The Confrontation

Scene 1

Spiritual Warfare

I remove my sandals and lie on the floor with a pillow and sheet, facing the doorway. Sean stands in the doorway with the prop of my “nemesis”- the silhouette of a man with horns and a dark robe. The lights are turned off in the room, but the light from the hallway transforms my prop into a forboding figure. Rising from the floor, I confront my nemesis with rage-empowered speech, pointing the blame at this foe for his dark influence in my life as I declare:

“I am a child of God. . . .Through the authority of Jesus Christ and his shed blood, You need to leave! Leave and never come back!”

Scene 2

Following the confrontation, I call out to God. I ask Him to wash me and make me whole, yet the feelings of shame and condemnation persist. I sit in the dark room, wrestling with these oppressive emotions.

Scene 3

I rise and turn on the lights. Our therapist shares a story from the Bible that contains this phrase of Jesus: “Neither do I condemn you.” He looks at me as he repeats, “There is no condemnation here.”

I close our time in prayer. In my prayer, I ask the question: “What is the opposite of condemnation?”

“Liberty,” Paul replies.

Scene 4

During the week, I ask my daughter Julia, “What is the opposite of condemnation?”

“Justification,” she says.

Scene 5

On Sunday, I sit in the second row as our pastor teaches on the third chapter of Romans. I follow along with the words on the screen:

“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (Romans 3:22 NLT)

He goes on to explain the doctrine of justification with this slide:

As I sit in my seat, I am amazed at the perfect timing of this sermon. Once again, God has orchestrated the lesson of my therapy session with the Sunday sermon. How cool is that?

Scripture

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12 NIV)

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8: 36)

Prayer

Abba Father,

You are stronger than the darkness that seeks to keep me in bondage. Your love is deeper than the shame that haunts me. I have been redeemed. You bought me back. I have been given the good I could never earn. My record has been stamped clean just as if I never sinned. You have set me free from sin and condemnation. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Shout out to the ladies who help lead the Bible Study on Tuesday night. Thank you for praying, leading, sharing and encouraging us. This week’s lesson was about condemnation vs conviction-a perfect dovetail with what God has recently been teaching me!

Photo by Jeanette Nimick