Don't Forfeit Your Inheritance (The Blessing of Abraham)

If you happened to read my blogpost The Bitter Pill - Part 7 of my Will You Be Made Whole series (released 7/27/2016), I talked a little about Esau and the birthright he gave up (referencing Hebrews 12:14-17) near the end of that post. I want to talk about this "birthright" a little bit more in depth. 

If you have a Bible, let's start with Galatians 3:13-14. It says that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Now I know many people are jumping, singing and shouting in church about the blessing of Abraham and they are going to get their inheritance. That's all well and good; however, I wonder if anyone is hurt or crushed of the mere fact that they haven't seen their manifestation of their inheritance at this very moment (or you feel that you let your inheritance pass you by). If this is you, you are the one I want to talk to today.

So, what is this thing called "inheritance" and how will I be talking about it in this post? I'm glad you asked, so let's go back to Genesis 25. Rebekah finds out that she's carrying two children in her womb and the first child (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob). Well, one day Esau was coming from the field and was faint. He asked Jacob for some of his soup; however Jacob saw an opportune time to seek Esau's birthright in exchange for a bowl of soup. 

So, what does this birthright entail? 

1. Leadership in worship and headship in the family

2. A double portion of the inheritance

3. The title to the covenant blessing of Abraham that God promised Him

When I read that, I think, "wow, Esau is has to make a choice. A bowl of soup, or maintain those three items above." One would think he would cherish the birthright (since technically, it's the inheritance of the firstborn). Verse 32 of Cahpter 25 is interesting. Esau says behold, I am at the point of death, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? In other words, I can't think straight and this temporary moment of hunger is more important of a promise that will bless the remainder of my life and leave a powerful legacy. This birthright isn't important to me, (Bishop TD Jakes said it like this), it's worthless and I'm selling it for nothing.

Can I ask you a question right here? How many of you have thought of something or someone as worthless and you walk away from that very thing or person because it didn't bless you at that very moment? 

What Esau didn't realize was that birthright was very valuable and would bless him as time progressed. Can I encourage you to not forfeit your inheritance today? I believe that many of you reading this are staring at your inheritance and are thinking about walking away from it because it's not manifested yet. If you happened to let it pass you by, don't fret, repent and ask for forgiveness. God is so awesome, He is a restorer and will restore what you loss and those wasted years.

Let's continue with the story of Esau and this birthright. In the final verses (verses 33-34) of chapter 25, it says that Esau sold his birthright. And it says that despised his birthright. Wow, that tells me that Esau had a choice. Although he was not in his right mental state when Jacob asked for Esau's birthright, he should've stopped and thought about it. Sometimes we are faced with situations when we are in a vulnerable state. This is something we have to be very mindful of and the devil thrives in these situations. We must really seek God when faced with a situation that could alter the course of your life (for better or worse) even if you are faint like Esau or in a vulnerable state. Once a decision is made and it turns out to be for the worse, well, let's move to Genesis 27. 

This particular chapter focuses on Jacob & Rebekah plotting to get Isaac's blessing on their terms. After Jacob gets the blessing, Esau realizes that Jacob stole the blessing so in verse 34, he weeps bitterly. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound good. Verse 36, Esau said that Jacob took away his birthright. I disagree, he sold it (even though it was under duress). Because his cry was bitter, he is now plotting to kill his brother. You could say that Esau just tasted the bitter pill. Of course, the punishment for Jacob seeking the blessing his way and not God's was that he would never see his mother again (because he had to flee from his brother).

As we are living in the last of the latter days, don't forfeit your inheritance. If you are on the verge of your inheritance, go get it! Don't let the devil talk you out of it, don't let him get you in a place of duress (mental, financial, spiritual, physical or emotional) where you stand a strong chance at forfeiting it. He loves to paint a picture that your blessing is to be gratifying at that very moment. God wants you to be patient and at peace as you wait for the inheritance He has for you. 

Now everybody say this: no devil in hell is going to cause me to forfeit my inheritance!

