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Personal Attack – How to Overcome!
What do you do when you are under attack from a person in your life? Can you discern the true battle? How do you overcome?
A reader of this blog asked this question:
I served under another ministry and I was on good terms with the leader – I felt that I served them well, to the best of my ability. After the Lord led me to start the ministry where I am now, the other leader began to attack me and the ministry. I had a vision where I saw him summon all his members and he pointed at me and told them not to have anything to do with me – this was after he called me in front of his church and commended me about how I supported him when his ministry first started with just a small group. They have since grown and expanded and have built a larger facility. Why is he attacking me and what can I do about it?
We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12
What does it mean that we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood? Who are we really wrestling with?
I have seen a strategic pattern that I want to share with you that will help you get the breakthrough to overcome any attack that is coming against you personally.
The enemy knows your weaknesses – oftentimes better than you know them yourself. The Lord allows him to reveal them to you and this can be a great gift if you take advantage of the situation. Think of him as a personal trainer – his attacks will make you stronger so you can overcome any situation that comes your way!
Proverbs 26:2 says “the curse causeless shall not come”. This means that if someone is cursing you, attacking you, saying bad things about you – their words have no power to hurt you if there is no cause for them.
What is the Cause, Holy Spirit?
So the very first thing you do is ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you, What is the cause? Did you do something you need to repent of? Even if it was unintentional, repent of anything you realize you did that could have given this curse a cause, a legal right. Did you judge the other person? Did you speak anything negative concerning this person? Did you spread a rumor about them? Anything at all – even if it was only in your heart and you didn’t say it to another person. Immediately repent and ask the Lord to wash you.
It’s never about the man or woman – the person who is fighting against you. It is always about the spirit behind it. Defeat that spirit and the person will stop bothering you. The spirit attacking you is revealing a weakness – allow the Lord to heal that weakness and suddenly the attack will disappear! I’ve seen this happen many, many times.
If the attack continues after you have repented – or if you truly cannot find anything that you did to repent of, then it’s time to look deeper. There is agreement in you that gives this attack a right to continue. We call this “legal ground”. The devil knows his legal rights and wherever there is deception or agreement with darkness, he has a right to attack or harass us.
How do you defeat that spirit? Remove the legal ground!
- Identify how the attack makes you feel. Do you feel intimidated? Does it make you have doubts about your own ministry (insecurity) or are you becoming discouraged? What exactly is it trying to do to you? This will help you identify which spirit is attacking you through this person.
- Ask God why you feel that way. This attack reveals a weakness in you – perhaps it is self-doubt, or perhaps it is fear of man or doubt in God’s ability to protect you. I have an exercise that can help you identify what lie you believe about God or about yourself that gives this spirit a legal right to harass you. It is below.
- Break your agreement with the lie you believe. It may be very deep – take time to really examine it. Then let it go!
- Forgive the person who is attacking you. Release blessing upon them.
- Continue to thank God for His protection and care for you.
The Lie Detector exercise helps people identify the legal ground that the enemy has. There are two versions of it. You can do them both or just do one, based on what you sense from Holy Spirit. One helps you identify lies you believe about yourself. The other one helps you identify lies you believe about God.
Lie Detector: Self Concept
Go to a place where you will not be interrupted. Take a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly to help you relax and to quiet your mind. Say these statements/questions out loud and then wait for an answer. An answer may come as a feeling, a thought, a picture in your mind, a word, a memory or just an inner knowing. If no answer comes to the first question, this may not be the right time for this step.
“Spirit of Truth, is there a lie I believe about myself?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“Who taught me that lie?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I forgive (name) for teaching me this lie. I forgive myself for receiving this lie and allowing it to influence my thoughts. I release myself from this lie. I give it up and let it go.”
“What truth do I need to hear?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I receive the truth that (the truth).”
Lie Detector: God Concept
Go to a place where you will not be interrupted. Turn off any devices that might distract you. Take a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly to help you relax and to quiet your mind. Say these statements/questions out loud and then wait for an answer. An answer may come as a feeling, a thought, a picture in your mind, a word, a memory or just an inner knowing. If no answer comes to the first question, this may not be the right time for this step.
“Spirit of Truth, is there a lie I believe about God?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“Who taught me that lie?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I forgive (name) for teaching me this lie. I forgive myself for receiving this lie and allowing it to influence my thoughts. I release myself from this lie. I give it up and let it go.”
“What truth do I need to hear?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I receive the truth that (the truth).
I encourage you to write down the answer you get to the last question, “What truth do I need to hear?” Put it on a post-it note where you can look at it each day. Meditate on it. Say it out loud to yourself. Really let it soak in – it might take awhile for it to become your new default way of perceiving God or yourself (especially if that lie was in there a long time).
Once you overcome and break through whatever agreement you had with darkness or deception, that attack will simply disappear! Where there is no legal ground, the enemy cannot take advantage of you. He cannot harm you. The curse causeless cannot come!
Forgive the person who was attacking you. Release blessing upon them. They were simply being used by the enemy – don’t take it personally. Let it go!
There have been so many stories of curses that were placed on Christians, but when there was no cause, the curse was powerless to harm them. I’m thinking of a specific story right now from the mission field. A Christian missionary family moved into a village where there was no church or any other Christians. They began to witness about Jesus and people in the village became interested to know more about Him. The local witch doctor became jealous of the influence the Christian missionaries were having in his village. People used to come to him and now they were going to the missionaries for help with their problems. He announced to the village leaders that he was going to curse them with his witchcraft power and that they would die in 3 days. This witch doctor was very powerful and they believed he could do it. Everyone was tense and waiting to see what would happen. Blissfully, the missionaries were unaware of this curse. They just continued loving people and praying for them. When they didn’t die after 3 days, the witch doctor came to ask them who this Jesus was! They delightfully explained how God has much more power than the devil and how Jesus defeated Satan on the cross by laying down His life for us all. As a result, the witch doctor renounced his witchcraft power and became a follower of Jesus, receiving forgiveness for his sins. The entire village rejoiced and a church was planted among them so they could learn to follow Jesus.
