Scattering the Shadows

Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice. ~ Isaiah 41:10 AMPC

Last night, I woke up after nightmares feeling nauseous—the 3^rd night in a row. After lying awake for several minutes, I heard Jesus singing over me, “I will cast my cares on You.” In the dark, I moved to my God-chair and half prayed, half cried at the realization of the weight I’d been carrying. But God spoke, scattering the shadows and breaking-up the lie. “It’s not your responsibility,” He said.

Unfortunately, this is not my first rendezvous with lies and shadows. But at the sound of His voice, God brought the light and everything became clear.

Isaiah 41:10 is a promise—a declaration—first revealed to me in 2015, when I was engulfed by darkness and shadows. But God stepped into that pit and pulled me out, holding me in the safety of His embrace. Last night, rereading that promise, He reminded me, “I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you.” The enemy’s going to bring his worst, his A-game, with fear, condemnation, guilt, and shame. But God has promised to hold me up with His victorious right hand.

If someone you know is walking in a realm of shadows and darkness, keep praying for them. James 5:16 declares, “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working),” (AMPC). Let God do the fighting, breaking up the darkness and scattering the shadows.

Father, thank you for Your promise to help and uphold us in Your victory. Thank you for giving us a Spirit of Power, Love, and a Sound Mind. Thank you that we have been given the mind of Christ and are guided by His thoughts and purposes. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

©Heather Potts 2017

Comforted

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. ~ John 14:18 KJV

Something woke me early this morning and the enemy was quick to pounce on me with condemnation. In my exhausted state, it took me a moment to recognize what was happening, but when I did I said, “This is condemnation.” Even though the speaking stopped, the images lingered, until God spoke and I heard my Father say, “Come away with Me. Draw away with Me and leave everything else behind.” I saw Him holding me; I was safe and secure in my Father’s arms. He turned me around, still holding me close to His chest. With a single word, He disbanded all the enemy’s lies. He said, “See. Everything is fine.”

When I got out of bed and into my God-chair, I had a strong urge to read my Bible, to find comfort there, but I didn’t know where to begin because the chapter I’ve been studying felt dry. Holy Spirit led me. When I opened up my laptop, one of the Bible study sites I use opened to John 14:18. Holy Spirit showed me that in this scripture God promises to never send me away from Him, deprived and desolate, bereaving a death, like one without a Father. Instead, He will come from one place and into another for me.

Father, thank you that though the enemy attacks and is ready to pounce, especially when I’m tired and vulnerable, You are greater and You come to comfort me and not leave me comfortless! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

©Heather Potts 2016

Yet Praise

But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.

~ Psalm 71:14 NKJV

The enemy’s hope in beating us down is to feed into our fears and get us to question God’s faithfulness. Once we begin to question Him, the enemy again comes after us in hopes that we’ll doubt that God will come through this time. And once we begin to doubt, the enemy condemns us for doubting. And he tries to get us into an endless cycle of fear, doubt, and condemnation.

There are days of victory and triumph, but then there are seasons of testing, trial, and refinement. In those seasons, that’s when the enemy peppers us with his seeds of doubt and fear, in hopes we’ll say, “Though God came through before, I don’t see Him moving this time…Can He really get us out of this situation?” Our family has been under heavy fire for a full year and some days it’s all we can do to come before our Father and say, “We need You!” But when we do, His Spirit encourages us and we can say, “I’ll yet praise You.”

Yet is used to emphasize a comparative: Though what’s desired is not what’s seen, I’ll yet, moreover, still do this.

Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:

The faithful love of the LORD never ends!

His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”

~ Lamentations 3:21-24 NLT

Though it’s been a hard road and one I definitely would not have chosen, I have seen more miracles and an outpouring of God’s faithfulness and blessings this past year than I think I’ve seen in my whole life.

If you’re finding it hard to breathe, press in to Father God and ask Him to encourage your heart. And when the enemy comes knocking tell him, “Though what’s happening hurts, I will praise my God yet more and more because His faithful love never ends!”

©Heather Potts 2016