CallToBattle

I don’t know who put this together but it’s beautiful.

P.S. If you want to find out what happened to King Sennacherib after he mocked God, I encourage to read 2 Kings 18-19. I came across this resource which goes deeper. https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-stories/the-bible-story-of-king-hezekiah.html

-6 Take your letter of fear, open it and spread it before the Lord and pray. I prayed a simple humble prayer, of worship, acknowledging God is Lord over all, the same as Hezekiah did. I thanked God and told Him that the facts and evidence the enemy had against me doesn’t get to predict my future. I acknowledged to God that He has the final verdict in my life, and those I’ve prayed for. I thanked Him for finally helping me understand what He was showing me. I asked for His forgiveness for the doubt and the lies I was accepting, and the things I didn’t think God could fix in me. Mainly the false beliefs I had about myself. I went a step further…and I took that letter of fear and burned it as a sacrifice to Him. As I watched the letter be consumed by the cleansing fire of the Lord. I felt this heavy burdened lift off of me. Peace filled my heart. Indescribable peace. Nothing has changed in my life since then concerning all the facts. But I now believe differently. There has been a shift. God holds my future, and He has a plan. He has the final say for my life. Not fear. Bring your own Letter of Fear to the One who actually holds your future. The One who says; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 The enemy has no power over us unless we authorize him. We are the gatekeepers to our thoughts. This is why we take every thought captive. We arrest those thoughts immediately. Ask God to expose every fear the enemy held against you. Yes, it may be factual. Yes, it may be painful. Take it to the throne room of God; the only place where dismantling the lies, and distortion the enemy had over you can be overridden. Spread your letter before Him. In conclusion; The enemy may have had you convinced for a little while to accept a future where the land of unanswered prayers becomes a wasteland of despair and lost hope. But he doesn’t have that kind of authority. He wants to distort your discernment and your trust in God. God is the One who holds our future. He alone has the final verdict in our lives. He is a great defense attorney and judge. He goes above and beyond for His children. He is truly the good, good Father. My advice; Praise Him and thank Him daily, even for those hard trials. Be grateful for everything He has allowed in your life. There are lessons in the journey. Ask Him to open the eyes of your heart. Acknowledge He is Lord over your life including your fears. Pray, and be vigilant. And finally: Be at peace my friends, you are free, because God says you are. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 Much blessings, -Paula @CallToBattle

-5 After studying this account, the Lord encouraged me to write down a list of all the facts the enemy had over me. I put on paper, my own letter of fear I received from the enemy. It was in two parts… Part 1: I had recorded all the facts that fear had over me for so long. (Some of the samples I shared in section 2) Just the facts. Evidence. Part 2: The list of the enemy’s voice. These were words he would use against me to discourage me. Accusations and lies. I listed below a sample of those lies. Pay attention to the language the enemy uses. They will have a condemning nature to them. It will sound like the following: “You’re too _______.” “You will always be ____.” “You will never be _____.” “Maybe you’re not _____.” “God has forgotten you.” What we do with that is where our fear meets faith. It’s not just mental, or emotional, it’s also spiritual and yes, physical as you will see. The very act of bringing that letter before God is a proclamation. I encourage you to record your own letter of fear. Write it down, present it as evidence to the Courts of Heaven. What has the enemy told you? What is the evidence that he says is proof nothing is happening?

-4 Dealing with the threats from Sennacherib, Hezekiah mourned, but he knew where to seek help. “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.” 2 Kings 19:14 “And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”” 2 Kings 19:15-19 Did you notice? He took that letter to the Throne Room of God first! And “…spread it before the Lord.” He did not panic. He didn’t deny what was happening. He laid out all the facts. As Hezekiah laid the Assyrian’s letter before the Lord, he prayed a humble, powerful prayer of worship and trust in the Lord God. A prayer of supplication, of faith, pleading for deliverance so all the kingdoms would know that the Lord alone is God of all.

-3 The greatest weapon the enemy can threaten over us without a fight is fear. It’s psychological warfare. An enemy that uses no physical weapons can derail a person and destroy them from within. The devil…doesn’t want to fight you. He wants to discourage you. He wants you to give up. He wants to undermine your trust in God. Sennacherib told the people; Hezekiah was lying to them about being able to deliver them from his hand. You can read the account here. https://bible.com/bible/59/2ki.18.29-36.ESV His intention is to make surrender an attractive option. And when I say surrender, I mean, to stop believing that God can still be good to you. You can still have faith in God, but when fear arrives carrying facts, it can convince you there is no hope so you give up. You begin to wonder if God has forgotten you. Fear has recorded the evidence, and now, just like in a trial, it presents its case in which the only outcome is; “This is how it’s going to be.” The evidence doesn’t lie. Fear can sound like a verdict. It can sound like it knows the future. The truth is; fear CAN be factual, but it CANNOT predict the outcome, nor your future. Fear can distort things to convince you, you’re wasting your time praying. But, here are some other facts that are worthy of considering. Fear doesn’t decide your future. It is not the judge of your life. It may claim it has authority over what hasn’t happened yet, and it may make threats as though it is the final outcome. Isn’t it interesting how fear can carry power over our minds over something that hasn’t happened yet? Before I knew it, fear had arrived threatening my future, my dreams, or any hope I had. The verdict has been handed down. I began to accept the lie—I relegated to my mind, the fact; “This is how it’s going to be, and I just need to accept it.” It wasn’t until the Lord, led me to 2 Kings 19 when I had asked Him to “Open the Eyes of My Heart.” (Yes, I sang that worship song over and over and within days, He directed me to this story in the Bible) This is where I learned what was really happening.

