I have to hand it to you. You know what you are doing. I'll give you credit for that.
You almost won. When I think of how close you have come to stealing from me, killing me and my family, and destroying every blessing God ever gave me, I am ashamed. I am ashamed because I let you in. I am ashamed because I gave you permission through my selfish attitudes and actions to enter my house and unleash unholy hell in my home. I am ashamed because I knew better. I knew what the book said. After all, I preached from it for decades.
I admit, you wore me down. In my youth, I was so full of ambition and energy. I wanted to change the world for Christ and I was determined to accomplish great things in His name. I was going to preach sermons and write books that would change the world. I was going to bring God's Word to broken churches, broken families, and broken people and let God use me to bring healing, restoration, and power to those broken people. I was filled with everything a young preacher-boy needed to accomplish all of those things...except for the only thing that I truly needed to actually see those ambitions come to pass.
I know you must have laughed at me quite a bit over the last two decades. I know you heard all of my prayers for divine guidance, supernatural provision, and, yes, even godly anointing. I know you heard all of my protestations of divinely empowered purpose and you probably laughed out loud at me more than once when I got up off my knees. No, scratch that, I know you have laughed at me for decades.
But I don't believe you're laughing now.
You see, what you keep failing to learn and will obviously never learn is the fact that God uses everything, including you, to bring His Word, Will, and Ways to His people. What you intended for evil and my destruction, God is now using to great affect to help build up His army. The lies you planted in my heart and mind, the same lies that I believed for much too long a time, God is now using to break your chains off of His people. I know you see what is happening in my heart and mind now. I know you've heard my prayers that I've offered up lately and I seriously doubt you're laughing at me now.
But even if you are, it does not matter. You see, I have learned a few things over the years. I've learned that you are not nearly as powerful as I was led to believe. In fact, I have learned that the only power you truly have is the power of deceit. I have learned that your greatest weakness, your kryptonite, if you will, is God's truth. I have learned that for all of your ability, knowledge, and experience, you have repeatedly failed to do the one thing that you've been trying to do for generations...beat my Dad.
I have learned and am still learning who you are instead of who I thought you were. You are a liar. You are so full of lies that you have obviously deceived yourself into thinking you're going to actually win this whole thing. I'm sure we've all given you plenty of reasons to draw that conclusion. I have no doubt you've danced a psychotic dance of joy over my failures and the failures of many of God's people over the years. But I need you to hear this from me. I know who you are now and I am not afraid of you anymore.
God has brought me from the depths of my personal hell and has put me back on solid ground again. God has rescued me from the prison you led me to and is teaching me how to stay out of that prison. God has taught me the power of choice. He has shown me what He can do in the heart of a humble and submitted servant. And the good news, Satan, is God and me...we're just getting started.
So, I just wanted you to know, in front of God and everybody, that you can roar all you want. You can throw all the lies you want in my direction. You can take everything I have and leave me living in a van down by the river. You can do all of this and more and it won't change anything.
I know in whom I have believed, Satan, and it isn't you. Not anymore.
You almost had me. You came so close to winning, you could probably taste the victory. I hope you enjoyed whatever sick pleasure you derived from the misery you brought to my doorstep because it will be the last time you get anything pleasurable from me.
I am a prince of the King of kings. I am a blood-washed child of Jehovah Jireh. I am a vessel of honor in the Kingdom of Yahweh and there is no lie you can vomit out of your twisted mind that can change any of those things. If I have learned anything over the last 25 years it is that you cannot tear me away from the hands of my Lord and my God.
I'll give you credit. You did try and you almost succeeded in convincing me that I was as worthless as my earthly father used to scream at me in his anger. But my Heavenly Father has shown me who I am in Him and now that I understand and know this, you are done.
So, keep on trying. I know you will. I know that my writing this and pushing the "CREATE THREAD" button will infuriate you. I know that my publicly calling you out will just fuel your desire to try to kill, steal, and destroy me again. I just wanted you and anyone else who sees this to know, you have lost.
No matter what happens to me for the rest of my days on this earth, you need to know that you have lost. You have had your last laugh at my expense and I know as well as you do that the day is coming that those of us who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God are going to be laughing at you.
So, thank you. Thank you for letting God use you so He could get to me. Thank you for being such an ignorant participant in God's plans for my life. Thank you for all of the years you've been trying to kill me.
You tried but you failed to kill me and because of your failure, God has made me stronger. Only this time, my strength isn't in me. This time, I know where my strength is coming from and now that I know who God is, who I am, and who you are...
Well, you almost won. But glory to God, it isn't me and my family who are casualties of this war you started. It is, and will forever be, you.
