(Be blessed by this DWOD for Dec. 28, 2013 by guest contributor Lance Wallnau)

When Julius Caesar landed at Adrumetum in Africa, he got out of his boat and the skilled warrior tripped and fell flat on his face. The soldiers gasped, as this was a most dreadful omen, but Caesar with consummate presence of mind exclaimed: “Thus I take possession of thee, O Africa.” And went on to do exactly that.

 

When William the Conqueror leaped upon the shore at Bulverhythe, he too fell on his face, and a great gasp went forth from his men. It was an ill omen; but the Duke, perhaps recalling Caesar shouted loud enough for his men to hear: “I have taken possession of this land with both my hands.” And he did.

 

Stumbling and falling, are omens to the superstitious mind that ill fortune awaits, but they have no such meaning to the right kind of leader. Caesar and William stumbled but neither can hold a candle to Simon Peter. He stumbled in a far more grievous manner as his was no slip of the foot but a denial of Christ. Yet within 50 days after his worst performance he rose up to become the mouthpiece for the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

 

A peculiar verse in Daniel says: “And some of them that are wise shall fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.” (Dan 11:35)

 

What can this mean? The wise falling? The chosen stumbling? For what purpose? “To be refined.”

 

At the risk of being misunderstood I would like to say, I would rather share a meal with a great man who knows what it means to fall on his face, than feast with the sanctimonious who think themselves more righteous than the man with scars.

 

Many a great new thing starts with a stumble. Do not let fear of falling or the experience of falling stop you. Take hold of the earth and say like Caesar or William “I take possession of this territory.”

 

Do it right and like Peter you will find yourself so delivered on the inside that no chains or jail cell can keep you contained on the outside.

 

Do not fear what others fear. To do anything well you have to mess up the first time round. It’s good for you. Makes you more real. Makes Jesus more real through you as well.

 

For those who know what I am talking about it will be a Happy New Year!

 

(Dr. Lance Wallnau is a world-class trainer and consultant whose students span the globe. From bestselling authors, pastors, and billion dollar CEO‘s, he has helped to transform the lives of thousands. Please check out his resources at www.lancelearning.com)

 

 

 

(Be blessed by this DWOD for Dec. 27, 2013 by guest contributor Lance Wallnau)

 

2013 was a mixture of breakthroughs, delays and contradictions for many. Like the noise of an orchestra tuning up. But something is building up in the Spirit toward a crescendo in 2014.

 

Our English “symphony‟ comes from (sumphōnia), which is Greek word meaning a “sounding together” or “agreement of sound”, “harmonious”.

 

When Christ described the church He was building, its most essential building blocks start with two or more coming together by His Spirit in AGREEMENT and praying.

 

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree (sumphōnēsōsin) on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)

 

Agreement is the symphony that builds God’s house.

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN GOD IS SILENT?

 

It is quiet in the prophetic sometimes ON PURPOSE so we are forced to hear more clearly. I’ve heard so many questioning: What’s going to happen to the economy? The government? Is America finished?

 

In a concert, a hush falls on the platform.

 

An oboist rings out a pitch perfect “A” and this note becomes the sound all other instruments tune from. The tune-up sounds like a swirl of musical chaos…no order or unity or melody. Everyone doing their own thing, yet each doing what is needed to play their part.

 

Then suddenly, the cacophony ends…

 

Another veil of QUIET descends upon the hall. The atmosphere is electric with anticipation. The orchestra is tuned but cannot begin until….the CONDUCTOR appears from the wings (often to thundering applause) and strides onstage. He bows to the audience, and pivots round, face to face with the musicians who alone have the power to translate the movements of his hands into the rapturous sound called a symphony.

 

God is the composer.

Jesus Christ is the conductor.

The Symphony is brought together by the Holy Spirit.

 

It can start with just two or three in agreement in a family, but the music can become a movement as it expands to a church that joins in.  Then if the “churches,” even two or three can “agree” together in a city a philharmonic will form and God will shake the city.

 

We all play a different instrument: “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit..to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge,… (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

 

“To one is given a violin, to another a cello, to another a clarinet, to yet another a trumpet. Yet all these instruments sound together, playing the same melody written by the composer, and guided into expression by the hand of the conductor.”

 

The body of Christ is the supernatural answer–if each of us plays our part faithfully. Harmony comes from our diversity.

 

WARNING

However, not all churches are open to this. “Control” is different than “orchestration.” Not all control is bad. I want control in a nursery. But symphonies have movements. God never plays the same “movement” twice.

