Calling all Christian women!
There are questions listed on the back of the workbook asking if this study is right for you:
- Are you tired of being defeated by the enemy?
- Do you feel like you’re living a mundane life with no real sense of purpose or calling?
- Are you desiring to spend time with the Lord, but the busyness of life seems to take over?
- Do you crave deeper relationships with women, but have a hard time connecting?
How did I come up with these? They’ve all been things I’ve experienced and heard many others struggle with as well. This study has been on my heart and mind for years. The first active developments of it started in the spring of 2020, but the ideas have been stirring within me years before that.
There is a need in followers of Jesus to rise up. We’ve been blindsided by the enemy far too many times and for way too long.
Depending on where you live, the enemy has greyed out your vision of him and his work. He’s held you captive to comfort and convenience, yet in that, has caused you to fall to depression, loneliness, anxiety, fear, despair, shame, trauma, etc. He says, “You are unqualified. You’re not enough. You should have everything this world has to offer. You’re a failure. You’ll never be free. You’re all you need in this life. No one can be trusted…” Conflicting emotions and thoughts run through your head adding to confusion which taints the filter when you read God’s word. You hear His words of life and love, but your heart has a hard time fully accepting it, even as His child.
There’s good news for you. The enemy can be silenced. He can be defeated! James 4:7-8a says,
“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
Did you catch that? By submitting to God and resisting the Devil, “he will flee from you!” God is greater and even the Devil has to submit to the Lord. God’s word is extremely powerful and can break the enemy’s strongholds on you!
Do you feel like you’ve been in survival mode, going through the motions for months or years and aren’t sure why God has you on this planet?
You put a lot of pressure on yourself as as Christian to find your purpose/calling. You want that label to be able to identity yourself; to bring meaning to what you do. You know deep down that you were made for more than the daily grind.
As a child of the Living God, this is the tension in your spirit of being a citizen of heaven. Your soul craves to be at home with the Lord, but you know you’re tasked with the development of growing your character here on earth first, to prepare you for eternity with your Saviour. In the meantime, this desire for true and abundant life has you looking for something you can grab hold of to bring peace to the tension. If only you had a great calling in the waiting to work towards.
In God’s abundant goodness, He gives each of His children gifts of His Spirit to help develop us into the image of Christ. When we use all of them in unity, we form the image of the body of Christ to the world. These giftings need to be used in order to be developed. So, He gives us specific assignments that work together to fulfill His great, master plan.
When you view your life from this perspective, you look to the Creator for your needs and daily assignments instead of looking to the creation to fulfill your purpose. This causes confidence and strength to build within you from the right source.
Then the desire grows to prioritize time with the Lord each day, making Him your Commander. You seek His protection and leadership. Your intimacy and reverence of Him grows, and the bond He desired to have with you is established.
Jesus said in Luke 10:27 to, ““Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”
He also said in Matthew 28:19 to, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As you experience God’s love for you, and reciprocate your love for Him, He fills you with love overflowing for others. Knowing you are a citizen of heaven and part of the family of God, you desire to have deeper relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You want to love them as Christ loves you.
But there’s the tension of living in this sinful world. People are prone to hurt one another. They say and do the wrong things. Over time, the enemy has used this to drive a wedge between the healthy relationships we should be developing together. He especially looks to do this within the church, because if he can create disunity between us, that should slow down the work of the gospel and Christ’s image to the lost world.
You know this is wrong and want to change, but you’re scared. It’s been so long since you’re been vulnerable with anyone. What if people knew what was really in your mind and heart; the lies you believe from the enemy, the hurt from your past? What would they think of you?
You stop yourself from opening up, and yet, you’re just like most people. If we chose to be honest with one another, we’d be able to minister to our various needs with the gifts the Lord has given us. He’d have opportunity to restore what is broken, to bring unity back to the church, and to grow His family. He can do it Himself, but He desires to be in relationship with us; to not have the gifts He’s given us be wasted.
These are the reasons I have written Warrior in Training. My heart is on those pages to you. The Lord has brought me through these battles to give me understanding in order to come alongside you. This study has been bathed in time with the Lord, study, prayer, and community. It’s been a battle to get it out to you, but it’s been worth the fight, because I know the Lord will use this in your life. There’ll be difficult moments. I mean, it is on spiritual warfare after all. But I promise that the Lord will bring victory, in Jesus’ name! He wants you to be free and to live with passion and purpose in the right ways. He wants to have a deeply intimate relationship with you. He created you. He spent detailed time developing your character and plans; not just for this life but for all of eternity.
Are you ready to shake up your life, intentionally dig deeper with Jesus, form strong accountability and discipleship with fellow citizens of heaven, and learn to live with true purpose?
Join me in this study and learn how to rise as a Warrior of Jesus Christ!