You have the power to overcome all the power of the enemy with the Truth that is in Jesus! You are not a victim of his attacks – you are more than a conqueror! Unleash the Light that is in you to dispel the darkness. Do not be afraid – greater is HE that is IN you, than he that is in the world.
Do you have an example of seeing an attack against you disappear when you overcame the deception within you? If so, please share below! That’s how we learn from each other.
By the way, the example I used above was about someone being attacked in ministry. But these kinds of attacks can come from anywhere – your neighbor, your family, someone at work or at church, etc.
Thank you for reading this blog and sharing it with others who might need this information – you are a blessing to me! 😊
Trust in God’s Goodness. He’s Got You! ❤️
Yesterday I woke up at 7am and sensed the presence of the Fear of the Lord in my room. I waited expectantly.
Two pictures kept coming to my mind from the Holy Spirit. One was from a dream I had in 2020 and the other one was from a vision I had in 2022. The pictures kept being shown to my mind over and over and I sensed that they were related – although that had never occurred to me before.
I will share with you the two images, as recorded in my journal. For the purpose of this blog, I have added pictures to try and illustrate what I saw.
July 28, 2020 I had a vivid dream. My husband and I were laying on the roof of a car, parked at the beach. The beach was full of people. The sky was a beautiful light blue with puffy clouds. We were sunning ourselves, laying on our backs. I looked up and suddenly there was this gigantic wave coming toward us. I freaked out and grabbed onto my husband. I didn’t want to get separated from him when it hit us. As it continued to grow larger, I became more frantic. I looked up at the wave and it had grown so tall that it became frozen in the atmosphere! It was as high as the clouds! Suddenly light fluffy chunks started falling, but they were not anything to fear. They were soft and light. I felt such relief and I laughed. I could feel the relief of those around me (the other people at the beach). Then I woke up.
January 7, 2022 I had a vision as I was walking down the hall. I looked up and saw an evil principality in the sky looking down toward the earth. I looked down quickly. Then I looked up and smiled – I was not afraid. Then I thought, I don’t want to draw attention to myself – he’s a big, bad one . So I looked down again. Then I looked up and thought, I am in God and He is in me. I saw this unfolding structure come out of me and surround me. I knew it was a representation of this thought and I felt immediately safe. Then I looked down again and when I looked up, I decided to look past the principality to the Father and His goodness in heaven. I smiled and as I continued looking, I realized the principality wasn’t real. It was like a huge balloon that they use in large parades (like the Macy’s Day parade in New York). It was light brown with a roundish head, a black outline around the head and it had a face with eyes. But now I could clearly see he was just a caricature – a big balloon full of air with no substance.
So how are these two images related?
They both represent something scary that’s very powerful with a sense of impending destruction. The evil principality brings destruction and seems to have influence on the earth. A tsunami is a very powerful, destructive force of nature that is unstoppable.
In both of these experiences, I was shown that there’s nothing to fear. In my vision the principality turned out to be a lot of hot air but no substance. In the dream the tsunami stopped before hitting us and was transformed into something harmless.
For some reason this makes me think of all the negative news we see – all the doom and gloom. It can make you feel afraid of impending destruction beyond your control. I’ve also noticed a very negative narrative being expressed from some religious leaders, forecasting impending destruction and judgment. This can also make you feel afraid.
But I believe I had this experience with the Fear of the Lord to encourage us that even though it might look like things are going to be scary and destructive, FEAR NOT! Instead focus on God’s goodness and His victory over the darkness. You will always have all that you need – your heavenly Father knows what you need before you even ask. Trust in His goodness. He’s got you! ❤️
If you have any insight or have a response to this article, please feel free to comment below. I love to read your thoughts and ideas. We learn by sharing with each other what the Lord is showing us. That’s why this blog exists – to offer a conversation about important topics like this one. Chime in! Let’s hear what you have to say! 😊
It Hurts to Carry the Cross
It hurts to take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ. No one really talks about this. I don’t know why.
It has been shocking to me how painful it is to follow the Lord.
Jesus said to deny yourself, take up the cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24).
In church, they make it sound so easy. Just open your heart to Jesus Christ and ask Him to be your Lord and Savior. Nobody reads you the small print – the cost and obligations you now carry. It sounds simple – just love your neighbor. Be kind. Don’t be a jerk (a selfish person).
What does it look like to deny yourself and take up your cross?
At first, people assume it means that you stop drinking, smoking, swearing and hanging out with those who encourage that behavior. You start cleaning up your act, so to speak.
That’s probably the first steps you take as God convicts you that your behavior is not like Him. You start making wiser, more loving choices and it shows in the change of your behavior.
But what does it really mean to carry the cross? It means you die to everything you want. It means you give up your right to have a say in who your friends are, who you marry, how many children you have and what kind of career you pursue. It means you don’t get to choose where you live, how you live or how long you live. Your life becomes a living sacrifice for Him. You die daily, like Paul said (1 Corinthians 15:31).
It is painful. It is not easy. I think if most people knew the cost, they would take it much more seriously when someone invites them to follow Christ.
I know this is not a popular topic. But it needs to be said. I wonder how many people are really willing to follow Jesus if they knew the cost?
It’s a decision you make every day. You no longer live for yourself, you live for Him.
It hurts to carry the cross. You give up everything for Him. And then you do it again and again and again… forever – because He is worthy! He is SO worthy! It is a pleasure to serve Him and lay down your life for Him. And yet … let’s be honest. It still hurts. It is painful to die to yourself, to let the ego-driven desires go.
