31 Days of Victory:{Day 1} Testify

Welcome to 31 Days of Victory! I’m so thankful that you’re here. Today is the first day of an exciting month. This is where I get the privilege of encouraging you with truth. I’m humbled to be on this end of the computer. I’m praying that the Spirit of God will move through your heart as you read each day. I’m also praying that my shortcomings in wisdom, writing and communication don’t get in the way of His unfailing message of hope and love for you. I already know this month is going to stretch me big time so please keep me in prayer as we go along.

Are you ready to get started? …Here we go!

“And this is the Testimony: God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.”

1 John 5:11

According to Revelation 12:11, the devil is defeated by the word of our testimony and the blood of the lamb. It has been a regular struggle for me to share my testimony openly. I’m sure many of you can relate. In a culture that teaches us to pride ourselves in our accomplishments and a “have-it-all-together” image, it’s not easy to be vulnerable and honest with others about the dirty truth. But the fact is, we all have some dirty truth. {Can I get a witness?}

This month I have made a choice to put on my boxing gloves and shed light on the secret things. The devil is about to go down! Allow me to testify in order to kick him where it hurts... God has delivered me from so much. Depression, anxiety, paralyzing fear, and sickness in my body are among the ailments I’ve had, just to name a few. That doesn't include the laundry list of sins He's forgiven me of. He is currently loving me through, and working with me on issues of pride, self-righteousness, chronic perfectionism and feelings of inadequacy. {Told you I was about to get honest.} And my goodness, let me just say that the daily process of sanctification, although difficult, is a beautiful journey of freedom.

Friend, I can’t even begin to tell you in words {although I’m obviously attempting it here} how much JOY God has brought me through the trials and tribulations. In the worst season of my life, when depression surrounded me like a dark cloud and tears stained my pillow almost every night, God met me. Before the difficulties came, I had only heard of Jesus and of His goodness. It wasn’t until the storm—or shall I say hurricane—of trouble, that I actual met the Prince of Peace. It was in the mess that he stooped down to give me His shield of victory. 

So many people say things like, “If God is real then why do bad things happen?”  I don’t have a deeply, profound answer for you but I do have a testimony that will punch the devil right in his teeth. God was with me in the middle of all the ugly {even when I believed He was gone} and my suffering was not in vein. In fact, I'm stronger because of it. I'm blessed to say I have finally come to a place where I can thank Him for the trials... Okay, I can hear some of you now, saying, "Easier said than done, Monique." And you're right. But I pray this truth will encourage you:

You might be afraid of your brokenness, but God is not afraid of your brokenness. You might be intimidated by your mess, but God is bigger than your mess, and He has not abandoned you because of it. He is not terrified of the darkness. In fact he will pursue you in the darkness. He'll go out of His way to find you sitting on that pile of shattered dreams, surrounded by the harsh realities of this fallen world, and He'll extend to you a living hope that nothing else can match.

I can just see Him now, like Liam Neeson in the movie Taken, defeating every principality on his way to rescue us from captivity. That’s what He did for me! That’s the work He did on the cross for YOU. Sometimes life can make us feel like we're being held hostage to our circumstances. But Jesus said, “I’ve come to set the captives free.”

 

Some people may say I’m a Jesus freak. Maybe they’ll think I’m some religious fanatic that’s gone off on the deep end. But that’s okay. Part of my freedom is learning not to be bound by the opinion of man. If you had cancer and you found the ultimate cure, you might be caught going around to all the cancer patients in the hospitals to tell them the good news. Well, my soul was sick and dying. My spirit was crushed, my heart was discouraged and my mind was confused. But Jesus found me in the darkness. And He told me about The Cure. He revealed Himself to me in a way that turned my tears of sorrow into tears of joy, and this month I’d like to share The Cure with you.

Oh, my heart is so excited! Come back tomorrow with your steak knife cause we’re about to get into the meat!

Victoriously,

Monique Zackery

P.S. Don’t forget to visit my friends who have partnered with me for 31 Days.

31 Days of Freedom- by Jennifer Lain at Parent Passion

31 Days of Hope- by Sheryl Griffin at A Scarlet Cord of Hope

31 Days of Love- by Beckah Shae

31 Days of Purpose- By Carla Hendricks at Sojourner of Truth

31 Days of Wellness: Mind, Body & Spirit- by Michelle Discavage at Chasing the Divine

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