The New and Living Way, the Way of the Spirit, replaces seeking with enjoying. Striving with love. Thirsting with wholeness. Prayer-mongering with trusting. And lastly, it replaces fighting with reigning.
This one is hard to explain concisely, but suffice it to say that many Christians believe that they have to fight the devil on a daily basis if they’re going to experience “victory in Jesus.” Ask them if Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, they’ll say yes. But no.
I used to be there. I used to LIVE there. Armored-up, clenching my teeth, pounding the gates of hell, wrestling my heavenly blessings from his clammy claws. Looking over my shoulder, worrying about chinks in my armor, bellowing out commands and stamping my feet and doing prayer walks to cover ground for Jesus. Seeing the enemy at work in everyone and everything. It was exhausting.
I can’t get into it all here, but as with all the tenets of the Old Way, your perspective determines your experience. Let that sink in. If you believe God is far away, he’ll feel like it. If you think you’ve got to earn his favor, that’s how things will seem to play out. If you think you need to be thirsty, you’ll become a gaping hole. And if you think the devil must be fought and overcome “with your authority in Jesus,” that will be your experience as well.
But if you truly believe you are one with Christ, you’ll KNOW he’s near. If you believe in his grace for you, you’ll sense his smile. If you believe in Christ’s sufficiency and that the Spring of His Spirit flows within you, you’ll never thirst again. And if you believe Satan is a defeated foe and treat him that way, not fighting but enforcing, he has no option but to comply. Read my book, Finding Home, to hear more about this, but it’s crucial.
Jesus, show us the truth. Persuade us. Capture our minds and imaginations, our wills and our hearts. Reveal your reality, and help us live there. Show us the New and Living Way opened up to us by your death and resurrection, the Way of the Spirit. YES! Amen!