Life-giving words come from life-giving thoughts. John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life…The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” Jesus said, in John 14:6, that He is the life. John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

1 Corinthians 2:13-14 says, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Life-giving words come from our meditation on His word. That meditation enhances our mindset, broadening it through eternal truth. Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

We open our hearts as we read God’s word daily for understanding. The Holy Spirit highlights what He wants us to discover. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Verse 10 in the Amplified says, “Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit…” 

We may read through our Bible, but each time we come back to a familiar passage, we need to be open. We are in a different season, and the Holy Spirit is always ready to lead us to a greater understanding. Here is the rest of the verse, “…for the (Holy) Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny).”

We won’t know what God has hidden in His word for us, unless we are diligently searching as we read His word. The Holy Spirit so desires to help us deep dive into God’s wisdom and knowledge. We cannot know them unless He opens our eyes through spiritual discernment. The Holy Spirit yearns to show us. John 16:14 says, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

Proverbs 3:32 Amplified says, “…His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the (uncompromisingly) righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him).” He does not reveal the hidden truths of His word to those who have their minds set on the things of the flesh. He is looking for those who search the Scriptures to see Him at work.

Jesus gave the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8. Essentially He said that the seed is His word. Have you ever considered how your words are also seeds? Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Here is a fact about sowing. We reap far more than we sow. I was thinking about how a little bird, years ago, dropped an apple seed in the backyard of my old house. That seed became a tree, and produced great apples year after year. Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” 

What fruit are your words producing? We eat the fruit of our words, as do those we speak them to. Proverbs 18:20-21 says, “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Every word we speak comes first from our thoughts. What we think about will be the seed-words that we sow. Matthew 12:37 says, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. David wrote Psalm 19. Verse 14 may be very familiar, but we need to look at it again through the eyes of the words we are speaking. It says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

David wrote Psalm 141. Verse 3-4 says, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies.” Our words, and the words we are listening to are seeds that are sown.

Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” Heart integrity does not not walk in grey areas. God’s word is black and white. When He says, ‘Do this’ there are no grey area choices. James 3:2 says, “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”

James 3:10-11 says, “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter water from the same opening?” The answer is no. It is one or the other. It is a black and white statement.

Here is a thought I had this morning when I woke up. How many times a day do I say ‘I can’t’ or other words of limitation? Psalm 78:41 says, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” Ask yourself: am I limiting God through the seed-words that I am sowing? Let our seed-words sow righteousness that will bear succulent fruit that others can benefit from. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” 

Truth is eternal. Think back to John 19:37. Jesus had just told Pilate, “…Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Verse 38 says, “Pilate said to Him, What is truth?…” Jesus, who is Truth, stood right before him. Pilate was looking at Truth and couldn’t see Him. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”

God’s word is Truth. 1 Peter 1:23 says, “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” Verse 25 says, “But the word of the Lord endures forever.” When we hide God’s words of truth in our heart, we sow incorruptible seed. The lies of the enemy are corruptible. They are like putting a bad apple into a bushel of apples. One by one the rot permeates.

John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.” Truth builds upon truth, like bricks in a wall. Sometimes well known verses take on a different hue, like the facets of a diamond reflecting light. 

Isaiah 28:10 says, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Let me illustrate. If weed-seeds were sown into your heart and have continued to propagate, what will sterilize them so that they cannot produce any longer? God’s eternal word!

Here is a lie. It is called the fear of man. Your fleshly reactions come from this weed-seed that has propagated through more lies. Their lies have permeated, and they seep into all of your thought processes unknowingly. Here is the truth. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” The lie: fear of man. The truth: fear of the Lord. 

In order for lie-propagations to be sterilized, we need to first spray them with weed-killer truth. God’s truth is the opposite of satan’s lies. Therefore we have to wisely mix our spray. Let’s make a list of verses to add. These are just a few.

Proverbs 9:10 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” This is a great set to add. Psalm 34:9-14. Verse 9 says, “…There is no want to those who fear Him.” Verse 11 says, “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” 

Here is how I would do this. I’d type out these verses. I would read them everyday. I would begin to renew my mind with their truths. It is bringing in wheelbarrows full of truth, like we would bring in fresh dirt for our garden. We want our seeds to have good soil to send down deep roots. Colossians 2:7 says, “Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abound in it with thanksgiving.” Our roots determine our fruit. When we abide, live in, and are vitally united to Him, our fruit will glorify Him above all else.

Weed-seeds propagate. There is no need to water them. Weeds have tenacious roots that allow them to survive and thrive. They flower, and the wind carries their seeds all over. Nothing keeps them from getting into cultivated flower beds to wreak havoc. I know from my own experience. My back field was full of weeds. My flower beds had to be weeded or my flowers would have been choked out. 

