try to tell me what God has called me to do. And then dealing with the after-effects of insecurities being magnified as a result of this.
To now being a young woman who is almost thirty and figuring out only God has called me to write, speak, blog, about the truth, not anyone else. God alone has set me apart to speak the truth in my voice.
And He has called me out of my insecurities to combat the lies of the enemy so other women cannot fall into the same snares of the enemy. Or fall into the trap of silence and isolation.
In the silence is where lies linger the most and get the loudest. Because nothing is combating them. Whereas, when we attack the lies that come at us with truth those lies fall like flies being smashed with a flyswatter. If we do not combat the lies of the enemy the lies will begin to attack our identities in Christ and our voices.
Thus, we must take on the mind of Christ and release our selfish ambitions (the flesh) into the hands of God. So we can put on the love of Christ. We have this mind of freedom from the lies of the enemy through Christ. We do not have to put up with it and we can combat them. We just have to find our voice to proclaim the truth.
We must speak up, speak out, and proclaim the truth. The lies of the enemy, even the lies of people fall at the feet of Jesus and do not survive.
"Complete my joy by being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."(Philippians 2:2-8ESV).
We must look to the interest of Christ and others. We must humble ourselves before Jesus and put on the mind of Christ. Christ was not afraid to humble himself to do the Father's will. He was willing and eager to do it.
In all honesty, we cannot combat the lies by ourselves we need God's help. Because let's face it we are helpful without His truth. Plus we are helpless without His tools to renew our minds to see and believe the truth.
We cannot do anything apart from God because we are created to abide in Him. There is no amount of self-care we can do to save our skin.
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be poured that I did not run in vain or labor in vain."(Philippians 2:14-16ESV).
Here's the deal, and what I have learned in combating lies and insecurities that have either flooded my mind and tried to distract me from the truth is; hold fast to the word of God, by reading it, memorizing it if possible. So that I can recognize the lies from the truth.
Moreover, I have to put away grumbling, selfish ambitions, disputing with others and with God so I can hear Him speak to me compared to the enemy trying to disrupt my focus what I know is true to what looks like the truth.
Plus, God has called me out of this crooked and twisted generation to shine as a light to expose lies and hypocrisy which is lying underneath the surface.
Although I have to be aware God is going to expose my faults before I can go before others to speak the truth over them. I have to recognize my sins and confess them before God before I can do anything else. The point is God is not afraid to call us out on our sins. So we do not have room to be hypocrites or judgmental Christians who think we are better than others.
God keeps calling us back to Him to a pursuit of purity and holiness.
To be shining lights we have to let go and release what is out of our hands. And we do have to let go of our unrealistic expectations.
We must cling to the word of God so we can hear the words He speaks over us.
Ask this of yourself this week, am I a shining light for Jesus?
And remember the lies cannot withstand the Word of God.
God has called us out to be set apart and renewed in Him.
He has called us out to shine. Don't miss your time to shine and do not miss your turn to speak out the truth.
References:
English Standard Version Study Bible (2008) Crossway Publishing, Wheaton ILL,
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