Will You Be Made Whole? (Part 4 - Abuse & Relationships)

This topic was dropped on my spirit on my way to work this morning, and it also disturbed me to the point that I had to talk to God about this on my way home from work. After working out late this afternoon, the real meaning of this was revealed and as a result, here’s a blogpost about a topic that is healing for me, and for those who need a healing as a result of childhood abuse and/or domestic abuse. Please brace yourself for this (and grab some tissue just in case), as we heal together.

The desire to love someone is a beautiful thing. But you know it can be a daunting task if there are some unresolved issues from childhood. I didn’t realize it during my high school years and a good portion of my 20s and 30s. Speaking for me, I refuse to go into my 42nd year of life (starting tomorrow) going backwards with no progress. In fact, I speak healing over my life and over everyone that needs a healing right now, so I believe we are all healed right now (yes, this is by faith until we see the manifestation).

Using my life as the base for this post, I would like to share what are some ramifications that can occur if unresolved issues from childhood aren’t resolved. You’re probably thinking, “You’re just now realizing this?” Well, I believe the Lord will reveal it when we’re ready to take it head on and/or we’re capable of understanding the purpose behind it.

I started my 10th grade year in 1989 in a new school. My father received orders to Germany before the school year began so we moved there and I started the 10th grade there. There were two high school friends that stick out to me as I type this post (one already knows about this post, as I shared the base of this post with her) – in fact they were new to the school as I was (and we met during New Student Orientation – something to that effect). The first friend was Carla and the second friend (the one who knows about this) was LaShaunda. Let me start with Carla first.

Carla was in the same grade as me, and I remember just being so wrapped up in her (and I believe that I carried her books at one time), but she wouldn’t even give me the time of day. She would leave Germany after our 11th grade year. I’ll come back to Carla later on as we reconnected in 2010 via Facebook.

LaShaunda was a freshman, and I remember her having a boyfriend the first 5 months of the school year. One day after they broke up, we were talking at the Laundromat and she made a comment to me that resonated to my 15-year-old mind. She said, “I am a one man woman, and all I want is a one woman man.” That really made me think about how I should carry myself, as I was becoming a man. As the summer progressed, she was very instrumental in furthering my pursuit for Christ. I was searching for Christ during the midst of my abuse (which I’ll share parts of it as it relates to relationships in a moment), but for her to say that she was trying to get right with the Lord made me desire to go deeper in my quest. Of course, we became special friends at that time (and granted, we’re still friends today). When I asked her out, she said something to me then that I didn’t understand, but I understand it now as God was revealing something to me today. She said, “I can’t be with you because you think of me more than yourself, and you think I’m God’s gift to the world, I’m not.” Back then, I didn’t understand, and yes, I cried my eyes out.

So what is the message in the midst of what she said? First of all, if you have been abused in childhood (this also includes, abandoned, rejected or neglected), there’s a strong chance that you will have a skewed view of a healthy relationship if it was never addressed via counseling. In fact, because of the abuse, there’s a level of emotional and mental pain that was never addressed and I can’t forget the manipulation piece. That manipulation piece damaged the psyche of the mind. I know it did for me. A little off subject, but it’s true: if you have been abused in a marriage relationship, manipulation, which is a tactic of the devil, can literally destroy someone spiritually, mentally, financially and emotionally. And when the demonic spirit grabs hold of someone, it will plant seeds such as “you’re the one who caused it.”  Back to the message of what she was saying to me. Second, because no love was found in the house you grew up in as a result of the abuse, there’s a strong chance of trying to find someone who will appreciate you and indirectly, you actually make either the person or the concept of “love” an idol. And God is a jealous God. That’s the revelation that I received today. Third, I made reference to there being a strong chance of trying to find someone who will appreciate you. If God is not consulted, there’s a possibility that God will not mandate the relationship and it will be pure hell. He wants to protect us, but at the same time, give yourself some credit if you messed up. He’s a forgiving God. For most of us, when we were young and have been through something traumatic, we didn’t have a full understanding of God. I know I didn’t even though I was on my quest, so a lot of choices and decisions were made based on my emotions (yes, I was feeling emotions like Mariah Carey at that time of my life – smile). I don’t know what background you grew up in, if they were deep in church (even though they abused, neglected or abandoned you), there’s a possibility that your view of God may be warped as a result of what you had to endured.

What were some things that were going on in the house that I grew up in that gave me a skewed view of relationships?

1. Without question, there was sexual abuse and physical abuse from a family member who lived in the house (and was overlooked).
2. There was gas lighting that permeated the house on a consistent basis. How did it come? For me, my sexuality was questioned by my family including the family member who abused me) because I didn’t have a girlfriend. The way you act around the house shows signs that you’re immature (of course, being autistic was never questioned).
3. Even though I was the only one who was interested in God during my childhood, my parents were the most anti-church group of people you ever wanted to meet.