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Will You Be Made Whole? (Part 7 - The Bitter Pill)

Everyone has tasted the bitter pill at some point in life, and the truth is, it’s no fun tasting it because not only does it not taste good, it affects other areas of your body (mentally, emotionally and in many cases, spiritually). I want to address the bitter pill from an emotional perspective and a spiritual perspective – and how the perpetrators cause victims to taste it when they really weren’t supposed to. As a result, the pill has created hurting souls and those souls have walls up (note: there are pros and cons to this). Please grab some tissue as this will touch emotions and cause certain feelings to emerge (and I ask that you not tune me out as you read).

Bishop Jospeh Mattera wrote a blog post entitled Why Hurt People Hurt People. A few things stood out to me (to include this statement).

Until we as a church deal with the whole person as shown in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 our congregations will be filled with people who are spiritually gifted but act like emotional infants. As in other words, the church must deal with emotional health and not just spiritual health and power.

Bishop Mattera said that these are typical traits that hurt people display in their interactions with others. Many of his explanations underneath each posts were edited for the purpose of this blogpost; however, you can read his entire blogpost here – which is a great post in my humble opinion: http://josephmattera.org/why-hurt-people-hurt-people/

1. Hurt people often transfer their inner anger onto their family and close friends (Often those around them become the recipients of harsh tones and fits of rage because they have unknowingly become the vicarious recipients of transferred rage).
2. Hurt people interpret every word spoken to them through the prism of their pain (Because of their pain, ordinary words are often misinterpreted to mean something negative towards them. Because of this, they are extremely sensitive and act out of pain instead of reality)
3. Hurt people interpret every action through the prism of their pain (Their emotional pain causes them to suspect wrong motives or evil intent behind other people’s actions towards them)
4. Hurt people often portray themselves as victims and carry a “victim spirit.” (Hurt people have a hard time entering into a trusting relationship. Hurt people often carry around a suspicious spirit)
5. Hurt people often alienate others and wonder why no one is there for them
(They often continually hurt the ones they love and need the most with their self-destructive behavior).
6. Hurt people have the emotional maturity of the age they received their (un-dealt with) hurt. (For example, if a girl was raped by a man when she was 12 years old, unless she forgives that man and allows Christ to heal her heart and allay her fears, in that particular area of her life (sexuality with a man) her emotional growth will stop. Even when she reaches her later years she may still have the emotional maturity of a 12 year-old).
7. Hurt people are often frustrated and depressed because past pain continually spills over into their present consciousness. (In many instances, they may not even be aware of why they are continually frustrated or depressed because they have coped with pain by compartmentalizing it or layering it over with other things over time).
8. Hurt people often erupt with inappropriate emotion because particular words, actions, or circumstances “touch” and “trigger” past woundedness
9. Hurt people often occupy themselves with busyness, work, performance, and/or accomplishments as a way of compensating for low self-esteem
10. Hurt people often attempt to medicate themselves with excessive entertainment, drugs, alcohol, pornography, sexual relationships, or hobbies as a way to forget their pain and run from reality. (Until the church learns to deal with and emphasize the emotional life and health of the believer, the church will be filled with half-Christians who pray and read the Bible but find no victory because they do not face the woundedness in their souls). Note: The Mayne Man has to say Amen to this one!
11. Hurt people have learned to accommodate their private “false self” or “dark side” which causes them to be duplicitous and lack integrity (Often their private life is different from their public life, which causes hypocrisy and compounds feelings of guilt, condemnation, and depression)
12. Hurt people are often self-absorbed with their own pain and are unaware that they are hurting other people. (They are often insensitive to other people because their emotional pain limits their capacity for empathy and their capacity for self-awareness)
13. Hurt people are susceptible to demonic deception. (Satan works in darkness and deception, and stays away from the light. Hurt people often have destructive habit-patterns that are practiced in the dark. Hence, their mind becomes a breeding ground for satanic infiltration and deception. If the church would deal more with the emotional health of the individual, there would be less of a foothold for demonic infiltration. Also, there would be stronger relationships, stronger marriages, healthier children, and a more balanced approach to ministry with less of a chance of pastoral and congregational burnout)
14. God often purposely surfaces pain so hurt people can face reality. (Whether it is because of a marriage problem, or continual personal conflicts on the job, God often allows conflict and spillover because he wants the infection to stop spreading and the person to be healed. Often Christians are fighting the devil and blaming him for conflict when in essence God often allows conflict so that people would be motivated to dig deeper into their lives to deal with root causes of destructive thought and habit patterns. God’s purpose for us is that we would all be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). This does not just happen with Bible studies, prayer, and times of glory but also in painful situations when we have to face what has been hurting us for many years).
15. Hurt people need to forgive to be released and restored to freedom. {The Gospel of St. John 20:23 says that we have to release the sins of others if we are going to be released. This means that if we do not forgive others then the very thing we have become victimized with will become a part of our life. For example, alcoholic fathers breed alcoholic sons if their sons do not forgive and release their fathers. The good news is that, through the efficacious blood of Christ, we can all be healed and set free from all past hurts so we can comfort others with the same comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:4)}.