 

When a church rejects a certain emphasis, they are rejecting a “sound.” Every fresh message has a number of those who trumpet the word. When controlling leaders reject a movement, they forfeit the gift that movement brings with them. When you reject the instrument of the Lord, you reject Jesus Himself in that particular expression and anointing. The area you reject is the area the anointing won’t work for you. Therefore be careful what you mock or reject.

 

Don’t cause division….never stop the music.

 

Don’t get into discord and lose the inner symphony, but don’t quench the sound either because some can’t appreciate it!

 

Expect some cymbal crashes where the body lacks discerning of its own parts.

 

God has been fitting you and refining you for that part which He has designated for you. The first “movement” of 2014 will be upon us soon.

 

I sense a divine hush.

 

The heavenly conductor is about to step onto the stage!!!!!

 

(Dr. Lance Wallnau is a world-class trainer and consultant whose students span the globe. From bestselling authors, pastors, and billion dollar CEO‘s, he has helped to transform the lives of thousands. Please check out his resources at www.lancelearning.com)

(Be blessed by this DWOD for Dec. 26, 2013 by Kenneth Copeland)

 

Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him…Until seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:21-22)

 

Remember when…?

 

That’s a question we hear a lot this time of year. Reminiscing with family and friends, we browse through Christmases gone by, enjoying the memories until inevitably, we stumble across the memories we would rather forget.

 

Suddenly, the pain comes rushing back. The sting of a parent’s criticism, the broken promise of a friend, the rejections, the disappointments, the heartaches…

 

What should we do with memories like that? Do we have to drag them along, like so much baggage, from year to year?

 

No. We can leave them behind. In fact, we must leave them behind. And there’s only one way to do it–through forgiveness.

 

Forgiving someone sounds like a simple thing to do. Yet few of us actually do it. We treat forgiveness as if it were one of life’s additional options, something we can take or leave alone. But it’s not. It’s a basic requirement for every believer. In fact, as far as God is concerned, unforgiveness is wickedness.

 

And in Matthew 18, Jesus tells a parable that illustrates the terrible consequences of it. The parable involves a servant who owed his lord a debt equivalent to millions of dollars. When the debt came due, he pleaded with his master, “Lord, have patience with me and I will pay thee all.” His master was so moved that he canceled the entire debt!

 

Soon after, that same servant sought out a man who owed him $15. Finding him unable to pay, he ignored the man’s pleas for mercy and had him cast into prison.

 

When his lord heard about it, he was incensed. He called him a wicked servant and delivered him to the tormentors until he paid all that was due.

 

Look again at the size of that unforgiven debt. Fifteen dollars. The little debts are the ones that most often trip us up. The petty resentments between husband and wife, between brother and sister. Tiny bits of unforgiveness that seem too insignificant to bother with. Beware. Those are the kinds of debts Satan uses to torment you.

 

After all, Jesus paid off a mountain of debts for you. You can afford to be generous about the nickel and dime debts of others.

 

Spend time with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to reveal any unforgiveness in you. Then repent and release it. Make this Christmas more than just a time for remembering. Make it a time to forget.  

 

(This post appeared first in from Faith to Faith, a daily guide to Victory. To subscribe to this daily devotional and access other great resources, please go to www.kcm.org)

 

(Be blessed by this DWOD for Dec. 21, 2013 by guest blogger, Barry Adams)

 

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. (John 8:35)

 

A friend of mine from India once told me the story of a young orphan boy who was adopted into a loving family. One day while he was drying the dishes in the kitchen, he dropped a plate and it shattered on the floor. Immediately he ran out of the room in a panic.

 

His adopted parents went looking for the boy but could not find him for some time. Eventually they found him hiding under his bed, shivering in fear. Once they coaxed him to come out from under the bed, they asked him why he ran away and hid. His answer, though heartbreaking, echoes the same fear that many believers struggle with in their own lives: “I thought you would return me back to the orphanage because I broke a plate”.

 

When people hear this story, usually their immediate response is one of being shocked that this little boy would carry such a deep insecurity in his heart. After all, his new parents took the time and expense to go through the adoption process to bring him into their family. How crazy would it be if they decided to return him to the orphanage simply because he made a mistake?

 

In the natural, it is plain for us to see how tragic it would be for someone who has been adopted into a loving family to live a life with this kind of insecurity. Something inside all of us would want to hug this little guy and comfort him and tell him that he is completely safe and secure in his new family.