You think you have given up everything and then He shows you that there’s even more to give. It doesn’t stop.
Is it worth it? Yes! Is it still painful? Yes!
What has been your personal experience of carryng the cross and following Jesus? Did anyone explain the cost to you before you made that decision?
Please comment below – we learn from each other’s experience. I think this is something more people should be honest about because I’ve never heard anyone share their experience of this. Have you?
[P.S. I can hear people saying, “But God let’s you choose some things!” Yes, maybe, sometimes, not often. I can hear others saying, “But God’s plan for you is SO much better than anything you had in mind.” Yes, I’m sure it is. But it’s still okay to acknowledge the pain of sacrifice. Why are people afraid to talk about that pain? It needs to be said so that young believers are not disillusioned when the pain comes. Are we afraid of scaring people away from Christ? If they assume following Christ is easy, then what kind of followers will they be? Let’s be honest with them – they deserve that. 😊]
Touched by an Angel
When I was 21 years old, I went on a missions trip to Mexico. The Bible college I attended was sponsoring the trip and the chaperones were instructors from the school. When I signed up, I didn’t know who else was going to be on the team. There were several mission trips scheduled for that summer to different locations around the globe. I prayed about it and felt I was to sign up to go to Mexico.
After joining the team and finding myself in Mexico, I realized this was going to be tougher than I thought. It was a 4 week trip and I was with a bunch of strangers! The leader of the team was from the athletic department of the college. All the guys seemed very familiar with Coach, as they referred to him. I assume they played basketball on his team at school.
All of the girls on the team seemed to know each other. I only recognized one of them from a few classes we had had together. They spent a lot of time harmonizing together, practicing different worship songs, as we rode many hours in the school’s van to reach the border of Mexico.
I loved to worship, but I knew I had no singing talent. I didn’t know the first thing about harmonizing so that excluded me from their practice. I had tried to take a singing course at the college, but I guess I failed the audition because I was not permitted to sign up for the course.
We had a great time in Mexico, ministering to the very poor. It’s a beautiful country and we were traveling in the mountains. The scenery was full of luscious greens and beautiful flowers everywhere. But the longer the trip went, the more isolated I felt. No one was mean to me, I just didn’t “belong” with this group of people. I didn’t play basketball or any other sport and I didn’t sing. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to be away from everyone who knew me for so long.
One day, feeling particularly lonesome, I left the room where I was staying and went for a walk. We were at a large retreat facility that had many buildings and a courtyard. I went to a nearby building and climbed the outdoor stairway. I sat down on one of the steps. I put my head down and just cried. I felt like no one knew what it felt like to be me, all alone in a foreign land with no one to talk to about how I felt.
Very gently I felt someone put their arm around my shoulders. I assumed it was one of the girls from the team, but I couldn’t tell which one it was. I was a bit embarrassed and didn’t raise my head for a few minutes. I waited for the emotional storm to pass and then looked up to see who was with me.
There was no one there! 😲
I quickly stood up and looked around – thinking maybe they had just left and I hadn’t realized it. But there was no one on the stairs or in the courtyard below.
I sat back down and tried to remember if I had heard footsteps on the stairs. No, it had been silent the entire time.
That’s when it dawned on me – that must have been an angel! 😇
Suddenly I felt a lot better! I recalled the comfort I had felt, feeling someone’s arm around my shoulders. I had assumed it was human comfort, but realizing that it was heavenly comfort made me feel “seen” in the best way possible.
God knew where I was and He cared about my sorrow. He CARED and sent a tangible reminder of that. It blew me away. ❤️❤️❤️
That is a very precious memory for me from that trip – something I’ll never forget. The Lord brought it to my mind last night and I wanted to share it with you.
Have you ever felt the presence of an angel during a time of need? Can you describe what it was like? Please comment below – I’d love to hear your story!
Overcome Rejection – It’s NOT Your Problem
One of the readers of this blog asked me to share some suggestions for overcoming the Spirit of Rejection. A lot of people suffer from attacks from this spirit and don’t even realize it. In fact, the reader who contacted me also had a generational curse of Rejection to overcome. But she’s determined to do it! And so can you!
I’ve met people (and you probably have too) that everyone seemed inclined to reject. It wasn’t even directly tied to their attitude or behavior – you just instantly get this feeling that you should avoid them. Guess what? That’s the Spirit of Rejection! People can be born with a curse of rejection assigned to them (from a generational curse that’s not even their fault). From day one, people reject them. This becomes particularly painful when they reach school age and NO ONE wants to play with them or be their friend. Can you relate? Or do you know someone like that? I do.
When I was in my twenties, I moved to a new city and was getting to know people my age. This one guy came across my path in a group setting and immediately, I wanted to walk away. I was surprised! I hadn’t even made eye contact with him yet and already I was repulsed. I knew something wasn’t right. As I asked the Lord about it, He showed me what the Spirit of Rejection does to someone. It was so sad. Over time, I got to know this guy and he was funny and tender hearted. I could tell he suffered a little bit from social anxiety – probably because he’d been rejected his whole life! I didn’t know then what I know now so I couldn’t help him, but I DID pray for him quite a lot and I hope he found freedom.
Most of us have experienced rejection in some form or another. In fact the fear of rejection is the number one fear that all human beings experience. Let’s talk about how to break it’s power over us!
Rejection is very painful. It can alter our view of ourselves. I would encourage you to make a list of the ways Rejection has affected you. Be very specific. For instance, I used to be afraid to walk into a room of strangers because I was afraid I would be rejected. I felt insecure about meeting new people – there was always this question, Will they like me?
