Pat and I had the distinct pleasure of being introduced to an amazing lady last night. Listening to her talk about what she was doing, what she was so proud of, showing us pictures of lives that been turned around, and the variety of people she was impacting was like a breath of fresh air blowing through the stale smelling, slightly polluted air of a long closed room. Her primary methodology was teaching the Bible; that coupled with acts of service to an ever-broadening community. One of those venues is a Bible study she conducts for 30 (or so) influential white men. One of them is a federal judge, another is a City Councilman, another a CEO of a manufacturing company, a lawyer, a banker, etc. who have all been meeting together weekly for over two years. She’s is a black female, pushing 65 who is also pastor of a church for around 25 years. The last of our conversation centered around the crying need for Christian activism, particularly among females, for they are the hinge point for activating families … and eventually the husbands. The statement was made by one attendee, by the time the church finally gets involved in a social issue the legislature has already ruled on how it will be handled. (Witness the recent spate of abortion decisions.)
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As Christians we are experiencing a full-on frontal assault against who you are and what you believe. Unfortunately, the media is more than simply complicit in this attack, in that the judgmentalism of the world in general has lumped us all in with the clowns of the Westboro Baptist church and has chosen to ascribe evil intent to all of our activities. If that were not enough to deal with, we are also all too familiar with the wounds of rejections, betrayal, abuse and abandonment of those who are supposed to care about us, and I’m not even talking about the traumas imposed by accidents, injuries, natural disasters, business failures or debilitating diseases.
Our normal expectation is that in response to the wounds, the harassment, the abuse, the reproach and the inhumane treatment is that we should forgive and let it all go. It is an un-alterable mandate of Christ for us to do so - he will forgive us if we refuse to forgive those who intentionally or unintentionally hurt us. The crux of the problem is that's all the church has taught us and as a result forgiveness has mistakenly become equated with healing, not that it doesn't happen occasionally, but occasionally doesn't cut when you've lived a life of abuse. Many have been obedient to that belief and found it wanting, for they have forgiven and forgiven yet when they meet the offender in the market the hurt unexpectedly arises again. This is because their assumption has been that their forgiveness is somehow incomplete, otherwise they would feel nothing. What's wrong? There are a couple of things you need to know that will help you in your recovery from the wounds of the world; 1. Times does not heal all wounds. It only helps you forget what's killing you. 2. The act of extending forgiveness is not ratified by your emotions. Neither will it vindicate you. In other words, you are not going to automatically feel better by your choice to forgive beyond whatever self-satisfaction you can derive from being obedient. 3. This is perhaps the biggest one; Forgiveness is not, in and of itself, healing. You can't get healed of a wound without it, but it is seldom accompanied by healing. 4. The act of prayer (taking our wounds to the Lord) is not only advisable, but is certainly cathartic if you allow it. In Isaiah 61:1 we see the complete provision for healing wounds; the spirit of the Lord comes to "bind up the broken heart(ed)." Once the prerequisite for healing (forgiveness) has been pronounced the Holy Spirit becomes available to you for healing in this second phase of the healing process. This "second phase" of the healing process is usually accomplished in the company of another believer who can help you engage with Holy Spirit personally and can act as an informal guide for the process. This is the New Testament version of the priest before God acting on behalf of His people and I believe is the function of each one of us. The work of the priest is obviously more effective (not to mention efficient) if he or she has some specific tools to use in your behalf in the healing process. Humans were the only creature God made that He endowed with the ability to choose. Its close companion is courage. When the two operate in sync there isn’t much that one cannot accomplish. Disappointment is the enemy’s answer to it. As a result many have abandoned, or grossly limited, their ability to choose and have thereby found themselves having surrendered to misery.
