Determined

Because the Sovereign LORD helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a stone,
determined to do his will.
And I know that I will not be put to shame.

~ Isaiah 50:7 NLT

Isaiah 50:4 is a scripture I hold close to my heart. It reminds me that these are God’s Words, which He teaches me, and then enables me to share with His people as an encouragement and light to them. But I put so much of myself into my writing that the enemy tries to make it all about me—what will people think about me; what might they discover about me. And the enemy tries to trap me in a painful place—in the places that people experience but never want to speak about, for fear that the darkness will suddenly rise up and overtake them.

But my God whispers to my heart and He says, “You are not your past. You will not be humiliated. You will not be put to shame. Your history is a part of My story for My Glory.” Over and over, He reminds me that I am His and He holds me gently and securely in His righteous right hand. Therefore, I will set my face like flint, like stone, determined to do His will. I will not allow the enemy to come between me and God’s calling anymore. I will stand up to the enemy and the darkness and declare, “DON’T YOU DARE!!! I am healed, whole, and a teacher for the living God. You will not stop me, nor force me back. I will stand my ground and keep pressing forward. I am a daughter of the King and a warrior for His Name! And you, Satan, are under my feet!”

You are not your past—not the things that happened to you or the things you’ve done. You have been crucified with Christ, so you no longer live. Christ lives in you and your life is lived by faith through the Son of God, (Galatians 2:20). If the enemy is working so hard to keep you in a place of condemnation and fear, aren’t you curious as to why? What is he afraid will happen if you stand up and speak out?

©Heather Potts 2016

Threat Terminated

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ~ Ruth 4:13 NASB

Did you ever consider that the attacks against you aren’t about you at all?

The enemy knew what Ruth’s descendants were called to, so he positioned his attack against Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess and he assumed if he could take away everything, she’d crumble and go back to what was familiar. But the hand of God was strong on her and even when her mother-in-law begged Ruth to leave, Ruth refused. Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, became bitter when her husband and both of her sons died. In her despair, Naomi felt it would be better to be alone, but Ruth wouldn’t leave. Ruth’s decision would forever change her life and the lives of countless others.

Last August, God told me to attend our church’s weekly morning prayer meetings, where we pray over our community.  At one of the meetings, God gave me a vision of our children—not just my girls, but the whole community of children who are currently being raised up—reaching out to, loving on, caring for, encouraging, healing, and helping those who were lost, hurting, and in need of a Savior. Then Holy Spirit said to me, “It starts with you.” He said my girls have a calling on their lives, but their journey will be strengthened as my marriage and walk with God are strengthened.

The next generation needs us to fight the fight before them, pray for them, and cling to God and His calling for our lives. If Ruth had not stuck with Naomi, had not gone to work in Boaz’s field, she and Boaz would not have met, married, and become great-grandparents to David… The enemy knows God’s plans for our lives and it makes him afraid. So he hunts, attacks, wounds, and keeps coming after us all in an attempt to keep us and future generations from fulfilling God’s plan.

If you are under fire and it feels like the hits just keep coming, one after another, declare as David did: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me,” (Psalm 56:3-4 NASB).

©Heather Potts 2016