Come To Him Boldly

As I am writing this blog, Israel is at war. The atrocity, mockery, and straight-
up boldness of our evil enemy are on display. Death is his business. Division
and destruction are his goals. This is an outright attack against God Himself,
as this is always the enemy’s intention. He hates God and will use anyone and
anything to fulfill his agenda of hatred and violence. The prince and power of
the air has let loose his forces at a very strategically planned time. He is using
his wicked schemes to kill, steal, and destroy God’s innocent ones. Many
innocent people have been and will continue to be killed due to this war.
Satan does not care; he is going after the Lord, after love, after hope, after
time, and after anyone who has faith in God. I am heartbroken and distraught
as I have been watching the news footage. I am praying relentlessly for light
over darkness, good over evil, love over hate. I am praying for the thousands
of grieving and broken hearts. I am praying for peace. I am praying for Israel. I
am praying for all believers, no matter where they live, and I am praying for all
the innocent ones who have nothing to do with this violence or hatred.

This is a serious time that could have an effect on our worlds spiritual climate.
This is a time for the power of the church to rise up in authority. This is a time
when we, as Gods children, need to be praying about wars and the rumors of
wars. During this critical time, we should not be slowed down by our own
distracting soul talk or have a tunnel vision approach to all the different
emotions that can swirl within the views of our self-deficiencies. Yes, we all
have important feelings, and yes, our Father cares intimately about our
hearts, but in this pressing day, we need to get into our positions of authority
and pray Thy Kingdom come.

On one of these days, as I was out for a walk and entering into a time of
prayer, I had to ask the Holy Spirit to help me cut through my laborious self-
thoughts. I needed His help so I could concentrate on the important tasks at
hand; this is when I heard Him say something fairly direct to me. It was in
regard to receiving an important and useful tool. A tool that would help me
get to His Holy perspectives more quickly. A tool that would help my entrance
into His presence without all the self delays. This tool would facilitate me by
helping me be more present with Him in prayer. Here is the tool I heard the
Holy Spirit share with me. Here is what I heard Him say.
“Melissa, I want you to move away from taking things so personally
within yourself so that you can take the things of my Spirit more
personally.”

When I got back home, I spent some time searching for examples of what
taking things personally meant by definition. The not-so-pleasant points and
the negative effects of this characteristic. The reasons for converting away
from self and turning to Him and the need to concentrate on His plans and
timelines.
Here are some examples of what it looks like when an individual is taking
things too personally.

1. They are overly sensitive to what people think of them.
So, my Jesus conversion would be to take what He thinks of me into my
own person instead. He is the plumb line of truth.

2. They often find themselves feeling guilty.
But, my Jesus conversion would be to stand on the truth that He is
calling me to take the power and freedom of His cleansing blood
personally. This kind of chronic self-guilt only leads to self-shame.

3. Those who take everything personally don’t take criticism well.
This needed Jesus conversion is to lean not unto my own
understanding but to trust in Him instead. To be listening for the voice
of the Holy Spirit, whose loving-kindness is sufficient to lead us if we
need to be corrected.

4. Feeling attacked or misunderstood when people disagree with you is
also a sign of over-personalizing.

So, my Jesus conversion would be to take His personal knowledge of
my innermost being into account first. He knows me and loves me. He
is able to complete what He has started in me, and I can hear His voice
if He needs to correct me. I have a full assurance that His loving-
kindness can and will lead me to true repentance. From this position, I
can hear love and growth instead of those familiar feelings of self-
protection or defense.

As humans, we can all have times when we get bent out of shape. We can all
have struggles with our opinions, and we can all allow those opinions to get
under our skin and mess with our correct God perspectives. Not one person
alive can say they have not had times when their focus became so frustrated
that it hindered their entrance into prayer. This is why I considered Jesus'
words to me as words of mercy. To see His statement as a wooing, a gift, and
a tool so I can come into alignment and out of the trap of over-personalizing
my distracting emotions. It was His faithfulness to give me this statement.

This investigation takes all things Jesus personally instead. A tool to help me
so I can more easily take Him and His views more quickly and confidently to
His marvelous throne. Now, when I feel defensive, I can lay down my personal
self and pick up His Kingdom needs in prayer. Now, the word “PERSONALLY”
becomes a call to come into His presence—an action word that calls me into
a relationship with Him—a call to participate together in His Kingdom
coming to Earth as it is in Heaven. Ephesians 3 says it all.

God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its
rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was His eternal plan, which He carried out through Christ Jesus our
Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and
confidently into God’s presence.  So please don’t lose heart because of my
trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored. When I think of
all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in
heaven and on earth. Pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources, He
will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will
make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down
into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to
understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and
how deep His love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too
great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the
fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is
able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely
more than we might ask or think.  Glory to Him in the church and in Christ
Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Wow, God, within this language from the Holy Spirit, Paul reveals how we can
enter into Gods very own presence and pray to Him without delay. We can
exercise our “God tools” there, and we can listen to His personal call to each of
us to be complete. We, the church, are in His divine will when His mighty
power is working within us. We can each be very personal about Him working
in our lives. I believe that as we do, we will more readily enter boldly and
confidently into His presence and then take our seats of authority as the
Church. We can pray with greater understanding for the many individuals
who are suffering from the horrific plagues of war.

I mean, how do you not take violent acts against you personally? There is only
one way. It is by converting to the divine one named Jesus who reviled not.
He Who knew how to stay in obedience to the tasks that were set before Him,
He Who called us to pray from His glorious, unlimited resources so that He
could empower us with inner strength through His Spirit. He who makes His
home in our hearts as we trust in Him. Together, we can fight this good fight of faith; together, we can watch as His kingdom principles become established on earth, and together, we can pray for the saving of all His innocent ones as we enter freely into His glorious presence in prayer.

Blessings, Fellow Comrades!

Love,
Melissa Norris.