As a consequence, a number of voices have risen in the church who are against “following your dream or pursuing your passion” feeling that it causes young people to adopt a narcissistic life style. Actually, this is a function of their own cowardice brought on by disappointment. They fail to see that the underlying motivation for having God make the decision regarding what you are to give your life to is essentially an attempt to avoid failure; if this doesn’t succeed, it’s not my fault. So tell me what to do. Religion has a way of appearing to be something it’s not. One of the prime reasons for “following your dream or pursuing your passion” is to find out what you’re made of and what God is capable of when things go sideways. If those who are telling you “let God choose your way” are your mentors, you will find that they will not be by your side when stiff resistance shows its ugly head. They will simply sit back and tell you “I told you so” because they have given in to the ministry of disappointment, and have surrendered their own ability to choose as a means of self-protection. They will not be there to encourage you not to quit and to help you put all the pieces back together if indeed things do fall apart. Those who have been defeated by disappointment are worthless as mentors because they will not teach you how, nor encourage you to choose to fight. If you will not choose to fight then you will have surrendered one of the greatest gifts God has given to mankind – choice. If you have allowed the depression of disappointment to minister to you, how do you get back the courage to choose again? How do you un-surrender? That’s easy! Do the opposite of what got you into that hole to begin with – choose. The enemy is always going to make the odds against you look overwhelmingly huge – to give up hope - that’s his job. But if you choose the right thing and refuse to give up, that’s when the grace of God is activated making it possible to do all things through Him whose grace is sufficient for you. But you have to understand that God’s grace is only available to those who choose to try, and then choose not to give up at the first sign of opposition to their choice. As you continue to make the necessary choice(s), and refuse to give up, the ability to choose becomes the norm of the way you react, because you will have come to see that God’s grace is a constant companion for those who don’t give up. People have thought that God was one who simply stands around as an observer until someone calls out in desperation. What kind of a father does that? His heart’s desire is for you to succeed, but true success is only a success if you have to overcome an obstacle to achieve it. Otherwise, it’s just something you did and doesn’t qualify as a victory – only an activity. A parent who removes all obstacles for their child while they are at home will have to repeatedly run to their emotional rescue once they leave home because neither the parent nor the child learned to choose wisely and to persevere in the choice. That’s something everyone has to learn. There is no growth when there are no challenges. Our society has one foot in the toilet because it has refused to allow children to struggle. It has become a “right” not to be disappointed – to not have to face difficult circumstances – to not have to overcome the resistance put up by the enemy. So our culture has birthed a bunch of whining sissies, whose voice cries “Why me? and Where is my safe room?” rather than battle-tested men and women who can be counted on. I believe that people can and should be prodded to do what even they know they should do. As parents, we must be mindful that there is a fine line between encouraging and badgering, and unfortunately, the difference is solely in the mind of the one needing the push. The old adage, "You can only do what you can do" is true when we are left to our own devices. We are all well aware of how unsuccessful meetings are with people who have been forced to go to them, but by the same token, we are also aware of successes for those who relented even after of being shamed into it. It is always more helpful when you want help because then you are willing to do whatever it takes to get out of the hole you are in.
Having said that, my wife and I had to do an intervention for our youngest. He wanted to do the right thing for himself, but he seemed to be absolutely frozen, unable to make the decision to do what he knew he needed to do. So grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and marching him out of the circumstances he was in was a big help for him ... and us. I believe that one of the major things that the enemy is after with people today is to produce voluntary isolation. When we hit a rough patch in life we retreat from people. When we are alone with our own thoughts for an extended period of time the enemy is able to get us to believe all sorts of trash, which in time will turn into gross deception capable of destroying our lives. Clinicians have discovered that the number one motivation behind drug addiction is the loss or lack of connection with people, and I believe it is probably the same thing which results in depression and anxiety (with some significant help from the enemy.) The only response coming from the medical community is to immediately medicate it, which has spawned a multi-billion dollar drug industry, which isn’t really interested in getting people well because that would reduce profits. So perhaps instead of pushing people to counseling and medication, we should be much more interested in creating opportunities for socialization. I have just completed a book on fear entitled The Enemy Within. One morning I asked the Lord to talk to me about fear since it had been on my mind a lot lately. His response surprised me. He said, "I'd rather talk to you about courage." Then again, to my surprise, what He spoke was all about (in the context of courage) was our ability and our responsibility to choose, intimating that what seems to have been lost for this generation is the "moxy, the fortitude, the courage to fight, to make a choice" regardless of the circumstances. It seems that this generation is more easily overwhelmed by their emotions than any of the previous ones. Arthur Burk has called this the Mercy season (using his Redemptive Gift terminology) which indeed would naturally have a stronger emotional component in it than previous generations, but that doesn't mean that they would be incapable of standing up and making the decisions they need to make to keep the ship upright. So the strategy of the enemy in this day is pretty much out in the open daring us to do something about it. It's obvious that the road to maturity has many bumps and potholes, and that's all the more reason we as parents (and adults) need to take a more active role in guiding our children (sometime forcefully) through the minefields of life. (This prayer is written from the perspective on one praying the prayer over a soldier, or former military man or woman who has been diagnosed with PTSD or is experiencing the symptoms thereof. It is most effective prayed over them in their presence, although it does have some effect in absentia – ie., a place of direct intercession on behalf of the one you care about.)