Go through the list and break your agreement with the lies that Rejection has told you. For instance, one of my lies was – You should be afraid to meet new people, they probably won’t like you. That’s a lie! I had to break my agreement with those lies. If you have a hard time identifying the lie, there’s a little exercise called Lie Detector: Self Concept that can help. It’s here: https://establishingthekingdom.com/freedom-exercises/ (scroll down on that page)
Then make a list of the truth about you – the opposite of the lies. For instance, “I’m not afraid to meet new people! People like me!” The Lie Detector exercise helps you identify the truth you need to hear. I did that exercise over and over and over and gathered a long list of truths that I needed to hear.
Say those truths about yourself OUT LOUD every day. Print them and tape them to the wall so you can see them and read them and meditate on them every day. You are training your brain and shifting the way you think about yourself which takes time and effort. Like a parent raising a child, you have to say it over and over and over and over until it becomes the way you think about yourself. Then people will begin to treat you differently based on these truths. I was pleasantly surprised when it started happening to me.
Here’s an example of some of the things I said about myself to cancel the rejection I had experienced:
I am accepted and I belong.
I am appreciated and acknowledged for my contributions to the kingdom family.
What I say is important, valued and received with honor and respect.
I am loved for who I am.
I receive love and respect from other people.
I have faithful, loving, close relationships. I am a blessing to others.
To be honest, when I started saying them out loud, part of my brain would say, “Yeah, right!” with a sarcastic tone of unbelief. I kept doing it anyway – teaching myself the truth. Whether I felt like it or not, I just kept doing it – like going to the gym, I was working on my muscles, getting stronger in the truth.
Two BIG keys 🔑🔑
The first BIG key for me was a revelation the Lord showed me:
You are already truly and deeply loved by God. Other people are meant to love you too. We are commanded by God to love one another. If someone doesn’t love you and rejects you instead, it’s THEIR problem, not yours! Isn’t that amazing?! Rejection is NOT your problem. 💗
Rejection is NOT your problem. 💗
Fear of rejection is what we need to heal from. But whether or not someone rejects you is NOT your problem. It’s a heart issue between them and God. Let that sink in. Ponder THAT.
The second key was identifying a lie about being alone. Feeling rejected can make you feel alone and isolated. This was another big revelation for me – it’s actually IMPOSSIBLE to be alone! If you are a follower of Jesus, you are in Christ and He is in you. You are never, ever alone – you always have all that you need. He is in you – His love, His companionship, His encouragement, etc. You belong to God. Feeling alone and isolated is an illusion! You always have a place to belong – it’s with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Your eternal family. 🙂
I know it can be hard to really receive another person’s revelation – so simply ask Holy Spirit, “Will you please reveal to me how I am never alone?” Or, “Will you please reveal to me how rejection is not my problem?”
Healing from the spirit of rejection takes time. You can break it’s power over you in the spiritual realm instantly, but healing your heart and changing the patterns of your thinking takes time and effort.
Here are some videos and books that helped me – my best ones for dealing with rejection:
Inheritance by Graham Cooke – I’ve listened to this one, over and over. SO good!
Father’s Love Letter – another good one to listen to more than once and share with your friends!
Experiencing Fathers Embrace by Jack Frost This is a GREAT book – totally shifted my thinking about God’s acceptance and love for me as a Father. Some of Jack’s teachings might still be on YouTube – you can search for them, if you wish. His family also offers live workshops on this topic now that Jack is with Jesus.
Daddy, You Love Me by Brent Lokker This book WILL stretch you in the way you connect with God.
Whew! That’s a lot. Take whatever works for you – this is how the Lord set me free. Now, when I walk into a room full of strangers, I’m excited! It never occurs to me that they might not like me. God adores me! Why wouldn’t they love me too? 🙂 God’s love has given me SO much confidence in social settings. I used to worry about what people thought of me all the time, but not anymore. What they think is THEIR issue, not mine! And if they don’t like me, I feel bad for them because it’s their loss! LOL 😁
I trust that the Lord will lead you down the perfect path for YOU to become completely free of rejection. It takes time, but it is SO worth it to feel comfortable in your own skin and happy with who you are.
If this post helped you today, would you add a comment and mention which point spoke to you? Or if you have already overcome rejection, please share what set you free! I love to hear other people’s stories. 🤩
God’s Favor – Free Donuts 🍩
God’s Favor – what is favor? It is something in the Unseen room that most people are not aware of. Is favor something you can see? Is it something you can feel? What does it look like? What does it sound like?
The first person I ever heard teach in detail about the favor of God was Lance Wallnau. Search for his name and the word “favor” on YouTube – there may be a recording of his teaching on this topic. It’s worth listening to.
One of the things I remember him saying is that when you have the favor of God, people go out of their way to do things for you that they would not normally do. I guess he had experienced it because he gave examples. For instance, he might be talking to someone at a business and they would say, “We don’t normally do this for our customers, but I just feel I should do this for you,” and they would offer him something unexpected.
Favor might happen in any number of ways. Here’s an example that happened to me this week.
My mother was in the hospital for about a week and then she was discharged. She was home for only three nights when her symptoms reappeared and she had to go back in the hospital for a couple of days. After her second discharge from the hospital, we were driving home and it was getting late. The traffic was heavy and it was going to take us almost an hour to get home. I decided to stop somewhere and have dinner because I could tell that we were both weary. Being in the hospital really takes a toll on your soul.
We stopped at a place that we don’t usually go to because it’s so far from our house. But it was right around the corner from the hospital. We went in and had some dinner – the food was excellent. When we stopped at the restroom before leaving, we saw a connecting corridor and followed it around. To my mother’s surprise, there was a donut shop attached to the restaurant (my mom loves donuts). It was a specialty donut shop with all kinds of really fancy looking donuts.
