John 8:31-32 NASB
In my Bible, there is supernatural glitter around the area of this verse, so I knew God was trying to highlight it to me.
First Year is all about identity, breakthrough, and learning the Truth of the Kingdom. A core idea at Bethel is that you become whatever you believe. As I begin to declare truth over myself, shifts begin to take place in my soul and spirit.
For several weeks, I have been identifying lies. There would be days where I felt completely filled with God's Presence, Peace, Joy, and Freedom. Then all of a sudden, I would be freaking out and begging God to come back! Without realizing it, I had let a lie infiltrate my belief system and control how I acted. For example, I recently was working on my ministry website, thinking, "If I don't get this done quickly, no one will be influenced! They need to read my story in order to be set free!" I was coming from a place of pride rather than humility. I was bearing the burden Jesus' promised to carry for us in Matthew 11:30.
Now, if I feel like I am striving, I quickly identify that as a lie and say, "This is Jesus' burden. I work from love and not for love." Whenever I do not feel like I am carrying His Presence, I must backtrack and ask myself, "what lie am I believing?" Then I will declare truth over myself in the form of a Bible verse or something learned at school. Right away, I feel empowered.
I used to pray things like, "God I feel anxious. Please give me peace," or "God I am too scared to offer to pray for this person. Please give me courage."
It would work...sometimes...but it could take some time. I accused God of not wanting to heal me. Now I realize that this whole time, He has just wanted me to use the authority He gave me through Jesus. Now I tell myself, "Joanna, you are a princess and ambassador of the King. You are too awesome to stay in this place of fear. You are too mature not to confront this person." Or "I don't need to get affirmation in the form of written encouragement or because I have certain connections. I already am affirmed."
Sometimes the most important thing we can remember is this: Jesus paid for it all on the Cross. He has already set us free. Some say that God only heals when He wants to. Isaiah 53:5 claims that, "By His stripes we are healed" (emphasis added.)
Speaking of which, I had a dream where a large, growing, hairy light brown mole on the top part of my left arm dissipated in front of my very eyes after Carl Richardson, one of the revival group pastors. This may be a word of knowledge for one of my readers. If so, I declare complete dissipation of the mole in Jesus' name.
I also release the gift of discernment so that you can recognize lies and "wisdom, knowledge, and revelation" so that you can declare truth (Ephesians 1:17.)