What weed-seeds choke out God’s word in your life? I want to go back to the scene of the golden calf and draw a present day analogy. Moses was delayed. The children of Israel’s fleshly reaction was to take matters into their own hands. Have you noticed that this is their default comfort zone? Exodus 32:1 says, “…Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

In chapter 29, Aaron and his sons were consecrated before the Lord to minister to Him as priests. Verse 45 said that He would dwell among the children of Israel and be their God. Verse 46 says, “And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt…”

It is easy for us to judge Aaron. He should have stood up against the people’s demand. In Exodus 32:2 Aaron instructed them to bring him golden earrings. Verse 4 says, “…he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” Lies propagating lies!

Aaron then declared a feast. They were all making merry when Moses and Joshua were going back down the mountain. Moses confronted Aaron. In verse 22 Aaron lied and blamed the people. In verse 24 he lied. The gold is the ‘it’ “…I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.” Verse 35 says, “So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.” 

It is good to consider what weed-seeds our lies have propagated. They will continue to bear fruit until we acknowledge and renounce them. This brings us back to emotional fillers. They are always of our own making. Jeremiah 2:13 says, “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns–broken cisterns that hold no water.”

‘Golden calves’ are something that we fashion in our mind that usurps God’s place. They are fleshly emotional fillers that we turn to first. Anything we have hewn for ourselves is made of flesh. Like the broken cisterns, our fleshly endeavors hold no water. They are all controlling lies that keep us bound.

John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” Spirit and life versus flesh and empty pursuits. Jeremiah 17:5-6 says that when we trust in our flesh we will be like a shrub in the dry desert. We will not see good when it comes, because we are blinded by self-deception.

It is only natural to react to adversity in any form. It is the overreaction that is the telltale sign that something is buried. It could be an emotional pain that we have not addressed. It could be negative or derogatory words spoken to our face. It could also be an after effect reaction. Sometimes we think about what just happened and negatively dialogue about it in our mind. We would not keep rehearsing it, if it had not triggered something. 

The Lord will reveal our buried lies when He knows that we are fortified and prepared through His word. He will not expose it before that. He is very patient. He knows when our heart is ready to be confronted. Mine came to the surface as I was reading through Exodus. I was convicted in my heart through Moses’ backpedaling excuses. Excuses are a skin of reason wrapped around a lie. Then He orchestrated a present circumstance to deeply drive in His truth. He helped me incorporate that truth through my step of obedience.

Yesterday morning I was asking the Lord about this buried lie that He had exposed. My words: help me understand and process this inordinate need. As soon as the word ‘inordinate’ came out of my mouth, I thought back to Colossians 3:5 that I had memorized in the KJV. That is why I looked it up in other translations. It is certainly not a word in my daily vocabulary.

What happened to me is a great example of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. He is always ready to take us into deeper healing from our past hurts. Though we live with them unconsciously, they still unknowingly affect our thought processes. Proverbs 23:7 says that we become how we think. Buried lies are guarded by pride. It is pride that keeps us from acknowledging them. He helped me understand that it was my pride that was blocking His grace to overcome. Overreactions are pride based. Who is the author of pride? We are not captives. The lies are only in our mind. Our spirit has been set free by Jesus’ shed blood.

Romans 6 is such a great chapter. It is filled with truth that will keep us free. Verse 1 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?” Here is a lie that some in the body of Christ believe. You can do anything because you are under grace. That is a demonic way of bringing you back into bondage and being controlled by the evil one.

Verse 15 says, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Paul emphatically refuted that lie. Verse 14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you. For you are not under law but under grace.” The key lies in verse 12. It says, “Therefore do not LET sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” How do we do that?

Verse 13 gives us God’s way. It says, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are not our own. Verse 20 says, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Our greatest weapon kills our flesh and renders it inoperable. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” A stronghold is a mindset rooted in a lie. The battlefield is our mind. Our thoughts either keep us in bondage, or they keep us free. When our thoughts come from the rich reservoir of God’s word hidden in our heart, we walk in the victory of our faith.

Colossians 3:5 says, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” I learned this verse in KJV. For evil desire it uses the word inordinate. The Amplified uses unholy desires. In each version, the word used is in a negative sense.

Our flesh hates to die! Verse 5 in the Amplified starts out like this, “So kill (deaden, deprive of power)…” The most effective way to deprive our flesh of power is to renounce the lie behind its assertiveness. If satan can get us to believe his lies, he will use them to control our lives. 

There is a lie among the body of Christ that the devil has no power over a believer. I was raised to believe that. That is true except when we give him that power by believing his lies. The lies influence our fleshly reactions. We react to a person’s words against us, or others’ negative behavior. Why? There is a lie that we have believed that controls us as revealed through those reactions. 