So how did I go through high school? Well, I stayed to myself a lot. You could say my anxiety levels were extremely high (due to my undetected autism, and survival). I was trying to find an out and someone to appreciate me – sadly I had no concept of love at all. And granted, when I went through school, I was considered immature because of my undetected autism. I was different, and that I was only good for being a friend.

You could say that my childhood really affected my concept of relationships, and trying to find something that would bring me joy. Well, the irony of that was in 1996, I believe the Lord wanted me to rid of every woman that I was supposedly interested in so that I could make an intelligent decision to give my life to Him.

Still in the healing process, there were some things that I did that I thought was God, but the truth was, it was me and putting God’s name on it (knowing full well, that was all me). How many of you can testify to this? The beauty of God is that He knows my flaws, my mental and emotional stability, and He’s the only one who loves me regardless (the same holds true for you too). He wants a relationship with me, just like He wants one with you.

Oh yes, you’re probably wondered what happened when I reconnected with Carla via Facebook. Well, she apologized for how she treated me. I accepted her apology and I apologized for how I treated her. I also stated that I was in a time in life where I was attracted to any woman who had a pulse.

Why was that? For me, it was cover up a lot of pain that I had inside (remember, I was 15, and I was dealing with so much abuse since childhood). The more I think about it, middle school and high school for me was really about who could rap, who could dance, and who had a girlfriend. Well, I could rap (and sing), I couldn’t dance, and I sure didn’t have a girlfriend. You could say that I went through a lot of my life hurt and lonely, and couldn’t figure out why. Well, when I realized that the abuse had done so much damage to me, lately, I have had to let the Lord speak to me as I now understand the art of ‘shut yo’ mouth!’

Most of my 20s and 30s was spent with a wall up to protect my heart because of the pain that I had endured. For me, it became a norm even as the Lord is breaking some of them even as I type this. But at the same time, most of the problems in this arena actually resided with me. Now, the actual abuse was NOT my fault. And if you have been abused, rejected or abandoned either in childhood or due to a bad relationship, that is NOT your fault. I don’t care if so-called friends and even church members say that it is. They are lying to you and leaguing with the devil to further prevent your healing process.

I know for many reading this, this is a hard thing to do – to look at the abuse you suffered to see if this plays a role in the committed relationships you’ve been in (or lack of – like me). But the God that I serve wants to heal those wounds and scars in you and me. He wants to heal our mental and emotional psyche that the devil is striving to destroy within us. Jesus is asking each of us, “Will You Be Made Whole?” I pray that you will man up (or woman up) and say yes even though this healing of abuse process is difficult. One more thing, know that you may not ever get closure from the ones who abused you, abandoned you, rejected you, or neglected you (I’m referring to childhood here, not domestic abuse). If you give God those parts that you desire closure in, He will bring you closure. Surrender the BAM (bitter, angry, mean) state to Him so that He can give you a heart to forgive them (but more importantly, forgive yourself). We deserve to be free, we deserve to have our years restored, and we deserve to be made whole! If we desire to be in a relationship (even after all that we endured in life), we deserve full healing in our lives because it’s God’s will that we be made whole! Healing is the children’s bread. He’s waiting on us to come to Him and lay ourselves before Him. He loves us so much.

If this blogpost wasn’t for anybody else, this was definitely for me.

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Everybody's Free

I was struggling with a title for this blogpost, until the song by Rozalla called Everybody’s Free came to mind. For the benefit of those who don’t know, this song came out in 1992 (when the genre of “Rave” music was just getting started). And yes, I still love this song.

Anyway, I was thinking today about Passover (which actually starts the evening of April 22 for this year) and its origins. You’re probably wondering, “What does that have to do with the title of the blogpost?” Great question, but you’ll see as you keep reading.

Well, in Exodus 11, we find Moses receiving a word from the Lord about the tenth and final plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. This was pretty gruesome and pretty saddening at the same time. What was to happen was that the first-born in the land of Egypt was going to die. So, in Exodus 12, the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the blood of the lamb was to be placed on the doorposts and above the doors. Everyone in Israel was to do this and during this time, they were to observe the feast of the unleavened bread and also get dressed and be ready to leave Egypt. The purpose for the blood on the doorposts was so death would not hit their houses when the Lord saw the blood on the doorposts. In other words, the Lord would pass over their houses. If you want to read this, just read Exodus 11-12. I can only imagine what Egypt felt as you read from verse 29 of Chapter 12. As a result of the death of the firstborns within Egypt, the children of Israel were forced out of Egypt.

