Spiritual First Aid- Part 1

Psalms147:3 - For he heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.

Jeremiah 30:17 - For I will restore health unto you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the lord; because they called you an outcast, saying, this is Zion, whom no man seeks after.

Lamentations 3:32-33 - But though he causes grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

Sometimes, the oppression we feel is the effect is a spiritual scar, instead of a demon. Through life events- relationships, past battles, and coming into contact with the ugliness of the world in general- we receive wounds.

When someone abuses you, it leaves an emotional/spiritual knife in your gut. When someone targets you for malice, it leaves a dart lodged in your back, a wound that they can poke at again and again, every time they see you. These wounds leave you vulnerable, and cause you harm.

These things are not of Yahweh, and so you need to know how to treat and heal these sorts of wounds.

First, you need to identify the wound: Is it an open wound that is festering, an old scar that still twinges, or is there still something stuck in it that needs removed? I will discuss and break down each of these in separate blogs, to keep you from turning all bleary eyed.

In my experience, if the wound is still open and festering, or if it has something lodged inside it, it will have a name. Each attack hits you with something meant to cripple you.

It may be a 'dagger' of fear lodged in you; it whispers at you all the horrible things that can go wrong in your life, feeding off your natural fears and phobias and making them so much worse, making it difficult for you to reach out, to be bold and beautiful like you were meant to be. It could be a parasite that has grabbed onto you, feeding off your heartache, your lust, your insecurities with yourself. Or perhaps it's simply be a dart, a barb meant to stick in and irritate you, bind you and remind you of something that weighs on your soul, dragging you backwards.

Whatever it is, see if you can identify it, because that will help you know how to respond.

If it is a weapon of fear, you must be bold, courageous. If it is a weapon of lust, you may need to remain abstinent until you are able to remove it and heal the gap. If it is a weapon of heartache, crippling you from investing emotions into anything, the defense would be to let yourself care, and to let other people care about you.

It may sound a little silly, and it will feel strange, and occasionally ridiculous. But if you want to loosen the weapon so you can remove it, you have to deny it any purchase. If you do this, the entity- be it a demon, a poison dart, or whatever else afflicts you- loses it's power over you. Then you can rebuke it, cast it away in the name of Yahweh, and deny it entry again. Then you may set about cleaning the wound and bandaging it so it can heal. We will discuss that in the next segment of this topic.

Now, sometimes, you won't be able to name the attack, and that's ok. You can pray against and rebuke it either way. Some attacks are simply made to hurt you,, they have no deeper meaning. And even the deeper ones occasionally go nameless. Pray, Rebuke it, and keep rebuking it 'til it goes away.

There are many different weapons, and many different enemies, to watch out for. Your job is to discern what sort of attack this is, so that you can combat it and remove it.

So, to sum up this information overload, here are the basic steps.

Pray- Ask Yahweh to help you understand, help you discern what it is, and how to deal with it.

Discern- look inside yourself, and try to understand how this weapon is affecting you. How does it make you react in situations? How does it hinder you in your life?

Rebuke- Rebuke the weapon and poison in the name of Yahweh. Cast it away from you (it's okay to physically act out the movement, if the symbolism helps you)

Treat- Combat the wound with a healthy behavior, something that shows you and the weapon that you are acting in spite of it's crippling affects.

Rebuke some more if necessary, then pray that Yahweh close up the wound and protect it. (more on the closing and protecting next time.)

Square One

Gen. 3:4-5- Then the serpent said, “You will not surely die. For Yahweh knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Yahweh, knowing good and evil.”

So, I’ve become aware recently of an attack that I had overlooked. I’ve been so used to being attacked blatantly, that I missed the one that one hurting me the most; For almost ten years I have been oppressed by a spirit, and I didn’t realize until a few months ago that I had let it in.

You see, unlike the other attacks I’ve been victim to, this one came at me a bit sideways- this spirit became my friend. It pretended to care for me, to want the best for me, but all along it led me into self destructive behaviors and clouded my senses so I couldn’t see Truth as I'm supposed to.