You almost won. When I think of how close you have come to stealing from me, killing me and my family, and destroying every blessing God ever gave me, I am ashamed. I am ashamed because I let you in. I am ashamed because I gave you permission through my selfish attitudes and actions to enter my house and unleash unholy hell in my home. I am ashamed because I knew better. I knew what the book said. After all, I preached from it for decades.
I admit, you wore me down. In my youth, I was so full of ambition and energy. I wanted to change the world for Christ and I was determined to accomplish great things in His name. I was going to preach sermons and write books that would change the world. I was going to bring God's Word to broken churches, broken families, and broken people and let God use me to bring healing, restoration, and power to those broken people. I was filled with everything a young preacher-boy needed to accomplish all of those things...except for the only thing that I truly needed to actually see those ambitions come to pass.
I know you must have laughed at me quite a bit over the last two decades. I know you heard all of my prayers for divine guidance, supernatural provision, and, yes, even godly anointing. I know you heard all of my protestations of divinely empowered purpose and you probably laughed out loud at me more than once when I got up off my knees. No, scratch that, I know you have laughed at me for decades.
But I don't believe you're laughing now.
You see, what you keep failing to learn and will obviously never learn is the fact that God uses everything, including you, to bring His Word, Will, and Ways to His people. What you intended for evil and my destruction, God is now using to great affect to help build up His army. The lies you planted in my heart and mind, the same lies that I believed for much too long a time, God is now using to break your chains off of His people. I know you see what is happening in my heart and mind now. I know you've heard my prayers that I've offered up lately and I seriously doubt you're laughing at me now.
But even if you are, it does not matter. You see, I have learned a few things over the years. I've learned that you are not nearly as powerful as I was led to believe. In fact, I have learned that the only power you truly have is the power of deceit. I have learned that your greatest weakness, your kryptonite, if you will, is God's truth. I have learned that for all of your ability, knowledge, and experience, you have repeatedly failed to do the one thing that you've been trying to do for generations...beat my Dad.
I have learned and am still learning who you are instead of who I thought you were. You are a liar. You are so full of lies that you have obviously deceived yourself into thinking you're going to actually win this whole thing. I'm sure we've all given you plenty of reasons to draw that conclusion. I have no doubt you've danced a psychotic dance of joy over my failures and the failures of many of God's people over the years. But I need you to hear this from me. I know who you are now and I am not afraid of you anymore.
God has brought me from the depths of my personal hell and has put me back on solid ground again. God has rescued me from the prison you led me to and is teaching me how to stay out of that prison. God has taught me the power of choice. He has shown me what He can do in the heart of a humble and submitted servant. And the good news, Satan, is God and me...we're just getting started.
So, I just wanted you to know, in front of God and everybody, that you can roar all you want. You can throw all the lies you want in my direction. You can take everything I have and leave me living in a van down by the river. You can do all of this and more and it won't change anything.
I know in whom I have believed, Satan, and it isn't you. Not anymore.
You almost had me. You came so close to winning, you could probably taste the victory. I hope you enjoyed whatever sick pleasure you derived from the misery you brought to my doorstep because it will be the last time you get anything pleasurable from me.
I am a prince of the King of kings. I am a blood-washed child of Jehovah Jireh. I am a vessel of honor in the Kingdom of Yahweh and there is no lie you can vomit out of your twisted mind that can change any of those things. If I have learned anything over the last 25 years it is that you cannot tear me away from the hands of my Lord and my God.
I'll give you credit. You did try and you almost succeeded in convincing me that I was as worthless as my earthly father used to scream at me in his anger. But my Heavenly Father has shown me who I am in Him and now that I understand and know this, you are done.
So, keep on trying. I know you will. I know that my writing this and pushing the "CREATE THREAD" button will infuriate you. I know that my publicly calling you out will just fuel your desire to try to kill, steal, and destroy me again. I just wanted you and anyone else who sees this to know, you have lost.
No matter what happens to me for the rest of my days on this earth, you need to know that you have lost. You have had your last laugh at my expense and I know as well as you do that the day is coming that those of us who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God are going to be laughing at you.
So, thank you. Thank you for letting God use you so He could get to me. Thank you for being such an ignorant participant in God's plans for my life. Thank you for all of the years you've been trying to kill me.
You tried but you failed to kill me and because of your failure, God has made me stronger. Only this time, my strength isn't in me. This time, I know where my strength is coming from and now that I know who God is, who I am, and who you are...
Well, you almost won. But glory to God, it isn't me and my family who are casualties of this war you started. It is, and will forever be, you.
