“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful.” - Colossians 3:15
An attitude of gratitude ensures our success in overcoming negative
thoughts and in renewing our mind. Somebody said, "There are only two
kinds of people in the world: there are those who wake up cheerfully in the
morning and say, ‘Good morning, Lord,’ Then there are those who wake up
depressed in the morning and say, ‘Good Lord, it's morning.’" If you sound
like the second person, then surrendering your life to God will bring you to a
place of healing.
We overcome Satan through our Salvation in Christ first, and then by our
testimony about what He does in our lives (Revelation 12:11). Once we are firmly adopted into God’s family, His Spirit
starts to replace our negative attitudes with positive ones (Galatians 5:22-23). The first place to begin
cleansing our soul and renewing our spirit is in the area of bitterness and
unforgiveness. Negative attitudes reflect a wounded soul. Forgiveness helps us
to move on toward emotional freedom.
Bitterness rises from woundedness deep within our soul, and can be rooted
years back into our past. Pride is one lie that guards the secrets of our past.
We do not want to admit to ourself, nor to anyone else, the things that others
did to us. We block these memories from our conscious mind, and we put a wall
of pride and sometimes anger all around them. We falsely believe that these
strong, negative emotions will protect us from any past, present and future
hurt. What these negative emotions actually do, however, is to block our soul
from receiving the fullness of the love that God has for us.
We do not need anger and pride to protect us when we have Jesus, the King
of kings, as our mighty stronghold and fortress. As we put our trust in Christ
we live in abiding peace and joy - not only in our spirit, but deep within our
soul as well. If you do not have this peace, then Satan has deceived you with
his lies (Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 30:15). I like to use this
exercise to dispell stress: I take a deep breath into my lungs and think the
word “Jesus” as I breathe in. Then I think the word “stress” as I breathe out.
I visualize God’s peace filling me with every deep inhale as stress leaves my
body with every deep exhale.
When we have the King of kings hovering over us and sheltering us under His
wings, we can forgive past hurts, and put future hurts into proper perspective.
We can look for the seed of a miracle in every negative circumstance, because
God promises to work all things, even the bad things, out for our good (Romans 8:28).
If we do not forgive, then God cannot forgive us (Matthew 6:15). Until we forgive our self and others, Satan gains the advantage over us.
If we refuse to forgive, we give him permission to control that part of our
soul, and to inflict his demons on our body and spirit as well. He holds us
captive and the fruit of the Holy Spirit cannot manifest in that area of our
soul (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Hebrews 12:16).
Once we find God’s forgiveness for our self and for those who hurt us, then
we receive healing from the lies Satan planted in those wounds. We live in
freedom from the affects of his lies and we walk in God’s truth throughout our
life. Satan wants us to live in bondage to the Law of Sin and death, but Christ
already freed us by the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 7:22-8:3).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, give me the courage to face the past and the future by focusing
on You now in the present moment. Help me to remember that You will complete
the work You started in my life (Philippians
1:6). Fill
me with Your Spirit and renew my soul day by day until You conform me into Your
image. Allow me to set the captives free and to heal the broken hearted who
suffered as I did at the hand of unregenerate people.
Thought for the Day:
The Lord is always voting for you…and the devil is always voting against
you. It's up to you to break the tie!
Thank you, Sarah Patterson, for the use of your photo.
For more info on healing life’s hurts read the three free chapters at:
http://theophostic.com/page13051343.aspx