There was a family there with three small children making a lot of noise trying to figure out who wanted which donut (“No, Mommy, I want the pink one!”). Their mother was giving them a treat because it was the Christmas season and their Elf on the Shelf left them donut coupons, which she gave to the clerk. Mom and I were tired and I was ready to say, “Forget it, let’s just go home.” But instead we waited while they picked out their donuts, including having to translate the flavors and descriptions into Spanish for their grandmother who was with them. Finally they left. Mom and I knew what we wanted because we’d had so much time to look over all the selections. I told the clerk the two donuts that we wanted. He said, “Well, I’m all out of small boxes – the only ones I have are large boxes. Do you mind?” I told him that was fine.
After he placed our two donuts in the box, he said, “Pick out two more – they’re free.” I looked at him surprised. I said, “Free donuts?” He said,” Yeah, go ahead – pick out two more. There’s room in the box.” So we did.
I said, “Well, I guess it’s the end of the day and these donuts probably won’t sell before you close.” He said, “No, I can choose to give free donuts to people at my discretion. Enjoy your free donuts.” 😁
Later as I was talking to the Lord that night, it occurred to me that it was Favor. It was a kiss from God. It was His way of saying, “I see all that you two have been going through in the last few weeks. You’re not alone. I see you – here, have a donut”. Just like a parent trying to cheer up a child. It was so sweet. 💗 We enjoyed nibbling on them on that long drive home.
How have you seen the favor of God? I have often seen it where it comes to my mother. She has tremendous favor everywhere she goes. I’ve often seen favor happen to my husband as well. Especially in the areas of provision. Things just happen for him that don’t happen for other people. For instance, one day he was outside doing yard work. He was chopping a bunch of tree branches and making a big mess. I was thinking, What are we going to do with all this debris? We don’t have a truck or any way to haul it to the dump. I guess we’ll have to chop it up into little pieces and put it in our trash can. (There was a LOT more than 1 trash can full.)
Just as I was thinking those thoughts, a small pickup truck comes around the corner, pulls into our street and stops right in front of our house. A young man comes out of the truck. We had never seen him before. He walks right up to my husband and says, “Would you like me to haul this away when you’re done?” My husband said, “Sure, how much?” I think the kid said 20 bucks. So he waited for my husband to finish and loaded it all in the back of his truck. My husband handed him a $20 bill and said, “Thank you very much.” I have never seen that young man again. He appeared at just the right time, providing exactly what was needed.
That’s the favor of God! At the time, I was shocked! I had never seen such favor in my life. I have since come to see that it is a common thing in my husband’s life. Whatever he needs just shows up and it usually shows up before he even realizes that he needs it. In fact the year that we went to Ireland, it’s like the Lord was emphasizing that to us.
We went on our own to Ireland without a tour – just the two of us. Since we speak the same language (mostly 😂), we figured we could probably manage on our own in a foreign country. There were so many challenges! I was surprised. But I kept noticing the favor of God throughout our trip. Let me explain it through a couple of stories. One time as we were going through the airport, it seemed that we had to walk and walk and walk and walk, pulling our luggage behind us. Our energy was starting to lag. It occurred to me that if we got a luggage cart, we could pile everything on it and it would be much easier to walk the remaining distance that we needed to reach our gate. Just then it dawned on me – we had just passed a machine that gives you a luggage cart when you put money in it. So I walked back and got a cart and it made the rest of our trek much easier! We had not seen one of those luggage cart machines for most of the time we had been walking through the airport. We saw other people using those carts, but we didn’t know where they came from. But it was funny how it didn’t dawn on me until AFTER I passed it – we were so focused on getting to the gate on time. I think the Lord was starting to teach me to pay attention to what we needed and expect Him to meet the need.
Later during our trip we were coming out of a train station. We didn’t know which way to go to get to our hotel so we just started dragging our luggage out of the station toward the curb in the direction of the city. People walk everywhere in Ireland so we thought we would too.
Just then a taxi drove right in front of us without stopping. That’s when it hit me – we need a taxi! He had just passed us so I started waving and yelling and he slowed down and we were able to catch up with him. I don’t think it was the proper place to flag down a taxi. I think we were supposed to walk to a specific place a long way off from where we were and wait for them. But since I saw him and I didn’t see any other travelers near us, I just knew that God had sent him for us. It’s very challenging when you’re a foreigner in an unfamiliar land trying to figure out how to get around. It was such a relief to have somebody realize what we needed and they were there to help us. Throughout that trip God was teaching us that if we will pay attention to what we need and then expect His provision, we will see it right in front of our faces. It took us several tries to learn this lesson. We often “almost missed” His provision because we weren’t paying attention to what we needed. I have since learned to anticipate His goodness for our needs, no matter how small. Even a cheer-up donut! 🍩
Where have you seen the favor of God? For me it’s easier to see it on other people than to recognize it when it happens to me. But I’m learning. Feel free to share your stories below.
The favor of God is an aspect of the Unseen Realm and I think it’s time for us to learn how to enjoy its benefits. Of course, favor can unlock much greater opportunities than a taxi ride or a free donut. But we learn to trust God by taking baby steps! 😊
Related posts:
Power Over Chaos: The Enemy’s Worst Nightmare
I had a really intense dream this week that gave me some wonderful deep revelation. Here it is:
I’m alone outside. I observe that the wind is starting to blow. I see all this trash on the ground. It was empty plastic bags – some clear, some white and some light blue. The kind of bags you get at grocery and retail stores.
I was in a semi wooded area and it was kind of ugly. The ground was white dirt. The trees had no leaves, like the way it looks in winter. When the wind started to blow, I noticed that all the plastic bags were being picked up by the wind – it was cleaning the ground.
I was happy about this – I was delighted to watch all the plastic bags being picked up and taken away or maybe just gathered in piles so they could be thrown away.
By watching the bags, I noticed that the wind was blowing in a swirling circular pattern. In front of me was a small lake. I saw that the swirling was centered in the lake and it was getting stronger and stronger. I could hear a voice warning me, Don’t go near the swirling! (As though this was very dangerous and the voice was trying to protect me.)
