The Emuna Process

The Emuna Process There is this great scene in Kung Fu Panda 2 where the villain has cornered Po (the main character) on a rock in the water with a fleet of cannons aimed at him. In cinematic style, the villain aims his cannon at Po and shoots a fireball big enough to take Po out. Po does not duck, hide, or jump in the water. He looks the fireball straight in the eye, and finds the courage, strength, and skill to catch it with his bare hands and send it right back to the ship it came from. The whole battle is silenced and his foe powerlessly tries to fire the rest of the cannons in his fleet, all of which meet the same demise. I happen to absolutely love this scene because I deeply believe that this is what God's church, equipped with an eternal supply of Emuna (em-oo-naw), which we will talk about in a moment, can accomplish in spiritual warfare. The writer of Hebrews would seemingly agree with this, as they talk about Jesus as the priest who was established "not based on a legal command concerning physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life." -Hebrews 7:16 You see, emuna is the Hebrew word for God’s faithfulness, and there is absolutely nothing the enemy can do to stop God’s faithfulness to us– even in our most broken situations. God’s faithfulness is one of His greatest weapons and the foundation of the power of an indestructible life. As we start to take shelter in it, all of the enemy’s schemes against us become weapons of his own destruction. This book is intended to serve as a guide for experiencing God's emuna as the stabilizing force in our lives that allows us to look every weapon formed against us straight in the eyes, catch it with our bare hands, and send it right back where it came from. In the process I have written in this book, there are nine steps, each designed to build on and strengthen what we learned and applied in the previous step. The first step that we will take together will be growing in awareness of how powerful God's Word, the Bible, is. The second step will be taking a deep dive into one of the most important tools in spiritual warfare: forgiveness. The third step will help us strengthen our understanding of how to live in relationship with the High Commander of our battle. In the fourth step we will spend some time examining our own brokenness, what God intends to do with that brokenness, and how it affects our battle. In the fifth step, we will ensure that we know what we're fighting for (for fun, I won't spoil that surprise here!). The sixth step of this process was designed to take us deeper into an understanding of what God accomplishes in our lives through this battle: the rebuilding and refining of our ability to live in life-giving relationships based on mutual trust. The seventh step.of this process may start to feel a bit heavy because we will process together what Biblical authority is. In the eighth step we will learn how to operate in God's authority when addressing demons so that you can safely participate in a powerful prayer process that will serve as a catalyst for your future spiritual growth. Step nine will then you give a chance to process "what just happened?" And "where do we go from here?" All in all, it is my hope and prayer that anyone who completes this process will find at the end that their spiritual roots have deepened, not only intellectually, but emotionally, in the solid foundation of Emuna- the most powerful force in the world.