As I read those 15 bullet points, I found myself in a couple of them. I’m sure if you’re reading this, you actually see yourself in one or more of them. And that’s OK. If you fit into at least one of them, please read the final bullet above. Why am I emphasizing this so heavily? Because bitter pills as a result of a hurt, can cause emotional and spiritual damage.

Can I just meddle for a minute?  Many of you reading may have been in relationships or situations where it’s disappointment after disappointment, or perhaps you were constantly neglected numerous times. Because of this, it makes good sense to put a wall up and to guard your heart. The good side of doing this is that it gives you a chance to recover and heal (and then understand what it means to truly discern); the bad side is that it can cause your heart to become callous toward people, and in many cases towards God. Situations like this would make someone quit in a heartbeat, that’s a natural response especially if you’ve suffered needless neglect or abuse. Note: I am not telling anybody to stay in a situation where your life is in danger. If this is your predicament, please seek help and safety!

This past Sunday on Christian TV, Bishop TD Jakes was preaching from his lesson The Danger of Giving Up Too Soon. I listened and realized that he was preaching from two blogs I had written between this year and last year (Bitter Like Naomi and the previous part of my current series subtitled Lemonade). Because what he said was so powerful and in line with this topic, I will expound on what he says (and his direct quotes will be in italics).

If you look at the story of Lazarus (John 11), Mary and Martha were grieving because Jesus didn’t come when they wanted Him to. Martha said that if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Notice that they didn’t thank Jesus for coming, as a result, they were bitter. Bitter people blame you for their problems. But when life doesn’t turn out the way you think it ought to turn out, you look for someone to blame, “it’s your fault that I’m in this condition.” Don’t let life make you change your name like Naomi. Naomi went through devastating losses, and she requested that her name be changed to Mara (which means bitter).

I need to clarify blame for a second. If you were molested or raped and you contracted a virus, the molester should bear the blame for you contracting a virus.  But if you allowed yourself to blame every other man for what the rapist did, now you’ve moved to a state of bitterness. Another scenario: if you were having unprotected sex, and the father of your child either said the child isn’t mine (or refuses to own up to his role in your pregnancy), blaming other men for what the one man did to you is what Bishop is talking about. This kind of blame breeds bitterness.

Bitterness is when the things on the outside have contaminated the person on the inside. Have you allowed your past to bleed into their present and pollute your future? If you have, you may not know it (because it’s easier to see bitterness and hurt in others than it is to see your own). In fact, you may not use the word “bitter,” you may use other words such as “careful.” Until you call it what it is, you’ll never be free. You’re not a wimp because you’re bitter. Life will bring situations that will cause you to be bitter. If you don’t know how to deal with it, you’ll give up. Many of you ladies have probably felt like David when he said in Psalm 116:11 (All Men Are Liars)!

Bitterness contaminates your judgment (read Hebrews 12:14-17). When you are bitter, you can’t trust your own judgment. If you look at Esau, he was bitter because he didn’t wait but hastily gave up his birthright to Jacob. When bitterness gets down inside of you, you’ll walk away from something and say it’s worthless. You sell it for nothing, not realizing that what you gave away was valuable, it was going to take time to bless you.