But it was inevitable for me to be swallowed up by the swirling. There was no way to escape it. It got more and more violent until I was in the center of it in the lake.
There was nothing but chaos surrounding me. It was like standing in the middle of a tornado. I couldn’t see anything – just the sense of being in the middle of this powerful swirling wind.
But instead of freaking out, I started calming down inside by humming two tones over and over. And I knew that as I calmed down on the inside, it would calm the chaos around me. Then I woke up – my husband thought I was having a nightmare and he woke me up (he said I was making noise).
Here are some Insights I received from this dream:
I have been warned to stay away from the chaos. But when chaos surrounds me, I have power over it!
You can stop the chaos without, by bringing peace to the chaos within.
I do NOT need to fear the chaos because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world (I John 4:4). I bet that terrifies the devil! Maybe I was having his nightmare! LOL 😂
I think the voice that was trying to protect me is either my ego or maybe religion. What sounds like wisdom, but it’s really based on fear. The voice was well-meaning and trying to protect me. It thought that the chaos would harm me. But when I was in the middle of the chaos, I found out that I actually was more powerful than it.
The enemy tries to intimidate us with chaos – he says, “Look at all this craziness you can’t control!! Be afraid, be very afraid!” (If you watch the news or read the headlines – it’s there every day.)
Yet the Chaos is the very thing that reminds me to tap into the Peace within me, which is more powerful than the chaos outside of me. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I am powerful in Him. It’s time to stop listening to the voice of fear that is trying to protect us. Because in reality we already have all that we need. Nothing can truly harm us. We are safe in the most wonderful way.
I feel such joy! The more I embrace that things around me are out of my control, the more true lasting power I realize I have because I am the one that brings calm to the storm. I don’t have peace by controlling things around me to keep things from getting “out of control”. I have peace because none of it is under my control. I don’t have to control it! I don’t have to manage it in order to have peace and power. Peace and power are already mine – it resides in me as I abide in Christ.
The devil is terrified that we will discover this secret and take away his power by bringing peace on earth.
We are the enemy’s worst nightmare. Not the other way around. I LOVE that!! 😁😍🤣
Wow. Thank you, Lord!! Your kingdom rules over all and we are your ambassadors. We bring Your kingdom wherever we go! ❤️
So what do you think? Does this speak to you the way it did to me? What is the Lord highlighting to you about this dream that you could apply to your life today? Please comment – I love to hear your thoughts!
Thank you for being part of this journey – bringing Peace on Earth. Go be dangerous to the devil! 😎
Feeling in the Spirit – What Do I Do With It?
I saw this question posted recently in a group I am in:
“My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, who God has blessed with the gift of discerning of spirits, do you feel things? I find it difficult to talk to people about it without me sounding crazy and at times I feel like I’m going crazy, like there’s something wrong with me. I struggle to work out what is my stuff or other people’s stuff or what I am meant to do with what I feel. Does anyone understand me or experience the same things?”
YES! You are not alone!! 💗
I decided to write out a response to this question because I see it frequently. The person asked if there was a book or something where they could learn how to use this gift of feeling things in the spirit. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a good book on this topic. That’s partly why I started this blog – to share what I’ve experienced to help normalize it for people. And to let them know, You are not crazy and you are not alone – I experience these things too.
So in this post, I’m going to go over this gift of discerning of spirits as it relates to “feeling”. Part of what makes this a bit confusing to discuss is that “feeling” can mean emotional feeling and it can mean tangible feeling – like sensing a presence in your room. Because the feeling gift works both ways, I’ll discuss each one.
Where to start? This is such a deep topic and no one has tackled it sufficiently yet. There are precious few books written on discerning of spirits.
What Do I Do With What I Feel?
Let’s start with what to do because that is usually the first question I hear from people: “I felt __, but I didn’t know what to do about it.” Here’s my 1 step plan: Ask the Lord. When you feel something (whether tangible or emotional), simply stop, pay attention to what you are experiencing and ask, Holy Spirit, what is this? Am I supposed to do something about this? Then wait for a minute or two and see what comes to your heart or mind. Don’t try to figure it out on your own – that’s leaning on your own understanding. If you need to know, God will tell you!
Sometimes clarity will come to you and you’ll know what to do. Sometimes you get nothing. In that case, simply continue on with your day and trust that if it’s important, God will show you more. I specifically ask Holy Spirit because the Spirit has been given to us to lead us into all truth, to teach us things.
When you feel things that no one else appears to feel, you may be tempted to question your sanity. This happens because your soul is trying to interpret what your spirit is perceiving. Don’t let your soul try to talk you out of what you are sensing. You are sensing it for a reason. Just stop and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what to do.
Sometimes you may feel things because it gives you more information about a person or a situation, but you may not need to do anything about it. It’s just information. For instance, today I went to a local farmer’s market. I saw a vendor that was selling pretty rocks, incense, stones with inspiring words carved on them, tea, jewelry and other items. I heard an older lady say, “We are a mind, body, spirit store.” I looked at a younger woman standing behind the table and I perceived her unrest. She was shifting from foot to foot and nervously moving one of her hands. But I felt it first. That’s what made me look up from the table and pay attention to her behavior. I asked the Lord silently inside my spirit whether I should say something to her. In fact, I thought it was ironic that they were selling things promising to give you peace when this woman clearly was not at peace. The Holy Spirit told me not to say anything so I moved along. Later it occured to me that maybe this woman’s unrest was because of demons she may have invited in and they were uncomfortable being near the light that I carry. People who dabble in the spiritual realm using these items often invite guidance from spirits that they think are harmless but later are revealed to be demons with a hurtful agenda.