The Holy Spirit taught me years ago to be sensitive to my reactions. They are divine signals that He uses to expose my hidden. I ask myself this question: Marilyn, what do you believe about yourself right now? I consider what I reacted to. I recognize that it is a trigger. Usually it goes back to something in my past. Remember, an hour ago is now our past. It has the same emotional feeling. Then I ask Him to show me the lie that I am believing. He is so faithful to do that.

2 Corinthians 4:2 says, “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Renouncing means to disown. We ‘own’ the lies that we have believed. They have become ours unknowingly. When the Holy Spirit reveals the lie, we need to acknowledge it as such. Then confess it as sin, and renounce it. We then replace that lie with the truth.

David wrote Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba. Verse 4 says, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight…” Every lie that we have ever believed is known by the Lord. Nothing is hidden from Him. Hebrews 4:13 Amplified says, “And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”

Psalm 51:6 says, “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” Tomorrow I will dive deeper with this subject, and give you a present example from my own life on how I am uprooting the entanglement.

I brought up Brother Lawrence and Julian Norwich for a specific reason. They were considered mystics. After reading their books, I asked the Lord to make me a mystic. I can laugh about it now, but back then I was really serious. I thought that if I was a mystic, then I could have that kind of a relationship with the Lord.

Intimate communion has nothing to do with what we become, but who we are. At salvation, we were adopted as children of God. That means that we were specifically chosen. John 15:16 says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

Ephesians 4:17-18 makes it really clear that we would not have chosen God. We were futile in our mind, our understanding was darkened, and we were alienated from the life of God. There was no inkling of a connection whatsoever. Ephesians 2:15 says, “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity…” We were enemies of God. It is so essential to remember that foundation of truth, lest we become sucked back into the world.

1 John 2:16 clearly defined the world system that we came out of through salvation. It is: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Sound familiar? We were stuck in sin, bound in iniquity, and doing satan’s bidding unconsciously. That was who we were.

This is who we are. In John 15:15 Jesus was speaking to His disciples. We can apply this to ourselves because all believers are His disciples. It says, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from the Father I have made known to you.”

Jesus told His disciples that He was going away, but He would send His Spirit. John 16:13 says, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” John 14:17 says, “The Spirit of truth…dwells with you…”

 
1 John 2:27 says, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

This is who we are at the moment of our salvation. We are chosen and adopted. We are His friends. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, dwells within us. 1 Corinthians 2:10 Amplified says, “Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the (Holy) Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny).”

Resiliency is the capability to recover quickly from difficulties. Resiliency brings these words to my mind: flexibility, pliability, plasticity, durability. They all translate to endurance. Hebrews 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. The Greek word for endurance is humpomone. 

Here is Strong’s definition: constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up, steadfastness, holding out, and patient endurance. From a note in my Bible that I cherish: It describes the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.

Years ago I read a book called The Hurricane. It had a scene in it that I have not forgotten. It took place in Hawaii during a hurricane. The natives strapped themselves to a certain tree that could bend and not break. As the winds bent the tree, the folks tied to it bent also. It kept them from being blown away. Evan Roberts was the young man the Lord used to start the revival in Wales. His prayer: Lord bend me.

Are you resilient when broadsided with a hard trial? Are you so tied to the Lord that you can bend and endure? I often flee to Psalm 71:1-3. These eternal words anchor me. It says, “In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to  save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.”

Who or what is your refuge in times of trouble? The Lord says, ‘Come to Me’ when you are burdened and heavy laden with the cares of this life. We often carry a burden that is not ours to carry. We languish under what we perceive to be impossible. I want to take the mystery out of intimate communion with the Lord. 

Years ago I read “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. He was a 17th century monk. He would be singing to the Lord as he was washing pots and pans. He would be so filled with joy, that he would stop and dance before the Lord. Julian of Norwich was another that I read. “Revelations of Divine Love.” She was imprisoned in a dark dungeon. The conditions were horrendous. Yet, her relationship with the Lord helped her rise above the filth and vermin to focus on Him alone. He truly was her Sustenance. Both of their relationships with the Lord were far beyond me. I had no grid for them. However, they both started out as we can.

We simply acknowledge the Lord. He is Always Present. Yet when we take the time to be still before Him, we enter into intimate communion. It is Heart embracing heart. Our deepest longings connect to the Lover Of Our Soul. John 15:1-8 is the portion of Scripture about abiding. We commune with the Lord through His word. Verse 5 reminds us that apart from Him we can do nothing. Abiding is the soil that nourishes our spiritual roots. His words flow over us like cleansing water. Every breath we take we are breathing in His Presence. However, in abiding, we are living in that expression of His life-giving words.

John 15:7 Amplified says, “If you live in Me (abide vitally united to Me) and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” As we cling to Him, our heart begins to beat with His heart. His desire becomes our own. He makes His will and His ways known to us. Psalm 25:14 Amplified says, “The secret (of the sweet, satisfying companionship) of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its (deep, inner) meaning.”

