AREAS OF STRUGGLE IN OVERCOMING

Have you been "called aside" to spend time alone with your Heavenly Father? Are you no longer satisfied with what you are experiencing in organized religion – what the world thinks is His church? Is there a great "inner knowing" making you aware that there is a whole lot more to God than what you’ve seen so far? Well, get ready – because things are, as we say in Texas, "fixin’ to change. You have already entered into a whole new world in the spirit realm, but don’t think you’ve got totally smooth sailing ahead of you for a while. I’d like to share some major battles most of us face as we move toward total intimacy with the Father:

1. The Awakening that ORGANIZED RELIGION – the structured church – motivated by traditions of men - is a poor substitute for this INTIMACY WITH FATHER - is the first major battle. Continuing to expose yourself to the false teaching of the organized church is putting yourself in a place where you still need a mediator between you and God instead of daring to believe that the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for you - splitting that veil in the temple between the holy place and the most holy place [the dwelling place of God] was sufficient and now you have the blessed opportunity of coming [as the high priest of your own tabernacle] and presenting yourself Peniel [face-to-face] with God - of sitting on the Mercy Seat between the Cherubim and holding His hand and talking things over with Him - getting all your questions answered - allowing His LOVE to permeate your total BEing.

Having your eyes opened to the ILLUSION of dead WORKS being produced through participation in RELIGIOUS RITUALS - versus the LIFE that comes forth through an INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with Father Himself – is all part of this awakening. HE has separated you from all the religious entrapments [the organized church] and set you on a high place in the spirit - a place alone with Him. He will begin to show you what "real ministry" actually is - you've only seen an illusion, so far, but you are about to be brought into the place of "reality in the spirit."

2. Being weaned away from concern for OPINIONS OF OTHERS is another area for potential conflict. Listening to TOO many voices can bring confusion. I'll be very surprised if we don't share a very similar experience in this area of our lives: most of the folks you encounter do not have the depth of spiritual insight that you possess because they do not have the heart desire to "KNOW HIM" in the same way that you do. That doesn't make you superior to them in any way.

You didn't choose this walk - HE CHOSE YOU. But trying to get a lot of advice from a whole lot of other folks – can many times defeat your ability to STAND in what you KNOW... know in your "GUT" - in your SPIRIT! Continuing to ask other people's advice on everything that comes up will be a MAJOR HINDERANCE. That is a whole lot of why HE has pulled you away from all the religious exposure and pulled you aside to be alone with him. In due time, He may bring others along side for a season to confirm those things He has spoken to you. That’s when it gets exciting – to find that while you’ve felt so alone for so long – there actually is a whole group of folks around the world that have been hearing the same kinds of things He’s been sharing with you.

3. CASTING your PEARL before swine - speaking TRUTH to unlearned ears - unprepared hearts - only brings CONFUSION. Trying to share what you are walking through with almost anyone you know - unless they have been called to this same "alone with HIM" quiet place - will only produce death. The one thing I AM SURE OF - He doesn't want any human substitute for what HE alone is doing in you right now! This is a very sacred time in your life and HE will have HIS way with you.

God didn't call you aside and tell you to drop everything, so you could keep receiving advice from the religious world... He wants your full attention - totally alone with him. He doesn't just know what Truth is - HE IS TRUTH - TRUTH IS A PERSON!

The ONLY way you can be influenced by Satan is if you fail to control your own thought life and continue to listen to his lies. Remember, he is the father of ALL lies - and his mission is to kill, steal, and destroy. But, when you dare to believe that you have ALL power and authority over any of the trash that he puts out - and you begin to LIVE in PHIL. 4:8 - choosing what you will think about and choosing to focus on our Father and on Jesus - then you just won't have time to 'listen' to the lies.

God has given us the power to be an Overcomer - and this is one of the foundational, major areas to exercise that power - to choose to focus on HIM - the LIGHT - and to ignore him - the DARKNESS.

The blessed promise is - we have a job to do in this area - and that job is to "RESIST". I've just described the steps necessary in resisting - refuse to listen to his LIES, choose what you are going to allow in your mind - PHIL 4:8, and bring anything that is not like HIM into the LIGHT [to HIM] because even a tiny amount of LIGHT will totally dispel ALL DARKNESS.

As you flex your spiritual muscles in this area, you will find the battle gets easier and easier - because the PROMISE IS THIS: "RESIST the devil - and he has to FLEE..." I promise you it works!

5. The flesh hates this ALONENESS [the illusion that you are alone] and will continue to try to drive you back to the "crowd". But I promise you that as you continue to walk as HE has directed... you will grow stronger and stronger in your own spiritual walk. Flesh wants to be popular and flesh wants to surround itself with those that "Like You." But that is a major trap. It is only in the aloneness with HIM that you will get your answers and receive your "spiritual fertilizer" to cause ABUNDANT GROWTH, ABUNDANT POWER, ABUNDANT PEACE. He's the only one with ALL the answers and ALL the power necessary to be an OVERCOMER.

6. Separation even from FAMILY - turning your back on all emotional ties - and giving HIM everything you have is yet another area of spiritual battle. This doesn't give you license to be unkind, but it does give you wisdom and liberty to keep your compass set on HIM and your priorities ordered by HIM - not continually being swayed by even [or especially] other family members. They know the physical you and know all of your emotional "hot buttons." They can be used, especially in your emotional realm, as a major deterrent - swaying your complete obedience to what God is directing.

You've already had your share of this kind of warfare - but it is something that God has set up as an obstacle in your life - totally for your benefit - it is an opportunity to flex your spiritual muscles and rise above the "mountain" and thus, become His OVERCOMER! It may seem like torture when you walk through it, but it is HIS LOVE that has known what it is going to take - to bring you out of the cocoon and give you the wings to fly on HIS course.

The larvae becomes a healthy, functional butterfly through all of the exercise it takes for him to work his way out of the cocoon [his present limitations]. If some "kind" person [religious thinking evangelical or emotionally dependant family member] tries to rescue him and cuts him out of the cocoon instead of allowing him to work his own way out [led by Holy Spirit] - he becomes crippled for life. That is the major reason you are now in the place of ALONENESS with Father.

7. REST is found only in HIM - only in your INTIMACY with HIM. It is as you allow the INTIMACY that HE desires, that you will become impregnated with HIS LIFE-PRODUCING POWER... and your eyes will be opened to see the difference between the RELIGIOUS "WORKS" that you have been so involved with - and the real LIFE-PRODUCING POWER that comes only from OUT OF HIM INTO YOU.

All that other "stuff" is going to burn up. It was a form of godliness, but it actually denying the very power that produces life - because it is being done in the power and strength of YOU - by way of the systems and programs of organized religion. It looks good for a season - but you don't want a substitute - you want 100% of the REAL THING - the power that only comes from HIM - the only power that will cause LIFE TO COME FORTH in everything you are to touch in your deeper walk IN HIM.

And HE will never be satisfied until HE has FILLED ALL of YOU with HIMSELF - so that when your voice speaks - it isn't you speaking at all - IT IS HIM. And as this progress continues and the MIND of CHRIST is more firmly manifested in you - your thoughts will line up with HIS THOUGHTS. Then ALL the resistors in you will be removed and HE will have a clear channel to work through... that's HIS desire - for HE knows that only then will HIS LIFE - flowing through you - effect CHANGE - LASTING CHANGE - in those HE then can bring across your path for HIM to LOVE.

Oh, to know the depth of His Love for You, In You, Through You -

Sunny O. Coffman

lighthouselibrary@earthlink.net

Lighthouse Library, Int'l.

Dallas, Texas