Migrate

Hey guys!

Just want to let you know that I have migrated my blog "the King's daughter" onto a new site --- my own domain.  Yay!...so excited with this!... 

I will not take this blogsite down, but I will no longer be updating it.  I will begin posting all of my writings on the new site.

Here's the link to it:  http://kezia-lewis.com/    

OR you can simply click the upper right tab entitled "the king's daughter (NEW)" and it will take you to my new blogsite.

I hope to see you there!

In Our Messiah's Love,

Kezia

Soldiers, Not In Uniform

Indeed, we are fighting soldiers not in uniform.  The enemy’s tactics have always been deceitful and subtle.  He doesn’t wave his flag and announce that his troops are coming.  He takes forms that appear normal, even necessary, to us.   He uses truths and objects that are genuine and twists them just a little; they’re almost unrecognizable, we don’t see them coming.

But we are different.

As covenant children of God, we put on God’s uniform.  We are adorned by His grace and clothed by His salvation.  We are marked for Him.  There is no concealing who we are.  As warriors for His faith, we raise His banner blatantly announcing our declaration of war against the enemy. 

And we become targets.

There is a war --- a real one --- happening right now; we should not be oblivious to this.  We are fighting and warring against soldiers who are not in uniform all around us.  Daily, we are bombarded with cruel attacks by these soldiers.  Hourly, we are being lied to and misled by these soldiers.  They are not wasting, not even a millisecond, to assault us in any way possible.  We should put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for he is ever watchful of an opportunity to disarm us and to trick us.  We should live a wartime lifestyle, for we are in the midst of the great war; the only war that will cost us our souls and our lives for eternity.

The moment I decided to carry out what God has been asking me for years to do I waged war against the principalities, against powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  I felt opposition from all sides because I was waving God’s banner and exclaiming my being a soldier for Him. 

I feel that opposition here in Thailand, even stronger and more insidious than before.  I can sense the enemy trying with all his might and his best to stop me from doing what God wants me to fulfill, and he seems to be winning.  The hostility of his attacks is painful and confusing.  At times, I feel discouraged and disappointed.  Other times, I start feeling so inadequate and ill-equipped.   When I am at these states, I panic; I cry my heart out lost in my emotion. 

Then in one of my quiet times with the Lord this week, He spoke to me.  He showed me that He is my Banner. 

And Moses built an altar and called its name, “The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Exodus 17:15–16

The Lord is my banner.  I am His soldier.  I belong to Him.  He has sworn to fight for me.  To wrestle against me is to combat against the power of my God.  To battle against my God is to lose.  God has shown me that I will come out victorious no matter the opposition I have all around, for He has already won the war.   This promise gave me not only comfort, but confidence to continue the fight; that because the enemy is trying so hard to pull me down I must be doing something right.  It must be scaring him.  It must be driving him crazy.

I will continue to have ups and downs in the call God has given me, but I now have renewed strength and a promise to hold on to.  He is my banner.  He has sworn to make war on those who oppose His children doing His work.

The enemy, however cunningly and severely he charges, will not be able to stand against my God. 

“But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”

2 Thessalonians 3:3

The Royal Priesthood: Differences Jesus Has Made In My Life

“He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.  He has put a new song in my mouth --- Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”  Psalm 40:2 – 3

 

We are now at the tail–end of our study of the book Esther, and I am simply out of words at how God has used this study (once more) to reveal fresh truths in my heart --- in my life.  It has helped me look at how God has shaped me over the years granting me more than enough grace I needed for each trial and triumph.  Indeed, it has been an exciting walk with my God.

 

One of the questions we talked about during our study was: What differences has Jesus made in your life that are outward signs of your new identity as a member of the royal priesthood?

This made me reflect on my own journey with the Lord, on how I have grown in my relationship with Him, and on how He has continually reshaped my own view of the world.  So, I started to make a list of the differences Jesus has made in my life that are not only outward signs of my new identity in Him, but are inward evidences of the work He is doing in me signifying that I am His child. 

I have a desire to know Him more in my life and to make Him known. 

I grew up in a religious family, and so I always knew and accepted that there is a God.  I regularly went to church and prayed, but only because I had fear that I might be punished for not doing so or for fear that God’s hand might be against me if I don’t utter a prayer to Him.  My view of God while growing up is that of a guy who controls everything from a distance, and I better get Him on my side or I would be in trouble.  But all that changed when I personally met Him during a life crisis in my college years.  Life, for me, definitely made a huge turn-around.  The hunger in my heart to know Him more and to make Him known became increasingly intense.  He sought me out daily, and I couldn’t help but respond to Him.  This has never ceased, but only became stronger each day.

I have a desire to pray for people and a burden to share the Gospel.

Growing up, I have prayed --- at least a hundred times --- over and over again the same prescribed prayers at church services or church-organized activities.  I was not really taught how to pray to a loving God who is a Father, and I never really knew how to relate to Him especially since I did not grow up with my own father.  So in a way, I would pray mechanical prayers.  I do, however, remember praying in my own words during my high school and college years.  Mostly, I prayed for my classes to get good scores on tests, for asking stuff that I needed then, or for asking him to keep my family and friends safe in His hand.  But even with those prayers, I did not know for sure that I could pray for them.  I just, somehow, said them in my prayers.  I know now, for sure, it was God who has prompted my young, impressionable heart to pray for those things on my own. 

Now, God has placed a burden for me not only to pray for myself or my family, but to pray for other people who may not even be my friend; strangers to me personally, and especially those who have not yet accepted Him in their lives.  He has placed these individuals in my heart, and He has given me a burden to pray for them and to share to them the gospel.  This inclination to pray for these people is, unmistakably, from Him.  Only He can give me the heart to love others, for I know I am more inclined to loving my own.

