The world and those around us can try to tell us who we are. Your a loser, weak, dumb, useless and the list goes on and on. Eventually we believe these lies and think we will become or are, who they say we are.
But the truth is we are all made in the image of God. This foundational truth is one that is so important to get into our hearts and minds at the earliest age possible. I didn’t learn this truth until well into my forties!
A follower of my blog and a dear Aunt to both my husband and I, shared with me these foundational truths that I needed to be reminded of. There was a time when I was believing the lies that the enemy would bring to my mind again. Things said over me in the past that were hurtful and hard on my self esteem. These are her words that she has allowed me to share:
Hi Cilla 🤗💞, thank you for being vulnerable and open. One of the biggest grips (tools) the enemy has is silence. Suffering alone in our struggles because “I’m the only one who has ever felt this way”, “I’m not strong enough, worthy enough, qualified”, “no one will understand or they’ll think I’m crazy”. Whatever the enemy needs to say to cripple us, that’s what he will whisper all day long. BUT….. 😃!!
Bringing light, God’s word, His truth, His promises, speaking out, sharing our hearts, helps us realize we are not alone. It’s like shadows in a room. The shadows can look big and scary, and everyday things morph into nightmarish proportions. When the light is turned on, we can see them for what they are. We see them through the eyes of The Father instead of how the enemy is wanting us to see. A man had a dream. The fear was huge, crushing. When the light was turned on, he saw a tiny little cowering spirit. The shadow of the dark had only made it look huge but the light showed it to be what it truly was. Just a tiny little thing. Where there is light, there can be no darkness.
As daughters of The Most High King, we can walk in victory! We choose whose voice we will listen to. I struggled for so many years. I didn’t realize I had allowed the enemy to speak louder than My Father.
The enemy told me daily that I was not worthy, unqualified, a lousy wife, unfit mother, garbage. He told me the only place for me was to be cowering in a corner, hidden, silent. He told me I had no business singing, leading worship, speaking. So I believed the lie. Daily I strapped myself to that whipping post and agreed. One day on the combine, I cried out to the Lord to just let this life be over. I was so weary. The Lord showed me I had unforgiveness in my heart and needed to ask others for forgiveness. That root had grown into my life and affected every area. The Lord showed me who I needed to call. The ones I had hurt from years ago. As I combined, I made phone calls….
I was absolutely sick to my stomach with fear. I argued for a minute before I started, what will I say? What if they think I’m crazy, it was so long ago…He just kept prompting me and gave me the words. Everyone graciously forgave me and I was able to forgive myself. In that act of obedience, there was a break in the stronghold….I was able to hear the lies about who I was.
Who I am. A daughter of the Most High King. As that daughter…
I have armor, made by my Father, to go into battle. Fearless. Strong. My Father has my back.
The enemy came at me with the same old lies. Nothing. Worthless. Garbage. Only now I could recognize it. I KNOW who I am. I am what my Father calls me. I am daughter. Chosen. Precious. Beautiful. Forgiven. Treasured.
I told the enemy, he no longer had permission to speak to me. I told him to get behind me. Shut up!! I told him, I walk in victory because my Father says I can. I chose to listen to The One who created me. Who owns me. I told the enemy to take it up with my Father if he didn’t like it because I was done.
As I prepared to share this at a ladies retreat, the night before, I began to have pain in one knee. I had never had knee pain. Then the pain was in both knees. The thought passed through my mind, I won’t be able to go to the retreat. I can hardly walk. I seriously could barely move my legs. I said out loud “if they have to wheel me in on a furniture dolly, I’m going! I went to bed praising God that even if my legs won’t move, my mouth still could. The next morning, the pain was gone and my legs were fine.
I still have times when I am presented with the chance to replay the tape of lies. When I’m overtired, too busy, the enemy presents it. I practice out loud, declaring who I am. I am a treasured daughter of the Most High King. I will listen to His voice. What He says about me. I will trust Him. I will not fear because He sees ahead. He will never leave me. He will carry me. I go to my happy place. My happy place is placing my head on Jesus’s chest. Feeling His arms around me. Hearing His heartbeat. The beat of His heart tells me who I am. ❤️
Be strengthened today Cilla, knowing who you are in Christ. He calls you treasured daughter. You walk in confidence and strength. You do not walk alone. Your journey will encourage others. There is purpose in the battles we go through. In this life we will have struggles but our Father has overcome!
When we share our struggles, we turn on the light. The light of Jesus. We find others in that dark too. Alone. Beaten. When we fight alone, we cannot stand. When we fight as an army and in the Lord’s strength, the enemy has no grip. Our God is victorious over this death. The Lord is my Shepherd….my strength…my brave…my righteousness…whatever we need, fill in that space. He will fight for us. Praise God!
Ephesians 1:3-14 says:
How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ.
Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own, through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault(blameless)– we who stand before Him covered with His love. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And He did this because HE wanted to!
Now all praise to God for His wonderful kindness to us and His favor that He has poured out upon us, because we belong to His dearly loved Son. So overflowing in His kindness toward us that He took away all our sins through the blood of His Son, by whom we are saved; and He has showered down upon us the richness of His grace-for how well He understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.
God has told us His secret reason for sending Christ, a plan He decided on in mercy long ago; and this was His purpose; that when the time is ripe He will gather us all together from wherever we are-in heaven or on earth-to be with Him in Christ, forever. Moreover, because of what Christ has done we have become gifts to God that He delights in, for as part of God’s sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be His, and all things happen just as He decided long ago. God’s purpose in this was that we should praise God and give glory to Him for doing these mighty things for us, who were the first to trust in Christ.
And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians. His presence within us is God’s guarantee to bring us to Himself. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
-“The Book” living translation version, given as a gift to my husband by his grandparents for his 18th birthday!-
Powerful truths from God’s word and her testimony brought me to tears. Yet I needed to hear them and be reminded yet again, of who I really am. If your in a dark place right now or not sure of who you are. Come to the One who knows and loves you best!
Jesus is calling…..
💕Cilla
Conversations with Cilla 