Deliverance: Swords for Stones

This word gets talked about a lot in charismatic Christian circles, but I've never really stopped to understand it.

The dictionary definition of it is: to be set free, rescued.

But what I'm realizing is that it's more than that.

Deliverance means not just to be set free, but to receive a delivery of Jesus more deeply and more fully.

So being delivered is not just about things being let go, but actually about receiving more.

This is the season I'm in. I believe Jesus desires to set me free from deep fear, but this freedom actually has more to do with me more fully receiving Him, than just the chains of fear being broken. They are two sides of the same coin.

So how do I fully receive my beautiful, powerful and wondrous Jesus in this season where so many of my fears are flaring and most hours are filled with worry, doubt and anxiety?

The battle is real, intense, and easily discourages me. But the answer is simple. When fear rears its ugly head, when the worry flares, when the doubts arise:

pray and praise. 

That's it.

PRAY AND PRAISE, SHANNON.

When Nuru's nose starts to bleed, when I get insecure about my calling or leading, when I think about being a parent, when I worry about work or Ash:

pray and praise.

It seems super simple, but it's actually not. Everything in my humanity says not to pray and praise, but instead to control, worry, overthink, and turn inward.

But God is teaching me to pray and praise into giant-hood in the season. See, we talk so much about David and Goliath. David being the small shepherd boy with a slingshot and stone and the enemy being a huge giant, more strong, more ferocious, more courageous.

But Jesus is calling me to be a giant in enemy territory. To be a giant in praise, to be a giant in prayer. That in the Spirit, He is making me a giant IN HIM, not out of my own power, holiness or might. No. He is making me a giant because of His anointing, His promise, His presence, the delivery of His presence. Him setting me free so I no longer have a small stone, but a giant sword of the Spirit.

His deliverance = giant-hood. 

When we pray and praise in the midst of the battle, in the face of our fears, surrounded by insecurities and doubts, God trades our small stone for a sword. He makes us into fierce warriors, giants in the Spirit who can hunt down the enemy, take back His land, rebuke evil.

His deliverance = overcoming

This season is this: swords for stones. 

Jesus is teaching me to be a giant in the midst of my enemies so that when in battle, His Spirit within me rises up in strength, in resilience, in power to tear down strongholds, rebuke illness, push back worry, defeat lies.

His deliverance bears fruit.

I'm realizing I'm desperate to be fruitful for Jesus. I want Him to use me powerfully to bring His kingdom on earth. Not later, but now. In an immediate way.

N., you are part of that fruit. I fully believe that. I long for you, but I also know this season of deliverance is so necessary before you begin to grow in my womb. My womb, physical and spiritual, are being made new, being delivered in such a way so that you will grow perfectly, without any residue of generational fear or anxiety. So I surrender to this season of deliverance. I receive fully my Jesus as He sets me free. I want my womb to be made adequate for you N.

And to C. The beloved woman I cared for on Thursday whose eye was fully eroded so much so that only a cavity remained -- thank you for allowing me to know you. I know not how long you will live or survive. But I know that meeting you reminded me of why I do what I do every day. To fight for you. To advocate for you. To heal you even in a small way. I don't want to forget you so I write about you here. When you're in heaven, fully restored, may the light in both your eyes shine so bright. May you know the fullness of joy that comes when every giant in your life is defeated and you stand tall before our God.

I will never forget you.