November 11 Logo

Don't Fight the Green Pasture
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.  Psalm 116:7
 
Everyone seems to be going through intense times lately. It's an outward sign of the all-out war going on in the spirit realm as we draw near to the return of the Lord. Jesus commanded us to straighten up and lift up our heads - when the world becomes a fearful, heart-stopping place in the last days. Luke 21:25-28

We can't do it in our own ability, as hard as we try or deeply as we believe we must. In fact, the harder we try to win the battles we are in, the more we  realize we are losing them. And that brings us to the key to winning: "Surrender".

What kind of trouble have you been experiencing? Did you know you might be battling God as well? How???

There is a specific way the Lord wants to deal with Satan (the devil) when he comes against us. If we insist on doing things our way, (as always?) we will hinder God and our future. If that is what we are doing, our problem is bigger than the devil. It is US! We are in a war with God, having never surrendered our will.

I'm not saying surrender to the problem. This is about surrendering to the will of God - truly letting Him have His way. We may have surrendered a particular thing or area of our lives, but as Oswald Chambers writes, "The greatest crisis we ever face is surrender of our will, and once that is done, the surrender is complete".

II Chronicles 16 tells the story of King Asa. God had always been faithful to him. But one time when threatened by a foreign army, he chose to pay a bribe to and trust a fellow king in order to avoid a war instead of trusting God. He escaped that war, but the price was that the enemy was freed to fight another day, and Asa was guaranteed wars from then on.

God doesn't want you to just win the battle you're in. He wants to eradicate Satan from your life! This is where the Green Pastures come in.



        1 The Lord is my shepherd,
           I shall not want.
       2 He makes me lie down in
          Green Pastures  Psalm 23
 
Notice what this Psalm says about the one who submits to the Lord's care...
 
   *  The LORD is in Control.
 
   *  The Result is NO LACK.  
 
  *  The idea expressed is: one lying down in abundance, fully fed and satisfied, calm and reposed, the Lord Himself watching over them.

Why then does Jesus have to MAKE US lie down??! He commands that He be our Shepherd, Lord, and "in control" of our lives in order to lead us to the awesome destiny our Heavenly Father has chosen for us. But we rebel. As the sarcastic question asks...How is that working out for you?

The times in which we live are only going to grow more intense. The only course of action is to surrender by choice to His will, not because circumstances make you. In that way, you will start out ahead when trouble comes, and not always be trying to catch up.

So what exactly do you do?

   1) Surrender EVERYTHING to Him now.

   2) Confess Jesus as LORD. Mean it.

   3) Lie down. Rest. Look above what is
        happening on the earth.
        If you are lying down, you can't see 
        what is happening on earth. You can 
        only look up!
        It's out of your control anyway.
        That's Jesus you see when you look
        up! If He needs you to do something
        about the problems, He will tell you.

   4) Do it.

Ahhhhhhh.
Green Pasture

Giving
Thank You