1. God is a Warrior who made us in His image to know Him personally.
In the beginning, God created us fearfully and wonderfully, as beloved children with incredible value, worth, identity, and purpose. He designed, wired, and created us for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trust, faithfulness, gentleness, humility, and self-discipline. Those are God’s character qualities and He designed for us to carry that same spiritual DNA as His children who imitate Him.
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
--Genesis 1:27-28 NASB1995
“The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name…Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. 7 And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff.”
--Exodus 15:3,6-7 NASB1995
Yet You have made him [mankind or people] a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
--Psalm 8:5-8 NASB1995 [brackets mine]
If God designed us according to His love nature, then why do we struggle with things that hinder the perfect manifestation or demonstration of love? Why do we struggle with negative emotions such as bitterness, unforgiveness, unkindness, rudeness, feeling offended, arrogant pride, violence, depression, dysfunctional relationships, rage and anger, hatred and self-contempt, fear, anxiety, worry, envy, slander, betrayal, lying, malicious gossip, hurting other people, feeling worthless, rejected, or abandoned, having mindsets of self-pity and victim-hood, and things like these?
2. We are vulnerable to the attacks of dark forces and negative emotions because of our sin (spiritual separation from God and His protection).
“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
--Genesis 4:7 NASB1995
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
--Isaiah 59:1-2 NASB1995
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
--Ephesians 6:12 NASB1995
3. Jesus Christ is a Warrior who came to defeat Satan and all his evil spirits. Through Him alone we can be free from the power of sin and demonic oppression.
“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
--1 John 3:8 ESV
“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
--Acts 10:38 NASB1995
“When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
--1 Peter 2:23-25 ESV
4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior (Deliverer) and Lord (Master who will train us for war against evil as we obey His instructions). Then we can fulfill God's wonderful plan for our lives—a love relationship with Him as overcomers who defeat every form of bondage that hinders love.
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
--Romans 6:12-14 NASB1995
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
--Romans 10:9 NIV
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
--1 John 5:1-5 NASB1995
The following is a sample prayer for entering a relationship with God. If it expresses the desire and attitude of your heart, you may pray (speak) it aloud to God:
Father,
Thank You for creating me and loving me. I agree that You made me in your image to love You and be loved by You. You intricately wired me awesomely and wonderfully to live a life filled with Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trust, humility, and self-discipline. I agree that I have fallen short of living out Your loving character qualities through my wrong mindsets, negative emotions, foolish choices, broken or dysfunctional relationships, bad habits, and other ways that have hindered me from loving You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
But I thank you that while I was still a sinner, You sent Jesus to live the perfect life that I was meant to imitate. Although I have fallen short in many areas of my life, Jesus never did. Then Jesus died the death that I deserved because of my moral crimes and betrayal against You (sin, bitterness, pride, unforgiveness, envy, wrong mindsets, and things like these).
Father, I believe that You raised Jesus from the dead to prove that the death penalty I deserved has been eternally paid for. I receive that forgiveness for all my sins, mistakes, negative emotions, and wrong mindsets by trusting in Jesus alone and what He did on that cross and resurrection from the dead. Thank You for forgiving my sins, cleansing me from everything that hinders love, and for giving me a new heart filled with Your love. Jesus, I submit my entire life to you, invite You to have Your way in every area of my life, and trust you daily to live Your life through me by Your Holy Spirit who now has come to live inside me!
I consider myself dead to sin and alive to You because my spirit has become one with Your Holy Spirit. Thank you for making me into the person You want me to be as You teach me how to love as You have loved me.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen (So be it!)
Prayer based on the following additional Scriptures: Psalm 139:13-15; Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 3:23; Matthew 22:37; Romans 5:8; 1 John 2:6; Ephesians 5:1; Romans 4:24-25; Hebrews 10:12-17; Romans 5:1-5; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 6:17-20; John 15:9; 17:23
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