Speak The Word Part II

Good morning / afternoon / evening to you all. The last time we spoke, I wrote from the topic “Speak The Word Into Your Life & Watch What Happens Next,” which talked about speaking things into existence by reading and applying God’s word (aka The Bible) to your daily life. As you can see, today’s topic is “Speak The Word Part II,” in which I’ll be discussing speaking dominion and authority over your life.

Right before the American Thanksgiving holiday, I had been struggling with some things that I still had to overcome. One of those things involved the law. About a month ago, I was summoned to appear for jury duty. Now for some, this is a silly thing to be bothered by but for me it was extreme. This hadn’t been my first time being summoned; however, this was the first time that I was going to go, trusting solely in God to heal me of my anxious fear of the law.

In the past, I’ve suffered from depression, paranoia and of course my anxiety disorder. My past is a rough one, some of it I’ve shared with you guys already — being a young caregiver to my elderly grandmother and her two adult drug and alcoholic sons (my dad and uncle), death of that same beloved grandmother as well as her husband – my grandfather all in one year, bankruptcy, homelessness, my own suicide attempts, etc. Unfortunately, there’s much, much more I’ve been through but I’ll discuss them at a later date.

Enduring all that I’ve been through left me in a psychological and spiritual messy state of mind. I had diminished value in myself, I didn’t love the woman staring back at me in the mirror and my spiritual connection with God was lacking to say the least. Feeling cut off from God caused me to believe that I was alone in this world and that God did not love me anymore especially since He allowed my life to be filled with such traumatic experiences which left such ugly wounds.

At that time, a Wounded Healer was indeed my life and not just the scarlet letter that I embraced. With a head of entitlement, I felt exactly like Job did in the Bible. Needless to say, my troubled mindset left me in no position to be judging anyone.

So when I’d try to go to jury duty in the past, I’d get so choked up and overwhelmed with flushing emotions of fear and anxiety. My fears were valid in my mind. I was afraid of judging someone wrongly and them being sentenced to a crime they didn’t commit. I was afraid of running into my past abusive ex-boyfriend. I even had thoughts about being picked for a murder trial and the killer targeting my family and I because of my judgement. I know it sounds rather silly now; but back then, it was a very traumatic experience for me. I’d go into a crying, panic attack which would then cause my asthma to flare and before you knew it, I was back at the doctors / hospital needing treatment for breathing. Yup, I was a disheveled mess!

Fast forward to this time around, after having grown in my faith and relationship with God and Christ, I’ve been able to overcome a lot of my emotional perils. Yet still, even though I’ve overcome a lot, I wasn’t done being tested. When I first received the summons last month, I immediately started filling out my psychological diagnosis of anxiety as a reason why I couldn’t attend. Right after filling it out, something told me to stop. Looking down at what I’d just written, I realized I was in jeopardy of backsliding to a place I no longer wanted to be. I was beginning to resort back to my old ways of doing things. Due to the Holy Spirit of discernment, it was in that moment that I had realized there were still some things I hadn’t completely given over to God.

So instead of mailing the form, I placed it on my desk and I prayed about it. I spoke out loud into the atmosphere that by God’s authority and the mighty power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that I was not going to walk in fear anymore. I was going to conquer this anxious state of mind by trusting in God to see me through. I looked up at the wall above my door and spoke this word of God written in Psalms 46:10 which reads,

Upon releasing my prayer into the atmosphere, I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders. I cried a bit at my brave declaration, wiped my tears away and thanked God for the word.

A month had gone by and each time I’d see the summons date approaching, I’d say a quick prayer of God I trust you. Now, I will not lie and say that the enemy wasn’t at work trying to convince me that I was too afraid to face my fears. However, each time I’d get that fearful sensation trying to overtake me, I’d say a quick prayer thanking God and asking for His strength to see me through.

The moment had finally arrived. The hour was almost upon me. It was the day before my appointed jury duty and I was out and about with a close friend of mine. While shopping, dining and sharing in our love of God and the joy He’s brought back into our lives, I felt an urge to check my email. It came right after I had finished telling her of my schedule for the remainder of the Thanksgiving week. As soon as I opened my email, I saw a symbol of a period in the “From Sender” section. It was quite odd to see such a thing. As we all know, smart phones generally show us who the sender is via an email or a name of the person. So I was shocked to see a period instead. Yet still, I didn’t feel scared to open it. Even with all the cyber attacks out here in the world, strangely enough, I actually felt compelled to open it.