Take the power of God to the place in your life where you became bitter. What you want is the anointing on that troubled place in your life where you find it hard to believe that things will work out.

Here’s the entire sermon if you want to listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUP4ATnWytU

I want to challenge you to throw those pills away, take the healing pill prescribed, and most importantly, fall in love with Jesus and His Word! Believe, Trust and Obey Him concerning your life. Don’t let the devil cause you to be impatient and to give up because you’re hurt; or let the walls cause you to turn your back on God or miss small blessings that may not be packaged in a way that you anticipated.

I want to close this with some questions and notes to consider (you could call this a review from the prior 6 parts within this series):

1. If you think about the story about the woman with the issue of blood, she was determined to get to Jesus. Why do you think many opt not to get to Jesus now (whether through His Word or via His presence)?
2. Do you find that many declared their healing but are expecting God to do everything – even if God gave them a set of instructions that required their part? As a result, they die prematurely?
3. Back to question 1, the woman could’ve been stoned because she wen to Jesus. Under the OT, she was forbidden to be out in public. Do you think many are embarrassed to go to Jesus with their issue?
4. Can isolation be a blessing and/or a curse when you know you are in need of a healing from Christ? And do you think that’s the enemy’s objective (to get those who need a touch from Christ to be shut up and locked away from society)?
5. This is a bonus – this was a tweet from one my brothers in Christ: I saw a tweet saying a woman got LAID by over 900 men. The truth is her soul has been split into more than 900 parts. So I ask, do you agree or disagree? If you agree, then that brings a series of questions: can she heal? If so, what would her healing process look like? How can a person intercede her healing/wholeness? And why do we in the church cast them off as basket cases (even if they isolate themselves from society)? Jesus didn’t turn His back on the woman at the well, why do we? He came to bring the Word (which she would receive and was made free), and to make this more interesting, the woman at the well was from Samaria but the Jews didn’t mingle with them.
6. Second tweet from the same brother: Ladies, each time a man has sex with you, your soul is split and you are scattered. When a man hits you, he splits you. Do you agree or disagree? If you agree, I then say Wow! This should make a real man like Boaz cry and start praying for her wholeness. Healing is the children’s bread. Bozo could care less if he splits a woman. Your thoughts on this?

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Will You Be Made Whole? (Part 6 - Lemonade)

**Trigger Warning** to those who are still in the healing process. This post may be a little graphic in nature, so please proceed with caution.

Between yesterday and today, this post was imminent. Yesterday, I was watching UnSung and the artist profiled was Miki Howard. And after UnSung was TV One’s featured film entitled Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story. For the benefit of those who don’t know who she is, she’s a female vocalist who mainly did R&B as well as jazz (she’s been in the industry as early as the 80s, but really established herself as a female vocalist in 1986/1987). I was just entering middle school when her first solo recording was playing on the radio. I want to use her story as the base (and the inspiration) for this post. Now some of you might be wondering, what does this has to do with lemonade? It’s a great question so let me explain (and this post has absolutely nothing to do with Beyonce’s Lemonade). There’s a saying that goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well, if you just take water and add lemons to it without adding any sugar, you have sour lemonade. I don’t know about you, but sexual abuse, emotional abuse, domestic abuse, neglect, abandonment, divorce, death of a loved one are lemons. You didn’t ask for them, so how do you make lemonade out of them? Again, that’s a great question so let me get right into the post by sharing her story and I will answer the question as to how to make lemonade out of all of this as this progresses.

