Last night, I was asking God a lot of questions and I
continued to ask questions as I woke up this morning. I was silent after my questions,
and He spoke to me. I would gain a lesson that I believe will be a blessing to
those who may need to read this (but especially the brothers who read this).
Now, I will forewarn you that this blog will take a turn near the end, but
during my lunch hour, God really broke me off to the point I had to stop typing
because this is so real. This post was
inspired by a conversation with a group of brothers I had on a prayer call last
week, but also a conversation I had with a sister friend after an author’s
meeting.
Let’s just be honest, there are hurt people in the church.
And the hurts vary. Men are hurt, women are hurt and children are hurt. But God
was talking to me about how to care for/love someone when they’re hurt (or
you’re hurt). There are many people who are in this very situation today. It’s
not a bad thing at all, and I’ll explain as I go. In fact, this will make you
more serious about spiritual warfare, because this war is real (and … well, I
don’t want to get too far ahead of myself), but seriously, some yokes are going
to be broken.
What are hurts that I’m talking about? People of all walks
of life have been hurt via a bad relationship, bad marriage, physical/sexual
abuse, emotional abuse, death in the family (loss of parent, loss of child),
and many others that I probably didn’t mention.
Although I’m giving my perspective, there are many people
who can give their spin on this very topic. You see, sometimes you can tell when a person
is hurt by the words they say, their mannerisms, their facial expressions. Now
don’t get me wrong, those items mentioned doesn’t qualify that they’re hurt. It
could be just part of their personality.
But at the same time, behind a smile and having eyebrows up and feeling like
you can take over the world, is a world full of pain and agony. And all it
takes is a trigger to turn your picture perfect world upside down.
I'm
willing to bet that many of our hurts stem from one of two things: either
things we allowed to enter our lives/homes or things that other people brought
on us. Either way, it's time to not let these demons of hurt go unchallenged.
Let me now talk about the first thing (things we allowed to
entire our lives/homes). I’m going to use myself as an example – so that I’m
the only person that’s offended. Let’s see, about 10 years ago, I was talking
to someone and she shared a different ideology than I did. I knew this going in
and I allowed her access to my life and to my heart. When she decided to end
this friendship/relationship, she had my heart in her hands to the point I was
thinking about suicide (which is an ugly spirit). So, what do I do – learn from
this mistake and grow in the things of God. Sure, what were some other ill
effects? Barriers for a long time, and not letting people get too close to me. I know there are many people reading this who
could identify with allowing people or things into our lives/homes that should
have never been the case. Don’t beat yourself up. Remember a just man falls
seven times and he rises up. Now that
I’ve gone through this, I’m back in the Word, I have my guard up (not to the
extent of being mad at the world), but it’s only to not give place to the devil
who’s true intent is to take me out (and his intent is to take you out). He can
do it if we continue to live life with anger, bitterness and having a chip on
our shoulder.
The second thing (things that other people bring on us) is
real simple: abuse of any kind, rape, violence, etc. Let me say this upfront,
this is not your fault. Now it’s time to do combat especially if you are hurt
and have the desire to love someone. The same holds true the other way around.
If they have been through and you desire to love them, you need to keep them in
prayer, covered and understand this one critical thing (the person you
love/care for – especially if they’re heart’s desire is to grow in God first
and foremost and to see you grow – is NOT your enemy). The adversary is the
real enemy.
As a result of the hurts from either scenario, can cause
things to happen that neither of you might not know. When one person is short
with you, just vents out of thin air, blames you for everything that happened
in the past, it could be real easy to just write them off. But if you know
they’re hurt and you’re listening to the spirit of God, you will stay with them
no matter what. Why? Because God didn’t forsake us.
I need to drop this small interlude here so I can talk to
the brothers. When we meet a woman who’s been hurt (from the items mentioned
earlier or something that’s not mentioned), we need to understand that she’s
not our enemy. Sometimes she will not tell you everything about her life (and
rightfully so), her past; understand who she is right where she is and just
pray for her. That speaks volumes. Make the focus on her and her healing. Brothers,
take thought to this. A woman could be hurt because of something we may have
said or done. Don’t hide it from her, tell the truth irrespective of the
outcome.
For the sisters: when you meet a man who’s been hurt (from
the items mentioned earlier or something that’s not mentioned), you need to
know that he is not your enemy (especially if he’s covering you, and his
heart’s desire is to grow in God – and that’s his first priority). We men have
a strong tendency to let pride take over when we have so many hurts in our
lives. Just pray for him right where he is. That speaks volumes.