 

Yet, in our spiritual lives do we feel that our position in our heavenly Father’s house is completely safe and secure? Or do we feel like our standing in our Father’s heart is conditional on us following all of the rules of the house?

 

There can be an underlying theology in some circles that would cause us to feel that our heavenly Father’s love is indeed conditional. If we ‘break a plate’, our standing in His house might be in jeopardy. If we don’t follow all of the guidelines that the church requires, perhaps we will find ourselves on the outside looking in rather than being on the inside looking out.

 

I truly believe that our heavenly Father wants us to know that our position in His heart has been settled once and for all by the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. I believe that our God and Father wants us to know that nothing in all creation can separate us from His love (Romans 8:37-39). I believe that He wants us to stop living in fear of being rejected and start living in the security and safety of being completely and perfectly loved by the One who is love itself!

 

In John 8:35, Jesus tells us that a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs forever! The moment that we truly received Jesus into our hearts, we became sons and daughters of the living God. God gave us His own Spirit as a seal to guarantee our inheritance (2 Corinthians 1:22) in Christ. Our place in His house is secure because a son belongs to the family forever!

 

Our place in our Father’s heart is not based on what we do, but is based on what Christ already did. Our elder brother Jesus paid the price that we could not pay to secure our salvation and our standing as His brothers and sisters. If we are not convinced that the finished work of Christ is enough, then we will live a life where we believe that God’s love is conditional based on our performance.

 

Though we may break many plates in our life’s journey, God’s heart for us will never change, for love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). The more we realize that we are covered by the love of God, the more we will stop creating fig leaves of self-righteous works and rest in His covering over all of the broken areas of our life.

 

My prayer today is that each and every one of us would know that the love God has for us is ours for eternity. May the revelation of His unconditional love and acceptance bring a safety and security to our lives that would cause us not to run away from Him when we fall. May we know that our identity in Christ is secure and everlasting for it is by grace that we are saved and not of our own efforts! (Ephesians 2:4-10)

 

(Barry Adams is the humble vessel chosen by God to bless the world with the revelation known as the Father’s Love Letter. Along with his wife Annelise, Barry ministers the Father’s Love all over the world. Today’s DWOD is from a post he wrote for A Son’s Life Blog)

(Be blessed by this DWOD for Dec. 19, 2013 by guest contributor, Fabs Harford)

 

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

 

I can’t help but think today that all my problems would be solved if I could just believe the Christmas story.  I’m not talking about giving intellectual assent to the historical concept that a baby born and He was Jesus and He has set us free.  I mean all my problems would be solved if I could just believe that there is a God on His throne and He is who He says He is.

 

All I want for Christmas is to believe that He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

I’m asking for that for you and me as I write this.

 

Take 35 seconds to put your head down and beg God to give you faith to believe that those names describe your Maker and Savior.

 

Wonderful Counselor.  You don’t have to do this life alone.  Jesus stands ready to advise you on every decision you have ahead of you today.  For every unknown variable that is overwhelming you today you have access to consult the only truly wise Being in the Universe.  Take time today to seek His counsel.

 

Mighty God. We call Him ‘God’ because He is God.  We say He’s mighty because there is no power like His.  With a single word all that you see could be swallowed into nonexistence.  Our Saviour is not like Santa.  He is God.   Everything is under His control.  Your life is not at the mercy of your boss or your spouse or your sin.  Your hope is not in your intellect, your strength or your beauty.  Take time today to fall on your face before His majesty.

 

Everlasting Father.  You are known and loved.  Not in a cute Hallmark way and not in a corporate doctrinal way.  You have a Heavenly Father who is coming to find His kids and bring them home, no matter what it takes.  This is a Father who loves His kids with an everlasting and unfailing faithfulness.  He came for you. He will never leave you.  He will never forsake you.  Take time today to celebrate that you get to know Him forever.

 

Prince of Peace.  I’m filled with tension today. I’m annoyed and irritated and angry and scared and I don’t even know what it means to believe that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

 

When I contemplate the peace Jesus has negotiated between me and the Father, I know that peace is a big word.  I know that it means more than an absence of strife.  It means more than no more conflict.

 

It means unity that’s deep and wide and safe.  It means wholeness with no more emptiness and no more loneliness and no more anxiety and no more worry and no more stress.

 

We’re not so different from the crowd Isaiah was talking to when he shared these names.

 

We’re waiting.  Our lives are lived in waiting.  We see by faith, not by sight.

