Prepare-for-War

heart," as I call them, such as rebellion, anger, etc., the Lord has taught me that it is much better to ask the Holy Spirit to deal with the person in these areas instead of talk ing to them myself. You see, usually anger and many other emotions are really defense mechanisms used unconscious ly by a person because of their terrible insecurity. The Holy Spirit is the only one I know of who can convict someone of their wrongness in these areas without destroying them! I believe this is the meaning of the scripture which says: If we truly love someone, and they do many things which ir ritate us, we will get on our face before the Lord and ask God to deal with us so that we can fulfill the conditions of love. "Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind ... is not easily provoked ... " I Corinthians 13:4-5 As we stay humbly in prayer before the Lord, then He will be free to flow through us and around us to work in the lives of other people. The Lord taught me a lesson in this area some years ago. Christians put so much emphasis on always "having the right thing to say or pray." One day I learned how important it is to simply be in steady obedience and communion with the Lord, keep our mouths shut and let the Holy Spirit do the work. Several years ago I had spent some time sharing the gospel with a couple whom I will call Cindy and Don (not their real names). They were living together but were not married, and Don had a problem with alcoholism. Whenever Don started to drink he went into uncontrollable rages which often ended in a suicide attempt. Nothing I said to him seemed to "get through" to him to show him his need of a Savior and deliverance. I had fasted and prayed for both "And above all things have fervent charity [love] among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." I Peter 4:8

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