It came at me at a time when I was lonely, and confused, acting like it was trying to help me, and I foolishly let it in, without questioning it. I invited it to stay, and it did, keeping me company, and all the while whispering lies in my ear and leading me away from my Heavenly Father. It effected the way I relate to other people, clouded my empathy so as to make me misunderstand what was in front of me, and hurt me emotionally over and over, and I didn’t realize it. And through that door, it brought friends. I’ve been spending the last few months trying to rid myself of them, and it’s been a difficult and painful battle.

I became aware of it, because it accidentally tipped its hand, by pushing too far and getting greedy. It led me into a situation where I was completely and totally… wrong. I misunderstood what was in front of me and acted in an embarrassingly foolish manner, bending some of my own rules on morality, instigated the whole way by this Demon, who kept insisting to me that what my eyes and ears were seeing wasn’t true, that what it told me was real, despite what else was going on.
The saving grace of the situation was that Yahweh protected the others involved, and didn’t allow me to infect them with this same spirit, and they are still safe. I thank Yahweh every day for that.

As for how to get rid of this parasite, I’m still working on it. I finally had a confrontation with it, and it identified itself as a Demon of ‘heart’s desire,’ one who takes your passions in life and your deepest wishes and tries to mimic them, feeding off the energy and heart you put into it when you trust it. I had to rebuke it several times before it finally went away, and have been working at doing the same with its friends. I’ve also had to build up my spiritual fortifications, because it has tried to come back several times. I asked for prayer from my family and close friends, and that’s helped as well. But I don’t know if I’ve totally closed that hole. at this point I still feel raw, and a little bit heartbroken. I wont pretend I'm not hurting from this. But I still trust that Yahweh will see me through, and will protect me from more then I can handle.

So I guess the only lesson I have today is to make sure you question the forces that come to you, whether they seem friendly, or scary. Always ask who sent it. and verify everything it says through the bible and what you know of Yahweh himself, as He has revealed to you.

Blessings and love ‘til next time, peeps:-) May Yahweh protect you and give you clear sight and strong hearts.

The Sabbath

Mark 2:23- ‘The Sabbath day was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’

Okay, every warrior needs a resting place. It is physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting to fight everyday. So it is important to know where your havens are. Luckily for us, Yahweh set up provision for this when he made the universe; He made the Sabbath day.

In the beginning, after Yahweh made man, and beast and everything you can fathom, he wiped his brow, sat down and took a nap. Well ok, he at least rested, maybe had a lemonade- come on, building a universe is a lot of work! Anyways, he saw this day of rest as a good thing, and made it an institution, a rule of the universe we live in:

Gen. 2:2- ‘Then Yahweh blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which Yahweh had created and made.’

He sanctified the seventh day of the week, making it holy unto him. This means that no matter what else happens, that day is to be specifically his. And he gave it to us.

Yahweh knows the battle we face, and doesn’t want us to burn out. He wants us strong & beautiful, in everything standing firm against the Usurper. So he commanded:

Ex. 20:8- ‘Remember the Sabbath Day, and keep it holy.’

He didn’t say this just to be bossy and regiment your every move, he did it for your benefit.

The Sabbath is a day for you to rest in him. It’s a day to put down your armor- you don’t need it in him. You put on your best clothes, or your most comfortable, and you just hang out with him all day long. You tell him about your week, you listen to his insight, and basically just enjoy each others company. By spending time in his presence, our souls are recharged. Yahweh, the source of all power and life, fans the individual flame within you, refortifies your spirit and brings peace to whatever turbulence is in your heart, if you let him. This is his gift to you.

That is why the Sabbath is important. It’s the one day when the enemy cannot harm you, so long as you keep it holy.

So this Sabbath, relax. Stay home, or go on a picnic, whatever is low key to you. Spend the day praising him, just being still in his presence.

See how it changes your week.

Tactics Update

Happy Sabbath Brethren! I promise, I didn’t fall off the face of the planet and abandon you. I’ve been dealing with some personal Heartbreaks and issues, and Yahweh and I have only recently gotten back on an even keel. The explanation is long, embarrassing and only slightly convoluted, but doesn’t pertain to the topic of this piece, so we will leave it at that, with a heartfelt, “I’m very sorry for not writing!”