In case you are wondering if it’s just you, let me assure you – I feel things every day. Everywhere I go I feel things. Do I know what it all means? No. I don’t have to. I’ve learned that in the kingdom of God, information is on a “need to know” basis. If you need to know, God will tell you. If not, just keep going.
So how did I know this was “her stuff” and not “my stuff”? I’ve learned to pay attention to what I am feeling. I was at peace as I was strolling through the farmer’s market. I make it a point to cultivate peace, to bring it wherever I go. So when I felt this unrest in the spiritual realm, I looked around to see where it was coming from. I knew it wasn’t my unrest – it came from outside of me. It wasn’t inside of me.
Feelings on the Inside versus the Outside
There have been times, many times in fact, where I am at home minding my own business and suddenly I feel a negative emotion. It comes out of the blue. I will feel it on the inside as though it is my own emotions. And yet, I was not thinking any thoughts related to that emotion. I wasn’t upset about anything – it just came to me.
What do you do when that happens?
I do the same thing – my 1 step plan. I stop, pay attention and identify what I’m feeling. Then I ask, Holy Spirit, what is this? Am I supposed to do something about this?
It could be an attack of anxiety from the demonic realm – just sent to harrass me. If so, I would pray, “I come out of agreement with anxiety and fear. I command you to leave right now. I cover myself and my household with the blood of Jesus.”
I might ask Holy Spirit if there’s an open door that allowed this attack to enter. If so, I say, “I close every open door to the enemy’s realm and seal them with the blood of Jesus.” If I was the one that opened that door, I would repent.
But maybe this feeling is not an attack. Maybe someone else is feeling anxious or upset. If I am near a friend or family member, I may feel prompted by the Spirit to turn to them and ask, Are you feeling anxious about anything? Maybe this is a word of knowledge as a feeling so that I can offer to pray for them and show compassion for their pain.
Sometimes I don’t get any clarity about who is the one with the feeling so I simply send peace. I might pray, Lord, I don’t know who is feeling anxious right now, but I give this feeling to You. I ask for Your peace to penetrate and saturate this anxiety. I receive Your peace.
This is the role of an intercessor – to bring to the Lord the unrest in the world and release His peace and love to heal the pain that is causing the unrest.
The main thing I try not to do is assume I know what is going on. That would be leaning on my own understanding. Instead, I turn to Him and ask for direction and then act.
If I was not at peace when the feeling suddenly came, it can be confusing to figure out – is this mine or someone else’s? Either way, I simply surrender it to the Lord. I stop and ask for direction. If it was mine to begin with then I certainly don’t want it! Or maybe I was feeling a little off already and this extra emotion was sent to sabotage my day. Still the 1 step plan is my choice of action. I am going to do my best to get back to the place of peace inside and out.
–> I will tell you a secret – the more you get healed on the inside, peace becomes your normal operating environment. Peace and Joy. So when other feelings suddenly come over you, you realize – This is not me! And it’s easier to deal with it. (So pursue inner healing – it’s wonderful!)
As an intercessor, sometimes you may carry an emotion for someone else for awhile. You might feel the heartache of divorce or grief. You might feel the loneliness of abandonment. You might carry a sense of anger over injustice. Keep in mind – you are not meant to carry it for a long time. Keep surrendering it to the Lord and ask Him to lead you in how to release what is needed from His kingdom into the earth – or on behalf of a specific person. He will show you. You will be directed. It might just come as an intuitive understanding of what to do. Just follow His leading.
Feeling Atmospheres
When there is unrest in a nation, you might feel it in the atmosphere. That can feel inescapable! This is very hard if you are a feeler. Sometimes the feeling is only regional. I’ve had times where I could feel so much pressure in the atmosphere around me and I just knew I needed to go for a drive. As I drove out of the area and passed a certain boundary in the spirit, immediately the pressure decreased. A big sigh of relief would come over me and I’d realize it was regional. Often when it is over a large area like that, there’s not much you can do about it other than just endure until it passes. Someday we as a corporate body will have authority to shift the atmosphere over a larger region, but right now, I certainly don’t have that on my own and I don’t know of a local body in my area that does.
Am I Going Crazy?
Last question: How do you know if you are going crazy? This is an excellent question because many of us may feel like we are crazy, especially when no one else seems to sense what we do. First of all, if you are questioning your sanity that’s actually a sign of good mental health. People who have truly lost touch with reality, don’t ask that question. Secondly, find others who have this gift that you can share your feelings with. It really helps to have someone who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit who can validate that what you are sensing is not crazy. The gifts are meant for the body of Christ and having others around you helps you fine tune your gift of discernment. Lastly, ask the Lord. He will confirm to you what is accurate and what is not. You can trust Him. It’s His job to take care of you, including your mental health. 🙂
The main thing is to simply learn to let go of anything you don’t understand. Ask Him about it. Wait for an answer and if nothing comes, just let it go. Don’t get wrapped up in your imagination.
This gift forces you to rely on the Holy Spirit more than anything else! It is vital. You can’t operate in the gifts of the Spirit without relying on the Giver of the gifts! Reading a book or this post might be a little helpful, but God is truly the only one who can teach you how to use the gift He gave you. So press in to intimacy with Him.
I hope this post has been helpful. I am sure there are more questions regarding Feeling in the Spirit. Please post any questions below and we can continue this discussion.
Just as a reminder – you are not crazy and you are not alone. I am a feeler too – there are many of us. We need to stick together. Thank you for letting God move through your feelings – it’s a gift! 🙂💗
P.S. I just remembered a story about this that might encourage you. One time I was in a small group Bible study at someone’s home and I began to feel uncomfortable. I didn’t know what to do about it, but the tension was increasing. I looked around the room and no one else seemed to notice. So I didn’t say anything. Finally, we took a break and had snacks. I went into the kitchen and someone whispered to me, “Did you feel uncomfortable tonight?” I looked at them in surprise! “You felt it too?!” I asked, kind of shocked. Just then someone else walked in and said, “Me too! Didn’t it feel weird?” Then another person joined the conversation and we discovered FOUR of us had felt something was off but since we all assumed we were the only one feeling it, we didn’t say anything. So keep in mind – you are probably NOT the only one feeling what you are feeling, but most of us have no idea how to communicate about the unseen realm with others and we fear sounding weird so we don’t say anything.
