"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces evil in the heavenly realms."
Ephesians 6:12
On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 I was watching the TV series Rizzoli and Isles as they were saying goodbye to Lee Thompson who took his life in August 2013 at age 29. It was a very sad show. As I watched the showed I could feel the pain and my spirit was moved. I have with this in my spirit for two days and praying this morning I couldn't take it no more and I just cried. I didn't cry for him, I cried for all those who have fallen in that same situation of hopelessness and depression and feel that the only way out is to end their life. I cry for all the hurting family and friends that are left behind with a pain that seems to never go away with so many unanswered questions as to why it happened. Lee Thompson Young had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and was being treated.
What is Bipolar Disorder? Basically it is a brain disorder (considered a mental illness) that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity level, and ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Symptoms are severe, they are not your normal ups and downs. You get depressive episodes that last about two weeks. With that you see depression, hopelessness and sadness. Then there's mania. You can be euphoric or grandiose with high self-esteem. There are medications to help with this disorder. Unfortunately, some of these medications can also increase the risk of suicide.
What best way to understand something or someone than if you yourself have experienced it or have gone or are going through it. Well, I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and am currently on medication for it. When I was first diagnosed it was very difficult to accept. I have been taking medication and it hasn't been always easy. I know it has been very hard on my parents and family as they seen me going through this in my worst moments. However, I have been doing much better. I also have noticed that when I do get the mood swings I pray to God and ask Him to take control of my mind and my mood swings and help me to get out of that cycle right away. Once I was diagnosed my sister took me to the bookstore and we went through a lot of books regarding Bipolar Disorder and I picked out three of the ones I thought were the best. I decided to read and study these books to know what I was up against. The information I received and in the workbook talked about triggers. It talks about trying to figure out your triggers. I have found out some of them, but not all of them. I thank God because He has been with me through the darkest hours and in the moments where I felt hopeless and in despair and not wanting to live.
Now besides mental illness, Bipolar Disorder and any other medical conditions, the Word of God tells us that there is a battle; an unseen battle by human eye. There is a battle raging in the spirit world. There is a spiritual battle going on in our minds. As a Christian it doesn't make you exempt to the battle raging in the spirit world, but God does give you the weapons in which to use to fight those battles. We all have an enemy within us, in Romans 8:7 says that "The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." Our flesh, our carnal minds is our enemy. In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God..." Satan is not omnipresent (he can't be everywhere) so he has an army of demons that help him. Why does the battle begin in our mind? Because the thoughts begin there. Your thoughts are affected by good and by evil and by right and wrong. "Arguments and taking every thought captive" having pressures in your mind is not abnormal. It is part of a Christian life. It's not a sign that you are doing anything wrong or on the wrong path, it's part of your total Christian experience.
What best way to understand something or someone than if you yourself have experienced it or have gone or are going through it. Well, I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and am currently on medication for it. When I was first diagnosed it was very difficult to accept. I have been taking medication and it hasn't been always easy. I know it has been very hard on my parents and family as they seen me going through this in my worst moments. However, I have been doing much better. I also have noticed that when I do get the mood swings I pray to God and ask Him to take control of my mind and my mood swings and help me to get out of that cycle right away. Once I was diagnosed my sister took me to the bookstore and we went through a lot of books regarding Bipolar Disorder and I picked out three of the ones I thought were the best. I decided to read and study these books to know what I was up against. The information I received and in the workbook talked about triggers. It talks about trying to figure out your triggers. I have found out some of them, but not all of them. I thank God because He has been with me through the darkest hours and in the moments where I felt hopeless and in despair and not wanting to live.
Now besides mental illness, Bipolar Disorder and any other medical conditions, the Word of God tells us that there is a battle; an unseen battle by human eye. There is a battle raging in the spirit world. There is a spiritual battle going on in our minds. As a Christian it doesn't make you exempt to the battle raging in the spirit world, but God does give you the weapons in which to use to fight those battles. We all have an enemy within us, in Romans 8:7 says that "The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." Our flesh, our carnal minds is our enemy. In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God..." Satan is not omnipresent (he can't be everywhere) so he has an army of demons that help him. Why does the battle begin in our mind? Because the thoughts begin there. Your thoughts are affected by good and by evil and by right and wrong. "Arguments and taking every thought captive" having pressures in your mind is not abnormal. It is part of a Christian life. It's not a sign that you are doing anything wrong or on the wrong path, it's part of your total Christian experience.