Now some of you might be wondering, “Why did I bring this up?” Well, the blood of the lamb back then was pointing to the blood of Jesus who would shed His blood so we wouldn’t die if we embraced Him and His shed blood. Now, let’s think about this, when we don’t have the blood of Jesus over our houses, then that creates death of some sort (it may not be physically, but it will definitely be spiritual and probably a few others, such as mental or financial). As I was thinking about the importance of having a covering of Jesus’ blood over a household, there are many who are uncovered, which is not a good place to be. And I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news, but not too many churches understand the gravity of this.

Then I thought about the family structure and how the husband was to cover the family. If any of you have known me for a long time, I’m always asking questions to make you think. The question that was roaming through my mind was this, “Why do churches expect an unsaved husband who’s not even thinking about God to cover his spouse and family?” The truth is that he can’t cover his spouse and family because he hasn’t made Christ Lord and Savior. And that’s where this blogpost comes into play. If you’re reading this, please don’t spend a lot of time on the question that I just asked, because that’s minor in comparison to what I’m about to say.

You see, the body of Christ has spent a lot of time talking the talk, but has not walked the walk (lived it out). We have sadly subjected people to the Bible when they have volitionally made a choice not to believe in it. We need to just live the life, plain and simple!

Now, we have to remember that everybody is free to decide how he or she wants to live their life, and we are not to love them any less because of it. The beauty of God is that He gave us free will and He loves everybody. Just like freedom has a price, our choices in life have consequences. This was on my spirit today.

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Why We Blame God For Our Screw-Ups

This blogpost was just dropped in my spirit. You know, as humans, we have the propensity to blame people for things that we did wrong and never accept responsibility. Now let me qualify a screw-up for this blogpost. A screw-up is where you actually do something knowing full well that you should not be involved. I’m not talking about blindsides (or things you eventually find out later on due to deception in the other person).

I’m going to use relationships as an example for this blogpost. About two weeks ago, someone was sharing with me about their frustration with relationships and as a result their faith in men and with God is hanging in the balance. In fact, their quote to me was this, “I tried to a relationship my way, and it didn’t work; I tried to do a relationship God’s way, and it didn’t work.” May I stop the car Fred Flintstone style? You tried it God’s way and it didn’t work? First and foremost, God never makes mistakes and to add to that, He can’t lie. The beauty of God is free will. Now, it’s sad that legalism is so bad that people either feel condemned or those who are grieving over their screw-ups to the point that listening to God in certain areas is hindered.

I said that God doesn’t make mistakes and He can’t lie. Ok, I was looking up some scriptures to a book that I finished reading a few days ago, and one scripture spoke to me clearly.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 from the Message Bible says “Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands?”

There are so many Christians who know full well that the person that they are going to marry rejects God or isn’t even thinking about God. Again, I’m not referring to those who find out that the person they married was a counterfeit after the vows were taken. It breaks my heart to hear people blame God when people knew they were unequally yoked from the start and the marriage goes south. Do I believe God would have you marry an unbeliever? No! You’re part of a family (the family of Christ). 

Let’s talk more about unequally yoked (that’s how it’s stated in the King James version and New King James Version). It’s not just believers yoking with unbelievers. It can be extended further to areas of healing (one agrees with divine healing and the other doesn’t), giving, and many other things that I didn’t mention.

So what am I saying here? God watches over His Word to perform it. He wants us to walk in the fullness of Him to have the abundant life that He’s promised us. Why do we blame God for our screw-ups? Because we think that God is going to protect us in every area of our lives. He will protect us and is constantly protecting us; however, because He loves us so much, He has given us free will. Think about it, He told Adam that he can eat from every tree except one. Adam made the choice and ate and then said, God, the woman You gave me (was the problem). That’s where the blaming God started. Another reason we blame God is because we don’t really want to reap the consequences of our mistakes. I don’t know about you, I used to be disciplined a lot, and I hated when my punishments were delayed. If you add the anxiety I had during childhood due to Aspergers, it was torture. I was like, let’s this discipline over with. The beauty of God is that 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us! Don’t give a care about what others say and do – many will want you to feel worse than you what you currently feel, that’s their pride and a screw-up they need to confess. Take ownership of your faults, learn from them ad then launch onto what God has planned for you. You may think you’re out for the count because of your screw-up, and the devil is going to do all he can to make you think you’re out for the count because of your screw-up, but God hasn’t counted you out! He never counts anyone out.  

