The Signet Ring- Excerpt
By lb50 on May 28, 2013
By Kerri Kenyon –
Artillery of the Enemy; Lies…Fear…and Shame.
We have been rescued out of the domain of darkness, which is irreversible. Knowing this, our enemy tries to keep us from understanding, and claiming, who we really are in The Kingdom of Light. His desire is to destroy us spiritually, mentally, emotionally and even physically.
This reality hit me right between the eyes while I was in seminary. I was teaching at my church and at women’s retreats on the weekend and yet I was broken mentally, truly believing I was crazy. My mind raced back and forth on the zip line of fear between pride and insecurity. I jokingly referred to my mind as the “Humpty Dumpty brain,” but inside it was no laughing matter. I had always been proud of my ability to communicate. I had mastered the art of public speaking and even trained others to do the same.
But I found myself at a place where I had a hard time completing my thoughts and sentences. I would sit and hold my head, perhaps subconsciously hoping to somehow hold it together in one piece. I was broken emotionally because of the numerous destructive relationships in my past. And I had allowed the pain and abuse I had suffered to justify various forms of “self-medication” for years. Once I stopped actively pursuing a life of substance abuse, I found that I was essentially a child in an adult’s body. I was unable to cope and process maturely because I had numbed myself for so long. I was encouraged repeatedly to go on anti-depressants for the depression I was suffering from, but I could not stomach the thought of being dependent on a pill to cope with my reality. I simply could not bring myself to do it.
Since childhood, I had believed the lie that I was stupid, so the mental and emotional torment I was encountering only served as confirmation that I was worthless and hopeless. I was broken spiritually as I had run for years from the Jesus I entered into covenant relationship with as a child. I was painfully aware of the void and emptiness inside of me. For years I had attempted to fill the space only The One who created me could satisfy with human relationships. So, even after I re-committed my life to Christ and enrolled in seminary, I still felt distant from Him. I knew I was not in an intimate relationship with Him; I did not have peace. I was also broken physically. Years of abusing my body had taken their toll. I was overweight, sick without answers from my doctors. My hypothalamus gland starting shutting down, which lead to thyroid disease, pre-diabetes, chronic fatigue, anemia, and endometriosis. Together my health issues served to rob me of strength, energy and vitality. Most days I had no will or desire to get out of bed. I was exhausted, frustrated, depressed and, many days, even suicidal.
One particular weekend I remember teaching at a women’s retreat. I crashed through the front door exhausted at the end of the weekend on a Sunday night and I fell to the floor crying. I was overwhelmed by feeling like a fraud and I knew that I couldn’t “keep it together” much longer, especially serving in ministry roles. That night I cried out to The One who created me, begging Him for mercy. I simply heard Him say, “Kerri, what is that book on the table there?” “It’s your Word,” I quickly responded. “What is that book to you, tonight?” He insisted. As soon as He asked, I knew the answer. More importantly, I realized why I was “stuck” in the place I was. “It’s a textbook to me,” I admitted. “Yes,” He stated simply, “It’s time for you to start over with me. You need to know who I am; you need to know who you are in me.”
LIES
So often when we are in the darkness of a season, like I was, life feels out of control. We are tempted to bow to The Betrayer’s lie believing there is something wrong with us, that we are not spiritual enough, or mature enough. We focus on our inadequacies and shortcomings instead of focusing on our true identity and position in the army of God. We cannot claim the victory that belongs to us if we never accept the reality of the spiritual war that is waging all around us. We were created to be warriors, to wear the armor and wield the sword. We were created to glorify God by claiming the victory we have in Jesus Christ. We are His Signet Ring, living as His Beloved each time we claim what He has given us to defeat the weapons formed against us. However, if we don’t know what The Betrayer is launching at us in the spirit realm, we cannot claim victory over him. We stay stuck in deception instead of growing in intimacy with The One who created us.
Thankfully, Genesis chapter three, verses one to eleven, teach us all we need know about the enemy’s plan to destroy us. The truth uncovered in this passage was the first thing the Lord revealed to me in my own place of brokenness. Understanding the reality of the spiritual battle that was raging around me was a critical component of the “starting over” I was called into with Him that night.
Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. “Really?” he asked the woman. “Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?” “Of course we may eat it,” the woman told him. “It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.” “You won’t die!” the serpent hissed. “God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves. Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees. The LORD God called to Adam, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
Here in Genesis three the enemy offered Eve control, what we as women crave the most. “You won’t die!” the serpent hissed in verse four. “God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.” In this moment, with the offer of absolute control extended to her, Eve doubted God’s love for her. I’m sure questions flashed through her mind. Why had God not offered it to her? Why was He holding out on her? After all, didn’t she deserve that power and control? In the presence of the lie, she doubted God had her best interest in mind, so her own mind shifted from Him to herself and she became easy prey. This is one of the most effective tactics of the enemy at work against us today. His goal is make us doubt God’s love (our power source) by causing us to focus on what we do or do not have. As we have seen, The Betrayer takes our eyes off of our creator most effectively through our relationships, especially when we don’t feel our needs are being met and when we feel forgotten, abandoned, and betrayed. These emotions are “handles” the enemy uses to pull us into a spiral of doubt to make us question the love of God.
