Speak up!

Chapter 7 - Silencing Your Voice

"Our children have to hear us declaring our faith, speaking our prayers and praise, and demonstrating our relationship with Jesus. If the words we use in our homes don’t model a Christian lifestyle, our children will never become fluent themselves.

 It has to be done daily." 

Franklin 

Deuteronomy 6:47
John 12:49
Revelation 12:11

Your Mouth Is Your Greatest Weapon!
"One of the greatest weapons you have to combat the enemy of your soul is your mouth. Your words are what determines victory or defeat in many battles." Franklin

You Have Something To Say!
"Your mountain knows your voice, and it will not move out of your life until you open your mouth and use your voice and your faith to change it. The preacher can lay hands on you, but that alone is not going to move your mountain. Others can pray for you, and it will encourage you and hopefully get you to a point where you will muster up enough faith to speak." Franklin

Break Free From The Permanency and Pain of Your Mountains
“How long has this been happening to him?” (Mark 9:21).
This reminds me of breaking chains. We become so bound that we don't even entertain the thought of freedom!

Praying To Bring His Presence
"I believe God is saying, “It is time for you to take Me home. I want to be in your house. I want to bless you and all that you have. I want to be in your marriage, on your job, on that plane with you, and in that car with you. I do not want you to leave My presence and cut Me off from your personal life; I want you to receive blessings at home. I want to visit you in intimate ways when you are alone.”" Franklin
Is it safe to say that sometimes we don't to invite Him in because we have some stuff we don't want Him to see? I believe we serve a God who wants to come clean our houses for us; He just needs our sincere invitation and desire for Him to dispose of our garbage.
We don't have to do it alone, but we do have to ask for AND accept His way.

Speak up and speak life!

All choked up!

Chapter 6:  Choking Your Breath

The enemy wants to squeeze the spiritual breath out of us!

Franklin points out the four instances of God "breathing".
1)  Genesis 2:7....God gave life in the form of a human being
2)  2 Timothy 3:16-17...God gave His word
3)  John 20:22...God gave the Holy Spirit
4)  Ezekiel 37...God gAve restoration/hope

It's not by chance the enemy tries to snuff out those areas in our lives! he comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). So, if he can get to our lives, our taking in of the word, our power from the Holy Spirit, and our hope, he has choked the breath from us.

We must be in relationship with God and that requires intimacy, dependency, and obedience.

Eviction notice

Chapter 5 - Get the snakes out!

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 GW
The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans.
Rather, they are powerful weapons from God.
With them we destroy people’s defenses, that is, their arguments and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God.
We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ.

I love the question, "Which dog wins the fight?" Answer: The dog you feed the most.
So, the next question becomes, "Which dog are you feeding the most?"

Sections of this chapter with questions I've asked myself:
A snake's nest in your head - What's in your head...your mind?
Think about what you think about.

God sees what u do in darkness - What do you do? When I find myself sending our daughter out of the room or changing the channel when she enters...maybe I shouldn't be watching or listening, either???

The snake egg of doubt - How significant is doubt in your life? Has the enemy fooled u into thinking you can intellectualize God?

Crack some eggs! What do u plan to do with all that weaponry God has given u?

Give the enemy an eviction notice! Time to take our minds back!

Close the doors and the windows!

Chapter 4: Who let the snakes in?
Great question! Great, because we often look for how someone else played a part in our misery, BUT this chapter helps us look within, as well as at outside factors.

I love the illustration of rock climbing and only needing a little bump or small crevice to get a "foothold".
What little bumps have u hit in life that have given the enemy a foothold? For me, it was rejection. I felt rejection and set out to prove how worthy of attention I was...my value was in what others thought of me, especially men.

What small crevice have u allowed? Maybe it was a one time thing that got good to u...Oreo cookies at night seem to taste better and I can eat up to four and maintain my calorie count...but night after night, and somehow those jeans keep shrinking in the wash...I'm just saying - I like the ones that have the vanilla cookie with chocolate creme. Food can become an idol and self control is a fruit of the Spirit.

Here are a few of Franklin's quotes and questions I highlighted:

Where then does he get his power (check out the footholds)?

The only power the devil has in this world is the power we turn over to him thru our choices and actions.

Take a look at your life right now. Is there a whole in the fence, a broken window, or maybe a wide-open front door?