-2 Like King Sennacherib’s letter, fear arrived with facts that were undeniable. It had proof. It carried evidence. In my mind this letter of fear was predicting my future. It was as if it was prophesying over my life. Here is some of the evidence fear had on me. “I’m getting older”—this is fact. “I am watching others receive answers to prayers I have been praying for”—fact. “Another year has passed, and still no answer to my prayer”—fact. “I keep praying for my family to come to the Lord, but there hasn’t been any evidence yet”—this is fact. In addition to the above; I’m guessing that perhaps the enemy has also sent you a similar letter of fear…it may sound like this: “The healing hasn’t come and I have been praying for years” “My situation remains the same” “My children are still lost” “Divorce runs in my family, why should it be any different for me?” “The drugs and alcohol are taking over my family.” “My spouse was unfaithful.” All of the above can be factual. There is no denying any of it. The result—despair begins to write the ending. This is what fear does. It gathers evidence, facts, and records them in the letter of fear we carry within ourselves.

The Letter of Fear -1 In 2 Kings 19 there is a king who makes a threat. King Sennacherib (phonetically pronounced: San-heh-reev) of Assyria has made known to the current King Hezekiah of Judah his intentions through a letter via a messenger. This king is very proud of his track record, and states his intentions through what I call a “Letter of Fear.” King Sennacherib’s letter comes via his field commander addressed to King Hezekiah. This king of Assyria is confident. He is dedicated to ensure that Jerusalem will fall because... After all—there is evidence. His exploits have been proven. This king of Assyria states in this letter, what he is capable of and what he has accomplished. This Assyrian army attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. He took pleasure in humiliating their leaders by openly taunting and defied Judah’s God, likening Him to the powerless gods in nations they already had overcome. If you read and study the chapter before 2 Kings 19, you will see this type of demoralizing warfare. (2 Kings 18:28-35; 19:10-12) Indeed, his list is impressive. Indeed, there is evidence. Indeed, all of his claims are factual. King Sennacherib even goes as far to mock and defy Hezekiah’s living God; “… ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”” 2 Kings 19:10 This king of Assyria names all the cities he has conquered. And, he is extremely confident about the fate of Jerusalem that he sends his field commander to demoralize Hezekiah to convince him to give up. Everything this king was pointing out in the letter to Hezekiah was truth. It arrived as proof of his accomplishments. I too, was handed a “Letter of Fear” from the enemy. I was a slave to the yoke of fear, and had carried it with me for many years, until I realized what I was dealing with.

Testimony Tuesday Good morning friends and faithful warriors! Given it is also the 200th Testimony Tuesday, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to share a personal breakthrough I had recently. Today I’m sharing a personal testimony. To be honest, I struggled whether if I should share it for fear of judgment. Okay I said it. Well, let me clarify that. I believe the fear comes from shame the enemy placed on me for sooooo long. And the irony of that statement is that the entire testimony is about fear and how it can affect our faith. I came across a devotional channel on Instagram for single women like me. There was a story she shared about 2 Kings 19. She didn’t go into depth but the message was powerful, loud and clear especially for people like me. It was if the message was for me alone. That led me to dig deeper into 2 Kings 18-19. And I realized this message isn’t just for single people, it’s for everyone. I can’t take credit for it, but I expounded upon this story and took it further and shared how it changed and realigned my thinking for my situation, and actually other situations as soon I discovered. After several weeks and months of studying and praying about what I am about to share with you. The good Lord impressed upon me to share it here in hopes it will bless you and set you free like it did for me. Blessings, —Paula Thank you: Sarah Williams @gracifyme for the inspiration.

Here’s your Feel Good Friday video!

Another one on gratitude. 👇️️️️️️

The thing I really love about this second video is the fact this woman who is sharing her experience didn’t realize how one simple act of kindness would make a huge impact. In fact, she hesitated. She had doubted if she even heard God correctly. I’ve been there. I’ve said; “Is that you God?” She took the risk and obeyed anyway. She risked looking foolish. Lesson here. Obey quickly. We don’t have to have a reason or even know why God is asking us to act on something. He just wants obedience. The blessing goes both ways. It’s just as much for us as it is for the recipient. Either way, God is glorified. “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;” Isaiah 1:19

Testimony Tuesday This morning I came across the following video. I loved this persons attitude. It really touched my heart, and changed my perspective. In fact, I am going to receive this as a challenge in my own personal life. It illustrates the belief that even the work required to maintain life’s blessings can be viewed with gratitude. It’s not hard to look around ourselves and notice there is work to be done. Things that need to be managed, or taken care of. Chores to be done. Tending life. Everyday. All the time. It never ends. But what if we started looking at these things through a lens of gratitude as a gift from God? Even just being able to awake, get out of bed and thanking God for another day, no matter what the day brings. No matter what needs to be done today. No matter what challenge awaits us. No matter what unexpected event shows up. No matter what is facing you right now… Consider it a gift from God. I believe in my heart, being grateful is where peace resides. Saying; “Thank you Lord” in the midst of toil, shows gratitude. Be encouraged today. “Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 5:19

I decided today is Feel Good Friday! Came across this sweet video. It just made me smile. Enjoy your Friday!Here’s praying you’ll be blessed as you begin your weekend. “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” II Corinthians 9:7

Some encouragement while you are waiting for your miracle.

I was not able to download the following video so I will put a link below. 👇🏼 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeDNzGZxF2e/?