Before I close, I do want to address this point. If you were blindsided, deceived in the realm of relationships, you are innocent and God is going to deal with that deceiver. Now, my prayer is that you gained a valuable lesson on discernment, and now your prayer life has taken on a new meaning, and that you are allowing God to heal every wound that you have (physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and financial). Don’t be afraid to put your life on the altar. You matter to Him, but it’s my prayer that we take responsibility for the things that we know we did that are contrary to God’s standard and confess it to Him. You can’t hide it from Him; He already knows you’re struggling with it on your own and He knows it’s wearing you down. He wants it so you can be free to live!

Blessings,

The Mayne Man 

Anger In Relationships

I was listening to the radio on my way to church this morning, and on the radio was a discussion with a Christian woman who was struggling with anger because of a man in her life. It grabbed my attention because I believe there are so many people (regardless of gender) who struggle with anger and if left unchecked, it can sabotage people’s present and possibly future.

Before I begin to paraphrase the discussion that I heard on the radio, I’d like to invite people to get involved in this blogpost, because this might actually be a chapter in a book I’m working on with my copy-editor. If you want to respond to the questions at the end of this blogpost, you can respond as anonymous and let me know which comment was yours (whether an inbox on FB, direct message on Twitter, or an e-mail). If your comment is selected for the book, you will definitely remain anonymous (and of course, ask your permission). I thank you in advance.

The woman on the show called in and was struggling with anger because of how her man is treating her and their son. The interviewer is telling the woman that her response should not be based on what he does or doesn’t do, but it should be based on what’s going on inside of her and once you choose to move in the way that’s positive, you’ll make positive choices. 

The interviewer turned his attention here to where the woman was focusing on the fact that he didn’t fulfill what he said he was going to do and how that affected her and their son. As a result, it’s coming out in how she communicates with him.  He said that when she responds out of anger, she’s actually supplying the fuel that the anger needs. The expectation that’s in you for him, that he’s not fulfilling, really creates anger; but at the same time, you actually have respect for what he’s capable of doing.

Some questions in relation to this post:

1. How can you deal with anger from past relationships?
2. How can anger harm your life (present and future)?
3. Why do people renege on their promises leaving a bad taste in the other person’s mouth?
4. Why do some people allow past hurts in relationships to hinder their growth in life?
5. What is the healing process look like for you if you’ve been involved with a man who has a counterfeit spirit?
6. Do you believe it’s important to hear what people are saying? It’s been said: out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks?
7. What are the ramifications when anger takes over the conversation?
8. What are things that people say that can run the other person away?
9. Why do we make the other person the enemy when it’s really not a fight against flesh and blood?

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Finding A Wife Is Not Like Shoe Shopping!

Good morning everyone. I asked a fellow author to share what's on her heart and she has message to the Brothers (and I would add the Sisters too). With that, I turn it over to Apostle Melissa "Mimi" Ewell.

Hello Brothers! This one is for you... 

Yes, Proverbs 18:22 says, "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord."

However... Finding a wife is not like shoe shopping! You shouldn't be trying on women, one after another, like you're trying on shoes until you find a pair with the best fit!

It's truly counterproductive to run through all the single women in your church or at your job, trying to figure out which one is Mrs. Right! Not only is it hard on the women to see you jump from one to the other, like they're being tossed in the reject pile, you could very easily gain the reputation of a womanizer or that "desperate" guy. Trust me... Desperation is not a good look on women or men!

To avoid all that drama, it's best to seek God and ask Him to deliver your wife to you! This is one way the word "Find" is defined in the Hebrew. It also means to obtain, to acquire, to receive.

When you consider the love story of men in the Bible, that's the way it happened for Adam, Isaac and Boaz. Instead of searching for a wife, they were all presented with their wives, when their wives were delivered to them! 

In Genesis 2, we see that Adam went to sleep and when God woke him up, Adam was thrilled "find" Eve standing there before him in all her glory! He immediately claimed her as flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, the woman who would be his wife for life! 

In Genesis 24, Abraham sent his servant Eleazar to find Isaac a wife. Not knowing who exactly to look for, Eleazar prayed and God directed Rebekah straight to him. Which means, Isaac didn't even get to see his bride until Eleazar delivered her to him. 

In Ruth 3, Ruth initially showed up to glean in a field that belonged to Boaz, a distant relative of her mother-in-law, Naomi. Then later, at Naomi's directions, Ruth positioned herself at Boaz's feet so he didn't have to go anywhere to "find" her! Again, she was delivered to him.

With these stories in mind, it may be time to reconsider your "wife-finding" strategy and get acquainted with God's plan to bring love into your life. He knows you best and He's the best one to bring the woman you need to be your wife, best friend and life-long lover! 

If you want God's best, then you have to do things God's way. And that includes letting God do the picking, the finding and the delivering when it comes to favoring you with a wife! 

Makes Sense???

Caring For/Loving Someone When They're Hurt (And/Or You're Hurt)

Good evening:

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