 

Man.  I want to see that Prince of Peace in the flesh.

 

Maranatha.  Come Lord Jesus, Come.

 

(Fabs Harford is Director of Women’s Training at The Austin Stone Community Church, equipping the women of The Austin Stone to know God more deeply, love His Gospel more passionately and live out God’s mission. This post is from her blog “Thoughts from Fabs.”)

(Be blessed by this DWOD for Dec. 18, 2013 by guest contributor, Os Hillman)

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38)

Have you ever had a boss come to you and give you an assignment which had rules never before used? Not only were the rules different, he was asking you to agree to them not knowing the outcome or impact it would have on your life. That must have been the way Mary, the mother of Jesus felt.

 

God was about to do something so extraordinary that it required a face to face meeting with the subject, Mary, and his key angel, Gabriel. What God was about to do was so foreign that it needed detailed explanation.

 

Mary had been handpicked to give birth to the Christ-child. Can you imagine!? However, in order to do so she was going to be pregnant while yet unmarried, something totally taboo in her culture. In fact, women were stoned to death if found to be fornicators. So, when Mary heard the assignment and responded by saying, “May it be,” this tells us what a courageous woman of faith she must have been.

 

She did not understand the implications of what she was about to do. However, she placed her total trust in God and knew that if God chose her for such an assignment, she could trust the outcome to Him. She would even have to trust the explanation to Joseph, who was not going to understand. In fact, when he discovered Mary was pregnant, he immediately considered divorce proceedings.

 

However, when God saw Joseph’s response, He sent an angel to explain the situation through a dream. I am sure the time between her telling him and his dream must have been difficult to explain. She did not know God was going to solve the problem. This is another example of her faith and courage. I would imagine most women might have responded to the angel like this, “I won’t do it unless you tell my husband!”

 

Do you have an assignment from God that seems impossible on the front end? Is God calling you to trust Him for the outcome? Take a lesson from Mary and release the outcome to God.  

 

(Reprinted by permission from the author. Os Hillman is an international speaker and author of 15 books on workplace calling. To learn more, visit http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org/)

(Be blessed by this DWOD by guest contributor Peggy Kennedy)

“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” (Luke 1:45)

Oh the power of expectation.  And, when you merge it with perseverance, you have a very, very potent mix!  Threaded throughout the Christmas story of Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 1 and 2 are so many different examples of persevering expectation. 

Remember, this is not just a sweet, seasonal story.  This is the Lord’s detailed handbook on how He works among His divinely-called participants to reveal Himself to our world.  You are in that script!  I Corinthians 13 names three essential elements that are present when we are participating in His Presence:  faith, hope, and love.  That word “hope” is the same Greek word for expectation!  The three are threaded together and are inseparable. 

I was in a service recently where we were singing, “We are standing on holy ground…and I know that there are angels all around…”  I asked a question of the Lord, “So, if there are angels here, what are they doing?”  The Spirit’s reply was amazing:  I “saw” angels moving up and down the aisle re-igniting flames of expectation among the Lord’s people!  Where some were flickering, they built up that flame.  Where others were nearly blown out by contrary winds, they cupped their hands to protect the flame and lingered to make sure it ignited again.  That was a wonderful moment.  The Lord has no desire for us to live in the shadows of dimmed expectation!

There’s power in negative expectation, too.  Even in Matthew 2 and Luke 1 and 2 you have examples of the absence of expectation.  Although Zachariah likely embraced the Lord’s plan to “someday” fulfill prophecy and send the Messiah, he eliminated himself from the occasion.  The messenger Gabriel had to deal with that negative expectation!  Graciously the Lord worked to sustain the fulfillment of the word and include Zachariah! 

Likely Joseph is swarmed with negative expectation as he imagines the worst for his beloved, espoused Mary when the word gets out that she is pregnant.  He does his best to protect her.  However, heaven’s plan was better.  An angel sends a message and reignites expectation! 

Perhaps when both Joseph and Mary heard about the census that would necessitate a trip from Nazareth to faraway Bethlehem, they had negative expectations.  It seemed that the plans of God were totally inconvenienced!  But, not so!  The Lord intervened (even in the midst of the negative reality of “no room at the inn”) and the word of the Lord was fulfilled.  Later on they would be warned by an angel to leave and flee to Egypt. Now they are seasoned “responders” with sufficient confidence and expectation of the Lord’s ultimate plan…all in alignment with the prophetic word!