Unity in Uniqueness – There’s No Other Way!
“Everyone else is __ and I’m not. I don’t fit in. I must be weird or something.”
I would venture to guess that every person has had those thoughts at some point in their life.
I just discovered that this is a LIE!
Who knew?
We tend to see patterns among our associates – friends, coworkers, family members, neighbors. Because we have a strong desire to belong, we look for those who are similar to us. We join clubs, community organizations or sports teams to be one of the gang.
Then when “everyone else” appears to be united in doing the same thing or wearing the same style or buying the same products and we don’t conform, we feel like the odd one. In fact, in some social circles, that point will be brought to your attention, like:
“You don’t like football? What’s wrong with you?”
“Come on, everyone’s having a drink. What’ll it be?”
“Are you seriously wearing THAT outfit to the party?”
People pressure us to conform to whatever they are doing because conformity feels like belonging.
But it’s NOT.
And those who know this often feel like they don’t really belong.
And they are right! 🙂
On the outside, it can look like everyone is agreed on the same thing. Like employees wearing a uniform at their job – does it make them a unified team because they all wear the same thing? No, not usually.
It’s not true connection and unity.
We are each made to be unique – like snow flakes. There aren’t two that are alike.
So when you think you are weird for not being like everyone else, stop yourself and say,
“No, nobody is like everyone else – we are all unique for a reason!”
True belonging and connection comes because we are all different. I like you because although we might have some things in common, you have your own perspective, your own personality and your own sense of humor. I LIKE that about you!
On the outside you might see conformity in a group of people, but I have never in my life met two people who were alike. Never. Even identical twins are not perfect copies of each other – they each have their own tastes, talents and interests in life.
Each person is “weird” in their own way and it is a reason to be celebrated! (not rejected)
In God’s kingdom, every part does it’s share and together God’s purposes are fulfilled. The Bible says,
But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? (I Corinthians 12:18-21, 17)
The whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:16)
We NEED our uniqueness to make the world a beautiful place!
Like puzzle pieces, we each have our own shape, our own edges and uniqueness. Some people will connect with certain parts of you and others will connect with a different side of you. THAT’S THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE!
There’s Unity in Uniqueness – true belonging comes from truly being who we are. And not trying to be like everyone else because that’s just plain impossible.
I hope this encourages you today. It’s impossible for you to be weird, odd or strange – because there is no standard that everyone conforms to. You are meant to be different than others – that’s what makes you YOU.
Questions? Comments? Arguments against or Support for this idea? Feel free to post them below and let’s start a conversation about this.
Thank you for reading my “weirdness” and enjoying it too – I like you just the way you are. 🙂💗
By the way, this kind of reminds me of a recent post I did on the Rainbow Circle of Light. Each person had a different wavelength or color of light with which they glowed. Shine brightly! 😁
Learning to Hear God’s Voice
Whenever someone tells me they want to draw closer to God, one of my first questions is about whether they know how to discern God’s voice. Learning the language of the Spirit is like learning another language – it takes time and practice! You can pray all day and fast and read Scripture, but there has to be two way communication in order to build a RELATIONSHIP with God. It cannot be one sided!
In fact, I remember when I was a child and someone said from a pulpit that Jesus was our best friend and we should talk to him all day long. In my mind, my reply was, Well, He better talk to me too! No one talked about hearing from God so I didn’t say what I was thinking for fear of being labeled disrespectful. I guess most people just assumed it was a one way thing – you talk and God listens. I remember when I started to hear from God and I told my dad. He said, That’s preposterous! God only talks to holy men in the mountains. He was raised Greek Orthodox and there are special mountains where the priests go to hear from God.
Guess what? God still speaks! And you can know when God is speaking to you. Did you ever notice that almost every story in the Bible revolves around someone hearing from God? It’s important when God speaks to you and you should write down what He says! It also means He talks to a lot of people so why wouldn’t He talk to you too? 😊
If you want some step-by-step instructions, here is a course I can recommend to help you get started.
Developing a Close Relationship with God: A Simple Method – link to course
If you need encouragement and hope to develop a close relationship with God – that’s what this course provides. If you took the course, you’d learn how to focus so you can pay attention to God without distractions. You’d also learn to recognize His voice and become familiar with the different ways that God communicates. You’d practice recording what God has said to you each day. This would give you confidence to take action on what He tells you to do. That’s quite an adventure! Lastly, you’d have a new appreciation of what it means to really TRUST God.
It’s very short – like 15 minutes a week for 4 weeks. And it’s not expensive. You can listen to it while you drive or even when you exercise. It provides simple exercises to help you interact with God.
Recently a reader of this blog sent me this message about the course:
My husband and I just completed this course. It is concise and we feel so comforted and confirmed that our personal experiences with God are true! At our church, no one shares how they communicate personally with God. I learned by asking God to help me discern which voice is His, which voice is mine and which voice is the enemy (or accuser). This course gave us confirmation of our experience with Holy Spirit.
It is very important to learn how to tell the difference between God’s voice, your own voice and the enemy’s voice. If you need help with that, read this post: God’s Voice vs Other Voices: How Can You Tell the Difference?
If you have learned to hear God voice already, please comment on this post – that way we can all learn from each other!
Here are some related posts that might also help you:
How to Remove Blocks to Hearing God
Why Can’t I See or Hear in the Spirit?
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 