Well, Miki Howard grew up in a musical home. She is the offspring of Josephine Howard, of the gospel group the Caravans, and Clay Graham of the Pilgrim Jubilees. Both her mother and father were gospel mainstays, and her sister could hold her own as well. Part of Howard’s story is having grown up in a household where homosexuality was being practiced. This subject was far more taboo in the 60s than it is today. Coupled that with the fact that her mother was a lesbian gospel singer, one can begin to understand why she may be torn about her relationship with gospel music. That could be one lemon that Miki received. During her childhood, her parents were separated and at one point, Miki was placed in a foster home (and I can’t remember if she has been through 2 foster homes). Either way, her being placed in a foster home could be a lemon that she received. In fact, there was a time that Miki’s mother had a man in the home that even tried to come on to Miki and it was overlooked. Of course, that’s a lemon she received. To add insult to injury, her mother not only took the man's side, she would accuse Miki stating that she was coming on to him. As a result, Josephine threw Miki out when she was only 16 years old. That in my opinion is at least 3-5 lemons (if not more).

One could imagine that when you don’t have that parental love that you so desperately need, you try to find love from the world. And because we know that the devil is the god of this world, the result is not going to be pretty. So, it only made sense for Miki to crave love during her late teen years. She would reveal the following, “Most people, at that age, are out going on dates and they’re learning about men and boys and things like that. I was learning about singing, I was learning the music business and I didn’t have the opportunity to learn the things that you should learn. I lost my mom at 18 years old and the show says it was later, but it was 18. She put me out by the time I was 16. So, there was no parent to tell me. Besides that I grew up in a completely gay environment. So, I had no idea about men. I knew nothing! When I tell you nothing, I mean nothing. I just put them on a pedestal and held them in high esteem, whether they deserved it or not. That’s not a good thing, so I had to learn the hard way that you don’t cast your pearls among swine. There are men that are swine and, most likely, they’re the first ones that come up. When you don’t have a lot of time and you don’t have a lot of knowledge you kind of go with the first Joe. ‘Hey you like me, you love me? Ok, let’s do this!’ I didn’t go to the movies, smooch in a theater or fondle in the backseat of a car. I didn’t do any of those things that teenagers are supposed to do in learning about your sexuality. So, in all of my 20s and early 30s I made serious mistakes with men.”

How many lemons can you find that Miki received during the course of reading the above paragraph? Here’s how many that I found:

• She lost her mother at the age of 18 years old.
• She was put out of the home at the age of 16.
• Depending on your spiritual conviction, her home environment would be one.
• Putting men whether deserved or not, were placed on a pedestal.
• Lack of knowledge as it relates to men and/or the true meaning of sex.

If you are looking at your life and you see yourself in it, please keep reading. I know that this may be hard for you (and granted, I see myself in some of what we’ve been discussing so far), but we are going to get to that place of healing and wholeness together.

When she was 20, she met a man in a singing group who was 28, and she ended up having two children with him. He was very adamant in not marrying her even though that was what she wanted. I’ll let you decide if that is a lemon that she received.

When she was 26 years old, she released her first solo album. And a few years later, she would marry a man named Eddie Phelps. He appeared nice from the beginning, but as the marriage progressed, he blackballed her in the music industry for several years after frequent outbursts with her record companies. Of course, it goes without saying that he physically abused her to the point of breaking her nose. And during the marriage, she ended up being addicted to cocaine. With the help of the late Gerald LeVert, she checked herself into rehab at the turn of the millennium. During the course of her time in rehab, the therapist was calling her a junkie (to the point that she felt degraded, and it’s definitely understandable). When she decided to stick it out in rehab, the therapist asked her a pivotal question, what happened in childhood that may have started all of this? Many people would be like Miki and think that question came out of left field. If you have lived in a state of denial and/or blocked out things that happened, it would make sense to think that. She started sharing about the abuse she endured, and he would nicely state that she has post-traumatic stress syndrome (or we could simply call it PTSD). I’m glad that question was stated because it got to the root of a lot of childhood pain that has been held inside. And truthfully, it can explain every lemon that has been received to cause all of the sourness and bitterness that’s in a hurt soul’s life.

The reason why I wanted to use her story is because I know every abuse survivor can relate to this in some form. And let’s face it, we overcome by the word of our testimony, and the testimonies of others can encourage others to keep going and to fight for their healing. I was very touched by her story and I’m so glad she shared it (as I am in the healing stage of some childhood wounds that I received).