Simeon and Anna are in this account of the Lord’s wonderful ways.  They both have great stamina in expectation.  No dimming or dullness about them!  And, they were not disappointed! You will not be either! 

Most of our negative expectations never come to pass!  Our God is the Divine Interceptor of “what could be” to make it conform to His plans!  And, should what we dread come to pass, then He has pledged Himself to “work” it for good…and often the greater glory!  You love Him and are participating with Him as one of the people of His plan.  Allow your faithful God to fan the flame of your expectation.

(“Peggy Kennedy carries a powerful anointing to consistently bring the Word of the Lord in a way that is both powerful and timely…mantled to walk in a heavenly grace that brings people of diverse backgrounds together in unity”—Matt Tapley. To sign up for periodic revelations from Peggy, please visit. www.TwoSilverTrumpets.ca)

(On this American Thanksgiving Day, be blessed by this post from guest contributor Fabs Harford)

God has been going to town on me the last few weeks. He’s been opening my eyes to see all the concealed covetousness in my heart: things that I treasure more than I treasure God.

He’s been teaching me that while much of what I desire is good and great, I have to make sure I’m not being led by deceitful desires. He’s been walking alongside of me and showing me–in His Spirit–what it looks like to fight to love Him so much that all the feelings I have for His stuff looks like hate in comparison.

And it’s no coincidence that I’ve arrived at the week of thanksgiving at Ephesians 5:20 at the same time that I’m processing all of that.

I think the way we give thanks reveals a lot about what we treasure: the gift or the Giver. Ephesians 5:20 is the who, what, when, why of giving thanks, providing us with a litmus test to determine if we are worshipping God or the stuff we get from Him.

“Giving thanks always and for everything…”

What do you give thanks for? When do you give thanks?

If the foundation of our thankfulness is that we get God, then you and I will give thanks always and for everything, because we’re always getting God. However, if the foundation of our thankfulness is the gift, and not the giver, then our gratitude will ebb and flow based on how much of our true treasure we are getting.

I was feeling pretty discouraged about the state of my thankfulness this AM and then I overturned this encouraging evidence of grace in my heart: I am truly and deeply thankful for hard things in my life! I’m thankful for seasons of failure and seasons of suffering. And maybe I wasn’t feeling gratitude at the time, but now that I can see the way I got more of God through them, I really do feel a genuine and overwhelming sense of gratitude.

If you are only thankful for the sweet seasons, it may be that the root of your thankfulness is not about getting God, but about getting gifts.

But, if you can consider the way God has moved in your heart through pain and suffering as well, and if you can find a root of genuine thankfulness in there for those things, be encouraged! That is the work of the Spirit in your life.

Who do you give thanks to?

You all know the right answer: Jesus. But take a second and consider your day today. When you feel grateful, who do you run to with that joyful bubbling? People or God? When was the last time you got alone with God and talked to Him for more than 10 minutes about how thankful you are to Him?

True gratitude bubbles up in your heart, and is pretty hard to contain. Your heart swells in admiration and love toward the one you are thankful toward and you cannot wait to run out and declare your thankfulness to them. The emotion is incomplete until you’ve gotten the chance to say it.

So ask yourself this question: when your heart swells in love, who is it you can’t wait to scream thank you to? The gift or the Giver? When you think about your marriage, your community, your growth this year, your victories, does your heart swell in admiration for those people or for God? Is it Him that you can’t wait to get alone with and whisper all He has done?

I’m not against saying thank you to people, but I do think that where we spend that deep emotional and genuine gratitude is probably a good indicator of who it is we think has provided; who has delivered us. You will thank the one you think is saving you, restoring you, loving you. Is it God or His gifts who have delivered you?

The grounds of our thanksgiving is that God is good; not that He gives good gifts.

This weekend, I sat there trying to muster up thanksgiving and my first inclination was to start thinking through all the gifts He has given me. I don’t think that’s bad. But the foundation for my thanksgiving is that God is good–no matter what I think of His gifts.

He is reason enough for gratitude this season and every season.

(Fabs is Director of Women’s Training at The Austin Stone Community Church, equipping the women of The Austin Stone to know God more deeply, love His Gospel more passionately and live out God’s mission. This post is from her blog “Thoughts from Fabs.”)

(Be blessed by this post by guest contributor Lance Wallnau…it dovetails nicely with yesterday‘s DWOD on The Power of a Story)

Your story is more powerful than you know.

I‘m studying Pixar and thinking of you and me. Here are two Pixar Formulas.