Father…. I take authority over anything left over or hanging around in their room, or on their property that wants to insert itself, distract, disturb, interfere, or otherwise mess with the administration of this prayer. I kick to the curb anything that will not bow its knee to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; anything that you, Father God, have not placed there, I give you no place either here or there in Jesus name. Holy Spirit, I invite You to minister to _____________, even as I am praying and declaring in their behalf. I submit to You only; I give You the superiority in this place and in their personal space as I pray. I thank you so much for what you have done for all of us, for what you have provided for all of us , and for what you have taught us and what you have shown us. Father, in Jesus name, I take authority over this time, this space, this place, this dimension in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I ask you to disconnect ________________ (name) from every 2nd heaven entity; principality, power, dominion, throne, ruler that gained access to __________ through the traumatic events they have suffered, including the purpose of inflicting further mental and physical torture and torment. I specifically ask you to disconnect them from fear, chaos, death, disorder and destruction, including assignments of demonic entities and curses made by ungodly, priest, shamans, witches, and other local authorities, etc,. from the lands their feet have trod. I also ask you to cancel, break, shatter, cutoff and destroy every contract and agreement that trauma has made with other entities, great and small, to make its attack more effective. I ask you to cancel the assignment of any demonic entities against __________ as a result of these higher order agreements and contracts. In the name of Jesus, I remove any of the enemy’s marks, markers, devices or signposts that have been install on, or around ____________ as a result of what he/her experienced while in the military. I forgive any conscious or unconscious desire or request to be made invisible to their enemies in combat that have resulted in them becoming invisible to those who can aid of help them in any way in their post military life. Father, while I’m at it, would you disconnect them from the affects or assignments of generationally transferred trauma. Father, if there is any portion of them that has been removed, is stuck, imprisoned, or held captive in any other time, space, place or dimension as a result of the trauma experienced, I ask that you to immediately send your angels to rescue them, release them and cause those portions of them to be recovered from wherever it has been, and I ask that you restore it to them and cleanse it of any defilement of any place it has been. Cancel the assignment of any familiar sprit that has been assigned to it, to hold it there. If there is any portion of themselves that they have dismissed because they believed it was not an acceptable part of them, was not worthy, caused them to be vulnerable, caused them to be more of a target of their enemies, or felt like it allowed them to be taken advantage of, Father, in Jesus name, I pronounce them forgiven for dismissing, shutting down and rejecting that portion or part of themselves that they did not agree was good and worthy of accepting and I ask you Father to restore it to them, reunify it to them so that it becomes a part of them in this time and this space and this dimension with peace and wholeness and acceptance. I take authority over ________________’s physical body for a few minutes, in Jesus name, and I command his/her body to release all the long and short term effects of trauma, everything that it has held onto all the way down to the cellular level; from all the accidents, injuries, medical procedures, surgeries, invasive medical procedures, broken bones, cuts, hearing and deafness issues, vision and eye impairments. I also command their bodies to release all the effects of trauma with respect to rejection, abandonment, death, deep depression, divorce, loss of dreams, hopes, and aspirations….every time that they were robbed and stolen from, yelled or screamed at, pushed, shoved, beaten, held captive, shot, stabbed, subjected to explosive blasts, tortured and tormented, the emotional, spiritual and physical effects of childhood accidents and injuries, operations, invasive medical procedures, childhood fears, loss of a key loved one by death, witnessing the death, destruction, wounding or dismemberment of a fellow soldier, divorce or abandonment, rape, abuse (physical, mental, emotional or sexual), frequent moves, car accidents, major