Lastly (for this writing), but certainly not the least and definitely not the last on the list of the differences God has done in my life, I have the desire to be in fulltime missions.

Working and earning independently are things that I learned early on in my life.  I started selling stuff in school when I was 10 years old.  I was taught early on what income, expenses, and profit meant.  I knew how much I would price my items to get enough to cover what I spent on the items I sell and enough profit so I can at least see some earnings.  In high school, I continued selling stuff --- better stuff.  And at the same time, I would sometimes work on the catering business of my aunt to prepare hundreds of lunch boxes and to also serve hundreds of lunch and dinner plates.  I would be exhausted, but I would be overwhelmed with joy when I get my wages.  In college, I still sold stuff; and again, better stuff than what I sold in high school.  And I also started working part-time at fast food restaurants.  I would go to school during the day, and work through the night.  And when I graduated, God blessed me with a teaching job two months after I graduated.  And even with my teaching employment, I still ventured out and sold stuff to earn more. 

My life has been defined with work and earning.  I don’t particularly like asking people for anything at all, let alone money.  So when God called me to the mission field, I was not jumping up and down with happiness.  I was instantly thinking about the savings I have and how I can use that so I can go to missions without raising funds.   But even that, God took away almost as fast as I thought of it.  He wanted me to rely on Him.  And, I did.  The next thing I knew, I was flying to China fully-funded.  I was beyond humbled with how God worked it out for me despite how uncomfortable I felt with raising funds.   He wanted me to trust Him and not my seemingly capable hands.  I know I could have not raised the money I needed if He was not behind all of it.

The desire to be in missions stuck with me after that.  And I knew, then, He wanted me to go fulltime.  I had to give up working and earning.  He wanted me to fully trust Him for what I will need daily.  And ever since, He has never failed to provide for us through people who have given to my husband and me sacrificially.  And we are always grateful; always humbled for the generosity of these fellow brothers and sisters and for how God has touched their hearts to partner with us in His work here in Thailand.

When I look back, I know I am not the same girl who saw God as a distant being who controlled people’s lives.  I know I am not the same daughter who thought she can never experience having a father to cry out to.  I know I am not the same woman who used to think that she can only trust herself to provide for her needs. 

I am a member of the royal priesthood.   I am a covenant child of God.  I am blatantly identifiable in robes of righteousness and garments of salvation (taken from Beth Moore.)

I am God’s. 

This is all because of Jesus, and what He has done on the cross for me.

 

On Haman and Pride

In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.  (Psalm 62:7, NKJV)

Eager for the Lord’s revelations, I have been studying the book of Esther with some of God’s warrior princesses.  As we have been digging into the story of this beautiful and courageous woman of the Bible, I reflect on what God is saying and not saying on these pages of the Scripture.  And on these pages, I am embarrassed to admit that I (unfortunately) see more of myself in Haman than I would want to think.

Maybe I am not alone on this.  Maybe most of us, if not all of us, can identify with Haman’s obsession of himself.

Like Haman, we can become self-absorbed constantly wrought with ourselves --- our strengths and our weaknesses, our successes and our failures, our past, our present, and our future --- invariably plagued with either wanting to be honored or wanting to be invisible in a crowd.  In both cases, we have narrowed our focus on ourselves.  And like Haman, we can easily jump into presumptions that honor or disgrace is ours when certain situations arise.  God help us! 

Pride is so destructive and so subtle that at times we can be so consumed by it we don’t even realize it has taken us captive.  It can also take different forms and manifest itself in different areas of our lives.   To esteem ourselves extremely high or extremely low is a characterization of the condition of our hearts and how the lies of the enemy have taken root in our lives. 

God has shown me through this study that I suffer from this dangerous condition.  And I am grateful that He has shown me this so I can begin the process of breaking free from it.  It will not be an easy undertaking, but I know that with His truths I can begin walking victoriously free from this bondage. 

I keep a prayer journal so I can look back and see how God is working in my life.  Below is a prayer (using Colossians 2:18) I wrote to Him a few days ago as I continue the battle with pride.

“Forgive me, Father, for the wickedness in my heart and the pride that I have allowed to consume me.  I pray, dear Lord, let no one cheat me of my reward, let me not take delight in false humility and worship of angels, and may I not be vainly puffed up by my fleshly mind.  Help me to break free from the stronghold of my pride and self-righteousness.  Help me to live my life victorious over these, open to love others as You love them; and to have Your wisdom.”  (January 29, 2013, Journal Entry)

I am sharing what God has revealed to me not so that I can embarrass myself, but because I want you to know that God is not going to leave you just the way you are right now.  He is doing a work to perfect you and to help you grow more as His child.  During one of the study times with the book of Esther, He showed me this verse that really spoke volumes to my heart. 

“In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”  (Psalm 62:7)

Indeed, in God is my salvation and my glory!  Indeed, in God is my strength and my refuge!  No one else can give me what I truly need but Him.  This world is so fickle-minded and can quickly change from being for you to being against you.  I love the way Beth Moore said something about following Mordecai’s example of not allowing honor to get in your head.

“Let’s pursue a walk with God so close that the spotlights of this world --- be they for us or against us --- are eclipsed by His enormous shadow cast on our path.  There in the shelter of the Most High we find our significance and the only satisfaction of our insatiable need to be noticed.  There and there alone we are free to be neither depressed nor impressed with the capricious reactions of this carnal world.”  (Beth Moore, Esther:  It’s Tough Being A Woman)

 

Oh, I pray this over you sister!  I pray that you and I walk so closely with our God that whatever honor or disgrace this world may offer us is going to be overshadowed by His presence.