1. Once upon a time there was ___.

Every day, ___.

One day ___.

Because of that, ___.

Because of that, ___.

Until finally ___.

2. Give your character a “worthy opponent“ and make this opposition force a cause for transformation in your character so that they access something and become something superior to who they were prior to encountering opposition.

Don‘t ever HIDE or cover up your story, it has power to inspire others. The “blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony“ (Revelation 12:11) refers to the power of God to redeem you out of a challenge. It‘s how you overcome the devil.

So what story are you rehearsing to yourself?

The older I get the more I believe that all humankind has common struggles, private doubts and wounds. The people who can tell their story–their testimony–about a chapter of life with courage and grace create a safe place for others to exist. Your story empowers others to come to terms with their own story.

When you “own“ your story in a healthy and redemptive way, you give others permission to be “real.“ You create a space where people can be free to drop their masks and share without inhibition their real thoughts and feelings. It‘s like you fill the atmosphere with the oxygen of self-acceptance when you can tell your story without shame.

Believers have a challenge in this regard. We live in an age of increasing lawlessness, so the last thing we want to do is to tell our story in a way that indicates that actions do not have consequences.

On the other hand, the only kind of atmosphere in which Jesus will really show up is one where disciples are practicing unpretentious unconditional acceptance toward each other.

It is not easy to explain…all I know is that the more you are free from the shame of the past, the more powerful you are. By power I mean self-possession. You are less fearful of what people think. You own all the parts of your life–even the screw ups–but none of them owns you!

I guess I love people who are successful and who, under the right circumstances are honest about their weaknesses, and the mistakes that made them who they are now. Such people inspire me.

Share your story, struggles and all…and you too will inspire others!

(Dr. Lance Wallnau is a world-class trainer and consultant whose students span the globe. From bestselling authors, pastors, and billion dollar CEO‘s, he has helped to transform the lives of thousands. Please check out his resources at www.lancelearning.com)

(Be blessed by this DWOD for Nov. 24, 2013 by guest contributor Lance Wallnau)

Sometimes, before you can deal with a spiritual enemy, you need to remove the legal groundwork beneath his feet. This is where repentance comes in. An act that involves accurately judging yourself and owning where you are wrong.

Here’s a trap: ”all or nothing” thinking. Suppose you are mostly right and the other person is mostly wrong? What if you are 25% at fault but they are 75% at fault? Can you do a 25% repentance and reconciliation? No.

But you can take 100% responsibility for your 25%….and this often releases the GRACE on the other person to own their 75%.

There will be other times when you need to ignore the enemy. This isn’t easy. Ever get into a fight where you want to keep at it? The hardest thing to do is to stop and disengage! If you are accustomed to verbally persuading and influencing others, something inside you wants to talk, text or type your way into triumph! But it never works. You can’t ever kill off a spirit by conversation.

And if the spirit has an offended person attached, you are in for a season of never ending verbal volleyball.

That’s where you need to ignore the situation. Bide your time. David ignored the deeds of those who conspired against him…..but told his son Solomon that he needed to deal with those specific troublemakers if his administration was going to succeed.

Think of yourself as a combined David/Solomon. David is the guy that screwed up and gave the enemy an opportunity to injure the dynasty. Solomon is the “wisdom” that came out of that mistake (talking about Bathsheba.) Once you get wisdom (often from the consequences of your bad decisions), God gives you a season to deal with your enemies and uproot them.

Revenge is not an option.  “…Avenge not yourselves but give place to wrath: for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.’ ” (Romans 12:19) If we do our best to overcome evil with good and it does not work, there is always the prospect that God will take matters into His own hands and overcome evil by visiting it with an ax. Isn’t that the point Jesus made about the unfruitful tree?

Jesus taught that an unfruitful tree may have a delayed execution, but, if it persists in its unfruitful state, it will be uprooted. What if God does that with areas of our life? He “dungs around the tree” so to speak, but after a while, if things don’t yield to the master, He uproots it.

This cycle is manifest in David’s unfinished business being taken care of by Solomon.

Be wise. Remove the legal groundwork. Repent of 100% of your 25%, if need be.

Bless… do good…ignore judging–till the time comes, if necessary, to judge…when that time comes.

(Dr. Lance Wallnau is a world-class trainer and consultant whose students span the globe. From bestselling authors, pastors, and billion dollar CEO’s, he has helped to transform the lives of thousands. Please check out his resources at www.lancelearning.com)