For all, don’t take their rejection personal especially if
they value the friendship/relationship. Using me as an example, if I’m caring
for/loving someone who’s hurt, I will pray for her healing, and ask God to
change my perspective when she does things that I’m not used to (such as a cold
shoulder). What I understand is this:
two people are hurt and are striving to come out of their hurt together. Again,
I can speak for me, but I’m probably the king of apologizing for things I
say/do and for things I didn’t say/do (knowing full well that I didn’t say/do
anything wrong). The key here is for me to seek God (now this is the only time
I’ll say it’s good to go to your boxing corner so you can replenish – please go
into the corner for that and to spend time with God). And when I’m in my
corner, I should be asking God, if it’s something she’s struggling with, I pray
that You allow me to see her for who she’s is, a woman of God who is not my
enemy. It’s the enemy from her past that’s trying to divide us. If it’s me
that’s the problem, help me to be a MAN and tell her that I’m sorry. Knowing
that it’s not about to please or keeping the peace, but it’s a matter of knowing
that the friendship/relationship is of utmost importance to me and to God.
I also understand that the enemy is striving to run
Rothschild over us – especially when we’re in separate corners. That’s when his
league of demons will come (and yes, some will come from church folk) along
with some ugly spirits. There’s more to be said on that in just a moment.
So, how do you maintain a good (or should I say God)
friendship/relationship? I’ll answer that question in just a moment, but let me
also say this. The devil is not going to like this one bit. He thrives when we
choose to stay hurt. I didn’t say that you had to be healed overnight; for many
people, this will be a process as God reveals things to you (one of my dear
sister friends said that to me and it blessed me). So to answer the question in
summary form, you keep God as the center of your life and trust God as to how
you conduct yourself in the friendship/relationship.
One of the greater blessings is when you are caring
for/loving someone when both are hurt, is that they can both come out of the
hurt cycle together. And the devil can’t stand that! This now brings me to the
next topic.
When God connects you to someone and you know that this is a
God-friendship/relationship, don’t think that life is going to be rosy. The
devil is going to send some people to wreak havoc to break it up. In fact,
there will be church folk praying that your friendship/relationship is
destroyed because of envy, jealousy, or who knows what. And that’s probably
under the guise of “misery loves company.” He’s more effective when you both
are in your separate corners of the boxing ring. Now, let’s talk about what you
need to watch for to maintain this God-friendship/relationship.
Jonas
Clark said this and this is going to shake the foundation for sure. In “How
Witchcraft Spirits Attack,” he said this: people
who operate in witchcraft are masters as pitting people against one another in
order to separate and isolate them. And I believe personally this is
happening inside the church. In fact, Jonas expounds by saying this: this spirit will do whatever it takes to
control the environment and wants to be the limelight in your life. In fact, a
person operating in this spirit wants to talk about them, them, and them. In
fact, they signify a bizarre attempt to cut off any other relationships in your
life.
This
is true fire right there. I have to pause for a moment before I continue.
I
know, I was supposed to be talking about caring for/loving someone who's hurt
(or you're hurt), but we're talking about the enemy who is wanting us to stay
hurt and your loved one to stay hurt. I need to throw one more thing that Jonas
Clark said: there are those who act super
spiritual, which is a form of witchcraft (I was up all night praying for you, I
just couldn't sleep last night; the spirit of God just really impressed on me
to call you first thing in the morning, and the list goes on).
OK, I
need to take a break! Wow! God is truly ministering to my spirit right now. We
must watch for that in the church walls, for they will subtlety cause you to be
separated from yourself (which is exactly what happened when Adam ate from the
tree; when God said to Adam, where are you, He wanted Adam to locate himself).
Frank
Hammond, in Pigs In The Parlor said this when it comes to attacks. Example: suppose
a demon spoke to your mind saying "he
doesn't love me; she's not praying for you," and you know that's far cry
from the truth. You might have to something like this: You are a liar, demon. I
reject that thought about my friend. My mind is under the protection of Jesus.
I bind you from my thoughts. I command you to leave me
alone, in the name of Jesus. This won't be a one-time thing; you
will more & likely have to do this constantly until your mind is at peace.
Because
many of us are hurt or have been hurt, we have to seek God to see where and how
demons have invaded. Don't mull over the past and what has happened. Now, it's
time to close the door. And because you have someone in your life that's
praying for you, with you and over you, you can really wreak havoc in the
enemy's camp.
I still
believe this is why the enemy fights to separate two people who God joined
together (whether it be friendship or relationship). But when they are
together, warring against principalities, the friendship/relationship will
blossom, healing will flourish and the devil will no longer have access to
their lives anymore.
Blessings.
The
Mayne Man