illnesses, broken bones, attempted suicide, deep depressions, near death experiences, catastrophic events that occurred as part of war and military action, hurricanes and earthquakes, civilian casualties related to war and combat experiences, the effects of difficult childbirths, miscarriages or abortions. I command your bodies to release the residual effects of excess medication, incorrect or inadequate medications resulting from misdiagnosis, long-term illnesses, and the results of unnatural compensation by other organs, muscles, tendons and ligaments as a result of injuries. I command out of you bodies the results of shock, terror, torment and torture, whether it was personally experienced or witnessed. And I declare that it will come out without harm or injury where ever it has been stored. I just command you to release it all…..don’t hang on to any of it….. all of the pent up stress, tension, anxiety, worry…the results of fear … the fear of what tomorrow holds, fear of a filing economy, retirement, current and future health problems, fear for your parents and children. I command your body to release all of the effects of fear of the past, or fear of the future; How is all this going to work out? What is going to happen next? Release all the issues regarding personal health, business, children, and spouses. I command all of that out of your body. You can’t hang on to any of it, in Jesus Name; out of every bone, out of every piece of connective tissue, out of spines, muscle, nerves, hair, teeth, brain tissue; out in Jesus Name. In the mighty name of Jesus I remove any defilement for your body from the land you walked, worked and warred on. I command your body to release effect of aching loneliness, a feeling that you were all alone, helplessness, hopeless, defenseless and trapped; just be released in Jesus Name right now. Just let it go…….wherever you have hidden it, or allowed it to be stored up in your body; just let it go. Let it be released. In this season of uncertainty, I command your body to release all of the effects of accumulated stress, fear, worry, anxiety and the tension connected to not being in control of how it is going to work out, unmet expectations, disappointments…. just release, release, release. Just let it all go; all the effects of un-forgiveness, bitterness, of being cut off and abandoned, just let it go. ____________ (name), I command in the name of Jesus that your body release all of the effects of shame, disappointment, disillusionment, the failures; the times when people have not lived up to their word; every time you have been intentionally been misled, lied to, or lied about, dishonored; just let it all go. Release all the related physical effects, whether it was mental, physical, emotional, spiritual...., just release it all now in Jesus Name, just release all now, every bit of it; just let it go. I command out of your ears, nostrils and taste buds everything connected with war, killing, discharging a weapon, explosions, IED detonations, the smell of dust, blood, smoke from an source connected with weapons large and small, destructive and defiling touch; any place in your body that felt it, or was impacted by it; let it go. I command it to be released right now in the Name of Jesus. I take authority, in Jesus Name, over all witchcraft prayers that have been prayed against you personally, against you as part of the military, against you as an American, against the body of Christ, against your relationships, against your place in the body and even those who have been jealous of how you looked, how you acted, the favor you had, or rejoiced in your wounds. I just cut all that off in Jesus Name and I release you from every bit of it. Father, we call every one of those prayers, curses and declarations null and void in the name of Jesus, and cast them to the ground to be of no effect, as dust under your feet. Father, I release _____________ from all tension, anxiety and anything else imparted to him/her by circumstances and break off all of that …..Father, I release from him/her, all of the heaviness of false responsibility; stuff that people have told them that needs to be done and that they need to do. I release _____________ from the pain of unfulfilled personal expectations. I release you from all that and from your expectations of what it ought to look like, how you ought to do it and how it ought to get done. Father, where there have been blockages to development in any area, physically and particularly relationally, I ask you to remove those dams, allow them to grow. Father I place my hand on ___________’s head and I pray for his/her brain and Father any place that has become