I haven't written anything in weeks. Why, you may ask. Well, it is a combination of things. First, I felt that I was pounding away so often at the same subjects and I allowed the devil to convince me that 'you need something new', 'folks get tired of reading about the same subject all the time'. Then sickness has been at our house. When I felt like moving and doing anything there was so much to be done. I felt frustrated, I had missed church because of being sick or someone else in the family being sick. I felt that I was becoming stagnated.
All of that boils down to one thing. Once again, the devil stole from me! He stole my joy of writing, he stole my peace of God directing. You'd think I'd learn! If it's negative, it's coming from him and he is the father of lies.
Over the last few days I realized that I need to keep hitting the same notes. I need to sing the same song. I need to make sure that on all days I keep my praise. We are at war, yep, I said it again. War - we have an enemy but he is slick, he knows every trick!
He uses our weaknesses. He sees our insecurity and he magnifies it. He uses our minds against us. Did you know that you can allow your mind and emotions to kill your body? You can get so caught up in the 'downers' that you can't function. You know that it is the devil that fear of the unknown keeps you stuck in place. You know the devil is moving but what is that big scary thing called the unknown? It could be worse, it could be more painful, it could hit you harder, so you stay in that place and allow the devil to torment your mind.
The mind can cause physical sickness or at least physical symptoms. I've seen it make a person shake uncontrollably. I've seen it make a person feel sick to their stomach, even cause their BP to go up and down. Here is a really scary thing about how satan works in someone that has depression, mental disorders, anxiety, he keeps taking it up a notch. You go into a strange crowd and you feel a little bit of the stress, then he whispers 'they are all looking at you' or 'they know what you did' or 'they can tell you don't belong'. And the stress level increases, with that increase, your heart pumps faster and your breathing may become erratic. This scares you because you don't know what physical symptom is next so instead of crying out to the Father, you let the father of lies continue to whisper in your ear. 'They don't want you', 'they don't need you', 'you are a bother', every negative thing imaginable. He just keeps filling your ears full of it. And until you are able to turn to God and say 'Father, make him stop', he will continue.
Then the really sly part begins on his end. 'If you aren't needy, will they even care?', 'they won't be there if you find deliverance from this and you'll be alone' or maybe it is 'I am so alone, I need them to care about me'. So he continues to plant the seeds and put the voices in our ear. Here is where he can get to you best, because at this point you don't want to say anything out loud because 'they' may hear. Yet if you don't rebuke what is happening verbally, satan can't hear you either. He can't read our minds. When you think, 'devil I'm done', he doesn't hear that. You have to SAY IT! Say it loud and say it Strong!
I've been humming the song 'This Means War' for the last few days. Again God has shown me, I have to fight the devil. You have to fight the devil. We can't fight him this week and think that is sufficient for the month or the year. It is a daily battle and we have to put on the full armor and fight. 'I plead, I plead the blood!' That has to be my most important weapon! I have to plead the blood, I have to take up my sword, I have to put on my shield. I must daily fight.
And we must fight for each other. Today, do you know someone that seems to be caught in a trap of the enemy? Someone that daily seems to be sinking further and further? Then pray for them, call them by name. Pray for their deliverance, pray that they see what they must do to be delivered. Because our deliverance comes when we do what God tells us. Just like he told Naman to go to the muddy river of Jordan and dip 7 times, God often asks that we do things that we see no value in. But the value is in the obedience, not in the thing. There was not healing at the 6th dip, it took the 7th. When Israel was marching around Jericho, the victory came on the 7th time around because God told them to go around 7 times.
If you are battling with depression or other torments of the mind, there can be value in counseling or medication if it is caused by something physical but there is something that God wants of you. There is something He is telling you to do. It may be to fall on an altar at church, or nail 'it' to the cross, or it could be something else that shows your obedience. But whatever it is, you have to do it. And as you do that you need to plead the blood and claim Jesus at His word. Claim His promise for your healing and know that as that fear and depression depart, you must fill that space with something. Jesus is the best 'filler'. He can fill every crack, every crevice.
The devil loves to play with your mind, he loves to bring depression, he loves to create chaos. He will if you will let him. Satan will put a gag order on your life. He will have you hiding all the ugliness and pain. He will tell you that they will not love you or forgive you. He will tell you that they will not want you there. Because he is a liar!
Satan wants you confused, hurting, depressed and angry. He can use that. But when you plead the blood, his reign is over. There is power in the blood and satan cannot defeat that power. So today I declare again 'This Means War' and 'I plead, I plead the blood'! The blood of Jesus. It is my victory, it is my deliverance.
Are you willing to fight? Are you ready for battle? Daily we must fight, we must believe. Will you plead the blood? Will you pray for those around us? Will you because a solider?
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