So, if you happened to think of how many lemons you have received in your life, how are you able to make lemonade (and a good one at that)? First, add water to those freshly squeezed lemons (yes, I know the squeezing part is painful, because it consists of rolling it on the counter, and pressing it before cutting it open to be squeezed). But we’re trying to make great lemonade so others can taste it and it is refreshing to their soul when they come to you to drink from the story that you have to share.

Now that you added water to the pitcher where you freshly squeezed those lemons into, we need to add some sugar to it. Don’t stir it just yet. If you noticed, the sugar is all at the bottom. So if you were to drink it, you’ll find that it’s still bitter and sour. This is where some of us are, still bitter because we haven’t made steps to be sweet. Don’t worry, I’m not condemning you, this might be where you are in the healing process. If you’re taking baby steps, I’m with you; and if you’re not ready, I’m with you. We’re in this together.

Now we’re getting ready to stir that sugar in. If you are involved in the faith community like I am, then I will just share one scripture with you from Psalm 119:103 - How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! God’s Word is sweet, that’s the sugar needed in our lemonade. We just need to get that from the bottom of the pitcher and get it stirred into our hearts and any other type of professional help you may get.

So, let’s talk a little bit more about the stirring process. This is the part that many don’t want to go through, because this will affect every part of your inside, and stirring requires some good muscle if you want all of that sugar to dissolve in this lemonade you’re creating. Can I encourage you for a minute? Because you are still alive and are able to read this after all that you’ve been through, you have some muscle. You took every lemon and are on the verge of creating some awesome lemonade. Many of you have shared your lemonade with me, and I have enjoyed it. Likewise, many of you have enjoyed mine even though I’m still in the stirring process. Part of the stirring process will require a thought renewal (and having to fight the urge to quit stirring when you’re right at the point of finishing up your lemonade). If you quit, you’ll just remain bitter lemonade. You were born with such sweetness, and life threw many lemons at you (of course, the horrific lemons you received were not deserved and are no fault of your own). Let me encourage you a little bit more: don’t be discouraged about the time you may have thought you wasted in your life and the time that you lost. But you can get back all the things that you lost in the time that was wasted. The God that I serve is a restorer of all things. I want to challenge you to close the gap between what you what you want to see for your life and where you are right now. Your results are determining by your thoughts. As I challenge you, I want you to challenge me.

Are you ready to finish off the lemonade? Here we go. If you have your wooden spoon out, let’s start stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved and you don’t see anymore in the bottom of the pitcher. That sweetness has overshadowed the pain that you’ve experienced in your past. Make sure that you keep things and/or people away from the sweetened lemonade that you have made that will do everything they can to try and make it bitter again. And cherish those who will stir you to keep your lemonade sweet and ensure that the sweetness that you are doesn’t go to the bottom of the pitcher and it’s unnoticed when people go to partake of it.

Miki’s lemonade was sharing her story on UnSung and creating a TV Movie based on her life. And I was truly blessed by her story and I pray many others will be as they hear.

Of course, I can’t close this blogpost without telling you how many lemons I received in my life. I’m only going to share for the sake of time the obvious lemons I received: physical and sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment and rejection (which will equate to PTSD in a nutshell). My lemonade is still in the stirring process but believe me, if you had a chance to partake of it, it’s refreshing (smile).

If you are in the healing/wholeness process, your lemonade is under way; if you are healed/whole, let others partake and help others make their lemonade great. Healing and wholeness is for us. It’s a promise from God. He wants us to be made whole and for your lemons to truly be lemonade.

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Will You Be Made Whole? (Part 5B - Oppression & Opinions)

If you missed Part 5A (and you want to read it), please click here.

http://mayneman.blogspot.com/2016/05/will-you-be-made-whole-part-5a.html

I briefly mentioned opinions of others, now let’s go deeper in this area! Everybody has an opinion – which there is no shortage of for some. I heard a pastor say that we actually enter another dimension when we divorce ourselves from the opinions of others. Dr. Price made a comment back in 1998 as it relates to denominations and how many in their respective denomination swears it's the right one. It's an opinion of course and for many that have opinions, they hype it up to the point that it trumps the Word.  That should never happen. Some have been bold enough to use the Word to hype up their opinions when the truth is they are really misusing it. Of course, this creates oppression to the one who falls from the opinion. Let me stay there, because I see an epidemic on social media (where there are single pastors with no covering or accountability promoting their agenda – really shearing those who are babes and have itching ears). I speak against that in Jesus' name.

