The Horse and His Boy...Do you know who you are?

Do we know who we are?

I love the Chronicles of Narnia and believe that Mr. Lewis did an excellent job in writing a fictitious depiction of our relationship with Christ (the Lion named Aslan) and who we are as the Church. My favorite story from this series is The Horse and His Boy.

Like the beginning of many great tales, the protagonist is a baby who was separated from his birth parents and raised by a cruel, fisherman who treated Shasta like a slave. Shasta overhears his supposed father is willing to sell him to a man on his way to another land. Shasta is so poorly treated by this fisherman, whom he thought was his father, he declines to think this might be for his best and says aloud that he will go peacefully with this new master.

This causes the potential master’s horse to speak up and declare this master to be even more cruel than the man posing as Shasta’s father. This talking horse is from Narnia explains they should together runaway to his homeland where they could both be free from slavery. This horse named Bree explains that many animals talk in the land of Narnia and along the way they meet another talking horse, Hwin, and her newly emancipated rider named Arivis. Together they venture toward Narnia but there are lions that cause them veer off course and go into an unknown land.

I’ve read this story more than a few times and must admit I weep when I get to the parts of the story where it seems hopeless for Shasta. He grew up believing he was the son of a cruel fisherman and was made to feel like less than human. Shasta had to learn who he really was. He had to endure many hardships along the path until he discovered his true identity as an heir to the throne of his original homeland. If he had even a hint of knowledge of the amount of people that cared about him and wished him the best, he would not have felt so discouraged.

If he had known that he possessed the authority in the land to send away his enemies, he would not have felt so helpless in the face of danger. If he had known is true identity then Shasta would have stood tall and brave. It still would have been a difficult journey but the knowledge of what he had waiting for him, a kingdom, would have given him hope to press on.

Who are you? The Word of God says you are a royal priest. You are a joint heir with Christ. You are seated with Christ in heavenly places. You are blessed and favored of the Most High God. You are accepted. You are the righteousness of God in Christ.

Maybe somehow the enemy of your soul has convinced you that you are a slave to sin and a dishonorable subject of the kingdom. Maybe this enemy has taken advantage of you and told you are unworthy because of your sin. You think this is true because your true birthright has been hidden from you. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus came and paid the price for you to have life and have it more abundantly. Your sins have not only been forgiven, but removed as far as the east is from the west and you are now righteous in God’s sight because Jesus donned you with this robe of righteousness. You do not have to jump through a series of religious hoops to get God to accept you. You do not have to prove your worth. Being in Christ means that Jesus is all you need. He paid the price. I like the saying: Jesus plus nothing.

Just like Shasta, you are royalty and once you are aware of who you really are in Christ, then I will send my condolences to your enemy cause he is through with bullying the sons of God.

Season of Seeking Excerpt "Hedged in by God's Grace"

"You have Jesus in your heart so how can you be depressed when His joy lives on the inside of you?” All truth, but none of the statements of that nature penetrated my heart. My heart hurt, my body felt sick, and just getting out of bed was an extreme effort.

In retrospect, I had a stronghold in my mind and believed that if God wanted me well then he would just “poof” make me well. Therefore, I continued to be ill and depressed, all the while believing I was waiting on God to come to me and heal me.

My idea of faith was that God could heal me, and even wanted to heal me but would do so in His own time. In the back of my mind, I believed I was being taught some type of lesson to purge me of sin. I was convinced that this purging would eventually come to an end, and I would be holy and healed.

This cycle of sickness, depression, anxiety, and physical pain continued even through giving birth to two beautiful, healthy daughters. For most of that time, because of my ignorance to the truth in God’s Word, the enemy of my soul was able to pummel me into submitting to his lies. One of those lies was that I was convinced that I was nothing more than a second-class citizen of Heaven who lacked the faith to receive my healing.

When I heard preaching or teaching on healing, the ravenous birds of the evil realm would come and steal the seed that God desired to be sown in my heart. (Luke 8) Deep down, I believed there was hope, but wondered if I would exist this way for the rest of my life. I continued to do all the things I believed were right to gain my healing. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

I did have one tool of spiritual warfare of which I was not ignorant. I was a worshiper. I poured my heart into worship. I sincerely sought God with my whole heart, mind and strength. In the same manner as when I started college, I began to pursue my relationship with God just like I pursued my career in the music profession.

Worshiping God did cause my spiritual eyes, at times, to have a peek into the heart of the Father. This act of worship was the very key to giving me the strength and hope I needed for this very long season, until I could understand how to receive healing by faith in the finished work of Christ. I am grateful for my spiritual mentors encouraging me to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” (Psalm 100:4)

I was passionate for God! I cried out to Him day and night and believed someday I would get my healing that I had read about in my Bible. But, the Word of God does not say that we perish for a lack of passion, or a lack of love, or a lack of worship, does it? It says in Hosea 4: 6, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” I was lacking knowledge and an understanding of the truth in God’s Word that would set me free.