I have been under a lot of spiritual pressure recently, and sat down today and was thinking about some of the tactics and strategies I've been using. So I tried to write some of them down, and would like to share a few of the insights I've gotten. So here goes:

1. Pick your battles- Don’t start fights unless Yahweh tells you too.

I am what you would call a very precocious individual. I enjoy stirring pots, or poking bears or rocking boats. I tend to do it when I'm bored, or curious, or tired, or excited lol so basically all the time. Now, in and of itself, this can be an amusing pastime, but it can leave you open to things you’re not ready for.

Recently, I’ve been poking a certain spiritual bear. I’d felt it’s presence, and was curious how big its web was and what it was doing near me. So I started sending out spiritual waves, praying in it’s direction sending out rebukes and queries, and general antagonizing it to see what it would do. The problem was I forgot to ask God if I was supposed to. And now that presence is aware of me and on its guard. it wasn’t my battle to fight this time, and I should have asked him first. So far I’ve simply made myself vulnerable, but it could prove to be a major hazard in the future. Your prayers would be appreciated.

So yes, the point I was trying to make; don’t just jump into a battle because you see it going on. It’s very easy to get big headed and cocky when you’re feeling at one with the father, and that can lead you to make some foolish decisions. So please, communicate with him before you make any moves.

2. Use your eyes; and ears, voice, touch etc. as well as your heart. Yahweh gave you your senses for a reason.

Spiritual sensitivity is just like all your other senses, it’s a way you perceive the world around you. You will perceive it better if you use all your senses together, in tandem. You cannot just rely on ‘the feeling.’  That feeling, the spiritual awareness, is your early warning system; it tells you when something is happening, or sometimes that something is going to happen soon. But it doesn’t tell you what that disturbance is, or where it is. It’s your place to discern what/where/ who it is, and you do that by using your senses, all the ones Yahweh blessed you with. Through the Holy Spirit, your eyes will be opened to what is going on around you.

And after you discern what the disturbance is, you refer back to the first point, and ask Yahweh what you’re supposed to do/not do.

Those are my points for the night. I don’t want to overload you. May you have a wonderful Sabbath this weekend, and may Yahweh bless and guard your steps.

Whispering Parasites

I read a science fiction novel, where there were these creature that fed off your emotions. They were empathetic; they felt what you felt, and intensified it, then sent it back to you. So when you were afraid around them, they made it seem ten times worse. The creatures had been made to be a help to people, but kept wanting more and more emotion and became a terror.

This is much like how demons are. Demons are parasites. They attach themselves to people, and sometimes objects, so that they can feed off the energy. Like the creatures from the story, they are so addicted to the energy that they instigate events in order to cause you to emote, to give off the energy that feeds them. But most of all, their goal is to turn you away from Yahweh. This, more then anything, is why they torment us. Because Satan wants to usurp God. That’s why he was cast out. He continues in that goal still, and that’s what we must guard against.

Most often, demons simply use your circumstances to their advantage. The enemy prefers to work anonymously, so they try to use what is already there.

So when you get in trouble at work, they whisper in you ear ugly things. “Your boss just hates you. You shouldn’t even try. they’re just using you. Why would you expect better for yourself?”

Or when you’re rejected by someone. “Well, you’re ugly, Why the hell would they want you? You’re chubby, people don’t honestly think you’re pretty. You talk too much/too little. You dress like a hobo. You’re not feminine/masculine. You’re too stupid, too naïve, they don’t want to babysit you. You’re too smart, who wants to put up with a know-it-all? You’re too innocent/ too ‘Well-traveled’.”

All these things are lies from the enemy. They tell you things to make you feel left out, alone, and worthless. because when you’re alone and broken, you’re not a threat.

When you start to hear or feel these things, tell them to shut up. Rebuke them, in the name of Yeshua. Ask you angel to keep them away(yes, I believe we do have angels). And if they still wont go away, here’s a little trick a pastor friend told me:

As followers of god, we have Yeshua- Jesus- in our hearts. And he’s the most perfect person in the universe. So that mean we can’t possibly be that bad. So when the enemy tell you, “You’re ugly and worthless.” Turn and ask, “Hey Yeshua, are you ugly and worthless?” and see what the answer is.

because if we are reflections of him, if he shines through us, then we are perfect. We are handsome, precious and one of a kind creations, made to do something specific, that no one else can.