Now I’m not saying denominations are totally a bad thing, just focus on how they started. And that’s simply an opinion that may or may not be Scripturally based.

The ones that make me laugh and frustrated are the ones who say, “The Lord said…” and there’s no Scriptural content contained in it. This right here is one example of someone who’s in the childhood stage. People that have opinions with no substance are dangerous to themselves and to others.

Let me give a great example: when you’re going through spiritual warfare or dealing with a crisis of any type, opinionated people say “you need just a little more Jesus.” You have my permission to slap them! Jesus is more than enough. Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t need to surrender control, you are your own and you are self-made. That, whether you know it or not, can cause oppression. Jesus wants whatever control you think you have. And let’s be real, what we’re thinking isn’t always the mind and heart of God. In Jeremiah 29:11 (from the Message Bible), it starts off saying (God speaking) I know what I’m doing. If He knows what He’s doing, that should give us every reason to trust Him with everything. Let’s add to this, He knows what we’ve done and are currently dealing with, yet He still wants us. Just because pastors, brothers and sisters in Christ, and the world will reject, God won’t! He wants you so He can lavish His love and healing over you. What the devil is doing with many people is to get them to agree that you don’t have to follow when you have can do it better than others (and inadvertently better than God). Look at what you’ve been through, you need to gain control of your life, don’t surrender it to anybody including God. The key to getting out of this oppression is stop knowing what to do. Let every thought and decision pass through the filter of God. If people want to hurry you, let them, but stand still so God can speak through you. I’m a living witness in that whatever is not in God’s will, will become my bill (in other words, I’m going to have to pay for it). But watch this, confess that to God, don’t carry that burden. Your body wasn’t designed to carry it. And besides, what good is it doing you by carrying it?

If you don’t remember anything, remember this: the enemy will use people (in and out the church) to oppress you with their opinions. The enemy will get you to question God’s Word (like he did Eve in Genesis 3). You see, in the pews, we have people like Eliphaz, Bildad & Zophar sitting right next to you, waiting for you to slip up so they can attack you. Jennifer LeClaire (from Charisma Magazine nailed this): Eliphaz is one who will come over your house to tell you that it’s your fault because of sin. Bildad will confirm everything Eliphaz said and Zophar will condemn you in the battle. How is that for opinions?

And while I’m on it, she expounds further about legalistic Christians who throw their jargon out there to puff themselves up especially when they know someone who’s engaged in spiritual warfare. She said: The enemy uses those close to us to add fuel to his fiery darts when what we really need is someone to stand in the gap for us. Of course, we should all examine our hearts when the onslaught comes to make sure we don't have any open doors, but too many well-intentioned Christians give pat answers and platitudes that do not reflect God's heart in the midst of our battle.

And we want to throw darts, instead of praying for reconciliation, restoration, and for recovery? The devil doesn’t have to win even though we may have intently or unintentionally taken the bait! I serve a God who is in the healing business, restoration business, reconciliation business, and who loves us despite the mistakes we made and sins we committed. If you look at the Scriptural text for this blogpost, what stands out to me is the fact that Jesus came to heal the sick and the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18). But the leader of the synagogue was indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. You have some people in church that will become so legalistic saying that they don’t deserve to be healed, or they have to go through some form of ritual, or they have to bear the shame of the sin they committed, they must be exposed to the church and to the public that they are a disgrace. The leader of the synagogue cared about the law (while he truthfully was breaking that very law) and didn’t care if she ever got healed (because they wanted to be seen by the crowds as holy and untouchable, when they truthfully were full of sin and needed a Savior). I like that Jesus called them for what they were, hypocrites (and the Amplified Bible used the terms play-actors and pretenders). And you’ll find that hypocrites, play-actors and pretenders are experts with opinions and parroting Scriptures to prove that they are all that and they got this life so down to where they really don’t need Jesus themselves. That’s a sad place to be.