The enemy watches for u to lose self-control because that is a soul decision that empowers him. (He was referring to our mouths. Pray for me in this area.)

An atmosphere of disunity is very attractive to the enemy. (This makes me think of our families...siblings.)

When u let in little sins here and there that seem harmless, just like a python those sins wrap themselves around u and slowly squeeze the breath out of u - and they all start as little eggs.

Ladies - the Lord has put us on a path of repairing the cracks and crevices and closing our doors and windows on the devil's foolishness!

Green, Yellow, Red

In my classroom, we do a temperature check.  Each morning they take out their journals and write about their temperature.  Their writings will often begin with...
"Today, I am a {green, yellow, or red} because..."
Green = I'm here and ready to learn.
Yellow = I'm here, but I'm not feeling so great (emotionally, physically, mentally, etc...).
Red = I'm here and I am not happy.  I'm not ready to learn.
This exercise gives me a great sense of what our atmosphere may be like for the day. 

So, what's your temperature?
If atmosphere is everything (chapter 3), then the answer to the above question is everything.  One of the ways I encourage the yellows and reds is by reminding them that they can always get to green.  It may take some work, but they have the power to get there.  Actually, God gives us all the power to change our atmosphere.  If my atmosphere is not reflective of the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT (love, joy, peace, self control, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and goodness), God's given me the power/authority, through the Holy Spirit, to change it!

I love how Franklin states that God will not dwell where He is not welcome.  Have you rolled out the Welcome mat or has the python strangled the Holy Hospitality out of you?  Is there a demon on assignment to harass you...he names three: Tormenting or vexing, Deceiving spirits, and Territorial spirits?  Is it one or all?

Good news - they are already defeated!

¹⁵ [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].

Colossians 2:15 (AMP)

Don't allow your temperature to stay at a perpetual yellow / red status.  Ask God for the fruits of the spirit...you can have as much as you like.

Is the python at work in my life?

So, chapter 2 is titled, "Are you under attack?"

A good friend of mine brought up a good point about attacks.  She was saying so often we look at attacks as those "obvious" things/situations/people that agitate us, but the python is cunning.  It's one of the truths that draws me to this study.  We're always under attack and in many ways.

I prayed about scripture for each attack he has listed. I pray u find it to be a blessing.

Loss of spiritual desire
O God, my God! How I search for you! How I thirst for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I long to find you! 
Psalm 63:1 TLB
Sometimes, I just feel dry.

Physical fatigue
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.  
Isaiah 40:31 TLB

Lack Attack
And it is he who will supply all your needs from his riches in glory because of what Christ Jesus has done for us. 
Philippians 4: 19 TLB

Weak prayer life
The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. 
James 5: 16b AMP

I know he talks about time and place, but sometimes I need to work on the "heartfelt and continued" before I can get to where he's talking about. I used to wonder...Why try because there's no way I'm righteous! And I'm not, but thank God I don't have to be, on my own. But through Christ, I/we are.

He not only discussed a weak prayer life, but also not reading our Word.

This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.  Joshua 1:8 AMP

Feeling overwhelmed and hopeless
In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation: It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His (tender) compassions fail not. Lamentations 3:21-22

Old habits and lifestyles resurface 
Therefore, if any anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

Pulling away from Godly relationships
For where two or three gather together in my name, there am I with them.
Matthew 18:20 NOV

Praying for you.

What's choking u?

Seems like chapter 1 is filled with references to air, breath, choking, and suffocating. What else would u expect when reading about pythons?

It has caused me to confess what is choking me...

Fear chokes me...making the wrong decisions chokes me...thinking about the next school year suffocates me...

Reading this chapter, this book, helps me to see the enemy wants to kill me softly. Knowing God has not given me a spirit of fear, but one of love, power, and soundness of mind authorizes me to put the enemy on notice...he will NOT have his way!

What's choking u?

God gave me this the other day as I tried to figure out what is next in His plan for me...
What's next?? 
So, I continue to question God about what is next for me. God has told me that my What Next prayer has been heard and here is His answer...your What Next is in danger of becoming idolatry...instead of What Next for the future, I want u to ask me each day and walk in the obedience of the day. I'm doing way too much for u to handle, so enjoy your daily bread.