chemically imbalanced because of the trauma that they have suffered, I ask you to restore whatever connections are necessary, whatever enzymes are necessary to bring full functionality, any pathways (electrical or magnetic) that need to be reestablished between hemispheres of the brain or areas of the brain so that the fullness of who you were created to be can be directed toward the restoration and settling of the issues of life. If there is any damage or deficiency of any gland of the brain, or any imbalance between the function of the various gland, I ask you to restore them to full function and restore proper balance between and among them. Father would you restore the connectivity between areas of the brain; specifically for those areas like the hypothalamus, the adrenal system, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, amygdale, etc. I ask you in Jesus name, to give ____________ a new “normal,” and while you are at it Lord, I ask you to move all the memories of traumatic and tormenting events to the back of the bus, make them difficult to get to; and all those memories that speak to them of being loved and appreciated, connected, understood, belonging, embraced, I ask that they be moved to a place so that they are the first ones that they get to. Father, I ask you in Jesus Name that you would restore whatever memories are necessary for healing and the completion of what you have started. Lord also I ask that you remove, dismantle or disconnect any trigger mechanisms that the enemy has been able to establish to the violent and tormenting memories. I want to speak to your spirit and to your soul for a moment; I declare to you that the times of great danger are over. You do not have to remain on guard 24/7 anymore. The other shoe is not going go to drop. You are safe now. You are no longer on the battle ground. No one is trying to kill or maim you anymore. The days of scanning every person, doorway, rooftop, vehicle and roadside pile of trash are over. You can make the choice to let down your guard. You are safe now, The season of danger is past. You have friends and loved ones around you still. You can enter into the rest of the Lord. He has become your rear guard. He’s got your back. He is with you 24/7. So I invite you to stand down… to enter that place of rest that was designed for you. Father, I ask you in Jesus Name to reestablish for this soldier, the appropriate sleep pattern that you designed for him/her, so that when he/she puts his/her head on the pillow at night they can do so with full faith and confidence that when they awake in the morning they will be thoroughly refreshed and rejuvenated, with all the energy they need for whatever they need for the day. Father, while you are at it, I ask you in Jesus name to download into their spirit everything they will need for that coming day, because you know who they will run into and the circumstances that they will be facing. Now Father, I ask that you will pour your spirit into every place where the results and effects of trauma have departed, and that Your Holy Spirit of Comfort, Life, Light, and Truth will fill every cell, every bone, every tissue, every organ, every place where memories were stored will be filled with your life and light. I ask you Holy Spirit to restore to life the broken, dead and dormant places, the places that have been wounded and given up on, that have been set aside, ignored, rejected, shut down and abandoned. I call for a restoration and a redemptive work within him/her at the deepest levels. And Father would you give them a tangible sense that they are not alone, a concrete knowing that you are with them all the way through this. Father, I bless _____________; I bless their identity, I bless their significance, I bless their future, I bless their destiny, I bless their dreams…… I bless them. I bless their coming in with joy and their going out with peace, in the Name of Jesus, and I thank you for sealing by your Holy Spirit the work that you have done in _______________ today. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I bless you! To find out more about the Trauma Prayer and to download a free copy of the MP3 audio recording, click here. I have some update information for you regarding the announced Trauma Prayer e-Course. This has been one of the most technically frustrating experiences we have ever had. We have four laptops, a desktop and an I-pad. None of which will function as a recording device. The audio cards in every laptop either totally died (three of them) or refuses to record the audio that was even remotely acceptable. The I-pad will only record files to a maximum length of 18 minutes.