Simply stated, lies are anything (thought or statement) opposed to what God has to say to you or about you. The enemy’s primary tactic to defeat us is to reinforce, daily, the lie that we are The Betrayed, that God has abandoned us. We often assume we are operating in The Truth. But stop and think, when was the last time you had one of these lies go through your head:
- I am unlovable.
- I am alone.
- I am worthless.
- I am crazy.
- I am trapped.
- I am used up.
- I am hopeless.
- I can’t forgive them.
- God is far away.
- God can’t use me.
The lies are cunning. He works subtly below the radar, always hoping that we won’t recognize his presence and that we will let down our guard.
Shame
Every time our enemy lies to us and we do not rebuke that lie, we partner with it. So, the moment we are lied to we have a critical choice to make. We can allow the Holy Spirit to convict us, leading us to reject it, or we can choose to listen to the enemy’s deception, which leads to shame. Shame is a false or demonic identity that is created in deception and then thrown over us like a dark, mildewed blanket. It keeps us from remembering that we are the Signet Ring and from claiming our true identity as His Beloved. Our enemy knows he can’t change our identity, so his goal is to convince us to hide from it. His plan is take our eyes off of our Father by lying to us and then slamming us against the wall with intense shame that paralyzes us and renders us ineffective for the Kingdom. The Betrayer can’t take us out, so he settles for taking us down.
Shame is a powerful weapon our enemy uses against us relentlessly. Shame enters our lives the moment a lie is not identified and rebuked. Therefore, shame is a passive way of agreeing with deception. Instead of saying no to the lie, we look at it, consider it, and contemplate it. There is no gray in the spirit realm if we don’t say no to what is sent against us. We are, in fact, agreeing with it. Shame always starts subtly. When the lie enters our minds, it does what it was sent to do. It takes our focus off The One who created us and puts it squarely on ourselves. Then, all we can see is our shortcomings, flaws, failures and sin to the exclusion of anyone and anything else. It is a form of idolatry as it puts you and me on center stage of our own lives. It is a false identity that has been scripted for us by The Betrayer. It is just like a part in a play. We buy into his lie and step right into the role of The Betrayed like an actress on a soap opera. Our enemy knows that if you and I are walking in the false identity he sells us, it is impossible for us to walk in our God–given identity as His Beloved.
Fear
The third major weapon our enemy uses against us is fear. In fact, fear is so powerful that everything in the domain of darkness is specifically designed to forcefully shove us into it. Fear is taking even one step back from who we were created to be for the Kingdom of God. Fear is always the result of a lie that has taken root. It twists in our minds so we become confused and the truth about who we are is completely distorted. Unaddressed, it eventually paralyzes us to the point we cannot receive love from our Heavenly Father. We are trapped and alone, cut off from the source of power we need for spiritual survival. In a place of fear, we believe we are The Betrayed.
We do not take our eyes off of Jesus until we choose to believe the lies of the enemy. And when we do we feel ashamed, for all we can see is our nakedness. We run around trying to find fig leaves and we hide from God and everyone around us-even ourselves. Fear is the ultimate arrow from the enemy camp launched straight for our jugular each and every day. It is the manifestation of any lie or shame that has not been rebuked and replaced with the truth. What are you afraid of? Do you know? Until your deepest fears are brought into the light and truly covered in the blood of Jesus, they will control you.
One of the most obvious tactics of our enemy is to cause confusion. He is the author of it. This is evident in the fear that besieges us. Unfortunately, few of us are taking the time to identity the fear we are living in to see how irrational and confusing it is. For example, you may fear both being loved and never being loved or have the fear of getting married and the fear of never getting married. As we learn to recognize the fear in our lives, we will notice how counterintuitive it truly is. Fear from the enemy is not rational. Therefore, it loses its power when viewed through the lens of the Holy Spirit!
Everything The Betrayer does, one hundred percent of the time, is designed to bring us into a place of fear. It is his favorite ploy, the great enemy of love–the one thing he is intent on destroying. Our most powerful weapon is love–to love and to know we are The Beloved. It is the only thing that saves, heals and redeems us. It is the only thing worth living for. Once our enemy leads us into fear through lies and shame, he can basically walk away. We chose to take it from there. Fear cuts off our connection to The One who is the source of all love. Once we are apart from him, not abiding in Him, we live as The Betrayed.
It is so helpful to view these weapons of lies, shame, and fear as the forms of artillery they are. Imagine arrows being launched, spears being hurtled and bullets being fired from the enemy’s camp. The Betrayer has always sought to destroy the ones the Father calls His Beloved. His weapons are launched to destroy us on a regular basis. They are constantly spiraling towards us for the purpose of taking us out of the war. Our enemy knows that he can’t have us, that we are sealed in blood of Jesus Christ, so he seeks to seriously wound us, knocking us down on the battlefield, hoping we won’t get up.
Yes, we are taking “hits” on a regular basis, primarily through our relationships. Therefore, it’s time for us to learn how to recognize the enemy’s artillery. Then, we can rebuke his power over us and truly claim our identity as The Signet Ring on the hand of God.
Ultimately it is through recognizing the enemy’s lies, shame, and fear that we are called out to stand in our passion and purpose for The Kingdom. Everything the enemy intends for evil, The One who created us will use for our good. The war against us gives us an opportunity to claim the power and victory that belong to us as His Beloved!
You have been reading excerpts from chapter 3 of The Signet Ring, to read the rest of this chapter go to www.fetterfree.org to purchase the e-book The Signet Ring by: Kerri Kenyon
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