Think about it, if you have ever been oppressed, everything is out of whack. If you’re not careful and you’re not going after His Word with all you have, it’ll be real easy to fall for the opinions of others that are not even scripturally based (like God hates divorce, so stay in your abusive relationship). And when you’re oppressed, there’s a strong you may not be able to see yourself (and others) free from the oppression? And most opinionated people have done so much damaged to those who are oppressed that they will turn their backs on them because they did their damage. Faith and agape love won't allow people to stay oppressed or under the web of an opinion that’s not of God!

I heard a pastor give a great example of an opinion that can literally oppress someone (especially if they’re not strong in their faith): Let’s take the word “grace.” When you ask the question, “What is grace?” They will say that grace is unmerited favor. The truth is that grace and favor mean the same thing, but the question still wasn’t answered. So, they’ll say it’s something you don’t earn, knowing full well that wasn’t what you asked. So, you then ask them, “Why don’t I deserve it?”  You now have to tell me every bad thing that I did to show me that I don’t deserve it.

I now ask you, what’s wrong with that picture? Considering you’ll never hear God say that about anybody! So, if you’re one who says that grace is unmerited favor – you’re not looking at God, you’re looking at man. When you say that grace IS a gift, that’s pointing to God. So many Christians (well, people of all walks of life for that matter) feel condemned because people are going around saying that grace is unmerited favor and you don’t deserve it.

Can I just give you one more example? I’m sure you’ve heard this from a pastor, a coach, a counselor or someone sitting in the congregation with you (or at another church) the following: we are the initiators and create our reality. We don’t have to follow and why do it like someone else considering that we can make it better. And just because you’re saved and a Christian, doesn’t mean that you have to submit to Him. You are your own man and your own woman. Whoever is telling you that may sound good, but it’s contrary to Scripture and will actually hinder your healing from oppression and the opinions of others. The Word is the final authority and the final say so in your life. We have to make sure that what people say is lined up with the Scripture, otherwise, get away because their agenda is to bring oppression onto your life. They say misery loves company.

Many of us are on the path to healing and wholeness, and I’ll be honest with you, it will require some spiritual warfare. You will be challenged and tried on many levels. The key is to stay committed to the fight (and yes, it’s a faith fight and the faith fight is a good fight) when everything inside you and those opinionated people will tell you to quit, and put bugs in your ear saying, “you can never heal, you’ll never recover!” Don’t buy into that. The devil IS a liar! Romans 8:31 says if God be for you, who can be against you!

I was truly blessed by this article entitled What Your Friends Don’t Want To Hear When The Devil Is Attacking written by Jennifer LeClaire (I quoted a little bit of it above, so just click on the title to read it). What I like about it is that it exposes how the enemy will use people (it could be a counselor, a coach, a pastor, those in the pews, and the list goes on) and their opinions to oppress you and to bring condemnation to your mental/emotional psyche. She says this:

Spiritual platitudes—banal, trite and stale remarks—are not as painful as pious calls for repentance for sins you haven't thought about committing. But spiritual platitudes are unhelpful at best and admittedly annoying. Let's face it, pat Bible answers—"cast all your cares" and "those whom He loves He disciplines"—that really don't apply to your situation are anything but a word in due season.

When people are going through hell and back, most people don't need to play patty cake with verses about not growing weary in well doing, fighting the good fight of faith, standing and withstanding or counting it all joy. That may be helpful for baby Christians, but mature warriors usually don't need to be told what is obvious: Have faith in God; only believe; the battle is the Lord's.

God wants you healed, whole and thriving into what you were predestined to do. We don’t define our assignment; we discover it through Him. Are you willing to break free from the opinions and the oppression? I pray that you can shout YES when asked this question knowing and having confidence that healing is the children’s bread according to Matthew 15:20-28. Let’s finish 2016 strong by going hard for God and His Word!

Blessings,

The Mayne Man