Perfect Storm

I've spent several years refusing to acknowledge a defeated enemy; a necessary venture for my sensitivities to the spirit realm. In previous years I had made myself very aware of the whereabouts and activities of a dark realm thinking this was a mark of spiritual maturity; to be able to call out demonic activity in people's lives isn't maturity, in fact, it's joining in with defeating purposes. If I were told that I'm being influenced or possessed by demons, I'd feel so hopeless. Quite frankly, drawing attention to an enemy and his potential is void of the great commission and commandment. To go and preach the gospel is to go and declare freedom from the awareness of sin's enticements and making disciples looks like breaking chains and offering a good long look into how God defines each. Pulling out the gold in the lives of those around you and teaching them how to display it well is loving God and others. I would have loved to deny the activity of an enemy altogether, because, how can a defeated foe have any power? A question always in the background of my proclamations enforcing my hopeful belief of satan's inability to render any assignments against me. I'm no expert on the spirit realm, but I'm compelled to share where I've landed for now. (By no means would I even say I'm grounded in this; consider this more of an open-ended conversation being trailed by dozens of more questions than answers.)

In Jesus' death on the cross, a mercy killing was enacted. All of humanity went down in him. You've heard it said, a Bill Johnson favorite, "Jesus took what we deserved so we could have what he deserves." Jesus took on humanity's death so we could live his life; in his resurrection we sprang to new creation life, forever leaving our old life in Adam in the grave. As long as we are agreeing with who we were in Adam, we are living within the realm of an enemy having access and input into our identity. Lucifer gained access the moment Eve agreed that there was more to who she is than the definition given when looking into the face of her creator, her Father that she walked hand in hand with in the cool of each and every day. A simple act of deceit sent us spiraling. We needed a scapegoat, a pure and spotless lamb.

In our busyness to get it all right, it rarely occurs to us that only one could indeed get it all right. It would take God stepping out of Heaven as the Son to lead the way to perfection. It would take Jesus humbling himself unto death to prove our worth. Over and over divine impartations are released to get our attention long enough to get a word in edgewise. We're stubborn! Our actions are practically begging for Jesus to step out of heaven and do it all again and again and again. The scene in Revelation 5 with the unopened scroll seems hopeless for John, the beloved, at first. An angel's proclamation of who is worthy in all of creation; I can only imagine the tension John feels within himself. He's aware of what he's done throughout his lifetime and he's under the onslaught of love and destiny whirling around his being. Make no mistake, that is what Heaven is loaded with; you know you've allowed yourself to meet with God when you come out feeling bulletproof, 10 feet tall and believing you can do anything. Within minutes it all begins to wane, you are confronted with a lesser image prone to look at the practicality of it all. I look into the scene of Revelation 5 and can feel the moment, John knew what humanity feels like, he knows there is no hope of finding one worthy. A consoling elder approaches, lending him insight, "look!" John looks and sees the lamb, the lamb of God whose chest he's leaned into a time or two. John being a revelator, easily caught up, could have lost sight of Jesus the human, wearing flesh just like him, for Jesus the God who was and is to come.

We have to keep our eyes fixed on what the highest truth is concerning us or we'll fall for everything.

The perfect internal storm is made up of offense confirming fear’s voice in various wounded places in us. Grappling to find the intent of the voice releasing offense with life’s breath is the necessary match we should agree to; contending to rightly see and know each other no matter what. The only way to diffuse the partnership forming is to calmly sit in the turmoil swirling; as though detached as a mere spectator taking in the bout. The mind of Christ will win 10 times out of 10 if we rise above to the loftiest place available. With deep, cleansing, calm breaths rational decisions can be made and lesser transactional agreements can be denied. Choosing to see beyond the disarray of debris chaotically flying, as if magically stilling all else in search of a higher truth to run with is a noble place of love. Refusing any lesser view of humanity is a higher, harder calling, but worth it for unity's sake.

Touching down on love's landing strip is crucial. Were the words spoken released from the highest place of truth or was it frivolous and/or inaccurate? It doesn't matter nearly as much as we would like it to. Often times we run in the direction of the coupling of offense and fear because it feels like confirmation, but wisdom declares that it doesn’t have to be. We get to slow it all down to a matrix pace of movable parts. When my fears catch wind of the possibility of new territory for sale, they perk up and pay attention. For instance, offense doesn’t ask questions, it makes statements, “you’re not necessary!” Fear then lifts the lid releasing the tales of history, confirming a narrative(real or not) that you’re not necessary, never have been. Agreeing with this activity is a trap even if the origin of the offense was released in error. We are empowered beyond this to tear down the strongholds with a might we are equipped with. I just have to be willing to believe that I am created to be above as the head and not below as the tail.

Offense and Fear were designed to serve me long before morphing into a marred and broken emotion, they just went by different names. Demons are a false image reflecting the fallen state of Adam. Angels were created to mirror our image in the perfection of God. Protectors of far more than our physical being, they’re protectors of our image, surrounding us with the right reflection of Jesus Christ and our union in Him. Likewise, demons are reflecting our fallen state in shame, fear, and distance. It’s a moment by moment choice of what we allow to influence us, we often feel compelled to look to see ourselves, even if it is in lesser things --just like Eve did long ago.

Our identity has to flow from one place: Jesus. Jesus' words in John 17, "I in them and them in me... just like you and me, Father", have to be on repeat. Everything has to measure up to that. If there is no room within perfect union for what we're up against, then it's not the final draft, we're not done. We have to be willing to stand upon the reality of our new creation existence, to land in love over and over. You are not what fear is reflecting, you are what the angelic, the risen son and all of Heaven reflect. We're empowered to empower, forgiven to forgive, loved to love -- end of story!

That's a more perfect storm with greater results. After all, what Jesus did offers a gift out of all proportion to what Adam offered humanity. If Adam’s shortcoming took us all out, how much more covered are we through the blood of God...