A Letter of Hope and Encouragement to Women by Anne Hogan

Very few things have come easy to me in life. My natural inheritance from my parents and the seeds I had already sown to the world, the flesh and the devil were destined to yield to me a hedge and field of thorns. My natural heritage did not look promising to me, my family or to the generations to follow. I needed a change of destiny. I needed set free from the natural inclinations of sin that so easily beset me. I needed a Savior!

The Lord Jesus Christ so graciously led me to Himself and began to teach me how to be set free! I learned about the power of the blood of Jesus and how when applied would enable me to be forgiven, cleansed, and set free from the generational curses, iniquities, and propensity to sin. After the Basic Life Principles Seminar my mom made out a list of iniquitous family propensities such as pride, bitterness, lack of gratefulness, stealing, slothfulness, fear, the spirit of poverty, isolation, religiousness, perversion, greed, suicide, sabotage, alcoholism, and depression. This is what I call my “natural heritage”.

My mom led us in a discussion of these being in our family, and yet the choice for us to not walk in them, but allow the power of the blood of Jesus to separate us from them and set us free to walk in His ways. The good news is that I had a spiritual or “heavenly heritage” that is available to me through the blood of Jesus, and would bring forth the kingdom of God in my life: righteous, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Lord taught me that as I received reproof (painful as that is—from God’s Word, His Holy Spirit, and through people in my life), clothed myself in humility, asked forgiveness of God and those I wronged, came boldly before His Throne of Grace in time of need, and asked Him to put to death the deeds of my flesh by the Holy Spirit (not by my own effort), that I could feed on His faithfulness, and that in due time I would be transformed in that area of my life! That was good news to me. I had so many areas in my life to practice that process of removing roots of sin, allowing God to till up the hardened soil of my heart, soften it with His mercy and Truth, and replant in me His nature of love, goodness, kindness, and generosity. By His grace I agreed with the Psalmist that I would not be satisfied until I awoke in His likeness.

By the grace of God working in me, He has enabled me to memorize and meditate upon small portions of His Word. His Words are spirit and they are life—for Christ is the LIVING WORD! As I have asked and do continuously ask, He gives me eyes that see and ears that hear, for both are from the Lord. As I obey what He has taught me, He gives me understanding and speaks to me new insights through His Word and Holy Spirit revelation, opening the eyes of my understanding and filling me with the knowledge of His will.

Through the Holy Spirit’s leading and teaching me through pastors, authors, mentors, my parents, husband, children and the study of His Word I have learned some very invaluable lessons that have enabled me to flourish instead of languish, to be built up and build up my home instead tearing it down, and to be a crown to my husband instead of rottenness to his bones.

A discipline of utmost importance in my life has been the discipline of fasting, since certain things do not come out except by prayer and fasting. But in order for prayer and fasting to tear down strongholds in your own and your loved ones life, you must have the mind of Christ in order to pray according to His will. Then the Lord promises us when we pray according to His will, He will hear us, and He will answer us. My prayer is that God will give you vereses from Scripture in which you can put to song or meditate on daily, that you will have the Word of God dwelling in you more and more richly, your meditations would be sweet to your Lord, you would have the mind of Christ and could continually, throughout the day, be filled with the truth and the knowledge of His will, pray and claim the promises of God that are yes and amen to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5 tells us that the Word of God in our heart and mind is the sword of the Spirit. May the Holy Spirit bring to your remembrance every thing that He has taught you, even in the night seasons of your life; may the paslms, hymns and spiritual songs God gives you be effective weapons on your lips for the overcoming of temptations, tearing down strongholds, and resisting the devil.

Remember that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the tearing down of strongholds.

Posted by Chris Hogan on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 at 12:27 PM