Well, this week at Ellerslie we had many sessions. Many
people here were in (some still are ) what has been termed “the dark night
of the soul.” This is when a person awakes to the fact that they are helpless
in and of themselves. They do not have the resources to perform that which is
required of them. They fully realize that they cannot live the victorious
Christian life in the flesh. Eric gave Reckoning with Truth, which brought many
people out of the dark night. This was my summary of the message that we were
assigned to do for homework:
Today we went through Reckoning with Truth. This message is
incredible. First, two points must be established: God has promised and God
cannot lie. Therefore, His Word cannot lie. The Word of God declares that when
Christ died 2,000 years ago, I died. When He rose again, I rose again. When He
ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father, I too ascended and am seated
at the right hand of the Father. I am IN CHRIST. Therefore, where He goes, I
go. I must take these truths as my own. I must not let them just sit in the
Bible, but I must believe them and reckon them to be true.
This message has had an incredible impact on me. I first
reckoned with truth a little over a year ago, after I first visited Ellerslie.
I read Romans 8:2 and Ephesians 1, 2. This message is such an amazing reminder.
Sin does not have to have dominion over me. I AM victorious. I am IN CHRIST.
Therefore, all things are under my feet, since they are also under HIS. I do
not have to be under the thumb of the enemy, but I can live a mighty,
triumphant existence. I can say NO! to sin because it has no legal access! Oh,
what a truth that has transformed my life!
We also had a session called Opposition, basically exposing
how the enemy attacks. Then, we had one called the Nine Lies, which is a
message describing 9 lies that the enemy brings against us and how to combat
them. We dove deeper into these during
our individual family group on Friday.
The nine lies, taken from the book of Nehemiah, were:
*You are too weak; after all, don’t you realize that you are
in captivity? You are not able to undertake such a project as this—it is
foolish, scornful, and ridiculous.
*All this work is for nothing; the progress you have made is
not real. There is no real strength in your wall; even the slightest breeze
from the enemy will knock it down. You cannot take the rubbish of your inner
life and expect to revive what has already been burned.
*You are too tired to continue; you need your sleep. God
knows you need your sleep.
*I have the power to sneak up upon you when you least expect
it and wipe out everything you have done; all the spiritual steps you have
taken will mean nothing when I come in the night to slay you.
*You are currently under enemy siege; you’d better stop
working and protect yourself.
*You are building this wall for you own blessing, to be your
own king, to rule for your own glory. You should stop working on such a vain
self-aggrandizing project.
*Meet me for coffee in Ono. I’m concerned for your well-being,
and I might be of some help in your current endeavors. I know of things that
you aren’t privy to know. If you listen to my counsel it will make your work go
a lot smoother.
*You need to consider your own protection. I know of
dangerous things that loom on the horizon, large enemy forces are gathering
together to come against you. Go and hide. For if you don’t concern yourself
with your own safety soon, it might be too late. Listen to my counsel, and you
just might escape this whole matter alive.
Eric gave the Costly Gospel, all about the fact that the
Gospel requires that we give up everything.
Then we got to hear Within the Ranges, which
talks about protecting and guarding that which God has entrusted to us
or put within our range. The Position of Faith was the Sunday sermon, which was
an incredibly helpful message for me. Eric taught on how to know when to
wrestle in prayer persistently and when to rise up from prayer in faith,
absolutely confident that God will perform that which has been prayed for.
Finally, we had a message called Overcoming Sin, which was basically about getting
IN CHRIST and yielding to Him, not letting the enemy have any access to our
lives.
This whole week has been incredible. I’m still soaking in
all the messages. Tomorrow we get to witness the wedding of the worship leader
here at Ellerslie to a beautiful lady from South Africa. Their love story is
incredible and totally orchestrated by God. We’re very excited and expectant!!
God is so faithful and good. He just is continually revealing his character to
me. :)
