Soul Blockers: Courage in Fear

We all have fears and while fear can be beneficial, warning us of danger, negative fear can cause serious damage to our bodies, soul and spirit. The very thing we fear may just decide to pay us a visit. Stress resulting from worry wreaks havoc on our bodies and mind.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:37 that we are more than conquers, we know we have victory but we can’t run from what scares us. We must not fear.  God didn’t give us a spirit of fear but a calm well balance mind and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). When trouble comes we have the ability to remain stable without worry knowing all the while God will deliver us.

Fear brings torment. The Holy Spirit won’t put us in bondage or fear. That comes from the enemy. God won’t remove the issues we fear but he will give us the strength to live our lives and confront our fears. Where the spirit of God is there is liberty. We must not be in bondage to anything.

Difficulties are often the best thing for us because in the end they bring us closer to God. He will give us strength to go through whatever life presents us. Other times when we choose to continue doing the “stupid stuff” God stands back and permits us experience our problems and fears until we decide to give them to him.

So how do we combat fear?

We have to CONFRONT fear to get rid of it…do it afraid. We need the courage to confront our fears and not run from them. Rely on God to help you stop the strongholds that keep you from doing God’s will.

An important biblical concept is dwelling in PEACE. No peace, no power. We can’t defeat the enemy without it. We have nothing if we don’t have peace.

It’s not what’s on the outside that is important, it’s what on the inside we need to me mindful of. Be careful about THOUGHTS and the words of your mouth. Get in agreement with God’s word. Two can’t walk together unless they agree.

PRAY every morning before getting out of bed, pausing, THANKING and expecting good things. Romans 8.28 – everything comes back to this verse; all things work together for good for those who love God according to his purpose. Form a habit of BELIEVING good things will happen and stop looking for the bad. Whatever we look for we’ll find.

Remember, even in times of trouble we must trust God to make something good out of it. We can still have a positive outlook in a negative situation knowing God has good plan. When something negative happens in our lives we only help the enemy when we fear.

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope.          Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

Next week: A Determined Attitude

Soul Blockers: Evil Forebodings

You might think the antithesis of this month’s topic, a positive attitude, would be negative but I’ve decided to address one form of negativity…evil forebodings. Evil forebodings will zap any amount of positivity as well as mental and physical energy. So why do I address this instead? …I had to deal with it, not once but twice this week.

As a young girl I would have imaginings of my ailing mother dying. I’d hear sirens and cry for fear something had happened to her. As an adult I transferred some of these irrational thoughts to my husband and then to my children. I would sit and imagine what seemed to be for hours, thoughts of some catastrophe that would take them from me.

This may stem from my own abandonment from my father leaving then learning my mother was dying when I was ten. But I believe there is more to this. My (step) dad was very negative and as much as I tried to not be like him, what was on him got on me. Many years ago I dealt with my negative attitudes in all its forms so when I had an attack this week I found it odd…and debilitating. I spent the day imagining some horrible catastrophe was going to happen and with nothing to prompt these thoughts. Often when we teach something we will experience the same issue, the enemy likes to challenge us. It happened again today but through the grace of God I overcame it quickly.

Evil foreboding goes beyond a negative attitude and engulfs the sufferer in imaginations of catastrophe. And there isn’t necessarily any precursor to such thoughts. The individual doesn’t choose to sit and think the worst. What is the root of evil foreboding, and many negative thoughts? John Eldredge in Waking the Dead explains it perfectly

“…most of the time we don’t recognize it as an attack. At first it tends to be vague – not voices in the head, not an obvious assault, but more of a “sense” we have, an impression, a feeling that comes over us. The power of suggestion. Now, if some demon were standing in front of us, telling us, ‘Here, drink this rat poison,’ we’d tell him where to go. But because we do not live as though we are at war, well, we just assume these impressions are our own, and we accept them, agree with them, live under them like slaves under a task master. Listen carefully: any movement toward freedom and life, any movement toward God or others, will be opposed.”

