Don’t Hoard Your Story

Whenever I come across a lesson, a certain quote, or a principle more than once I know that God is trying to tell me something. Recently, I’ve read a lot of stories of people simply sharing their experiences of survival. I read a quote a few weeks ago that read, “Don’t hoard your experiences.” It struck me because I’ve never really looked at not sharing the good things that God has done for me as hoarding. But I guess it can be similar to not cleaning your house, or keeping items that you never use or wear in your closet. Having gifts and talents, and not sharing them with others is also a form of hoarding and even disobedience.

I went to a wonderful women’s retreat last month, and the speaker encouraged us to use what we gain after we’ve received from God. She said that we often spend time in God’s presence asking for more of Him, or even multiplication of what we already have. The problem is that once God has give what we’ve asked of Him, we do nothing with it. Obedience brings blessings!

I was also convicted recently when I heard a well-known speaker say that he was in a season where God wasn’t giving him anything new. He was easily sharing prophetic words with others and watching God move in their life, but he wasn’t seeing that same movement in his own life. After seeking God, and asking why he wasn’t moving forward, he felt like God told him that he wasn’t responsible with the last portion that he was given.

Let’s finish what we start! There are so many things in life that can distract us, but let’s work beyond the things that keep us losing track and finish. I am currently in a season where I'm working to complete the “projects” that I started months ago. It’s a battle in itself, but can be accomplished with motivation, concentration and being purposeful.

Below is a reference from an article that I read recently in The Denver Post, written by Hoda Kotb, co-host of the “Today” show with Kathy Lee Gifford. Four years ago, she had breast cancer and went through a divorce in the same year. While on a business trip, she sat next to a man who taught her something valuable. After she shared about her experience with breast cancer, she feared what he would say to others about her. His response was, “Breast cancer is part of you, like getting married or working at NBC. You can put stuff deep in your pockets and take it to your grave or you can help somebody. Don’t hog your journey; it’s not just for you.”

Check out these points from the article:

1. Surround yourself only with people who fill you up.

2. Don’t sweat the little stuff—90% of what you worry about won’t happen.

3. If you’re still standing after surviving an illness or death of a loved one or whatever your cross to bear is, you get four words: You Can’t Scare Me. Use them.

4. Don’t hog your journey; share it to help others.

One of the greatest things that we can do with what we've been taught is to bless others with it…I’m still learning how to do that myself.

Authority

Several months ago, I had a dream that I was in a restaurant with my family. We were enjoying a nice meal when another diner whom I didn’t know began to insult us. Then for some reason the insult was directed to me alone. He was being so disrespectful for seemingly no reason, that I decided to walk out of the restaurant. As I was walking out of the restaurant, strangers would walk past me on the street and they would say mean things or try to get right in my face. I wondered why these people whom I didn’t even know were being so cruel. What did I ever do to them?

The dream reminded me of the movie, “Fallen” starring Denzel Washington, where a demon spirit jumped from person to person and created chaos. In the dream, there’s a scene where Denzel’s character is walking through a busy street and the demon is speaking to him using the body of random strangers. It speaks through several people literally using them as offenders and then leaving their bodies. One of the people used is an elderly man who looks harmless, yet when the evil spirit enters his body he is suddenly evil.

Back to the dream: Just as they continued to walk up to me, intimidating and disrespecting me, I began to discern that they were not human, but demons. There was no reason to believe they were demons in the natural because they looked like normal people, but I kept feeling strongly that they were not human. Then I began to quote different scriptures, with one that I quote all of the time standing out to me the most: “May no weapon formed against (me) shall prosper,” Isaiah 54:17

As I quoted the scriptures and yelled the name of Jesus to these “demons,” they began to show their true form. They seemed shocked and frightened as my spiritual boldness grew and I quoted the verses. As the words came out of my mouth, the people turned into the demons they were and began to disappear and some disintegrated in front of me. I literally fought them with the words coming out of my mouth. It reminded me of how Jesus fought the enemy when in the desert for 40 days. He used the scriptures as weapon.

When I woke up I wondered why I had such a vivid dream. I decided to pray and ask Him what the dream meant, and I heard Him say, “I am showing you your authority.”

God began to show me that I was in a season of great revelation where HE was literally exposing the truth behind the strong men in my past. I started to think about all the people that had intimidated me in the past or even how the enemy would intimidate me through fear and a false perceptions of reality and even God.

I used to be very fearful and still struggle with some fear. I often say that I inherited it from my mother who is a very nervous person. I think I learned some fear from her. But as we know, the enemy of the soul can take something that’s frail and exaggerate and corrupt it. In the past, my fear was so out of control that I would have panic attacks and my hands would be cold and clammy on a constant basis. I had false imaginations running through my head daily to the point of insanity. A number of years ago, I found healing from the extreme torment of fear. I still become afraid at times, but it’s not as severe as it once was. Scripture and prayer have seen me through the battles.

I am currently in a season where God is showing me the power in trusting in Him. Even though I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, it is the confidence that I have in His power through me that gets me through the toughest days. When man or circumstances come against me, I can lean on the truth in the word, and speak out His promises even when I doubt or fear. And my prayer to Him is that when He calls me to step out in His name, that He would supply me with my staff like He did for Moses centuries ago.

The transfer of evil:

http://youtu.be/563xkXq4duw