taking ground, standing firm

David writes
From my penthouse suite (aka the Sarjeant's loft conversion) I get a great view of their garden.It's long and divided into two halves. It's full of trees, big old plum trees, some established sycamores and several more recent self-seeded sapplings. Sounds nice eh? And in many ways it is. Except that for a lot of the garden there's no light. And actually, the more you look at it, the lack of order is a problem and some of the trees just look old or misplaced. For too long there hasn't been pruning, cleansing or thinning. The wrong trees have taken root and prevented good things from growing through lack of light or by stealing the goodness of the ground.

Reminded me of John 15 where Jesus talks about the Father pruning good trees and rooting out bad ones. He longs for us to bear the fruit of the Spirit so that we can enjoy and overflow with His joy.

So, staying there a few days ago before flying out to Romania, I saw the difference. Catherine is a visionary - she sees in her minds eye what can be. Out went an old plum tree, out went some sycamores, the Ash tree was pruned, bushes were uprooted - the jungle tamed. Instead there is light, a new small orchard of frsh fruit trees and bushes, carefully laid out and lovingly tended. Hard work mind, researchng what was good, what was bad, having the courage to tear down the old, the energy to root out and prepare the ground. Easy if you're not careful to let some of the old remain, to grow back, to encroach and steal life from the new... Needs dilligent attention, just like life itself.

Catherine writes
I've had a difficult few weeks, am so aware we are in a battle zone (not guns and bombs and killing people, but a spiritual battle zone, truth vs lies, love vs fear). This battle came on the back of some significant breathroughs in areas that I had been struggling with for years. (Thanks YWAM Carlisle!)

Orphan, vs daughter. I had struggled to believe that I have value, that I belong, that I am a beloved daughter, and instead had always felt a bit of an outsider, unable to really approach my Father, and believing I was seperated from his love.. So whilst in Carlisle, I ended up battling with some friends on truth, taking ground from the enemy who had lied to me for a long time. Taking ground is a process of replacing lies with truth..in head, in heart and in the depths of our being....  these sorts of lies which are strongholds require more than just saying a sentence of truth, they require serious pruning, hard work in tree-felling, thorough root extraction, vigillant follow-up...  but so often we simply say something on our own with things not feeling any different afterwards. Taking ground from the enemy is about removing lies and progressively replacing with truth in in head, heart and soul. With deep rooted lies that have been believed for years it often takes a number of battles.. each time truth sinking deeper.. But you have to live it out, you have start responding, behaving as if the truth is...true!

So what happened after Carlisle? Daily life. The weeds grew fast... and friends made some decisions that made it hard for me to hold on to the truth and easier to go back to the comfortable, killing lies that I didn't belong. Like in most battles, there are set-backs, casualties, small retreats.

But here's some truth that I'm believing and living out. We win. We win an overwhelming victory. The ground has been taken, it's mine, the enemy can't stay. Ground clearance is underway again, the new fruit trees are planted.

Just look at the blossom.