When I was young, the word ‘Trigger’ was the name of Roy Rogers’ horse. When I began my emotional healing journey in 1983, I found another meaning of trigger. It is when something from our present reminds us of something unresolved from our past. There is an unconscious emotional trigger. It is as if the whole situation was occurring right then. Every emotion rises and we are broadsided.

Recently I opened a YouTube channel. If you like my video, you can hit a bell. Each time I post something new, you will be notified. Take that into healing for past hurts. When we bury our emotions, we set a bell. Each time it is triggered, our flesh is notified. It comes out of hiding to disturb our emotions. I know that when I overreact to something in my present, God is revealing an unresolved issue in my life.

In my first book, “Freedom! From Past Hurts” I have a chapter about setting anger as a guard to our buried emotions. Anytime someone comes close to us, we use anger to ward them away from our hidden. It is all unconscious. Yesterday I read a definition for self-conscious emotions. It means: Self-conscious emotions are those affected by how we see ourselves and how we think others perceive us. They include emotions like pride, jealousy, and embarrassment. 

Misunderstandings occur in interpersonal relationships when we perceive something that isn’t. Here is a great example. In Numbers 13, Moses had sent out twelve spies. Ten came back with this report. Verse 32-33 says, “…The land…devours its inhabitants, and all the people in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants…and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Do you see their erroneous perception?

Do you see yourself through God’s eyes, or through your perception of how others might see you? I am presently grappling with this question. Why? Yesterday something in my present triggered something hidden in my past. It is still hidden to me, but the great news is that it is not hidden to the Lord. So I have asked Him to reveal this buried emotional pain. 

I’ve written all the above, because I want to go back to Moses and the children of Israel. There is a pattern that I have picked up on this time as I read through the book of Exodus. Even though they physically left Egypt, they did not emotionally leave. Each time there was a situation of lack, it triggered their emotional attachment to what was. In Exodus 17 there was no water. The first thing they did was complain. They didn’t recall all that the Lord had done for them, they only remembered what they wanted to about Egypt. Their perceived lack was always related to their past fleshly gratification.

I encourage you to go before the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal your hidden. Here are some sample questions. What is buried that you overreact to? What hidden are you unconsciously guarding from anyone finding out? Does your perception of yourself agree with God’s? Do you fear what others might think of you? May the Holy Spirit lead us all into emotional freedom, that we might serve the Lord wholeheartedly.

Isaiah 35:1 says, “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose.” Yesterday I picked a few of my roses for a bouquet. Some of them were in full bloom, but a few were still in bud. If we had eyes to see, we could watch a rose bud unfold, until it was fully opened. Its fullness would be permeate the atmosphere with a sweet fragrance.

Deuteronomy 32:10 is so picturesque of God’s purpose in the wilderness. It is to call us to Himself. It says of Jacob, “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.” That is what the Lord does with each of us.

Before I fell headfirst into the six foot ravine in 1977, I kept myself very busy serving the Lord. I worked in our church printshop full time, and was very actively serving Him in various other ways. After I fell I was bedridden. The Lord used that wilderness time to woo me to Himself. He instructed my heart. I called it the dark night of my soul. I was like the caterpillar in the cocoon. I melted, and from that liquid the Lord’s butterfly emerged. He taught me how to stretch out my wet wings through intimate communion with Him. 

The Lord uses the wilderness to expose our hidden flesh. He fingers the enemy strongholds. He begins to bring the hidden to the surface of our conscious mind. Through this process, He reveals Himself to us in ways we have never known Him before. I love the story of Hagaar. Genesis 16:6 says that Sarai had dealt harshly with, and she fled to the wilderness.

The Lord visited her. He asked her where she was going. She told him that she was fleeing her mistress. He told her to return, and gave her His name for her son. Verse 13 says, “Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees.” No matter where we are, or what circumstances we find ourselves in, the Lord’s eyes are always on us. We are the apple of His eye.

Deuteronomy 33:27 says, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, Destroy!” I love this verse. The Lord flushes out the hidden, like a hunting dog flushes out fowl hiding in the underbrush. Anything that keeps us from an open, fulfilling, intimate communion with Him is our enemy. It could be stronghold-lies that the enemy erected. It might be our negativity, self-hatred, or self-rejection. He goes for the root.

There are skirmishes in the wilderness. We run into obstacles that seem to block our faith. We flounder in deep waters that seek to drown us. It may be seemingly impossible circumstances that halt us in our tracks. It is in the wilderness that the Lord reveals Himself as we need Him to be for us. For Daniel, He demonstrated His power by stopping the mouths of the lions. For Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, He revealed Himself to them IN the fire.