So that’s the protection tip for today. When that little voice in the back of your head says you’re not good enough, ask Yeshua if its true, then tell the voice to go take a flying leap, ‘cause he’s got nothing on you.

Where is the Enemy

If you are to fight the enemy, you need to be able to recognize it. On this subject, I’m not sure what to share. We all perceive the enemy in different ways. But there are ways to find out what you’re sensing, and where it comes from.

Quite simply; you Ask. If you encounter something, and you don’t know what it is, or who it serves, then say, “In the name of Yeshuah, Identify yourself.” In Joshua, when he came upon the warrior in the wilderness, He asked, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” It’s the same thing. When you address them, in the name of Yeshuah, they have to answer truthfully. If they don’t answer right away, keep asking. repeat the question until they do.

As I said, we all perceive spirits differently. I see demons as shadows, or eyes, and I feel waves of fear, pain, lust- the ugly things in life. I feel it like a wind brushing over me, through me. I have for longer then I can remember. The night I described previously is typical of how I see them. Others in my family just feel impressions, or see flashes of light. and others don’t perceive them at all.

In part, I believe this has to do with where one is on their journey with God. As we know him more, we are granted a greater understanding of truth. With that comes a sensitivity to things unseen. But there are some people who are not called to fight with demons directly. We all have our jobs to do. some heal, some train and teach, and some stand on the front lines.

If you don’t see them, you’re very fortunate. I don’t wish my gifts on you. They’re heavy to carry. But the time may come when you will be forced into being an active soldier, and you need to know how to fight. My goal is to help you understand, so that you may grow in truth and light. My goal is to make you prepared, so that when the time comes, you can stand up and be counted.

 

God’s blessings and strength, until next time.

How to protect yourself

The bible tells us that not all spirits can be cast out or cast away in the same way. In Mathew 17, Yeshua cast out a demon that the disciples could not. when they asked why the demon didn't respond to them Yeshua told them, “ this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (verse 21)

I don’t know much about the different types types of spirits there are. I’ve only encountered a few, and I'm still researching in the bible. As I learn more, I’ll share it. But with the ones I’ve battled so far, I’ve found a few weapons at my side.

As I said before, our biggest offense and defense against the enemy is Prayer. When you feel attacked, start praying. When we call on Yahweh, it hurts them. they can’t stand his name, let alone his presence, Pray for peace, for guidance, for strength and wisdom.

Demons attack with threats, they try to terrorize you, make you feel afraid. Every time they threaten me with something, I counter by praying against it. If they Threaten to hurt me, I pray for protection. If they threaten to hurt my family, I pray for God to protect my family. No matter what they throw at you, God can stop it, if you just ask and believe.

 If you can’t form a prayer, then sing. There have been times when the waves of fear they’ve thrown at me were so oppressive I couldn’t form a coherent thought, I couldn’t remember how to pray. But I was able to sing; praise songs and hymns, uplifting music that celebrates life and Yahweh and the beauties of creation. and those songs pushed back the blanket of terror enough that I could breath, that I could form a prayer and rebuke the spirits away. They helped me remember I wasn’t fighting alone.

As I said before, the enemy cannot stand in the face of Yahweh. They can’t bear the sound of his name, or the praises you sing to him. That’s why they try to break us down, shut our ears to the voice of god.

My last piece of advise is this: don’t fight alone. Not unless you have to. Get your family, your friends, and have them pray with you., pray for each other. Sing together, whatever it takes. Yahweh says, “when two or three are gathered together in my name, I will be in the midst of them.” He gave us community and fellowship because it makes us stronger. Even if they can’t be right there with you physically; call them, text them. tell them you need their help. Prayers are not subject to distance. I’ve been moved, by the will of Yahweh, away from all my closest family and friends. I’m am not alone, I have loved ones here, but my main support system is farther away than I'm used to. So I text and call regularly, and have found out that it works. Support and fellowship are what keeps us strong. In sharing the light, and letting others share their light with us, we glow ever brighter.

If you’ve started reading this, I bet you’ve been getting attacked more. If they haven’t tried to hurt you yet, then they will as soon as they feel you’re a threat. I ask, I pray, that you don’t let them scare you. This is a very serious war. And we need all the warriors we can get.

I pray Yahweh's peace for you. Let his strength and light live within you. And wherever you walk, may you know his voice, and his hand.