Epiphany! I no longer had to work on my “problem”, I didn’t need to focus on “self-help” formulas; but I was entering the fight of my life. I was at war in a battle for my mind, my peace and my joy.

Trouble mind = no renewal, no restoration (Ephesians 4:23)

No peace = troubled hearts (John 14:27)

No joy = no strength (Nehemiah 8:10)

Evil foreboding will steal your positive attitude so how do we protect ourselves? Recite Romans 12.2 – be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Be in continual contact with the one who heals, restores and renews. By keeping such verses in the forefront of your mind you will break the strongholds in your life. As John further explains…

“…a believer can have a stronghold of Satan in his life. It’s not just about anger; it can happen through all sorts of issues. The Devil will try to use your wounds and unresolved emotional issues to pin down your heart under a spiritual stronghold.”

Fight, fight hard. You’re at war and you are the prize. Identify the areas where you’re the weakest. What routinely steals your peace? Ask yourself, what is the root of the problem? For me evil forebodings are rooted in abandonment issues and that is where I needed to go for healing. Not just once, as you read above. Even areas once conquered and long gone can come back to haunt you…be aware and be on the lookout for the enemy roams like a roaring lion seeking to someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

“If it doesn’t bring freedom and it doesn’t bring life, its’ not Christianity. If it doesn’t restore the image of God and rejoice in the heart, it’s not Christianity.”
~ John Eldredge ~

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Soul Blockers: Negativity, the secret sin

Soul Blockers: Negativity, the secret sin

What can hinder us from becoming whole and living free in Christ? There are many of these soul blockers, attitudes or thought patterns that entice us away from our true calling in Christ. Isn’t it easier to hide ourselves in darkness where no one will see the real you and me.

I grew up with a very negative father and as much as I hated his attitude and as much as I didn’t want to be like him I has to admit that I was. Since I was a very young girl I had to deal with the assumption that my “real” father wanted nothing to do with me. This left a wide open door for demons to whisper in my ear “you’re no good”, you’ll always be second best”, and “no one really loves you.” The outward cries of negativity from my dad solidified this negative self perception and eventually a negative attitude. By the time I was eleven my sister came along and proved I really was second best. I carried these feelings through my adult years until one day at the age of 43 a fellow grad student said to me “you really are a negative person aren’t you”. This pushed me from the happy go lucky person I really was to my very being accused of being negative. You see, I was not a negative person but when I had no control over negative circumstances I became filled with negative thoughts.

This was my first confrontation about my negativity. I had hid it well or so I thought. No one talks about this secret sin, and who wants to admit it. Even the church doesn’t deal with this problem. People are allowed to continue in their negativity as if it were the core of their being, never addressing or confronting the deeper issue. It’s not who we are in Christ, this is a lie from Satan. It is something whispered in our ears by the enemy and we can beat it.

Only days after my confrontation I was listening to Joyce Meyer, finally someone was dealing with these issues that I was finally acknowledging myself. The key verse in her lesson was Romans 12:2 (NLT)

Let god change you into a new person by changing the way you think.

…a renewing of the mind. For weeks I would quote this verse every time I had a negative thought. At first it was hundreds of times a day, minute by minute I’d repeat “Jesus renew my mind”. After three weeks it was down to a few times a week. Then the challenge came. My car broke down and when I got home I received a major blow that could have shook this new core but I stayed in the word and got though, positive attitude in tack.

Do I still struggle with negativity even after ten years? YES! I still fight the good fight and as Philippians 1:6 says (NLT):

God who began a good work in you will continue his work until it is finally finished in the day when Christ returns.

Well he hasn’t returned yet so I still struggle although considerably less often. When I’m tired, stressed or physically weak it can still be a source of shame.

Remember, a negative attitude doesn’t mean you’re a negative person. It is not who you are. Christ wants us to be free from anything that blocks us from living the full life in him.