Many people battle every day with thoughts that come into their minds that are negative or evil. Many of these thoughts have been injected in their or our minds by the devil and the evil spirits. They do this to disturb our peace, to bring confusion, to torment, to destroy and use us to destroy others. We live in a sinful world full of evil and we really need God to be able to fight the battle in our mind. There are many different thoughts I can go into right now and speak about, but I only want to speak about the ones that God has put in my heart to speak about.
Thoughts of hopelessness, despair, depression, worthlessness, low self-esteem...then you isolate yourself and you feel lonely and that no one is there for you, cares or loves you.
Hopelessness - beyond optimism
Despair - to lose hope, to give up
Depression - a sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason
Worthlessness - of no use or importance
Despair - to lose hope, to give up
Depression - a sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason
Worthlessness - of no use or importance
Low self-esteem - beliefs you have about yourself as statements of fact when actually they are just opinions (I will be dedicating a post just for this one because it's important)
See the devil wants us to feel hopeless. He wants us to give up, to feel of no use and make you so sad to the point of believing you are not important so it's okay if I disappear. "No one will miss me" "They won't even know I'm missing" "They'll get over it, I'm a burden to them right now" "I've never done anything to make them proud of me" "No one loves me" "No one cares what happens to me" "They're always making fun of me" "They push me around all the time" "They are always hitting me" "They tell me I will never be anybody" "They tell me I'm dumb" "They never say I love you" - these are just some of the thoughts the devil puts in your mind. These thoughts then start playing over and over again in your mind and then they start taking form. You start developing feeling of inferiority. You get depressed. You feel like you're drowning. Your mind is invaded with these thoughts and you can't get them out of your head. Day in and day out this is all you think. You walk around trying not to let anyone know what is going on in your mind. You work really hard at not letting any signs of what's going on show. You don't want to tell anyone anything because you don't want them to think you're dumb or crazy - because this is what you think. If you're a Christian and/or a child of a Christian family you think I can't say anything because as a Christian I shouldn't be feeling this way and if I am, I must be doing something wrong. These are very powerful thoughts and create strongholds. A stronghold is an area of predominance (to take over). In other words, these thoughts take over. The longer they linger the more powerful they become until they are debilitating.
This is the way the enemy has a claim on your mind keeping it bound with lies and confusion. If you are ready to fight this battle and claim back your mind you will have to fight the lies and confusion. First thing you must do, might sound crazy, say out loud that you will not allow any outside force do your thinking! Do not let any spirit or any other person do the thinking for you. There are spiritual laws that the demons must obey. They cannot stay when you tell them to go. There is power in the name of Jesus, in His blood and the Word of God. We have to ask God for discernment to the lies of the devil.
Think about what you're thinking about. What are you pondering on? If you catch yourself thinking about something that you can identify it being injected from the devil, stop the thought at once by speaking to yourself out loud. I am speaking through experience, I do this. If I catch myself thinking something negative or something that is going to make me feel depressed, I immediately speak out loud to myself "stop it right now! Devil you are a liar! The Lord is with me so leave me alone right now! Devil I command you right now to leave in the name of Jesus!" Yes, I do say that! You must do this over and over again every time the lies of the devil enter your mind and you will regain peace, you will be able to sleep and concentrate better. You are in a battle but you are not alone, all of God's people fight the same fight - Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." You have to make up your mind! Colossians 3:2 "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." We have to set our minds and keep them set. As you begin fighting or you begin to battle it may seem worse before it gets better. The reason for this is that the demonic powers are fighting to keep their place in your mind/thinking. Regaining your mind is a process. We all fail at one time or another, but God knows our weaknesses and in 1 John 1:9 says that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Continue to claim what belongs to you (your mind and thinking belong to you) in Jesus name.
The Word of God says that "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." When I am battling a thought, for example worthlessness, I then would stop this thought I would declare as follows: I bind and rebuke right now the spirit of worthlessness in the name of Jesus and loosen upon my life love. Every time I bind any spirit I always loosen a blessing upon my life. I am using the Word of God which is the weapon to fight against the devil. You might say I don't know how to pray or don't know much about the Bible you still can overcome the thoughts that invade your mind and do battle. God's Yellow Pages This link takes you to a pdf that has a list of "where to look when..." Understand that it is by God's name, power and authority that the devil flees. I nor you have power of our own to do this, we must rely on God.
I pray that the Lord will minister to your life through this post.
",,,by His stripes we are healed..." This is also healing of your broken heart.
God bless!
",,,by His stripes we are healed..." This is also healing of your broken heart.
God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment