You guys met with your small groups and talked through bitterness! So... how'd it go?
I'm depending on you guys to tell me stories of what's happening! Let's hear them dudes!
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Stories about God moving in the lives of a handful of dudes from Cincinnati.
Deliverance Is Real!
- Steven Manuel
- Not just an ordinary fathead, Steve likes to write things and help the shepherding scene get its mojo workin'.
Helpful H&D reads
If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then you know that the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
-Luke 11:20
Hey Guys.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to celebrate our small-group time a bit.
I'm grateful for the openness and vulnerability that was brought--it gave me courage to share stuff that I had not written on my list. I told Jay and Rob something that I had never told anyone. It was real.
Also, I was shown grace in that I was late to our meeting time due to some weather-related delays for my match. Even though I was late, we put in the time and really listened to each other.
Lastly, I celebrate that the Lord rescued me from a vulgar internal voice that I believe had "programmed" me into having a repeated thought and even spoken words. Not only did he remove that, but he blessed me by replacing it with a phrase along the lines of, "Forgive others as God has forgiven you."
Thanks.
See y'all tonight.
-shoey
Men - My group was outstanding. Although I did not previously know the other two men before we met, we were immediately able to "click" by opening ourselves up to the LORD and His Spirit, and we truly felt His presence and work.
ReplyDeleteWe had similar experiences to "shoey" above, with people finding stuff they never thought of as others talked.
What I also found super cool was that, for something that could have turned super-religious-y, it didn't, and we had a few moments where we were like, "what are we supposed to do now", "dude, casts this thing out by name, don't fart around!", and really, just some laughable moments where we could laugh at ourselves, BUT, i truly believe we still honored God in all these moments.
I'm not only looking fwd to getting out of any bondage that the enemy has me in, but b/c this is so transforming and IT IS THE WORK Jesus has for us to do to put people in freedom for the sake of His Name, learning how I can multiply and share with others who are in bondage and want to be free in our Lord Jesus Christ!
love, Adam David Elrod
Men - I think it's worth noting that these demons are going to come and attack us again. Steven talked to this, but I sensed in my own heart, as well as the other men in my group, a thought like this flair up as we were winding down, "what if they come back? did i really get rid of 'em? If they come back, did I do something wrong?". Here's what I'd say to that:
ReplyDelete** They'll likely come back:
Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
You're job here is to REMAIN in Jesus (John 15).
** You're protected by the Name above all Names, Jesus,
John 17:11-12:
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me...
Psalm 118:10-14
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Adam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing what God prompted you to share. I have relayed to few people that I am feeling "spiritually bullied" for a better term, definitely a spirit of fear. Thoughts include..."what if I encounter a physical spirit as I purge these lies, the bitterness and accusation?"...and some other intimidation tactics along those lines.
I said it was a "wall I had to bust through" to someone tonight. Right after I said that, I pictured the wall Steven referred to tonight that we build around ourselves that separates us from God. He wants us to RECEIVE freedom, meaning He will come and break us out. I have to accept His offer of rescue.
The idea that I have to break down this wall (ie. work) is a BIG, FAT LIE from the father of lies. I can see the blood of Jesus lifting me up and out of this cell the enemy has manipulated me into building. It lifts me up and out to freedom (cue Mel Gibson audio file).
Thank you for declaring His truth. You are already multiplying.
Brett C
PS - I almost didn't post that. I publicly REPENT of any spirit of fear, intimidation or accusation that would keep me from affirming any of my brothers in Christ, and the truth they speak.
ReplyDeletebc
Brett, AWESOME stuff. I am especially excited about your second comment, your vulnerability, your distinguishing your heart and listening to the LORD, VERY encouraging!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteFORGIVENESS IS YOUR CONSTANT FRIEND
ReplyDeleteAs I was reviewing the stuff from last night and jotting down my list of stuff we're casting out, I realized that as we do this stuff, FORGIVENESS is going to continue to be a key thing I am doing. For example, I realized:
- I need to forgive myself for all of the accusation stuff I have done. I feel gross when I think about the disagreement with the LORD on this stuff, so much so, I found myself mad at myself, embarassed, ect. Now, I repent and am covered, I know, but I also found that I just needed to forgive myself.
- People I've accused seem to be people I needed to forgive, very interesting, but totally makes sense. In addition, if there was an accused person that I didn't forgive, I realized I needed to forgive them.
Net:
1) As we repent of stuff, I bet we're going to want to forgive ourselves for that stuff as we go.
2) As we repent of stuff we've done to other people, my guess is we'll need to forgive those people as well. I bet the unforgiveness we're hanging on to is driving a lot of the stuff we're doing to them.
MAGNETS FOR PRODIGALS & NON-PRODIGALS???
ReplyDeleteIt's been said you're either a Prodigal or Non-prodigal. I've found that to be pretty true in my experience... In our group the other night, just a couple of quick observations/data points. n = 3 here, so, this may have just been our group, but this is what i observed about the demons:
1) Either all/most of the demons in one dude were centered fully around envy or fully around bitterness. for example, if one dude had envy, they really didn't have much bitterness or if they did, it was mostly underlings that were linked to both.
2) Interestingly, we had one prodigal and two non-prodigals (i don't know what you call that son that stayed home). what i observed, and i think is consistent with those people around in my life is that:
- prodigals don't really struggle with envy. my hypothesis is that, the heart and posture of a prodigal HAS to be that of someone can easily receive. else, you’d never get back to the homestead. So, prodigals typically can receive the LORD and be filled with His love more easily than most. Also, b/c of what they were, apart from God, they can more fully appreciate the gift they have in the LORD... it wasn’t readily apparent to me why bitterness is so much more prevalent here, but my guess is, it was the root of why they left in the first place.
- non-prodigals don’t really struggle with bitterness, but seem to be more on the envy side of things. I think the envy piece is b/c they look at the prodigals and go, “what? Seriously God, look at me, look at what a great son I am, what’s the deal with Adam E getting his over there?”. so, they basically feel like they are not getting theirs, which they really only see b/c of those darm prodigals! Take or leave the “why”, but I do think there is some validity to the match with prods/non-prods, but you have more data points than me!
STEVEN - I love your idea of meditating on God's Words of grace, redemption, permanent forgiveness, ect... can you post the Scripture on this you read last night? I couldn't keep up with all the Scripture in my notes, and want to make sure I have it all -- it was such goodness!!! Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteSEX & ACCUSATION
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, similar to what Steven was saying last night, as I was spending time with the LORD on this stuff, for the first time in my life I felt like I needed to confess something gross and embarassing related to sex in my past. I have repented of this many times before, but never to anyone. It's going to be uncomfortable, but I really feel like the LORD wants me to repent of this in my group.
Did someone say repentance was good? YES!
You're gonna have a good group time this week, Adam!
ReplyDeleteAnd Brett- YES! WAY TO BE with the boldness to confess and repent. You're throwing it out there, and you're going to get free because of it. SWEEEEEEET.
Let me throw this out to you guys- it's something I didn't share last night, regarding sexual sin: we're so embarrassed and assume we're going to be condemned if we confess our dirty secrets, but would YOU condemn somebody else in your small group if THEY confessed what you need to confess? Of course you wouldn't! You'd affirm their courage in confessing and gladly pray restoration for them! So why do we have this nagging suspicion that if we're truly vulnerable with each other we're going to be thrown under the bus?!? It's crazy.
ps- repent of suspicion!