Upon opening it, in the subject section of the email in big letters it read, “Your jury duty service is cancelled.” I almost leaped for joy. I read the rest of the email and it gave no reason as to why it had been cancelled but I thanked God anyhow. In the midst of my slight rejoice, I decided to call the offices of the courts just to ensure the confirmation was legit. I thought to myself, “I need to be sure just in case. I don’t want to be fined or go to jail for missing it.” Yup, unfortunately there was my fear trying to creep its ugly head back in. When I called and gave my information to the automatic system, I was told that I had to report and that if any cancellations were placed, I’d find out after 5pm. Glancing at the time on my phone, which was quarter to 5pm, I hung up feeling slightly confused.

How could they have sent me an email without updating the phone system to my status? Had I just been pranked? Was that a fake email? God, Jesus, what’s going on???

As I felt a rush of worrisome thoughts try to cloud my mind, I took a long deep breath and murmured to myself, “God I trust you. Whatever you say do, I’ll do. Wherever you tell me to go, I will go. I know you are in control of all things. So I’m trusting in you.” Overhearing my quiet prayer that I was reciting out loud, my friend said, “Don’t worry about it. You probably don’t have to go. It’s likely a real email, you just have to wait until after 5 o’clock.” I smiled at her and thanked God in advance for whatever He was about to do. I told God that either way I’m thankful and I know that He’ll give me the strength I need to overcome all my fears for I know that I walk by faith and not by sight. I finished my prayer and continued my conversation with my friend.

In the back of my mind the lingering thoughts of what if kept pegging me. Each time, I’d say a prayer confirming God’s will be done over my life. The moment of truth had finally arrived. I dialed the number, typed in my information again and waited for the results. As I waited, I said out loud with a heavy sigh, “God’s will be done.” Immediately after I finished my sentence, I heard the system say, “You do not have to report to jury duty. We thank you for your service. You will be given full credit for your service.” I blanked out after that.

I was overwhelmed with joy so much so that my face hurt from smiling. Right in the middle of the arts and crafts aisle in Target, I screamed, “Thank you Jesus!” I was so happy and relieved at this news. Quickly, I hung up the phone and told my friend the good news. In the midst of my praise, I heard a voice speak to my heart. Instantly, I felt an immediate sense of joy as if a warm hug had just wrapped itself around me. I heard these words inside me say,“That was a test of your obedience and faith.” I was so thrilled to say the least. I was happy that I didn’t have to attend jury duty; however, I was more prideful for the fact that I trusted God instead of leaning on my fears. Yup, three cheers of hip-hip-horray for me LOL!

Many times in life, we are overcome by our fears. It’s not until we speak them into the atmosphere and declare power and victory over our lives, in the name of Jesus, that things began to shift in our lives. Demons tremble in fear of the name of Jesus. Situations have no choice but to change in the name of Jesus. We have the victory over all things in the name of Jesus. It’s in the name of Jesus that there’s true power. The Bible says this,

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”‭‭ (John‬ ‭14:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”” ‭‭(John‬ ‭10:27-30‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

So whatever you are going through, speak the word. No matter how big or small you think your problems are, speak the word. No matter how deep you think your situation is, speak the word. No matter how fearful you think you are or how low your self esteem is, speak the word. The power of life and death lies within your own tongue. No man can speak against you for you are redeemed when you call on the name of Jesus Christ.

“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

‭‭(Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Take control over your life and be who God called you to be. We’ve been given dominion over this life and this earth. All healing, all strength, all wisdom and all knowledge comes from God. Nothing is too big or too powerful, too small or too minute for God to handle.

“For the word of God will never fail. ”” ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭1:37‬ ‭NLT)‬‬

“Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge.” ‭‭(Proverbs‬ ‭23:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

So forget who thinks your fears, dreams or desires are silly for no man has authority over your life. Try not to impress anyone. Shed your pride, release your fears to Christ, stand firm in your beliefs and unleash whatever’s holding you hostage or in bondage. Know that you can overcome all things because you have the victory of Jesus Christ. All you have to do is just speak the words!!!

“Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction.” ‭‭(Proverbs‬ ‭18:20‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

“Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words.” ‭‭(Ecclesiastes‬ ‭10:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Sincerely with love,

~A.G.Rogers

(Instagram: @AndreaGees)

Travel photography by IG user: @kardinalmelon

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