The local college has a recording studio with equipment that would have allowed us to record everything, but it got restricted to college employees only this semester. So I have resorting to using my phone exclusively. That comes with its own set of problems, but they are less severe that everything noted above. No doubt we have had some level of demonic interference going on that could use some prayer coverage. If the Lord should bring us before you would you consider holding this effort up before the Lord? Secondly, we have made a decision to relocate. The brook has dried up and the ravens have forgotten our address of late. That is always a signal for us to ask the Lord, "What's up? Do we have a heart issue that needs some attention? Have we made a decision that you aren't pleased with? Or are you telling us to move somewhere else? (1st Kings 19)" The bottom line of our personal inquiry is that as soon as we sell the house we will move to the Nashville, Tennessee area. What this means for our personal ministry is anyone's guess. We assume that we will be ministering in generally the manner, with a local office somewhere in the Nashville area, and offering several e-courses at the same time. We are not at all sure if there will be as much international travel as there has been in the last three years, but at this point we are open to anything. If the Lord should give you some insight about this next season for us, please let us know. In preparation for the Trauma Prayer E-course I have run into a couple of questions/topics that several people have found important to them, which I will probably not be able to include in the video series. This one is typical of those relies;
"How do you recover from trauma when family members continue to bully you from childhood to adulthood and all you ever hear is to keep on forgiving and be Christian and its not Christian to stay away from family ie; siblings and parents who are the very people who make you feel scared and under attack all the time." Obviously, this issue is more common than you might imagine. So thanks for the heads-up on this. The simple answer for this issue (if you are not still a teenager, or a young adult still living under your parent's roof) is establishing appropriate boundaries. There are a couple of issue here that have to be faced and unfortunately, you are the only one that can do this as family members are generally oblivious to the hurt they are causing. The natural order of things is that at some point in time, parents must mature from being the director (controller) of a child's life to being a peer that simply provides constructive input. If the parent refuses to enter that role, then the child is left with one of three options; a) just suck it up and continue to take what you get from them, b) exercise your personal right to either cut off or minimize contact with them, or c) tell your parents what behavior they can no longer exhibit toward you and what behavior you expect from them. If they refuse to modify their behavior toward you, then your options are either a or b. Take your pick. With siblings, you really only have one choice and that is 'c' from above. Draw a line in the sand so-to-speak. Here is a major truth bomb for you; People can not and will not give you what you want until you tell them what you need. Put the ball in their court. If they choose to continue to berate you, you can choose to no longer have contact with them until they make another choice. I can hear the responses already, "Easier said than done!" You would be right, although what other choice do you have? The reason all this is a problem for you is that for some reason you have felt that you had no voice, no right to oppose their treatment of you. People will use all manner of means to manipulate you, including supposed Christian principles to attempt to shame you into getting the response they want. Many species also eat their young. In order to survive, the young have to put some distance between them and extinction until they grow to a size and strength that they can defend themselves. So it's time to ask the Lord what has not developed properly that has kept you in the place with no voice? Where have you given in to fear? Let's address this Christianized baloney that says you have to just keep on being abused and continue to forgive the abuse. First of all, our number one charter for living as Christians is to love God and one another. Relationships always hit the rocks when both parties are in love with the same person. A relationship, even one between parents and children, has to have an element of love from each party in order to work. That means that if one party continues to knowingly hurt another, and after being informed of the hurt it is causing, refuses to change, the one being hurt has a decision to make. Saying you are a Christian and actually acting like one are two separate things. I want to thank all of you who have responded to my request for topic that you want to make certain were covered in the up-coming E-course on Trauma Prayer. There have been 188 responses with roughly twice that many topics/questions. Thank you so much.