Excerpt from Chapter 6 "Hedged in by God's Grace"

Near the end of November that year, at 2 o’clock in the morning, I stood by my kitchen sink, weeping once more. I hesitantly decided to ask the Lord if I could start the medication again. After I prayed by my kitchen sink, I didn’t hear Him answer. I purposed to ask Him again, as I glanced toward the cabinet where the medication was stored. This time, I heard him answer, “Yes, but then the medication gets the glory.”

I got angry! Not at God, but at the devil. I recognized this as an attack from Satan. The enemy was pushing my buttons, trying to see if I would give in. He was trying to see if he could cross my boundaries and get me to walk right back into that prison of depression and sickness. You see, this time was different; the tears were not accompanied by any of the other symptoms. I was not sad, not achy with the chronic pain, and not confused. I was tired, but that was from the constant weeping. I had the fear of an anxiety attack looming over me, but never anything that could not be controlled with a simple prayer and a deep cleansing breath. I heard in my mind, “This is a test, only a test, brought to you by your local lying devil.”

Right there in the middle of my kitchen, I did something I had never done before. I commanded the devil to take his hands off my mind and my body. I commanded my brain chemicals to line up with what the Word of God said about me. I had been repeating scripture to myself for months, which said I was not cursed but blessed.

I was convinced I had the mind of Christ, as well as not having a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind. I believed I was a conqueror in Christ Jesus, and I was seated with Christ in Heavenly places. I came to realize I had a foundational belief that Satan did not have the right to rob me of my health or sound mind. (1Corinthians 2; 2Timothy 1:7; Romans 8:37; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:6)

In less than a few minutes, the tears suddenly dammed up. The weeping had ceased. I felt a sense of being empowered with the knowledge that the attack was over and I had caused it to happen by my God-given authority in Jesus’ Name. I felt a rush of peace and joy, as well as a feeling of complete health in my body and mind.

I had discovered, in a somewhat serendipitous moment, that I could speak to my mind and body as well as the enemy, to get some pretty powerful results. I know God’s Spirit led me into this truth. but honestly, I didn’t know I had it in me to command my body back into a position of perfect health and harmony.

My soul was flooded with peace and hope. Even though it was almost December, I felt like spring had come to my heart. I was walking in a new dimension of living. I was convinced I could control of my mind and body because I knew what the Word of God said about me being set free by the power of the sacrifice of Christ.

I still had a lot to learn, but I had the basic pieces to the puzzle at this point in time. I knew the truth that is stated in Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”

Excerpt from Chapter 3 "Hedged in by God's Grace"

Chapter 3 excerpt:

This cycle of sickness, depression, anxiety, and physical pain continued even though giving birth to two beautiful, healthy daughters. Unfortunately, this devastating cycle persisted until I was in my late thirties. To compound this issue, I found that the worst part was feeling that I was cheating my children out of a mother that could really enjoy them. I did get to a point where I felt forced, for my children’s sake, to seek serious medical attention. The various medications prescribed did help somewhat by reducing the pain, depression and anxiety. However, the medication was never able to give me that total relief I was so desperately desired.

For most of that time, because of my ignorance to the truth in God’s Word, the enemy of my soul was able to pummel me into submitting to his lies. One of those lies was that I was convinced that I was nothing more than a second-class citizen of Heaven who lacked the faith to receive my healing.

When I heard preaching or teaching on healing, the ravenous birds of the evil realm would come and steal the seed that God desired to be sown in my heart. (Luke 8) Deep down, I believed there was hope, but wondered if I would exist this way the rest of my life. I continued to do all the things I believed were right to gain my healing.“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

I did have one tool of warfare of which I was not ignorant. I was a worshiper. I poured my heart into worship. I sincerely sought God with my whole heart, mind and strength. In the same manner as when I started college, I began to pursue my relationship with God just like I pursued my career in the music profession.

Worshiping God did cause my spiritual eyes, at times, to have a peek into the heart of the Father. This act of worship was the very key to giving me the strength and hope I needed for this very long season, until I could understand how to receive healing by faith in the finished work of Christ. I am grateful for my spiritual mentors encouraging me to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” (Psalm 100:4)

I was passionate for God! I cried out to Him day and night and believed someday I would get my healing that I had read about in my Bible. But, the Word of God does not say that we perish for a lack of passion, or a lack of love, or a lack of worship, does it? It says in Hosea 4: 6, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” I was lacking knowledge and the truth in God’s Word that would set me free.