6.25.25 ~ Conquering the Land Within

Good morning!

Each of us has a domain in our life that needs to be conquered, a terrain that needs to be transformed into a "holy land", so we can be a 'set apart people'. Some of us need to confront fear of what others think, numbness to the indifferences with this world, insecurity in our own skin, temptation to find satisfaction outside of Godly relationships, guilt from past failures, self-loathing, and/or shame. We must confront challenges within our own minds, our marriages, and our families. Since the challenges that lay in the restoration path are at times frightening, we are naturally tempted to believe that we are incapable of overcoming our darkness and we surrender to the obstacles; aka the giants in our land.

The feeling is understandable, but if you surrender to it, it will rob you of the opportunity to liberate your life and arrive at your personal "Promised Land." The option of resignation compels you to remain stuck in a barren desert made up of the stuff of shame and despair. And before you know it, because these 'giants' haven't been taken care of...weeks, months and years pass leaving us bewildered on where 'time' has gone.

The question ought not to be, "Can I do it?" Because that's the question coming from my inner sense of incompetence; from my insufficient tool bag. God conceived you in love, and the day you were born is the day He declared that the world is incomplete without you. The fact that He put breath in your lungs today tells you He needs you to carry out a functional purpose for His Kingdom!

As the saying goes, sometimes when you find yourself in a dark place you may think that you’ve been buried, but, like the seeds in my garden, you've actually been planted so you can die to self (Matt. 16:24-27 vs Jn. 12:24). The resources to repair the "hole in our personal roof" are present. I am empowered to leave my wilderness and discover my light, joy, and wholeness. God has sent me into each of my life's journeys with the power to bring light into my darkness and discover my own inner infinity, as a Divine ambassador of love, light, healing, and hope.

The story of the spies (Num. 13, 14) is our personal story. My trauma tells me, "I can't," and I have all the emotional evidence and data to support my conclusions; my confirmation biases are alive and well. But with lots of empathy and faith in the God Who can deliver me, I can discover a deeper, untarnished, unfearful core that has the power to say: I can, and I will; now let me figure out how.

As we move into this 25th day of counting towards the first fruit of the wine, the 1/2 way point :-), thanks Mr. Obvious! Doesn't it make sense that the gigantic fruit of the vine revealed within the Promised Land is enough to motivate our prophetic vision to fight the giants (Matt. 26:29)...as you know, there will be two types of grape juice on that prophetic day (Deut. 32:32; Isa. 63:1-6 or Song 5:1; Isa. 25:6; Zeph. 3:17; Zech. 9:17; Lk. 22:18-20; Jn. 15:11).

Have a great middle of the week!

Shalom,
Alan

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