The one that popped up repeatedly is actually at the foundation of the reason for trauma in the first place and I felt it was so important that I will deal with it here, as well as in the e-course. The following was one such respondents post that is typical of so many of the others; "God's trauma drama never changes, just repeats itself over and over. Why does God continually allow trauma drama in lives that have already experienced it? Why doesn't God allow trauma drama in the others who never have had it? Does God enjoy repeating the trauma drama effect on the minority whose lives are already broken down? Does God take pleas(ure) in allowing trauma drama in people already hurting to scar them or cause more pain in their lives?" Trauma usually happens fairly early in life, primarily before we have developed our cognitive reasoning ability; that which allows to see cause and effect. The enemy (satan and demonic minions) is to blame. His purpose is to alienate you from God by causing you to believe that God was actually the perpetrator - He caused it all. It was His plan because for some reason He hates you. Many folks have believed it, even though there's absolutely no truth in it. So God IS the problem. If satan isn't successful with that approach, then he will later give you a few opportunities to believe that God could have protected you from it, but intentionally chose not to, so either way, your troubles are actually God's fault and the full blame is dropped on His doorstep. By default, He becomes the bad guy, even though He had absolutely nothing to do with it. When trauma becomes problematic for us personally, and we've had some religious training, or we choose to go to God as a last resort to fix things, and nothing changes, or things get worse, then our original belief system is verified. What I really believe (because my circumstances always tell me the truth) dictates what I can receive. Consequently, my deeply rooted subconscious belief systems will always win over my current conscious desires for healing and deliverance from the oppressiveness of my present circumstances. The Trauma Prayer is founded in the fact that the devil is the bad (always) and God is good (always) and that God can and will chose to fix the issues if we ask and choose to cooperate with His prescription. As Derik Prince stated many years ago, "God will deliver you from your enemies, but not your friends." And I hasten to add, "including your screwed up belief systems." In short, you have fallen for the belief system of the system of this world - the teaching of the enemy of your soul himself. Until you can get this foundational element of trauma recovery put in place properly, all your remaining days will continue to be filled "trauma drama" because you have been taught not to trust the One who has all your answers. Now someone reading this is bound to counter with ... but God is in control. Again making it God's fault, which is precisely where the new age argument originates that states if God is a loving God why is there so much suffering in the world? Once again naming God as the culprit. That argument has even been extended to say because the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ dealt with all sin, then everyone will eventually go to Heaven. That too is a slap in God's face essentially saying that God thinks it's okay for you to be abused, then tormented over and over. Are you beginning to see the ploy? You see, God is not in control of everything. He's only in control of those things we give Him control over. Abusers will only satisfy their anger and lust. They will never surrender control to God, hence the damage we experience. satan is the ruler of this world and he hates God and he hates you because you were God's prized creation sent here to take dominion over satan's rebellious works. I pray that God will grant you the grace to repent of this funky belief system and all its various ramifications in your life so that the fullness of His statement in Revelations Chapter 21 may be your, "I am the God that makes ALL thing new. Write this down, for it is faithful and true!" I have run into several folks in the last couple of months who have become stuck in all areas of their lives; paralyzed might even be a more apt description of where they were. The common thread that they all exhibited is that they thought they heard God's direction, acted on it, and found themselves in a hole they couldn't get out of. The disappointment that each felt was not only real, but confining because now they were both questioning themselves and God too.
For those of you who have read my book Defeating Jezebel (available on Amazon) you will perhaps recognize disappointment as one of the enemies that are unleashed upon us as a result of a higher order demonic declaration of war against us. We can become a victim of disappointment through all kinds of ways, but most of them are, at least partially, of our own doing; false or excessively high expectations, presumption, choosing to believe unrealistic promises, idealism, or entitlement, among others. Regardless of how it happened, recovering from it, particularly if the effects of it go on for an extended period of time, is not easy because one of the objectives of the attack is to get you to thinking that you can't really hear God, and you are bound to make another bad decision anyway, so why try. When you entertain either of these thoughts more than once you begin to dig the hole a little deeper because hope begins to fade. Hope is a precious thing that must be guarded. There is always hope that God will sweep in and save the day, however if you have bought one or both of the lies above, then you are in real trouble. As noted in the book Defeating Jezebel, the answer is to get God back in the place He used to be in when you were under the fountain of grace that made things flow properly; in short, when you were following peace in spite of all the challenges. For those of you who find yourself in the high weeds with no seeming way of escape, don't delude yourself any longer that you have been doing it right, and just made some kind of error that you can right. Get the book, read it, and put the solution provided in the book into play as quickly as you can. The attack will be crushed soon and you'll be back under that sweet fountain of grace that ushers in peace and security. |
AuthorWe've been involved in inner healing (otherwise known as sanctification)and deliverance biz for 30+ years. These Blog entries are a collection of thoughts and experiences that we thought might be (at the most) helpful and (at the least) interesting. Some of them include challenges we've experienced and how we've tried to engage them. Archives
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